COMMEMOHATIVb' 



BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 

OF ' '/i ^ "-^ 

NEW HAVEN COUNTY, 

CONNECTICUT, 



CONTAIN'INC, 



Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens. 
AND OF Many of the Early Settled Families. 



I LH JSTRATED. 



CHICAGO; 

J. H. Heers & Co. 
1902. 



i 






c 



^ 



P REPACK 




III-: im])()rtaiirc of placiii'; in lioc.k forni bioj^rapliical liistorv of rc|)rcs(_-iitative 
iiti/ciis hotli for its iiiiiiii'(liatr wortli and for its valiu- to roinini; ,t^cncratiotis — 
IS adiiiittnl liy all thinfciiii; |u-o|)K-; ami within the |)ast ilrcadr tlicrr has l)i'eii a 
j;ro\\iii.t; interest in this connniiKlalile means ol jie-rpetnatini; liioL;rai)h\- ami family 
f;eiu-aloL;y. 

That the |)nl>lic is entitled to the jirix ilexes afforded by a work of tliis nature needs 
no assertion at oiir hands; lor one of our .greatest Americans has said that the history of 
an}' country resolves itsell into the l)io!;ra|)hies of its stout, i^ariiest and re])resentative 
citizens. This medinni, then, si'r\es more than a siiiLjle piirpost'; while it perpetuates 
IjioK'raphy and fanuly ,!^enealo.i;y, it records history, mmdi of whiidi woiilil lie ])reserve(l in 
no other way. 

In presentinj; the CoMMirMdi^xTivi; Bidckai'hic.m. K|.;c()!<I) to its patrons, the 
publishers have to acknowled,t;e, with j^ratitude, the enconra,t;"ement and support their 
enterprise has recei\'ed, and the williiii^ assistance rendered in enablin,i; them to siirinoimt 
the many unforeseen olistacles to be met with in the |)roilnction of a work of this 
character. In nearl\' every instance the material comijosiiii; the sketches was feathered 
from those immediately interested, and then submitted in t\'pe-written form for 
correction and rexision. I he \oliime, which is one of L;eiier(Uis amplitude, is placed in 
the hands of the public with the belief that it will be found a valuable addition to tile 
library, .as well ;is ;iii iinaliiable contribution to the historical literature of the State 
of (omiecticnt. 

THE Prr.LISIII^KS. 




Q(^/.(tf. 




BIOGRAPHICAL. 




ERRV. .MAI<)R (;i'..\l'.RAL 
ALFRED " IIUW 1-:. late of 
the United States Amiy, and 
a resident of New Haven, 
came of a distintjnishcd Hart- 
ford family and an early 
Connecticut ancestry promin- 
ent from the Colonial period, 
while he himself won imper- 
ishable laurels in the Civil 
War and was especially characteri/.ed as the "Hero 
of h'ort l'"i-her. ' 

Alfred Howe Terry was horn Nov. lo, 1827, in 
Hartford, son of Alfred and Clarissa (How^e) 
Terrv, and grandson of (ien. Xathaniel Terry, and 
was a descendant in the .seventh generation from 
Samuel Terry, of Springfield, .Mass., who was the 
first of the name to come to .\merica. Sanniel 
Terrv was a mere boy at the time of his emigra- 
tion. He first appeared, at Spring-field ini about 
1654, and afterward removed to Enfield, Conn. 
His first wife was Ann Lobdel, and from these an- 
cestors Gen. Alfred H. Terry's line of descent is 
through Samuel {2), h'phraini, Xathaniel, Gen. 
Nathaniel and Alfred Terry. Among the Gen- 
eral's ancestors of other names were many proni- 
inent men of early Colonial days, notably Gov. 
William Bradford, of Plymouth Colony ; Rev. 
Thomas Hooker, \Milliam Wadsworth and John 
Talcott, three of the fouivdcrs of Hartford; Rev. 
James Pierpont and Rev. Xoahdiah Russell of Mid- 
dlctown, two of the foun<lers of Yale College. 

(V) Gen. Xathaniel Terry, son of Nathaniel 
Terry (i), born in Enfield Jan. 20, 1768, married 
March 14, 1798, Catherine, daughter of Col. Jere- 
miah Wadsworth, of Hartford, Conn., who during 
the Revolution and for years following was the most 
prominent man of the town, and probalily the 
w'ealthiest. He was commissary general of the 
American forces for a time, and also of the French 
forces. He shared largelv the confidence of Gen. 
Washington, and under his roof the General was 
entertained when he came East with Kno.x and Ea- 
Fayette for the first interview with Count Roch- 
ainbeati and .-Xdmiral Ternay. Col. ^\'adsworth 
was a member of the State convention called to 
I 



ratify the Constitution of the United States, served 
six \ears in C'ongress, and held other important 
and honorable offices. 

tien. .Nathaniel Terry was graduated from Yale 
in iJiM), became a law student of Hon. Jesse Root, 
and was admitted to the Bar in 1790. His pro- 
fessional life covered a long period, from 1796 to 
1844, and he practiced first in Jinfield and then in 
Hartford; was a rei)resentati\e to the State Leg- 
islatin-e from the latter place for twelve sessions; 
was judge of the county court from 1807 to 1809; 
a niemiber of the X\Th Congress, 1817-19; and was 
mayor of Hartford from 1824 to 1831. F'rom 1819 
to 1828 he was president of the Hartford Bank. 
During the |)r(ilonged infancy of the Hartford Fire 
Insurance Co., from 1810 to 1835, Gen. Terry was 
its president. 

(\T) -Alfred Terry, son of Gen. Nathaniel 
Terry, and the father of Gen. Alfred Howe Terry, 
was born July 28, 1802, in Hartford, and luarried, 
in September, 1825, Clarissa Howe, who was born 
Julv 2Ti, 1803, daughter of Gen. Hezekiah and 
Sarah (Townscnd) Howe, of New Haven. Mr. 
Terry was graduated from Yale in 1822, studied 
law in Hartford, was admitted to the Bar, and 
practiced law in Hartford until 1833, when he re- 
moved to New Haven. There he passed the re- 
mainder of his life, an esteemed and respected citi- 
zen of the commtmity, dying Dec. 14. i860. His 
wife survived until June 2y, 1874. 

Gen. Alfred Jlowe Terry, son of Alfred Terry, 
was educated mainly in -\'ew Haven, studied law 
at Yale Law School, was admitted to the Bar, and 
began the practice of law in 1849. From 1854 to 
i860 he was clerk of the Superior and Supreme 
Courts Oif Connecticut. .\n imiate love of law and 
order led him to connect himself with the State 
militia. Having joined the New Haven Grays 
when quite young, the outbreak of the War of the 
Rebelli'Mi found him Colonel of the 2d Regiment of 
the Connecticut Militia. Tn response to the Presi- 
dent's call for three months' volunteers he offered 
his services, and was a])])ointed by Gov. Bucking- 
ham Colonel of the 2d Regiment of Connecticut 
Volunteer Infantry. He and his regiment were 
mn.stered into the service of the I'nited States in 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



April. i8''ir. On arrival at Washington the regi- 
ment \va> as.signed t(i the i>t I'.rigade (Keye's), 
1st Division (Daniel Tyler's), of McDowell's army, 
operating against Ueanreganl at Mtniassas. Ihc- 
regiment participated in the battle uf Btlll Run, 
Itnic Jist. and liotli the brigade and division com- 



manders tnakt 



ijecial mention of "the gallantry 



and good conduct" of Terry in that engagemem 
( Ml the expiration of the term of service of the 
2d Connecticut \'olnnteers the governor of Lon- 
necticut appointed Terry Colonel of the /th ^^'^^ 
necticut \'olunteer Infantry, then organizing. This 
regiment was assigned tu the 3d I'.rigaile 
(U'right's), of Cien. W. T. Sherman's E.xpedi- 
tionarv Corps, then assembling at Annapolis. The 
regiment sailed for Hilton Head early in Xoveniber, 
and on the 8th of that month we find Terry and his 
regiment making a recoimoissance of Hilton Head 
Island, of which the commander writes. "1 have to 
acknowdedge the cordial and efficient conduct of 
Col. Terrv in carrying oiu the oliject of the recon- 
noissance." We next find him with hi- regiiuent 
on Tvbee Island, actively engaged in the siege of 
b'ort 'r'ula>ki, da., which was breached on April 
nth, and arrangements were being made for an 
assault when the garrison surrendered. Gen. Gil- 
more, in speaking of these operations, says: i 
"Throughout the s'lege Col. Alfred H. Terry, 7th 
Connecticut VoluiUeers, and Col. J. 1'. Hall, N. 
Y. Engineers, were consjiicnous for the zeal and 
perseverance with which they discharged the vari- 
ous duties to wdiich they were assigned." The dis- 
trict commander, Benham, makes special mention 
of the regiment as follows; "The 7th Connecticut 
Regiment, under Col. Terry, very ably manned the 
batteries which they had most laboriously con- 
structed, so that I ilesignated them (as I was 
pleased to find had been, unknown to me. the pre- 
vious selection of Cien. Gilmore ) for the honor of 
being the first garrison of the surrendered fort." 
On April 25th, two weeks after tJie occupation of 
I'ort I'nlaski, Terry received his ap])ointment of 
I'.rigadier ("leneral of L'nited State- XohnUeers. 
He CMiuimied on duty in the Southern District of 
the Dejjartiuent of tlie South until the followinf;^ 
October, wdien he was assigned to the command of 
the l'nite<l States forces on Hilton Head Island and 
Cf>ntimie(l to exercise that conunand until July 5, 
1863. During this jieriotl then- were various re- 
connoissances, the ])rincipal one being made on the 
22(1 of October, against the railroad of Pocataligo. 
In this operation (leu. Terr\- coiuiuanded one of the 
two brigades. The command had a skirmish with 
the enemy near I'ocataligo in which it lost 340 men 
in killed, wounded and luissing. 

In organizing the force for an effort against 
the defences of Cliarleston, in July, 1863, Gen. 
Terrv was assigned to the coiumand^ of the ist 
Division. His division was dt'signated to luake a 
demonstration against James Island, by way of 
Stono Inlel. in order to occni)\ the enemy and draw 



the force- from .Morris Island, against wdiich the 
main attack \\a> to be made. Ihe l)lan succeeded, 
and on the tOth Terry's divi-ii-iti was attacked by 
a ver\ .-iipenor force, which was driven back. 
.\fter the failure of the second assault on Fort 
Wagner, on the night of the 18th of July, Terry 
ua- transferred to Alorris Island and assigned to 
the command of all the forces on that I. -land, and 
the work of gaining possession of Fort Wagner by 
gradual a])proaclies was begun at once. \'>y the 6th 
t i September it seemed quite practicable to take the 
place, and orders were issued and the troops put in 
l)ositiori for a third assault the next morning, Sept. 
7th, but the enemy evacuated the ]ilace during the 
night. 

In .April. 18O4, Gen. Terry's division was trans- 
ferred to \ irginia anil rendezvoused at Yorktown 
early in May. The loth Corps was organized at 
that place and moved against Richmond by way of 
the James river. Terry's division containedi the 
Connecticut troops of the Corps — the 6th, 7th and 
loth Regiments and Rockwell's battery. The divis- 
ion had its first o]>portunity to show its mettle at 
Chester Station. On the morning of the loth of 
May, while the division was engaged in destroying 
the track of the Richmond & Petersburg railway, 
the enemy attacked in force and com]ielled the pro- 
tecting troops to give ground, but the commands at 
work were promptly formed up and by a gallant 
attack forced the enemy to retire with loss. The 
division was in contact with the enemy until the 
1 6th, when it took an important part in the l)attle 
of Drury's Bluff, and the Corps commander re- 
ports that "there have been three assaults made on 
(ien. Terry's front; each has been repulsed hand- 
somely. The assaults were in force." The losses 
in the division from the 9th to the Kith are given 
as 1,300. In August Gen. Terry and his division 
formed a part of the force assembled under Gen. 
Hancock at Deep Bottom, for an effort against the 
works around Richmond north of the James river. 
On the 14th the division carried the first line of 
intrenchments in front of Deep Bottom, capturing 
71 prisoners and six guns. On the i6th lien. Terry 
led the assault on the main line of the enemy's 
works near Fussell's Mills, carried the works, and 
captureil about .^oo prisoners and six battle flags. 
Of this assault Gen. Hancock savs, in his report of 
Nov. 12th, that Gen. Birney having died no report 
of the loth Corps had been rcceivetl, but "Gen 
Terry, wlio-e division led the assault on the idth 
was conuuended for his gallantry on that occasion." 
The commendation has not been found in official 
publications, but it is evident that it was of such a 
character as to secure (ien. Terry a commission as 
Major General by lirevet, which was accomjianied 
bv a personal letter from the Secretary of War, 
saving that he hail earned a full Major General's 
commission and should have had it had it not been 
that the number of that grade allowed bv law was 
filled. 



COMMIiMORATirE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



On Anyust 22(1, Gen. Terry was urilrml tD pro- 
ceed with liis division to tlie lines in front of I'eters- 
bnro- anil relieve the iHtli (,'ori)s. lie remained 
there nntil the 24th of September, when the loth 
Cor])s was asscnihled on the north hank of the 
James at Deep llottom for an offensive movement 
a^^tinst Richmond. (ien. Terry and his division 
were engai^vd in the assanlt on h'ort Harrison and 
the Xew Market road, nn the Ji^th nf Septeiuher. 
(_)n the "th of ()ctoIier he re]inl-ed a vij^nrnns as- 
sanlt made hv Ticket's command. ( )n (let. loth 
(Ien. Terry was assi<;iied to the command of the 
loth C'or])s. which on the 13th attacked the enemy 
on the 1 )arhvtow n riiad. where the\ w err funiid 
in force and were driven from their first line Ijack 
to their main line of defends. ( )n ( )ct. JJth the 
lOth Corps pnsheil mu the l)ai-hytown road and 
extended the ri^iit to (lie Charles C'it\' road, driv- 
ing the enemy back. 

After the failnre of the lirst effort against Fort 
Fisher and the other defences at the mouth of Cape 
Fear river, Xorth Carolina, (ien. Terry was select- 
ed to lead a second elTort. In referring to this 
lien. ( irant states in hi- reimrt : "This time I se- 
lected llrevet Major ( leneral (now' Majnr ( ieneral) 
A. H. Terry to command this exjiedition. The 
troops composing it consisted of the same that com- 
j)osed the former, with the addition of a small bri- 
gade numbering about 1.500 men and a small siege 
train. The latter it was not found necessary to 
land. * * * Tt will be seen that the instruc- 
tions did not dift'er from those given for the first 
expedition and that in neither instance was there 
an order to assault Fort Fisher. * * * On 
the afternoon of the 15th of January the Fort was 
assaulted and after most desperate fighting was 
captured, with its entire .garrison and armament. 
Thus was secured hv the combined efforts of the 
Army and Xavy one of the most im[)ortant suc- 
cesses of the war.'" This im])ortant success was not 
secured, however, without much thought and labor 
on the part of the commander. Seventv-two hours 
without sleep — busy engaged in safely-disembark- 
ing his command between b'isher and its garrison, 
and the covering comimand. which was located at 
Sugar Loaf, under Cen. Hoke (an officer of long 
experience and of acknowdedgeil resolution and 
vigor) ; in finding a suitable line across from the 
sea to Cape Fear river, for defending his rear 
against Hoke with a greatlv inferior force, while 
I'ort Fisher was attackeil with the other troops of 
liis command; in making a close reconnoissance of 
Fort Fisher and its surroundings, in order to deter- 
mine what course of action he would pursue; in 
arranging with Athuiral I'orter for a joint attack, 
and finally for the assault and ca])ture of the fort 
and its garrison. The success was great, but the 
personal efforts made by the commander in order 
to .secure that success entitle him to the hi.gh esteem 
of his countrymen. That the authorities of the time 



thought highly of the resolution and vigor dis- 
played by (ien. Terry on that occasion is clearlv 
shown in the despatches. The Secretar\' of War, 
wild \\a- returning to Washington from a \i-it t.i 
( u-n. Sherman, at Savannah, (la., called at the 
mouth of the Cape F'ear river on the dav after the 
taking of I^ort I'isher. He informied den. Terry 
then and there that he would secure his appoint- 
ment as Brigadier-( ieneral in the regular armv nn 
his return to Washington, and a .Major-( ieneral's 
a[)pointment in the volunteer service if there was 
a vacancy in that grade. Ilefore sailing the Sec- 
retary of War sent ashore the following letter; 

.'^ri:\MKu .S. ].;, .'^pAiiiiNc. 
di-i- I-'ouT Imsukk. Jan. 16, 1865. 
Mdji'i- (/I'diTi;/ 'fcrrv. 

C ciiiiiHiiidiiii; ■ 
Tile Secretary of W,ir, in the ii;mu' of ilu- Prosiclont. 
congr.-ituhites you and tlic gallant offuHT^ and soldiers of 
your conuiiaiid, and (cndurs you tli.auks for the valor and 
-kill displayed in your p.art of the great aehievement in 
llie operations ag.iiust ["..n I'islier and in its assault and 
capture. The coiuhined openilir.ns of the squadron under 
command of Rear .Xdmir.il I'orter ;niil vour forces de- 
-erve and will reeeive tile th.inlss of tlie nation, and will 
he lield in .idmiration throiighotu the worhl as a proof of 
the Xaval and Miluary pi.wers of the L"nited Stales. 

l-'.iiwiN- M. St.wtov, 
Si-irrttiry of War. 

On receiving inlelhgence of the cai)ttire of the 
place, Cien. (irant wrote as follows: 

CiTV I'oi.NT, \'a.. Ian. 17. 1865. 
tio.x. E. M. St.\nton, 

Sccrcliiry of War. 
The followins: official disp.-ueh from Hrevet Major 
(ien. .A. H. Terry, commanding the hand forces against 
Fort Fishfr, announcing the eaptu.re by tlte united valor 
of the .Army and Navy, is just received. I have ordered 
a salutr of 100 guns to lie tired hy eacli army liere in lionor 
of their great triumph. 

U. S. Gr.^xt. 
I.icut. General. 

The following letter is of the same date. 

Crrv I'o.NT, Va., J.^.^•. 17, 1865, 

llO.N'. ll. .M. ST.'kNTO.V, 

.Snrctary of ll'ar: 
.\s a substantial recognition of the bravery of lioili 
officers and men in the capture of I"ort Fisher, and the 
important service thereby rendered their country. I do 
most respectfully reconuneiu! Brevet Major General .Al- 
fred 11. Terry, U. S. Volunteers, their commanding olticer, 
for appointment as Brigadier General in the reguhir army. 

U, S. Gr.\nt, 
Lieut. General. 
\ 
CiTV PdixT, \'a., Jax. 18, 1865. 
Ho.x. v.. M. St.\xto.\-, 

■S'eeretary of War: 
The confirmation of Thomas and Sherichin to the 
rank of Major General in the regular armv makes two 
vacancies. I hope General Terry will gel oiie of these. 

u. s. (;k.\.nt. 

Lieut. General. 
Rear Admiral Porter wrote as follows; 



COMMEMORATU'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



XoRTH Atlantic Sovaurox, 
U. S. Flag Shu' Malvern. 
Off Smithville, N. C. January 20, 1865. 
Sir : I liave been so much pleased with General 
Terry, and the manner in which he lias conducted his part 
ot the operations here, that I deem it worthy of a special 
despatch to express what I feel. General Terry is. no 
doubt, well known to his associates in the field who have 
served with him. and to the lieutenant general, who se- 
lected him for the service, but the American people sliould 
know and feel the very great service he has rendered 
them by his most admirable assault on these tremendous 
works. Young, brave and unassuming, he bears his suc- 
cess with the modesty of a true soldier, and is willing to 
give credit to those who shared with him the perils of the 
assault. Xo one could form the slightest conception of 
these works, their magnitude, strength and extent, who 
had not seen them, and General Whiting (the founder) 
must have had an abiding faitli in the durability i^f the 
Confederacy when he expended m) many years' labor on 
them. 

The result of the fall of Fort Fisher was the fall of 
all the surrounding works in and near this place. F(irt 
Caswell, a large work at the West inlet, mounting twenty- 
nine guns, all the works on Smith's island, the works be- 
tween Caswell and Smithville, up to battery on Reeves's 
Point, on the west side of the river — in all one hundred 
and sixty-nine guns falling into our hands; two steamer-^ 
were burnt or blown up, and there ne\er was so clean a 
scoop made anywhere. 

.\ timid man would have hesitated to attack these 
works by assault, no matter what assistance he may have 
had from other quarters, but General Terry never for an 
instant hesitated ; and though I feel somewhat tfattcreil 
at the confidence he reposed in my judgment, I am quite 
ready to believe that he acted on his own ideas of what 
was proper to be done in the matter, and was perfectly 
qualified to judge without the advice of anyone. Through- 
out this affair his conduct has been marked by the greate>t 
desire to be successful, not for the sake of personal con- 
siderations, but for the cause in which we are all alike 
engaged. 

1 don't know that I ever met an officer who so com- 
pletely gained my esteem and admiration. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedi- 
ent servant, 

Daviii D. P'orter, 
Rear Admiral. 
Hon. Gideon Wells. 

Secretary iif the A'lK'v, ]rasliiiiul,iii. P. C. 

On arrival at W'asliington ]\Ir.' Stanton foniid 
that he could grant the apjxMntnient of Brigadier 
General in the regular army, but there was no va- 
cancy in the grade of Major ( icneral of \'olunteers. 
I'nder tlic circumstances, and recognizing the 
merits of the case, America's greatest President 
addiil niie to the hst of Major (lenerals of N'olun- 
teers, by appointing (jeneral Terry a I'rovisional 
Major (_iencral, so far as known ihc (mix instance 
of the kind that occurred during the war of the 
great Rebellion. Congress, Udt to be 1 undone in 
acknowledging the gallant deeds of the soldiers 
of the Tvepuhlic. passed a resolution, which was ap- 
proved by the President on Jan. 24. 1865. extending 
the thanks of the Nation to Gen. Terry, his officers 
and snidiers, in the following language: 

l\\-siih'e(l . by the Seiiale .nid llnusc of Representa- 
tive^ in Congress assembled. Thai ihe thanks of Congre-s 
••ire hereliv presented to Hrevet Major (n-neral .Mfred II. 
Terrv and the officers and men under his 'command, for 



the unsurpassed gallantry and skill exhibited by them in 
J the attack on Fort Fisher, and the brilliant and decisive 
victory by which that important work has been captured 
from the Rebel forces, and placed in the possession and 
under the authority of the United States; and for their 
long and faithful services and unswerving devotion to the 
cause of the country, 111 the midst of the greatest difficul- 
ties and dangers. 

.•\nd be it further resolved, That the President of the 
L'nited State? be and hereby is requested to communicate 
this resolution to (jeneral Terry, and through him to the 
officers and men under his command. 

Schuyler Colfax. 
Speaker of Ihe House of Representatives. 
W. Hamlin, 
!'iee-f're.ucleiit of the I'nited States and President of Ihe 

Senate. 
.\p[)roved .Ian. _'4ih. 1805. 
.\i;n All A M I.IM 01. .\. 

Of the hundreds of general officers of volun- 
teers commissioned during the war of the Rebellion, 
who had not had jirevious service in the regular 
army, Gen. Terry's was the, unique instance in 
which a .general officer's commission in the regular 
establishment was given. 

In the operations against WTlmington, in Feb- 
ruary, 1865, Gen. Terry commanded the forces 
operating on the left bank of the Cape Fear river, 
and was oonimissiune.l a Llrevet Major (leneral in 
the United States Army for these operations. On 
the 27th of March the loth Corps was reorganized 
and (jen. Terry was assigned to the command of it. 
The loth Corps moved on Goklsboro in co-opera- 
tion with the army of Gen. Shemian, and this junc- 
tion destroyed the last hope of effectual resistance 
in the army of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, and the 
great Rebellion was ended. 

Immediately after hostilities ceased. Gen. Terry 
took a leave of absence and returned to Xew Haven, 
and was making arrangements to resume the pro- 
fession of his choice — the law — when he received 
the following telegram : 

.ArjuTANT General's Office, 
Washington, June S, 1865, 
Major General .V. H. Trkrv. 

Xezv lla'.-en. Conn. 
The Secretary cif War desires to see you here. -•Ac- 
knowledge receipt. 

E. D. TowNSE.vn, 
.■isst. .-idjt. Cenl. 

This innocent-looking des])atch of only a line 
resulted in changing the whole course of Gen. 
Terry's after life. On reporting to the great War 
Secretary, with his traveling bag in hand, he was 
urged to go to Richmond and take hol:l of the helm 
there, and so urgent was the Secretary that the in- 
terests of the public demanded his services there, 
that he at once gave up all his cherished personal 
plans and brilliant prospects in civil life, and again 
gave himself to the service of his country. On ar- 
riving at Richmond he assumed command of the 
Department of \'irginia. which he held until Au- 
gust, 1866, having in the meantime straightened 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



out the tans:le into which the civil affairs of that 
State had /alien. The fallowing- letter from Sec- 
retarv Stanton acconnpanied the order relieving 
Gen. Terry from this command : 

War DtrARTMEXT. 
Wasiuxgtox Citv. 
Aug. i8. 1866. 
General: — In rclicvinp; you from coniiuaiui of the 
Department of X'irginia and assigning you lo anotlier post 
of duty of importance and high rosponsibility in the West- 
ern territories, it is proper for nic to express the cordial 
approval of this Department of your conehict during the 
whole period in whicli you have been in tlie military serv- 
ice of the country. Your gallantry and skill as a com- 
mander in the field have already receivecl the testimonials 
of your official superiors and the universal approbation 
of the country. Your ability, integrity and wisdom in the 
administration of the Deparlmem of Virginia have be_en 
equally entitled to conunendation and distinguished lor 
success under the most embarrassing circtuiistances. To 
this official testimonial, so highly merited. I am happy to 
add the assurance of my personal esteem and friendship. 
Yours truly. 

Edwin" M. Stanton". 
^Ciiclary of War. 
Brevet Maior Generai. and I'rigauiek General Terrv. 

In the Atitumn of 1866. Gen. Terry assumed 
command of the newly created Department of Da- 
kota, in which he remained until March, 1869, 
when he was assigiied to the command of the De- 
partment of the South, where trouble was found in 
reorganizing- the civil government of the State of 
Georgia. In Decemiber of that year he was ap- 
pointed to exercise the duties of Commanding Gen- 
eral of the District of Georgia, as defined by Act 
of Congress, approved Dec. 22, 1869. In Novem- 
ber, 1872, his work in Georgia completed, he was 
again assigned to command the Department of Da- 
kota, which commiand he held until all the bands 
of the great Sioux tribe were brought into sub- 
jection. In i8fi8 he was a member of the special 
commission appointed by the President to en- 
deavor to conclude a treaty of peace with the hos- 
tile Indians. In 1875 ^e was one of the commis- 
sioners appointed by the President to endeavor to 
secure an agreement with the Sioux tribe for the 
extingtiishing of their rights tn the T.lack Hills re- 
gion. In 1877 he was the head of a commission, 
appointed by the President, W visit the hostile 
Sioux, to endeavor to arrange terms with them, in 
order to secure their return to the United States 
from the British possessions to which his troops 
had driven them. 

In 1872 Gen. Terry was appointed the head of 
the Board to "determine a breech-loading system 
of muskets and carbines for the military service." 
In 1878 he was one of the Board appointed by the 
President to examine and report upon the case of 
Major General Fitz John Porter. lie was pro- 
moted to the grade of .Major General March 3. 
1886, and assiijned to eonvniand of the Militarv Di- 
vision of the Missouri. In the spring of 1888 Gen. 
Terry requested that, owing to failing health, he 



might be transferred to the retired list of the army, 
and was so transferred April 5th of that year. In 
Mav lie returned to Connecticut, and planned to 
spend his remaining years in New Haven, to which 
he was much attached. After settling there, his 
health failed rapidly, and he d.ied Dec. 16, 1890. 
The following order isstied by the War Depart- 
ment, marks the close of a life of unusual purity 
and devotion to duty. 

General Orders. No. 142. 

IIE.\DQU.\RTERS OF THt: ARMY. 
AujfTANT General's Oefue, 

Washington, December 10. tSoo. 

I. The following order has been received from the 
War Department : 

War Depart.ment. U'ashinfitoii, December 16, iii(/o. 
Orders : 

It is with sincere sorrow that the Secretary of War 
announces the death of Maior General Alfred It. Terry, 
U. S. Army (retired), which occurred at his home in 
Xcw Haven, Connecticut, this morning. 

General Terry was one of the most gentle, kind, and 
brave men that ever served his country. He was an ideal 
soldier and gentleman, wliosc honest, truthful, and up- 
right life gained him the highest esteem of all who knew 
him. His service during the war (conimencing as colonel 
of the 2d Connecticut \'olunteers. May 7. 1861) was so 
uniformly gallant and conspicuous, whether leading his 
regiment or in the e.xercise of higher command, as to earn 
him rapid promotion to the rank of brigadier general and 
major general of volunteers and brigadier general. U. S. 
.\rniy; the two latter grades conferred on him for the as- 
sault and capture of Fort Fisher, January 15, 1865, for 
which the thanks of Congress were tendered to him and 
the officers and soldiers of his command "for the unsur- 
passed gallantry and skill exhibited by them in the attack 
upon Fort Fisher and the brilliant and decisive victory 
by which that important work has been captured from the 
rebel forces placed in the possession and under the author- 
ity of the United States, and for their long and f;iithful 
service and unwavering devotion to the cause of the coun- 
try in the midst of the greatest difficulties and dangers." 

After the close of the war General Terry was success- 
ively in command of the Departments of Virginia, Da- 
kota, the South, and again Dakota, and performed eminent 
service as a member of important boards and conuuis- 
sions. He was appointed major general. U. S. .-Xrmy, 
March 3. 1886. and assigned to the command of the Divi- 
sion of the Missouri, which he held until .\pril 5. 1SS8. 
when he was retired from active service on account of 
disabilitv. 

REDFIELD PROCTOR. 
Secretary of ll'ar. 

II. The ni.aior general commanding the Division of 
the Atlantic will give the necessary order for appropriate 
military ceremonies at the funeral. 

Upon the day after the receipt of this order at each 
military post thirteen guns will be fired at intervals of 
one-half liour. conmiencing at 8 o'clock A. M. 

Ry Command of Major General Schofielp. 

Adjutant General 

The New ITavcn council adopted the following 
resolutions at the time of Gen. Terry's death: 

Whereas, the Court of Conunon Coimoil in couimon 
with our conununity has learned with profound sen<ibility 
of the death of Mai. GeiL .Alfred Howe Terry, at his resi- 
dence in this city. 

Re.<:o!rcd. That in the death of Gen, Terry Xew Haven 
mourns the loss of a most illustrious citizen. His splendid 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



mililnry acliicvcnients during tht- Civil war. his equally im- 
portant and not kss brilliant services in statesmanship 
while Military Governor in the Sontliern States during the 
Rcconstnietion Period, and his subsequent arduous and dis- 
tinguisheil career in connection with Indian affairs and 
hostilities in the far West, have made his name forever 
cons|)icuous in the annals of the nation. His purity, dig- 
nity, .ind nobility of character, his tniselfish patriotism 
anil his generous, sincere and affectionate nature, will long 
endear his meniory to his fellow citizens. He was well 
and worthily described as "the beau ideal of a soldier and 
a geiulenian." 

A'i-.wi/;v(/. That in recognition of the iinpnrtance of 
this event in our city, the Mayor be reiUK-ited to cause the 
National and City llags to fly at half-mast until .after the 
interment. aKo to have the hells tolled and minute guns 
fired during the funeral services. 

Rcsohcd. That the Mayor, President, and one mem- 
ber of the Board of Aldermen and the President and two 
members of the Board of Councilmen be, and they are 
hereby apinjinted, a committee to take such other suitable 
measures with regard to the obsequies of Gener.al Terry 
as may be acceptable to his family, and if >uch obsequies 
are public this Court of Common Council will attend the 
.same in a liody. 

A'rstih'cd, That these Resolutions be entered upon the 
records of the Court of Common Council, and that a copy 
of them, suitably engrossed, be presented to the family 
of the deceased. 

.Apliroved. Dec. 16, 1890. 

Henry F. Peck. Mavfr. 
Attc-t : 

Kdw.mjd Downes. City Clrrk. 



lli).\ ORN'lLLli mrCllCOCK I'L.VTT. 
I.I.. !)., iif .Meriden. lawyer ami statesman, now 
.serviii.i; his fourth term as L'liited States senator 
from the State of Connecticut, is one of a numher 
of distiiiijuished and illtistriof.s sons of Litchfield 
county, Connecticut, 

Tlie Piatt family was estahlished in Xew Hav- 
en county in 1638, when ( I ) Richaf<l I'latt, an Eng- 
lishman, and his wife Mary, with their four children, 
landed at Xew Haven. I le was one of the sixtv- 
•six who formed a eb.urch society Aug. 22, \f\V)' ^md 
])roceeded at once to settle at Milford. ( )f liis eight 
children, the third (and second sgm 1 , (11) Isaac 
riall, was eiircdled in I'lf/) among the fifty-seven 
land owners of Huntington. L. !., where he had 
li\ed |iri)Ii,-il)lv some years, lie was recnrder there 
in \i'Xj. Ill -Milford he marrieil I'lKehe Smith, 
Alarcli !_'. I'i4(). and more than t\\enl\- years later 
married, at 1 liintington, J'^lizabeth, daughter of Jo- 
nas Wood. 1 Ic was captain of militia, and hehl 
ever\' office of conse(|Uence in the town, where he 
(lied July 31, iCm^i. He had six children, of whom 
the eldest son and second chilil, I 111 I Jonas Piatt, 
horn .\ug. I'l, i<><'7. married .Sarah Sctidder. and 
had I'onr sons. ( 1 \' ) ( )hadiah Piatt, the eldest of 
these, purchased lands in l''aiffield in 172.). He 
married Marv Snnth Aug. m. 1722. and ha<l eight 
children. The wife ;md ninlher died Xo\-. it), 
1771. ;it Ridgefield. ( \' ) |onas Piatt, second son 
and third child of • )liadiah, horn ( )ct. 1;. 1727, set- 
tled at Wedding, where he was married ( )ct, 17, 
1747, t'l l'".lizabeth, daughter of h^ihraim Sanford, 
of that |)lace. I'.olh wvvv admitted church memhers 



at Redding July 5, 1749. They had ten children, 
of whom the eldest. ( \T) John Piatt, was liaptized 
I'el). 5, 1752. at Redding. Both father and son 
served as soldiers in the Revolutionary arm\-. and 
the former was made prisoner in the Danbury raid, 
in .April. 1777. hut a|ipeared among those who 
marched to l-"ishkill in the following ( ictoher, to 
reinforce (len. Putnanii. The son was taken ])risoner 
at I'ort Lee Xov. 16. 1776. On July 7. 1775, he 
litarried l-'lizabeth Parmle, and after the war set- 
tled in the town of Washington, Conn. 'J'heir chil- 
dren were: Jnhn. born Feb. 21, 1776; Daviil. Aitg. 
,-i. 177S: Knth .\im, March 30. 1782: Betsey, May 
8. 1790: Daniel Ciold (or Ciould). July 2^. 1707. 
(Ml) Daniel ( lold (or Gould) Piatt married Al- 
in_\ ra Llitchcock Jan. 3, 1817, and they had children : 
( )rville, born March 11. 1822, who died in 1826; 
( )rville Hitchcock, born July ig, 1827, in \\'ashing- 
ton : and .Simeon D., born Feb. 12, 1832. The fa- 
ther died (Jet. 26, 1871. He and his wife w-ere jilain, 
unassuming, good fanning people of the sturd>- Xew 
England tvpe. in whose home w'ere fostered intelli- 
gence and piety. 

Reared amid agricultural pursuits among the 
hills of Litchfield, the ruggedness and grandeur of 
which no doul>t gave forth inspiration, ( )rville H. 

i Piatt was carefullv trained and started in the right 
course in life. He was educated iti the common 
schools and in the academy in later vears known 
as "The (iumiery," after its jjrincipal. Frederick \\'. 

! (hum, an alile and accomplished teacher, under 
whose iiersonal supervision he was instrticted in the 
higher mathematics, rhetoric and the classics. 
Young Piatt remained at home on the farm until 
his twentieth year. He began the study <if l;iw in 
the office of H(in. ( lideon }i. Hollister, of Litchlield, 
the well-known historian and able lawyer, and was 
admitted to the Bar in 1841). He was subsequently 
acimitteil to practice at Tow-atida, Bradfonl Co.. 
F'a., and sjicnt six months there in the office of Hon. 
Ulvsses Mercur, later a supreme court judge of that 
State. Reluming to Connecticut in 1831. .Mr. Piatt 
1j( gan the practice of law in Aleriden, and has since 
made his home in that cit\-. Soon after settling in 
>.ieriden he became associate editor of T/ic llhii^, 
a ]iaper which had existence for abotit three years, 
and the experience he gained in that capacity has 
since been useftil to him iti many ways. 

.Mr. Piatt's sjilendnd abilities first received recog- 
nition in 1853, when he w-as elected judge of pro- 
bate by his townsmen, and he contimu'd to hold that 
office three vears. Iti 1855-56 he w;is chosen clerk 
of the Coiuvecticut .Senate. (Jne of the fir.st to enlist 
under the standard of the Republican party on its 
organization, in 1856. he took a very active part in 
politics, atid displayed such marked ability that in 
1857 he was nominated on the Slate ticket for the 
office of secretary of State, was elected, and served 
one term. In 1861-62 he wa.s elected to the State 
Senate. In 1864 he w-as elected to the Coimcclicut 
House of Representatives, ancl was honored by be- 




. t. Ha, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



iiig inado chairman of llic judiciary cimiiniltcc. This 
a|)])oiiiiincnt carried with it, by Ion,;;- cstahhshcd cus- 
tom, the leadership of the jiarty. ami nohU- did ik' 
fultill the trust reposed in him. The coirstituiional 
ameinlnieiU iirovidin;;' for the extension of the elec- 
tive franchise to the soldiers in the held was jKissed 
hv the Senate by the part\- vote of ei.i;hteen to three. 
lii the Ilotise. a two-thirds vote beini;- necessary, 
it received the \otes of two-thirds of the members 
present and voting;". biU not two-thirds of all the 
members elected. The .Spiaker decided that the 
amendment was not carried. Mr. Piatt appealed 
from this decisi(>n. and after a ])rotracted ilebale 
the ajijjeal was sustained, and thus the amendment 
was adopted. Five years later he was a.s^ain chos- 
en to represent the town of Meriden in that branch 
of the (ieneral .\ssembly. At the be^innint;- of his 
latter temi he was elected Speaker of the House, 
and presided over its deliberations with wisdom imd 
impartiality. Wlun he retired from the Speaker's 
chair, at the close of the term, he was known and 
resjiected throut::hor,t the State as one of its purest 
and ablest officials, one whose qualifications for leg'- 
islative work were of an exceptionally high ordtr. 
and whose brilliant abilities, energy and inllnence 
it was eminently desirable to retain in the public 
service, \otwithstanding this, however, and in the 
face of a strong party sentiment to kee[) him in 
])uhlic life, Mr. Piatt retired for a time from ])oli- 
tics. to give his attention more fully to his law prac- 
tice, which had grown to very extensive pro- 
portions and demanded his close |)ersonal super- 
vision. 

During the whose ])eri(<d of the L'ivil wnv Sena- 
tor Piatt was a firm supporter of the war measures 
of the Federal Government, and was untiring, both 
as an ofnccr and as a private citizen, in aiding the 
Union cause. In 1877 he was appointed .State's at- 
torney for Xew Haven comity, which office he held 
until i87(j. when he was chosen by the Pegislature 
to succeed I'nitcd .States Senator W. H. Barnum, 
Democrat, who had been elected to fill the vacancy 
caused by the death of Orris S. Ferry, Republican. 
At this election, on the thirty-eighth ballot, out of 
the 14') \-otes cast, .Mr. I'latt received 76; Gen. Jos- 
e])h R. I law ley, one of the most popular men of 
the State, jj: and .Marshall Jewell, i. This bal- 
lot ])roving satisfactory, the n(imination of Mr. Piatt 
was on moti<'in made unanimous, and as the Re- 
publicans controlled the .State Legislature he was 
elected Senator of the I'nited States. I'rom his 
earliest manhood .Senator Piatt has always enjoyed 
the most implicit contidence of the citizens of Meri- 
den. When his election became known they gave 
liim an enthusiastic reception, members of both po- 
litical parties being represented. To be right has 
■ always been the leading as])irati<.in of the Senator's 
life; and. in response to some kindly words, he 
look advantage of the o])portiinity to emphasize this 
characteristic: "That which is right is priceless to 
me; and in all the cam])aigns and achievements of 



the Republican i>ariy in which 1 ha\e particip.r.eil 
1 have never steered' a mitldle course', but did what 
1 thought to be right." .V friend of excellent dis- 
crimination said of him at the time, and the words 
seem almost proplietic: "Senator Piatt carries to 
the Senate independence of judgment, intimate ac- 
quaintance with ])olitical history, and a thorough 
mastery of the fundamental principles of a repub- 
lican form <:)f government. \\'e greatl\' mistake if 
the .^^enator does not prove to be one of the ablest 
and most serviceable meml>ers L'onnecticnt has ever 
sent to the honorable l)od\' to which he is accred- 
ited." 

In 1883. at the expiration of his first term as ,1 
United States senator. .Mr. Pl.itt was unanimously 
re-elected; and in i8c)i and in 1897 hail again lie- 
stowed upon him this distinguished honor. It can 
be said with emphasis that his every otificial act has 
been prompted by the purest ])alriotism, and ha.s 
had its foundation in wisdom and honor. The oiilv 
question in his mind before faking sides ui)ou a 
jntblic issue seems to be: "Do the K-st interests <>i 
the people re(|uire that 1 support or ojipose this 
measure?" Senator Platl is a terse and forceful 
speakei'. .\t the ."^tate and cnuntv coineutions of 
his party he has been c;illed to preside manv times, 
and his services in such relations are characterized 
by ease and gracefulness, lie w;is i-lected ])resideiit 
of the Republican State Gonvention held at Xew 
Plaven in the fall of i8(;o. and spoke at length on 
the issues of the hour, llis services as a s])eaker 
are always in dem;uiil. .nnd ihe announcement of a 
speech or oration from him is sure to attract a large 
assemblage. ( )f his speech in ibe Sen;ite on tb.e 
Roach case the Xew ^'ork Record said: "The great 
spcxxdi of the debate was made by .Senator Piatt of 
Gonnecticut. It was ;i masterpiece of concise state- 
ments and irresistible logic, and he laid before the 
.Senate and the count r\- coldly and relentlessh- the 
damning charges which had been made against the 
Xortli Dakota senator ;uid which h:ul not been de- 
nied." The Xew 'N'ork I'ribunc said: "Senator 
Piatt's arguments were couclusive and impregna- 
ble. They left the Democrats without a leg to stand 
on." 

Like most ])ublic men, .Senator Plait has per- 
formed a vast amount of arduous labor fur which 
he receives no crt'dit from the general public. Per- 
haps his greatest achievement in the eyes of the 
world at large is the amendment to the Guban Gon- 
stitution, which received the a])])roval of Gongress 
and the President, and is ninv an iutegr;il part of 
the organic Law of the new re])ublic established on 
our lx)rder by the magnanimity and ]irestige of the 
greatest of llie world's re])ublics. Without resort- 
ing to the arts of tlu' practical politician Senator 
Piatt has attained to the highest legislative rank' in 
the Republic, and he is one of the rare examples of 
marked success, professionally and politically, to 
whose record his fellow citizens, who have known 
him from boyhood, can point young men, and with- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



out hesitation invite them to make it a study for 
their conduct in life. 

In private hfe Mr. Piatt holds a high place, be- 
ing greatly respected and esteemed by all whose 
privilege it is to come in contact with him, and prob- 
ably no man in Connecticut enjoys a wider or more 
enduring popularity. Without show or ostentation 
he has done much as a promoter of Christian and 
philanthropic work. 

On May 13. 1850. Senator Piatt was married to 
Mi<s Annie Bull, daughter of James Perry and Ann 
(W'allis) Bull, of Towanda, Pa., and two children 
were born to the marriage, James Perry and Daniel 
Gold. The latter died in 1864, aged six years. The 
mother died in November, 1893. She was a prom- 
inent memljer of the First Congregational Church 
of Meriden, and was ever greatly interested and 
active in its charities. On April 29, 1897, Mr. 
Piatt married Jeannie P., widow of George A. 
Hoyt, of Stamford, and daughter of Truman Smith, 
formerly United States senator from Comiecticut. 

— HOX. LUZON B. MORRIS. In the death of 
Gov. Morris, late of Now Haven, Aug. 23, 1895, 
there passed away a fine type of citizen — a life 
furnishing an example of what one may accomplish 
by pluck, energy and ambition, a type of manhood, 
too, tiiat the people especially delight to honor, for 
ihrough his ambition and .sheer force of character, 
unaided and alone, he rose from a lowlv station 
in life to positinns (if distinction and eminence 
among men. 

Gov. Morris was born .\])ril 16, 1827. at the old 
Morris homestead in Xewtown, Conn., the second 
son of Eli Gould and Lycha (Bennett) Alorris. 
For generations his paternal ancestors had been 
residents of Fairfield county. His grandfather, 
great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather all 
liore tjie name of Daniel, and a striking coincidence 
in tJieir lives was that all lived to the same age, 
])assing three score and ten. TheS'e ancestors were, 
respectively, Daniel of Bridgeport. Daniel (2), bom 
1715, in Bridgeport, married (first) in 1741 Sarah 
Mackhard, who died in 1761. He died in 1792. 
Daniel (3), horn in 1730, in Bridgeport, married 
JNlrs. Marv (Salter) P.urritt (widow of Israel Bur- 
ritt). wJiii was born in .\ntigua, one of the West 
Indies, and came thence to Bridgeport, Conn. 
Daniel Morris (3) located in Newtown, and later 
his fatlier, Daniel (2), settled lliere, botji engaging 
in agricultural jiursuits at what is l<nown as Walk- 
ers l'"arms, Tlie son was active in local aitairs, 
and was regarded as one of tJie leading men of 
the town in liis day. 

Eli Gould Alorris. father of our subject, was 
born June ('1, 1783, in Xewtown, became a success- 
ful farmer, and w;is held in jiigh regard among his 
associates for Iii< excellent judi^inent. In 1819 he 
l")urcliased from Mrs. Curtis the fann now occu- 
pied by jii^ son. Hon. Eli J. Morris. His religions 
connections were with the B;iptist Churcli. Polit- 



ically he was a stanch Democrat. He had mar- 
ried, in early life, Lydia Bennett, who was born 
June 4. 1793, daughter of Thaddeus Bennett, of the 
town of Trumbull. Mr. Morris died Jan. 3, 1856, 
and his wife survived many years, passing away 
July 2, 1879. They had children as follows: Eli 
J., twrn in 1821, married in 1830 Jane E. Chambers. 
He died in i9or. Luzon B., late of New Haven, is 
the subject of this review. Martha J., born in 1835, 
(lied in 1877. 

Luzon P.urritt Morris attended for a time the 
common scjmols of his neighborhood in the Berk- 
shire District, having among others, as his early 
teachers, Peter C. C. Warner and Charles Beers. 
At fifteen years of age he began to shift for him- 
self, being apprenticed to a blacksmith at Roxbury. 
and later he worked in the edge tool factory of 
Raymond French, in Seymour. Ambitious for an 
education, he saved his earnings and applied them 
to that end. He attended the Connecticut Literary 
Institute, at Suffield, where he was prepared for 
college, then enitered Yale, and 'wias giraduated 
witii the class of 1S34. After this event he was 
I-irepared for the |>rofession of law. ]iartlv in the 
Law School and ])art!y in an office, and was ad- 
mitted to the Bar in 1836. He began practice in 
Seymour and at once engaged in political life, 
identifying himself with the Democratic party. In 
1855 and 1836 lie was sent as a representative from 
the town of .Sexmour to the Legislature, and in 1837 
he clianged his residence from Seymour to New 
Haven, having been appointed judge of i)robate 
for the New Haven district, to which office he 
was elected six times. His wide experience gained 
in that incumiiency was the cause of his having 
been made chairman of the commissioners appointed 
by the Legislature to revise the probate laws of 
the State. In 1870 he represented New Haven in 
the Legislature, and in 1874 he served in the State 
Senate. In the former body he was chairman of 
the committee on Railroads, and in the latter he 
was chairman of the Judiciary committee and also 
president pro tem. He was returned to the Lower 
House in 1876. also in 1880 and 1881. and in the 
last two sessions was active in the discussions on 
the question of flie boundary line between the States 
of Coimcctictit and New York, and again served 
on the Judiciarv committee and as chaimian of the 
committee on incorporations. The commission to 
which the Iioun(l.ir\- line disiwte was referred 
agreed to fix tlie line in the middle of the Sound, 
a decision which preserved to ConnecticiU lands of 
immense value to the oyster producers along the 
coast. Throughout his l(^ng period of public serv- 
ice Judge Morris gained a thorough knowledge of 
legislation and administration, ,-uid Jiis experience, 
probity and faithfulness to trust C(Mnmended him 
for an influential place in his profession and in the 
pnlilic councils, ;md assured to him the esteem of 
iiis fellow citizens, without regard to partisan dif- 
ferences. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



For twenty-five years or more before his deaili 
Judge Morris was a tlistiiiguislicd mcTiiher of the 
New Haven County Jiar. his practice being largely 
connected with the settlement of estates, lie was 
known as a clear-headed and conscientious lawyer. 
As the agent of Daniel Hand judge Morris handled 
for him more than one million dollars, and was 
instnnnental in establishing the Hand Academy, at 
IMadison, Connecticut. 

judge Morris along in the 'eighties began to 
be talked about as an available and good man for 
governor, and in 1888 he was placed in the field as 
candidate of the Democratic party for that high 
office. He received at the election following a 
plurality of the votes cast, but not a majority, which 
the State lequires to elect, and, the Legislature 
being Republican, his competitor was chosen. 
Judge Morris was again a candidate at the ne.xt 
election for the same office, and although he re- 
ceived a majority of the votes, as shown on the face 
of the returns, he was restrained from assuming 
the duties of the office through technicalities. Again 
in 1892 he was for the third time a candidate, and 
won, and gave the State one of the best admin- 
istrations it ever had. His career, as referred to 
in the introduction of this review, was one of his 
own shaping and forging, and is a good exemplifi- 
cation of what may be accomplished in this country 
bv men of genius and perseverance. For years 
before his death and in the mature years of his 
life he was one of the State's most trusted coun- 
selors. For more than twenty years he was prom- 
inently comiectefl with the Connecticut Savings 
Bank of Xew Haven, he was ever greatly inter- 
ested in the schools of New Haven, an interest pro- 
ductive of much good. He served on the New 
Haven hoard of education and also on the board 
at Westville, and in each body was president. 

On June 15. 1856, Gov. Morris was married 
to Eugenia L. Tuttle, who was born Oct. 5, 1S33, 
daughter of Lucius and Laura Tuttle, of Seymour, 
Comi., and to the union came six children, namely: 
Robert Tuttle, born May 14, 1857, a practicing 
surgeon in New York; Mary S., born Dec. i, 1858, 
who married Charles '\l. Pratt, of Brooklyn. N. 
Y. : Helen H.. born Alay 12. 1863, who married 
Prof, .\rthur T. Hadley. of Yale College: Emily 
E., born June 2(\. i8''io: Charles Gould; and Ray. 
The daugliters are c;raduatcs of Vassar and the 
sons of Yale. 

Mrs. Eugenia I.aura rrnllle) Morris is a de- 
scendant in the eighth generation from William 
Tuttle, the emigrant ancestor, who came to New 
England in the ship "F'lanter" in 1^135. He was 
at Boston, then became one of tlie planters of the 
Colonv of Xew Haven, his name ajipearing of 
record in ^C^jt,. and that of his wife, I'lliza-beth, in 
1684. Mrs. Morris' line nf descent is through 
Simon, Timothy, Ephraim. Lucius, Lucius (2) and 
Lucius Tuttle ('31. 

(H) Simon Tuttle. son of William, baptized 



in 1O47, in Xew Haven, marrieil about 1679. He 
remo\'ed to Wallingford about 1685, and died in 
1719. His wife, Abigail, died in 1722. 

(Ill) Timothy Tuttle. son of Simon, born in 
1^182, probably in .\"ew Haven, marricfl (first) in 
1703 Thankful Doolittle. He explored the coun- 
try, wi'ut to \\ allingl'ord. and cleared u]) a farm in 
wliat aftt'rward became Cheshire. In 1723 the West 
Wallingford District was made a Society. Timothy 
Tuttle was chosen moderator, and his name is the 
first on the records of the town. He tlied in 175O 
in (.'hcshire. His first wife died in 1728. 

(I\') ICphraim Tuttle. son of Timothy, born in 
1 7 10, married (second) in 1734 Hannah, daughter 
of Stephen Pangborn. She died in 1756. He died 
in Cheshire in 1773. 

(V) Lucius Tiutle, son of Ephraim. born in 
1741). in Cheshire, married in 1773 Idannah, daugh- 
ter of Lieut. Andrew JLdl. She died in 1800, and 
he died in 1846 in Wolcott, at the advanced age of 
ninety-seven years, b'or seventy-two years he was 
a consistent member of the Congregational Church 
in Cheshire. Lie had the entire confidence of the 
community, and shared largely in its offices and 
responsibilities. Early in the w-ar of the Revolu- 
tion he entered the service of his country as a 
lieutenant, was at Boston, and at the battle of Long 
Islanil. He was in command of his company, 
which was in Col. Baldwin's Regiment, in 1777, at 
iMshkill-on-the-Hudson. also at the surrender of 
Biirgoyne. 

(VI) Lucius Tuttle (2). son of Lieut. Lucius, 
born in 1776, married in 1802 Rebecca, daughter 
of Mark Harrison, a descenrlant of Thomas, one 
of the first settlers of Branford. Mr. 'I'uttle settled 
in Wolcott in 1800, and died there in 1865. His wife 
died in 1870. Mr. Tuttle was the most enterprising 
and energetic business man in the histor\- of the 
town. 

(ATI) Lucius Tuttle (3), 
born Sept. 17. 1805. married 
.■\nn Bennett. He (lied April 1 
21, iSgO- 

(\'IiI) Eugenia Lain-a Tuttle, daughter of 
Lucius (3), became the wife of Luzon B. Morris. 

jAMKS HADIJA' LL. 1).. I'rofessor of Greek 
at Yale and Law Lecturer at Harvard, was born in 
I'airfielil. X. Y.. Marcli 30. 1821. .After complet- 
ing the regular course at the I'airfield .\cademy he 
acted as an assistant there for some time. Entering 
the Junior class at 'S'ale, he was graduated in 1842, 
receiving tiic degree of Master of Arts in course, 
and snliscqnently studied theology. From Septem- 
ber. 1844, to Aiiril. 1845. he was tutor in mathe- 
matics at Middlebury (\'t.) College, and in the 
fall of the latter year returned to Yale as tutor 
in Classical History, remaining in that capacitv un- 
til advanced to the .Assistant Professorship of 
Greek, .'succeeding President Theodore D. Wool- 
sev as full Professor in i8^8, he retained that Chair 



son of Lucius (2), 

Oct. T, 1S29, Laura 

[3, 1858, and she Dec. 



lO 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



until his dcalh, uhicii occurred in New Haven 
Xuv. 14, 1872. rrol. Hadley also lectured in t'he 
Law J)e])artnicnt of \"ale and delivered a course 
of lectures at the Harvard Law Scliooi in 1870- 
71. He \\a> ]iresidem I if the American Oriental 
Society in 1870-71, was a nieniher nf the \ational 
,\cademy of Science and of tjie .\inei-ican I'hilo- 
li)j;ical /Vssociatinn. and served u])on the American 
Committee for the re\ision of the Xew Testament. 
l'"r(im Wesleyan he received the dej^ree of Doctor 
of Laws in 1866. Aside from the distinction he ac- ] 
(juired as professo)' and lecturer he \\a> widely 
known as a student of philoloLiy and as a con 
trilmtor to various reviews. 

ARTHl'R T\VL\L\G HADLEV, LL. D., thir- 
teenth [jresident of Vale, was horn in \ew Haven, 
Conn., April 23, 1850. He conies of an Academic 
family. His grandfatlier. James lladie\-, was ]>ro- 
fessor of Chemistry in Fairfield Aledical College, 
in 1 lerkinier county, X. Y. His father, James Had- 
ley, was one of the ninst notahle nf ^■ale■s Iijiil;- line 
of notahle instructors. His meni(ir\ is treasured 
with feelings uf woe l)\- thousands of students 
throughout this country who have strugglfd 
through his Greek (irammar: though as a teacher 
liis memory is honored to-day liy all of the large 
numher ot Vale students who came under his m- 
structii in. 

Arthur Twining Hadley fitted for college at the 
] lop-kins (irammar School, of Xew ll.-iveii. and en- 
tered \'ale in 1872. He graduated in 1870. A. li., 
being the valedictorian of his class. Though one 
of the youngest men in his class he carried of¥ 
abundant and varied honors, taking the Woolsiw 
and P)risted Scholarships, one (d" the Wintliro]) 
jirizes given to students "most tho|-iiughly acquaint- 
ed with (ireek and Latin I'oets," the Clark Prize 
for the solution of astronomical problems, one of the 
Townsend Prizes for English Composition, and was 
also a junior exhibition speakei;. lie spent a vear 
in [jost-graduate studv of jiolitical science in \ew 
Haven, and then went tihroad and spent two vears 
in the s.inie branch of stud\- at the Cuiversitv- of 
Jlerlin, under W'.igner, Treikclie and ( ineist, also 
taking up historw ( )ii his return vn America he 
was given ;i tutorship at ^'ale. and coiilinued there 
in tli.'it capacil)- until 1883, leaching various 
branches, hut mainly (ierman. During tlie ensuing 
three years he was Cniversity Lecturer on Rail- 
road A<lmiiiistration, c<intriI)Uting during this peri- 
od a series of articles on transpcu'tation to Lalor's 
CyclojKeilia of Political .Science, and ])art of the 
article on Railways in the luicyclopn:<lia Britannica. 
Jn 1885 ap])eared bis "Kailwa) Transportation; 
its History and Its Laws," which is one of his best 
known works, and has gone through translations 
into I'Vench and Russian, in 188') Prof. HadUw 
was electe.l by the cori)oration to the Professorship 
of Political Science in the Graduate Depiirtmcnt, 
which he held until his election to the PresideiKw : 



during the absence of Prof. Sumner he also sub- 
stituted in the Academic Uepartment, 1891-93. He 
has also lectured at Harvard, the Massachusetts 
Listitute of Technology, and elsewhere. Gov. Har- 
rison, in 1885, appointed him Ci;inimissioner of 
Labor .Statistics of the State of (,'onnecticut, and 
his two reports in this capacity are marvels of re- 
search into the details of his work. 

It is impossible here to more than summarize 
Prof. Hadley"s writings, lie has contributed nu- 
merous articles to the ])rincip;d magazines of the 
coiniiry, and had an article in IfarpL-r's Magazine 
for April, 1894, in which he he laid stress upon 
the value of Yale Democracy, the importance of 
a high standard of scholarship, and strict adherence 
t'o it, and the utility of athletics as a factor in Cni- 
versity life. His greatest work. ■'Economics: An 
.\ccount of the I-ielation lietwceii Private I'roperty 
and Public \\'elfare." ajjiieared in i89f), and is in 
use as a text-book in a number of colleges. He 
was associated with Col. H. G. Prout in the editor- 
ship of the Railroail Gaccttc from 1887 to 1889. 
Ill 1898 J'rof. Timothy Dwight resigned the |iresi- 
<lency of Yale, and the problem which confronted 
the cor|)oration — the task of finding ;i successor — 
was no small one. There was a general feeling 
that it would perhaps be well to break away from 
s(jme of the established precedents into somewhat 
broader methods. After months of careful consid- 
eration the choice devolved upon Prof, lladlew who 
was elected thirteenth president of the I'niversitv 
in 1891 J. The very fact that be was chosen marks 
a radical departure from ^'ale's traditions and 
shows the ability of the man. for he is the first 
jiresident in all of Yale's \^\ii hundred \ears of 
history who did not i|ualil'y himself to prefix Rev- 
erend to his name. lie assumed ofliee at Ciim- 
meiiceiiu'in. in l8c/), and began his iluties with the 
well wishes of thousands of \:\\v alumni all over 
the conntry. In 181)9 au'l i<;o_' he was honored 
with the degree of 1 J.^. D. from several institutions. 
I'rof. lla<Iley married, June 3, i8<ji, Helen Har- 
rison, daiightir of (iov. Liiz<in P>. .Morris. Thev 
li:i\e three children: -Mori-is, Hamilton and Laura 
ll;idlev. 

H().\. D.WTD TORRANCE, of the town of 
Derb\'. The career of this citizen, soldier, lawyer, 
legislator, .State officer, jurist, for a decade past 
.Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of I'.rrors 
of Connecticut, and present Chief Justice of that 
court, is an illustration of the possibilities aftorded 
by a Re])iiblic:m form of government to any of its 
citizens thou,gh they come as he, a poor fatherless 
ho\- froni a foreign shore — an illustration, too, of 
merit and abilitv winning its way from un])romising 
beginnings to the most honorable ptisition in so- 
ciety. 

Judge Torrance was born March 3. 1840, in 
the city of Edinburg-h, .Scotland, a son of Walter 
and .\im (.Sharp) Torrance. The father having 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1 1 



died, the widowrd in.itlK-r. when David was nimi- 
vcars of a.L;-!.-. came will) her live ediildren to liio 
"United States, lucatiiit;' in Xorwich, Conn., where 
David attended the puhHc sclmols for live years. 
At fourteen it fell to his lot to work in a cotton 
mill, and when lifleen years of a.L;e he enrcrcd tlio 
Cdielsea I'ajier Mills at dreenvilk'. in the town of 
Xorwich. to learn the trade of iiaper-makini;'. 
There the hreakiiii;- onl of the Civil war found him 
and tired his yonnti' patriotic heart. .V younj;er 
hriither, lames Torrance, had ]>revii'Usly eidisted 
and served through the (leriod of the three months' 
call in the 3d (.'onn. \'. I., then I'e enlisrrd for three 
vear.-' in the i.^th Conn. \ . 1. Da\iil remained at 
iiis work. hoW(.'\er, umd the follow ini;- year when 
the call for volunteer.-- hecanie so hmd he felt that 
he must heed it. and on July 17. iSdj, when the 
18th Conn. \". 1. was makin;;- it]), he enlisted as a 
jirivate in Comi)any .\. nf that re.i^iment, ami was 
chosen a seri;-eant of the ci>mijan\-. 'Ihe iXth was 
a gallant thou.gh unfortunate regiment in the liattle 
at'W'inchester, \'a., June 13, 14 and 15, 1863; when 
engaged as a part of the connnand mider Ceii. .Mil- 
roy, it did desjjerate lighting and won un(iualified 
praises from that officer. Jlere, in a third and 
last charge, it wholl_\- disahled a Confederate hat- 
tery, though it lost 500 of its luen wdio were ca])- 
tured iiy tlie enemy under (ien. Johnston, Sergt. 
lorrance among the nnniher. and were sent to suf- 
fer the h<irrors of Lil)])y I'rison, and afterward 
r.elle Islanil. ^'oung Torrance shared the f<irtimes 
of the regiment up to the time of his ca|)lin-e and 
parole in July. 1863. In the meantime, on May 
J4, 1863, his hrother James, a young tnan of twenty 
and of distinguished hravery, was killed in a charge 
in hattlc at Port Hudson. At the close of that year 
Sergt. Torrance was apijointed cajitain of Com[)any 
A, 2(jth t'otm. \'. I., a colored organization com- 
manded hy the late Hon. William 1'.. W'ooster, of 
Derby. Capl. Torrance was advanceil to the posi- 
tion of Major in July. 1864, anil to Lieutenant 
Colonel of the regiment in Xovemher of the same 
year, servin.g in this position until the regiment 
was mustered out at llrownsvillc, Texas, in Oc- 
tober, 1 865. 

Retin'uing to Connecticut with an honorable 
record after the war. Col. Torrance, in January, 
1866. entered the office of his su])erior officer. Col. 
Woostcr. with whom much of his army life had 
been passed, as a law student. P.efore entering the 
army he had cherished the ])urpose iif stud\ing law. 
and there lie really began while yet in camp await- 
ing the disbanding of the regiment, lie ]nu-sued 
his studies m the office imder Col. W'ooster until 
in 1868. when he was a<liuitted to the liar in Xew 
Haven county for the jtractice of the law in all 
the courts of Coiniecticut. Soon afterward he en- 
tered into partnership with his ])receptor under the 
firm name of W'ooster & Torrance. The senior 
member of the firm was already known and eminent 
as a counselor, for lie had had a l.'irge practice bc- 



f(:)re entering the service, which lie <lid Irom a sen>e 
of duty, cio.-ing his oftice and going to the front. 
The new firm went before llie ])eo|)le of ISirmiug- 
ham and tlu: town I'f Derby with a magnificent 
title, and both members being soldiers the two 
colonels brought to their oflice the jirestige of bravo 
leadershi]! in the army; both possessed those manly 
graces which win favor from the ])ul)lic and secure 
]H)])uIarilv ; and. both wi'iv known to be honest men. 
tried and true — men whum their clients could trust 
to the farthest extreme. A large and lucrative 
jiracticc was the logical result. The juninr mem- 
ber of the linn won decided respect for his ability 
wherever he conducted cases in court, and as the 
vears passed grew into great favor. He aftiliated 
with the Republican party, and in 187 i was clecteil 
from the town of Derby to the Cieiieral .Assembly, 
and was re-elected in 1872. Here he appeared to 
advantage Ixjth in committee work and on the floor 
of the house, his rare good sense and practical 
mind commanding the attention of that body. In 
the fall of 1878 he was nominated by his party, 
the Republican, for Secretarv of State, and was 
elected, serving two years with that efficiency that 
had previouslv marked his work in other lines. 
In 1881 he was appointed Judge of the Court of 
Coninion fleas of .Xew Haven county, and in 1883 
he was reappointed Judge of the same court, but 
before entering upon his second term he was made 
Judge of the -Superior Court of the .'-^tate. In 1890 
"he was advanced to the highest judicial tribunal 
of the State, the .Supreme Court of I'.rrors. In 
1899 he was elected a member of the faculty of the 
Universitv of Yale, holding the chair on ]".vidence. 
On Oct. I. K)or. he was apiiointed Chief Justice 
of the .Supreme t'onrt of Errors of C'onnecricut. 

The law linn t)f Woostcr ..S; Torrance was 
changed in January. 1882, to that of Wooster. Tor- 
rance & Gager. the latter gentleman, who had beeu 
a law student in the office since in Jul\-. 18S1. hav- 
ing been admitted to the linn at that time. ( )n his 
appointment in 1885 to the Pencil of the Sui)erior 
Court, Judge Torrance withdrew from the firm. 

.Such a career as is outlined in the foregoing 
brief article is certainly uniiiue. ;ilmost jiheiiom- 
eiial. ( )iie lias onlv to read between the lines to 
judge of the man. of his worth to a community to 
a State, and to a nation. In suggestions of what 
were the elements and traits composing his note- 
worthy life, a writer in the Xew ll;iven C'ouuty His- 
tory said of him : 

Judge Tcrnuicc i< uliolly .i -ill-in.ule m;iii. Tile Col- 
leges eannot claim him. llintinh ^'al^• I'liiversity lia> con- 
ferred upon him the honorary .\. .\I. Tlic law school-; 
tannot declare that tlicy .gave liim his suslaineil intellectual 
power and logieal acumen. Mis education has l)(.-en his 
own work, ami tlie curriculum of liis studies, his own 
pl.auning, and the zeal willi whicli ho has pursued them 
has been determined hy liis own tasti-s. lie was hy nature 
liberally supplied with good Scolch sense, and with the 
metaphysical tendency of the Scotch mind. The world is 
! not all one-sided to him. hut every jiro has a con. and 



12 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



withmit effort both of those will appear at the same time 
111 hi5 mind, each to be weishcd and credited with its 
value, and then, when the balance is struck, it does not 
need revision. 

The trend of his mind has an illustration in a matter 
somewhat private, and yet not exclusively so. For many 
years a club composed ot a few of the citizens of Birming- 
ham, drawn together by kindred tastes for philosophical 
studies, has held weekly meeting. Its name is taken from 
the Greek word for mind, and hence it is called the "Nous 
Club." Judge Torrance has been the leader in its discus- 
sions, though his modesty would forbid him from claiming 
to be more than a peer among equals. .-MI the members 
are en rapport with the object of the club. The latest 
subject of investigation in metaphysics has been "Kant's 
Critique of Pure Reason." Such subjects as that are both 
informing and recreative to this inquiring company, and 
no one takes more pleasure in these analytic, acute and 
logical excursions into the realm of pure and applied reas- 
oning than Judge Torrance. He is an independent thinker, 
and wherever truth may lead he will follow, whoever may 
keep him company. It is easy to see how such a mind 
naturally gravitates to the judge's bench. 

But with his Scotch metaphysical intellectuality is 
united an affability of manner which can state an inde- 
pendent judgment frankly, and even vigorously, and yet 
not give oft'ense in any quarter. He has that quality of 
agreeable genuineness which wins a liking from its very 
frank sincerity, and hence few men have created fewer 
antagonisms than he in all the walks of life — hence, too. 
his popularity wherever he is known. 

Judg-e Torrance i^ a ineniher of the ?iIasonic 
fraternity, a distinijuishcd nieinbcr of the Army 
and Xavy Club of Connectictit, and closely asso- 
ciated with the Ti. .\. R. Tie never allows himself 
to forg'et the old comrades in arms; and when he 
is not sitting; on the tribunal of jtvstice makes him- 
self as one of his many friends. He is always 
in demand in a social way, and his speeches at 
dinners and anniversaries arc features of the oc- 
casions. 

On Feb. 12, TSfa, while home from the war on 
furloug-h at Norwich, Conn., the then Capt. Tor- 
. ranee was married to Miss ,\nnie France, of that 
citv. and the union has been blessed with three 
children, namely: Marsjaret, d. : Walter ?.; and 
Tames F., who was rrraduated from Yale Law 
School in 1894, and was ]w\^e of Probate Court, 
and is now proscctitino- attornev of City Court. 
The familv are parishioners of the Cono;reo:ational 
.Church at P.irmin,c:hani. and prominent in social 
life. 

Tinx. J.XAIFS FDW.XRD FXCLISH. ^Icm- 
ber of Cong-ress, Covernor of Connecticut, and 
United States Senator, whose death occurred at his 
home in New Haven, Ararch 2, iSqo, full of years 
and honors, was pre-eminently a self-made man; 
more so than any other of New Haven's citizens un- 
less it be the late Hon. "Ror^er Sherman. 

]\Ir. Eng-lish was born ATarch 13, 1812, in New 
Haven, son of James and Nancy ('Ciriswold) Encf- 
lish, the father a citizen hi,c;hlv respected for his 
personal worth, who intelliiicnlly dischars:cd several 
public trusts with fulelitv. The mother was a 
woman of sin.i:;'nlar sagacity: she was descended 



front a family greatly distinguished in the history 
of Connecticut, having given to it two governors. 
Our subject's paternal grandfather was the com- 
mander of vessels engaged in the West India trade 
and his great-grandfather fell pierced by a bayonet 
in the hands of a British soldier, at the time of the 
invasion of New Haven during the war of the 
Revolution. James E. English was a descendant 
in the sixth generation from Clement English, of 
Salem, Alass., his line being through three successive 
Benjamins to James English, his father. The first 
Benjamin English, son of Cleinent, born in 1676, 
tnarried Rebecca Brown, in 1699, and in 1700 settled 
in New Haven, where for two hundred years his 
descendants have been identified with the town. 

The subject of this sketch in boyhood exhibited 
singular self-reliance, a trait of character that ever 
remained with him. At the age of sixteen he was 
apprenticed to the trade of a carpenter, and be- 
gan his first work June 27, 1827, on the old Lan- 
casterian school house. His apprenticeship closed 
on his twenty-first birthday. He never worked as 
a journeyman at his trade but at once became a con- 
tractor, and followed this occupation until twenty- 
three years of age, by which time he became the 
possessor of a moderate capital. Having natural 
architectural tastes, he designed and erected in this 
short experience a number of creditable buildings in 
New Haven ; and for the next twenty years he was 
engaged in the lumber business, covering a period 
when commercial enterprises of every kind were 
stibject to great fluctuations — a period of general 
financial embarrassment, when many men found it 
difficult and often iinpossible to avoid commercial 
disaster. Far-tseeing and always looking beyond 
the present, he avoided speculation, never being san- 
guine nor despondent. He branched out in his 
lumber business, buying and building vessels, en- 
gaged in shipping clocks to Philadelphia, and re- 
turning with coal and general merchandise to New 
Haven and other ports, and in this was successful. 
Next he became identified with the manufacture of 
clocks, having successfully re-organized the former 
Chauncey Jerome works under the name of the 
New Haven Clock Company. In this enterprise 
he was associated with Harmanus M. Welch, after- 
ward president of the First National Bank, and for 
several years a partner with him in the lumber busi- 
ness ; also with Hiram Camp, these three purchasing 
the clock plant. In a few years they made this com- 
pany not only a success, but one of the largest clock 
manufacturing concerns in existence. IMr. Eng- 
lish, about this time, became promincntlv identified 
with the First National Bank of New Haven, and 
also with the Connectictit Savings Bank, having been 
at the head of the latter institution from its organiza- 
tion in 1857. He was largely interested in various 
manufacturing and commercial industries in this 
and other States, being also associated with the 
management of the .Xdanis Express company. Etni- 
ncntlv successful in accunuilating ]>roperly. by judi- 




i^^^^^^-'-'^'^^--^^-*- G> m:>/^^£^-^'^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



13 



cious investiiK-ms in real estate he tinally became 
the owner of ])robably more business buildinsjjs than 
any other individual in New Haven. He was a man 
of the strictest integrity, taking no advantages of the 
great opportunities that arose during the war by 
changes in the financial policy of the governmeiu, 
which greatly alYected commercial values, of which 
some men of high station availed themselves. .\'ot 
a dollar of his large fortune came from speculation. 
His business sagacity made it all. "If 1 have been 
successful as a business man, it is because I have 
been content with reasonable profits, for I know that 
enormous gains soon invite ruinous competition." 

Politicallv Mr. English was reared a Democrat, 
and "ever remained faithful to the conviction of a 
lifetime, that only by adherence to the principles and 
policv of genuine Jeffersonian Democracy could the 
State reach the full proportions of a free and pros- 
perous community." He held many iiublic trusts, 
covering a period of forty-one years — 1836-1877. 
He was selectman of his town from 1836 to 1848; 
a member of the common council in 1848-49; rep- 
resentative in the State Legislature in 1855-56; Stale 
senator from 1856 to 1859; member of Congress 
from 1861 to 1865; governor of Connecticut from 
1867 to 1869, and again in 1870; and United States 
senator by appointment from 1875 to 1877. "The 
municipal trusts of his early manhood were those 
imposed upon him by the general conviction of his 
fellow citizens, irrespective of party, that their in- 
terests might be safely confided to his recognized 
integrity, capacity and public spirit." 

"His services in both branches of the Legislature 
were generally marked by attention to the business 
rather than to the political aspects of the legislation 
in which he was called to act. When, subsequently, 
he became governor of the State, the practical cast 
of his mind was conspicuously manifested in the 
emphasis which he gave in his messages to the cause 
of free public school education, and in the advocacy 
of which he was ultimately successful. 

"But that which specially and honorably marks 
Mr. English's public career is the course he pur- 
sued while a representative in Congress. His term 
of service, extending from i86r to 1865, covered 
that period in our history during which slaver\- 
ceased to disgrace the Nation, and the constitutional 
amendment prohibiting involuntary servitude be- 
came the supreme law of the land. Mr. English 
went to Washington a pronounced War Democrat, 
believing that the great national exigency demanded 
every sacrifice to prevent our great republic from 
being divided into perpetuall\' contending and con- 
temptible fragments. 

"\\'hile as a Democrat he fully recognized the 
constitutional right of the .Southern Stales to the 
possession of their slaves, he also felt that slavery 
was a monstrous injustice, and therefore had no 
regret when, as a war measure, he found himself at 
liberty to record alike his abhorrence of slavery and 
his sense of justice toward the owners of slaves in 



the District of Columbia, ])y voting for the bill which 
united the emancipation of the .-•lave with compensa- 
tion to the master. 

"Long before the close of the war it became evi- 
dent to all thoughtful observers that the question of 
general emancipation musi be met sooner or later, 
and Mr. English made up his mind 10 lake the 
hazard and incur the odium of voting with his po- 
litical opponents whenever, in his view, it became a 
political necessity. More than a year before the 
final passage of the bill providing for the necessary 
constitutional amendment, the position of Mr. Eng- 
lish was well understood in Washington. When 
the bill was first introduced in the House by Mr. 
Ashley, of Ohio, he was assured of Mr. English's 
support in case it was needed. But when it was 
found that the Administration party were not united 
on the measure, Mr. Ashley advised Mr. luiglish 
not to vote in its fa\or, as it was sure not to pass. 
With a very practical conviction of the follv of 
striking when there is a certainty that nothing will 
be hit, Mr. English acted ujion this advice, but with 
the emphatic assurance to Mr. Ashley that whenever 
it was necessary he might rely u])on his vote. When 
informed a year later that the bill would be put to 
vote the next day, Mr. English was in New Haven, 
in attendance upon his sick wife. Traveling all 
night, he reached Washington in time to listen'to a 
I part of the exciting debate, and to hear his name 
called among the first of the ten War Democrats 
who, as it was hoped, would vote for the bill, and 
■ whose votes were necessary for its passage. When 
his ringing 'Yes !' was heard in the crowded gather- 
ing there was general applause. To a New Haven 
friend who was in \Vashington a day or two after- 
ward he said. T suppose I am politically ruined, but 
that day was the happiest day of my life.' 

"Mr. English's position at this time was a verv 
exceptional one. Tlie number of War Democrats iii 
Congress was small, and most of them were verv 
tmiid. But there was never any doubt from the 
first where .Mr. English stood or how he woidd 
vote when the final crisis came. 

"While thousands of men in our coimtry have 
been examples of cons])icuous success in business, 
in political life, and in generous benefactions, few 
have had the opportunity, and fewer still the sagac- 
ity and the courage, to appreciate a great political 
emergency, where duty calls for a sacrifice of the 
ties which ordinarily bind a man in public life to 
act in harmony with the party to which he is at- 
tached. It is sometimes a great thing to have the 
courage of one's convictions, and the favorable 
mention of his name at one time as a candidate for 
the Presidency of the United States was an honor- 
able recognition of the public appreciation of his 
vote, as having been dictated by conscience and a 
sense of duty." 

Blessed with abundant means Mr. English gave 
liberally to many institutions and objects. Several 
_\ ears ago he gave $10,000 to the Law School of Yale 



M 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



College to establish a library fund, and also $20,000 
to the Sheffield Scientific School to found a chair in 
mathematics. He later contributed the sum of $21,- 
000 t.i) l>uild the English Drive in East Rock Park, 
and also made numerous genenjus donations to the 
General Hospital and to various other charities. 
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, where he regularly at- 
tended for over forty years, Ix'ars him in grateful 
remembrance. 

< 'n Jan. 2-^. 1837. Mr. English was married 
to Camline Augusta Eowler, of Xcw Haven, and 
of their four children — three sons and one daugh- 
ter — the youngest, Henry F., alone survives. Airs. 
English die<l (Jet. 23, 1874, at the age of sixtv-two 
years, and on Oct. 7. 1885. Air. English was' mar- 
ried to Miss Anna 1\. Ahirris, of New York, daugh- 
ter of Lucius S. and Letitia C. Morris. 

LX)XALD (iRAXT .AHTCHELL, LL. D., 
author and lecturer, and whose beautiful country 
home, "Edgewood," in the vicinity of Xew Haven, 
has been made famous and familiar to the readers 
of -some of the author's writings, comes of sturdy 
Xew England stock of State'and Xational rep'- 
utation. 

Mr. .Mitchell was Ixirn .April 12, 1822, in Xor- 
wjcli. Conn., son o.f Rev. Alfred and Lucretia 
( Woodbridge ) .Mitchell, and grandsun <>f the dis- 
tinguished jurist, Hon. Stephen Ali.x Mitchell, LL. 
D., of W'ethersfield, Conn. The latter was a native 
of that town, born Dec. 9. 1743. son of James 
Alitchell (an emigre from Scotland) and Reliecca 
(Mix) Mitchell. Stephen was graduated from 
Vale in 1763, and was a tutor in that institution 
during the years 1766-69. He then studied law, 
was admitted to the Bar in 1772, and settled in 
the practice of his profession in Wethersfield. In 
1783 he was elected a delegate to the Continental 
Congress, and re-elected in 1785 and 1787. He was 
appointed associate justice of the Hartford County 
Court in 1779; lie was presiding judge from 1790 
to 1795; ^"d was then made judge of the Superior 
Court of Connecticut. In 1807 he became Chief 
Justice, and in that year Yale conferred upon him 
the degree of LL. D. He was elected a senator 
of the Cnited States, to fill the vacancy caused by 
the death of Hon. Roger Sherman, taking his seat 
in that body Dec. 2, 1793, and serving till 1795. In 
1805 he was a I'residential elector. It was largely 
through the cft'orts of Justice Alitchell that the 
State of Connecticut was able to establish lu-r title 
to the tract of land in ( )hio known as the Western 
Reserve, which was sold, and the proceeds devoted 
to the School fund, lie died in W'cther.sfield, Conn., 
Sept. 30. 1835. 

Justice Alitchell was a grandson of Rev. Steplicn 
Mi.x, son of 'riiomas Mix, of the New Haven 
Colony. Rev. Air. Mix had been graduated at 
Harvard but three years when called to the church 
at Wethersfield, and in 1693 he began a long and 
successful pastoral term in Wethersfield. His wife. 



whom be married in i6(;6, was Alar\-, daughter 
of Rev. Stilomoii .Stoddard, of Xorthamptoii, Mass. 
His iKnise was one of the six fortifieil in 1704. 
Rev. Air. Alix died after forty-four years service, 
in 1738. 

Rev. Alfred Alitchell, sonof Justice Alitchell 
and the father of Donald (Irant Alitchell, was born 
Alay II). 1790, in Wethersfield, Conn. He was 
graduated from Yale in 1809, and studied theology 
under the direction of Ebenezer Porter and at .Vnd- 
iiver (Mass.) Theological Seminary. He jireached 
for a short time in Rridgewater, Alass. On Oct. 
2y. 1814, he was ordained pastor of the Congre- 
gational Church in Xorwich, Conn., and continued 
in such relations until his death, which occurred 
Dec. Kj, 1831. Alany of his sermons, mostly me- 
morial, were iniblished. and were jirinted in the 
l:vaui:^clical Magacliic. 

Donald (Irant Alitchell, the subject proper of 
this sketch, was prepared for college at a lioarding 
school in Ellington, Conn., and by Dr. John Hall. 
From that school he entered A'ale, from which he 
was graduated in 1841. He spent the next three 
years upon the farm of his maternal grandfather, 
in the town of Salem, Conn., where he likely re- 
ceived his impressions of country life which he later 
so beautifully portrayed in his books. He was 
much interested in agriculture and wrote a number 
of letters to the Albany Ciiltirator, and took a 
prize given by the Xew A'ork Agricultural Society 
for a plan of farm buildings. In 1844 he went 
to Europe, where he spent about two \'ears ; he 
passed a part of one winter on the Isle of Jersey 
and the following spring and summer in rambling 
over England on foot, visiting every county and 
contributing occasional letters to public journals. 
On his return to this country he began tfie study 
of law in Xew A'ork. The confinement in a law 
office was not. however, conducive to his health, 
which was not robust and the state of which was 
the occasion of his farm life at Salem after his 
graduation. While pursuing his law studies he 
published "Fresh (jileanings ; or a Xew Sheaf from 
the Old Fields of Continental Europe, by Ik Alar- 
vel." In 1848 he again went abroad, and traveled 
through luigland and Switzerlan<l. He was in 
Paris during the rexTtlution of that year, the experi- 
ences of which he gave in the "Battle Summer," 
pivblishcd in 1849. On his retuni to this country 
he published at New York a weekly periodical in 
the size and style of "Salmagundi," called "The 
Lorgnette," and later it was issued in book form, 
and under the noiii dc t<lttme of "John Tiinon." 
.Although this work attracted much attention for 
the brilliancy and style the autlior's incoiinito was 
preserved for nearly a year. Following this Air. 
Mitchell brought out his more popular work, "Rev- 
cries of a Bachelor," the basis of which was orig- 
inally a contribution to the Southern Literary Mes- 
senger, under the title "A I'ach-elor's Reverie." In 
1 83 1 he isiied "Dream Life,'' written in the same 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



'5 



win of ha7.y rciiiiiii^concc. in wliicli many fnul 
ijlimpses of their own lives. Sonic one has said 
that these compositions are to American Uterature 
what a wood lire is on a (h-cary da\. Tlicy are all 
warmth and cheer and li.Liht. They somewhat re- 
semble lr\in.u's ■■Sketch Hook," in their tender 
sentiment, and in the eiei;ance and delicai-\ of their 
diction, which has placed them anmn- ilu- classics 
of .American literature. 

Mr. Mitchell, in 1S54. wa> appointed I'nited 
Slates consul to X'enice. where he heujan collectinLT 
material for a liistor\- of the N'enelian l\e])nl)lic. 
This. Iiowexer. was never cimipleled. ])nt some of 
its material is set forth in his lecinre. ■■'Titian 
and his 'I'inies." delivered liefore the N'ale .Art 
."-^chool, and inchlded in his \olnme entitled ■■liound 
Ti-ti'ether." Returnini;- lo .\merica in 1H53, .Mr. 
Mitchell purchased a farm in the- \icinity of New 
Haven. Conn., which he named ■■I'.di^ewood," upon 
wliicli he has since resided, and which has become 
famous through his books on rural life. "My Farm 
of Etlijewood." an<l ■■Rnnd .'-^Indies with Hints for 
("ountrv Places." Thest- works were preceded li\ 
■■l'uds;e Doiniis." which ai)peared originally in the 
Knickerbockers Moi^arjiiic. 

Mr. Mitchell has been an occasional contrib- 
mor to If driver's Mtii:;a::iiic and the Atlaiilic Month- 
1\. besides writing- for other (leriiKlicals and de- 
livering- lectures and addresses on subjects con- 
nected witli literature and agriculture. In 1868 he 
edited the Atlantic .\lnianac, ami in iSixj-^o edited 
for a year or more the Hearth and lloiiie. He 
was appointed one of the judges of Industrial Art 
at the Centennial Exposition, 1876. He has been 
one of the council of the Yale Art School since 
its establishment. He was L'nited States commis- 
sioner to the Paris Exposition of 1878. In that 
year Yale Universit\- conferred n])on him the de- 
gree of LL. D. 

Mr. Mitchell's jjublications, besides those men- 
tioned, include "Wet Days at Edgewood," iS()5; 
"Seven Stories with Basement and Attic," 1864; 
'■Dr. Johns," a novel, i86<'j; "About Old Story- 
tellers," 1869: and "Pictures of Edgewood," 1877; 
also a series of literary i>apers delivered 'before 
various educational institutions and published un- 
der the general title of ■■ICngli^h Lands, Letters 
and Kings," four volumes; "hYoiii Celt to Tudor," 
i88<): "I->om Elizabeth to Anne," 1890; "Queen 
Anne and the Ceorges," i8<;5: ■'The Later (ieorges 
to X'ictoria," 181)7: also ".\nierican Lands and Let- 
ters," two volumes. 

In 1853 Mr. .Mitchell was married to Mary, 
(laughter of William W. I'ringle, of Charleston, 
S. C and a great-granddanghter of Ri'becca Mottc. 

H().\. HARMAXUS M. WELCH, in whose 
memory a dormitory was erected at Yale L'niversity 
n 1892, was born in L'ast Hampton, Conn., July 
18, 1813, and died in Xew Haven, .May 2<). 1889. 

At about si.xteen vcars of age he went to .Am- 



herst inteii.liiio t,, fu hini>elf eventuallx 1^ practice 
medicine. Imt was induced to enter a commercial 
life, and belurr he became of age he had com- 
menced in his iiwn name a bnsinos career which 
extended n\er half a cenlury. and which w.'is one 
i}f unswiiving rectitude and marked success. 
Starting in I'.ristol and I'lainville. Conn., he later 
became intei-ested in >« mie of the mo>t prosi)eroiis 
manufacturing enterprises of the State — made so in 
large measure bv reason of his clear judgment. 
I In many respects his might serve as the model busi- 
ness career, especially so in its industry and tlnir- 
ougliness, and in his willingness to serve the pub- 
lic in positions wlure the duties were arduous and 
criticisn-i certain. 

While living in Plain villi' he was chosen to re()- 
reseni llartford county in tlu' State Senate, and 
served in ciilierenl ]ierio(k in the < ii-neral .Asseiii- 
! bly. He moved to .\ew lla\en in 1848, and be- 
j came the partner of Ibm. James IC !-",nglisli, who 
1 was afterward member of ('ongress. ( iovernor of 
Connecticut and I'nited States Sen;itor. This part- 
nership continued until his death. 

In i860 Mr. Welch w-as elected ma\i)r and con- 
tinued in that office until 18(13. While niavor his 
equipment and forwarding <if troop> were especiallv 
conspicuous, Imt his greatest service tn his country 
w-as the promjjtness with which he and his ass<v 
ciates tendered financial aid to the ( iovernment in 
j the tii-i-ie of its greatest need in |S()3. ])y the forma- 
tion of the First National Hank "f Xew Haven, of 
w-hich he was the organizer, and for over tw-enty 
years the president. This bank, w-liile numbered 
two on the list of the Comptroller of the Currency, 
was really the first to fully e-i)mi)ly with all the re- 
quired conditions, and the nior.d effect upon others 
bv his early action was. in view of his well-known 
conservatism and that of others connected with him, 
very beneficial. 

For the last tliirt\- years of his life Mr. Welch 
was constantly entrusted b\- the ]x-ople of .Vew 
Haven with positions of fiduciary resi)onsibility. 
Alost of that time he acted as town and city treas- 
urer, but, perhaps, by his services upon the board 
of education he will he best remembered locally. 
When he assumed office the credit of the School 
District was at its lowest, an<l its notes had gone 
to protest. He advanced the money to complete 
the Eaton School, an<l was instrumental in the 
creation of a strong public sentiment in favor of the 
common schools, giving as he did for a generation 
much of his time to the interest of public education 
in New Haven. He watched and largely .guided 
its evolution from the chaos in which he found it — 
but a little in a<lvance of the methods of the red 
school house of his youth — to the Hillhouse High 
School, w-hicli at his death had become the feeder 
to the University and conspicuous for tliorou,gh- 
ness in the preixiration of its pupils. He not only 
believed in compulsory education, but was decidedly 
of the opinion (and he was well fitted to intclli- 



i6 



COMMEMORATIJ'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



gently discuss the subject) that tlirough such means 
the so-called problem of immigration would be 
solved. Few men outside of those connected with 
educational institutions have been able to serve so 
long a period and to accomplish so much. 

Xor was his work in this direction confined to 
the school board. Until within a few years the 
■Young }ilen's Institute furnished the only avail- 
able public library, and the general public was sin- 
gularlv indifferent to its needs. Air. Welch was 
a trustee of the little property of the institute, and 
bv patience, together with wise judgment in invest- 
ments, he lived to see it firmly established in its 
own building and l)ecome self-supporting. His 
last service before returning home for the day, and 
but a few iiiiurs before his death, was the fulfill- 
ment of an appointment in the interest of this 
library. 

The quality which above all others distinguished 
Mr. Welch was the keenness with which he felt 
the responsibility of any private or public trust con- 
fided to him. These trusts were many, but, whether 
small or large, they received from him attention to 
the last detail, such as few men give to their own 
affairs and still less to the interests of others. It 
was this acute sense of his duty, rather than care 
of his own property, that prevented his ever taking 
needed rest, and though he fitted himself by ex- 
tensive reading for the enjoyment of travel abroad, 
and always looked forward to such a trip, he never 
found an opportunity when he could even tem- 
porarily put aside his cares, without seeming to 
be neglectful of what he conceived to be his duty, 
and without doubt his unwillingness to take needed 
,rest greatly shortened his life. He was possessed 
(]f an active mind, gifted with a remarkable mem- 
ory, and, spending his entire leisure in his library, 
his intellectual attainments became, especially in 
American history, of a high order. Indeed, he 
was an excellent example of the fact that an active 
business career is not inconsistent with studious 
Iiabits. 

PARKER. Probably no name in New Eng- 
land is more extensively and favorably known to the 
manufacturing world) at large than that of Parker, 
the products of the Parker factories reaching all 
parts of the civilized world. The several large cor- 
]>orations of the Qiarles Parker Co., of Meriden 
and vicinity, in which in recent years the sons — ■ 
I'harles E. and Uexter W. — of the late Charles 
Parker, have figured so prominently, have not only 
given the name world-wide fame, but have also giv- 
en prominence to the city of Aleriden as a manufac- 
turing center. 

Charles I'arker, whose life spaimccl almost a cen- 
tury, passe<l away at his home in Meriden on the 
morning of Jan. ,^i, i(>o2. (Iraud in achievements, 
lie ])assed a life surely not lived in vain. Mr. Par- 
ki r \yas descended from William F'arker, who was 
an iiriginal j)rnprictiir of Harttord, Conn., in 163^1. 



He removed to Saybrook, Conn., probably within 
ten years. His wife's Christian name was ISIargery. 
Charles Parker was in the sixth generation 9jlf»l 
them, the line of his descent being through John, 
Edward, Joel and Stephen. 

(II) John Parker, son of William, born in 164S, 
married in 1670, Hannah, daughter of \\'illiam Bas- 
sett. John Parker was among the early settlers of 
Wallingford, Coiui., and from him the name was 
given to the farm still known as the "Parker farm." 

(III) Edward Parker, son of John, born in 
1692, was three times married, and his first wife's 
name was Jerusha. 

(I\') Joel Parker, son of John and Jerusha, 
born in 1723, married in 1746 Susannah Ilotchkiss. 

(V) Stephen Parker, son of Joel, born Aug. 5, 
1751), married (first) in 1787 Sally, daughter of 
Joseph Twiss, and (second) \\'ido\y Rebecca Stone, 
daughter of Joshua Ray. Airs. Rebecca Parker died 
July I, 1846. The children liorn to the first mar- 
riage were: Clarissa, Zeri. Stej^hen. Stephen (2), 
Sarah, Clarissa (2), Joel and Isabella. To the sec- 
ond marriage were born John, Betsey, Chacles and 
Edmund. Stephen Parker was a soldier,, in the 
Revolutionary army. 

(VI) Cu.vRLES P.VRKER, SOU of Stephen, was 
born Jan. 2, 1809, and at the age of nine years went 
to live with Porter Cook, a farmer of \\'allingford, 
Conn., with whom he remained five years, during 
which period he was occupied in doing chores and 
work on the farm. Iii' the winter seasons he at- 
tended the neighboring schools. \\'hen eighteen 
years of age he entered the employ of Anson Mat- 
thews, a manufacturer of pewter buttons, in South- 
ington. Conn., and received for his services six dol- 
lars per month and his board. A year later he be- 
gan c^nployment with Harry & Horace Smith, who 
were also engaged in making buttons, and received 
for his labor his board and an advance on his for- 
mer wages of six dollars per month. In 1828, after 
six months' service with the Smiths, he went to 
Meriden and became employed by Patrick Lewis, 
a manufacturer of coft'ee-mills. By close attention 
and application he mastered this business in one 
year's time, and in December, 1829, entered into a 
contract with Patrick Lewis and Elias Holt to make ' 
for themi a .specified number of coffee-mills per 
month. Starting with a capital of only seventy dol- 
lars, he made under his contract in thirteen months 
a profit of $1,800. In 1831 he became associated 
wiith Jared Lewis, and they continued in the same 
line under contract. In January, 1832, Mr. Parker 
sold his interest to his partner and bought an acre 
of land, 011 which be began the manufacture of cof- 
fee-mills and waffle-irons. In November, 1833, his 
brother Ejlmund and Hcnian \Miite became asso- 
ciated with him as partners, under the finn name of 
Parker & White. Under the de]iressiiig influences 
of the financial panic of 1837 the firm temporarily 
sus]X'nded, but before the expiration of the year 
1842 liquidated tlicir in<lel)tedness in full, with in- 



>^ 




• / 




r>Ay/lcAy 



COMMEMOKA TIVE BIOGRAI'JIICAL RECORD. 



'7 



terest. la 1<S45 ihc tinn was diAsoKcd, ami Mr. 
I'arUer coiuinuL-d ilie lm>iiic.s.s aloiu-, U111J1.T tlic 
name of the L'niun \\'ork>. Jlc iiuulc additions 
to the phuit, and putlins; in a CorHss cnj^inc <j1 eigh- 
tv-horsc j)ower entered ujjon a career of prosjieritv 
and success. In 1S77 .\lr. I'arker urbanized a jcjint- 
stock company under tlie name of the Charles 
I'arker Co., under whicli style the Ijusiness of the 
Union Works has since been carried un. The prod- 
ucts of tlie company are chietly \\uoi\ screws, pat- 
ent bench vices, cattee-mills, lamps and piano sIlkjIs. 

The Charles Parker Co., of which Air. i'arker 
was president, his son Dexter Writjhl I'arker treas- 
urer, and a son-in-law, William Jl. l^yon, secretary, 
own a large factory in .Meriden, where are manufac- 
tured macliinists tools, and breech-loading double- 
barrelled shotguns, kn<jwn to all sportsmen as the 
'T'arker Gun." In tliis factory, during the Civil 
war, Air. Parker made guns for the United States 
Ciovernment. A factory at Yalesvillc, Coim., is 
owned and operated by the Charles Parker Co., for 
tlie manufacture of packing boxes, and a jwrtion of 
tlie coii'ee-mills and ])iano stools: and they have 
another factory at Hast .Meriden, for making tinned 
steel spoons and forks. In these varied industries 
about one thousand hands are employed. The com- 
pany also own and operate the Meriden Curtain Fix- 
ture Co., having the most complete manufactory for 
cinnain fixtures in the world. The Parker Clock 
Co., ui Aleriden. is also ]M'inci])ally owned and con- 
trolled by the Charles Parker Co. These combined 
interests mentioned give employment to about fif- 
teen hundred persons. The successful management 
of the various industries under the control of other.s 
must have re([uired an unusual executive ability, 
keen foresight, rare judgment, shrewd power of 
calculation, and a knowledge of men, not often found 
jxjssessed by a single man. 

There have been incidents in the life of the fa- 
ther which show that the necessity of economy and 
shrewdness neitlier hardened his heart nor closed 
liis hand when the welfare of those about him called 
for his aid. At one period in his career the late Will- 
iam L. P.radley, of Boston, widely known as the 
wealthy manufacturer of land fertili/ic'rs, was in his 
employ, at a salary of $3,000 a year. Mr. Pradley 
witJi his consent, engaged, in iiartncrshi].) with a 
friend, in an enterprise which, through the misman- 
agement of his partner, resulted in a loss and in- 
debtedness of $20,000. 1 le could not lie induced to 
com]iromise with his creditors, but determined 
to use every effort to ])ay his indebtedness in 
full, in order that he might carry out liis laudable 
determination Mr. Parker doubled his salary, and 
paid him four years salary in a<I\'ance. This was the 
turning point in the career of .Mr. ilradley, and to 
the generosity of Mr. Parker the remarkable success 
Of his future life was undoubtedly due. How rare 
in these davs are such men as Charles Parker and 
William L." P.radley! 

Mr. Parker was a member of the M. P. Church 
2 



of Meriden, and wiien the societ}- was organized he 
gencrotisl}- litted u[} one of his shops for its use. 
Jn 1S47 the .society erected a church costing $0,o<)O. 
and thrce-iiuarter.s of this amount and the lot ou 
which it stood were tlie gifts of .Mr. Parker. In 
J 860, when the present edifice was built at a cost of 
$8o,txx), one-hall of the cost was i)aid by the same 
gentleman. The citizen.- of .Meriden, in recognition 
of his public sjjirit, liis wortli as a man and the es- 
teem in whicii he was Jield. made him mayor of the 
city at its incor])oration. in 18(17. 

In 1831 .Mr. Parker was married to .\h\ Lewis 
l-".ddv, of Perlin, (.'onn.. and ten children were born 
of this union. Tli-i-e living are: Dexter Wright 
and Annie D.. the latter tjie wife vi William 11. 
Lyon. 

L^'( )\'. l-'or fiflx years or more the name of 
I,\oii has been proiiiiiieiitlv identified with the 
growth of Meriden, and during that time one of its 
veteran manufacturers, (ieorge W. Lyon, has fig- 
ured conspicuously — along witli (jther distinguished 
men, many of whom have long since been called to 
their reward — in founding, fostering and expand- 
ing the many corporations which have placed Meri- 
den in the first rank among the manufacturing cities 
of this country. 

Humphrey Lyon, who for forty years was one of 
the estimal>le citizens of Meriden, was born in l-^ast 
Haddam, Conn., Dec. 19. 1797, son of Charles and 
Lois (Grimes) Lyon. He was reared in Hast Had- 
dam, where he li\ed until after his marriage. AIov- 
ing to the .Slate of Xew ^'ork, he made his he^me 
there until near the mid<lle of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, when he located in Meriden, whither his son, 
George W., had preceded him. There he passed the- 
remainder of his life, and, until the infirmities of age 
caused his retirement, he was engaged actively in 
business. Interested in the growth of Meriden, lie- 
efficiently served his fellow citizens in local posi- 
tions, among others as selectman and tax collector. 
In his political views Mr. Lyon was first a Demo- 
crat, but he joined the l\e[niblican party on its or- 
ganization, the change being brought about by his 
love of liberie and alihorrencc of the wrongs of 
slavery. A man of strong convictifjus and uncom- 
promising opinions in jiolitical and religious mat- 
ters, he was respected for his kindness of heart and 
his absence of bitterness an<l anger toward tJiose 
who dififercd from him. During llie struggle for 
National life he was outspoken and active in his 
support of President Lincoln and the war measures. 

Air. Lyon was a firm lieliever in Freemasonrv, 
and was one of the oldest Masons in the State at the 
time of his death, which occurred .-Xjiril 13, 1887. 
He was made a Alaster Alasoii in Columbia Lodge, 
Xo. 26, F,ast Haddam. .\\}r\\ 8, 1818. was a charter 
member, W. Al. and treasurer of Aleridian Lodge, 
of Aleriden : was a charter member of Kevstone 
Chapter. Xo. 27, in 1854. and H. P. in 1855-56-57: a 
charter member of Hamilton Council, Xo. 22, Alarch 



i8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



in, 185'!, and T. 1'. M., i^!57-3i^: mul was treasurer 
(if ilk- i,li:!]iur ar.i] c imiril luuil t'ailin;;' sight ctnii- 
pelKd him I" drchiie further eKi-lion In office. l'V)r 
llle last leii _\ears of his hfu he w.'s tniall\- l)lind, Imt 
lie was al\va_\^ hi'ii^ln a:id eheerfiil and ready In en- 
iii\ a juke. MaM)..r\ with him meant SDniethint;' 
more rhan mere fnrm, and a> lie iKdieved il to l)c 
something;- to he li\-ed fur he al\va\> .^ave it willing 
and loval service. Sn far a-- was kni)\vn, at the time 
of his death there wi-re oiil\ two i>lder Masons in 
Connecticut — .\l)ijah l\es>i(|ue. of Ridgefield, raised 
in iSij, and Israel Coi-, nf Watei'lmry, from 1816. 
Mr. ],von was a memher nf the Societ\ of Masonic 
\'eleraiis from its formaliini niitil his diatli, and 
allended ever\- annual meeting until age and other 
infirmities |)re\-ented. Masonr\ has had many aljle 
e\|)oiu-nts in .Meriden. hut to none was it more in- 
dehled foi" the favorahle ]iosiiion it occujjied in the 
citv for nearly forty years than to llumiihrey Lyon. 

Ill iSi(; Mr. Lyon was married to Harriet C"an- 
fielil, of East lladdam, where they lived until 1826, 
coming to Meriden in 1,841;. To .\lr. and Mrs. Lyon 
were horn three sons and one daughter: ("leorge 
\\'.\ Ira C of llaltimore: William 11., who died at 
the age (d' twenty-four years; and .Martha Lmma, 
who now resides in Meriden. .\t an early age Mr. 
Lvon united with St. Stephen's Church, of which 
h.is father and gnuidfather, Robert Lyon, had both 
Ikci! active niemhers, his grandfalhcr giving the 
land on which the church hnilding stood. 

( ii'.oRia", ^\'. Lvo.N, son id' iiumphrey, was Itorn 
I'eh. _'_', 1822, in h'.ast ila.ldani. .and when a young 
ir.an, late in the 'forties, came to Meriden on a visit 
and ])ros])ecting tour. This city was Init a borough 
I if three thousand inhabitants and offered no special 
inducements, hut its citizens were energetic and dis- 
plaved enterprise .and public spirit. .\ young mnii 
<if cnergv himself and full of ambition, he was iii- 
iiuced hv this atmosiihere to .acceiit em])loyment for 
two mouths, which would enable him to ]n-nlong his 
\isit and look around. l're\-iousl,y be had harbored 
and planned for going to the West, hut this he aban- 
doiH'd, deciding to locate ]iennaneiitly in Meriden 
a.nd take ;i hand in il> bnsine.ss aff.airs. In less than 
a Near he was cng.aged in ;i contracting and building 
husiiK-ss, which he c-ntcred with onl\- a few hundred 
dollars in nioiuw, but with .1 will and ambition worth 
much. In the second vear id" his business career 
in iiartnershi]! with John I). I'.illard, under the firm 
name of Lvon &■ Ihllard. he had some one hundred 
men on his p.i\' roll and was filling contracts for 
erecting 1 wenl\-seven dwidling houses at one tiiue, 
as wcli as building factcnd^-s and other structures, 
'flu- ciMupan\- built the State Reform School, one of 
the most substantial edifices of that period. .\l)out 
this time the plant, on which there was no insurance, 
\s;is deslroved b\- I'ire, resulling in the loss of nearly 
c\er\ peiuiv Mr. Lmhi h.ad. Ihit undaunted and 
with a wdl! and delermintition to retrieve his loss, he 
wa< soon on his feet again and became most pros- 
[leidu- and successful. L.ater he assumed control of 



the factory, which \vas dcvclo]ied into that of the 
Meriden Alalleable Iron Co., of which he is now the 
president and lias lor so many ye.ars been at the head. 
This com])any was incorporated in i8f)8 wdth a cap- 
ital of $75,ocjo, wdiich has been since increased to 
$125,000 and now gives employment to 130 hands, 
d he company was formed for the purpose of niak- 
ing malleable iron but soon it was decided to manu- 
facture a line of kerosene goods, consisting of 
chandeliers, brackets, lamjis, etc. The goods now 
luade consist of cabinet hardw.arc, including furpi- 
turc castors, draw ])ulls, dro]) handles, towel racks, 
shelf brackets and a number of ]iatente(J specialties. 

In the e.arly 'fifties ^Mr. L\dn engaged in the 
Coal and lumber business, or rather added that as 
a br.auch to the Lyon & liillard Co., which carried 
on the business of contracting and buildirg, and in 
which he is still a large stockholder and director. 
Mr. L\'on has probably been instrumental in start- 
ing in as many industries and enter])rises as any 
man in Meriden, and in ntany of these he is a direc- 
tor. He was most active in organizing the Meri- 
den hire lnsnr;ince Co. Although never scekin.a: 
|iublic office he served several years as alderman and 
was a jirinic mover in obtaining the city charter and, 
along with Le\'i Coe, called a meeting of citizens 
with this object in view. Mr. Lyon is a man of po- 
sition and wealth in Meriden and is favorably known 
throughout Xew JMiglaud. 

( )n Jan. 2'j , 1852, ( leorgt' W. L\on was married 
to Harriet A. .Snow, of Westbrook, Conn., daughter 
of David anil Matilda (Doane) .Snow, of that town, 
d'wo sons and one daughter were given to Mr. and 
Mrs. Lyon. The eldest, Ennua J-, died in Septem- 
ber, 1802, seven months after the demise of her 
husband. Dr. Charles J. Mansfield, William II. is 
s|>oken of below; C'lvarles L. is manager of the Mer- 
iden Malleable Iron Co. Joel Doane, Mrs. Lyon's 
maternal grandfather, served as a priwate soldier 
during the last three years of the Revolutionary war. 

\\di.i,i.\M II. Lvo\. secri'tar\- of the L\oii & 
I'.illard Co. and the Charles I'arker Co., is one of 
the best-known business men in the city of Meri- 
den. llis birth occurred in that city .\ug. ii, 1854, 
and he received his education in the Meriden 
schools. .At a comparatively early age he began his 
business career in the office of the Lyon (.*t Billard 
Co., <d' which his father was the head, and hv his 
faithfulness and efficient discharge of duties has 
won. his wav to the res|ionsihle position he now 
holds. Dutv has been a watcdnvord with him for the 
])ast thirteen \ears, during wdiich time he has acteil 
as the efficient secretary of this large corporation. 
Tn i88t'i he entered the Charles Parker Co. as as- 
sistant to Dexter \V. I'.arker, who at that time was 
secretarv and treasurer of the organization, and in 
i88() Mr. Lvon was elected secretary and for the 
]!;tst twelve \-ears has h;>d charge of the whole vol- 
ume of business of the Chaides Parker Co. Tie is 
also president of the Parker Clock Co. and assistant 
secretarv of the Meriden Curtain iMxtiUT Co. In 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



"9 



liUNincss circk-s .Mr. Lvdii is ackiiijwlcdvoil a> a 
liian of ability and integrity. Ho is unasstnning and 
miostcntalidns in manner. His life is that nf a 
gDod citizen, l)nsy with the duties of sneh and de- 
voted to his family and frienils. in politics he is 
a l\e])iiiilican, lint the manifold cari.-s <j1 Inisiness 
levy Ml heavily upon his time that he never consents 
to hold pnblic office. 

In 1880 Mr. L_\on was married to .Mi>s Annie 1). 
I'arker, a daiiglUer of the venerable L'harles I'arker, 
vi -Meridcn, and one child has blessed this union. VA- 
sie I'arker. wdio graduated front Rosentary Hall, 
( Ireenwich, Cotni., in hjoi. Mrs. Lyon i> ;i leading 
member of the .Methodist (./Inn'cli in Meriden and 
belongs to Ruth Hart (.'hapler. l)anghler> uf the 
.\merican Revolution. The famih- is one of high 
social standing in Aleriden and .\lr. l,\iiii a thor- 
oughly representati\e business man. 

HON'. WAl/ri'.R IKKllII. wh.s- death oc- 
curred at his home in .Meriden. on .\pril ,^0. 1S70, 
was for many years a ]ironiinent man not <inlv of 
the city ii' which he lived btit in the state, and he 
was entinentlv a good man. 

Mr. llooth was born Dec. 8, ijqr, in Wood- 
bridge, CJjnn. When about sixteen years of age 
he caiuc to Meriden, where with little exception his 
life was passed. Tn his earlier life he ser\ed by 
appointment as ISrigadier (ieneral ;ind al>o as 
Major ("icneral of the St;;te militia. In 1850 he 
was sent to Washington as a representative from 
his district in Congress. He had previ<insl\' held 
sundry oflices in lioth town and Stale. At twt'iily- 
two years of age he was chosen deacon in the 
('entre (.'(ingregalional t'biu'ch. nf Meriden. and 
held such office for fifty-six vears. .\f the lime of 
his death he had been a director in the .Meriden 
National liank, for twent\' vears. and at one time 
was its 1 'resident. Heacon rinotli was .a (■hristian 
man. and. as stated, an eminently good man, ever 
active in all Church work. He had served as teach- 
er and Sabbath-school superintendent, and was sel- 
dom absent from his ])lace in the sanctnarv. 

Deacon liooth was a man of great sinijilicily 
and ])lainness of manner, was averse to all parade, 
and was strictly economical in his expendituri.-s. 
He was ever ready to aid any enterprise, either in 
business, civil or religious affairs, which i)romised 
to promote the secular or religions interests of his 
native town. His first wife, I,anra, died .\pril 5, 
1 84 1, and his sec(jnd, Sarah II., died Oct. -'4. 1871. 

LF.\-b:Rb:TT CAXDia: (deceased). The 
name of Candee is an old ami honored one in tin- 
btisiness life and annals of .\ew Haven, where the 
distin,gnished gentleman wIk.isc nami' introduces 
this article made for himself an enviable standing 
as the founder of tlie factory that has so long borne 
his name, from whicli has gone out such a vast 
volume of high grade rubber I>oots and shoes. Here 
rciilc and arc still active in business some of his 



descendants, noi.alily a grandson ami a namesake — • 
I.i-\erett tAmilee, the secretary ami treasurer of the 
I air Ha\(n and Westville ]\.iil\va\' Company. 

The late i.everetl Candee was born June 20, 
1 71;;, in (Jxford. Conn., a son of Job and Sarah 
I JJenham) Candee. and was descended in the filth 
generation from Zaccheiis Candee, who was born 
aliout I '140, and aj^pears of record in New Haven 
.It the lime of liis marriage, in 1670, to Rebecca 
Bristow, oi' liristol. She was born Feb. 4, 1650, 
and was a daughter of Henry Uristol, of New 
Haven, 'fhis couple resided in \\'est Haven, where 
they died and are luiried, .Mr. Candee dying in \JJ0, 
and his wi<low nineteen years later, at tlie ages of 
eighty and ninety-one years, res]jectivcly. From 
this settler the lineage of the late Leverctt Candee 
runs through Ca[)t. Samuel, Caleb and Capt. Job 
Candee. 

Capt. Samuel Candee, son of Zacchcus, was l)orn 
July 24, 1678, in West Il.aven, and was married 
-\pril 28, 1703, tf.) .Abigail I'ineon, of New Hart- 
ford. She was a daughter of Thomas Pineon, and 
resided in \\'est I laven, wdiere the name frequently 
occurs in the re'cords of the town. He served, re- 
spectively, as lieutenant anil as ca])tain of the local 
military company. Capt. Candee died about 174S, 
his wife Itaving passed away Jan. 9, 1743, at the 
age of sixt'c-thrc'c years. 

Calelj Candi-e, the son of Cajit. Samuel, was 
born in 1722, and married I.ois Alallory. 'I'hey 
settled in I he town of Oxford and were farming 
people. On his tombstone bis death is recorded as 
occurring Oct. 4, 1777. lli^ widow p.issed away 
in 1790. 

Cajit. Job Candee-, son of ( 'ale'b, w;is born in 
1750. and \^ ;is married in the town of .Southl)nr\', 
• let. 3, 1784, to Sar.ah lU'idiam. lioth of whom 
imitcel with ihe Church at ()xfi>rd, where tlu-y re- 
sided in 1788. Mr. t';indee \\a> a sildier in ihc 
\\:\r of the Re\iiliilii m. ;ind bee-.anie a captain in the 
militia service. fUr his kexulntionarv exjierience's 
he received a pension from the Ceneral (lovernmcnt. 
.A man of proniiiience in bis town, he represented 
it in the .State- I .e-gislature. Ca]it. Candex' die'd 
Dec. 2, T845: and his wife .March 20. 1840. at the 
age of seventy-live years. 

Leverctt Candee, wiiose name introduces this 
article, w.as a son of Ca])t. Jeib C'anelec, and left his 
rural bonu' in ()xford at the age of fifteen _\ears, 
going lo New Ilax'en, where he began his busi- 
ness career as a clerk in the store of Cajit. Gad 
I'eck, a merch.ant eng.aged in the foreign trade. 
.After a time Mr. Candee was identified with the 
dry-goods trade, as a number of tlie firm of Qm- 
dee. Dean & Cutler. In 1833 Mr. Candee withdrew 
from the firm, went lo .Ne-w A'ork, where lie was 
in the commission business for two years. In iS3.t 
he returned to New Ha\'en to be>come a jiartncr 111 
the firm of Cande-e, Lester & Page, commissiem 
merchants. .At Westville he was engaged in tlic 
manufacture of ii.aper, the firm then consisting of 
Candee. Page iS: Lester. .After a time Air. Lester 



20 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



withdrew from the firm, which tlien became Can- 
dee & I'age. This enterprise resulted disastrously, 
and all the fortune which Mr. Candee had accumu- 
lated thrnush vears nf toil was swept away. The 
mill was clused, and ^Imrlly after Mr. Candee be- 
gan the niannfactiu-e of sns]K'nders on East street 
in New Haven. In that same year ( 1842) Charles 
(^k>odvear gave Mr. Candee a temporary license to 
use his vulcanized rubber in the manufacture of 
rubber shoes. Xi)t lia\ing any capital himself, he 
enlisted the aid of Henry and Lucius Hotchkiss, 
at that time lumber merchants in Xew Haven. 
These gentlemen loaned Mr. Candee $3,000, and 
he immediately began operations, being the first 
person in the world to make rubber overshoes un- 
der the Goodyear patents. 

On Sept. 5. 1843, the L. Candee & Company was 
formed, consisting of Mr. Candee and Henry and 
Lucius Hotchkiss. The following year Abra- 
ham Heaton was admitted to the fimi. He added 
$3,000 to the capital of the business, making it 
$9,000 in all. Henry Hotchkiss bought out Mr. 
Heaton in 1847. So rapidly did the business of 
the Company increase that in 1852 a joint stock 
company was formed with a capital of $200,000. 
In 1869 this was increased to $300,000, under the 
present corporate title of L. Candee & Company. 
The four original subscribers to the capital stock 
were Mr. Candee, Henry and Lucius Hotchkiss 
and Timothy Lester; they were also the original 
directors of the Company. Mr. Candee was presi- 
dent, and C. T. Candee was secretary. In 1859 
Mr. Lsaac C. Hawthorne became President, 
and in 1863 Mr. Candee sold his interest in 
the Company to Henry Hotchkiss, withdrawing 
from the corporation, wdiich has still continued to 
grow until it is (Uie of the most important en- 
terprises of the kind in all the world. From the 
first modest factory in a single small building to 
the jiresent plant, comprising more than a dozen 
large brick buildings four or fiv^ stories high, oc- 
cupying iiearh' four acres, giving employment to 
more than fifteen hundred hands, with an output 
nf mure th;m 20,000 pairs of boots a day, the change 
is vast, and largely has been accomplished through 
the profound business and executive ability of Mr. 
Candee. 

Mr. Candee passed from his laliors May 23. 
iS(')5, and a ninnnnu-nt t(i his memory mrire durable 
rthan marble or bronze is the great manufacturing 
plrmt which still lienrs his name. He was an active 
member nf St. raul's Clnu-ch, and contributed very 
lihcr.allv 111 ,all its needs. l''(ir many years he was 
jiresident ryf the .\'ew I l,i\-en Cf)uutv P.ank, and was 
iieavilv interested in the Hard Ivubber Co., at Bea- 
con T-'alls, being also president of the Home Woolen 
Co., at tlie same place, at the time of his death. 
l"or some \c:irs he was an associate trustee of the 
^huual Life Insurance and Trust Company, and was 
also connected as a director with the Home Insur- 
ance Conipany. 



Mr. Candee was married to Jane Caroline Tom- 
linson, and this union was blessed with the birth 
(if one son, Charles Tomlinson, who was born Sept. 
r, 1830, and was married iti 1838 to Susan P. 
.Scranton, by wlmm he had two children: Leverett, 
liorn Nov. 28, i85(;: and .Susan I;uie, born Dec. 
6, 1865. 

11R( ).\S< ).\'. In the annals of the towns of 
Waterbiu'v and Xew Haven, for generations, we 
find the faniilv liearing the name which introduces 
this sketch has held a high place in the social, re- 
ligious, ])rofessional, business and public life of 
those comtriunities. Among the notable characters 
of the familv nf whom it is the purpose of this 
article to treat are the late Hon. Bennett Bronson. 
of Waterlnu'v ; his son, the late distinguished Dr. 
Henry I'.ronscju, of Waterbury and New Haven: 
and tile lattcr"s son, Hon. Samuel Lathrop Bronson.. 
law\er. legislator and judge. 

John Bronson. I'runson or Brownson, as it is 
spelled in the early records of Hartford. Farming- 
ton and W'.-iterbure. the emigrant ancestor of this 
Ijranch of the family, is believed to have come to 
America from England m 1636 in the party of Rev. 
Thomas Hooker, of whose church he was a mem- 
l)er. He was a soldier in the Pequot war, in 1637. 
and is of record in Hartford in 1639. It is known 
that he removed, about 1C41, to Farmington. where 
he was one of the seven pillars of the church at its 
organization there, in 1652, and he became a public 
man of that town, wdiere he died in 1680. From 
this emigrant ancestor Samuel L. Bronson. of New' 
Haven, is a descendant in the eighth generation, 
his line being through Isaac, Lieut. Thomas, Thom- 
as (2), Deacon Stephen, Judge Bennett and Dr. 
Henry Bronson. 

Isaac Bronson. son of John, of Hartford and 
Farmington, was born in 1645, ''•'d married Mary, 
a daughter of John Root. Lieut. Thomas Bron- 
son, son of Isaac, born in 1685, married in 1719 
Elizabeth, daughter of .Stephen Nepson. Thomas 
Bronson (2), son of Lieut. Thomas, horn in 171 1, 
married in 1734 Susanna, daughter of John South- 
mavd. Deacon !>tephen Bronson, .son of Thomas 
(2), horn in 1735, married in 1764 Sarah, daughter 
of Caleb Ilumaston, and was a thrifty farmer. 

Judge Bennett Bronson, son of Deacon Stephen, 
was born Nov. 14, I77.=i. married May 11, 1801. 
Anna, daughter of Richard .Smith, of Roxbury. 
Mr. Brons;)n was graduated from Yale in the class 
of 1797, from which went out into the world a 
number of men who became distinguished in their 
various callings, among them being Lyman Beech- 
er, Horatio Sevmour and Seth Staples. In his 
vniuig life Mr. lironson for a period was a lieu- 
tenant in the LTnitcd States army, then studied law, 
and was admitted to the Bar in Litchfield cotnity in 
1802. Industrious and studious in his early life, 
he rose to prominence, not oidy in his profession, 
but in Inisiness and public life also. For many years. 




X/(hu^t>t^ ocT //^-^^^ts^^^^^-L^ 



COMMEMORATIl'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



21 



he .servc(I as a magistrate and justice of llic peace 
in tlie town oi Watei'bnry, and in 1SJ4 was eieeieil 
judjjje of llie courts of New llaveu county, and 
remained on tiie iJench for six years. In iSjej 
Judt;e llronson was chosen U> represent tile lown 
in the LeijishUure. lie was \er_\- efticient and tlior- 
ouQJi in ali h'S undertal<inL;s, and performed tiic 
(hities of ins various ]jnblic trusts willi signal aliil- 
ite and to ihe satisfaction of all concerned, judge 
r.ronsoii was a good lawyer, of sound judgment and 
<liscrimina;ing mind, and made a thoroughly com- 
petent judge, proving himself a man of truth, fidel- 
it\- and ])robity. His reading was comprehensive, 
and his opiidons were often sought and relied upon. 
In 1814 Judge Bronson became interested in man- 
ufacturing. Jrlis death occurred Dec. 11, 1850. 

Dr. Henry Ih-onson, son of Judge Dronson, and 
the father of Hon. .'^amuel I.athrop I'ronson, was 
iKirn Jan. 30, 1804. the fourth son of the family. 
The other sons had received collegiate educations, 
hut Henrv received only a common-school and aca- 
demic education. However, his tastes were not in 
the line pointed out. His inclination was for a pro- 
fessional career, and he finally won the father's con- 
sent for preparation for the medical profession, and 
studied under Dr. Alden .Marsh, of .Albany. When 
through with the course he was immediately taken 
into ])artnershi]) with his preceptor. During the 
•epidemic of cholera, in Canada, in i8_^j. young 
Bronson was sent thither by his medical brethren 
to investigate the disease. His rejjort was so re- 
markable for its exactness, profundity and scientific 
insight that it at once gave the physician an ex- 
tended professional reputation. On returning to 
Albany, he was placed in charge of the tnree Hos- 
pitals of the city. 

On June 3, 1831, Dr. Bronson was married to 
Sarah M., daughter of Samuel Lathrop, of West 
Springfield. Three years later he removed to 
Waterbury, which continued to be his place of resi- 
<lence until Jan. i, 1845, wdien he removed to New 
Haven. In 1842 he had been elected Professor of 
^lateria ]\Iedica in the Medical Department of Yale 
College, but he retained his residence in Waterbury 
for two years thereafter. Dr. Bronson wrote vari- 
ous articles and sketches contributed to the New 
Haven Colony Historical Society, and also con- 
tributed articles to the Connecticut Medical Society. 
Of liis writings Dr. Francis Bacon said: "These 
productions show everywhere a conscientious indus- 
try in the collection of obscure materials, an intel- 
lectual skill in the use of them, and an unswer\-ing 
justice in the estimates of character that make them 
models for that kind of work. Dr. Bronson 
-chea])ens that of any successor he is likely to have 
in the field." 

Dr. l!rons(5n prepared a history of Waterbury, 
■which was published in 1858. and it has formed the 
basis on which nuich has since been written. His 
mind was strong and original, and despised su])er- 
ficial methods. His diagnosis cf cases was ex- 



haustive and accurate. Dr. Bronson is remembered 
as having a somewhat rugged exterior, but he was 
;i great favorite with the members of his j)rofes- 
sion, and those who knew him intimatel\- discovered 
beneath a brusc|ue maimer a sijftness of heart, and 
kindliness of nature, th;it endeared liiin to his 
friends. He gave the stmi of ten thousand dollars 
to the Waterbury llosjjital among the be(iuests in 
his will, and he lii)erally remembered the .\ew Ha- 
ven Hospital and \i\\c College. 

Dr. Bronson passed away Nov. 26, 1893, his wife 
]ircceding liim to the grave on .Vpril 29, i88(^ Tiieir 
children were: .^amuel L., born Jan. 12, 1834; 
(!!eorge, born in 183C), who died in 1837; Xalhan 
S., born Nov. 20, 1837; and Stcj)hen Henry, born 
Feb. 18, 1844, who died .Aug. 19, 1880. 

Jt.'DGE SAMuicr. L.\riiK()i' Bko.xson, son of Dr. 
Henry, was born in the town of Waterbury, was 
prepared for ^'ale College in the famous Gen. Rus- 
sell Military .School, of New Haven, and was grad- 
uated from Yale in the class of 1855. .After re- 
ceiving his di[)loma from Yale College he studied 
law at Yale Law School, and was admitted to tlie 
Bar in 1857. After becoming a member of tlie 
liar he removed to Seymour, and in 1861 was mar- 
ried to Miss I'rances I',. .Stodflard, daughter of Dr. 
Thomas and Esther Cilbert .Stoddard, of that town. 
Almost immediately after graduation he became a 
leader in the community, and in 1859 was sent to 
the General Assenibly from Seymoiu-. F.arly in the 
'si.xties he returned to New Haven, oijened a law of- 
fice, and very soon secured a large and lucrative 
]jractice. In 1866 he was made recorder of tlie city 
court of New Haven, and held that ixisiiion for 
three years, his administration being strong in ex- 
ecutive force and popular in its service to the pub- 
lic. In 1869 Mr. Bronson was sent from New Ha- 
ven as a representative in the General .Assembly, 
and was re-elected in 1875-76. As a member of 
that body he was recognized as the shrewdest leader 
of the Democratic side, and no man had a Larger 
following in his Republican associates. 

Judge Bronson was judge of the court of com- 
mon pleas of .New Haven county from 1870 to 
1871, and then declined election. an<l froni 1873 to 
187S he was coriioration counsel, being re-elected 
anmially, and filling both these positions with ability 
and distinction. F.verybody liked him, trusted him, 
and had no occasion to regret the confidence. .As 
a lawyer he very soon became completely occupied 
in attending to the clients who came to him in con- 
sultation. He was not known as a court lawyer, 
although he appeared in very many important cases, 
and alwa\-s with a marked degree of success, and 
his practice became very large and profitable. In 
1885 Judge Bronson retired from active practice, 
but has continued his relations with large corpora- 
lions and business interests in the citv. F\-idently 
he inherited his father's business instinct, for even 
in his boyhood days he became noted as a remark- 
ably successful business man, judic'.ous in his invest- 



22 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



nu-iits anil far-si^htnl in his cimsiileration of busi- 
nt-ss atfairs, Tnda', he i> aTn-iny llic few million- 
aires of the Stall'. 

( >n Sept. _>i. 11)110, at IJartfonl, Jml.^e i:>ronsoii 
was inaile the nnaninniiis chnice of the Democratic 
State ( on\entiiin as the party's camJidate for i^o\- 
eri'iir "f i niiiiecticiit. \-.\ C'diiL^ressman i'ii^'Ott, of 
New I la\'en, in ])resentinL;' the name of Jni-Ige Bron- 
sijii til tile CI in\entiiin. amnnL;" nlher things said: 
"Xii .i;iiiiil Willi] can he said in liehalf of any other 
befiire \Mii to-day that can.m.it he justly said of the 
one tn lie named hy me. lie cnmliines m himself all 
of the l;iiiii1 i|ti;dities of the gentlemen whose names 
lia\e heeii considered for the head of our ticket. 
No virlite can he ascribed to any of them that he 
does nut piissess in full mcasitrc. This being so, 
it fiilliiws that \'i iir wisdom will demand his selec- 
linn. lie has fdled and graced many offices of 
trust and himnr. h'or _\ears he has been a coun- 
selor of his jiarty. In age he is mature, not old. 
]n education he is a product of Yale. To the older 
members of our part\- thnuighout the State* he is 
well and familiarly known. Tn the younger mem- 
bers of the party I need only say he has the re- 
spect of all who know him. He is able and willing 
to lead in all the doctrines of the party. I'ossess- 
ing as he does all the attributes of success, why 
should he not be nominated? He is the unanimous 
choice of the party in his own city. No Democrat 
can be found in New Haven wdio opposes him. Due 
regard to the obligations of personal confidence 
fiirbids me to say how many thousands of New- 
Haven Republicans will vote for him. Nominate 
him, and New Haven will indicate, by 5,000 ma- 
jority at least, the esteem in which he is held at 
home. Nominate him, and every citizen in Con- 
necticut can for the next two years have the pleas- 
ure of knowing that the hniior, integrity, di,gnity 
and fair name of the State are in charge of one 
bevond reprnach. ( lentlemen of the cnnvention, in 
behalf of m\ associates and on my own part, I ]ire- 
sent fur \nur favorable consideration the name 
of Xew lla\en's fa\ored son, Sanuiel L. Ilron- 
sini." 

judge rSroiison is six feet in height, slender and 
stiaight as an arrow, lie has keen .gray eyes ;ind 
hair of the same shade. He is a man of striking 
appearance .and exci'edingly pleasing address. The 
keen mind for which he was noted when he jhtic- 
ticed law has not dimmed in the slightest degree. 
He imjiresses all who mi'ct him as being a man of 
large ment.al and moral strength, .and with more 
than an avera.ge sujiply of the milk of luiinan kind- 
ness in his character. ]le is of the liighest char- 
ac-ter, strict integrity keen in ability, the soul of 
genero'-it\-, and always a plain, sympathetic man of 
the pi-opie. 

judge I'ironson's t'hildi'en are: Thomas S., a 
]ih\sici;m in Xew llaven; j. llarmer, of Xew Ha- 
\en : .Sarah h'rances; h'.zekiel S. ; and Marion de 
h'orest. 



SCOVTLL (J. Af. L. Scovill was the first of the 
family to adopt the two "I's" in the spelling of the 
name'j. Among the old and leading families of 
Waterbury from its first settlement, are those bear- 
ing the name of Scovill. The names of James 
Mitchell Lamson and William H. Scovill, and the 
mcmorv of their useful, noble and grand lives will 
long be treasured by the citizens of Waterbury. 
They laid the foundation on which the great indus- 
trial' structure of the Waterbury of today rests. 
These brothers descended from Sergeant John Sco- 
vil, one of the original settlers of the town, and 
from him were in the fifth generation, their lines 
being through Lieut. \\'illiam Scovil, Rev. James 
Scovil and James. 

( I ) Sergeant John Scovil, the son of John Sco- 
vil, of Haddam, married in 1693, Hannah, daughter 
of Obediah Richards, and became one of the orig- 
inal settlers of Waterbury. 

(II) Lieut. William Scovil, the son of Sergeant 
John Scovil, born in 1703, married in 1729, Hannah, 
daughter of John Richards. 

(III) Rev. James Scovil, son of Lieut. William 
Sco\-il, born Jan. 27, 1732-33, married in 1762, Amy, 
dau.ghter of Capt. George Nichols. Dr. Scovil was 
graduated from Yale College in 1757. In 1759 he 
became the rector of the Episcopal church, in the 
missioin field at Waterbury, Northbury, antl wdiat 
is now Bristol, Conn. He made his residence at 
W'aterbury, and was the town's first resident rector. 
After his labors of nearly thirty years in this field, 
he removed in 1788 to New Brunswick, becoming 
rector of the church at Kingston. He died at that 
IX)int Dec. 19, 1808, in the fiftieth year of his min- 
istry. 

(IV) James Scovil, son of Rev. James Scovil. 
was born March 19, 1764, in Waterbury, and on 
Nov. 16, 1788, married Alathea. daughter of Mitch- 
ell Lamson, a merchant of W^oodbury, Conn. He 
became a prominent citizen of the town, was a large 
land owner, acted as trying justice, and was always 
known as b'squire Scovil. During the war of 1812 
he establishecl and carried on a woolen mill. He 
was a man of fine presence, and much dignity of 
manner and character. He died Nov. 26, 1825. He 
was the only member of his father's family who 
remained in W'aterbury on their removal to New 
Brunswick. 

James Mrrciii:t,i. Lamsox Scovill, .son of James 
Scovil, was born Sept. 4, 1789. in Waterbury, wdiere 
he attended the district schools. When seventeen 
he began clerkin,g in his father's store. In 181 1, 
associated with David I layden and Frederick Leav- 
enworth, he commenced the manufacture of gilt and 
brass buttons. In 1827 William II. Scovill jiur- 
chased the interest of Or. Lea\-enworth and Mr. 
Hayden, and the firm became j. M. L. iS; W. II. 
Scovill. The business under both firms from the 
start had been modestly successful, and the new 
firm continued to prosiier until the burning of their 



COMMEMORA TIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



factorv in i8ji). They rchuilt and llu-ir husiiu-ss in- 
creasctl ; some ton or more years later S. M. lUick- 
insham and Abraham Ives became interested in the 
button business with the ScoviUs, and the linn name 
changed to that ol" Scovill & Co. In the meantime 
the rolled brass and ]>laied metal part of the busi- 
ness ot' Scovill Brothers was beiiiii rajjidly devel- 
oped, aiul this, which had assumed an imiportant in- 
terest. the\- continued imder the name ol J. M. 1.. 
& W. 11. Scovill. The brothers also associated 
themselves with John r.uckins'ham, under the name 
of Scovill & r.uckingham. in the making of patent 
brass butts. About this time they began the manu- 
facture of daguerreotype plates, which was soon 
developed into an extensive business. In January, 
1850, a joint stock comjiany was formed under the 
name of Scovill Manufacttiring Co., into which all 
the interests of the foregoing were merged, some 
of their cmi)loyes being admitted as stock holders. 
Of this corporation the Scovills owned a majority 
of the stock, the capital of which was at the start 
$250,000. and some vears later was increaseil to 
$300,000. 

Dr. r.ronson in his history of \\'aterl)ury ( i|~'5S) 
says : 

The pre-dit iii.iii'.il'actnriMa; iiit<-rr-t~ nl' W'.itfrlmry are 
perhaps mi'ri- incltl)tiil In Laiiison .Scovill (Mr. Scdvill was 
generally called by the la^l of Iiis given names) than to 
any other man. He was hold, energetic and sagaciotis. 
He' had enlarged vie\v< and that degree of oonfidcncc in 
the future which injured siicceS'^. So soon as he got 
strength of hi-, own. he was ready to lend assistance to 
others. M.any enteri>rises have heeii carried forward to a 
successful result liy his relations, but his friends in the 
largest sense shared in his financial prosperity. He was 
foremost in all the improvenienls of his native village. 
His own generous impulses he did not he<itate to follow, 
even when indulgence was exin'U-ive. He was a large 
hearted man. with social, kindly feeling. I'ew jiersons have 
been e<pially respected or more beloved. He was a mem- 
ber of St. John's Church, of which he was an important 
benefactor. Hi< generosity and that of his brother Will- 
iam founded a [irofessor'^hi]) in Washington College which 
is named after tlie donors, 

I'elow are given some extracts from obituary 
notices of .Mr. S.'ovill which ai)])eared in one of the 
W'aterbtiry i)a])ers at the time of his death : 

Those who remember him in those early days, will 
hear witness to his native Uindne^s of disposition, the 
manly traits of his character: an infusion of a certain mag- 
nanimity which won for him llu' love of his .associates 
that made him almost their idol — hi<di-toned (pialities that 
never forsook him under any circumstances, and which 
were an index of that honorable ;ind usefid career that 
has since ass' ciated his name with all tli.at is good, up- 
ri.ght, enterprising and pnicticable, not only in the com- 
munity in which he lived, was born and died, but hi' in- 
fluence has been as broadcast, as his views more noble, 
imselfish and exi>anded. On reviewing the gradual steps 
by which he rose to the lofty eminence which he attained 
among his fellowmen, we have practical conuiient.ary of 
what can be achieved by a single individual who steadily 
pursues the well trodden path of industry, guided by per- 
severance. itUegrity and prudence. With a well balanced 
mind, without any pretensions to brilliancy, there was a 
massivencss in his intellect which enabled him to grapple 
with circumstances, to concentrate ami apply the means of 



^ucce^s to a remarkable degree. He wtjuld perhap- be 
cl.-issed by some a.s rather a slow ihmker. but when he 
made up his mind lo <lo a thing, it was a.s good as acci-'m- 
p'liiid. Thtiugh priigres-i\ e. be was ml -iieculalive. He 
miuutd lo be con\ meed before he ado|ned a Course of 
acuon, that done no more was to be saul ; and as in liis 
busmess character, so was it ui his general intercourse in 
the ordinary duties 01 s,,ci..ty. Xe\er olitrusive. he was 
ever forward in every euierprisc that woidd iirouiote the 
public good, leuilmg not I'uly lus persou.tl nUluencc. bm 
lavish with those means wuh wiiicii foriime had favored 
him. He took a lively iiuere-t in the politics <jf the day, 
yet had no asjiiratiou fm- oincc, though elected at various 
limes to represeiu liis native town in both branches of the 
legislature, ralher at tile iiilercessiciii of lus coustilueiiis 
than from his own choice. In lus private relations he was 
the soul of honor, never forget; mg a favor or neglecimg a 
friend. As he lived so he died, the simie Lamsou Scovill, 
as fresh in his feelings and sympathies as distinguished 
him in his boyho(i<l. 



On Oct. 0, 1841). Mr. .^covill was married to 
Mrs. Sarah .A. .Mnrioii. daughter of William H. 
Merriman, of W'atertown. 'i'heir children were: 
James M. L., born Sejit. 3, 1850, died at the a.ge 
of eight years: Sarah .\., born h'eb. 15. 185-', mar- 
ried Josei)h T. Whittlesey, of Xew Haven, and died 
Dec. 15, 1877; Henry W., born Nov. it. 185,^ mar- 
ried Ellen W'hittaker. daughter of T. K. Hyde, of 
Westerly. Rhode Island. 

James Mitchell I.amson Scovill died May 6, 
1857. and at the time of his funeral tiie factories, 
stores, and public places of Watcrbury were closed. 

WiLi.i.vM Hi-.NRV Scovii.i,, son of James Scovill, 
was born July 27, 1796, and passed his early' ye^rs 
on his father's farm and in his store. While in his 
teens he attended for a time the Cheshire Academy, 
then taught by the Kev. Dr. Bronson, being there 
in the winter' of 1812-13. In 1814 he became a 
clerk in a store in New Haven, first for a Mr. Brush, 
then for a Mr. Peck. .\t the age of twenty he 
opened a store in Watcrbury, Mr. Peck, his fomier 
employer, furnishing the capital. For years he 
abandoned the business, it proving an unsuccessful 
venture. Followin.g this period he passed two years 
as a clerk for his uncle. William K. Lamson. in the 
store at Berwick, I'enn. He then went to North 
Carolina, and for several years carried on a general 
country store, and also dealt in cotton at Ttn-ncr's 
Cross Roads. Here ho accumulated several thous- 
and dollars, and returning to Watcrbury, joined 
his brother, J. M. L. .'^co\ill. an<l ])urchased the in- 
terests in the metal button liusiness. previously held 
by Dr. Leavenworth and Mr. Haydcn. Mr. Scovill 
for manv years prior to his death, which occurred 
March 27, 1854, at Charleston. S. C. whither he 
had gone for the recovery of his health, filled a large 
space and exercised a wide influence in the com- 
munity in which he lived. As has been said of him : 

.As has been said of him. he was a sagacious man. of 
comprehensive view-;, who assisted his brother in conduct- 
ing one of the most extensive and prosperous manufac- 
turing estalilishmenls in Walerhury. He was a man of in- 
telligence, of gracious sympathies and inflexible principle. 
His wealth he distributed witli a free hand in llio way of 
both [jiiblic and private charity. To every good cause he 



24 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



\va~ ready tn give material aid. He was emphatically a 
public benefactor and his loss was a public calamity. He 
was one of the most active and influential members of St. 
John's Church, W'aterbury; was senior warden for many 
years, and was among the foremost in the work of erect- 
ing the l)eauliful edifice in which the society worshipped 
at the time of liis death. 'I'hroughout the State he was 
known as th.; Iil)eral pal rem of the church and its in.^ti- 
tntions. 

On the flcatli of J. '\\. L. Scovill, a writer in 
one f-if the W'atcrbttrv papers thus referred to the 
two Scovill brothcr.s : 

Xever were two men lieHcr calculated for each other — 
both were actuated bv tlie highest impulses of integrity, 
and tlieir f|tiahfications though different were so happily 
blended, such was the coutidence between them, that in all 
matter^ of ijusiness they were only known as one. P>oth 
at the time of iheir flealh were iilenlified with nearly 
every kindred establishment in Walerbury. and one can 
hanlly turn his eye without l)eing reminded of their joint 
participation in the progress and advancement of their 
nali\e city — the welfare of wdiich formed one of the lead- 
ing iibjects of their ambition. 

W'ilh'am II. Scnvill was twice married. On 
Jtily 2. f82-. he weilde<I lutnice Ruth Davies, daugh- 
ter of Hon. Thomas J. Davies, of l>lack Lake, X. Y. 
"She was a woman of matiy virtues, of uncommon 
intelli.o-ence and great force of character, and dieil 
much lamented, of pulmonary consumiiitioti. Nov. 
25. 1830." Mr. Scovill married (second) March 
22, 1S41. Rebecca li., daughter of Hon. Xathan 
Smith, of Xew Haven. To the first union were 
born four children, two of whom, Mrs. V . J. Kings- 
bury and Mrs. William K. Cttrtis. stirvive. The 
child born to the second marriage is William H. 
Scovill, now a resident of Hudson, X. Y. Mrs. 
Rebecca H. Scovill died Aug. 4, 1854. 

H(.)X. EDWARO ISAAC SAXFORD. LL. F... 
long a distinguished member of the Xew Haven Bar 
and who was in public life for nvany yeans, twenty- 
four of which he served as Judge of the Superior 
Court of Connecticut, was a rep4-esentative in both 
paternal and maternal lines of old and respected 
families of Xew Haven. 

Born Jtily 4. 1820, in Xew Haven, Jtidge San- 
ford was the son of Ivlilui and Stisan (Howell) San- 
ford, the former a imich esteemed and sticcessftil 
merchant of that jtlace and his personal character- 
istics were those that might naturally have been in- 
herited from sttch ancestors. Thomas Sanfortl; the 
first .American ancestor of fhe branch of the family, 
came t(i Ih.iston in i')^! : in f'1.^4 he was in Dorches- 
ter and in 16^0 'U .Milf'ird, C'lmn., where he died in 
1681. 

l'".dward I. .Sanfonl was fitted for cnllege in 
the l''airlicl(l .\cademy, l-'airfie!d, and the Hopkins 
rirammar School. Xew il.aven. In 1843 he entered 
Yale College, from which he w:is gradttatt-il in 
1847. Immediately afterw.-ird he entered \';\\r Law 
ScdiMiil and was graduated therefrom with the de- 
gree (if LL. 1'.. in f84i>. .\fter spending some time 
in the nflice nf Hein-\ While, F.s<piire, in further 



study under his direction, he opened an office for 
himself in Xew Haven and commenced the practice 
of law. Althottgh he devoted himself assiduously 
to his pfdfession, without aiming at distinctions out- 
side I if it, he soon attracted and steadily thereafter 
maintained and increased the favorable regard of 
his fellow citizens, who fnnn time to time called 
him to the discharge of public duties. In 1853 he 
was elected member of the common council of Xew 
Haven. 1-Voni 1858 to i860 and again from 1863 
to i8d6 he was Jtidge, or Recorder, as it was then 
siyled. iif file Circuit Court of that city. The dignity 
and ability with which he administered the duties 
of his office are yet remembered with great respect 
b;' those lawyers of the present day who then prac- 
ticed before him. In 1864 and again in 1865 Judge 
Sanford was elected to the State Senate from the 
New Haven District. During the latter part of 
1 868 and the early part of 1869 he was an instruc- 
tor in Yale Law School and rendered valuable 
service in securing that re-organization of the school 
v.diich led to its present great and growing prosper- 
it}-. In 1867 he was appointed Judge of the Su- 
perior t'lHirt for the term of eight years, beginning 
Jnl\- 27 (if that year. By successive re-appoint- 
ments ill 1875 and 1883 he was continued in office 
until Jtdy 27, 1891. 

"His work upon the Bench of the .Superior 
Court," says Hon. Henry B. Harrison, who pre- 
pared an obitnarv sketch of Jttd.ge Sanford, from 
which much of the personal matter of this article 
is taken, "for that long period of twenty- four years, 
was substantially the work of his life, and to it he 
devoted with conscientious and laborious care all 
his energies. He was not amltitious fur the glitter 
of public office and never sought it. but he learned 
to like his duties as a Judge of the Sttiierinr Court 
and he w'as content to limit his career to the faith- 
ful performance of them. His personal character 
was blameless. Everybody who knew him liked him. 
His friends stood fast to him and he stood fast to 
them. His hand was open and generous. His tastes 
were eminently domestic; his heart was always in 
his home." 

On June 19, 1849, Air. .Sanford was married to 
Miss Sarah Jane, daughter of Hanford Lyon, of 
Bridgeport, and to the union were born two chil- 
dren, as follows: Edward I., Jr.. a lawyer of Xew 
York: and Fannie .S., who married Lewis Hotch- 
kiss, of New Haven, and has one son. .Sanford Lewis 
Hotchkiss. 

By the close of Judge San ford's career on the 
Bench, in 1891, his health had become seriously ini- 
pairefl. and it continued to grow worse until his 
death. lid\- 13. i8<)3. On Alarch 4. 1870. he forni- 
allv joined the Center Church, of Xew Haven, with 
his wife and daughter, and he died in the faith. 

At a meeting of the New ITaven County Bar, 
held two (lavs after Judge San ford's death, appropri- 
ate resolutions were tmanimottsly ado])ted, from 
which the following is taken: 




c^ ^^^.^ <i ,. cC^ -3 )cf_ix. 



'/--^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



-25 



To pci]" iir liigli npprccintioii of tlic character 

and finalities of the latu Jndgc luhvard I. Sanfnrd. and of 
the loss to ns and to the connnnnity at largo involved in 
his death, the Har of iN'ew Haven Connly now resolve: 

That as a man, his friendships were many, hroad, cath- 
olic and appreciative. That as a judt;e. his conrtesy w.is 
unfailing, his patience nnwearied. his leaniin.E! and dili- 
gence always ni.asterin.ir the complicated questions arising 
in the discharge for many year> of lii> duties as a Judge 
of the Superior Court. 

That in Judge Sanford there w.is the true friend and 
the upright and capahlc judge, and we mourn his fleath as 
the loss of a jiersonal friend, and we deplore his illness and 
consequent death as a public misfortune. 

F-x-Gov. Harrison in closing his ubittiary notice 
of Judge Sanfofd characterized him as "A high- 
minded gentleman, a good citizen, a faithful friend, 
a loving husband and father and a just judge." 

Mrs. Sarah Jane (Lvon) Sanford, wife of Jtidgc 
Edward I. Sanford, and daughter of the late Hon. 
Hanford and Hettie i\.. (Thompson) Lyon, was 
born in Bridgeport, Conn., and died Nov. 4, 1901, 
at her home, Xo. 538 Chapel street. New Haven. 
She was a descendant on both sides from early Con- 
necticut families, the Thompsons, of Stratford, and 
the Lyons, from Eastoti. Hanford Lyon w^as born 
in 1795 in Easton, .son of Nehemiah W. Lyon, a 
patriot of the Revolution, who lived to the remarka- 
ble age of nearly one hundred and one years, while 
his son, Hanford, reached nearly eighty-five years, 
dying in 1879 in Bridgeport, where he had been a 
leading citizen and prominent Inisiness man through 
a long life time. 'The town of Easton was settled 
about 1757 by inhabitants from Fairfield, among 
the early settlers being Stejihen, Daniel, Abram, 
Thomas, Josiah and Nehemiah Lyon, who were 
probably the descendants of Richard Lyon, who was 
in Fairfield as early as 1649, or of Thomas Lyon, 
a brother of Richard. Thomas botight property in 
Fairfield in 1654, but sold it in 1(175 ami removed 
to Greenwich. 

HON. RUFUS S. PICKETT, lawyer and form- 
er Judge of the City Court, New Haven, is one 
of the city's esteemed and respected citizens, who 
throtigh the force of his own efl'orls has risen to 
position and innneiiee in his ]irofcssinn and citi- 
zcnshij). 

Judge Pickett was born in the town of Ridge- 
field, Conn., Feb. 28. 183). son of Rnftis H. and 
Betsey (Parsons) l^ickett, and in several lines 
comes of Revolutionary stock and a siurdv New 
England ancestry of the Colonial period. His par- 
ents were born, the father aliout T798, and the 
motlier April 20, t7()4, and died, the former in 
1872, and the latter June 13. 1868. To them were 
born five children, namely: William H., Rtifus S., 
Isabella, Francis, and Edwin. The last named was 
killed while fighting in the L^nion Army at the 
battle of Gcttvsburg. Judge Pickett's grandfather 
Abraham Parsons, born T'eli. IQ, i7''h, was a farmer 
of Redding, Conn., and served as a soldier in the 
Coininentai .\rmv in the war nt the Rev i]uti< 11. ami 



was a United .States |)ensioner. Mr. Parsons mar- 
ried Urana .Starr, of Danbury, C'oim., whose father, 
Benjamin Starr, was also a soldier of the Revolu- 
tion and yielded up his life in defense of his coun- 
try, dying en route home on sick leave of absence 
with camp fever, Sept. 3, 1775. 11^ '^'^'^ been in 
camp near White Plains. Urana (Starr) Parsons, 
the Judge's grandmother, was a native of Danbury, 
Conn., born .March 23. 1765, and died there Sept. 
30, 1848, in the eighty-fourth year of her age, and 
her husband. A])raham Parsons, passed away March 
16, 1852, in Ridgefield, Conn. Benjamin Starr was 
a resident of Mill Plain in the western jiart of 
Danbury. pcrliaps within bounds of Ridgebury 
Parish. He hatl descended from Dr. Comfort Starr, 
the emigrant settler who came from Ashford, Coun- 
ty Kent, England, to New England as early as 
1638, the year in which he (nirchased land in Dux- 
bttry, Alass., and was of C'amliridge. I'rom this 
ancestor Judge Pickett's lineage is throitgh Dr. 
Thomas (born in F.ngland). (,'apt. Josiah (born in 
Charlestown, Mass., a resident of Danbury and 
founder of that branch nl the .Starr family), Capt. 
John, Lieut. Jonathan, Benjamin. L'rana (Starr) 
Parsons and Betsey (Parsons) Pickett. 

Judge Pickett attended the common schools of 
his native town and was there prepared for college 
in Hugh Bank's Academy. (Jwing to the failing 
health of his father, at eighteen, Rufus S. abandoned 
his studies and devoted himself tn the nii;magement 
of his father's business, Cdniinuing so to do for 
six vears. .At this ])criod in his life. 1854, he went 
to I\\-w Haven, where for seven and a half years he 
was in the employ of the N. Y. & N. H. R. R. Com- 
panv, engage<l in btiilding and repairing locomo- 
tives wdien it was a single track road and dicing 
its btisiness with twenty-four engines only. 

In the Linciiln campaign of ]80(). as now. an 
ardent Re]inblican. Mr. Pickett was enontivageil by 
his friend and former schoolmate, Cyrus Northrop, 
then a professor in Yale University and afterwards 
I'resident of the University of Minnesota, to take 
an active part in the same. He answered some of 
the numerous, calls for speakers in New Haven 
and adjoining towns. s])eakinu' in com])any with 
Professor Northrop, Hon. N. D. Sperry, now Con- 
gressman from the New Haven district, John W'dod- 
ruff and others. On the coming into jiower of the 
Lincoln administration and the appoiiument of the 
late James F. Babcock, collector of the Port of New 
Haven. Mr. Pickett received the appointment 
through Mr. Babcock of inspector of cttstoms, which 
office with that of weigher and ganger he held for 
several years, and while in office and performing 
his duties faithfully, he rcstimed his studies. He 
entered Yale Law School, and at the end of the 
first year took the Jewell prize as essayist. He was 
graduated with good standing in 1873, and en- 
le-ed tipon the general practice of law in New 
Ihivun. In 1877 he was ajjpointed City .Attorney 
and for six vears faithfulK- and et'ficiently discharg- 



26 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



cd his duties as such. He received, in 1885, by ap- 
])i)intincnt, the uffice of Assistant Judge, ;md in'iBB/ 
Judge ol" the City Court of New Haven. He heard 
some of the early boycott cases, and prepared opin- 
ions on them, which had a wiile circuhition in the 
country, and which have lieen sub.stantially con- 
firmed by the higher courts uf several .States. 

Judge I'ickett's religious comiections are with 
the Congregational Church. He is a member of 
the Society of the Sons of the .\nterican Revolu- 
tion, 

I'larly in life Judge I'ickelt was married, and had 
three sons and two daughters. His younger son, 
Edwin, is a member of the Xcw^ Haven Countv 
Lar. 

i',-LTON. Conspicuouslv proniinent has been 
th name of Elton in the history of Waterbury for 
the past three quarters of a century, as was it for 
that length of time previously in Watertown, where 
Drs. John and Samuel Elton, father and son, re- 
spectively, practiced medicine for fully seventy-five 
years. Early in the present century there came to 
Waterbury the late H<:jn. John Prince Elton, wdio 
became one of the active and successful promoters 
of the city's industries, and for many years was one 
of its most prominent manufacturers and leadnig 
citizens. While his son, the Hon. James Samuel 
Elton, former Senator, president of the Waterbury 
National J'.ank and of the Waterbury F.rass Com- 
pany, has sustained the father's reputation. 

James Sanniel Elton, on his father's side, is in 
the seventh generation from John IClton. who earlv 
came to this countrv from J'.rislol. Kngland. ami 
settled in Middletown, Conn. The line of James S. 
Elton's descent is through Ebenezer Elton, F.ben- 
ezer Elton (2), Dr. John Elton, Dr. Samuel Elton 
and John Prince Elton. 

(H) F.bene/er ballon, son of John lillon. l,orn 
in 1686, located in P.ranford, Co4niccticut. 

(Ill) b'.benezer T'".lton (2). son of l-'.benezer Rl- 
ton, born in 7712. married (ilr^t) H.annah Ward, 
of Middletown, Conn. She died in 17.^4. and Ehen- 
ezer married (second) in Janiuiry. i7,S,=i. 

(TV) Dr. |ohn l-:h..n."son of Kbenezer Ellon 
(2), horn October G. 175^, married Eucv Prince. 
He succeeded his brother Dr. James Ellon in prac- 
tice, and for lwent\-four wars practiced medicine 
in Watertown. He died (X't. 9. 1800. and his wife 
passed away l\Tay 27. tSit. 

(V) Dr. Samuel Elton, son of Dr. John Elton, 
bom Sept. Ti. 1780. married Petsev. eldest daughter 
of Charles l\Terriman, of Watertown. Dr. Samuel 
Elton studied medicine for a time with his father, 
who jnu-posed to give the son the best possible med- 
ical education, l)Ut death defeated his jilans. ami at 
the earlv age of ei.ghteen the son. with little knowl- 
edge of medical works, commenced active practice 
which was never relaxed until old a."'c and di^f^ise 
enforced it: his death occurred Dec. 8. 18^8. "His 
conclusions were so miiformlv correct that he earlv 



grew into an extensive practice as consulting and ad- 
visory [jhysician in all nei,ghboring communities. He 
was kind and tender in leeling. but never profuse 
in expressions of sym|)athy ; plain, almost blunt, in 
language; stern in outward demeanor, but when oc- 
casion [jermitted, jo\'ial and playftd as a boy. No 
one was ever more endeared, or more perfectly se- 
cured in the contidence of his patients, than was Dr. 
.Samuel l'",lton to the end. Pie ac(juired a handsome 
estate, which mi.ght have been doubled bad be chosen 
tij en I (tree the collection of verv reasonalile charges 
for his labors. He never took legal steps to collect 
a debt. lie visited and cared for tlu' poverty- 
stricki-u patient with all the assiduii\ he ga\e the 
wealthiest. Honesty, temperance and economy 
were with him cordial virtues." 

Hii.\. Joii.x pRixcE Elton, son of Dr. Samuel 
Elton, was born April 26, 1809, in Watertown, 
Conn., where he attended the district schools, and 
also, wdien about fifteen years of age, the school of 
Simeon Hart, at Earmington. Eater he worked on 
his father's farm until he came to Waterbury in 
1832, and became a partner in the firm of Plolmes & 
Hotchkiss, manufacturers of sheet brass. After 
several changes in partnership the firm finally, in 
1838. became Brown & Elton. On coming into the 
firm Air. Elton at once took his place in the mill, and 
made himself familiar by manual labor wdth all the 
aspects of manufacturin,g, and in addition to the 
work he did with his hands, he looked after the 
j various details of the business, includin,g the pro- 
viding of the necessary mjoney to meet the obliga- 
tions of the firm. He remained in active connec- 
tion with the firm until 1850, with-drawing then on 
account of impaired health. Tn 1834 he took an 
important part in organizing the W'aterburv Brass 
Co., of which he was a director, and in 1S55 became 
its president, and so continued throughout life. For 
some years prior to liis death he gave much of his 
time to various corporations, industrial and finan- 
cial, in which he b.ad invested capital, and in 
wdiich he held the ])iisition of director or president. 
F'rom Decemlier. 1850, to the time of his death, he 
was president of the Watcrburv ISank. Tn T8rio he 
established a jirivate house styled the h'lton Loan & 
Trust Ofifice, wdiich was successfully carried on af- 
ter his death h\ his son and son-in-law (C. N. Wa\'- 
land ) under the ii.'ime of the b'lton T^.anking Com- 
pany. 

Tn 1840. 1841) and 1850. Mr. I'dton was elected 
as a \\ lii,g to the (icneral .-\sseiiibl\- of the .St.ate. 
On the or.ganization of the Republican party he af- 
filiated with it, and became one of its strong sup- 
porters. He was again elected to the General .As- 
sembly in 186,^. and was chosen a Presidential 
elector in 1864, but died two davs after his elec- 
tion — Nov. 10. t8(')4. He was a member of the 
E])iscopal Church, and throughout his life ,gave lib- 
erallv to the expense and charities of St. John's 
parish. "Mr. Elton was a man of public spirit be- 
}ond most of his contemporaries, and lieartily co- 



COMMEMOK.l riVE BIOGRAPHICAL RFX'ORD. 



operated in enterprises that interestcil, and were 
likely to l»LiU'tU tlie city." 

A writer thus si)oke of liini in the press of 
Waterbnrv at the time of his death : 

Xc> lans^iiago of (Hir< can iln histiof t.. lil> iiiirigliiiu'ss 
and jnn'ity of cliaractcr. his al'lliu'iit virnics of nuiul and 
licart. wliitdi were open as day lo inching cliarily. All 
tlu'-c tilings arc recorded on high, and are left as a pre- 
tions legacy to the living. Tlicre is no invidiousncss in 
saying that no man could have Iieen taken from among us 
whose loss cnih! more deejily have aftlicled the welfare of 
our community, with which he has heen ideiitilled for 
thirty-five years as a leading and prominent manufacturer 
and latterly as a hanker and .as president of tlie Walerhury 
Hank, as the successor of Judge liron^on. has exhibited 
financial talents (>f the highest order. 

The ileceased w:is lh<' confiilant of the ever-to lie re- 
nicmhered iirolhers SiM\ill. now .and then co-operated with 
them in all the noble enliTiirises which coiild confer 
wealth, lioncjr and improvement to tlie place, either in the 
way of business or emhellishmenl. (ieneroiis. public-spir- 
ited, and feeling a local pride in the place, the .gratitude 
which till- city owes to these three noble men cannot be 
mc.asin-ed Iiy any lan.guage of praise from ns. As a citizen, 
Mr. I'.Iton enioyed the esteem and confidence of all classes 
of men. many of whom looked up to him for advice and 
counsel, and who found him ever ready to aid them in all 
laudable pur|)oses. The writer of this owes a debt of 
gratitude, and we are but one of hundreds who have occa- 
sion to honor his memory. He was liter.ally a man of the 
peojile. mingled with them, and studied their h.ajipiness and 
prosperity. His benevolence was unbounded — believing 
that "to whom much is given, much wouUl be rec|uired." 
He ccnisidcred his large and ample possession as under a 
stewardship of the Lord, consecpiently he gave freely of 
his substance to religious, educational, moral and benevo- 
lent purposes. The town, the church and even the State, 
have suffered a loss not easily sti[)plied — to say nothing of 
his sorrowing and deeply bere.aved family. In short, as a 
friend, a Christian, a counsellor and a citizen, it will be 
long before we look upon his like ag.ain. 

On Mav 8, 1835, Mr. I'.hon was married to 
Olive Margaret. <lauohier of (.'apt. Moses Hall. 
She was bom June 15, 1816, and died Nov. 2, 1892. 
There were four children horn of this union, name- 
ly: Lucy E., born Ajiril 16, 1837, is the wife of 
C. N. Wayland ; James .Samuel, borti Xov. 7, 1838, 
is mentioned further on; Charles V.. born .Xufr. 17, 
1840, died April 12. 1843; and John M.. born March 
ig, 1845, '''^"il '"": tlic aije of eig-hteen years. The 
children of this marriag^e are of a noble ancestry 
in lines embracinc;- Dr. Daniel Porter and John Hop- 
kins aniono- the founders of Waterbtiry. Several 
of their forefathers, inchidine;" ("apt. Xathaniel Mer- 
riman, John Punderson and Williatn Andrews, were 
founders of New Haven. CXhers in the persons of 
Stphen Hart, John Pronson, Anthony TIawd<iiis, 
Deacon John Hall and Dr. John Hull, were con- 
spicuous at Farminolon .ind Wallingford in their 
early settlement. 

Hon. James -Samuel P.hon, son of John Prince 
Elton, was born Nov. 7, 1838. in W'aterbitry, Conn. 
He was educated in Rev. ('. W. P.verest's school, 
Hamdcn, and Gen. RusselTs military school, New 
Haveti. l'"or a time he received some practical 
knowledoe of manufacttirino in the empiov of the 
American Pin Co., of Wa'erbury, and of business 



m the Xew York store of the i-^covill Manufacturing;- 
Lo. In 1863 lie estalilished himself in business in 
his native jilace with the Waterbtiry P.rass Co., and 
has ever since been responsibly connecie<l with thai 
company. He has been the e.xectitive head of the 
company since 1874. succeeding- to the presidency 
at the (ieaih of J. C. Welton. .Mr. Elton has been 
connecteil with a t-iumber of the corporations "f 
Waterbtiry and elsewhere, anil has led an active 
business life. He is a director of the .Xmcric.-m 
Brass Co.. the Xew ICngland Watch Co., of I'.lake & 
Johnson, and of the Waterbury .Xational Bank, 
which his father assisted in ()ri;:iiiizino, and of whicii 
he was the second president, an olhcc he held up to 
the time of his death. 

In j88i Mr. I'.llon was nomin;ited bv his partv 
as State Senator. He was elected, notwithstanding 
his party was the minorilv one in the district. He 
is an active menilier. and an official of St. Tohn's 
Episcopal Church. He is managing trustee "of the 
Halls' "Church fund." a director in St. Margaret's 
Diocesan school, and in the Waterbury Hospital. 
He gives liberallv to the charitable institutions and 
undertakings of the citv. One has onlv to read be- 
tween the lines to conclude that Mr. F.Iton is a man 
of culture and refii-iement, of large business capac- 
ity, and a successful and esteemed citizen. 

On Oct. 28, 1863, Mr. F,h(in was married !.->- 
Charlotte, daughter of Hiram Steel, of Past P.loom- 
field, N. Y.. who died May 8, i8(,o. One child, John 
Prince, born June 20, 1865. blessed this union. The 
son is a graduate of Trinity College. Hartford, and 
is now assistant treasurer of the Waterbnrv Brass 
Coi-npanv. 

SA.MIT.L W. S. HALL. Tn the death of Mr. 
Hall March 5, 1877, the city of Waterbury lost one 
of its forerriost business men, and up to that time its 
greatest bei-iefactor. 

Mr. Hall was a native of Waterbnrv. and a de- 
scendant nf i,ne of the e;irlv settlers of Xew Haven 
and W.dlingford. Conn, 'i'be first .\i-nerican an- 
cestor lit this br;incli of the Hall familv was John 
Hall, of Engkuid. 1 le ni.'trried Jane Woolen : was 
at B(isfon. then at Xew Haven. Intt not as an orig- 
inal settler of the latter rioint, his nai-ne not appear- 
ing until after 1650. He moved to \\'allingford 
after the settlement liad commenced, his nai-ne ap- 
pearing there in 1^)72. 

The subject of this sketch was a descendant in 
the seventh o-oncrntion front John Hall, the enii- 
grant, the line of his descct-it beincr through Tobn 
Hall 12), Xatban Hall, Herman Hall, Cunis Hall 
and Cant. Moses Hall. 

flT) John TPall (2), son of John Hall, baptized 
in tr)4r). married Marv, dattghter of F.dward Parker, 
at Xew Haven, in 1666. and located in Wallingford 
with the first settlers in i'')70. He died in 1 721. 

(TTI) Xatban Hall, son of John Hall ('21. born 
in 1677, married (first) in 1699, Elizabeth Ctirtis; 



28 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



she died in 1735, and he married (second) in 1736, 
Lydia Johnson. J le AwA in 1757. 

(I\') Herman IJaU. son oi Nathan Hall, born 
in 1720, was among- the early settlers in Wolcott, 
Conn. He died in 1709. and his wife, Elizabeth, 
in 1804. 

(\' ) Curtis Hall, son of Herman Hall, born in 
1746, married Rachel Beecher. lie was killed in 
1799 by "falling- from a tree that was already down." 
His widow sn])sequcntly becam,e the wife of John 
I'.ronson. 

Capt. Moses Hall, son of Curtis Hall, and the 
father of the late Sanuiel W. S. Hall, was baptized 
Nov. 2. 1 788. He married Olive Porter, daughter 
of Dr. Timothy I'urter, and removed to Waterbury. 
Their children were: Nelson, Hopkins, Samuel W. 
S.. and Olive (who married John P. Elton). 

'i"he late Saniuel W. S. Hall, son of Capt. jMoses 
and Olive (Porter) Hall, was born July 5, 1814, in 
Waterbury, Conn. At about sixteen years of age 
he began employment with J. M. L. & W. H. Sco- 
vill as a clerk in their store, which he took full 
charge of several years later, ami so remained until 
they abandoned the mercantile business in 1852. 
Following this for a time Mr. Hall had charge of 
the Manhan Woolen Company's business. He next 
entered the business of an insurance agent, asso- 
ciated with J. W. Smith, which business they con- 
ducted successfully for several years. On the or- 
ganization of the Scovill ^Manufacturing Coniiianv. 
Mr. Hall became a stockholder, and was chosen a 
director in the samie, and in i8r)i was made presi- 
dent and manager of the company. In 1855, on the 
death of Abram Tvcs. he became ))resident of the 
Citizens National Bank, both of which positions he 
resigned in 1S6S on account of increasing ill-health, 
and was not afterward engaged in active business. 
When a young man. Mr. Hall was a model of 
nianly strength and vigor, but fur many years 
previous to his giving up business he had been a 
severe sufferer from rheuma'tisn-i. which under- 
mined his naturally vigorous constitution, and ren- 
dered him unable to resist acute disease. Mr. llall 
accumulated a large and handsome fortune which 
he used with liberality during his life time, and he 
gave by his w-ill a larger annount of nioncv than anv 
other man had, up to that time in the town, to 
])nblic uses nnd fur clnritable i>nr|)oses — in round 
numbers $68,000. .-Xmnng his bequests were one 
to j)r(imote the mi^^ii ns nf tin- Protestant h'piscojial 
Church, and for imprirl.-int objects in the Church of 
that dcnon-iination of his native city: one for a sol- 
dier'- mnrument in \\'ati.'rbnr\ : one for the building 
of a ^ileniorial Chapel at Riverside Ceiuetery; and 
another for a memorial Church in Waterbnrv. The 
Soldiers' monumcnl w.-is erected .and dedicated Oct. 
23, 1884; and the Hall Menvoi-i;d Chapel was dedi- 
cated June 7T, 1885, a tablet on its w-all at the ceme- 
tery gate declares that "for the n|irightness of his 
life and for his liberal provision f ■]■ many good 



works, his name is held in grateful remembrance." 
On Oct. 10, 1836, Mr. Hall was married to 
Nancy j\I., daughter of Edmund and Sarah Austin. 
She died Feb. 8, 1868. Mr. Hall, for some years 
prior to his death had passed the pleasant portion 
of the season in traveling, and w^as proliablv more 
widely known than any other man in Waterbury. 
At the time of his death the Waterbury American 
observed; 

He was a thorough and successful business man; 
gifted -rt'ith a quick observation and good memory — of a 
warm and generous disposition, quick to speak, free to ex- 
press his opinion, but ready to acknowledge himself in 
the wrong when he found that he was mistaken, and thor- 
oughly, rigidly and scrupulously honest in all his dealings 
both by nature and from principle. He had accumulated a 
handsome fortune and was a helper in works of public and 
private benevolence. He was a communicant and promi- 
nent memlier of St. John's Episcopal Church, and his pres- 
ence will be greatly missed. 

HON. JAMES DUDLEY DEWELL, for forty- 
four years a resident of New Haven, has closely 
identified himself with business and social interests 
there and is considered one of the infltiential citi- 
zens of his adopted city. He traces his lineage from 
good ancestral stock on both sides. His paternal 
ancestor, 

(I) William Devill, the first of this line in 
x^merica, was in Duxbury in 1640; Braintree, 1643; 
Rehoboth, i645-'i65i ; Newport, 1653-1680. His 
descendants have various spellings of the name — 
Devol, Deval, Duel, Deuel, Dewell, Duval, etc. 

(H) Jonathan, son of William, was in New- 
port, Little Compton and Dartmouth. He died be- 
tween 1737 and 1742. He married Hannah Audley. 

(HI) Jonathan, Jr., .son of Jonathan, was a res- 
ident of Dartmouth and died in 1709. He married 
Mary Clark, who survived hiiu, and they are known 
to have had children, as follows: William, who is 
mentioned below; Hannah, born Jan. 29, 1699; Jon- 
athan, born ALay i, 1702; Alfya'h ; Meribeth, bom 
Oct. 21, 1707; and Mary, born Feb. 26, T710. The 
following is a copy of the will of Jonathan Devol : 

Tel all people to whom these presents "^hall come, I. 
Jon.-ilhan Devol. Jun, of Dartmouth, in the County of 
Hri-itol in New I'"ngland. do herebv manifest & declare that 
I being at this time senseablc of the weakness of my body, 
biu my memory and understanding being good and sound, 
do herebv for the settlement of my wfirldly estate make 
this mv last will and testament to be of force after my de- 
cea-e S: no other. 

Tinp^. 1 give to my -on William Devol all that niy 
bi>tiie-teail Init or farm which my father Jonathan Devol 
gave me by deed of gift, it being fifty acres more or less, 
besides the 'alt marsh meadow with all the housing or- 
chard fences and apnurces. to be and romaifie unto my sd 
son William Devol his heirs and assigns forever. .-Mlways 
excepting mv wives thirds of sd lands din'eing her naturall 
life. 

Item, I give to mv son Jonathan Devol all that my 
tifty acres of land, w-hich I bought nf my fatthcr Jonathan 
Devol and have a deed for said land and lyeth at the head 
of the lands given to my son William, but my will is that 
hys mothers thirds lie exce|ited during her naturall lite, to 





^^^ / -<^ a&-^^CC^^Jjt^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



29. 



be and remain unio liim my saiil son Jonathan Devol, 
his Iieires and assigns forever. 

Also I give and bcqueatli unto my two sons before 
named, all my priviledge in lands in the Township of Dart- 
mouth, to be equally divided between them. 

Item. I give to my daughter Hannah Devol six pounds 
to be payd to her by my son William Devol when she comes 
to be twenty years of age. 

Item, i give to my daughter .Mfyah six pounds; allso 
to be payd by my so.i \\'illiam when she comes to be eight- 
een years of age. Allso I give to my daughter Meribeth 
si.\ pounds to be allso payd by my son William Devol when 
site comes to be eighteen years of age. 

I give and bequeath to my louving wife M.iriah Devol 
all my moveables or personal! estate, whom I constitute & 
appoint to be my whole & sole executrix of this my last 
will and testament. 

In witness whereof. I, the said Jonathan Devol Jun. 
have sett to my hand and seal the eight <lay of August one 
thousand seven hundred nine 170Q. 

Jonathan Devol Seal. 

.Signed, scaled, published X: declared by the above sd 
Jonathan Devol as his last will and testament, in presents 
of us the subscribers. 



Joseph Tripp 
James Tripp X 
George Cadman. 



his mark. 



(IV) William, son of Joiiatlian, born in Dart- 
moutli April 16, 1698, died in 1760. lie married 
Klizabeth Whitehead, who died before April 21, 
1759, the date of his will, which is recorded in 
'I'aunton. Their children were: Apphia, born 
March 6, 171S; Jonathan, who is mentioned below; 
and William, born March 4, 1728, who died June 22, 
1814. The following is a copy of the will of (IV) 
William Davel : 

The last Will and Testament of William Davel. I, 
William of Dartmouth, in the County of Bristol, in the 
Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, black- 
smith, being in health of body and of sound disposing mind 
and memory, thanks be given to God theirfor, calling to 
mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is ap- 
ointed for all men once to die. do make and ordain this to 
be my last will and testament, that is to say. Principally 
and First of all I give and rccommond my .Soule into the 
hand of God that gave it and my body to the earth to be 
buried in dcacent Christian buril and as touching such 
worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me 
with in this life, I give, demise and dispose of the same in 
the following manner. 

Item, I give and bequeath to my loving son Jonathan 
Davel and to his heirs and assigns forever, all that my lot 
or track of land whereon he now dvvels with that my lot 
of land o[)osite to it on the south side of the Cotmtry Rhode 
and joyning to said rhode with all my salt medow in the 
horse neck medows. I allso give to my sd son Jonathan 
Davel all my wearing apparill and my gun and seven pounds 
in lawinll money to In- paid my son William Davel, at 
my decease. 

Item, I give and bequeath In my loving son William 
Davel and to his heirs and assignes forever, all my lioiue- 
steed farmc, both uplands and salt medows and all my salt 
medow down the river, which I have not already disposed 
of and allso all my live slock an<l out dore moveables of 
what nature or kind soever and all iny smithing tools and 
tools belonging to a carpenters trade. I also give to my 
sd son Williatn Davel one feather bed three blankits. one 
coverlet and my high desk, and my cnbbard and all my 
money, bonds, notes and book debts, he paying my debts 
and a legacy to his sister and what I have ordered to his 
brother. 

Item, I give and bequeath to my loving daughter 



Apphia Davel and to her heirs and assigns forever liftcen 
pounds in lawfull money, to be paid to Iter by my son 
William Davel ati my decease. 1 al-o give to my said daugh- 
ter all the rest of my indore movables that I have not all 
ready disposed of and I give my said <laughter the privi- 
ledge 01 living in my least dwelling house as long as she 
remains singel. And the priviledge to get tier wood for her 
own Tier on my farme. 

And 1 do nominate and ai>point my son Willi.ii;; Davel 
to be my soule executor of this my last will and testament, 
and I do liereby utterly revoke and make null & void all 
and every other will and testament and executors by me 
in any wise heretofore made or named, ratifying this and 
no otiier to be my last will and testament. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and 
seal this twenty-first day of .-\pril Anno Domini 1750. 

Signed, sealed and published, pronounced and declared 
by the said William Davel to be his last will and testa- 
ment, in the presents of us, the subscribers. 

Wilham Davel. Seal. 

Timothy Tripp 
James Sisson 
Thomas Tripp. 

(V) Jonathan, born Jan. 16, 1721, die-d 1781-84. 
In the Dartmouth town records the intention of mar- 
riage of Jonathan and Mar}- Lawton was entered 
Sept. 3, 1745, and they were married that year 
(1745). Of their children we have record of John, 
I'atience, Robert, Peacealjle, Mary, Lydia, Deborah, 
Elizabeth, Barjona and Jonathan. (V) Jonathan 
Davel resided in Dartmotith, Mass., in Tiverton, R. 
I., and in Nine Partners, New York. 

(VI) Jonathan Duel, born March 20, 1765, died 
in 1831. He resided in Tiverton, R. 1., Nine Part- 
ners and Pine Plains, N. V. lie married Saiah 
Rider, who died in 1841, aged seventy-five years, 
and we have mention of their eleven children, Ruth, 
Lydia, Mary, Deborah, Eleanor, Qiarlottc, Sally, 
Hannah, James, Jonathan, Jr., and John. Jonathan 
and Sarah (Rider) Duel are btiried in the Knicker- 
bocker cemetery, some three miles east of the village 
of Pine Plains. 

(VII) John Dewell, eldest son of above named 
Jonathan and Sarah, and the father of James D. 
Dewell, was born in Pine Plains Sept. 3, 1795, mar- 
ried Jan. I, 1826, at Norfolk, Conn., Mary Humph- 
rey, daughter of Dudley and Mary (Phelps) 
Humphrey, bom Oct. 7, 1803. John Dewell was a 
merchant and manufacturer in Norfolk, where he 
died Oct. 2, 1871, a respected and highly esteemed 
citizen of the community. His wife survived many 
years, dying April 24, 1891. To their union came 
children, as follows: (1) John II., born in 1827, 
was married (first) in 1848 to Cynthia Hitchcock; 
for his second wife he married Harriet .'Xustin ; he 
was a merchant in the town of Norfolk, Conn., and 
died at Plymouth. Conn., in i8()6. He served as a 
captain in the Civil war. (2) Mary V... born in 1829, 
was married in 1836 to Robert C. Peck, who be- 
came a merchant in New Haven, where he filed in 
i86(). (3) Sarah was horn in 1832. (4) James 
Dudley is mentioned below. (5) Mattie A., born in 
1842, was married in 1869 to Tiieron S. Swain, who 
is a merchant in Boston. (6) Charles G., born in 
1844, died in i84r). 



30 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



?\rrs. Mary ( ] luinijlircy) Dewell, noted above as 
tile nidlliLT of James U., is a deseemlant in the sev- 
enth generatitm from il) Miehael Humphrey, the 
emigrant ancestor of the family, who was at \\'ind- 
sor. Conn., prior td Ui4,^. when ht- and Sergt. John 
Grii^n were eng-aged in making' turpentine in what 
is now Sinisljury, I'risciila. daughter of 3.1atthe\v 
Grant, of Windsor. l)eeame his wife in 1647. Her 
father was the aneeslur (jf Gen. I'. S. (irant. From 
JNlichael Huni|)hrey Airs. Dewell's descent is traced 
through Sergeant John. IX-aeon John. Deacon 
Michael. As.ahel and Hndlev Hmnphrey. (H) 
Sergt. John Humphrey, liorn in 1650, was married 
to Hannah, daugliter of Sergt. John and Anna 
(Bancroft) Griffin, and settled in Siinsbury, where 
he died in 1697. (Ill) Deacon John Humphrey, 
born in 167 1, was married in 1609 to Sarah Mills, 
widow of John Mills, and daughter of John Petti- 
bone, and settled in Simsbury, where he died in 
1732: he was a deacon in the Congregational 
Church. (IN) Deacon ^licliael Humphrey, born in 
1703, was married in 1735 to Mercy, daughter of 
Jonathan and Mercy (Ruggles) Humphrey, and 
settled in Simsbury, his native town, where he in- 
troiluced the making of leather. He was one of 
the deacons of the Congregational Oiurch, ami in 

1759 was a representative in the General Court. In 

1760 he remo\ed tn Xnrfdlk, where he was chosen 
deacon of the local church at its organization. A 
justice of the [leacc and town clerk, he was a prom- 
inent man, and died in 1778. (V) Asahel Humph- 
rey, son of the foregoing, was born in 17^7 in 
Simsbury and was married in 1773 to Prudence 
Merrill. They settled in Norfolk, where he served 
as selectman and for several terms was a representa- 
tive in the General Court. Finally he removed to 
New Marlborough, where he died in 1S27. He 
Ijore arms in the Revolution. ( \'I ) Dudlev Humph- 
rey, son of Asahel, lx^)rn in 1775 at Norfolk, was 
married Oct. ]6. i7(jS, to Mary Phelps, daughter 
of Darius and Mary (.\iken) I'helps. born in Nor- 
folk April 4, 1780. They settled at Norfolk, wdiere 
their children were born: Harriet. John, Mary 
(Mrs. John Dewell), Griswold, Merrill. James and 
Carol ine. 

( X'HD James Dudley Dewell. eighth in line 
froni William De\ill, was born Se])t. 3, 1837, in 
Norfolk, Conn. In 1858, after some experience as 
a clerk in a country store, lie left his home and 
came to New Ha\'en to take a position as salesman 
for r>ushnell iJv Co.. wb(jlesale grocers. His services 
soon conimended him to the house, and in i860 he 
was admitted lo the firm, the name becoming Bush- 
nell & IJewell. In 1879 it became J. D. Dewell & 
Co.. as it is at present, a firm name which has be- 
come familiar tf> the mercantile world. .The enter- 
prise, fuiblie spirit and force of character of Mr. 
Dewell soon became manifest, and as the vears j 
])assed |)nsbed him to the front rank of the business | 
men ;nid citizens of ibe cominunity. He has held 
close to his lu-art tlu- best interests of New Haven, 



and all measures for the good of the community 
have found in him a hearty supporter. Mr. Dewell 
was one of the principle movers in organizing the 
State ISoard of Tra<le in 1890, becoming its first 
|)!esident, and his administration has been so ideal 
tluit he has been retained as the head of the organi- 
zation to the present time. For many years Air. 
Dewell was president of the Chamlier of Commerce 
if New Haven, and he was at the head of the move- 
ment for good roads throughout the State. For 
twenty years or more he has been a director and con- 
tributor to the needs of the Young Men's Institute 
in. New Haven. Mr. Dewell is a director in the 
I'"vergreen Cemetery Association, vice-president of 
the Security Insurance Co., a director of the New 
Haven \\'atcr Co., a director of the City Bank, of 
New Haven, a director of the New Haven Trust 
Co., and vice-president of the National Savings 
blank. He is owner and manager of the Sutton 
fleet, a coast-wise industry, embracing- six large 
three, four and five masted vessels, plying between 
Southern ports and New England. He is a mem- 
ber of the New Haven Colony Historical Society 
and belongs to the Sons of the American Revolution 
and the Sexiety of Founders and Patriots. Fra- 
tirnally he l)elongs to Hiram Lodge, No. i, F. & 
.\. M., of which he was worshipful master in T869. 
In religious connection he is a member of the Cbtn-ch 
of the Redeemer (Congregational). 

In politics Mr. Dewell is a stanch Republican. 
.Among the charter members of the Republican 
League, now the Union League, he has since main- 
tained a lively interest in its welfare and has serveil 
several terms as its president. Deeply interested 
ir. public affairs as he is, 'Mr. Dewell's extensive anil 
varied interests have practically excluded him from 
the field of politics. In 1896. however, he consented 
to become a candidate for the position of lieutenant- 
governor, to wdiich he was triumphantly electc<l. 
The duties of this office were discharged by him with 
ability, dignity and grace. Socially Mr. Dewell is 
genial and attal)le and he is popular wdierever he is 
known. Mr. Dewell was first lieutenant of the New 
]la\-en Grays from i8()5 to 1867. 

On July 2. 18O0, Mr. Dewell was married to 
Mary K., daughter of Aaron and JMary A. (Winch) 
Keyes, of Norfolk, Conn., and to this union have 
been 'l)orn six children : Jessie K., \vho graduated 
from \'assar in 1883; Charles K. ; James D., Jr.; 
Robert P. ; and Franklin W. and Edward H. (twins) 
I)orn in 1877, the latter of whom died in 1S78. 

HON. S.\:\lin'".L Donn, president of the In- 
ternational Silver Com])any, with headquarters in 
Mcriden, a corporation representing millions of 
money and a dozen and more extensive factories 
and former companies, and a man who for many 
years has been one of the leading spirits in this 
line of manufacturing in Meriden, is one of the 
brainv business men of New England. 

Mr. Dodd was born in 1834. in the citv of Hart- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



31 



furd, a SI Ml uf SanuK-1 ami l-'ranccs (L'.ullj Dodd, 
and on buili sides comes ul earlx .New lingland, 
families. Jliumaii, in his ■'J-larly I'urium Scalers" 
gives us an I'.dward Uodd, a sou of John of Xoiih- 
amiJlonshire, l-".nglancl, as the hrsi ut ihe name that 
came to ilartford, coming ilienee uiiii a sisier Jo- 
hanna about 1082, when eighteen years of age. lie 
niarrietl Lydia Idower.s, of Hartford, and they had 
ten children. Savage in his t ienealngical Diction- 
ary, gives us a Samuel Uodd at llraniord, 1C)44, all 
of uliose sons excepting Stei)lieti, removed to .\c\v 
lersev. Stephen, i)aptized in .\e\v llaveii in i'-i50, 
married in lOjS, .Mary ov Sarah, daughter nf Will- 
iam Stevens. J-'rom this couple tle^ceudeil Rev. 
Stephen Dodd, who for many years was pastor of 
the Congregational Church in East Haven, Conn., 
and wdio si.xty or more years ago prepared and 
jjuhlished a \aluahle work, or register, ol i'.ast 
llaveii history and genealogy. 

Tile old Bull family, too, was eail\' iu Xew 
1-Ingland and prominent in the annals of Ilartford. 
Thomas Bull is noted in the .Memorial History of 
Hartford County, edited by the late Dr. J. H. Trum- 
bull, as one of the original ])ro])rietors of Hartford. 
Caf)t. Bull was born in 1O03 ; was tirst at ISnston 
or Cambridge and acc<}m])anievl l\e\'. Thomas Hook- 
er to Hartford in 163O. W'iiithrop refers to him as 
a "goodly and discreet man." J le served in the 
IVquot war in 1637. He wa.s appointed a lieutenant 
in U)53. He was in coiumand of the fort at Say- 
brook wdien Sir Edmund Amlros attempted to gain 
the place for his master, the Duke of York, iu 1675. 
He and his wife, Susanna, were original members 
of South Church in 1670. Maj. Jonathan Bull, a 
son of Capt. Thomas, was a lirave officer of the 
Erench and Indian wars, and was engaged in trade, 
owning a ntimber of vessels. Dr. Jonathan, son of 
Maj. Jonathan, was one of the first highly educated 
physicians of Hartford. The Doctor's son. Judge 
Jonathan, was a distinguished lawyer and held 
many responsible offices. Again in the line of Jo- 
seph Bull, a son of the original settler, came men 
of promitience, Caleb Bull, son of Joseph, had nine 
sons, all prominent citizens of Hartford. So much 
for some of the early members of the family. 

Samuel Dodd, of Meridcn, the stibject ])rn].)er of 
this sketch, was educated in the ])ublic schools and 
High school of Ilartford. He passed his youth and 
early manhood in his native city where his business 
career was begun. .Xftcr his school days were 
closed he was for live years an employe in the drug 
liouse of Lee & Butler, then for a jieri'id in the City 
Bank, as teller and discount clerk. In 1857 he went 
to Meridcn as cashier in the Home Bank, an insti- 
tution next to the oldest bank in the citv. it being- 
organized in 1854, and was incorporated in 1855 aa 
the Home Bank of Meriden. The original cajiital 
of the bank was $100,000, which was increased to 
$600,000. and with a large surplus. Tn 1865 the 
institution was made the Home National Bank. 



i-'r^.m the H.-Uiie Bank .Mr. Dodd entered other 
lines wf l)ii,>ini.ss. 1 le was .>.ie uf the ■'I'igiiial I'arker 
& Casper Co. ( inci 'ri)orated in .May, 1807 ), ui wliich 
]■.. I'arker, (.'liarles I'asper, I'hilip .'^. J'elton and 
Samuel JJodd. Jr., were members. This body was 
luerged with the \\ ilco.x Silver Elate Co., which 
had its beginning as the Wilcox Britannia Co., in- 
corporated in December, l8()5. the name of the Wil- 
cox .Silver Elate Co. being ado]>ted in ^Eiy, 1S67. 
Ihe original capital of the latter coin|)any was $250,- 
000, which was increased to $370,000, ant! the com- 
pany by growth and al)Si:)rption became (Jiie of the 
strongest in .Meriilen. Eor many years -Mr. Dodd, 
the subject of this article, was the efficient secretary 
and treasurer of the W'ilcox Co., and recently, on 
the formiation of the International Silver Co., he 
was made its executive ofticer. The Wilcox Com- 
pany occu])ied a plant, which gave employment to 
nearly 400 operatives, and manufactured' an im- 
mense variety of silver ])Iatcd goods. The output 
was about $700,000 per year. 

-Mr. Dodd is a director in the TIouic Xational 
Bank, and has been secretary and treasurer of the 
Meriden (las Co.. since its organization. In 1879 
he served the city as member of the Connecticut 
General Assembly. Air. Dodd married Catherine. 
daughter of the late James S. I'rooks. one of Merid- 
en's prominent citizens, and of their children Charles 
T. Dodd is a leading manufacturer of jNIeriden, en- 
gaged in making boxes, casks, barrels, etc., at No. 
164 State Street; he married Ejta S. Smith. 

J.VMKS S. Brooks, father of Mrs. Dodd. was 
l)orn March i, 1796, in Ivist Haddam, Conn., son of 
Clark ami Millicent Iv (Clark) I'.rooks. .At sixteen 
he was apprenticed to David Elant, and came to 
Meriden to learn the carpenter's tr.ade. .After hav- 
ing served his ai)prenticeship he followed the busi- 
ness for some few years, afler which lie was eni- 
l)loycd by Alajor Elisha .A. Cowles, a merchant of 
.Meriden, to travel and sell goods and Yankee no- 
tions for him. A'oung Brocks, with a single horse 
and wagon, loaded with goods, started South, 
driving to S(.iuth Carolina, and in that State 
conducted — in connection with Mr. Cowles, 
luider the firm name nf J. .S. ]>rooks & 
Co. — 'business for nearly twenty years, his 
family in the meantime residing in Meriden. Ke- 
turning to the latter ])oint, Air. Brooks engaged in 
numerous cnter]5rises, at one lime manufacturing 
augers ; and at another as a member of the Parker, 
Snow, Brooks Co. Air. Brooks was one of the 
])ioncers in building the Ilartford. New' Haven & 
Spring-field Railroad, and. besides l)eing a director 
of the company, served several vears as vice-presi- 
dent, and for a number of \ears as acting president 
of the road. 

Mr. Brooks was largely identified with the af- 
fairs of the town of Aleriden. He served as select- 
man, judge of probate, justice of the peace, and was 
a representative in the .State Legislature in 1839, 



COMMEMOKATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1844, 1855 ''"d i»^57- J^e was active and promi- 
ni.-iit, too, in church affairs, and yave the land on 
which the West Aleriden Congregational Church 
was built, as well as $1,000 in money toward the 
erection of the Ijiiilding. lie was a man of (jiiick 
perception, and could readily judge of the character 
and intent of men. He was ardent in his tempera- 
ment, strong in his attachments, and kind as a neigh- 
bor anil friend. He had what is termed good hard 
sense, and possessed a goodlv share of mother-wit. 
His win was strong and he made his influence felt 
in the ciminnmity. 

On Aug. 31, 1823, Mr. Brooks was married to 
Millicent, daughter of Patrick Clark. He died Oct. 
29, 1862, leaving ten children — six daughters and 
four sons. One of the latter, John C, died in 1864, 
after a service of nearly three years in the Union 
army. 

HON. I^RASTUS CLARK SCRANTON. late 
of Madison and Xew Haven, president of the Xew 
York & New Haven Railroad, long prominent by 
being connected with marine commerce and the 
banking interests of New Haven, State senator and 
nu'mber of the Lower House from his native town, 
and whose memory has been perpetuated in the 
erection of a substantial library building at ALadi- 
,son by his only surviving child. Miss Mary Eliza 
Scranton, of New Haven, was one of the eminently 
successful men of his period. 

Born Nov. 16, 1807, in Madison, New Haven 
Co.. Conn., Mr. Scranton was the son of Jonathan 
and Roxanna (Crampton) Scranton, of Madison, 
and a descendant in the seventh generation from 
Ca|it. John Scranton, one of the about twenty-iive 
heads of families wdio made a settlement in Guilford, 
Conn., in October, 1 63Q. These families came from 
Kent and Sm-rcy, England, and in general were 
pious, intelligent and industrious men, most of them 
famicrs. Capt. Scranton was twice married, the 
first time probably in England, and this wife, Joanna, 
died in 1661. His second marriage, in 1666, was to 
Ada (or Adaline), widow of Rolsert Hill; she died 
in 1685. Capt. Scranton was a farmer and was 
honored with a scat in the General Court in i66g 
and 1670. His death occurred in 1671. His male 
descendants, to a great extent, have been farmers, 
and in general, useful, industrious and respected cit- 
izens of the communities in wdiich they settled. 
I'rom this Ca])t. John Scranton the late Hon. Eras- 
tus C. Scranton's line is tlirotigh Capt. John (2), 
Cai)t. John { T,) . Cajit. Ichabod, Thcophihis and 
Jonatlian Scranton. 

(11) Ca])!. John .^crruilon (2), son of Capt. 
Jiihn, the settler, liorn as early as 1641, and ihe first 
of the name in b'ast Guilford, now Madison, niar- 
rie<l (first) March 12. if>74, Mary Seward, wlio was 
li(irn Feb. 28, \('~,2. daughter of William .Seward. 
His second marriage, on Dec. 10. ifx^t, was to 
\\'idow Elizabetli Clark, daughter of John Bi.sliou. 
Ca])l. .ScrantdU died Sept. 2, 1703. ' 



(HI) Capt. John Scranton (3), son of Capt- 
John (2j, born about 1676 in Hammonassett, was a 
farmer and resided in what is now the town of Madi- 
son, where he died March 21, 1758. He married 
(first), Dec. 12, 1699, Mary Norton; his second 
wife was Mary or Sarah Everts, daughter of John ; 
she died in October, 1749, and he married (third) 
Mary, daughter of Deacon Francis Bushnell. 

(IV) Capt. Ichabod Scranton, son of Capt. John 
(3), born Feb. 19, 17 17, married Qiloe Fowler, who 
was born March 3, 1723, daughter of Abraham Fow- 
ler, of Guilford. Capt. Scranton was a soldier, and 
held his rank in the French and Indian war; he 
was at Louisbourg and at Ticonderoga. He is de- 
scribed as a man of patriotism, strong and brave, 
and enterprising. His death occurred Dec. i, 1760, 
while he was en route home from military service. 
His wife, Chloe, died Dec. 3, 1791. 

(V ) Theophilus Scranton, son of Capt. Ichabod, 
born Dec. i, 1751, married Abigail Lee, wdio was 
born July 11, 1754, daughter of Jonathan Lee, of 
Madison. Mr. Scranton w-as a fanner in Aladison, 
where he died Feb. 16, 1827, and his wife passed 
away Dec. 23, 1840. 

(VI) Jonathan Scranton, son of Theophilus, 
born Oct. 10, 1781, married (first) Jan. 27, 1805, 
Roxanna Crampton, who was born May 30, 1789, 
a daughter of Ashbel Crampton, of Madison. She 
died Dec. 27, 1833, and in 1844 ^Ii"- Scranton mar- 
ried (second) Jennma, daughter of Daniel Piatt. 
Mr. Scranton was a prominent member of the 
church in JMadison. He was engaged in farming 
and was also a contractor of breakwaters and 
wdiarfs. His death occurred July 27, 1847. 

Erastus Clark Scranton, son of Jonathan, and 
oi whose life it is the purpose of this article to es- 
pecially treat, received a common school education 
in his native town. He began his career as a cabin 
boy on board a vessel, and first began mercantile 
pursuits at Georgetown, D. C, where, however, he 
remained but a short time. Soon he owned a vessel 
and was a master. His advancement in commer- 
cial channels was rapid and attended with great 
success. In 1835 he became established as a whole- 
sale grocer at Augusta, Ga., wdiere until 1842 he 
conducted an extensive business. Later, for a short 
period, he engaged in a banking business at Apalach- 
icola, Florida. 

Returning about 1844 to his native State and 
town with a handsome fortune Mr. Scranton entered 
into a business partnership with several gentlemen 
in New York wdio were interested in the trade with 
South America. He became largely engaged in 
conmierce. doing an extensive coasting trade as far 
south as Florida and was largely interested in a 
line of packets running between New York and 
Liverpool, England, also in ships making voyages 
to other ports. He also became identified with the 
business life of New Haven and its vicinity, being 
among the active promoters of the Shore Line Rail- 
roa<l. In 1854 the business ties which had boun<l 




r 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



33 



him to New York were severed and in 1S55 he was 
elected jirt-sident of llie Ehn City Hank, now the 
second National Bank of Xew Haven. I'he 
bank was then a new institution and under his man- 
agement its business grew and prospered beyond 
aU expectation. Xew Haven was Mr. Scranton's 
business hoi-ie for years prior to 1864, when it lie- 
came his pemiancnt dwelling place. In 1865 he 
was honored with the presidency of tlie Xew \\n\< 
& Xew Haven Railroad, and was that year elected 
mayor of tlie city. 

Xot long after his return to his native town, in 
the early 'forties. Mr. Scranton became interested 
and active in the town's welfare and his old fricmls 
and fellow townsmen repeatedly honored him with 
positions of public trust and resjjonsibility. He 
was elected to the State Legislature as a Democrat 
in 1845. 1^4^ 'i'""^' 1850; as an American in 1856; 
and as a Republican in i86j, to the State Senate. 
Tliroughout the Civil war he was prominent among 
the supporters of the Xational Government and was 
generously active in the organizations for sending 
contributions to the support of the Union cause. 

In both Madison and Xew Haven Mr. Scranton's 
diligence, ability and generosity won for him wide 
recognition and made him many warm friends, and 
the people intrusted to him the laboring oar in many 
public alYairs and improvements. At the head of 
many public trusts, IMr. Scranton remained until his 
sudden talcing away, Dec. 29, 1866, by an accident, 
wdiile stepping onto a moving train at South Xor- 
walk, when in the midst of his honors and great 
usefulness. In his death the commercial life of 
New Haven was deprived of a chief support and the 
community lost a sagacious, public-spirited and he- 
loved citizen. The erection of a public library 
building at Madison, the home of Iiis youth, middle 
and later life, as well as the home for generations of 
his ancestors, is a fitting tribute to his memory by 
a loving daughter. 

Un Xov. 4, 1829, Mr. Scranton was married to 
Lydia Stannard, who was born Oct. 8, 1808, daugh- 
ter of Job Stannard, of Westbrook, and to this 
union came children, as follows: Ezra Erastus, 
born Sept. 3. 1831, dietl May 19, 1835; Mary Eliza, 
born Sejit. 2~. 1837, died Dec. 16, 1839: Mary ICliza 
(2), l)i>rn Se])t. 23, 1840; and h'rancis Rathbone, 
born Marcli 14. 1831, dird Xo\. 7. 1833. 

HORATIO C.VrES REDEllvLD, cashier of 
the Xew I laven County Xational Bank, at Xew 
Haven, was born Aug. 26, 1836, and is a descendant 
in the se\entli generation from William Redfin, as 
the name was written in the early davs before iC/)2. 
While the family resided at New- London, the name 
seems gradually to have assumed its present form. 
William Redfin was jirobably one of the early emi- 
grants from Englancl, and as early as 1639, occu- 
pied a house on the south side of the Charles River, 
some six miles from Boston. Later he removed to 
what is now the town of Ledyard, Conn., to a point 



called Brewster's Xeek, some seven miles north of 
the present city of Xew London. .Mention of him 
is made in 1(153, '""I'l again in 1657 his name appears 
in the pulilic records, llis death occurred in K>t)2, 
and he \\a> sur\ived by his wife. Rebecca. 

Eroni this William Redfin, the descent of Hor- 
atio C. Redlield is through James, Theophilus, 
Theophilus (2), Nathan and Justin Redfield. 

James Redfield, son of \Villiam the emigrant, 
was born about 1646, and contracted his first mar- 
riage in Xew Haven with i^lizabeth How, and lived 
in Saybrook, and at Eairfield. His second wife 
was Deborah, the daughter of John Sturges. 

Theophilus Redfield, the son of the foregoing- 
James Redfield, was born in 1682, in Saybrook, 
and was marrii-d in i7od, tn I'riscilla (Irinnell, great- 
granddaughter of jdhn an<l I'riscilla .\lden, who 
came over in the "Mayfiower." Mr. Redfield was 
a joiner by trade, and iocati-d in what is now- 
Clinton. Conn.: and about 1717 settled on Chestnut 
Hill, in Killingworth, where he spent the remainder 
I of his lite. He commanded the respect and esteem 
of the community in w-hicli he lived, and was 
frequently ap[)ointed on town committees to which 
w-ere referred important matters. His death oc- 
curred in 1759, and that of his widow in 1770. 

Theophilus Redfield (2), son of Theoiihilus, was 
born in 1718, and w-as first m-arried about 1740. to 
Mary, the daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Buell. 
and granddaughter of Samuel Buell, who removed 
from Windsor to Killingworth in 1662. Mrs. Red- 
field died in 1749, and Mr. Redfield was married to 
Mi-s. Martha Gray, of Killingworth, the w-idow of 
I'hilip Gray, who came to Killingworth from Long 
Island. Mr. Redfield had his liome on Chestnut 
Hill, in Killingworth, and iwas a sergeant in the 
company commanded by his brother, I'eleg Red- 
field, which formed a part of the provincial forces 
engaged in the campaigns of 1739 and the follow- 
■ ing year, and later Iiecame an ensign in the same 
company. His death occurred in 1770. 

X^athan Redfield, son of Theophilus (2), was 
born in 1763, and was married in 1789. to Ruth, 
who was born in 1767, a daughter of Noah and 
Ruth (Dickinson) Benton, of Guilford, Conn. Mr. 
Redfield lived in Guilford, and moved from there 
to New IIavci-i. He ser\ed as a musician ii-i the 
Continental army, and from 1812 to 1814, was cus- 
tom house officer iri Xew Haven. His wife died in 
1833, and lie passed aw;iy in Guilford, six years 
later. 

Justin Redfield, son of Xathan, and the father 
of Horatio Gates, was born .Aug. 3, 171)5. and was 
married March 21, 1S24, to Mary, daughter of 
(Klisha and Marv (I'rintnall) Elderkin, of Clinton, 
Conn. Mr. Redfield lived in New Haven, where he 
w^as engaged in the fancy dry goods business. In 
1836 he was collector of taxes. His death occurred 
Februarv 6, 1850, and his widow ]-)assed away in 
1880. Their children were as follows: Henrv \\'ill- 
ard, born in 1825, died in 1849; Justin Elderkin. hern 



34 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Sept. 30, 1827, died in September, 1868; James 
Sherman, born in 1829, died in 1831 ; Andrew 
Jackson, died in infancy; Frank, born June 2, 1834; 
Horatio Gates; and Alary Wright, born Nov. 13, 
1838, died in July, i860. 

Horatio Gates Redfield has mainly spent his life 
in Xew Haven, though from his fourth to sixth 
years he lived in New York State. In 1844 his par- 
ents returned to New Haven, and here he acquired 
his education in the Lancasterian school. In Febru- 
arv. i8fio, he entered the liank as an assistant Ijook- 
keeper, later l)eei>niiiiL; bookkeeper, and gradually 
rising in importance until he became cashier, in i8qo. 
There is now in New Haven, only one man who 
has been connected with the banking interests as 
long as he has witliout a break in his continuous 
service. Four presidents have presided over the 
bank iwhile he has toiled behind the couriter, and 
today he is among the oldest and most highly re- 
spected banking men of the city. 

Air. Redfield was married in i860 to Miss 
Sophronia Snell, a native of Massachusetts, who 
died in 1864. To this union was born one son, 
Henrv W., now at home, and a bookkeeper by pro- 
fession, being employed in the office of the brick 
-company of I. L. Stiles & Son. Mr. Redfield, in 
i8hS. married Emma F. Goodrich, wlio died in 
1876. To this union were born two children, of 
wh'ini one died in infancy: the other, William G., 
Avho married Hattie Munson, is now an assistant 
cashier in the New Haven Countv National Bank. 
In 1881 Mr. Redfield married Laura E. Driver, and 
Florence M.. the only child of the last marriage, is 
still at school. 

Air. Redfield is a Republican in politics, and in 
his religion belongs to St. John's Episcopal Church, 
in which he takes an active part, having been treas- 
urer of the Church for fifteen years, and for more 
than twentv-five years has taken an active part in 
the vestry. In the building of the new church he 
was verv helpful, and is regarfh?d as one of the re- 
liable men connected with the parish. 

WILLIAM LAAIP.FRT P.RADLFY, late a 
conspicuous figure in the business life of Boston, 
and for vears previously identified with the interests 
of the citv of Meriden, the home of his earlier 
xears. wvA where almost tln'ougb a lifetime his 
lirother. Nathaniel L. Bradley, has been at the head 
of o!ie of the \v-orld's largest industries in its line, 
and also a leading and prominent character in so- 
cial life, was one of the forceful characters of his 
dav and generation in New England. 

Born Alav 25, 1826, in Cheshire, New Haven 
Co.. Conn., William L. Bradlev was a son of Levi 
and .Xbigail A. (At water) Bradley, and was de- 
scended in lintli lines from the earliest and first fam- 
ilies of Xi'w Haven of tlie Colonial period. Will- 
iam Bradlev, the progenitor of the Bradlev family 
of tliis section, was the friend of Cromwell and 
an officer in his army. He came to New England 



from Bingley, England, and in 1643 to New Haven, 
and became one of the first settlers of what is now 
the town of North Haven. David Atwater, the 
progenitor of the Atwater family, was one of the 
first planters of New Haven, in 1639. 

William L. Bradley, subject proper of this sketch, 
attended the district school in his native town, the 
Southington and Cheshire (Conn.) Academies, and 
then for six months the Lancasterian School, at 
New Haven. At thirteen he became a clerk in a . 
dry-goods store in New Haven, and at seventeen 
liecame a partner in one of the largest dry-goods 
houses in that city. His surroundings, however, 
not being in keeping with his tastes, he withdrew 
from this partnership a year later, and entered the 
employ — as traveling salesman — of Charles Parker, 
a large hardware manufacturer of Aleriden. He 
soon became master of his new position, and con- 
tributed largely to the development of Mr. Parker's 
Inisiness. While thus associated with Mr. Parker 
and with his consent, Mr. Bradley became engaged 
with a friend in the manufacture of portemonnaies. 
The business proved remunerative, but through the 
mismanagement of his associate Air. Bradley at the 
end of tlie first year found himself in debt to the 
extent of $20,000. Tliis partnership was then dis- 
solved, and through the indomitable will and energy 
of Mr. Bradley ways and means were devised by 
which he in the course of a few years paid his in- 
debtedness dollar for dollar. He continued in the 
employ of Air. Parker and with his consent had 
other business connections, one being a co-partner- 
ship with his brother. Nathaniel L. Bradley, and his 
brother-in-law, Walter Hubbard, for the manufac- 
ture of clocks and small metal wares, which after- 
ward became the Bradlev & Hubbard Alanufactur- 
ing Co., now the largest manufacturers of gas and 
electric fixtures and ornamental metal goods in the 
L'nited States. 

In 1861 William L. Bradlev, attracted by new 
discoveries abroad in the art of agriculture, became 
convinced that chemical fertilizers were destined to 
play an important part in the agriculture of our 
country, and he determined to embark in this new 
j and wholly undeveloped industry. He visited Bos- 
liin and laid his project liefore Oakes .\mes. 
who was favorably impressed with his plans, and, 
recognizing his high character and ability, consented 
to endorse Mr. Bradley's notes for a limited amount 
on the oral promise that he sliould receive one- 
fourth of the profits of the business. With this 
backing as his only capital. Air. Bradley began the 
manufacture of commercial fertilizers on the banks 
of the old South Bay, Boston, and then and there 
founded a business in the line indicated which in 
his lifetime became the very largest and most suc- 
cessful of its kind in this country. The small plant 
was soon outgrown, and works were established at 
\\'evmouth. Alass., which became the most extensive 
fertilizing plant in the world. This end. however, 
was not acliieved without great cft'ort. and persist- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



35 



cut ciiorg;y anil stud)'. Much expcrinum, research 
and laboratory work had to he dono, many per- 
plexities encountered and dirticulties met and over- 
come, but these Mr. Bradley bravely met and solved, 
he havinfj been made of that material which knew 
no "let up" until the desired end was accomplished. 
By this untiring zeal and able management Mr. 
Bradley's fertilizers came into common use among 
progressive farmers from Maine to Florida. Dur- 
ing the development of this business Mr. Ames 
continued to endorse for Mr. Bradley, and when the 
former became involved in his vast railroad projects 
Mr. Bradlc}- became, in turn, an endorser on the 
paper of ^^r. Ames for the lattcr's accommodation, 
so that when the great financial panic of the early 
'seventies swept over the countrv Mr. .\mcs found 
that he had overtaxed his resources, and both he 
and Mr. Bradley were obliged to temporarily sus- 
pend payment. ^Tr. Bradley in tliis, as in the 
previous crisis, was determined to pay dollar for 
dollar, and he earnestly solicited and olitained an 
extension from his creditors of six, twelve, eighteen 
and twenty-four months, with interest at seven per 
cent. All of these obligations were met aj: matur- 
ity, and at the end of two years he had paid in full 
an indebtedness of $523,000. with interest : he had 
saved his business, and had again mnintained his 
credit and reputation, dearer to him than all else. 

Soon after this, in 1873. Mr. .Vmes died, and in 
order to best protect his varied interests his estate 
was declared insolvent, which rendered ^fr. Brad- 
ley's position extremely embarrassing, for Air. Ames 
had negotiated about $200,000 of Mr. Bradley's 
notes and endorsements for his own accommoda- 
tion. $80,000 of this paper had come into the pos- 
session of Oliver Ames & Sons. .Vt the expiration 
of thirty days, on the hour and minute. Mr. Brad- 
ley went into Mr. Ames' office and laid down a 
cashier's check for the full amount nf the nules, 
with interest added at the legal rate. 

Through the able management of Mr. .\mes' 
executors (his sons, Oliver and Oakes .\. .Ames) 
his estate was not only rendered solvent, but paid 
to his heirs several millions of dollars besides, so 
that all this accommodation paper was afterward 
paid by his executors, to whom Mr. Bradley also 
paid $100,000 for Mr. Ames' interest in his business. 
Thus the close business relations which existed so 
long and pleasantly between Mr. Ames and Mr. 
Bradley resulted in mutual benefits and justified 
their unbounded confidence in each other. 

One of Mr. Bradley's greatest characteristics and 
most serviceable factors in his business qualifica- 
tions was his phenomenal resource in times of emer- 
gency. One of his associates in business used to 
say that he seemed almost to court emergencies in 
in order to gain the satisfaction of extricating him- 
self successfully from them. 

Tn iXjj the business, which had been conducted 
in the name of William L. Bradley, was transferred 
to the Bradlcv Fertilizer Co. Later branch offices 



were established at Rochester, N. Y., Cleveland, 
Ohio. Haltimore, Mil., and .Augusta, Ca. Of this 
company Mr. Bradley became president and sole 
manager, lie also became largely interested in 
other fertilizer works at Carteret, X. J., Cleveland, 
Ohio, lialtimore, Md., and Charleston, S. C. He 
operated extensive phosphate mines in South Caro- 
lina and Florida, and was an owner of real estate 
in nearly every .\tlantic coast Slate from Maine to 
Florida. 

During the latter years of his life Mr. Bradley 
gave up the active management of his business to 
his sons, and devoted nmch i:)f his time to his chosen 
occupation, farming and landsca])e gardening, at 
his beautiful coinitry seat at ll.ingham, Mass., 
where he died after a short illness. Dec. 15, 1894, 
at the age of sixty-eight. 

In 1848 Mr. Bradley was married to Frances 
Martina Coe, daughter of Calvin and Harriet 
(Rice) Coe, of Meriden, I'onn, Two sons, Peter 
B. and Robert S., and one daughter, .Xhbv A., sur- 
vived him. 

(il-lORCF W. CI )U1.)SI-;LL. whose death oc- 
curred at his home No. 6 High Street, New Haven, 
on Jan. 28, 1887, was one of the city's conspicuous 
business men of fifty years ago. and he descended 
from one among the old Colonial families of the 
vicinity. 

Mr. Goodsell was born in 1819. in Foxon, son 
of Jacob and So[)hia (l'ieri)ont) (ioodsell, she a de- 
scendant of the old prominent ricr])ont family of 
New Haven. Mr. Goodsell began his business car- 
eer as a clerk for the late Elias Pierpont. who kept 
a grocerv on the corner of Olive and Grand streets. 
Later on, associated with his brother. Willis J. 
Goodsell. he engaged in business for himself, estab- 
lishing a grocery on the corner of State and Crown' 
streets. George W. also operated stores on Custom 
House Square and on Long Wharf, where he erect- 
ed a fine granite building forty years ago. AFore 
recently he was in business on Slate, near George, 
street. Up to early in the seventies Mr. Goodsell 
did an extensive business and greatly prospered in 
it. becoming wealthy. In his earlier career he was 
engaged largely in the importing business, owning 
his own vessels. He inqKirted largeh' Turk Island 
salt. He invested extensively in real estate, build- 
ing a number of houses and developing tracts of 
land between New Haven and Westville. He im- 
proved what is known as the Whitney and Dr. 
Knight places. (He built and owned a cottage at 
Savin Rock. He was a man of great business ca- 
pacity and one of the prominent business men of 
his day in New Haven. The panic of 1873 ruined 
him. his financial losses being heavy, and by that 
event his floating indebtedness was upwards of 
$300,000. This burden he carried bravelv. met his 
obligations as fast as possible, and three vears la'er 
he had reduced this enormous debt to $2,500. Of 
his New Haven creditors, none of those unsecured 



36 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



by notes lost a dollar, and all the notes he was un- 
able to pa_v, amounting to very little, were forgiven 
him. A man of honor and integrity, and of great 
fortitude, he continued in business, and during the 
later years oi his life was moderately successful. 
Mr. Goodsell was a man of quiet taste and life, 
diligent and honorable in business, and an upright 
member of society. His religious connections were 
with the College Street Church, a valuable member. 

Mr. Goodsell was married to Abigail Andrew 
Nettleton, of .\lilford, and uf their family of five ! 
children, all survived the father, namely: Frances 
A., who married Aug. 24, 1864, James Gardner 
Clark, now a prom'ineiit lawyer and conveyancer in 
New Haven, their elegant home being at West Hav- 
en ; Mrs. Albert J. .Milbank, of New York City; 
Mrs. Charles G. Keys, who died in 1894; G. Willis- 
ton and Edward L. Goodsell, the two latter of New 
York City, where they are engaged in an importing 
business. 

Many of the Goodsells of New Haven county 
came from the early Branford family. Thomas 
Goodsell appears in Branford in 1667, then a youth, i 
He married June 4, 1684, Sarah, daughter of Sam- 
uel Hemmingway, of New Haven, and their chil- I 
dren were: Samuel, born Feb. 28, 1685; Mary,i 
born Dec. 2S, 1686; Sarah, born Sept. 14, 1689; 
Lydia, born May 3, 1692; Deborah, born Dec. 29, 
1694; Abigail, born Oct. 4, 1697 (died young), 
Abigail {2), born Feb. 28, 1699; Thomas, born in 
January, 1702; and John, born Dec. 21, 1705. 

Of the three sons of Thomas Goodsell, Samuel 
married iMary Frisbe and to them came children 
as follows: Samuel, born Oct. 30, 1710; Jonathan, 
horn June 22. 1712; Isaac, born March 14, 1715; 
Isabel, born Sept. 9, 1717; Mary, born Dec. 17, 
1719; Jacob, born July 22, 1722; and Dan, born 
June 16, 1724. 

Thomas Goodsell (2), son of the first Thomas, 
married Oct. 6, 1731, Martha Davenport, and to 
them came Sarah, who marricil JcrL-miah Wolcott. 

HOX. XEHEMI.VH D. Sl'ERRY. member of 
Congress from the Second District of Connecticut, 
former Secretary of that State, and for twenty- 
eight years the efficient postmaster at New Haven, 
is a descendant of sturdy New England ancestry. 
He was born July 10, 1827, in the town of Wood- 
bridge, New Haven county, a son of Enoch and 
Marv Atlanta ( Sperry) Sperry, and is in the line 
of direct descent from that Richard Sperry who 
takes a place in history as the courageous friend and 
defender of the rcLjicides. 

The name of Sperry is familiar to those ac- 
quainted with the history of New Haven and vicin- 
ity, for from almost the very dawn of the Colonial 
period to the present, memliers of the family have 
been conspicuous characters in the locality's social 
and business life. It is the purpose of this article, 
however, to treat hriclly nf the lineage and family 
onlv of the late Fnocli Sperry. of Woodbridge, sev- 



eral of whose sons became prominent in the city 
of New Haven and elsewhere. We refer to Hon. 
Lucien Wells Sperry, Stiles Denison Sperry, Hon. 
Nehemiah Day Sperry and Enoch Knight Sperry, 
tv.o of whom are now deceased. 

In the ttjwn of Woodbridge there is a fertile tract 
of land in the valley to the westward of West Rock, 
near the "Judge's Cave." so-called because it was 
for a time the hiding place for the regicides Gens. 
Goffe and Whalley, and Col. Dixwell, who fled to 
America after the restoration. This tract early took 
the name of Sperry's famis — the home of Richard 
Sperry, a farmer who, though not one of the original 
planters of New Haven, was an early settler, his 
nan:e being of record in the town as early as Jan. 
4. i'>43- This Richard Sperry was the last friend 
and protector of the regicides, Gofife and Whalley, 
at a time when their pursuers from England were 
trying to ferret them out of their hiding places. 
1 here is a family tradition that he came to New 
Haven as agent for the Earl of Warwick. The 
tenure of Sperry"s Farms has continued for up- 
ward of 250 years, in the persons of his descend- 
ants. From Richard Sperry, of Sperr\''s Farms, 
are descended the sons of the late Enoch Sperry, 
who arc in the sixth generation, their lineage being 
through Nathaniel, Nathaniel (2); Simeon an<l 
Enoch Sperry. 

(IT) Nathaniel Sperry, son of Richar<l, lyorn 
Aug. 13, 1656. married Oct. 2. 1683, Sarah Dicker- 
man, who was born July 25, 1663, daughter of Abra- 
ham and Mary (Cooker) Dickerman, and grand- 
daughter of Thomas Dickerman, of Dorchester, 
1636. 

(Ill) Nathaniel Sperry (2), son of Nathaniel, 
born March 8, 1695, married Dec. 25, 1719, Sarah 
Wilmot, born Feb. 26. 1695-96, daughter of John 
Wilmot. Mr. Sperry died Sept. 8, 1751. 

{lY) Siiueon Sperry, son of Nathaniel (2), born 
IMarch 16, 1738-39. married Patience Smith. Mr. 
Sperrv lived "and died in \\'oodbridge, his birth- 
place, though at the time of his birth the territory 
was the town of New Haven. By occupation he 
was a small manufacturer and fanuer. He held 
some minor town offices. He was a man of retiring 
disposition, but he had great decision of character 
and undoubted integrity, and he enjoyed the confi- 
dence of all who knew him. 

( V) Enoch Sperry, son of Simeon, born in 1787. 
married Mary Atlanta Sperry, daughter of Asa and 
Eunice (Johnson) Sp rry. Mr. Sperry was born in 
Woodliridge and lived on the mill site at the upper 
' end of Spcrrv"s Farms, where were located the grist- 
mill and carding machine. Like his father he, too, 
was a small manufacturer and farmer and held a few 
I town offices. He possessed a natural mathematical 
mind and would solve the most difficult problems in 
his own wav without the rules of ordinary arithme- 
tic. His home life was beautiful. He always had 
familv devotion and was a sincere Christian, a man 
of the liighest integrity ;uid one who would go 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



37 



further than most men tu assist those in distress or 
need. He was greatly interested in matters of the 
day and would discuss pohtical and rehgious ques- 
tions with great freedom and intelhgence. Outside 
of husiness his chief deUght was in church affairs, 
lie was a member of the (.'ongregTitional Church 
anil often moderator of their meetings and he was 
fretjuently chosen to settle disputes both in and out 
of the church, his decisions being seldom (|uestioned. 

To the union of Enoch and Mary .\tlanta Sperry 
w ere born children as follows : 

( I ) Hox. Lrciic.v W'l-.i.i.s Simckrv. born March 
8, i8jo. in W'oodbridge. married Harriet A. Sperry, 
daughter of Enos Sperry. of W'estville. She died 
almut 1888. and Mr. Sperry in 1890. They left ewe 
daughter. Mrs. Eugene S. Miller. .\t the age of 
seventeen years Lucien W. Sperry went to New 
Haven to learn the carpenter's trade. As the years 
passed he improved his educational opportunities 
to such an extent that he w;is enabled to teach 
school. In 1845. associated with his brother. Stiles 
D. S])err\ . he began a mercantile career and for 
twenty years or more the brothers were located in 
business in \\"estville. Woodbridge. .\'ew Haven and 
Hartford. In 1855 Lucien bought a tract of land 
on Mill river, just east of the railroad, and with 
Chauncey Sperry. son of the late Enos Sperry. en- 
gaged in the coal and wood businos. continuing 
same until i8(>_^. In his later yL-ar> be was con- 
nected with several local banks and was a director in 
railroads in which the town and city had interest. 
In the middle "sixties he began a ])olitical career 
in which for many years he was most popular, prom- 
inent and successful, holding almost every ofifice in 
the gift of the people. His political affiliations were 
with the Democratic party. In 1864 he was elected 
first selectman and held that office until i8f)S. when 
he declined re-nomination. In 18(^16 he was elected 
mavor of Xew Haven and was re-elected in 1867 
and again in 1868. receiving the largest majority 
ever given a candidate up to that time. In iS6c) and 
1870 he represented the Eourth District in the State 
Senate. Eroni boxhood Mr. S])erry was identified 
with the militia of the State. When twenty he was 
chosen captain of a com])any formed in his native 
town and during the following year was appointed 
lieutenant-colonel of the Second Regiment, of which 
later he became colonel. He was captain and after- 
■ward major of the .'Second Company. Ciovernor's 
Elorse Guards. 

(2) Stii.es Dexi.sox SiM-.RKV. liom Oct. 15. 1822, 
married .Anna E. Rriggs. of Providence. R. I. He 
v."as a prominent merchant in Xew Haven and later 
served as treasurer of the State Savings Bank at 
Hartford, holding that position at the time of his 
death. He served two tonus as representative in the 
State Legislature from Hartford. He was a promi- 
nent and influential Mason and held high offices in 
that fraternity. 

(t,) Hox. XKiiF.MrATt D. Si'KKKV i> mentioned 
below. 



(4J Jo.siU'ii H.\Kr Si'iiKKV was killed in 184'' by 
being thrown from a horse. 

(5J L.\UR.\ Axx Si'iCRRV, born Oct. 20, 1S35, 
married Andrew J. Randell and resided in Brook- 
lyn. X. Y. She dietl Jan. 25, 1879. In early life she 
was a school teaclier. 

1 6) Hox. Exocii KxiGirr Sit-rrv, born in 
W'oodbridge, married Xov. 10, 1863, Sarah Amanda 
Treat, who was lx>rn July 29, 1844. daughter of 
Jonah Xewton and Mary Amanda (Could) Treat, 
and a descendant in the ninth generation from Rich- 
ard Treat, who came to Xew England as early as 
1639 and was an early settler of Wethersfield, Conn. 
Mrs. Sperry's line of descent from Richard is 
through Gov. Robert, Robert (2), Robert (3). Rob- 
ert (4), Jonathan. Jose])h and Jonah Xewton Treat, 
the latter a mason and builder, of Xew Haven. 
Enoch K. Sperry for a number of years was the 
efficient accountant and bookkeeper of the City Bank 
of Xew Haven, and has been engaged in mercantile 
pursuits in that city. He was appointed United 
States Consul to the Barbadocs, by President Lin- 
coln, and served several years with honor and dis- 
tinction. Later in life he had charge of the Treat 
estate. His wife died April 8. 1877. Their only 
daughter, Edith ,\manda Sperrv. was born Ian. 8, 

iB73- 

X'ehemiah D. Sperry, whose name intrixhices this 

article, attended the schools of his native town and 
for two years was at the private scho<-)l of Prof. 
.Amos Smith, of Xew Haven. ICarly beciiining in- 
dejjcndent and self-reliant, while yet in his 'teens 
he taught school in several ])laces, receiving the 
largest salary at that time ever paid a country school 
teacher in this State. Saving his money he w'as 
presently able — in 1848 — to go into business in Xew 
Haven, becoming the junior member of the firm 
of Smith & Sperry. one of the most successful Inisi- 
ness concerns of the city. Being industrious and 
energetic and possessing business judgment and 
marked ability, he was soon rated among the best 
business men of the cit\-. His activities were directed 
along the lines of public improvements. He orig- 
inated a company for constructing and operating 
a horse railroad between Xew Haven and Pair Ha- 
ven and Westville, and as its jiresident managed 
its affairs for ten years with energy and discre- 
tion. By his personal efforts during this ]icriod he 
secured a charter for the first horse railroad in the 
State of Connecticut. I'or some years Mr. Sperr}' 
was a director in several corporations, such as the 
Xew Haven & Derby Railroad and the Xew 
England Hudson Suspension Bridge Co.. and be 
has always co-operated and assisted in all kinds of 
public enterprises. Xo man has taken a greater 
interest in the progress of the citv than Mr. .Sperry. 
and it is jirobable that no other man in Xew 
Haven has more friends than the jiresent Con- 
gressman. 

.\ strong supnorter of the .American system of 
pul)lic schools Mr. Sperry, in 1878. vigorously at- 



3B 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



tacked the action of the New Haven Board of E(hi- 
cation in ordering the discontinuance of the 
reading of tlie Bi-ble in tlie public schools and 
succeeded in carrying every ward in the city 
in favor of the restoration of the Bible in the 
schools, his logic and fervor, his appeal to the 
traditions of New England arousing a public 
sentiment that soon compelled the revocation 
of the order. Mr. Sperry is a stanch Republican 
and has been intluential in the councils of the party 
for many years. In early life he was a Whig, and 
on the first organization of the party became a Re- 
publican. For a time he served in the ranks of the 
American party, but at the convention of that party 
in Philadelphia, when it incorporated a pro-slaverv 
plank in its platform, he unceremoniously bolted. 
'] his decided stand for principle made him verv 
popular at home and in 1855 he was nominated for 
governor of the State. Not having reached the 
Constitutional age for the place he was nominated 
and elected Secretary of State that year, and was 
re-elected. In 1856 he attended the National Con- 
ventinn of the American party at Philadelphia, 
which placed in nomination e.x-President Fillmore. 
Here again he vigorously opposed the resolutions 
on slaver\r and declined to support the nominees of 
the party. That year he attended the first National 
Convention of the Republican party and gave his 
warm support to its nominees and principles. He 
was made chairman of the Republican State Com- 
mittee, a position he held during the trying period 
prior to the Civil war and during its continuance. 
In the State campaign of 18C0 he did much to secure 
the election of Gov. Buckingham and the following 
year was named as postmaster of New Haven by 
President Lincoln. In 1864 i\Ir. Sperry was a mem- 
ber of the National Convention held at Baltimore 
which renominated President Lincoln. At that time 
he was chosen secretary of the National Committee 
and was made one of the committee o{ seven whose 
function was to conduct the campaign of that year. 
Of this committee of seven he was secretary and 
one of the most active memlicrs. In 1868 he pre- 
sided at the .State convention which nominated the 
electors who voted for Gen. Grant and since that 
time his continued activity in National affairs has 
earned for him a reputation that extends over the 
entire country. Early in 1889, dm-ing the first ad- 
ministration of President Cleveland, Mr, Sperry was 
retired from the post office at New Haven, but he 
was re-appointed by President Harrison, The New 
Haven post office is the most important in the State 
and an important one in the country. The post- 
master-general, upon retiring, mentioned in his re- 
port four post ofifices in the country as leading all 
the others in general merit. The New Haven post 
office was one of the four and the attorney-general 
stated that its business management was "\\'ashing- 
tnn Mnnimient High." In 1805 Mr. .Spcrr\- re- 
signed his office and his ft'llnw citizens without re- 



gard to party gave him a complimentary bancjuet, 
the largest ever given in the State of Connecticut. 
It took place at the Hyperion theater. 

Mr. Sperry has variously served his fellow citi- 
zens in official positions. He has been selectman 
of the town of New Haven and alderman of the 
city. In 1888 he was a delegate to the convention 
that nominated Benjamin Harrison for the presi- 
dency and ser\-ed on the committee on Platform. 
.As a public speaker and debater Mr. Sperry pos- 
sesses great power to move and influence his audi- 
tors. He is a strong Protectionist and in the cele^ 
brated debate before the State Grange in 1887 he 
was one of two orators selected by the National Pro- 
tection League to answer for that school. The ad- 
vocates for free trade selected Daniel A. Wells, Prof. 
Sumner and J. B. Sargent, but only the latter ap- 
peared. In the absence of his colleague, Prof. Dens- 
low, of New York, Mr. Sperry was likewise left un- 
supported. The result was a pronounced and ad- 
mitted victory for J\Ir. Sperry. Before the General 
Assembly he presented the subject of protection 
in what was termed the most masterly and scholarly 
address ever heard on the subject. In 1888 he de- 
bated the Mills Bill before a large assembly in con- 
troversy with one of the ablest representatives of 
that school in the State, and the result was still more 
credital)le. An article which he wrote on the ".Ad- 
vantage of Protection" and which appeared in the 
Christian Secretary, of Hartford, aroused such wide- 
spread attention that more than 400,000 copies were 
published. It was afterward put in pamphlet form 
and still more widely circulated. At the National 
Postal Convention held at Alexandria Bay, Thou- 
sand Islands, N. Y., Mr. Sperry was the orator of 
the occasion and his address was listened to with 
admiration and delight. 

In 1866 I\Ir. Sperry was the nominee of his party 
for Congress from the New Haven District, an 
honor which, for private reasons, he felt impelled to 
decline. In 1804 he ^"^'^s again the nominee of his 
party for Congress, was elected by a good majority, 
and is to-day one of the active, experienced and in- 
fluential members of that body, no member of which 
perhaps has a more satisfied and contented constit- 
uency behind him than has IMr. Sperry. He is now 
serving his fourth term. 

As a business man Mr. Sperry has been re- 
markably successful and is still a member of the 
well-known house of Sperry & Treat, contractors 
and builders, of New Haven. Popular in social 
life he has been president of the Quinnipiac Club 
for many years, is a member of the I. O. O. P., and 
has been a Mason for nearly fifty years ; he has at- 
tained the thirty-third degree. 

Mr. Sperry was married in 1847 to Miss 1-diza 
H., a daughter of A\'illis and Catherine Sperry, of 
\\'ood'bridge. She died in 1873 and in 1875 he mar- 
ried Miss Minnie B. Newton, a native of Lockjjort, 
N. Y.. and a ilanchter of Erastns .-md Caroline New- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



59 



ton, of that place. They have one daughter, Caesara 
A., wlio is the widow of Epliraini I. Frothinghani, 
and has one child, Newton Sperry Frotliinghani. 

HUX. CHARLES BL'CRI.XGIIA.M .\11£RR1- 
MAN, for many years a prominent citizen and one 
of the leading merchants of W'aterbury, was born 
in Watertown, Conn., Oct. y, 1809, and died March 
15- 1889. 

Mr. Merriman descended from one of the old 
\ew England families and from Revolutionary 
stock, lie was in the se\enth generation from Capt. 
Nathaniel Merriman, who was one of the hrst set- 
tlers of Wallingford, Conn., in 1670, the line of 
ilescent being thrnugh Caleb, Elia^aph, Amasa. 
Charles and ^\'illiam 11. 

(II) Caleb Merriman, son of Capt. Nathaniel 
Merriman, bora in 166^- niarried Mary Preston. 

(III) Eliasaph ^lerriman, son of Caleb Merri- 
man, born in 1695, niarried in 1719, Abigail Hall. 

( 1\') Amasa .Merriman. sun uf l^liasaph .Merri- 
man, born about 1730, niarried Sarah (surname not 
known I. 

i\ ) C!i;irks .Nkri'imaii, son of .\masa .Merri- 
man, born Aug. 20, 1762, married May 16, 1784, 
Anna, daughter of David I'uiiderson of New Haven. 
Charles Merrijiian enlisted in the Continental army 
as a drummer in 1776, became drum-major, and 
served throughout the war. He settled in Water- 
town, where he commenced the business of a tailor, 
which, owing to ill licalth. he relin(|uished. .A.fter 
Iiaving "ridden post" from New Haven to Suffield. 
Conn., four years, and made a voyage to the West 
Indies, he began mercantile pursuits in Waterto.wn, 
in which he continued until 1829. He died Aug. 
26, 1829, leaving ten children. 

(VI) William tl. Merriman, son of Charles 
Merriman, born Sept. 26, 1788, married Jan. 8, 1809, 
Sarah, a daughier of David and Cliloe ( .Merrill ) 
Buckingham, born Feb. 16, 1790. William 31. 
Merriman settled in Watertown ; was an enterpris- 
ing merchant : removed to Watcrbury and there 
died. His wife died July 20, 1870. Their children 
were: Charles B., Sarah A., Joseph P., David and 
Henry. 

Charles Ihickinghrnn .Merriman was educated in 
the village school, and at I.ronard Daggett's school 
in New Haven. In his early life he was engaged 
in the mercantile business with his father in the 
north par; of the town ot \\'oo(i'l)ury, ('ouu. h'ifiN' 
years prior to his death he came to Waterbnry. and 
went into business .with Ezra Stiles on the corner 
of Centre -Square and Leavenworth streets. In 1843 
and after several business changes, he became asso- 
ciated with Julius Hotchkiss in a similar business 
and in the manufacture of suspenders. Their busi- 
ness in 1857 was consolidated with that of Warren & 
Newtown (Alanson Warren and Isaac E. New-- 
town) W'ho had a suspender factory in Oakville, 
and became the American Suspender Co., the fac- 
tory being located in Oak\ille. Later the mercan- 



tile business was dropped, which assumed the lirni 
name of .Merriman 1.V Co., and still later lieiiedici iS: 
.Merriman. 

.\lr. .Xkrrimaii's i)ublic services covered a kng 
and interesting j)eriud in Waterbury's history. He 
was a member of the first court of common- council 
ill 1853, and was called to the same |)Osition again 
in 1858-59. In 1860 he was elected alderman from 
his ward, and in 1869 was the successful candidate 
on the Republican ticket for the position of mayor. 
Uii .May 23, 1870. he was one of the comniittee that 
drafted the city charter. He was president of the 
W'aterburv Gas Light Co., and for many )ears was 
a director of the Citizens National I'.ank. He was 
a prominent member of the St. John's l^piscojial 
L.'hurch. ".Mr. .Merriman was noted for e(|uanin;uy 
of teniijcr and kindness of heart, and was an en- 
thusiastic supporter of every enterprise that con- 
Iribuled to the well being and u])building of W aier- 
bury." 

On June 30, 1841, Mr. Merriman was niarried 
to Alargaret, daughter rjf b'dward Field, of Wa;er- 
bury, and to them were born children, as follows : 
Charlotte B., Sarah .M., Helen, Margaret F. (wife 
of Dr. Frank E. Castle, of Waterlniry ). William 11. 
and Edmund F. 

William 1!. Merriman is teller in the Waterlnirv 



National 



ik. ( )ii Nov. 17. i8S(), he was mari'ied 



to Miss Sarah Kingsbury Parsons. 

J(.)ll.\ C. n()()ril. late a ])romineiu manu- 
facturer, capitalist, and leading citizen of Water- 
bury, formerly of the Holmes, I'.ooth & Ha\dens 
Co., was a native of Newtown, C"onn., and a de- 
scendant of one of the earliest and nuist prominent 
families of Connecticut. 

Richard Booth, the progenitor of tlic Booth 
family in b'airlield county. Conn., emigrated from 
Cheshire. England, some time between i'i3o and 
1640. He married l{lizabeth Hawley. a sister of 
Capt. Josei)li Hawley, of Stratford, and settled in 
Stratford in 1640. 

Jonathan Booth, son of Sergeant John Bi'Oth 
and grandson of Richard Booth, the cniigraiit. was 
one of the founders of Newtown, Conn. He, in 
company with his cousin Ebcnezer Booth, located 
there in 1707-8. Journeying thither from Stratford 
they purchased from tlie tribe of Poolatuck In- 
dians, an extensive tract of land along the Housa- 
tonic river on a part of wdiicli the village of New- 
town was afterwards built. I'roni this Jonathan 
an<l I'.beiiezer Booth all the Booth of Xewtown 
have descended. 

John C. Booth was born June 13. 1808, in Xew- 
town, Conn., the son of Philo and Aurelia Booth. 
He was educated in his native town, and in Dan- 
bury, Conn., and for some years was himself a 
teacher in the latter town. He beean his business 
career as a clerk in a store in Newtown. In 1S32 
he went to Mcriden, Conn., as agent for tlic manu- 
factured goods of that place, and in 1835 he be- 



40 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



came a traveling- salesman for Benedict and Burn- 
ham, and was also employed to open local trade for 
Baldwin, Burnham & Co., on the establishmient of 
their agency in New York. He remained there un- 
til 1836. After four years in the West, he returned 
and took an interest in Benedict & Burnham"s, as- 
suming charge of their store in Waterbury. Upon 
the organization of this manufacturing concern in 
1843, ■'^'I''- Booth was chosen one of its directors, 
a position he held until 1852. On Feb. 21, 1853, 
he united with Israel Holmes and others in organ- 
izing Holmes, Booth & Haydens, with which con- 
cern he remained until 1869. That year Israel 
Holmes, L. J. Atwood, D. S. Plumb and Air. Booth 
formed a new company of Plumb & Atwood with a 
capital of $400,000, for the manufacture of brass 
articles. On May 6th the Thomas Manufacturing 
Co., of Thomaston, was consolidated with it, a 
factory built there and one in Waterbury. At the 
beginning Mr. Holmes was president, Mr. Booth 
secretary, and Mr. Plumb, treasurer. Mr. Booth 
became president after the death of Mr. Holmes. 
In 1873 Mr. Booth retired from active business 
though retaining his official relations as president 
and director. The Holmes, Booth & Haydens Co. 
have more than one and a half million dollars in- 
vested in their business, and the company now rank 
among the largest producers of brass, German sil- 
ver, and copper in sheets, wire, rods, rivets, jack 
chains, tubing, library and table lamps, etc. 

Mr. ]')Ooth was pre-eminently a thrifty business 
man, careful and watchful in all his affairs to such 
an extent that he acquired a competencv said to be 
g:reater than that of any other man in Waterbury. 
He gave large sum-s to St. Margaret's school, St. 
John's and Trinity school (Episcopal), including 
his share of the j^resent site of St. John's rectory, 
and to (iiher objects. He was once a vestrvman and 
always a consistent attendant of St. John's. He 
was a trustee of the Riverside Cemetery Associa- 
tion. In his relations with several corporations 
with which he was connected, he showed himself a 
wise counselor and shrewd financier, and their 
success has been owing in no small wav to his far 
sightedness and sound judgment. His personal 
wants were few and simple. He had no taste for 
display, and though wealthy never departed frimi 
the quiet and retiring manner of life he most en- 
joyed. At the time of the death of Mr. Booth, 
which occurred July 2Q, 18S6, the Waterbury 
Aincricaii said cditoriallv: 

Thr life i.f John ('. Rnnlh, tile nc\v« nf whose clealh 
?tarlled the eniimiiinity this iiKirning. was in many re- 
S|)ccts typieal ot the spirii whieh has made Watci'lniry the 
thrifty and prosperous eity that it is. He began almost 
with its own modest heginning. and pushed along with it 
to the present heallliy stage of its industrial growth, tie 
drops out now full of years, and the rewards of business 
triet and industry, while it goes on to a future which he 
has foreseen, and ni.iy he eontintied in a considerable 
measure responsible for. Oealb has been making its way 
with stern .'letivity among the pioneers of Waterbury dur- 



ing the past few years, and perhaps John C. Booth is as 
conspicuous a figure among the older landiuarks as could 
haye been chosen for its fatal aim. He vyas a man of 
quaint manner, simple and unostentatious modes of life, pa- 
tient, persevering and tenacious of purpose, sound of juug- 
ment and not given to mistakes in business. In his home 
and among his close acquaintances he was wont to ex- 
hibit a quaint dry humor, the greater side of a nature of 
which the world of business did not often obtain a 
glimpse. 

There follows an extract taken from the funeral 
discourse of the Rev. Dr. Rowdand : 

Mr. Booth will be long remembered in the comtnunity 
for his ability as a luan of business, for his perseverance 
and enterprise, as well as for his gentle and kindly nature. 
But those who knew him best remember him for his do- 
mestic virtues, for his fidelity and affectionate nature in 
the home circle, for his devotion to wife and children. 
It is such characters that fill the homes of earth with the 
spirit of Him who came not to be ministered unto, but to 
minister. In his relations to the church and his intercourse 
with the world he has shown himself obedient to the pre- 
cept which bids us "bear one another's burdens," 

On Feb. 19, 1840, Mr. Booth was married to 
Miss Eunice Tucker, of Oxford, Conn. She died 
Aug. 20, 1894. Their children were : Sarah H., 
born in 1846, and died in 1873: and Mary E., the 
wife of Edward M. Burrell, a prominent manu- 
facturer and citizen of Waterbury. 

HON. DEXTER RUSSELL WRIGHT, whose 
death occurred in Xew Haven July 23, 1886, was a 
member of the Xew Haven County Bar for nearly 
fortv years and was widely known as an able and 
reliable corporation and business lawyer. As a cit- 
izen and public man he attained distinction. 

Mr. Wright was born June 27, 182 1, at Wind- 
sor, Vt., a son of Alpheus and Anna (Loveland) 
Wright. The father was engaged in the milling and 
lumber business and subsequently removed to the 
State of X'ew York. When Dexter R. \\'right was 
prepared he entered Wesleyan at Middletown, from 
which he was graduated in 1845. For a brief period 
he was principal of the Meriden Academy and then 
entered the Law Department of Yale, from which 
he was graduated in 1848. While pursuing his 
sttvdies he was for a time clerk in the office of E. 
K. Foster, of X^ew Haven. In 1848 he was ad- 
mitted to the Ear and began the practice of his pro- 
fession in Meriden. With the exception of a brief 
period of business and legal experience with the 
pioneers of California, in 1850 and iSqi, he con- 
tinued in practice in Meriden until T8ri2. In X'o- 
ventlicr, 1863, Mr. ^^'right opened an office in X'ew 
Haven, where he followed his professional career 
the remaining years of his life. Here his abilities 
as a commercial and business lawyer and counselor 
became noted and a large and lucrative practice was 
ready to his hand. He was always a hard-working 
student of his profession and no opportimity to pro- 
tect his clieirts was netrlected. He had a logical 
mind and a tenacious memory, whicli held the great 
principles of the law fairly at his command, as well 




..^7^^ 




? 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



41 



as the more important and siynifu-ant decisions of 
the courts. Rarel_\- advising Htigation if an lionor<i- 
ble settlement could be made he not infrequently 
avoided extended and ilisastrous litigation, even at 
his own expense. The briefs wiiich Mr. Wright 
submitted to the Supreme Court were prepared with 
great skill and showed remarkable familiarity with 
the English language. Courteous and affable to all 
with whom he came in contact, his commanding 
form and fine carriage, added to his learning and 
eloquence, gave him much influence with Ixith court 
and jury. 

Mr. Wright began life as a Democrat and was 
a wann adherent of the principles of that party as 
they were declared prior to 1861. In 1849 ''^ was 
elected to the State Senate from the Sixth District, 
being supix)rted by both Democrats anil the Free 
Soilers. In the election of i860 Mr. \\'right agreed 
with those Democrats who, under the leadership of 
the Hartford Times, supported Senator Brecken- 
ridge for President. When the Secession movement 
took definite shape and could not be allayed Mr. 
W'right and his intimate personal and business 
friend, Charles Parker, of Meriden, without hesita- 
tion ranged themselves on the side of the Union and, 
in company with James T. Pratt, Roger Averill and 
other Democrats, worked with surpassing devotion 
for its preservation. Mr. Wright was made lieu- 
tenant-colonel of the 14th Connecticut \'olunteer 
Infantry, and in August, 1862, was made colonel of 
a regiment composed of recruits from Xew Haven 
county. This was the 15th Conn. Vols, which, under 
Col. Wright's careful and thorough training, 
quickly became one of the most promising regiments 
camped around Washington in the fall of iS6j. The 
15th Connecticut was brigaded with four other regi- 
ments and Colonel Wright became the commander. 
The Colonel made his brigade, as he had before 
made his regiment, noticeable for its drill and man- 
agement. His tent was a place for the study of lac- 
tics and. had not political obstructions hindered, he 
would have lieen made a brigadier general long 
before the forward movement began. Early in 
1863 he was directed to take his brigade to Freder- 
icksburg, and though he had Ijccn scriouslv injured 
by the overturning of an ambulance he promptly 
led his troo]is to Falmouth and there re]jorted for 
duty. To the surprise of his men the brigade was 
broken up aiul Col. Wright found himself attached 
to one of the older, hut numerically weaker bri- 
gades, with but little prospect of receiving a com- 
mission as brigadier general. He was under com- 
mand of officers not so able and thorough as liim- 
self. whose chief merit was political power behind 
them. 

In Alarch, 1863, Col. Wright, slill suffering 
from the effects of his injury at .Alexandria and ill 
from the effects of exposure during P.urnside's futile 
movements aroimd Fredericksburg, resigned his 
command and returned home to throw himself into 
the cause of the L'nion Republican j)arty in the 



heated campaign then in progress between the Dem- 
ocrats with Thomas H. Seymour, on a peace plat- 
form, and William A. liuckingham as the candidate 
of the Union party. Col. Wright was elected to the 
State Legislature as the representative from Meri- 
den and during the sessions of May and .Vovember, 
18O3, acted as chairman of the committee on Mili- 
tary Affairs, at that time perhaps the most import- 
ant in tlie House. He was an acknowledged leader 
in a House that contained some of the brainiest men 
of the State. He took a brilliant part in the pro- 
tracted debate over the X'allandigham question and 
reported the bill for the organization of colored 
troo])s from the State. Col. Wright took an active 
part in the organization of the 29th and 30th Con- 
necticut Colored \'oIunteer lnfantr_\-, and materially 
assisted in securing their eiiuipment. In the sum- 
mer of 1 863 he was made a member of the enroll- 
ment board for the Second Congressional District 
and filled this position with credit to the end of the 
war. I'ollowing the advent of peace Col. Wright 
allied himself with tlie Re|)ublican party and became 
one of its recognized leaders in the State. He was 
president of the convention which nominated Joseph 
R. Hawlcy for governor in 1866 and manifested un- 
usual gifts as a presiding officer. For several years 
he was a member of the city council and the board 
of alderman of New Haven, and in 1873 was made 
corporation council of Xew Haven. For four 
years he was United States district attorney for Con- 
necticut, and in 1878 was elected a representative to 
the General Assembly and was chosen Speaker of 
the House in Januar_\-, 1879. He was a stanch sup- 
porter of James A. Garfield and James G. Blaine. 
During all these years of public activity no client of 
his ever suft'ered from a neglect of his interests, nor 
woidd be permit his earnest work in his profession 
to lag. As a citizen ('ol. Wright was always deeply 
devoted to the growth, jirosperity and general im- 
provement of Meriden and New Haven. He had 
charge of the erection of many of the public build- 
ings in both these places and his abilities were ever 
at the command of the comimmity which he called 
home. 

Col. Wright was married Feb. 3. 1848, to Miss 
Maria H. Plieli^s, a daughter of Col. F.paphras L. 
Phelps, of I'last Windsor, Conn., and this union was 
blessed with the following children: (i) Dexter 
R., born in 1852, died young. (2) Maria A., born 
.April 8, 18^4, in 1872 married Henry E. Ilinton, of 
-Xew York city, and she became the mother of three 
children. Russell W'right, .\thelbert (who died at 
the age of sixteen years), and Chalmers (who died 
in infancy). (3) Charles P., born in 1857, died 
young. (4) Harriet P., born Jan. 31, i860, was 
married in 1886 to Elisha Hewitt, of X^ew Haven, 
who is engaged in the ilrug business in that city 
and is a lineal descendant of Gen. Israel Putnam, of 
Revolutionary fame. They have one child. Dexter 
Wright, born March 23, 1S90. (5) Paul, born Feb. 
2T„ 1862, was married to Minnie L. Crawford and 



42 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



lives in Chicago, where he is engaged in the coal 
business. They have two children, i\lary and Ruth. 
(6) Arthur B. is a lawyer in South Dakota. He 
married Harriet B. Sprague, a native of New York 
City, and they have had one child, Roswell Sprague. 

Mrs. Maria H. (Phelps) Wright was born July 
6, 1823, and is a descendant in the seventh genera- 
tion from William Phelps, a native of Tewkesbury, 
England, who removed to Dorsetshire, where he 
was married ; his wdfe's name was Elizabeth. In 
1630 he came to Dorchester, Mass., in company with 
Rev. William Warham, of whose church in Ply- 
mouth, England, he was an original member. In 
1636 he removed to Windsor, Connecticut. 

Lieut. Timothy Phelps, a son of the emigrant 
William Phelps, was born in 1639 and was married 
in 1661 to Mary, daughter of Edward Griswold, of 
Kenilworth, Conn. He made his home in Windsor. 

Timothy Phelps, son of Lieut. Timothy, was 
born in 1663, was married in 1686 to Martha Crow 
and about 1690 removed to Hebron, Conn., where 
he was one of the first selectman of the town, chciscn 
in 1708, on the organization of Hebron. 

Charles Phelps, son of Timothy, was born in 
1702 and was married in 1726 to Hepzibah, daugh- 
ter of Robert Stiles. 

Bethuel Phelps, son of the foregoing, was born 
in 1748 and was married when thirtv years old to 
Caroline Lord. In 1780 he removed to Tolland and 
from there to West Point, Conn., where he died in 
1832. 

Col. Epaphras L. Phelps, son of Bethuel, and 
the father of Mrs. Wright, was born May 16, 1783, 
in Tolland, and was married (first) in 1810 to Eliz- 
abeth, daughter of Major Joel and Huldah (Allen) 
Hopkins. She was born Feb. 12, 1791, and died 
in 1827. He died June 28, 1868, at West Point, 
Connecticut. 

HON. JOSEPH SHELDON, of New Haven, 
is an able lawyer and one of the oldest members of 
the New Haven County Bar, a public speaker and 
lecturer of distinction, and an all-around public- 
spirited man. He has been one of the city's con- 
spicuous characters for fifty years and more, and 
his reputation has long ago gone out beyond city, 
county and State limits. 

Mr. Sheldon was born Jan. 7, 1828, at Water- 
town, Jefferson Co., N. Y., fourth son of Col. Jo- 
seph and Hepzibah (Richardson) Sheldon. His 
early boyhood was passed on his father's farm, in 
work and attendance at the district school. When 
fourteen years of age he began teaching school 
himself, teaching through the winters of 1842-43, 
1843-44 Ji'id 1844-45, with flattering success. He 
decided upon a college course, and in the spring of 
1845 began preparing to enter Hamilton College, at 
Clinton, N. Y. He studied in Union .Academy, at 
Rodman. N. Y., and later at the Black River Liter- 
ary and Religious Institute, at Watertown, then 
under the principalship of Rev. J, R. Boyd, a Pres- 



byterian clergyman. Owing to failing health he 
abandoned his plan of a college course, but con- 
tinued to study at Union Academy, at Belleville, 
N. Y. Through the years of 1846 and 1847 he al- 
ternated in study and teaching at various places in 
the State of New York. In May, 1848, very much 
against the will of his patrons, he relinquished 
charge of the large school at Watertown. and 
started out on a tour of investigation, desiring to 
go to New York, New Haven and Cambridge to 
learn what help the newly established Scientific 
and Agricultural Schools could bring to i)ractical 
farming. He found the expense of a course of 
study at these institutions too great for him to un- 
dertake. Accidentally he met upon the street of 
New Haven the late Dr. Taylor, who in the course 
conversation persuaded him to enter the under- 
graduate department of Yale College; in the fall of 
1848 he joined the Sophomore class. He was 
graduated in 185 1, having distinguished himself in 
(lel>ate and English composition. Upon his gradua- 
tion he at once began preparation for the law, 
studying first at Watertown. N. Y., and later in 
Yale Law School, from which latter he was grad- 
uated in 1853, ^'id received from that institution the 
degree of M. A. When Kossuth, the Hungarian 
patriot, visited the United States in the winter of 
1852, young Sheldon was selected by the students 
from all departments of Yale to prepare the address 
that was sent from that institution to the patriot. 

Both before and after graduation Mr. Sheldon 
was a student in the law office of Hon. E. K. Foster, 
of New Haven, and soon found considerable legal 
business on his hands. In 1854 he also taught in 
the famous Military and Scientific School of Gen. 
Russell and Major .Skinner, at New Haven. At 
this time he instituted and for two years conducted 
very successfully "The Peoples Lectures," chiefly 
with the view of aiding the slavery agitation, then 
an important question before the people, and partly 
to excite a more stirring intellectual life ; but the 
invitations for his services to lecture at various 
points became so great and trespassed so much upon 
his time that in two or three years he saw that he 
must give up his profession or the lecture field so 
he abandoned the latter. Mr. Sheldon speedily 
won reputation in his profession and a lucrative 
practice. He early formed a law jiartnership with 
Lyman E. Munson, which was continued until the 
latter was appointed by President Lincoln a dis- 
trict judge of Montana. As a lawyer Mr. Sheldon 
achieved success and made a good reputation. 

Judge Sheldon in his political affiliations has 
generally acted with the Republican party. In the 
campaign of 1856 he took an active part for Fre- 
mont. As a young man he was bitterly opposed to 
slavery and took a leading part in the debates of 
th?.t period. Among the active Abolitionists of 
New Haven he was one of the few who never 
shrank from assisting the fugitive slaves and dur- 
ing all of his professional work the ordinary chiv- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



45 



alrv of the profession in regard to meritorious cases 
for the friendless, the hopelessly poor, was rather 
especiallv emphasized, particularly among the peo- 
ple of color. Soon after the election of President 
Lincoln, for which Mr. Sheldon labored zealously, 
the latter was employed by several of the leading 
carriage-makers of New Haven upon the perilous 
undertaking of settling their claims in the South- 
ern States.' He went Soiuh by way of P.altimore, 
Norfolk and Weldon. At the little town of Wil- 
son, forty miles below Weldon, he was finally com- 
pelled by a drunken mob, to turn back, a guard 
being placed over him to make sure that he act- 
ually did leave the State. On his return to New 
Haven, bv invitation, he addressed a large audience 
in Music Hall on "His Southern I'~xperiences." 
During the Civil war that followe<l he assisted in 
sustaining an advanced ])ublic sentiment and in pro- 
curing enlistments. He believed that the negro 
must eventually be employed as a soldier, and at 
one time, when negro orphan asylums were being 
sacked in New York, Mr. Sheldon quietly got to- 
geth.er a company of thirty or forty colored men, 
and at midnight, in the basement of Music ITall, 
instructed them in military drill, all hands being 
pledged to secrecy. When the negroes were called 
for almost every man of them became a non-com- 
missioned officer in the 29th or 30th Regiment, and 
inspired confidence by his military knowledge and 
aptness. 

In 1872 Mr. Sheldon heartily supported Horace 
Greeley for the Presidency. On a number of oc- 
casions he has frankly differed from the Republican 
party on questions of ]>ul)lic policy, l^arly in the 
'seventies he vigorously opposed the financial policy 
of our government, which was leading toward the 
"resumption"' that finally prevailed. In the fall of 
1S75 he began a series of ]nil)lic meetings in .\ew 
Haven to resist the destruction of the greenbacks, 
and to favor the remonetization of silver. In May, 
1876, he delivered by invitation of the New Haven 
Chamber of Commerce an address before that body 
on the "Currency," which was widely published. 
He has long been know^n as an enthusiastic and 
efficient advocate ot temperance and woman s suf- 
frage. From 1870 to 1882 Mr. Sheldon served the 
Municipality of New Ha\'en as an alderman. He 
was chairman of the committees to wdiich were re- 
ferred the project of the Western Poidevard sewer 
and the retention and repair of the State House. 
The reports of the committees upon those subjects 
were drawn by him. In i88r-83 he held the judge- 
ship of the city court. In 1881 he was appointed 
by Gov. Bigelow to represent the Slate in the TarifT 
Convention in New York, where he delivered an 
address. In 1884 Judge Sheldon was delegated by 
the Government of the United States, and also by 
the National Association of the Red Cross, to a 
conference of the treaty nations of the Societies of 
the Red Cross held at Geneva. He drew up and 
delivered the address of the .American delegation 



on one of the must important controverted ques- 
tions before the conference, and the question was 
carried unanimously, in accordance with the views 
urged in that address. 

Judge Sheldon has been connected with a num- 
ber of business eiUer[)rises, and as a manager of 
business corporations he has been remarkably suc- 
cessful. He has also given a great deal of atten- 
tion to the development of real estate. He became 
the owner of the foreign patents for a singularly 
ingenious machine for the manufacture of brushes, 
the perfecting of which, and the other necessary 
machinery, and the establishment in London, Eng- 
land, of the business of manufacturing and selling 
machine-made brushes, occuijied nutch of his time 
for six years. In 1874 he sold out his holdings to a 
joint-stock corporation, wdiich continued and en- 
larged the business on the lines originally laid out 
by him, until the establishment has become the 
largest, most perfect, and profitable brush-making 
concern in the world. 

Judge Sheldon became a I'reemason in 1883 
and in the ensuing year becanu' a member of the 
Connecticut Society of Arts and Sciences, .\side 
from his political efforts in public speaking he is 
well known for his Fourth of July .Memorial ad- 
dresses and his oration uixm the death of President 
Garfield. Religiously he is a Unitarian, but as there 
was no church of that denomination in New Haven 
he has long been identified with the Universalist 
Society, and for years took an active jiart in the 
Sabbath-school and the conference meetings of the 
Church. He also has been a jLcnerous ci)ntributor 
to the Society's support. 

In September, 1861, Judge Sheldon was married 
to Abby, daughter of Samuel h'lbridge P>arker, of 
Onondaga county, N. ^'., who was a grandnei>hew 
of Hon. Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts. Mrs. 
Sheldon, like her father before her, was on terms of 
special friendship with the early Abolitionists of 
Central New York — Gerrit Smith, Samuel J. May 
and Fred Douglass. Two children — daughters — 
were born to ^lr. and Mrs. Sheldon. 

For thirty vears Mr. Sheldon has been an in- 
defatigable student of political economy and finance. 
It has been the dominant feature of tJie best years of 
his life, and he has worked tirelessly and sacrificed 
his own interests consciously and constantly in 
order to arouse the people to an appreciation of the 
overwhelming importance of an intelligent under- 
standing of questions of national financial i)olicy. 
He is an ardent bimetallist, and has delivered a 
great many addresses on this subject, the most im- 
portant one possibly being before the .Xmerican 
Social Science Association at Saratoga. He 
was for twenty years a leading member nf the 
National Bimetallic League and was one of the few 
Eastern Republicans who left their party in 1896 
because of their attitude on the money question 
and campaigned vigorously for William J. Bryan 
in that vear and again in 1900. Every department 



44 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of thought or action to wliich Judge Sheldon has 
turned his attention has feh the power o£ his search- 
ing criticism and his vigorous personality. As a 
thinker he is farsighted and consistent, an un- 
daunted opponent of evil, and a fearless exponent 
of the truth as he sees it. Every great reform of the 
last half of the century just closed has found in 
him a zealous and able champion. In all stages 
of the unceasing contest against oppression, hypoc- 
risy and sham, against the stubborn inertia of 
stolid conservatism, he has openly pleaded for in- 
dependence of thought and action, and at times 
when men's hearts were failing them for fear he has 
stood firm. 

STEPHEN WRIGHT KELLOCG. son of 
Jacob Poole anil Lucy ( Wright) Kellogg, was born 
in Shelbume, Mass.. April 5, 1822. At the end of his 
first year in college his father died, leaving the 
widow and three younger children in his care. His 
early life was spent ui>on the paternal farm, where 
he worked in the summer until twenty years of age. 
He taught school in the winter months, after he was 
sixteen, and attended an academy at Shelburne Falls 
for a short time. At the age of twenty he entered 
Amherst College, where he remained two terms, and 
then entered Yale, the third term of the Fresliman 
year and was graduated in 1846, taking one of the 
three highest honors of his class. He became prin- 
cipal of an academy at Winchendon, Mass., in the 
autumn of that year, but returned to New Haven 
and entered Yale Law School the following winter. 
He was admitted to the Xew Haven Bar in June, 
1848. and immediately opened a law office at Naug- 
atuck. remaining there until 1854, when he removed 
to W'atcrbury, having been elected Judge of Pro- 
bate fur the \\'atcrliur\- District, which then in- 
cluded Xaugatuck. Since 1854 he has had his law 
office in W'aterlun-y. having a large practice in the 
higher courts of the State and in the L'nited States 
courts. ' 

Mr. Kellogg was clerk of the Connecticut Sen- 
ate, in 1 85 1, a member of the Senate from the Wat- 
erbury District in 185:;. and a nieml>er of the House 
in 185(1. In 1854 hr was ai)])ointed. by the Legisla- 
ture, Judge of the Xew 1 Laven County Court, and 
he hell] the office of Judge of Probate for the Dis- 
trict of W'aterbury for seven years. He was City 
Attorney from 18^)6 to 1869, during which time he 
]irocin-e(l the fii'st legislation for supplying the city 
with water, lie was again City Attorney from 
1877 In 188,^, and during this period drew up a bill 
for ilu- establishment of a sewerage system for the 
city, and procured its pass.age by the legislature, 
lb,' was a delegale to the Rc])ublican National Con- 
\entiiin in i860, and was a member of the commit- 
ter in that ciMuention that drew up the "'platform" 
upiiH which .Vbraham Lincoln was first elected Pres- 
ident. He was also apj^ointed delegate to the Na- 
tional Lonventions of 1868 and 1876, and in the 
latter was chairman of the Connecticut delegation. 



He was colonel of the Second Regiment. Connecti- 
cut National Guard, from i8<')3 to 1866, .and brig- 
adier general from 1866 to 1870. He was elected 
to the XLIst Congress in i8'jy, and re-elected in 
1871 and 1873. During his six years of service in 
Congress he was a member of the committees on 
Judiciary, Patents, War Claims and Pacific Rail- 
roads ; was chairman of the connnittee on Naval 
Expenditures in the XLHd Congress; and of the 
committee on Civil Service Reform in the XLHId. 
He has been one of the agents of the Ilronson Li- 
brary since its organization in 1868, and while in 
Congress succeeded in making it one of the six 
depositories in the State for the valuable publica- 
tions of the United States Government. During his 
three terms in Washington Mr. Kellogg was con- 
ceded to be one of the best representatives the dis- 
trict ever had, with a peculiar aptitutle for the prac- 
tical side of legislation. On April i, 1873, shortly 
before his third election to Congress, the Water- 
bury American spoke of him as follows : 

"It is not often that a Congressman at the end of 
four years of service receives so many testimonials 
— frank and business-like in their tone — from his 
constituents, without reference to locality or party. 
The truth is that Mr. Kellogg perceives, more clear- 
ly than most Congressmen, what are the real duties 
of a representative, and honestly endeavors to ful- 
fill them. He has kept himself free from Congress- 
ional corruption, and at the same time has done a 
large amount of honest and valuable work for the 
district and the State which he has represented." 

Since his retirement from Congress, Mr. Kel- 
If/gg has devoted himself to the practice of his pro- 
fession. He has never lost his interest in public 
afi'airs, however, and has frequently written articles 
for the press upon political and other subjects of 
interest. In 1900 he was a Presidential elector at 
large for Connecticut. His second son, John P. 
Kellogg, has been associated with him in his office 
during the past ten years. 

On Sept. 10, 185 1, Mr. Kellogg married Lucia 
Hosmer Andrews, a granddaughter of Chief Justice 
Hosmer, of jMiddletown. Their children, in the 
order of their age. are as follows : Sarah Andrews, 
who married F. C. Plume in 1880; Lucy Wright, 
who married E. H. English, of Xew Haven, in 
1882; Frank Woodruff; John Prescott ; Elizabeth 
Hosmer, who married Irving H. Chase, Feb. 28. 
1S89; Stephen Wright, Jr., who died in 1868; and 
Charles Poole, secretary of the State P.oard of Char- 
ities. 

Joiix Prescott Kellogg was burn in Water- 
bury March 31, i860. He graduated from "^'ale Col- 
lege in 1882, and from Yale Law School in 1S84. 
He commenced the practice of law as a member of 
the firm of Kellogg. Burpee & Kellogg, in 1884, and 
subsequently, on the retirement of Col. L. V. Burpee, 
became the junior member of the firm of Kellogg & 
Kellogg. In 1891 he was a])pointed .Assistant City 
.\ttorney, an office which he held mitil March. 1893. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



45 



when ho was apiMiiiUcil Prosecuting Attorney i>f the 
District (.'(inrt of W'aterbury. He was Town Attor- 
ney i8<ji-i8<j5. City Attorney from i<Sy6. and As- 
sistant State's Attorney in 1897. In 1890 he was 
ai^pointeil an aid on the staff of ( ien. T. L. Watson 
(with the rani< of captain), and resigned in May, 
l8y2. Un jinie i, 1892, he married Clara, daughter 
of I'rederick A, .Mason. They have two chikh-en, 
I'redrika .Mason and Ehzabeth Ilosnier. 

I'kank \\'. Kellogg, eldest son of Stephen W. 
]\ellogg. is a lieutenant in the navy. He luted for 
entrance to Yale in 1875, but having an opportunity 
to enter the Naval Academy, at .\nnapolis, he chose 
the latter. Since his graduation at .Xnnapolis. in 
1879, he lias been in the sea service about two-thirds 
of the time, mostly on the various Atlantic and 
Tacific stations. He was in the battle of .Manila 
Bay, under .\dmiral Dewey, and had command of 
the powder division on the "Baltimore." During 
the action he was wounded by the explosion of some 
ammunition, caused by the passage of a Si)anish 
shell through the "Baltimore." On his return to 
W'aterbury from the Pacific station a beautiful sword 
was presented to him by the city, and he received an 
ovation in wdiich the whole population of the city 
seemed to participate. .\ very fine model of the 
"Baltimore" was built on the public square for his 
reception, and the sword w-as presented to him on its 
deck. He is now^ in charge of a division at the Navy 
Department in Washington. On June i, 1901, he 
was married to Minnie McConike, of Trov, Xew 
York. 

Charles P. Kellogg, youngest son of S. W. 
Kellogg, graduated at Yale in 1890, and at the Yale 
Law^ School in 1893. He w-as appointed secretary 
of the State Board of Charities in 1895, and has 
held that position since. He w'as a delegate in 1900 
to the International Conferences of Charities at 
London and Paris, and to the Prison Congress in 
Brussels. He is unmarried. 

THE MORSE FAMILY. I-or the past eigiity 
years the Morses, the late Gardner Morse, sons and 
grand.sons, in turn, have been closely identified with 
the histon- of Xew Haven, figuring somewhat con- 
si)icuously in its business growth and development, 
and making improvements that stand as monu- 
ments to their enterprise and public spirit. Among 
the members of the family yet active in business life 
are Gardner Morse (secretary of the Xew Haven 
Gas Light Company), Elliott II. Morse (secretary 
and treasurer of the Connecticut Savings Bank) 
and Joseph 1!. .Morse (a lawyer wdio is extensively 
engaged in the insurance and real-estate business). 

The Morse family is one of the oldest in New 
England. Joseph Morse, the emigrant ancestor 
of the .\'ew Haven family, was born in England 
about 1387. and came to New England in 1635, 
settling in Ipswich. Mass.. prior to 1641. He mar- 
ried Dorathy, served as town clerk, and died in 
1646. From this emigrant ancestor the sons and 



<laughters of the late Gardner Morse are descend- 
ants in the ninth generation. The ancestral line 
is as follows: Joseph 12 1, Joseph (3), Joseph 
(4), Josei)h (5), .\bner, Stephen and Gardner. 

(11) Joseph .Morse (2), son of Joseph the emi- 
grant, married Hester Btdlard, and resided in 
Watertown, .Mass.. where he was one of the pro- 
prietors. He died in 1690. 

^\-\.l) Joseph .Morve (3). son of Joseph (^2), 
was born in 1637. married Susannah "Shattuck in 
1661, and resided in Groton, being one of the pro- 
I)rietors of the town, where he died in 1C77. 

(I\') Joseph Morse (41. son of Joseph (3), 
was born in 1667, at Groton, married Grace War- 
ren, of Watertown in i')9o, and lived on a fami in 
.Marlboro, Alass. 

(Y) Joseph Morse (51. son of Joseph (4), born 
in 1691, married (first I .\higail Hubbard in I7i('), 
and resided in .Marlboro. He died in 1756. 

(VI) Abner .Morse, .son of Joseph (5), was 
born in 1727, married Keziah Stow, and resided in 
what is now Paxton, Mass. .Mrs. Morse lived to 
be over ninety years old. and died in Marlljoro. 

(VII) Stephen 2\Iorse, son of .\bner, was born 
Dec. 14, 1759, and on Nov. 1. 1786. married Re- 
becca Howe, of Sudbury, .Mass. He spent his life 
on the family homesteatl in .Marlboro. .Mrs. Morse 
was a lineal descendant of John How, of Hodin- 
hule, England, who w^as one of the wealthiest ])ro- 
prietors and settlers of Sudbury, Mass., where he 
took the freeman's oath in 1(140. He was one of 
the petitioners for the town of Marlboro sixteen 
years later, and according to tradition was the first 
English person to reside tlure. Stei)hen Morse 
was a man of character, and through his long life 
maintained a high reputation for integrity and moral 
virtue. 

The late Gardner Morse, of New Haven, son 
of Stephen, and father of F.Iliott II. 1 2), and Josejih 
(iardner ?vlorse (i), of that city, was born .\pril 
II, 1809, at the old Morse homestead, in Marl- 
lx)ro, Mass. When thirteen years old he came to 
New Haven to enter the emjiloy of Timothy and 
Stephen Bishop, ])rominent merchants of this city. 
His elder brother, Stephen, was colkxrting agent 
for the Sufi'olk Bank of Boston, and while on busi- 
ness in New Haven heard of the jxjsitton oti'ered 
by Messrs. Bishop and informwl his brother, .\ftcr 
si.x years' service with these gentlemen Gardner 
Morse became engaged in a mercantile business 
with Charles Peterson, under the firm name of 
Morse & Peterson. This connection continued 
only a short time, being terminated by the election 
of Mr. Morse in 1837 to the ofificc of city, town 
and school tax collector. This position he filled 
for some twenty years, having some peculiar qual- 
ifications for the work it entailed. Mr. Morse came 
into prominence as a safe and careful business 
man, of strict integrity, good judgment and the 
utmost reliability, and was called upon to cxeciuc 
many im])ortant trusts both liy individuals and 



46 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



corporations. Many estates were put into his hands 

for scttlenieiU, ami much of the pubh'c business of 
the town and city was entrusted to him for ad- 
justment; he also had the agencies of many insur- 
ance companies. During- the long period of fifty 
3'ears he was one of the most active and public- 
spirited men of the city. In 1852 he was one of 
the three trustees entrusted by the town with the 
responsibility of disposing of the old alms-house 
farm, and he was the controlling spirit connected 
with that institution for more than forty years. Mr. 
JMorse was always active in any movement looking 
to the ex|)ansiun of the city, laying out new dis- 
tricts, and extending streets into new territory, and 
in company with the late John W. Mansfield did 
much to imprij\e unoccupied territory. He did 
much in developing that part of the city lying west 
of Park street from Oak street to Davenport ave- 
nue. His knowledge of real estate values was so 
Sound that for many years he was acting trustee 
and member of the loaning committee of the New 
Haven Savings Bank, of which institution he was 
vice-president at the time of his death. For years 
he was trustee of the town deposit fund. From 
1862 to 1874 he was fire commissioner, and in early 
life took an active part in the State militia, rising 
from the position of corporal to 1:hat of colonel of 
the Second Regiment. He was a rigid disciplina- 
rian, and insisted on the letter of the law, com- 
]ielling attendance on training days, and bringing 
his command to a high pitch of excellence. His 
religious convictions were all with the Episcopal 
Church, and for more than forty years he served 
as vestryman, trustee and treasurer of Trinity 
Church. 

Mr. Morse \vas accurate in his judgment, quick 
in his perception, and prompt in his acts of sym- j 
pathy. All his life was under the control of a 
resolute will, tempered by good cheer and kindly 
sympathy. 

In 1833 Gardner Morse was married to Julia 
A. Austin, who died in i84(. On Dec. 20, 1843, 
Mr. Morse wedded Mary L. Brigham, who died 
in 1856. His children were; Sarah A., born Feb. 
2. 1834; Algernon II.. born Nov. 2^, 1835; Will- 
i;nn \\'., born X.iy. 24, 1857; Gardner, born Mav 
8, 183,;; Jula A., b.irn .Mar'ch 28, 1841 ; Elhott H.. 
born Jul\' 31, 184(1: .Mary A., born June 5, 1848; 
Joseph B., born Oct. 3, 1850; and Charles T., born 
in 1852. For his third wife Mr. Morse married 
Martha Belcher, daughter of Jonathan Belcher, of 
Northfield, Mass., and a descendant of Gov. Bel- 
cher. .She died about 1863. Col. Morse was prom- 
inently iilentified with the Whig party, and in his 
later years became a Republican. 

(iardncr Morse, son of Gardner and Julia 
Morse, was born May 8, 1839, and was reared in 
New iiaven. acquiring his education there, and in 
the "( iunnery," and later in the Lovell school. For 
some lime he was employed by a large oyster dealer 
in Baltimore, but in 1868 he entered the New 
Haven Gas Light Company, as a bookkeeper, and 



rose to the position of secretary in 1875 — a posi- 
tion he still retains. In 1871 he was married in 
Northampton to Mary Hamilton, who was born in 
that town Jan. 4, 1853, a daughter of Luther W. 
and a granddaughter of Loomis, who was a son 
of William, a grandson of James, and a great- 
grandson of Duke Hamilton, of Scotland. Loomis 
Hamilton, her grandfather, was a linen merchant, 
anil spent his life mainly in Northampton, but 
crossing the ocean to make a visit to Scotland he 
was lost on the voyage; Ruth Waldo, his wife, was 
the daughter of Schulen Waldo, a prominent man 
of Northampton, and a colonel in the Revolutionary 
war, serving also in the war of 1812, and dying in 
his eighty-fourth year. Luther W. Hamilton was 
a decorator, and a much respected man : Lydia 
Porter Beals, his wife, was born in Plaintield, 
Mass., in 1817 and came of an exceedingly re- 
spected family. 

Elliott H. Morse has spent his entire life in 
New Haven, completing his education at the New 
Haven High School, which he left to enter the em- 
])loy of the Connecticut Savings Bank, where he 
lias since served in the line of clerk, te'ler, sec- 
retary, assistant treasurer and treasurer. He be- 
came assistant treasurer in 1876, and secretary and 
treasurer in 1879, which position he holds to-day. 
In 1879 he married Grace A. Eiowns, daughter of 
Henry E. Bowns, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and his 
wife, Grace L. Beach, daughter of the late Clark 
Beach, of New Haven. Three children have been 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Morse: John Mansfield, 
Gardner Warren and Dorothea How. Air. Morse 
is an old-line Democrat, and has been for many 
\cars a member of the Episcopal Church. 

Joseph V>. Morse, who was born in 1S50, was 
associated with his father at a very early age, be- 
ginning work under him as a boy. and was prac- 
tically in charge of the business from 1S78. He was 
graduated from Yale in the class of 1871, and from 
ihc ^'ale Law School in 1876, being admitted to the 
Bar in New Haven the same year, and there he is 
extcnsiyel\' engaged in the real estate liusiness. 
In 1890 he formed a partnership with his father, 
and succeeded to the business on the death of that 
eminent citizen. For some twenty-five years he 
was actively engaged in examining titles, and has 
done much work as a conveyancer. His business 
in insurance and real estate is very extensive. His 
wife, Annie Bassett. whom he married Sept. 14. 
1875, died April 19, 1881, leaving two children, a 
son Stephen, who died in t886, at the age of 
seven years, and a daughter, Julia, who .graduated 
from the high school in 1901. Mr. Morse was 
married in 18(18 to Bessie E. Jones, born in Soutli 
Norwalk Jul\- 12. 1878, a daughter of Edwin F. 
Jones, a railnia<l man, now living in New York 
City. They have one child, Joseph Bulkley, Jr. 
Mr. Morse is a Republican in his politics, and he- 
lungs to the Knig'hts of Honor, where he has 
filled all the chairs. He is a member of the Naval 
Battalion, where he has served six \'ears. and be- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



47 



longs to die L'niuii League. He is associated with 
the Voung .Men's Club, aiul has been itlentilieil w itii 
the Episcopal Society of Christ all his life. 

COL. \\1LL1.\.M i;L"KR WDOSTl-'.R, proini- 
iieut alike in civic, legal and military circles in 
Derby and Ansonia, died at his home Sept. JO, 
1900, and his death was the cause of much genuine 
sorrow throughout the entire State ol Connecticut. 
Each seemed to feel it a iicrsonal loss, and it was 
not until after the last sad rites had been paid 
that was awakened the sense of the irreparable 
loss to the comnumity. He had so long given the 
best efforts to others, had been so ready to give 
wise counsel and assistance that his memory will 
be cherished for years to come. As the Hartford 
Coiirant remarked at his demise: "His name has 
stood for many years on Connecticut's roll of hon- 
or. He was a patriot antl a gentleman. He was 
Derby's first citizen." 

William IJurr \\ uoster was born .\ng. 22, 182 1, 
in the town of O.xford, Conn., son of Russel and 
Avis (Burr) Wooster, farming people of that town. 
The early life of the snn was ])assed after the usual 
custom of Xew luigland farmer lads. His educa- 
tion was iim'suci] in the district school and the 
academy, and at nineteen years of age he began to 
teach in tlie \illage school, teaching through the 
winters, 1)ut cuntinncd to ile\'ote his summers to 
farm work. He now seemed to himself, as he did 
to others, to be born for a larger sphere of opera- 
tion, and after a few years entered the law school 
at Xew Haven, and was graduated in mi N'alc 
University in 184'!, bearing a diploma signed by 
President Day. Jud!.;e William L. Storrs had liecn 
lu> instructor, and tmik such pride in his pupil 
as to give him cnunsel which determined the grad- 
uate's future. It had been the dream of the stu- 
tlent to cast his fortunes with the great West, 
whither so many were tending, but Judge Storrs 
said, "I want to give you unsolicited advice. I 
know you and 1 know this locality. Don't you 
leave Connecticut. Don't leave New Haven coun- 
ty, and come here as soon as you can." Bir- 
mingham was quite near Xew ILaven. In Mr. 
\\'ooster's horoscope of the future there appeared 
\vhat has since come to pass in fact ; a growing 
city with suburbs wdiich might become populous, 
and he carried out the advice of his eminent legal 
instructor by establishing himself for the practice 
of law in Birmingham, Conn., Oct. i, 1846. Other 
of his legal instructors in Vale were Samuel Hitch- 
cock and Isaac Townsend. .Xnother item in the 
advice of Judge Storrs was that the young lawyer 
should let politics alone. This he did for some 
twelve years, during which [leriod he gave clo.se 
attention t^ pri'fession.-d pursuits. After his ad- 
mission to the r.ar Mr. Wooster rapidly rose to 
the front rank in his ])rofession. In 1858, and 
again in tSGr, he re])resentecl his town in the Leg- 
islature, in 1850 served in the Senate, and in i8r)7 
as paymaster general. 



The most conspicuous service of .Mr. Wooster 
in the State government was performed on the 
.Military committee, and the splendid manner in 
which Connecticut bore her part in the volunteer 
service of the army, in liic Civil war, and took 
care of the soldiers' families, is to be credited large- 
ly to his efforts. He drew many of the acts and 
resolves which make up Connecticut's legislative 
war record, and supjxirted them in their passage 
through that busy session of the General Assem- 
bly. At the same time, and later, he was actively 
engaged in enlisting volunteers, making patriotic 
war speeches, even to the neglect of his own ])ro- 
fessional business. .Xnd when President Lincoln 
issued his famous "call" for 300,000 volunteers, 
Mr. Wooster felt it to be a call to him personally, 
and his sense of duty led him to act. He was 
commissioned .'\ug. 22, 1862, lieutenant-colonel of 
the 20th Conn. V. I., and went to the front. The 
battle of Chancellorsville followed the next .Mav, 
and for distinguished gallantry on the field he was 
made colonel by brevet. His command held the 
' ground against bold and fierce assaults, and onlv 
wdien the b'cdcral line on both sides of him had 
given way ilid he order a retreat. Hi.-; forces filed 
out along the base of the hill, and to escape he 
j niounied two stray horses in succession, but both 
1 of them were .shot under him. He soon found 
that the enemy had closed behind him. He was 
captured, his sw'ord taken from him, and he was 
I marched in the direction of Libby Prison to undergo 
its terrible ordeal. The sword taken from him "is 
now in the possession of the family, and the old 
hat [Hit in place of his ow-n, taken from him a 
few hours after while he was sleeping on the 
ground, under Rebel guard, in front of General 
.Maury's quarters. The sword, which Col. Wooster 
prized for association sake, was the gift to him 
; of some of his townsmen. Wallace & Sons, and 
was properly inscribed. He received it as he left 
home to take his command in 1862. In a battle at 
Weldon Railroad, Va., in August, 1864, the LInion 
I forces, Lieut. -Col. Finnicum of the /th Wis. V. I., 
i captured an officer of a Alississippi regiment carry- 
ing this sword; Lieut. -Col. Finnicum returned it 
to its owner. 

No detail of the eventful army experience of 

Col. Wooster is here attempted. We only allude 

1 to two or three items of it to suggest the personal 

j quality and career of the man so widely and highly 

! esteemed in Connecticut. (_)n his release from 

Libby prison and exchange, Col. Wooster hastened 

to join his regiment, and led his command at Get- 

1 tysburg. His regiment was in the thickest of the 

I fight, and his own particular command was at the 

' very front, led in person, in the terrible conflict on 

Culp's Hill, on the morning of the third day of 

battle, when his command with other forces made 

the attack. 

In .Marcii, 1864, Col. \\"oostcr was assigned to 
the command of a colored regiment, the 29tli Conn. 
V. I., and made colonel of it, and Iienceforth his 



4S 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



fortunes in tlie war wcrr i<K'nlical with the for- 
tunes (.>f that brave ri'i;inieiit. t ul. W'l mster's e(.)ni- 
inanil was the lir>t tu enter Kiehniond npon its 
evaeiiation liy the Relicl troops; and he was de- 
tailed jndi;e nnder martial law in the city, a posi- 
tii>n for whieh his past lei;al life eminently qual- 
ilied him. t'ol. Wnnster was an ideal soldier, brave 
and ealm in ilie jjeril of battle, watchfnl and eon- 
siderate, painstaking- and sclf-sacriticino- in the wel- 
fare iif thiise nnder him. lie conld take no rest 
himself unless his soldiers were properly cared 
for — a qnality that made them confide in him and 
love him ti> the fnllest extent, and it inspired an 
anibitiun in ae(|iiit themselves in the best manner 
and Id fi'llnw wherever he led. Though brave and 
a man nf nerve, he was yet tenderhearted and 
kind. S<i full iif loving tenderness was his heart 
that after the liattle of Chancellorsville, and he 
was a priMinir, he induccil the Rebel connnander 
to allow him tn go under guard back over the 
field that he nngiht see who of his men were killed, 
and to gather up messages and mementoes from 
the wi'unded and dying to send baek home to their 
friends and families. 

.\t the close of the war C'nl. Wdoster returned 
to Birmingham and t>pened his law ofiiee. Jdie 
tide of business set toward him again, and his 
clieiUs nuiltiplied. They gave the verdict of hav- 
ing found a ])erfect honest lawyer, considerate, able, 
a very safe counsellor and a successful advocate. 
It is here worthy of passing note that Col. David 
Torrance (Judge of the Supreme Court) began 
his law stn<lies while he was in camp, and this 
came about b\ tlie presentation to him of twu vol- 
umes of lUackstone by Col. W'ooster, and at the 
close of the war he completed his studies in Col. 
W'ooster's office in r.irmingham. and after his atl- 
mission to the r>ar in 1868 was admitted as a 
])artner, the lirm lieing \\'ooster & Torrance. The 
firm bore a grand title, the senior member already 
known and eminent as a coijnsellor; both were 
army men, and brought to their office the prestige 
of brave leadership in the field ; both possessed 
those manly graces which win favor from the pub- 
lic and secure popularity; and both were known to 
be honest men. A large and Iticrative practice 
was the result. ( )n Jan. I, 1882, I'dwin Jiaker 
(jager \v;is admitted to the firm, which became 
W'ooster, Torrance & (iager, and so remained mi- 
til April I. 1885, when Judge Torrance, who had 
been a]ipointed Judge of the Su]ierior C'ourt, re- 
tired. ;uul was succeeded by W'illiam II. Williams, 
:ind since the ileat'h of Col. W'ooster the firm has 
lieen Williams iS: Ciager. 

l_'ol. W'ooster was naturally a man of afl'airs — 
eminently a man of action rather than of theory. 
He was a born leader of men as well in civil mat- 
ters as on the field of battle. Besides his legal 
work he was jiresident of the Derby Gas Co., and 
of the r.irmingham Water Co., and had been con- 
nected with se\eral other sticcessful enterprises, 
e'iio\iiig the highest esti-em of his fellow citizens. 



On Oct. II, 1870, Col. W'ooster was married 
to Miss J. A. Wallace, daughter of Thomas Wal- 
lace, of Ansonia, who snr\i\es him. He was a 
member of Kellogg Post, C A. K., and of the Army 
and Navy Club of Connecticut. The W'ooster resi- 
lience, situated on Clifton avenue, is a model of 
elegance throughout. 

C.i:.\. WILLIAM HCXTIXGTON RUS- 
SELL, M. A. (Yale, 1833J, was a descendant of 
Lion Ciardiner, formerly an officer in the Lnglish 
army, who arriveii in New England in 1O35, and 
constructed a fort at Saybrook. Conn., which he 
commanded during the early Indian wars [Apple- 
ton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. H, 
pp. 595-596 ; Winsor's History of America, Vol. HI, 
PP- 33'- 349' Doyle's English Colonies in America, 
\ ol. 1, p. 157; San ford's History of Connecticut, 
])p. 17-18-20-22-23-28] ; of Rev. Samuel Hooker, 
who graduated at Harvard in 1O53. and was a fel- 
low of Harvard College; of Rev. riiomas Hooker, 
who graduated at Cambridge, England, in 161 1, 
and was the founder of Hartford [see Hollister's 
History of Connecticut, \'ol. I, pp. 23-31, 456-458, 
510-511 ; Sanford's History of Connecticut, pp. 19- 
20, 57-58; also McMillan's Dictionary of National 
Biography] ; of John Brown, one of the assistant 
governors of Plymouth Colony for seventeen years 
from 1636, and commissioner of the L'nited Colonies 
for twelve years, from 1644; of Capt. Thomas Wil- 
let, who came from England in 1629, and was au- 
luially elected one of the assistant governors of Ply- 
mouth Colony, 1O51-1665, commander of the mili- 
tary forces and niagistrate in Plymouth Colony, 
first mayor of New York, 1665-1667, and founder 
of the town of Swansey [see Life of Thomas W'il- 
let ; Magazine of Atnerican History, \'ol. X\TL pp. 
233-242 ; ]klc?\lillan's Dictionary of National Biog- 
raphy ; Appleton's Cyclopedia of .\merican Biog- 
raphv] ; of Rev. Andrew Willet (Cambridge, 
JuiglaiKl. 1580 1, chaplain and tutor of Prince 
Henry, preacher at the court of King James 
and a noted and very prolific author [Dic- 
tionarv of National Biography] ; of Rev. Thomas 
Willet, 151 1-1598, rector of Barley and Canon 
of \iW\ of Capts. John I iorham. George Den- 
nison and James Avery, who figured prominently 
in the early" Indian wars; of Capt. Nathaniel Wales, 
an officer of the Continent.'U army during the war 
for Independence. 

William Ivussell, the American ancestor, came 
from ICngland in 1638. He left only one son, one 
year old, antl (his wife having ])reviously died) 
directed in his will that his "son be devoted to tiod 
in the wav of learning, being likely to prove a use- 
ful instrument in the good work of the ministry,"' 
and designated the person to be his guardian. 

This son. Rev. Noahdiah Russell, graduated at 
Harvard in ifiSi, was tutor in Plarvard College 
[History of English Colonies in America, by Lodge, 
p. 436], and was one of the ten founders of Yale 
College and one of the original trustees of Yale 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



49 



from I/OI 10 1713. ill.' was one oi" the frann-rs of 
the famous Sa\brook J'latfonn, and was pastor of 
the I'irst Churcli in .M iddk'town twcnty-fivi' years, 
imtil his deatli, and it was written of him that he 
■"was accountetl a man of weight and wi.-dini 
throughout the Colony." Sueli was his faitli ful- 
ness and ability that the cluweh immtdiately after 
his death summoned his son William to succeetl 
him as their jjastor. Xoahdiah married Alary. 
daui,'"hter of lion, (iilcs Hamlin, who came fr<.)m 
ICngland and was one <if the tirst settlers and i)rin- 
cipal proprietors of Middletdw 11. The prominent 
and lionoral)le record of Giles Jlandin and family 
for more than one hundred years is fnund in llol- 
lister's History of Connecticut, \'ol. 1. p. 510; also 
in the hi-storical address by Kev. David I'^ield, 1). 
J)., at the second centennial of .Mid<lletown, .\'()v. 
13, 1850. 

William Russell, son of Xoahdiah, also a clerjo'- 
man, was graduated from '^'ale in ijoy, was some- 
time tutor at Yale and a trustee of Vale College 
from 1745 to ij()i. Jle was offered the position 
of rector or president of Vale Colle,ge, "and was the 
first of the alimmi to receive that honor from his 
alma mater,"' but could not accept because "nego- 
tiations with the people of -Midtlletown for the re- 
moval of their pastor were ineffectual" [Kingslcy's 
Ilistory of Vale CollegeJ. I'ntil his death, in 1761, 
for a jjeriod of forty-six years, he was pastor of the 
]-"irst Church in Middletown, to which he was 
called innnediatcly u])on the death of his father. 
The pastorates of father and son <iver that one 
prominent church covered a continuous period of 
nearly three-quarters of a century, ending in 1761. 
Rev. William Russell married Mary, daughter of 
Rev. James Rierpont (Harvard, 1681), also one of 
the ten founders of Yale College and one of the 
original trustees of Yale from 1701 to 1714. and 
during thirty years ( 1648-1714) pastor of the h'irst 
Church in New Maven. .Another daughter, .Sarah 
I'ierpont, married Rev. Jonathan T'ldwards, 1). D. 
(Yale, 1720), the distinguished theologian and 
president of J'rinceton Colle.ge, and ancestor of 
three ])residents of Yale ('J'imothy Dwight, jjrcsi- 
dent 1795-1817, Theodore 1). W'oolscy. president 
1846-1871, Timothy Dwight, i)resident 1886-1809), 
and whose .granddaughter married h'li Whitney, 
inventor of the cotton-gin. These l'ier])onts were 
descended from Sir Hugh de Pierrepont. of I'icar- 
dv, in France, A. D. <>8(i, whose grandson, .Sir Rob- 
ert de Pierrepont, went from I'Vance to Kngland as 
commander in the army of William the C(.in(|ueror 
in ioGC\ and was ennobled for his distinguished 
ciiuduct at the Ijattle of Hastings (1066), and from 
him descended the earls and dukes of Kingston. 
[Genealogical Abstract of the family of Pierre- 
pont, Yale College Library, also liollister's His- 
torv of Connecticut, \'ol. T, ])p, 458-45(), .sio. | 

'Rev. Koahdiah l-inssell. .M. A. (^'ale, 1750), 
son of AA'illiam and Mary ( Pier[)onl ) Russell, 
was pa.stor of one church thirty-seven years. He 



married i-'.sther Talccitt, daughter of Joseph Talcott, 
trea>nrer cf the Colony of Connecticut thirteen 
\ears, 175')- 17'ii), and gran<ldauglHer of J<ise[)h 
lalc<'tt, giiveriiiir <_<{ Connecticut seventeen vears 
I I7_'4-I74i I, who was the tlrst governor of (_'oii- 
nectient born within its limits, and held the nftice 
longer than any predecessor e.\ce])l ( iov. W'inthrop. 
.She was a great-grandd.aughter of .Maior ( IJeut. 
(\)\.) John Talcntt, a mai;istrate in the C(jl(in\. and 
who \\as iri'asnrer of the Colonv twentv-si.\ vears, 
lr(im 105J to KijS. He connnanded the "stand- 
ing army" uf Connecticut and their Indian allies in 
King Philij/s Indian war. and was one of the pat- 
entees named in the charter which King Charles II 
granted to Connecticut, and one of the three to 
whom it was intru>ted l"or safe kee]Hng. | Hoi- 
lister's Historv of CnillKCticut, \dl. 1, Jip. 20<)-2II, 

284-287, 47^1-483. Trninbnir> History of Connecti- 
cut, \ ol. 1, p]). 40, 53, |-(j. 1S4. i(;4, 205-207, 211, 
213, 214, 226, 230, 2[)j. 2')T,. I'alfrey's History of 
.\'ew Kngland, \ nl. HI, p. 11)7. | Hi's father, John 
Talcott, came frc.m Kngland with Rev. Thomas 
Hooker in 1632, and was (jue of the chief magis- 
trates of the Colony until his death, and one of the 
wealthiest of the original settlers and |.)ro])rietors 
of Hartford, and his name is inscribecl upon the 
monument erected to per[)etiiate the memory of the 
founders of the Colony of Connecticut. (Talcott 
Pedigree, \,\). 22-24. .3-'-33. .S<)-.ii. 'lA-So. .Xjiple- 
ton's Cyclopeilia of .\merican Piograpln-, \'ol. \T, 
P- 23-1 ' 

Alatthew Talcott Russell, S(jn of Xoahdiah and 
b'sther, graduated from Vide in 1770, and was tutor 
in Yale College four years. He entered the legal 
profession and was .State's attorney, and during 
thirty years was deacon in the I'irst Congregational 
Church in Middletown. He married Mary, daugh- 
ter of Rev. Knoch Huntington (Vale. I75<)). and a 
niece of Samuel Huntington, M. A.. LL. D. (Yale), 
signer of the Declaration of Indeiiendence. presi- 
dent of the Continental Congress. 1779. I78<J and 
1781, Chief Justice of the .SniX'rior Court, and 
during ten years governor of Connecticut, 17S6- 
1796. Mary's father and two brothers all won the 
P.erkelev premiums for scholarship at Yale Col- 
lege. Rev. ImiocIi Huntington was a fellow of 
the Yale Corporation from 1780 to i8cj8, and secre- 
tary of the Yale Corixiration from 1788 to 1793. 
He was pastor of the I'irst Clun-ch in .Midilletown 
forty-seven years, commencing I7fi2, and three of 
his brothers were prominent clergymen. He was 
described as a man of remarkable scholarship, and 
it was recorded that "on the death of ['resident 
.Stiles of Yale College, in 1795, Mr. Huntington 
was jiromincnt as a candidate to succeed him, but 
his failing voice obliged him to decline that honor." 
I .See interesting account of the Clergy in Connect- 
icut ])revious to 1818 in .Sanford's Ilistorv of Con- 
necticut, p. 124, Holli>ter's History of Connecticut, 
|). 427, Lodge's Ilistnry of Knglish Colonies in 
.\merica, pp. 423-425.] Simon Huntington (an- 



50 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



cestor ) canie Iruiii Hngland, and was one of the 
original ijroprietors, first st-ltlers and deacons of 
i\(jr\\icli, C linn. [See "i 'Id iiiiii>LS of the .-Vncient 
Town ol -Xurwit'h." ('nlkge Library. J 

The only mui nf Matthew 1. Russell who mar- 
ried wa^ (_u-n. William Ihnuington Russell, M. A. 
(Yale. 1S33), who was \ aleilictorian of the class 
of 1833, sometime tiitur, and founder of the Skull 
and iSones Society at Vale, and that Society per- 
petuated his name l)y Ijeing incorporated as the 
"Russell Trust .Vssneiation." lie married Mary 
Elizabeth Jlubbard, daughter of Thomas Hul;>bard, 
professor at Vale from 1829 until his death, in 1838, 
whose other daughter, l-'rances Harriet Hubbard, 
married l\e\-. Simeon North, D. D., LL. D. (Vale), 
1825), professor of Greek and Latin, 1829-1839, 
and presitlent: of Hamilton College, 1839-1857. 

Gen. Russell was born Aug. 12, 1809, in Mid- 
dletown, Conn., where three of his ancestors had 
been pastors of the First Congregational Church a 
continuous period of one hundred and eighteen 
years, and his father deacon for thirty years. 
From infancy he was surrounded by the most re- 
fined and thoroughly religious influences. Before 
entering Yale he was for several years a cadet in 
the famous militar_\- academy founded and conduct- 
ed by Capt. Alden Partridge (U. S. A.), a grad- 
uate of \\'est Point, and for twelve years previous- 
ly professor and nlilitary superintendent at the Na- 
tional Academy at West Point. This academy was 
similar to West Point, having as an object the jn"ep- 
aratiijn of young men "to connnand in time of 
need the hastily raised troops of a great and grow- 
ing nation," and Gen. Sherman has stated that it at 
one time almost rivalled the National Academy at 
West Point. It was this strict military discipline 
for several years that gave Gen. Russell such a 
knowledge of military affairs and influenced his 
life work, which was directly and indirectly so im- 
portant in the service of his country. From an 
early age he undertook all the duties and respon- 
.sibilities of life very seriously and thoroughly. 

The death of his father (age sixty-eight, from 
acute ervsipelas) and changes in the fortune of the 
fanvih" threw the care of his mother (who had vigor- 
tius lualth ti> the age of eighty-seven) and her fam- 
ilv largelv upon him, and he subsequently entered 
Yale under circumstances of much financial ad- 
versitv, and hindered by trouble with his eyes. He 
was self-su])i)orting in college, and in all his fre- 
<|urni journeys between New Haven and his home 
in .Midilletown (twenty-six miles) was obliged to 
gi) I in foot, owing to financial necessity. Such was 
his ahilitv and industry that, in spite of these im- 
pediments, he graduated as valedictorian in 1833, 
at the head of a class which in tlie Sophomore x'ear 
had one hundred and twenty-two students, among 
whom were manv who attained much distinction 
later in lil'e. .\n old graduate of Yale, referring 
to William 11. Russell, wrote, "1 thought him to 
be the be-'t speaker and scholar T had seen." 



He was a devout Christian from boyhood through- 
out life, and letters written by him before and after 
graduation from college emphasize his purpose not 
to seek wealth nor honor, but to devote his life to 
doing good to others, and he hoped to enter the 
ministry. Urgent financial necessity, and the need 
of assuming responsibilities left bv the death of his 
father, forced him to give up his earnest desire to 
study theology, and he then began teaching, to ob- 
tain immediate income. 

In September, 1836, he opened a new private 
school for boys, preparatory for college. With no 
assistance from anvone, and owing onl\' to his per- 
sonality and scholarship, his school rapidly became 
large and famous, and when it closed at his death. 
May 19, 1885, there had been four thousand young 
men from all parts of this and some foreign coun- 
tries under his care as pupils. During about half 
a century there were at Yale young men who pre- 
pared for college under his care. He was ever 
ready to assist young mien who without means 
sought an education. About 1840 he introduced 
very thorough military drill and discipline into his 
school, to fit every pupil to serve his country in war 
as well as to furnish him a sound education for 
times of [leace. At the outbreak of the Rebellion 
boys from his school were employed to drill the vol- 
unteer troops for army service, and more than 
three Inmdred men who had been his pu])ils became 
officers in the army. At the commencement of the 
war Gov. lUickingham of Connecticut relied upon 
William LL Russell as the man best qualified by 
his knowledge of nnlitary aft'airs to organize the 
militia of the State of Connecticut, and first by ap- 
pointment of the governor, and later of the Legis- 
lature, he held the office of major general of the 
militia of the State until 1870. The present system 
is largely the result of his long and earnest eft'orts. 
His work was of the greatest importance, for the 
military preparation of the volunteer troops was 
included in it. 

It was written of Gen. Russell that "he was a 
striking example of the New England life and 
character ;" that "his personality was a remarkable 
one, and fitted him to train youth for an upright, 
independent and conscientious manhood ;" that "he 
ranked with Dr. Thomas Arnold, master of Rugby 
School;" that "by his transparent integrity and na- 
tive vigor of intellect he impressed himself on all 
his pujjils and on every order of mind with which 
he came in contact;" that "Hon. William H. Rus- 
sell was a Whig representative in 1846-1847, upon 
the rejieal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854 he 
became active as one of the leaders of the movement 
which restdted in the organization of the Repiflili- 
can parlv." lie took the strongest and most active 
and conscientious interest in all the religious, ])olit- 
ical and social (|uestions of the day, and considered 
the duties of a citizen most sacred and binding, and 
he fearlessly exerteil his utmost influence in behalf 
of whatever was ri'^ht. rather than that which was 



^^^^^^^^^^H^ "~ *^wH^^^^^^^^^^^^^| 


^■^IjV 












COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



expecliciit, J If was as liberal as possible in sup- 
])orling iiKiiiy wortliy objects, lie was a stronLj 
-Aljulitiotiisi and a personal friend nf John I'lniwn. 
the anti-slavery martyr, and in a will which Urown 
made William 11. Rnssell was named one of the 
trustees. 

(ien. Russell's greatest service was the impres- 
sion which he made by his character and scholarship 
mid intliieuce njjon the four thousand Nonng men 
who, diirinj.;- nearly half a century, came fn.im all 
parts of the country to be his pupils. Cu'ii. Russell 
was the Connecticut represeiitati\e on the Xational 
1-Cansas (anti-slavery) committee before the war, 
and John Lirown was many times a gue>t at his 
house. 

'rhron,i;hont life ever ready to assist and protect 
the weak and unfortunate, the last act of his life 
(and cause of death) was characteristic of him. In 
Alay, 1885, he saw from his window many street 
boys throwing stones at the birds in tlie park in 
front of his house, lie ran out to protect the birds 
from being injured by the boys, Imt the boys were 
inimerous and active, the park was large, and he 
was too old for such prolonged active effort. Re- 
turning to his room, he immediately fell to the tloor 
unconscious from a fatal rupture of a blood vessel 
(a])oplexy), and died, .May K), 1883, agcil seventy- 
six years, lie had never had a day of illness ])re- 
vious to his death. Car-eful investigation of (_)ld rec- 
ords proves that his ancestry was especially con- 
<Iucive to vigorous physical and mental health and 
longevity and freedom from any tendency to dis- 
ease. His wife died Dec. it, i8()(), aged seventy- 
four years, having had goo;l health until her last 
illness. 

Immed.iately after the (leneral's death the vet- 
eran Soldiers of Admiral h'<.)ote I'ost, (i. A. R., 
jnissed the following resoluticjn: 

"Resolved, That on Saturday next. May ,^oth, 
and on all future Decoration Days in w hich we may 
])artici])ate. we will decorate the grave of Major 
( leneral William Huntington Russell in the same 
spirit of afl'ectionate respect with which we lay our 
garlands upon the graves of our comrades." 

.Ml of his male ancestors had been college grad- 
uates since a date previous to the foimding of ^'ale 
College, and all of his five sons graduated at ^'al^• 
except one who died of aciue dysentery in the 
Sojihomore year. 

Thomas 1 ni!i!.\r<i) Rus.sr:Lr.. Pii. B., M. D. 
(Yale, 1872), son of (len. William II. Russell, 
pursued his studies first imder his fatlur and sub- 
seqnentlv at Clinton, X. Y., imder the direction of 
his uncle, Rev. .Simeon North ( \'ale, 1825), ex- 
president of Hamilton College; was graduated 
from the Scientific Department of "S'ale with the 
degree of liachelor of Philosoi)hy, in 1872; and 
from Yale Medical Department, with the degree of 
Doctor of Medicine, three years later. In 1872 he 
accompanied Prof. O. C. Alarsh ui)«n the hitter's 
paL'eontological expedition to the Rocky mountains, 
and was assistant to Prof. Francis Piacon some 



>ears; resident i)hysiciaii and surgeon to the New 
Haven Hospital. 1875-1871J: and physician to the 
Xew Haven l>i>pensary some years; and has been 
attending sur-eon i<i tiie Xew jlaven Hospital con- 
tinuously from January, 1878, until the present 
time. Joining the force of instructors at the Yale 
Medical Department in 1877, he was three years 
later appointed Clinical Lecturer on Surgery, and 
subsequently <:>n other branches of surgery: was 
Professor of .Materia Medica and Therapeutics 
from 1883 to 1891, and in 1891 was appointed Pro- 
fessor of Clinical .Sm-gery, and has occupied that 
position ever since. In 1S8G lie visited Europe. 

On Dec. 21, 1882, Dr. Russell married Mary 
K., daughter of Lyman E. Mnnson (Yale), L'nited 
States Judge of Montana by appointment from 
President Lincoln. Tiiey have five cliildren, Mary 
Talcott, Thomas Hubbard, Jr.. William Huiuing- 
ton, Eleanor and Edward Stanton Russell. His 
lirothers are Talcott Huntington, P.. A., Yale, iH(x), 
LL. B., Columbia. 1871 ; Philip Gray, B. A., Yale, 
1876, LL. P.., Vale, 1878, late of \VashingIon, 1). 
C, died without issue July 21, 1900, age forty-six, 
from acute intlammation of the kidney, following 
appendicitis; and luhvard J lulibard. Ph. B., Yale, 
1878, inventor of the Russell Processes for Silver 
Ores, who lives abroad. 

LEWIS FITCH (deceased), once known to all 
Xew Haven as the leading clothing merchant of the 
city, entered into rest in i8i)i, at the age of eighty- 
nine years. His name in the business world was a 
tower of strength, his honor was uncorrupted and 
his fame untarnished. Of kindly disjxisition and 
genial manners, he was courteous to all, and won 
friends wherever he went. 

Mr. l-'ilch was born in Xorwalk, Conn., a son 
of Hanford I-'ilch. lie was educated in the schools 
of his native tijwn, and ui)on reaching man's estate 
he came to .Xew Haven, where he soon engaged in 
the clothing business, .\fter a time he removed to 
}ilacon, Cia., but uiion his return to Xew Haven, re- 
sumed the clothing business, and so ctMitinucd until 
advancing years conqK-lled him to retire. He was 
very successful in his alTairs. and accunmlated a 
large amount of real estate. He builded the block 
at the corner of ( )range and drove streets, and at 
.Xos. 335, ;i,^^j ;ind t,_Y) ('range street. He also 
erected the block on the corner of Grove and Trow- 
bridge street, which contains two stores with three 
floors above fitted for dwelling ])urposes. He owed 
his success entirely to his own unaided elTorts, his 
energv and his business judgment being the jjotent 
factors in his accnnndation of this world's goods. 
In his political views he was a Republican, but cared 
nothing for the honors of i>ublic office. He was a 
communicant of the t'hurcli of the Redeemer, and 
took an active ])art in its work. For thirty years 
he served it as an officer. 

Mr. Filch was united in marriage with Louisa 
Hill, who bore him nine children, of wdiom but two 
are vet living: Rev. William !•"., of Brooklvn ; and 



5: 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Miss (k-orgia A. The mother (Heil at the age of 
f()rt\-4\vo. P'lir his secund wife. Mr. Fitch married 
I'jiiiU Siiuth, (if West Haven, who passed away in 
March. Kjoi. at the ad\anced age nf ninety years. 
Miss ( lenrgia A. l-'itch makes ]\c\- iiome in Xew 
lla\'en, siuTonnded h\- friends, and she has greatly 
endeared herself tn all who know her hy her gener- 
ous d:s]iositiiin that sees only the good, and that 
aims to help the weak anrl to cheer the disheartened. 

CKX. EinVlX SlvXECA GREELEY, for 
man\' years a leader in the industrial developner.t 
of New Haven, where he has achieved great suc- 
cess, becoming the vice-president of the Yale Na- 
tional J'.ank, stands in the front rank of Xew Ha- 
ven's citizen soMiers. Born May 20, 1832, in 
Nashua, X. H., (ien. Greeley is a son of Seneca and 
Priscilla (Fields) Greeley, grandson of Col. Joseph 
Greelev, a patriot soldier of the Revolution an<l 
grandson of Lsaac I'ields, one of the early settlers 
of Merrimack, X. II. Col. Joseph Greeley was own 
cousin to Zaccheus Greeley, father of Horace 
Greeley, the founder of the New York Tribune. 

The Greeleys originally came from Argyllshire, 
Scotland, and settled in the North of Ireland some 
two hundred years prior to their coming to America. 
Thev were people of high character and profound 
reli.gious convictions, and from them came some of 
(lur subject's ancestors, in whom were reproduced 
their sturdy traits, hardy physique and religious 
character. Some of them reached advanced age. 

( 1 ) The first rif the Greeley famil\- in America 
of whum there is authentic record is Andrew (jree- 
Iv, who was iljorn in \(\20 and who died at Salis- 
burv. Mass., Nov. id. i'iQ3. He was married al>out 
1643 to Mary Gnldm\re, who died Dec. 24, 1703. 
'Flieir children were as follows: riiilip, l)orn Se|it. 

21, i'i44, married Hannah < )sley : Andrew. Jr., burn 
llec. 10. 1646, married June 12, 1(173. Sarah Ijrowne 
(burn Dec. ('•>. i(>54). and died June 30, i6c;7: Mary, 
b(irn lulv \U, \(m), married March 2C), 1668, Eph- 
raim Weiislev. of .Salisbury; Joseiih, born F^eb. 3, 
1^52. married Martha \Mlfor(l, who was born Jan. 
S, i(ifi()-7o: Uenjamin was liorn Dec. q. i''>54; and 
W'estford (iir Wilfiird) was Imrn Jan. 2'). \(<^i). 

( 11 ) [iistph llreeh', a son nf .\ndrew, burn, as 
stated above, b'eb. 3. i('5-. '^^as mai'ried Feb. 7, 
I')i;4-ij3, to .Manila \\'ilford. who was born Jan. S. 
I(')r)<)-7o, seco)id daughter of ( lilbert \\'ilford. and 
died l-'el). 21, 17.^7. The\' became the parents of | h;ul 
the following nanu-d children: Sanniel. mentioned 
below, was liorn I )i'C. J2, l'«)3: losrpb. born h\'l). 
17, lC)()j^i),S. w.'is niari'ied |ii-obably June 14. 1738, 
;it Ro.xbnrv. Mass.. lo Sarah I'lrowne. of L\ nie, 
Mass.; ISenjamin married Ruth W'hittier; Moses 
(lied \oun.g. about 1702: \\'illiani. born April 11, 
1704, married probably 1 )ec. (\ 1733. Judith I'ei'- 
kins; Moses (2) was born .March 31. 1711; and 
Mar\ was born .Xo\'. 17, 1714. 

( III ) .^annul Grcrlw ^on of Joseph, born l^ec. 

22, 1'';,=;. d'ed \\:\\ 2},. \~~\. He imrried Racli'l 



Greely. who died Sept. 17, 1758. They became the 
parents of nine children, viz.: Sanniel, Jr., born 
May 10. 1721; William, (Jet. 8, 1722; Mehitable, 
(Jet. I, 1724; Martha, Sept. 2(), 172(1 ; Rachel, ( )ct. 
15, 1729; Jonathan, Feb. 26, 1732; }klar\-, March 1. 



1734; Hannah, Nov. 22, 173(1; and Xathaniel, 
March 14, I73(>. 

( l\'l Samuel Greeley, Jr., son of Sanniel, .Sr., 
born May 10, 1721, died May 8, 1800. He married 
Abigail Blodgett, who died March 2~ . 1818. The 
children of Samuel (Jr.) and .Miigail (Blodgett) 
Greeley were: Nathaniel, born ( )ct. 28, 7744; Han- 
nah, Aug. 2"], 1747; Abigail, Sept. lo, 1750; Sam- 
uel, Sept. 29, 1752; Joseph, Sept. 9, 175(1; M-'cy, 
( )ct. 13, i7(')0. 

( \' ) Joseph (ireeley. son of Samuel, Jr.. born 
Se])t. c;, 1736. died ALa>' 13, 1840. ( )n Alarch 7, 
1780, he married Sarah (ireely, daughter of Ezek- 
iel (^Ireely, born in Aiiril, 175 1, died Sept. 9. 1834. 
CTiildren were born to this union as follows: ( i ) 
Sally, born at Hudson, X. H., July 30, 1782, mar- 
ried Daniel Hayden. (2) Joseph, born May 3, 1784, 
married Hannah Thornton and became the father 
of nine children — Mary, who died when about 
twenty-seven years of age ; Joseph, who married 
Hamiah Morrison ; Sarah, who died when about 
twenty years old; Charles A., who married Helen 
Reed; Edward P., who married Mary Roby ; Cath- 
erine and Weaker, both of whom died young ; James 
B., M. D., born about 1830, now living in Nashua; 
and Ellen, who died at the age of eighteen. (3) 
F'.zekiel, born June 20, 1786, married Sarah Pollard 
and had four children — Au.gustus C, who married 
Charlotte Fuller ; W'illiam F"., who married Fran- 
ces G. Peters: Dr. George P., who married Mary 
Dewey ; and Henry C, who married Mary E. Page. 
(4) Alfred, born April \~. 1788, married iNIary 
W'ebster and had two children — jMary W.,- who 
married W'. W. Bailey; and Webster. (3) F'anny, 
bom Feb. 14. 1790, died May 29, 1793. (6) Seneca 
IS mentioned below. (7) Samuel born June 4, 1799, 
married Mary Buxton, and died April 13. 1879. 
Thev had children — Mary .Knn, born Feb. 12, 
1836. niarried Horace Woods Jan. 8, 1833, and 
died Jul}- 14, 1882; Sarah Frances, born Sept. 21, 
1838. married William Chase; Samuel Au.gustus. 
born Jan. 31, 1840, married .Susan Richardson and 
had three sijus and two daughters: Edward Dana, 
born .^ept. id, 1841, married .Selina Richmond and 
i;ul four children; James Clinton, born ^larch 18. 
1843, married Ella Sampson and died March 7, 
t8(;2; FTelen Augusta, born Aug. 8, 1843, married 
David Brush and has two chililren; Louisa Martin, 
born March 27, 1847. married M. J. Atherton ;ind 
has two children ; Cliarles Albert, born May 7, i84(). 
died ()ct. (1. 1870; Grenvillc Hayden, born b'eb. 
14. 1831, died young; and Onslow Smith, born 

has 



' UL 



-/• 



i8i2, niarried (Gertrude Parker and 



two children. 

(\T~) .Seneca Greelev, son of Joseph, was born 
Ma\- 2<), I7<i4. and died Xov. 2C1, 1886. at the a.ge 




^// d J f///^y 



(Cl 




^ ' f (c 



COMMEMORATIl'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



:>:> 



of iiiiU'ty-two years and six nioiuhs. Ho marrii-(l 
I'riscilla l-'icKls, wlio was horn Jan. _'5, ij'i.v anil 
passed awav (Kn. 7. 1SS3. l-"ivc of tlieir u-n cliil- 
(heii (lUllived llu-ir parcnls. as follows: Mlizahetli 
J'., horn Aui;-. 2<;. iHuj. died (_)et. S, 1S84: she mar- 
ried William Davis, and later L'harles I'iske, and 
h;.<l two children. Alfred Henry. l)orn Ma\- 15. 
i.Sji. married Charlotte Whitteker and (second | 
Laura Woods and has one adopted son. Sarah 
T'ollard. horn Jan. 12, iS!-'4. died .Xu.q. ,v '^.S' : -^1"-' 
married Dr. ( ). M. L'arleton and had three sons. 
Samuel 1-'.. horn Xov. if>. 18J3. dieil An.u;'. 5. i^ijj. 
l-'milv li., horn Jan. ". 1828. died youn;;-. Adeline 
Amanda, horn April jo. i8^^o, clied yonni;-. F.dwin 
Seneca is nientioneil in fnll farther on. Franklin 
Maston, born Jan. 7. i8_^5. married Inez liyington 
and has two children. l-"mily I'rances. horn ]"eh. 7. 
1837. married Hiram I'reston and has two children. 
Fddridge ()sl;i)0(1. horn A]iril 2(1, 1841. died in 1851. 
The mother of these was a woman of fine character, 
strong' in her C(Mivictions and tender in her sympa- 
thies. She was a memher of the Preshyterian 
Church and hy her many womanly s'fa'-'t'-'' won the 
esteem of a larne circle of friends. 

(\'ll) Edwin Seneca (ireeley was thrown on 
his own resources in earlv IkisIiooi] hv financial mis- 
fortunes that came to his parents and when he was 
twelve years old he hetjau to work for his livinj;. 
At the age of fifteen years he was employed in a 
cotton mill, where he remained several years. Being 
of a mechanical turn of mind he hecame a machinist 
and through the aid of his father seciu'cd a position 
in Manchester. X. IJ.. hut the place was inisatisfac- 
tory, as it did not atTord the oppnrtunity he desired 
of learning the uses of steam as apjilied to machin- 
ery. To learn this he went to .Schenectady. X. "S".. 
where he Cf)ni]ileted his trade of machinist. From 
the very beginning of his work young (Ireeley was 
ambitious to build a locomotive and secured employ- 
ment in the Schenectady Locomotive Works. After 
becoming a journeyman he was employed at the 
Rogers Locomotive Works. Patcrson, X. J- In 
1855. from the employ of this world-famous es- 
tablishment, he came to Xew Haven, which ha.s 
been his home ever since. He came to Xew Haven 
on a visit and on siglit of tlie Xew Haven Green anrl 
it.s surroundings was so pleased with the city that 
he at once determined to make it his home. ]Ie 
secured em[)loyment with the railroad company and 
immediately located here, where his early ambition 
was gratified, for before the war he assisted in the 
construction of a locomotive, the first constructed 
in Xew Haven. 

Gen. Greeley was in Xew ] ra\en in the exciting 
years preceding the Civil war .and all his sympathies 
were with the Cnion. When the clash <'f arms 
came he was among the first to res]>ontl to the call 
for troops, carrying out to its logical results his 
long and earnest championing of the cause of lib- 
erty and progress. In company with F.. D. S. 
Goodvcar, of Xorth Haven, he raised a full com- 



pany of men, with .Mr. (io'xiyear as ca|)t;nn and 
himself as first lieutenant and they were assigned 
to the I nil Ci.>nn. \'. I., but were soon transferred 
to the H)th Regiment. 'ihe regiment was nnis- 
lered into service ( )cl. 2. i8()i. and was almost im- 
u'ediatel} >eni South to join in what is known in 
history as I'.nrnside's ex[)e<lition. In ]-\l)ruary, 
i8'ij. it partici|>aled in its first battle, at Roanoke 
Island, where it charged the Rebel works and caj)- 
ti-Ted most of the garrison, .\fter this battle Ca])t. 
( iofxlyear was taken sick and Lieut. Greeley com- 
manded the com]>any at the battle of Xewbern. X. 
C. .Shortly after this battle he became a captain 
in the place of Capt. Pardee, who had achieved pro- 
motion. In December. I8^2. Ca]:>t. (ireeley marched 
with his conijiany on to the famous (Joldslioro expe- 
dition, particijjatiug in the battle of Kinston. where 
tlie regiment lost lo'i 1 pfilcers and men in less than 
thirty minutes. The loth fought also at Whitehall 
and ( loldsboro. ( )n Jan. 1, 18')^. they were trans- 
ferred to the Department of the .South, stationed 
at Hilton Head. S. L'. C'a]>t. Greeley was promoted 
to the rank of major and commanded the regiment 
in the siege of Cdiarleston. before which city the 
I fighting was of the most severe and dangerous sort, 
' and the loth li;id a hand in nearly all the des])erale 
I conflicts that marked the progress oi the investment, 
Iiarticularly Seabrook Island. Janus Island and the 
assaults on h'orts \\'agner and Gregg, on Morris 
Island. During the course of the siege of Charles- 
ton (ieii. (jilmore made a desperate plan for the 
capture of I'ort .Sumter. The waters of the harbor 
surrounded the tori and it was ])roposeil to sent 
.■-oldiers in boats who should assault it on all sides at 
once. and. scaling all its walls, capture its garrison by 
storm. To this rash and desiK-rate enteri)ri.-e the lotli 
Lonnecticut contributed 285 men. under coniniand 
of Major (ireeley. and about the same number came 
fidui the 24th .\lassachiisetts. commanded by Col. 
( )sborne. This expedition, sheltered 1>\' the dark- 
ness of the night, reached the vicinity of the fort 
and w%'re forming for the assault when bright cal- 
cium lights llashed and shot and shell burst from 
I-"ort .Sumter. .\t this ])oint there had been con- 
siderable jealousy between the army and the navy. 
The latter had tried unsuccessfully to silence the 
fort, and ( len. ( lilmorc. feeling that they must antic- 
ipate the attack by liis land forces, had arranged 
to signal a retreat by a blue rocket, which was to 
order the return by the same route over which they 
had come. .\s the navy did attack first (ien. Gil- 
more gave the signal and nothing then remained 
but to withdraw the troops which, strange to say, 
was accomplished with little damage. This enter- 
prise, having already been tried by the officers of 
the lleet. found the Rebels prejjared for such an at- 
tem]H. During the cani])aign the lotli Connecticut 
had lost heavil\' : entering the service with over 
1.000 men. it had been reilnced to 175 elTectivc sol- 
diers and was ordered to St. Augustine. Ma., to re- 
cruit. Major Greelev was verv ill with a chronic 



54 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



disease and liis wan conntenance and jjallid features 
]i!ii\eil even ihe sympathies of the Rebel ladies of 
that liolhed of secession, and one of them, a relative 
ni' a pnjminent Kehel .L;"eneral, sent him a remedv 
that e\cntiially restored him to liealth. 

In the sjirinL;- of 1S64 Major (irecley WaS or- 
dered Xijrth with his \eterans, whose term of serv- 
ice ha<l expind. Almni ,^00 men re-enlisted, and 
after a slmrt Inrlnn^h they joined the regiment 
wliich, comint;- from tlie South, was attached to (icn. 
I'.utler's .\rmy of the James and was assigned to 
the loth Army Corps, under Gen. Gilmore. During 
llie encampment at Ik-rmuda Hundred it was Major 
(.rceley's duty to establish the picket line and he 
had just stationed the reserves when he heard the 
noise of galloping horses. With difficulty he 
st<)|ipi'd Gen. Piutler and his staff, who were fast 
g.-dl(iping into captivit\- with a vagne nr)tion of go- 
ing to the front. Here the gallant loth was engaged 
in continuous and ariluons service during ^lay, 
1^04, [particularly against the railroad and Rich- 
mond, from the South. After four days of continu- 
ous fighting the loth acted as rear guard from the 
l),ittlefield of Dnryea's Blufif and received the warm- 
ist encomiums from the commanding general for 
its behavior under all circumstances and in all situa- 
tions. Major Greeley won warm praise for his gal- 
lant behavior on (lie night of June 15, 1864. He 
liad charge of the picket line on the right when it 
api)eared that large masses of troops were in motion 
in front of him. At first an attack was feared but 
he soon discovered that the enemy was withdrawing. 
All night he pleaded for liberty to attack but his 
commanding officer could not believe liis report was 
correct. At da\"break he was given permission to 
advance if he would assume responsibility for the 
entire movement. At once he put his skinnish line 
in motion and quickly captured the entire main line 
(if the enemy's earthworks, with three officers and 
twenty-six privates and a battery of fifteen guns. 
Here was gained an important position and the rep- 
utation of Major Greeley .greatly increased. 

'l"he loth was sent to assist in the operations be- 
fore Petersburg, where its picket lines held the ad- 
vanced trenches at the left of the entrance to the 
frmious mine inider Cemetery Hill, h^or a month 
or more it was constantly under fire and a rifle ball 
struck- the cot on wdiich Major Greeley was sleeping, 
\>-hile a fragment of an exploding shell was left in 
his tent-pole. On yVug. 29, 1S64, he was com- 
missioned lieutenant-colonel of the regitncnt. Th.e 
ntontli of .September was occujiied with frequent as- 
saults and in r)ctober the regiment [larticipaled 
in a most desi)erate assault on an almost impregna- 
ble ])osition where, in a few minutes, it lost nearly 
onedialf its effective force. • On Oct. 18th Lieut.- 
Col. Greeley was pronioted to the command of the 
regiment, which at that time consisted of two line 
officers and 250 nu-n. In Xoveniber the regiment 
was sent to New ^'ork to guard against an antici- 
pated riot, and on his return to llu' front Col. (Iree- 



lev reorganized his regiment, receiving an assign- 
n-itnt of 500 men, some few of whom were volun- 
teers, but the greater part substitutes and bounty- 
jumpers, who planned to desert at the first oppor- 
tunity. Out of this unpromising material Col. 
Greeley made good soldiers. From the veterans of 
the regiment he appointed twenty-four commis- 
sioned officers and one hundred non-commissioned 
officers. Officers' schools were established and their 
work was done under his personal supervision. A 
severe discipline was maintained, stringent meas- 
ures taken to guard against desertion and before 
the winter was over the loth rivaled its pristine 
bearing and the best form of its earlier days. 

In March, 1865, anticipating some quiet weeks- 
before the opening of the spring cainpaign and wear- 
ricd by his incessant activities. Col. Greeley obtained 
a short furlough and while he was North was cha- 
grined to learn that the forward movement had be- 
gun and that Fort Gregg, the key to the Rebel front, 
was taken by a desperate charge of his regiment, the 
famous lotli. Hastening back to rejoin his com- 
mand, which thus showed the effect of the patient 
work he had given it for months, he found the 
transportation service in utter confusion. At Wash- 
ington he was given command of a large number of 
men to be led to the front. Before he could join 
in the fray, being but one day's march awav, he was 
delighted with the Jiews of the surrender of Gen. 
Lee. Coming back to Richmond with his own reg- 
iment he was assigned to the command of a brigade 
and was breveted brigadier general for gallant and 
meritorious conduct, his commission bearing date 
March 3, 1865. He was mustered out Aug. 25, 
1865, and reached Hartford with his command Sept. 
2, 1865, at wdiich time they were discharged from 
service. 

In Gen. Greeley's fine residence he has a "den" 
containing many valuable and historical relics. He 
lias his uniforms of captain, colonel and general 
used in the service : also all his swords, including 
the one presented to him by Thomas R. Trowbridge, 
which was sunk on board ship off Charleston Har- 
bor, but finally recovered and returned to Mr. 
Trowbridge, who again presented it to Gen. Gree- 
ley at a reception given 'by Mr. Trowbridge in liis 
honor upon the General's return from the war. He 
has also two swords and a carbine captured from the 
Confederates. 

IT,pnn coming home Gen. Greeley marked his 
return to civil life by entering into a partnership 
with L. G. Tillotson, of New "S'ork, to manufacture 
;inil import railway and telegraph supplies, under 
the firm name of L. G. Tillotson iS: Co. This busi- 
ness was very successful and when Mr. Tillotson 
died, in 1885, Ids interests were transferred to Gen. 
(ireel(\-, ihe firm becoming V.. S. Greeley & Co. 
This tlrm carried at one time a larger assortment of 
su|)plies in their line than any other house in the 
I'nited .'>t;iti's .Tud their trade extended all o\-er the 
world, (leu. Grteley's "I'dectrical I'laggagc Supplv 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



W'ayon" has hceii adopted by tlie I'niied States 
<,overiim(.iit. This invention is 0(juii)i)e<l for liastilv 
layinij telegraiih wire from the front. an<l in a shnri 
Sjjace of time juits the commandins;- general in innch 
witli all parts of the battletield. Gen. (Ireeley's eom- 
pany sirunt;- the wires for openins; the World'.s I'air 
at Chicago and he has in his den the gold tekgrapli 
key tonehcd by President Cle\'eland in opening that 
Jair. This kev was siibsefpienlly used by i'resi- 
(ii.nt Cleveland in opening the National I'deetrieal 
Exposition in Xew ^'ork in .May, 1 81/1, and b\ Pres- 
ident .McKinley in o[)ening the exposition of iS(>S; 
in both instances the act was pcrfonned at ll;e V.\- 
ecutive Mansion in Washington. This key was also 
used in transmitting Hon. Channcey Dcik-w's mes- 
sage, containing sixty-eight words, aronnd the 
wirld, 24.51'') miles, in Iwenly-one and fine-half 
minntcs. 

(ien. Greeley, a forceful and energetic man. has 
pushed steadily to the front. I f c took an active in- 
terest at a very early day in electric lighting and as- 
sisted in the organization of the Xew Haven Elec- 
tric Eight Co., and others, and has l)een a director 
of and interested in many of the corporations of 
Xew Plaven. The Xew llaven Car Trinmiings Co. 
was organized by him and for many years he was its 
president. He has been interostetl in several bank- 
ing institutions, and at this tinve is vice-president 
of the Yale Xational Hank. .Avoiding, rather than 
seeking, political preferment, it was a sacrifice to 
a sense of duty that compelled him to accept elec- 
tion as alderman from the b'ighlh ward, Xew Ha- 
ven, and he has served the city most efficiently in 
various cajjacities and relations. Prominently con- 
nected with the Church of the Redeemer, when an 
indebtedness of $33,000 fell due Cien. (ireeley took 
hold of the matter with his characteristic energy 
and in fifteen days the entire amount was li(|uidate(l. 
He is closely connected with that church and has 
been active in church and .Sunday-school, and for 
two years was chairman of the Xew Haven County 
School Association. Gen. Cjreeley is connected witli 
various societies. He is an active member of Ad- 
miral Foote Post, G. A. R., New Haven, and the 
Military (Jrder of the Eoyal Eegion, New York 
Slate Commandery : is prominently associated with 
the .Sons of the American Revolution, in which he 
has held higli position and is now vice-presiilent of 
the National Association and chairman of the Xa- 
tional Committee on Revolutionary .Mimuincnts ; 
and is also a memlier of the .\rmy and Xavy Club, 
of Connecticut, having served as president of the 
latter. He is a Freemason, with which fraternity he 
became aftilialed in 1858. .\t one time he was presi- 
dent of the Congregational Club, and for three years 
held the same office in the I'nion Eeaguc. He has 
long been an active member of the Xew Haven 
Colony Plistorical Society. At present he is chair- 
man of the "Memorial Committee" from the 6th, 
9th and loth Conn. \'. E and the 1st C^inn. Eight 
r>attery, whose purpose it is to erect a monument; 



the design in view at this writing is a pedestal, with 
tablets ciimmemorating the records of the three 
regiments and surmounted by an equestrian statue 
in bronze of ALajor-Gen. Alfred H. Terry. Gen. 
(ireele}- is also vice-president of the Bushnell Mem- 
orial Association, whose object is to erect a monu- 
ment to the memory of Cornelius S. Bushnell. of 
".Monitor" fame. 

(ien. (ireeley is a man of high character, l>oth 
iiUerprising and public-spirited, ami his fine resi- 
dence stands as a imble monument to his enterprise. 
His Wealth, of which he accunmlated a gootlly for- 
tune, is used by him with a getierons jiand and he 
is a liberal benefactor of iniblic and ni-edy institu- 
tions, among them being the Orphans" Asylum: the 
Y. yi. C. A.; Grace Hos|)ital, of which he has been 
vice-president since its organization ; and the Tillot- 
son College, at .Austin. Texas. 

r)n b'eb. _'o. t836. (ien. (ireeley was married to 
Miss IClizabeth Corey, of Taunton, ^Elss. They 
have an adopted daughter, Jennie E. Greeley. Their 
otily child died in i8f>:). (ien. Greeley is licaring 
the years of a long and notable career remarkably 
well, time dealing kindly with him, as evidenced bv 
bis fine jjcrsonal ap[)earance and military bearing. 
There is as yet little evidence of age and the pros- 
pect is fair that he will repeat in his generation the 
characteristic of his ancestry — longevitv. 

IIOX. El'CirS P.\RMi:Xl\S DI-.MIXG, of 
Xew llaven, formerly judge of the Conn of Com- 
mon Pleas, of .Xew Jlaven county, is descended 
from sterling .Xew England stock, wliose names are 
linked with the stirring scenes of early American 
history. 

Judge Deming was liorn March 10. 1836. in 
West .Stiickbridge, Mass., a son of John Carlton and 
Polly (.Slauter) Deming, the former of whom was 
a son of John Carlton Deming, a lineal descendant 
of John Deming, who was one of the nineteen per- 
sons to whom, in iftu. King Charles H granted 
the Charter of Comiectieut. On his mother's side, 
Judge Deming is no less prominently connected, 
being fifth in line from (iilbert Slauter, a patriot of 
the Re\-ohuion, who gave up his life in his couiUry's 
cause, at the famous Ijattle of Saratoga. ]'"phraim 
l^lauter. the gn-at-grandf:uher of our subject, served 
through the war of the Revolution and was a pen- 
sioner. 

Judge Deming recei\'ed the rudiments of an ed- 
ucation in the countrv schools of Russell and 
."Springfield, Mass., lint his school days closed at the 
earh' age of fourteen, and then his business career 
opened, his first engagement lieing as a clerk in a 
grocerv store in Springfield, but at the age of 
seventeen, deciding to adojit some special line, he 
was apprenticed to a Springfield firm, which was 
engaged in the work of frescoing and ornamental 
painting. This connection was tcrnnnatctl by ill 
health, and in 1857, he followed his parents to 
.Xew Haven. .Soon after this, liy advice of the phy- 



56 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



sician, he adopted a sea-farinsj life in order to re- 
cuperate his heahh. Vt>v the following- seven years, 
covering- the period of the Civil war, he was master 
of a vessel, during this time traveling to many for- 
eign ports. With health restored, Mr. Deming re- 
turned to business avocations on land, hut by na- 
ture he was niarked for the legal profession, all his 
leanings being in that direction, .\fter preliminary 
stud\ with this end in \ie\v, he entered the ^'ale 
Law school in 1S73, li-oni which he was graduated 
with high honor in i^^JJ. taking the Townsend 
]irize for the best oration, and in that same _\-ear 
was admitted to the liar in .\e\\- Haven county, be- 
ginning his career as an associate with Hon. Will- 
iam C. Case. 

It was during the year 1877 that Judge Deming 
was ai)pointed bv tiov. .\ndrews as chairman of a 
committee to investigate complaints which had been 
made in regard to convict labor and its interference 
Vvitli free laljo)-. and as chairman of that committee 
he acted in concert with like committees appointed 
from Massachusetts, .\e\\- Jer.-.ey and several other 
States. During this most thorough investigation, 
he visited the prisons, penitentiaries, and reform- 
atories (f nearly all the ."States of die Cnion, giving 
the most careful, person;d attention to all that could 
bear upon the subject, ami in his report recom- 
mended a law limiting contr.act labor in prisons, 
which law was adopted and is still continued on the 
Statute bo(jks of Ciinnecticut. 

\'er\- soon after his adn-iission to the l'>ar, Jutlge 
Deming was aispointed to the position of assistant 
prosecuting attorney in the city of New Haven, this 
being followed at a later date b> ap]>ointment to 
the ]iosition of assistant Judge of the City Court, 
wdiich in a short time became an apjiointment as 
Judge. In the natural course of events, came his 
appointment as Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas, of Xew Haven county, in all of which import- 
ant and honcjrable positions he administered the 
duties in a most efticient manner, and these are an 
inde.x of his standing in the conVnunit) and in the 
profession which he adorns. His association with 
Hon. William C. Case in the i)ractice of law cov- 
ered a ])eriod of fifteen years — years of honest and 
faithful work — and to-day. Judge Deming is rec- 
ognized as one of Xew Haven's al)lest and most 
highly respected sons, a man of place, parts and 
power. For the ]iast two years he has been en- 
gaged in (levelo|)ing large mining interests in Xew 
Mexico. v\s an orator, our subject ranks high: his 
repiualion as a i)l;itform speaker is not confined to 
Connecticut, but extends beyond State lines, and 
from all over .New luigland come fre(|iient invita- 
tions to deliver addresses. .SocialK" Judge Diniing 
stands in e(|ual prominence, ami has held nian\ po- 
sitions in fraternal and beneficial associations, and 
he is regarded as an auihorily on secret >ocietv 
n'atlers, in his own .'"Itate. .\fler tilling i-vi-ry sul>- 
ordinale jiost in the 1 nde|)t'ndent ( h'di'r of ( )dd 
J'ellows, he was elected and served as (ii'and Mas- 
ter 1 I thai I )rder, serving a term, also, as a re]ire- 



sentative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge, and has 
been e(]nally promiinent in patriotic societies. Judge 
Deming assisted in organizing the Society of the 
Sons of the American Revolution, and was the first 
Ijresident of the Connecticut society and the first 
president-general of the Xational society, b'or six 
years he was (irand Warden of the State of Con- 
necticut, of the Xew England Order of I'rotection, 
and was Sujireme Warden fcjr two years. He is 
also a prominent Mason and Shriner. 

in 1N3S, Judge Deming was married to Laura 
]l. Russell, who died in 1872, leaving three chil- 
dren: Lucius I'armenias, Jr.: Hattie Lovilla, de- 
ceasetl : and Laura Maude, who married Dr. Walter 
Strong, of I'hiladelphia. In 1874, Judge Deming 
married h"leanor J I. Parmelee, and to this union 
one daughter has been born, .Almira Parmelee. 
h'ew men have had and used such opjiortunities for 
travel as Judge Deming, and he is familiar with his 
own country to a degree exceptional with Ameri- 
cans, and has also traveled extensively in Central 
and South America and in other lands. Thus, al- 
though his formal schooling ceased when he was 
Init a mere boy, his education did not cease, and 
was not limited to the knowledge to Ije obtained 
within the covers (jf books. His duties have made 
liim a pn])il in the great School of Life, and with 
results of which he may justly be proud. During his 
saikjr life, Latin and mathematics took the place of 
dice, cards and story-telling, during leisure hours, 
and since those days not a nioment has been wasted. 

HOX. CHARLES LEX'ERET EXGLISH 
(deceased), late of Xew IIa\en, began business 
there as a \-oinig- man and continueil through a long 
and active lifetime of business success and usefulness 
iu the community in wdiich his ancestors and poster- 
it}' have figured in turn more or less conspicuously 
for two hundred years. 

'Mr. En,glish came on l>oth sides fron-i sturdy 
Xew England stock who have left their impression 
for good on the several communities iu wdiich they 
have resided. Clement English, his remote Amer- 
ican ancestor, was early at Salem, Mass., marrying, 
in 1667, Mary, daughter of Richard Waters, and 
dying in 1682. From Clement English our sub- 
ject's line of descent is through lienjainin, llen- 
janiin (2), Benjamin (3), and James English. 
Penjamin iMiglish, son of Clement, married in I'lgy 
Sarah Hard, ;md in the following year settled in 
New Haven, Coim., since which time the family has 
been numerous in .\ew Haven, and its members 
have lieen munbered among the town's and city's 
nujst substantial men and w^omen. I'.enjamin Eng- 
lish (3) married Abigail Doolittle, and among their 
eleven children was James lui.glish, who married 
Nancy (jriswold. Of their six sons and three 
dau,ghlers all married, and all exce]it one resided in 
New- Haven, among the number being our subject 
and the late Hon. James E. lui.glish, (iovernor, 
Member of C'ongress .and Cnited .States Senator. 

( )n his mother's si<le our subject descended from 




^/r.aJ' ^. 0PJ<-4- t£^<^^V 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



3/ 



one of two brotluTS — Edward and Matthew Gris- 
■wold — -who came from Kciiilworih, Warwickshire. 
England, and were at Windsor, L'nnn., in i'i,V). 
The tiri>wold family was one i>f unnsual ])n»nii- 
nence in the liistory of (."onnecticnt. man\- nf tlie 
name rising to distinction, aniDng them two gnverii- 
ors of the State. 

The subject of this sketch was liDrn Aug. 5, 
18 14, in Xcw Haven, and until seventeen years of 
age attended the jniblic and priv.ite scliouls of the 
place; among his teachers in the latter were a Mr. 
Merwin and a Mr. Jannan. He also recei\ed in- 
struction under Cien. James M. Palmer. L'or three 
years, beginning in 1S31, he was a clerk in the gro- 
cery house of Harry Ives & Co. He then began in 
the same line on Iiis own account, J-'.Iam Hull, of the 
former concern, setting him up in the business, 
which was carried on in the same store room under 
the firm style of Charles L. English & Co., his 
brother. George D. English, being associated with 
him. In 1842 our subject, associated with another 
brother, James E. English, engaged in the lumber 
business on Water street and continued some two 
years, when Charles L. English established at an- 
other point on the same street a similar enterprise, 
which subsequently became the business of English 
& Tuttle, John P. Tuttle joining him in the enter- 
prise. Later the style of the firm became English 
& Holt. .Albert S. Holt becoining interested in the 
business. Along about this time a new lumber busi- 
ness was established under the firm name of Calvin 
Gallup & Co., in which Mr. English was largely in- 
terested, looking after the finances of the concern 
and attending to the sales department. He practi- 
cally retired from the business in 187^1, and since that 
period the business has been carried on under the 
the name of English & Holt, Mr. English's son, 
Edwin H. English, succeeding him: the other mem- 
bers of the firm at this time were Albert S. Holt and 
Charles E. P. Sanford, men of strict integrity ami 
extensive business ability, and standing high in the 
community. This concern, established l)y the elder 
English, has developed a large business and has 
operated largely in Cana<la, Indiana and ( )hi(), where 
the lumber was produced, and shi])pe(l extensivelv to 
the Pacific coast. The jiresent firm is doing a large 
business, handling all kinds of lumber and timber. 
They purchase direct, and in such large (|uantities 
that they are able to sell at the lowest market prices, 
anrl their facilities for business are not sur|)assed 
liy any. 

I'Vom early manliooil and all thrnugb life our 
subject took an active i)art in the afi'airs of the 
city and was greatly interested in its welfruc. In 
1840 he joined the Young Men's institute, and after- 
ward served on its committee. .\t the first meet- 
ing of the Colony Historical .Society he was elected 
a life member and made a director th'.Teof. In 
1835 he became a member of the .\'ew Haven Cham- 
ber of Commence, one of the oldest in.-titutions of 
the kind in Xew England, its existence dating; ba^'k 



to 1800. In July. 1837. be was apiioinied ijne of the 
first fire wardens of the cil\. the fire department 
having iieen organized in that year under a board 
of warden> ;uid engineers, i>i which he was made 
secretary. lie also served as a member of the 
eomnu>n council. He was chosen a director (tf the 
.\ew Haven & Derby Railroad at its organization, 
and in 1875 became vice-])re.'-ident of the roail, fin- 
years continuing to sustain such relations in the 
company. In 1S77 be was made ])resi(lent of the 
\'ale National I'.ank. of .\c\\ Haven, but after one 
year's service resigiu-d on acount of his health. 

Politicall\ .Mr. k'nglish in early life was a Demo- 
crat, but left that p.irty in 1850. He served as 
chairman of the l"n>i Kejinblican Convention in Con- 
necticut. w;is soon afirrw;ird a delegate from that 
convention to the Xation.al Repulilican Convention 
which nominated ( ieii, Fremont for the Presidenc\. 
and there served on the conuuittee on Platforms and 
Resolutions. He was also a member of the J\epub- 
lican .State Central Committee in 1851). and the 
same year was sent as a reprisentative from Xew 
Haven to the State Legisl;uure. In that body Mr. 
English took an active and prominent part, and was 
chairman of the Uepnblican Legislature Census and 
also chairman of the House committee on State 
Prisons. During the great ."shivery agitation of the 
time Mr. P'nglish was radically op])osed to carrying 
slavery into the Territories and was one of the 
signers of the fainons remonstrance sent at that 
time bv r)r. Xatbaniel Ta\lor and others to Presi- 
dt'iit Iluchanan, calling his attention to the difli- 
cidtv in Kansas, Through all these exciting times 
Mr. pjiglish was in the front of the fight in develop- 
ing the new [>arty. ;inil was one of the founders of 
the Republican ]]artv in Connecticut. lie ever 
afterward remained identified with that party, was 
several times its candidate for State senator, and in 
1874 was its candidate for lieutenant go\-ernor, re- 
ceiving the full p;irt\' vote. During the last twenty 
\ears of his life Mr. Engli>h w;is an active mem- 
ber of St. Paul's Church. ;i member of the vestry, 
and a generous supporter of the church and its 
interests. 

On .\pril 19. 1848. Mr. I'.nglish was married to 
Harriet I)., daughter of Philemon Holt, and had 
four children. Hiiirv. Charles. Jidia .\dela and 
lulwin Holt, all of whom are deceased with the ex- 
ception of his daughter Julia /\dela. Mrs. English 
was born .Aug. 16. 1817. in E.ast Haven, and was a 
descendant in the seventh general ii>n from William 
Holt, who was born in 1610 and came from I'^ng- 
land, settling in Xew Haven as early as 1644, in 
which year his name appears of record there. He 
removed to Wallingf<ird about 1675. He married, 
])robably in England, and his wife's namo was 
.Sarah. His death occurred in i'«83. Mrs. Eng- 
lish's line of descent froiii this first .\nicrican an- 
cestor is tlirough John. Josejih. Daniel. Dan and 
Philemon 1 lolt. 

(11) John Holt, son of William the emigrant, 



58 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



burn in 1645 iiii Xcw Haven, married, in 1673, 
Elizabeth, daughter rif John and Taljitha Tliomas. 
lie Ic>cated after 1721 in East Haven, and died there 

(IH) Jiisepli Holt, son of Jrjlm, born in 1680, 
in Xew Haxcn, mnrried (first) in 1705 Abig'ail 
daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Cooper) Heming- 
wav. 

(IV) Daniel Holt, son of Joseph, born in 171 1, 
in East Haven, married in 1735 Anna, daughter of 
Samuel and Hannah (Morris) Smith. j\lr. Holt 
was one of the ])rominent men in the town and took 
much interest in public affairs. He died in 175''). 

(A") Dan Holt, son of Daniel, born in 7744. in 
East Ilaven, married in 1765 Anna, daughter of 
Daniel and Abigail (Chedrey) 'Hitchcock. Mr. Holt 
was lieutenant of a company that went to the assist- 
arice of New York during its occupancy l)y the Brit- 
ish, in 1776. He died in 1829. 

(\'I ) Philemon Holt, son of Dan, born in 1773. 
marricxl in 1802 Desire Smith, and moved to Fair 
Haven, Conn. He was a prominent man in East 
Plaven, and held many offices of trust, serving four 
terms in the Legislature. 

Edwin Holt English, son of Charles L. and 
Harriet D. (Holt) English, was born in New Haven 
Sept. 28, 1854, and there died Oct. 6, i8gg. Air. 
English was a man of much character and ability, 
and would have attained a high place had not all his 
life been weighted by the burden of ill-health. Edu- 
cated at French's Private School and the Hopkins 
Cirammar School, he entered Yale College with the 
class of 1875, l>iit liis health failed and he had to 
leave school. He then entered the offices of Calvin 
Callnp & Co., in which firm his father was a part- 
ner. In 1876 he took his fatlier's place in the firm 
of English & Holt, the name being retained until 
the retirement of Mr. Holt, in July, 1897, when it 
became E. H. English & Co. 

C)n Oct. 5. 1882, Edwin H. English was married 
to Miss Lucy W. Kellogg, daughter of Hon. Ste- 
])hen \V. Kellogg, of Waterbury, and spent several 
months following his marriage traveling in Europe 
and the far East. During the last vears of his life 
his health w.'is \ery p(Jor, lung trouble having rle- 
veloped. While fiicing and fighting with pluck and 
determination a fatal disease, he was constantly at 
the head of his extensive business, retaining even iti 
liis last days its management in his own hands. Mr. 
English was a man of much worth, and well liked liv 
all \vhi> knew him. 1 li' left a wife .and se\-en ehil- 
clicn, Ltici.i, his eldcNt child, having died Mav 22, 
i8ij2, at the age of eight years. The seven siu'- 
viving children are Marguerite Griswold, Stephanie 
Kellngg. C'harlcs Leveret, Harriet Holt, Ivlwin 
Ilnlt, Katlurine Atherton and I'rank Kellogg, .Mr. 
I'.nglish belonged to Center Church and the (juin- 
nipiac C'lnb. and \vas a director in llu' Mereb.ants 
Kational I'.ank. C. Cowles t^' Co., and the New 1 la- 
\en Cii'(in\ liistnrical .Societw 



COLLINS. The Collins family, of Meriden, 
are old settlers of New England. Lewis Collins, 
the founder of the family, a native of England, 
came to America in the early settlement of the 
country, locating at Charlestown, Mass., in 1630, 
with his four sons, Nathan, John, Albert and Dex- 
ter. Nathan had two sons, John and Edward. 

John Collins was born in England in 1616, 
came with his parents to New England prior to 
U>4(\ and livetl in Boston and Braintree, Mass. 
His wife's name was Susannah. In 1640 he was 
admitted to the church in Boston, and the same 
year was made a freeman, and he appears to have 
])irn an active and ]5rominent man in the Massa- 
chusetts Colony, belonging to the Honorable Ar- 
tillery Company of Boston. His children were 
John, Susan, Thomas and Elizabeth. 

John Collins, son of John, born about 1640 in 
Boston, was twice married, first, in 1662, to Mary 
Trowbridge, wdio died in 1667, and second, in 1669, 
to the widow Kingsworth. He died at Guilford in 
1704. This John Collins was one of the patentees 
of the town of Guilford, was townsman and school 
teacher as late as 1702, and as early as 1G82 taught 
a grammar scliool there. By his first marriage he 
had children : Alary, John and Robert. 

l\obert Collins, son of John (2), married Lois 
Burnett, and their son, also named Robert, married 
Eunice Foster. 

Edward Collins, son of Robert (2), married 
Susannah Peck, of East Hampton, Aug. 29, 1738. 

Daniel Collins, son of Edward, was born Feb. 
16, 1 74 1, and married Susannah Lyman, May 17,. 
1774. The\' became the parents of six children: 
Mollv, Susannah, Lucy, Aaron, Lyman and Betsey. 
Daniel Collins, known as Capt. Dan Collins, was a 
member of the 2d Company, Capt. Havens, in which 
he was sergeant from Alay 6 to June 10, 1775, dur- 
ing the Revolutionary war, and he re-enlisted in 
1777, resigning the next year. In 1779. at the time 
of the New Haven alarm over Gen. Clinton's move- 
ments, he took part, under Col. Thaddeus Cook,, 
and also, under Capt. Nathaniel Chapman and Capt. 
Jabez Wright, assisted in repelling Ledyard's in- 
vasion. In 1780 he was made captain, under Col. 
A\'illiam W'orthington, and his company, with that 
of C;qit. X'ail, was stationed in Guilford to assist 
in the defense of the coast. In 1818 an Act of Con- 
gress gave Capt. Collins a pension. 

Lvman Collins, son of Lapt. Daniel, was a farm- 
er in Connecticut, and look part in the war of 1812. 
lie married I'llizabeth, daughter of Salmon Carter, 
a cabinetmaker of Wallingford, and three children 
were born to this union: Aaron Lyman, Charles. 
11. and Lucy A. ( wlu) married N. P. Ives). 

Cii.\Ki.i:.s HixsD.MJC Coi.Lixs was Ijorn in Aleri- 
den Jan. 14, 1823, and was reared in that city,, 
which has been his home ever since, with the ex- 
ception of two years which he spent in Hartford, 
gaining experience as a clerk in a yankee notion 
store. Later he liecame a clerk in a grocery store,. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



59 



in ^^cri(IeIl, wliere lie tlioroiiijiily learned the busi- 
ness anil pre|)areil for iiis suecesstul career in ilie 
same line, l-'ir fifteen years he conducted a very 
pros[)ennis hnsincss of tlie kind in .Meriden, pri'ir 
to 1863, and for the ten succeedint;- years engaged 
in the manufacture of woolen goods, returning then 
to the grocery trade. Mr. Collins is now senior 
iiicnilier of the well-known grocerv firm of Collins 
& .Miller. 

In April. i8;j, Mr. Collins was married to 
Sarah C. (kuighter of Ja.mes S. and Millicent A. 
(Clark) Brooks, of Meriden, and one daug-hter. 
Sarah I'.lizabelh, lias been born to this union. .Miss 
Collins is a liig'hly culti'red lady, and a member of 
Susan Carrington Clark Chapter, D. A. R., of Mer- 
iden. The religious conr.ection of the family is 
with the Congregational L'hureh. 

In his jiiiliiical sympathies Mr. Collins is a Re- 
publican. In his early manhood days he was a 
member of the local militia. Through a long and 
honorable business life .Mr. Collins has been identi- 
fied with much of the prosperity of the city, and has 
ever been a pu!)lic-spiritcd and |)rogressive man. 

.A.VKox I.v.M.vx Cor.i.t.vs, brother of Charles II. 
Collins, was born in December, 1820, on the old 
homestead, where he grew to manhood and has al- 
ways resided. For maiiy years he has been associ- 
ated with the Meriden Cutlery Co., and for forty 
years was its president, and also, for a number of 
\'ears, until its consolidation with the International 
Silver Co., was president of the Wilcox Silver Plate 
Co. He married Sylvia, daughter of Rev. Mr. 
White, of Middlefieki, Conn., and his three surviv- 
ing children are Charles Lyman, Edward John and 
Benjamin White. 

.Aaron L. Collins is what may be called a self- 
made man. His father, Lyman Collins, was a 
farmer, an^.l lived on the site of the T. F. Breese 
residence, on East Main street. He owned a large 
tract of land, though, of course, land values were 
insignificant at that time. .Aaron Collins had only 
a common-school education. When in his twen- 
ties, with his brother Charles, he started in the 
grocery business at the "Center." In 1836 he dis- 
solved partnership with his l)r()ther, who is now 
senior partner of the grocery finn of Collins & 
Miller, to enter the employ of the cutlery finn of 
Pratt, Ropef & Webb, whose mill was on the site 
01 the Meriden Cutlery Co.'s plant in South Meri- 
den. 'In 7846 the business was brought from Maine, 
where it was established by David Roper in 1832. 
Julius Pratt and Walter Webb were the other gen- 
tlemen interested. Nine years later, in 1856, Mr. 
Collins entered tlic emjiloy of the company, whicli 
in the same year was incorporafed under the name 
rif the Meriden Cutler\- Co. I'rom then on he made 
rapid i)rogress, until, in 1878, he was elected to fill 
the most responsible position, tint of president. He 
has been the executive head of the conipanv since. 
Mr. Collins is also interested in various other Meri- 
den industries, and for a number of years was ])res- 
id.ent of the Wilcox Silver Plate Co., until the ab- 



siirption c-i that companx- l)y the International Sil- 
ver I'late I'o. Ik- is also a director of the Home 
.Xati.iiial r.:i;!l< and a trustee of the City .Savings 
Bank. He is jirusident of the .Meriden Grain i*v: 
I'eeil Co., of v.-jiieh his son, B. \V. Collins, is the 
manager. 

Brooks I'amii.v. (i) Thomas Brooks was one 
of the lirsi settlors n\ H;idilani, coming to .\merica 
at the age of eighteen, in the "Susan & Ellen," in 
1C135. lie was a son of Richard Brooks, of Lynn, 
and married .Mice, daughter of Jared Spencer. 
Their children were: Sarah, Thomas, Marv and 
Alice. 

(II) Thomas Brooks (21, s<jn of Thomas, was 
married Xov. 16, i6n6. and he and his wife Su- 
sanna had children : Thomas, .Abraham, Jabez and 
jose]ih. 

(ill) Abraham lirooks, son of Thomas (2), 
born .March 12. 1712. marrie<l Xov. 5, 1720. and 
he and his wife .Mai'tha had children: .Susanna, 
.Martha, Lxdia, jernsba. Jonathan. .Abraham and 
Peter. He was ensign of the nth C'ompany, in the 
7th Regiment: was lientenaiit in i~4<>; captain in 
1747: captain again in I755-I7'i''-I7'i7 ; and deputy 
to the .Assembly in 1757-58. 

(1\') Abraham Brooks (2), son of .Abraham, 
born Sept. 16. 1750, married May 4, 1780, .Abigail 
Clark. He served in the Revolutionary war, enlist- 
ing May 8, 1775. and was discharged Dec. 18, 1775, 
as a member of Company (i. .At the call for service 
he left the jjIow in the fielil. bis wife and daughters 
attending to the harvesting. During his service he 
was taken ])risoner and placed on the prison ship 
"Jersey," from which he escapeil by swinnning six 
miles to shore. His children wen-: Laura, Jerusha, 
Lvdia, Reiiecca, .Martli;i, Sanniel, lanies .S. and 
Willard. 

(\') James S. lirooks, son of .Abraham (2), 
was born .March I, JJ()6, and married .Aug. 3I, 
1823, Alillicent .A. Clark, and their children were: 
James, Laura, Sarah C. Samuel, J-lliza. Colin, 
Catherine, William, Mary and one whose name is 
not given. 

CHARLES EMMETT GRAVES, a prominent 
lawyer of New Plaven, comes of one of the historic 
families of the Colonial ]Kriod of Xcw England, 
Born Dec. 10, 1830, at Ira, \'t., Mr. Graves is a 
son of George and l.ucretia .Adeline (Collins) 
Graves, and a lineal descentlant in the eighth gen- 
eration from Thomas (iravcs. wdio with his wife and 
five children came to Xew England and Hartford 
as early as 1645, in which year he is of record in 
Hartford. Coim.. which was then his [ilace of resi- 
dence. The family were intclli.gent members of 
society and were prominent in religious and public 
affairs. Thomas Graves died in t(')62, in Hatfield, 
Mass., whither he had removed in \(^6j. 

From this 'i'bomas (iraves our subiect's line is 
through John, John (2), John (3), Xathan, Daniel 
aiul ( icoree ( lra\'es. 

Joh.n Graves, son of Thomas, the settler, born in 



6o 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



I'ln.E^land, took up liis residence in \\'ethersfield, 
C'inin., where he was niaile a freeman in l()f)4. \{\< 
lirst marriage was tu Mary, daughter of Lieut. Sam- 
uel Smith, of that town, and in 1661 he removed to 
Hadley, J\Iass. ]o\m Graves was a man of probity 
and education, and was employed to run the bound- 
ary line between Wethersfiekl and what is now 
jMiddletown. in 1^155. and a.gain in 1659. In the at- 
tack upon Hatfield, Alass., by the Indians, Sept. 19, 
1677, he was killed at the same time with his 
brother, Sers^eant Isaac Graves. 

John Graves ( _' ) . son of John, born in Wethers- 
fulil about i'>5,v married Feb. 12, I'lJ/, Sarah 
White, who wa^ born in 1661, a daughter of John 
White, Jr., and his wife Sarah (Bunce). Mr. 
( iraves resided in Hatfield, Mass., and died Dec. 
-. 1730, and his wife passed away in 1741. 

John (Graves (3), son of John (2), born March 
z'ii, ifxSi, married May 5, 17.15, Jemima Graves, 
born about i'";3. Mr. Graves died in August, 1716. 

iVathan (Iraves, son of John (3), born March 
20, 1716, married Leonard Scott, born in 1726, 
dau.ghter of Joseph and Lydia (Leonard) Scott, 
and lived on Chestnut Mountain, in what is now 
Whately, Alass., where all of his children were 
born. Himself and sons were famous UTarksmen 
and hunters. Nathan died April 2, 1786, and his 
wife passed away June 7, 1784. Nathan Graves 
was a soldier in Lieut. Hilling's company in the 
French and Indian war. 

Daniel Graves, son of Nathan, born Sept. 26, 
1769, married Sept. 20. i7i;2, Lois Rice, born July 
12, 1768, daughter of Adam and Lois Rice, of Ira, 
\'t. They removed to Ira, \ t. where Mr. Graves 
was a prominent man, was captain in the militia, 
postmaster, member of the Legislature, etc. He 
died ( >ct. II , 1833. and his wife passed awa\- Jan. 
12, 1849, at Louisville, New York. 

Georg_e Graves, son of Daniel, burn Sept. 26, 
1803. at ira, \'t.. married, Dec. 17. i82(), Lucretia 
Adaline Collins, born Sept. 7, 1806, daughter of 
Deacon Joseph and Arabella (ISromlev) Collins, of 
Ira, \'t. George reinoved to Rutland, \'t., where 
he was prominent in business, a man of great en- 
ergy and one who held pronounced anti-slaverv 
views. Mis business coimections were large, and he 
W'as well known. 

Charles Emmett (iraves, son of George and the 
subject of this sketch, was prepared fur college by 
Rev. Dr. Hicks, in Rutland. \'t., and was graduated 
from Trinity Cullege, at Hartford. Conn., in 1850. 
Following bis L;r;iduati(in he tnok u]i the practice 
of law in Rntland. .'iiid <luring the Ci\-il w.'ir was 
made chief clerk ui the Ordnance Dep;irtment of 
the Navy, in Washington. Then he returned to 
Rutland and resumed jjractice, remaining there un- 
til i8()7, at which time he removed to New Haven 
where he w;is made secretar\' and treasurer uf the 
American (.'bemical (^'o., and in 18S0 was made 
treasurer <<{ Trinit\ C'dUege. ;i very res|)nnsible ])o- 
sition. .\t times .Mr. (Irave^ li.as b.en verv active 



ui nuuncipal afl'airs, for nine years was president of 
the l:)oard of education, being re-elected three times 
for a period of three years each time ; served on the 
lioard of aldermen; for two terms he served as 
councilman, and he was a recognized leader. It 
was through his efforts that the Normal school was 
brou,ght to New Haven, b'or many years he was 
liresident of the Young Men's Institute, and his 
enthusiastic work as its chief executive infused new 
life, and he materially aided in estaJblishing it in 
its present location on Chapel street. As a leading 
member of Trinity Church and its senior warden, 
he has been a promoter of all benevolent and 
charitable enterprises. I-'or years he has been 
a delegate from that church to the conventions of 
the diocese, and has been sent bj- the diocese as 
delegate to the Triennial General Conventions. 

In 1858 Mr. Graves was married, in Cambridge, 
Mass., to Sarah L. Buttrick, a daughter of Eph- 
raim and Mary Buttrick, the former of whom was 
a leadin.g member of the Massachusetts Bar. The 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Graves were: Ed- 
ward Buttrick, born Jan. 22, 1859, was grj' luaLed 
from Yale College in 1881, Yale Law School in 
1884, and is now a resident of St. Paul, Minn. ; 
George Heber, born March 25, 1861, was graduated 
from Yale in 1882, took a course in Shefifield Scien- 
tific School, married Mary C. Goodsell, and is now 
a resident of Bridgeport, Conn., where he is super- 
intendent and chemist for the General Chemical 
Co.; Walter Greenwood, born May 19, 1865, was 
graduated from Yale in 1886 and is a resident of 
Clevelan<l, Ohio; Charles Herbert, bom June 21, 
1867, died May 25. 1868; Arthur Collins, born 
Au,g. 2, iSCk), at New Haven, Conn., was graduated 
from Trinity College in Hartford, in 1891. studieil 
law at the Yale Law School in the office of AUin.g, 
W^ebb & Morehouse, of New Haven, and was ad- 
mitted to the Bar in that city in June. 1893; and 
Richard Stayner, born March 18, 1872, in New Ha- 
ven, Conn., was graduated from Trinity Colle,ge in 
1894, was graduated from Yale Medical school in 
New Haven, in 1896, and now practices his pro- 
fession in Brooklyn. New York. 

JAMES GRAHAM. The name of Graham is 
so indissolubly associated with the tales of Scottish 
strug'gles and triumphs, so intimately with some of 
the .grandest and most dramatic pa,ges in the history 
of that noble race, that merel\' to mention the pat- 
ron vniic is to suggest either .Scottish birth or Scot- 
tish ancestr\-. Hon. James Graham, of West Ha- 
ven, came of this' distinguished family. His grand- 
father, John (iraham, and also his jiaternal grand- 
mother, were natix'es of the "hand o'cakes." John 
(Iraham was a plan'tcr. and also a soldier in the 
I'.ritish army, carrying Her Majesty's connnission. 
His son, also named John, and the father of Hon. 
James Gr.iham, was likewise a Scotchman by birth, 
although a loxal American by adoption. He was 
educated in hi> native country, and after spending 




^J^^f^^-r-nAd >^;? 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



6i 



som-e years in r)nl)lin cniiijrated to tlic I'nilcd 
Slates, settling in .\ll)an_\-. X. \'., where lie died he- 
fore the hirth of onr subject. i-"or many years he 
was a jjrosperous and successful nierehaut. llis 
wife. Mary Ann I"air. was a daughter of Sir John 
Fair. She entered into rest in her sixty-third year. 
Tc jolni and Mary Ann ( h'air ) (Irahain were horn 
five children, the last survivor of whoni was the dis- 
tinguished gentleman whose name appears at the 
o])eniiig of this minnoir. lloth jiarents were mem- 
bers of the Methixlist l-lpiscoiial (.'hurch. 

Tames (iraham was horn in .\lhaiiy Jan. j^, 1S31. 
He attended the common schools in hoyhood, receiv- 
ing a good English education and at tlie age o{ sev- 
enteen entered ujjoii his apprenticeship as a brass 
founder, ra])idly mastering the trade in all its 
branches and becoming S(_) exjiert in his chosen ])nr- 
.suit that on attaining his majority (185J). he was 
offered the position cif foreman in the liranford 
Lock Works (Squires & Parsons. pro])rietors), at 
Dranford, Conn. The firm emijloyed a large num- 
ber of workmen and. while the position was one of 
great responsibility for so young a man, so credita- 
bly did lie discharge its duties that he filled the post 
for nearly ten years. At the end of that periocl. in 
1861. through industry and thrift, he found him- 
self in a position to o]X'n a foimdry of his own in 
New Haven. For thirty-nine years he was engaged 
in the same line of business in that city and enjoyed 
the distinction of being the oldest as well as one of 
the most successful manufacturers in New Haven. 
The foundry of Messrs. James Graham & Co., lo- 
cated at Xo. 293 W'ooster street, was a large, sub- 
stantial structure of brick, three stories in height, 
and was erected in 1874. The offices of the firm 
were formerly at Xo. 29J. directly across the street, 
but later were removed to the foundry building. A 
large lumiber of hands were emplo_\'ed, and the out- 
put of the works embraced brass castings of all de- 
scriptions. Tn 1868 Mr. (^iraham built the beautiful 
homo now occupied liy his son. 

Mr. draham's keen sense and sound judgment, 
no less than his nnassailalile prol)ity and genial, 
generous temperament, made him one of West Ha- 
ven's most esteemed and po[)nlar citizens. In all 
])nblic affairs, religions, commercial and political, 
he took a cons|ncuous and inllnential part. He and 
his family were earnest, consistent members of the 
Congregational Church, to wdiich he was a liberal 
contributor. .Kmung the various imijortant mer- 
cantile enter])rises with which he was ]5romineutly 
identified as director, or officer, or both, may be 
named the following: The F.oston I'.uck I'.oard & 
Carriage Co.. of which he was a director and vice- 
pi esident; the Evening Leader Publishing Co.. in 
which he filled the ])residein's cliair: the West Fla- 
ven W'atcr Co.; and the Winchester .\vemie Elec- 
tric Street Railway C<i. He was also a director in 
an extensive mining comi)any wliicli is developing 
property in the Alaska gold fields. Socially he was 
a director of the Samosett Club, and belonged to the 



Cnion Leagiie Chib and the ^'onng Men"s I';i,-])ul)li- 
can Club of Ww Haven. In politics he was a Re- 
publican, .-ictive -AU'l :inluenti;il in the councils of his 
[)arty. was oiu- .if ilu- incorpor;itors of the l\i']iul)li- 
can League, and at one time was its ])resi(Ient. llis 
first vote was ea^t i..r John C. I'Vemont for Pres- 
iiknt, in 1851,. Mr. ( ,raham was a delegate to State 
ci>nventions f n .m iS.,i until his death, and in u^c/i 
was the delegate to Uu- .\ational Convention at St. 
Loni- which nominated iIk- late President McKiii- 
k\ . That year he wa- nUo on the Connecticut Pres- 
idential J''lectoral ticket and was selected to carry 
the vote of the Stale to the h^leetoral (/ollege at 
Washington. lli> feli..w citizens of his town and 
district (which comjirises nine towns in .\ew Ha- 
ven county) honored Ix.th him and themselves bv 
ekcting him to various ofi'ices of weighty trust and 
grave responsibility, in all of which lie clisplayed 
rare acumen and scrupulous fidelity. For two terms 
— during the 'seventies— he held' tlie office of se- 
lectman for the town of Orange, and for nine years 
was assessor, warden and burgess of West Haven. 
In 1878 he was chosen a member of the Lower 
House of the Legislature and was re-elected in 
1885 and again in 1886. In 1887 he was made 
State Senator and again in i88(). To the discharge 
of his public duties he brought the same sound, dis- 
passionate judgment and the same unwavering in- 
tegrity with which he li;id met every other obligation 
of life. While serving in the House he was thrice 
made chairman of the committee on Railroads and 
during two sessions filled the same important posi- 
tion in the Senate. It was at this time that the 
memorable "parallel fight" absorbeil the committee's 
attention. He also held the chairmanship of the 
committees on Militarv Aft'airs. on iMsheries and 
on License. His death, which occurred March 19, 
1000, removed one of the invalu;ible public men of 
the State. 

'Mr. Graham was twice married. His first wife, 
Miss i\Iaria I'oote. of P>rauford. to whom he was 
iniited in 1856, died in i8()3. Two sons were born 
to them, of wdiom one died in infancy. The otlicr,, 
Charles E., is mentioned below. In 1899 Mr. Gra- 
ham married Aliss h^stella M. Wagner, of Litchfield. 

CiiAiu.KS E. Gi^AiiAM became associated with 
his father in the brass works in 1877 and for the 
last ten years has had charge of the business. He 
was connected with his father in the hitter's various 
enter])rises. He has become one of the ])romineiit 
men of the town, and in i8<^7 was sent to lite State 
Legislature by the Reiniblicans of his district. He 
i*- a thirty-second degree .Mason and a member of 
the I'nion League Club, of .\ew 1 la\en. .Mr. Gra- 
ham married Miss liattie .\. .Mar>li. and they have 
one daughter. Marguerite. 

HOX. Al'dRAM Cll AMl'd-RLAIX. State 
com]>troller and banker of .Merideii. where for up- 
wards of a third of ;i centiir\ he has been identified 
with the Home Xational Rank, and for tweiitv 



62 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



years its executive head, is one of Meriden's lead- 
ing financiers and snlisiantial citizens. 

Mr. Cltaniljerlain was l)orn Dec. 7, 1837, at 
Coleljrook l\i\er, dmn.. a stjn of Abiram and 
Soplirunia (liiirt) Chanilierlain. and comes from 
sturdy Xew England stock on both sides. On his 
father's side he is descended from Jacob Chamber- 
lain, Ijorn in Xewton (now Cambridge), Mass., in 
1673, previous to which nothing definite of the 
familv is known. I'rom this ancestor i\Ir. Cham- 
berlain's lineage is thmugh Col. Jason, Samuel, 
Sanuu-1 Clark and A-hiram Chamberlain. 

(Ill C<jl. Jasiin Chamlierlain, son of Jacob, 
born in 1701, in Xewton, Mass.. married Hannah 
Clark, and settled in llolliston, Mass. He was a 
man of ability and took an active part in i)ul)lic 
affairs. He representeil Holliston in the conven- 
tion that adojited the Federal Constitution: was 
often sent to the (jeneral Court. His interest in 
politics was always keen, and he acted with parties 
opposed to the constitution and administration of' 
John Adams. 

( HI ) .Samuel Cliamberlain, son of Col. Jason, 
was born in Holliston, July 18, 1732. In the dark- 
est period of llie l\evolinion Mr. Chamberlain en- 
listed from Sandistield, iMass., in Col. Ashley's 
regiment, the muster reliums being dated Jan. _'5, 
1778. at \'ailey I'^orge. 

( I\') Samuel Clark Chamberlain, son of Sam- 
uel, born ]\Iay 23, 1765, in Holliston, married (sec- 



ond) Hannah Conklin, born C)ct. 30, i; 



^Ir. 
Chamberlain died Xov. 30, 1835, in Colebrook, 
Conn., and Mrs. Chaml)erlain passed away ]\lav 2, 
1846. 

(V) Abiram Chamberlain, son of Samuel Clark, 
born Oct; 2, 1771). married. May 6, 1829, at Sandis- 
field, Mass., So'phronia Burt, born Jan. 9, 1805, in 
Tolland, Mass., a daughter of Caleb and Anne 
(Murray) Curt. Mr. Chamberlain some years 
after his marriage removed to Connecticut, and 
from Colebrook River, Litchfijld county, that State, 
in 1856 to Xew Britain, where he passed the rest 
of his life. He was a civil engineer of repute, and 
for a number of years surveyor for the borough 
of New Britain. The jMxliminary surveys and 
work for supplying the town with water from 
Shuttle ^leadow were ntade by him, and the work 
was under his efficient supervision for a number 
of vears. Mr. Chamlierlain died Oct. 14, 1876, 
at which time the Xew Britain Record said of him : 
''As a civil engineer he was accurate and careful. 
This city has occasion to remember the great serv- 
ices which he so unostentatiously and faithfully 
rendered, for years to come. As a juiblic officer 
he was courteous and miremitting in his conscien- 
tious efforts to friitbf\dly discharge the duties en- 
trusted to liini. Ill lualth compelled him to resign 
liis duties as surveyor and water commissioner 
some vears since, and .since that time continued ill 
healtii has kept him from engaging in active duties. 
Deacon Chamberlain is mourned by his neighbors, 
townsmen .and t'hnrch l)rethren, who knew him 



as a kindly man, an upright citizen, and an earnest 
and sincere Christian." Mrs. Chamberlain died 
Oct. 4, 1889, aged eighty-four years. She was a 
member of Center Church, New Britain. She was 
strong and healthy and possessed of a vigorous 
constitution, up to four or five months before her 
death. She was one of ten children, all of whom 
lived to advanced years, she being the last to pass 
awa\-. 

The children of Abiram and Sophronia Cham- 
berlain were: (i) Eliza R., born June 22, 1831, 
died March 13, 1835. (2) \"alentine B., born April 
13- '8v?3. i» Colebrook River, Conn., mar- 
ried Xov. 17, 1877, Anna Smith. He was pre- 
pared for college at the Connecticut Literary In- 
stitute, Suffield, and was graduated from Williams 
College in 1857. He studied law with S. E. Case, 
of New Britain, and was admitted to the Bar in 
1859. He served as clerk of the House of Rep- 
resentatives in 1861, and throughout the Civil war 
was a gallant soldier and officer in the 7th Conn. 
V'. I., as lieutenant and captain. He was selected 
to command the picked battalion of the 7th regi- 
ment wdiich made the assaidt at I'^ort Wagner, in 
1863, and was one of the handful of men that 
scaled the Rebel parajjet and was captured within 
the fort, and from then until March, 1865, was 
confined in Soivthern prisons. For several vears 
after the v.ar Capt. Chamberlain was engaged in 
business in the South. He then again took up his 
residence ni Xew Britain. Conn., and was soon 
elected judge of the City Courts, and continunllv 
re-elected until his death. He was elected, in 1880, 
judge of probate for the Xew Britain district: he 
was elected State Treasurer in- 1884, and fir a 
period served as assistant pension agent. Capt. 
Chamberlain was long one of New Britain's ].ul)- 
lic spirite<l and leading citizens, and at the time 
of his death was a director in several of the citv's 
leading corporations, and also president of the ^Fe- 
chanical National Bank. As a Memorial d.:tv 
speaker he was unrivaled in the State. Cajit. 
Chamberlain died June 25, 1893. (3) John A., 
bom Feb. 21, 1837. (4) Abiram, born Dec. 7, 
1837, is referred to farther on. (5) Eliza A., born 
Jan. 15. 1840, died Nov. 17, 1841. (6) Cornelia 
.\., liorn Sept. 20, 1842, married Dec. 13, 1866, 
Charles Elliott Mitchell, a lawyer of New Britain, 
who has since forged his way to the frotit and 
occu])ied high and lionorable positions in his town. 
State and nation. He was appointed, in 1889, by 
President Harrison, United States Commissioner of 
Patents. 

Abiram Chamberlain, whose name introduces 
this sketch, and the son of .\liiram and So]ihronia 
(Burl) Chamberlain, was born Dec. 7, 1837, at 
Colebrook River, Conn. After his 'school days were 
over and his father's family liecame settled in New 
]!ritain, he found emi)loyment in that city, and for 
vears was connected with the Xew' Britain Na- 
tional liank as teller, a position he resigned to ac- 
cept th:it of cashier of the ilome .Vational Bank, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



05 



at Meriden, Conn., sncceciling Saiiuicl Dodil. Upon 
the deatli of J-lli Bntlcr, in 1881. .Mr. lliamber- 
lain wa.s elected to the presidency ni" ilie li.uik, a 
position he lias since tilled with signal aliilitv and 
efiticiency. Since his identity with the liark Mr. 
Chamberlain has seen the cajiital increa>ed. to 
$600,000, its present aniotnit, and a siir])his of 
8150,000. Mr. Chamberlain has also Ikch for 
years identitied with other financial in.Ntiimii.'ns of 
Meriden, notably the Meriden Savini^s I'.ank. of 
which in the early 'nineties he was vice-pre-ident, 
anil he is a man of larL;'e fniancial experience. 

Mr. Chamberlain, too, li;!s l)een id.entitii'd with 
various eiuerprisjs that lu've been th^ means ( i" de- 
\eloping the city and town <>{ .Meriden. lie was 
one of the promot.'rs aiul a director in tlic Meriden 
anil Waterbury Railroad Co., was treasurer nf the 
Bt'tler & I.yman Land Co.. a jjroinnur of the 
Meridei"! Land & Investment Co.. was treasurer of 
the Meriden I'ire Insurance C^... which lu-^an busi- 
ness in 1872, also a director and late iiroideiit of 
tb.e company. Jle was one of the promoters and a 
director in the W'inthrop Hotel Co. Hack in his 
earlier life in Meriden he served from 1S71 to 1874 
as city auditor. His political affiliations have been 
with the i'Jeiniblican party, lie has re]M-esented his 
town twice in the Cencral .\ssembly. and he was 
made the nominee of his party for State Comp- 
troller at the Repuldican Convention held at Xew 
Haven Sept. 5 and 6, iqoo, and was elected to that 
office in November, following;'. .Mr. t'hamberlain 
is a genial and courteous cfentleman and officer. 

On Xov. 21, 1872, .Mr. Chamberkun was mar- 
ried to i\[iss Charlotte L. Roberts, and to them 
have come children as follows: .Mbert Roberts 
and Harold Ihirt. Of these, Albert Ri>I>erts was 
born in Meriden in 1876, and acquired his prelim- 
inary education in the t^Tammar and high schools 
of Meriden. after which (181)7) he was graduated 
from Shefficlfl Scientific School at Yale. After 
reading law in the office of Hon. George A. Fay, he 
took a two-years' course at Yale Law School, and 
was admitted to the Bar in 1901. He has been 
active in puiblic affairs and represented the Third 
ward in the city council for two terms. In March, 
i<)02. he was ajjpointcd by Judge Frank S. Fay to 
be clerk of the city court, and is now efficiently 
serving in that position. 

On his mother's side. Comptroller Chamberlain 
is a descendant in the eigbtli generation from 
Henry and Fulalia Burt, of Roxbury, Mass., and 
in 1638 of Springfield, his line 'being through Jon- 
athan (and Flizabeth Lobdel), Henry (2) (ami 
Flizabeth W'arriner), James (and Mercy Se.xton), 
-Asa (and Ruth Hubbard). Caleb (and Anne .Mm-- 
ray ) and Sophronia (and .-Xbiram Chamberlain). 
His maternal ancestors were residents of Sjiring- 
field, Sandisfield and Tolland, Mass. 

BCCKIXGII.\M. The Bnckinghams of Wa- 
terbury and Watertown have been leading citizens 
and business men of their respective comnumities 



from liu' eiirly settlement of those towns. The 
laie Ib,n, jnhn Buckinj^ham and son .Scovill M. 
Bi'.v:vn:gliani. nf Waterlnirv, were ]irominentlv iden- 
titied with the development (jf the industries of that 
gr< at maniii'.-icturing point. 

1 be aiice>ti>i-s of these men were pioneers of 
Connecticut. Capt. John Buckingham, of Water- 
bury, was in the seventh generation from Thomas 
Buckingham, the Puritan settler, and ancestor of 
all .\merican Bnckinghams. Thomas Buckingham 
was one of the company to which Faton and Hop- 
kins, two Londcin merchants, and the two ministers 
— DavenjOTrt and J'rudden — belonged. They 
reached I'.oslon in June, i'>37, and Xew Haven in 
1638. 1 honias Buckingham removed to Xew Mil- 
ford in the anttnnn of i''39. llo was of the com- 
pany, (if which Rev. IVter I'rndden was the pas- 
tor, wh.. !ir>t settled the town. 

The line ol Ca])t, John lUickingham's descent 
was thmu-h Sanmel. Samuel (2), Thomas (2), 
Thoma.- 13), and b)a\id. 

(II) ."^anniel Buckingham, son of Thomas 
Buckingham, baptized in 1(140 or i()4i at Milford, 
Conn., married' in 1663 Sarah Baldwin, daugiiter 
of Timoihx- I'.aldwin, one of the first settlers of 
Milford. 

(III) .Samuel Buckingham (2), son of Samuel 
Buckingham, burn Xov. i, 1668, married Sarah 
(surname not given). He was a proprietor in the 
town of Xmv .Milford. Conn., although he never 
moved there , 

(IV) Thomas Buckingham (2), son of Sam- 
uel Buckingham: (2), Ixirn in i(y-y), married in 
1724, Mary I',. WoodrnfT. 

( \') Thomas Buckingham (3). son of Thomas 
Buckingham (2 ). born in 1727, married about 1750, 
Sarah Treat, of ?ililford. He removed to Water- 
town, Conn., in 1772. 

(VI) David Buckingham, son of Thomas 
Buckingham (3), born in 1760, married in 1785, 
Chloe Alerrill. i le died in 1832, and she passed 
away in 1841. Their children were: John, Sarah, 
Qiloe, David and (jeorge. 

(VTI) Cai't. John Euckixgh.vm, son of Da- 
vid Buckingham, married Sept. 10, 1809, Betsev 
Scovill, daughter of James Scovill, a kuly of most 
amiable disposition and manners, and well qualified 
to adorn the large homestead over which she was 
destined to become the mistress, her husband hav- 
ing inherited the ancestral farm of his grandfather 
Merrill in W'atertown. John Buckingham soon Ix^- 
canie a leading farmer, and for the best part of his 
life devoted himself to the tillage and improvement 
of his thrifty domain, making it one of the most 
attractive in the place. In early life he had quite a 
fondness for military distinction, became a captain 
of State troops, and dm-ing the war of 1812-1814, 
he commanded a com|)any of volunteers to assist in 
the defense of New London and its harbor, then 
menaced by the British fleet, mider Holcomb of the 
74-gunship "Ramillies." .After the close of the 
war he received a commission as colonel in the 



64 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



State militia wliicli, liowcver, lie soon resigned. 
He remo\-eil U> W'aterlmry in 1S51, and l:)ecame 
more immediately identified with the interests of 
the place, althoutjh his business interests for several 
years had been locateil in W 'aierbur\'. Longer ago 
than twenty-five years piinr to hib death he was en- 
gaged in niainifacturing in W'aierbury in conno"- 
tion with his bri itlu-i-in-law. j. Al. L. and William 
il. ScDvill, under ilu- lirm "i Scuvill & Bucking- 
ham, and when, in 1850, it was merged into the 
ScoviU Manufacturing Cik, L'apt. Uuckingham; still 
retained his interest as a st(.)ckholder in the new 
concern, but a few years prior to his death, in cun- 
secjuence of gruwing infirmities of age he withdrew 
from active Inisine^^ piu'suits. 

Capt. I'lUckingham possessed onl\' a comnmn 
school educatinn. but he cultivated and improved 
his mind by exliiisive reading and intercourse with 
mpn which amply qualified him to take part in 
town, legislative and educational affairs. He had a 
taste for general literature and knew how to ajipre- 
ciate the genius of Shake?])eare, and other literary 
authors of eminence. A man (if sound practical 
\iews and of strict integrity, he was often called 
npdu bv his fellow citizens to fill responsible jiosi- 
tions in the administration of public aiifairs, the du- 
ties of wdiich he discharged with fidelity, and with 
an eye single to the public weal. He had re]ire- 
sented both Watertown and W'alerliury in the ( ien- 
eral Assembly, and in i.S_^8 was a member of the 
State Senate from the .Sixteenth district. 

Capt. Buckin.gham died .Ma\ 3, 1867. He was 
buried with .Masonic honors, having been in his 
life time verv much attached to that fraternity. He 
was identified with the E])iscopal church. 

HoiX'. Sco\'iLL MicRRii-r. r.rcKiNGH.x^r. son of 
(_apt. John and I!etse\' ( Scovill ) Buckingham, was 
born Aug. 11, 1811, in Watertown, Conn. Young 
Buckingham received only ;i connnon school educa- 
tion. He was ])repared for a mercantile business 
in a public school in I'armingtun, Conn., along with 
his boyhood friend afterward the Hon. John P. 
Elton. Returning from school he entered the store 
of his uncles, J. M. L. and \\'illiam 11. .Scovill, in 
the spring of 1827. lie remained in the store for 
a number of years, then \\;is transferred to Scovill's 
liutton factory to snperinttnd the same. In 1839 or 
1840 a co-partnership was formed and called Sco- 
vill K- Co., with a capital of $20,000, and Mr. Buck- 
ingham was assricialed with his uncles, and his 
brother-in-law, .\braham Ives. He continued ])ros- 
])erously in that concern mitil the formation of the 
Sco\'ill Manufacturing Co., in 1850, with a capital 
(d' .S25(),(H«i, when the original company and a but- 
ton compan\ in which his father was largely inter- 
e>ted were merged into the new concern. After the 
death <if his imcles. J. .\l. L. and William H. Sco- 
vill, -Mr. I'lUckdnghani was made president of the 
compan\-. This position he held until succeeded bv 
.'^aimiel W. Hall. Mr. I'.nckingh.im was alwaxs in- 
terestrd in the ]iro>]ierilv of W;Uerlnu"\'. and was 
largeh' en":n:e 1 in the formation of se\eral manu- 



facturing companies from 1848 to i860, and was 
]iresident of many of ihem. He was one of the 
larly directors of the Waterbury National Bank. 
lie was ])resident of the Plymouth (iranite Com- 
pany. Mr. Buckingham took great priile in liuild- 
mg houses. The Idock of residences on Willow- 
street known as the Buckingham block, the first 
of the kind in Waterliury, was bis idea. The con- 
stant improvement in real estate throughout the 
city gave evidence of his interest in public matters. 
He was a liheral contributor to the Naugatuck 
railroad and to the Hartford and iMshkill (now 
the New England) railroad, whereby Waterbury 
was given increased facilities to New York and 
Boston. Mr. ijuckingham was instrumental in 
forming the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine 
Co., in which he always held an interest. He was 
connected with many other enterprises. The poor 
and oppressed always found in him a kind friend. 
In his early manhood he developed an interest in 
religious matters, and for over fifty years he was an 
active officer in the Church. He succeeded in 1854 
his uncle, William H. Scovill, as senior warden in 
St. John's Episcopal Church. He gavt liberally 
toward the building of the present church edifice, 
and also of Trinity College and other church 
institutions about the country. At one time he 
represented the Whig party in the State Legislature. 

■'Mr. lUickingham was an active young man, 
full of animal spirits, very fond of a good horse 
and a good gun, as was his father before him. 
^'ears and cares sobered his spirits, and he lie- 
came the ,grave, sedate, scrupulously neat and re- 
fined person familiar to the elder ones of the present 
generation." 

On May 18, 1835, Mr. Buckingham was married 
to Charlotte A., daughter of .\aron I'.enedict; she 
died Jan. (>, 1887. ^ 'ne child, John .\., was born 
to the marriage. .Scovill Merrill lUickingham died 
April 7, i88(K 

Joiix A. l')r('Ki.\'oiiA>r, only child of .Scovill 
aL and Ldrirlotte .\. ( Benedict) Jjuckingham, born 
.\pril I. i83(), married, in 1870, .Anna McClean, 
I laughter of .Samuel McClean, of New York, and 
granddaughter of the late Hon. Charles Chapman, 
of Hartford. 

]NC,ERSr)LL. The ancestors of the New Ha- 
ven family bearing this name, and their posterity 
ii: turn, have dwelt in New England for two hun- 
dred and fifty or more years, and for one hundred 
and fifty years in New Haven, wdierc they have fig- 
lu-ed conspicuously in public aft'airs. Colonial, State 
and National. There they have been a family of 
lawvers. men id' great eminence in the ]n-ofession. 
Such characters as Hon. Jared, Jud,ge Jonathan, 
Hon, Ral])!! I., Judge Charles .\.. Gov. Charles R. 
aTid lion. Colin M. and his son, Ceorgc P. Tnger- 
soll. ha\e rellected great honor upon the profession, 
the State, the Nation and the name, and constitute 
within themselves a family galaxy of distinguished 
lawyi'i's and ])ublic men. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



65 



Hon. Colin M. and Jlon. Charles R. IngcrsoU, 
brothers, still members of the Bar of Xew Haven, 
though advanced in life, are in the sixth generation 
from John Ingersoll, who was at Hartford in 1653 
or earlier, then at Xorlhampton and Westfield, 
Mass., respectively, dying in 1684. His third wife 
was Mary Hunt, a granddaughter of r,ov. Web- 
ster. From this John Ingersoll Colin M, and 
Charles R. Ingersoll trace their line of descent 
through Jonathan, Rev. Jonathan, Judge Jonathan 
and Ralph I. Ingersoll. 

(II) Jonathan ingersoll, son of John, of Hart- 
ford, born in 168 r. in 1712 married Widow Sarah 
Miles, who died in 1748, aged si,\ty-two years. In 
1^)98 Mr. Ingersoll was a resident of Milford, Con- 
necticut. 

(HI) Rev. Jonathan luigersoU. son of Jonathan, 
born about 1713 in Stratford, Coini., married in 
1740 Dorcas, daughter of Rev. Joseph Moss, of 
Derby. Mr. Ingersoll was graduated from Vale 
College in 1736 and entereil the ministry, being li- 
censed Feb. 15, 1738, by the Presbytery at FJiza- 
bethtown, N. J. He lived for a time in New^ark, X. 
J. On Aug. 8, 1739, he was installed pastor of the 
Ridgefield (Conn.) Congregational Church, suc- 
ceeding Rev. Thomas Hawley, who died in 1738, 
and becoming the society's second pastor. He was 
a man of fine mind and good heart and served the 
church with great faithfulness until his death, 
which occurred Oct. 2, 1778, when he was in the 
sixty-fifth year of his age and the fortieth of his 
ministry. In 1758 he joined the Colonial troops as 
chaplain, on Lake Champlain, and is said to have 
exerted an excellent intluence on the army and to 
have been highly respected by the soldiers. 

(HI) Hon. Jared Ingersoll, son of Jonathan 
and brother of Rev. Jonathan, born in 1722, in Mil- 
ford, Conn., married (first) in 1743 Hannah Whit- 
ing, who died in 1779; and (second) in 1780 he 
married Hannah Ailing. In 1742 he was graduated 
from Yale College, and soon afterward settled in the 
practice of law in Xew Haven. In 1757 he went to 
(ireat Britain as agent of the Colony, receiving a 
special appointment from the General Assembly ; 
he went again in 1764, and during this last visit 
was appointed to the office of stamp master, and as 
such was famous. In 1770 he was appointed by the 
Crown judge of the vice-admiralty court in the 
middle district of the Colony and went to I'liila- 
delphia to reside. The office was abolished at the 
beginning of the Revolutionary war, when he re- 
turned to New Haven to live and there his death 
occurred in 1781. Judge Ingersoll was one of the 
ablest lawyers of his time, was remarkably elo(|uent, 
and as a lawy-er made the cause of his client clear 
to the jury by his power of explicit statement and 
his logical method of reasoning. His manner was 
open, frank and engaging and he was verv success- 
ful. 

(I\') Judge Jonathan Ingersoll, son of Rev. 
Jonathan, born in 1747, in Ridgefield, Conn., mar- 



ried Grace, daughter of Ralph Isaacs, of Branford. 
He was graduated from Yale College in 1766, be- 
coming a lawyer and locating for practice at Xew 
Haven, where for many years he pursued his pro- 
fession with great industry, fidelity and success. 
Before he had reached middle life, by the unso- 
licited suffrages of his fellow citizens, he entered 
public life and became one of the purest states- 
men Connecticut has ever had. For years he was 
a member of the General Assembly and was once 
elected to the Congress of the United States, but de- 
clined to accept the honor. From 1798 to 1801 he 
was on the B>ench of the Su])erior Court and in 181 1 
he succeeded (iov. .Smith as Judge of the Supreme 
Court of horrors, serving as such until 1816. Soon 
afterward he re-entered the field of political life and 
lie was one of those who did most to secure the 
final overthrow of the Federalists. The Toleration 
])arty, led by Judge Ingersoll and Oliver Wolcott, 
carried the State in 1818 and they were elected lieu- 
tenant-governor and governor, respectively. It had 
been a long struggle of the pco])le against the Legis- 
lature and the people had triumphed. Judge Inger- 
soll held the office until after the adoption of the 
present Constitution. He died in Xew Haven Jan. 
12, 1823. 

(V) Hon. Charles Anthony Ingersoll, son of 
Judge Jonathan, was born Oct. 19, 1798, in New 
Haven, studied law under the direction of his elder 
brother, Hon. Ral]>h I., and attained eminence at 
the Bar, serving as State's attorney from 1849 ^^ 
1853. In the latter year he was appointed by Pres- 
ident Pierce Judge of the I'nited States District 
Court of Coimecticut, and continued in such posi- 
tion until his death, Jan. 12, i860. 

(V) Hon. Ralph Isaacs Ingersoll, son of Judge 
Jonathan, and the father of Hon. Colin M. and 
Hon. Charles Roberts Ingersoll, of New Haven, 
was born I""eb. 8, 1789. in New Haven. After his 
graduation from Yale College, in 1808, he read law 
for two years under Hon. Seth P. .Stai)les and then 
oj>ened an office in Xew Haven. The period was 
an interesting one. Pierpont F.dwards, able and 
elcKjuent, had recently been transferred to the Bench 
of the District Court of the United States, leav- 
ing at the Bar, as its most prominent members, Da- 
vid Daggett, Xathan Smith and S. P. Staples, each 
pre-eminent in his way. It is the best evidence of 
Mr. Ingersoll's energy and talent that he was able, 
in the presence and by the side of these strong men, 
first to stand erect, then to attain eminence. While 
still young Mr. Ingersoll became interested in poli- 
tics. Though by birth a Federalist, when the ques- 
tion w'as presented wdiether Connecticut should 
longer have a State religion and Congrcgationalists 
be a ])rivileged sect he, with his father and other 
influential churchmen, took the side of equal rights, 
and in 1817 became a Tolerationist. As a member 
of the new party he was chosen, two years later, 
to re]>resent Xew Haven, previously a strong Fed- 
eral town, in the Legislature. The session which 



66 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



fiillnwcd, (in account of the new t'onstitution, was 
an ini]ii)rtant one. anil lie iinnieijiately took a his'li 
]>osition among the leailers in deliale. Mr, Ingersoll 
wa.s a working- memher. faithful to his trust and 
prohably the ablest man on his side. L/ntil wanted 
for a higher place he was retained there, in 1820 
and 1821 being made chairman of the h'inance com- 
mittee, and in 1824 he was Speaker of the House. 

In 1825 Mr. Ingersoll was elected representative 
to Congress, which election vacated his seat in the 
Legislature, to which he had lieen again clii>sen. 
I or eight years he was continued in Congress, sup- 
porting during the tirst four the administration of 
President Adams, and afterward acting with the 
National Republicans, led liy Henry Clay. lujr four 
\-cars he served on the Ways and Means commit- 
tee, which was tlie most important committee in the 
tJouse. and during the last twn years he held tlT^ 
second 'plrce on that committee. .\ble. industrious 
and vigilant, he rose raj^idly and steadily from the 
start in the estimation of the public. While a mem- 
ber of Congress Mr. Ingersoll served one term as 
mayor of New Haven. After the expiration of his 
Congressional career, in 1833. he returned to New 
Haven' and resumed the practice of law. In 1834 
he supjiorted the administration of President Jack- 
son and in 1835 he was selected to till a vacancy 
in the United States Senate, but he declined the 
great lionor and several times declined nomination 
for governor when bis party was in power, and it 
is stated tjiat he cnubl Jiave had any ot¥ice in the gift 
of the pe(_ii)le. While in Congress he became an in- 
timate friend of Mr. Polk, and when that gentle- 
man was eli.'cted President <jf the Cnilcd States, in 
1846, he a|)pointed Mr. Ingersoll minister to Russia 
without bis knowledge or consent, which honor was 
accepted. After an alisence of two \ears at St. 
Petersburg he gladly returned to his profession and 
for twenty years practiced law with unabated vigor 
and never with greater success. He !o\ed the law 
and with great energy devoted himself to it. tbrougii 
a, long life, desiring to attain excellence and emi- 
nence in the profession, and on that objective pouH 
were brought to bear the converged forces of his 
whole nature. Mr. Ingersoll had a nolile endow- 
ment of intellect, vigorous and welbbalanced and 
obedient to his will, equipped with all needful adorn- 
mfnt, and was a hard student (.>f both books and 
huinan nature. 

Mr. Ingersoll was noted for the ])ro[>(jrtionate 
and harmonious development of all his ]K:iw-ers. That 
he was an able lawyer, a close thinker, adequately 
leaiTncd and familiar with the whole field of jjractice. 
all admit. His voice, ])leasant, almost musical and 
■of uinisual compass, could be heard distinctly in its 
Io\v;est tones. The ready, fluent speech, graceful 
(leliverv and active but natm-al gesticulation, the 
energetic, earnest manner and countenance which 
mirrored every thought — all contributed to his 
jxjwer as an advocate. While his language was 
select, his argument was clear, logical, compact and 



complete. Eminently persuasive, forgetting noth- 
ing and digressing rarely, he touched lightly on the 
weaker points and knew where to place the strain. 
If the chain broke the fault was not his. Though 
speaking well, with little premeditation, Mr. Inger- 
soll was accustomed to prepare his casts thoroughly, 
looked at botli sides and weighed opposing consider- 
ations. Well fortified' himself he was quick to see 
and expose an unguarded point in the enemy, dex- 
terously driving home his advantage. Though when 
speaking to the court, or a deliberative body, he 
addressed himself wholly to the intellect, using little 
ornament : when standing before a jury or popular 
assembly be gave himself more liberty ; was some- 
times impetuous, often elocjuent. C)n these occa- 
sions he would show his pow-er over the common 
mind, putting himself in contact with those primi- 
tive sentiments, convictions and instincts which lie 
at the foundation of human nature and which are 
oilier than reason. \\"\\\\ his hand on the hidden 
springs of action, he shaped and directed the cere- 
bral movements, awakened emotion or quickened 
the sense of right, carrying his auditors whither he 
would. Says one of large experience: "He was 
the best public speaker I ever saw. In a notable 
degree he possessed the personal nragnetism by the 
aid of which the orator sways and sets on fire the 
sympathetic multitude. At one tinie he was witty 
and humorous, at another serious and pathetic, and 
could be sarcastic. C)ppression of the W'eak by the 
strong he would vehemently denounce; a prevari- 
cating witness flay, if he could." 

Peing an accom{)lished' and experienced writer 
.Mr. Ingersoll was conscientiously scrupulous con- 
cerning his facts and would state nothing that w-as 
not wholly and exactly true. Xo man ever lived a 
purer or more exemplary life than he. His charac- 
ter was adorned by all the puldic and private virtues. 
Honorable, manly and just, it is believed he was 
never guilty of a deed of meamiess or conscious 
wrong. 

Mr. Ingersoll was delicately organized, of mod- 
erate stature, slender, straight, and of healthy con- 
stitution. For his size, his head was large, full in 
the frontal region and prominent at the angles, with 
finel\--cut features, thing lips and dark eyes well pro- 
[ lected by jutting brows. Till nearly eighty, with 
unclouded intellect, he continued his practice, and 
till the last went daily to his office when health per- 
t-nitted. There he would sit, reading and writing, 
giving a cordial welcome to any friend who might 
call. His intimate acquaintance with political life 
and character, taken in connection with his urbanity, 
kindness, candor and simple dignity, made his con- 
versation extremely interesting. On Aug. 26, 1872, 
be died without an enemy. In his last years he 
was a connnunicant of Trinity Cluirch. 

( )n I'eb. in. 1814. Mr. Ingersoll was married to 
Margaret \'an den Heuvel, of Dutch ]«rentage, of 
New York, a lady of great energy and discretion. 

Hon. Coi.in McCrae L\(;i;ks(ii,i,. a son of Hon. 







^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 67 



Ralph Isaacs and hrothcr of linn. Charles Robert (1\') Zephaniah Pratt, son of I'.enjamin. born 

Jnsjcrsoll, of Xew Ihueii. was born in that city alxiut 1712, (lied in 1758. llis wife's name was 

March 11. iSn). and was prepared for college at .\l)i^ail. 

New Haven, piirsuini^ a course of study at Trinity ( \' 1 Zadock Trait, son of Zephaniah, born in 
C'olle.ye. and uTadiiatin.t,^, in iS,^<), from 'N'ale Law 1753, married in 1781 Hannah, daiis^hler of IJen- 
School. In 1843 he was chosen clerk of the Connec- jamin I'ickett. of New Milford. C"onn. Mr. I'ickett 
ticnt Senate and served as such. Durins;- the years entered the service early in the war of the Revolu- 
1847 ancl 1848 he was secretary of location at the tion and c<!ntinued therein imtii 1783: was at Dor- 
Court of St. Petersburij. Russia. l-'rom 1851 to Chester lleiijhts. near l'>oston. served in the main 
1835 lie was a re])resenlati\ e in the I'nited ."States body of the army <:)n Lon<;- Island, was taken pris- 
Consjress, at \\'ashint,Mon. from the .\ew llaven oner in the battle of .Vu.t;'. 27, I77<'), and for a time 
District, and from i8()7 to 1871 he was adjmanl- was confined in the Middle Dutch Church. New 
general of Connecticut, (it'u. In^ersoll has inlier- ^'ork. and also in the old sus^ar house and was later 
ited many of the traits of his distinguished father transferred to the "Whitby" ])rison shij). .After his 
and forefathers, lie is an affable and courteous release he returned to the army and was ens:;aged in 
gentleman, comjianionalile and an interesting con- , the storming of Stony I'oitrl. bv (ien. \\'a\ne. in 
versationalist. I"/')- After his discharge he removed to Stephen- 

()n Oct. 2'). 1833. in (inice (_'hnrcli. at I'ratts- ; town. \. ^■.. and he died at what is now jewett 
ville. X. ^'.. Mr. Ingersoll was married to .Miss I Ciiv. .\'. \.. in 1828. 

Julia 1 larriet. daughter of I Ion. Zadi>ck and .Abigail (\i) Hon. Zadoi'k I'ratt. son of Zadock. and 

J'. ( Watson I I'ratt. and to them have come children j the father of Mrs. Julia 11. ( I'ratt) ingersoll, born 

as follows: Mary ]•"... born .\ug. ti). 18^4: C"olin Oct. 3. i7()o. marrieil ( ihinl) March \h. 1835, .Abi- 

McCrae. Jr., born Dec. i. 1838. now chief engineer gail P., daughter of Wheeler Watson, of Renssclaer- 

of the Consolidated Road : ( leorge P.. l)orn .Ajiril 24. ville. X. A'. When a \ouug m;ni he resided in Lex- 

1861. who was married .\o\-. 3. i8i)i. to .Miss .Mice. ington. X. A'., and from there, in 1814. joined the 

(laughter of Rev. ( )rlando Wethersixjon, (_>f Xew forces raised by ( iov. Tomjjkins for the defense oi 

] iaven : and Maud .Margaret .Se\ni()ur. who nu-fried X'ew A'ork. In 1824 he moved to .Schohariekill. since 

( ieorge W. J. .Angell. known, in compliment to him. as IVattsville. .After 

(ii-:ou(;i-: P. 1.N(;i-:nsoi.i. obtained his education in erecting the largest tanner\- in the countrv. foi 

the Ho])kins Cirammar School, of .\ew Haven, and nearly a ciuarter of a century he carried on the 

in Trinity College, at llarlfonl. graduating from leather business in this, and two other extensive 
the former in i87()ancl from the latter in 1883. .After \ works of the same kind, elsewhere, h'rom 1822 to 
being ])repared for the law at ^■,•lle Law School he ! i82r> he was colonel of the 1 i^ih Regiment of In- 

was graduated from that insiitmion in 1883. was ad- fantry of the .State of .Xew ^'ork. He re])resente(l 

mitted to the Par that same year, and has since prac- his district in Congress two terms, being elected in 

ticed his profession in Xew Haven and in Xew 1836 and again in 1842, and his career in that body 

A'ork. In i88<; he was appi>inted I "nited States com- was pre-eminentl\- successful and commanded the 

missioner. and in 1893 a meml)er of the Comieclicut respect and esteem of his fellow members. .As a 

board of health. legislator he i)roved. as he had before shown him- 

Mrs. Julia IL ( Pratt) Inger>oll is a descendant self, a business man a> well as a iiublic official, and 

in the seventh generation frdm Lieut. William was identified with im])ortant measures. In the 

Pratt, the emigrant ancestor of the familx'. sup- five sessions of C'ongress of which he was a mem- 

])osed to have come with l\e\-. Thomas Hooker to her he was never absent a dav. !'"or several vears 

what is now Cambridge. Mass.. in it>32. thence t > he was president of the Pnittsville P.ank. a private 

Hartford, Coim., and to Saybrook. In 1636 lie mar- institution. In l83^ he was one of the electors for 

ried lilizabeth Clark, daughter of John, fir^t of Presitlent and \ ice- President, and as such cast hi.' 

Saybrook. and afterward of Milford. .Mr. PraU vote for Martin \ an I'.uren and Richard M. lohn- 

attended tlie (ieneral Court as a de])uty the twentv- son. .Again in 1832 Col. Pratt was a member of the 

third and last time in 1678. in which year he died. Pilectoral College in Xew York, was chosen its 

I'rom this Lieut. V\'illiain Pratt .Mrs. Ingersoll's line president, and with his colleagues, ca.st the vote of 

of descent is through Capt. William, P.eiijamin. the State for the candidates of the Democratic 

Zei)haiiiah. Zadock and Hon. Zadock Pratt. jJarty for the Presidency and X'ice-Presidencv of the 

(II) Ca])t. William Pratt, son of Lieut. Will- L'nited States. l->ankl'in Pierce and Will'iam R. 
iam, was born in 1633 and married Hannah Kirt- King. In the later years of his life Col. I'ratt was 
land. He was a man of note in the civil, military a great traveler, visiting repeatedlv the West India 
and religious affairs of the town and died in Islands, England and the contineiit of Lurope, as 
'7'8. well as traveling extensively in this countrv. Dur- 

(III) P.enjaniin I'ratt. son of Cajit. William. ing his declining years he became a dairv farmer 
born al)out 1681, married in 1702 Anna, daughter of and was as successful in that line as he had been as 
Samuel Bates. a tanner, legislator and banker. 



68 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



KINGSBURY. For more than one hundred 
years representatives of the Kingsbury family have 
Leen conspicuous in the history of Waterbury. 
Judge John Kingsljury, Charles Denison Kingsbury 
and Hon. Frederick John Kingsbury — father, son 
and grandson — have played well their parts in the 
religious, social and business life of that city. 1 he 
branch of the family to which Judge John Kingsliury 
belonged was established in what is now the town 
of Franklin, then a part of Norwich, New London 
Co., Conn., in the person of Joseph Kingsbury, the 
Judge's great-grandfather, who was at Haverhill, 
Mass., in 1637. Joseph was a son of Henry Kings- 
burv, who was at Ipswich a few years earlier, in 
1633. The latter was probably a nephew of Henry 
Kmgsburv, an emigrant from England with Win- 
throp in i'i30. (Savage's (Jen. Diet, and I'.lake's 
History of Franklin, Conn.] 

lucige John Kingsl;)ur\ . df Franklin and Water- 
Inirv, son of Nathaniel Kingsbury, was liorn Dec. 
30, 1762, at Norwich Farms (now Franklin), Conn. 
He remained on the farm until seventeen, when he 
was prepared for Vale College under the direction 
of his uncle. Dr. Charles Backus, an eminent min- 
ister, of Somers. In the following year young 
Kingsbury entered Yale College, but remained only 
a short time, the college exercises being temporarily 
suspended by the Revolution. He then became en- 
gaged as a marine on board a privateer, made two 
cruises and' assisted in taking two prizes. Subse- 
(|uentlv he returned to Yale, was graduated in 1786, 
and coming to Waterbury was assistant to Joseiih 
Badger, the jirincipal of the academy there, which 
was opened the vear previous. In the spring of 
1788 he entered the law school of Judge Reeve, at 
Litchfield, and in 171)0 was admitted to the Bar in 
Litchfield. The following year he settled in practice 
at Waterburv. In I7y3 he was chosen town clerk 
and held the office much of the time until 18 18. He 
was appointed justice of the peace in 1796 and con- 
tinued in office until 1830. He represented Water- 
burv seventeen times in the Legislature. In 1801, 
on the death of Judge Hopkins, 'Squire Kingsbury 
was apjiointed to fill the vacancies in the probate 
and countv courts. He held the latter office until 
^')ay, 1820. the last \ear as presiding judge. He 
was continued as judge of probate until disipiali- 
fied by age, in the .\ear 1832. He died Aug. 2C), 
1844. Dr. Henry lironson, in his History of Water- 
bury, published in 1858, says of Judge Kingsbury: 
"He acquired in an eminent degree the confidence 
and respect of the comnnmity in which he lived. He 
held manv public offices and always discharged his 
(kities faithfullv ami acceptably. From the death 
of fudge llo]ikins to the time of his decease no 
man in the town was more honored, respected and 
loved. Judge Kingsbnr\ was a popidar man, but 
h(- became so in consecinence of the benevolence of 
his character, his kindly sympathies, his agreeable 
manners and many excellent qualities. He never 
, sacrificed priiiciiile or consistency. He was a good 



neighbor and trusty friend. Lively in his manner, 
easy in conversation, often facetious in his remarks, 
his company was sought by persons of all ages and 
classes. His long aquiline nose, the benevolent 
smile which usually played on his countenance, and 
his winning way, can never be forgotten by those 
who knew hint." 

On Nov. 6, 1794, Judge Kingsbury was married 
to Marcia, daughter of Stephen Bronson. She died 
-March 21, 1813. Their children were : Charles D., 
Julius J. B., John S. and Sarah S. 

Chari-es Dic.Nisox Kingsbury. In the death 
of this venerable citizen of Waterbury, whose life 
in the town spanned almost one hundred years, the 
city lost one of the very few people who connected 
the Waterlniry of 1890 with a previous century, 
and one who had lived under the administrations 
of all the Presidents of our country up to the time 
of his death, Jan. 16. 1890. 

Air. Kingsbury was born Nov. 7, 1795, in Wat- 
erbury, son of Judge John Kingsbury. He was 
educated in the .schools of the town and at the school 
of Rev. Daniel I'arker, of Ellsworth, a village of 
the town of Sharon, Conn. From aboitt 1812 he 
was for several years clerk in a store in Waterburv 
and traveled in the South selling clocks and books. 
In the winter of 1820-21 be was Philadelphia agent 
for the firm of Lewis, Griley & Lewis, button mak- 
ers, of Naugatuck. The following spring he leased 
and subseepiently purchased the store in which he 
had formerly been a clerk and carried on mercantile 
business for nearly twenty years and was also en- 
gaged in the manufacturing business. In the 
meantime he bad become, by inheritance and by pur- 
chase, a considerable owner of real estate, and be- 
ing in somewhat delicate health and preferring an 
outdcxir life, he gave up business as a merchant and 
devoted himself to the care and cultivation of his 
land and to transactions in real estate and in such 
ways was occupied for half a century. In liis youth 
Mr. Kingsbury was very delicate and never became 
robust. Recognizing in himself a tendency to con- 
sumption he considered it necessary to take es- 
pecial care of his health. He accordingly lived in 
a very quiet way and liis habits were exceedingly 
simple. Thus he prolonged his life until he entered 
u[)on his ninet\--fifth year and was permitted to 
remain in the full possession of his faculties to the 
very last. The following is an extract from an 
obituary notice of Mr. Kingsbury, published in the 
Waterbury American at the time of his death: 

.'\ life "ifi quiet and inconspicuous as Mr. Kingsbury's 
calls for but little comment. It was full of activitv. Init 
altogetlier nnobtrusive. He fulfilled with great fidelity 
the various duties of a citizen, a church member, a house- 
holder, and a neighbor, but did it in a way .so unostenta- 
tious and so simple that the impression he made upon the 
community did not .serve as a measure of his abilit>' and 
broad'th. Not alone in his Puritan simplicity, but in his 
clear-headedness and intellectual strength, lie was a fine 
representative of the oUler generations of New Englamf 
men. While indifferent to many of the modern novelties 
and notions, he had a clear apprehension of what was 




'"^-^'^i^t^-^-y 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



69 



really valualile in our modern life, and was prompt to 
place hi^l^elf in sympathy with it. He did not produce 
upon those who talked with him the nnpression that he 
was being left behind in the movemcms of events: he 
was a man of the titiies. At the same time he delighted 
in the memories of the past. His memory was good and 
his conversational gifts were of a high order: so that it 
was a real pleasure to sit beside him and look upon his 
vivid word pictures of the days tliat arc no more. The 
lessons of such a life cannot be measure<l off or mnn- 
bered. and they are of a kind whicli would gain but little 
heed from this busy world of ours. But we cannot but 
regret that there are so few to-day who covet that life of 
simplicity and quiet peace which Mr. Kingslniry through 
all these years has so beautifully illustrated. 

Mr. Kiiigslntry Ix-canie a mcinlKT of tlic Fir.st 
Cont^rcgalioiial Church ^vIlell in hi.s twenty-second 
year and remained in full comnuniion tlierewith 
throtighout his hfe and he was at the time of his 
death the oldest member of the church. ( )n Afarch 
5. 1821, Mr. Kinj^shury was married to Eliza, 
daughter of Dr. Frederick Leavenworth. She (hed 
Xov. 16. 1852, leaving two chiUh-en : I'rederick J.; 
and Sarah L., now the wife of I'"ranklin Carter, 
president of W'ilHams CoUege. On Xov. 24, 1859, 
Mr. Kingsbury married Rebecca, daugliter of 
Deacon EHjah Ilotchkiss, and she died Dec. 7, 187,^ 

]''ui:i)i;kuk Joii.n KiNcsmRV, the oidy son of 
Charles Denison and Eliza (Leavenworth) Kings- 
bury, was horn in Waterbtiry Jan. I, 1823. He 
was educated in the schools of the town and also 
spent a year and a half partly in study with his ma- 
ternal uncle. Rev. .Abiier J. Ix^avenworth. in \"ir- 
ginia. He completed his ])re])aration for college 
with Rev. .Seth Fuller, at that time principal of the 
Waterbtiry .\cademy and graduated fnim ^'ale Col- 
lege in the class of i84r). He sttidied law in \:\\e 
Law School under Judge Storrs and Isaac II. 
Townsend and with Hon. Charles C. Loring, of 
Boston, and Hon. Thomas C. I'erkins, of Hartford. 
Ho was admitted to the T.oston I'.ar in 1848. Mr. 
Kingsbtiry opened an oflice in \\'aterl)ur\- in i84(), 
but in 1853 he abandoned the law for the banking 
business, in which and in manufactures and other 
business enterprises he has since been engaged. In 
1850 he represented his town in the Legislature. 
He was a member also of the Legislatures of 1858 
and 1865, in Ixjth of which he was chairman of the 
committee on Banks. In 186;; he was a member 
of the committee on a Revision of the Statutes 
of Connecticttt. Having his attention directed to 
savings banks and believing that a savings bank 
would be a benefit to the ijcople of \\'aterbury he 
obt.iined a charter for one. He was appointed its 
treasurer aiul has successfully administered its af- 
fairs since that time. In 1853, in connection with 
Abram Ives, he established the Citizens' Bank, of 
wdiich he has been president for many years. In 
January, 1858, Mr. King.sbtiry was made a direc- 
tor of the .Scovill Manufacturing Co. He was sec- 
retary of that company from March, 1862, to Jan- 
uary, 1864. and treasurer from March, 1862, to 
January, 1866. In 1868 lie succeeded S. W. Hall 



as president and has held that office over since. He 
IS secretary of tiie Detroit & Lake Su])erior Copper 
Co., organized in 1867; was for a nunil)er of years 
a director of the Xew York & Xew ICngland Rail- 
road : and is a director of the Xaugatuck Railroad. 
Mr. Kingsbury has been treasurer of tlie Bronson 
Library l'"und since its reception liy tlie city in 1868; 
i.< a member of the board of agents of the liljrary, 
and chairman of the I'.ook committee. He has Ijeeii 
treasurer of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of 
Coimecticut since i87(;. In 1881 he was elected a 
member of tiie Corjioration of Yale College and 
was re-elected in 1887 and again in 1893. -^^ I'l^ 
time of his second re-election the W'aterlniry Amer- 
ican (June 29. 1893) S|)oke of him is follows: 

Of 1600 votes he received all but about 2co. His re- 
election was so generally regarded as desirable that the 

i other nominee, .a distinguished editor of Worcester, 
Mass.. made no contest and practically conccde<l Mr. 
Kingsbury's election fnim the start. The qualities of 
fitness whose recognition explains this gratifying unan- 
imity comprise locality, zeal for the college interests, in- 
telligent appreciation of college needs and practical l)usi- 
ness judgment in the administration of college affairs. 
Mr. King-bury's election is advantageous to the Univer- 
sity and gratifying to this community, which has so large 

' a represenl:ition ami so deep ;m iuterot in it. 

-At the ceiitemiial celebration of Williams Col- 
lege, Oct. 10, 1893, Mr. King.sbury received the 
degree of LL. D. and he was honoretl with the 
same degree from Yale in i8<)9. He was elected 
president of the American Social Science Associa- 
tion in i8(>3 and re-elected in 1894 and 180=;. He 
is a member of the American Antiquarian Society, 
the .American Historical Association, the Connecti- 
cut Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Xew Ha- 
ven County Historical Society, the Society of the 
C"olonial \Vars, and the I'tiiversity (iraduates and 
Century Clubs. As all this would indicate, he is 
find of historical and literary jMirsuits, and of late 

1 years has given much attention to sociological ques- 
tions. He has a strong taste for genealogical in- 
quiries and a remarkable memory for minute events 
and family relation.sliips : so that he is a recognized 
authority in matters of local history. What the 
present writer said of him in i88t may with pro]>ri- 

j ety be repeated here: 

".\midst engrossing cares he has found opjxir- 
tunities for no little research in the various fields 
which attract scholarly men. He has always been 
interested in the growth an<l prosperity of his na- 
tive town and has taken an active part in plans for 

j its improvement. In a city devoted to mantifacttires 
and trades he has long 'been a conspicuous repre- 
sentative of the best .Xnierican cuhtire. illustrating 
the practicability of combining an intelligent inter- 
est in literature, art and science with fidelity to 
important business trusts and to constantly accu- 
mulating fluties." 

t On April 29, 18; i, Mr. Kingsbtuy married 
.Mathea, daughter of W. H. Scovill. She died Dec. 
7, 1899. They had children as follows: William 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Charles, who died in 1864; Mary Eunice, who mar- 
ried Dr. Charles Stednian Bull, of New York City, 
and died Oct. 15. 1898, leavinc; three children; 
Alice Eliza: Edith Davies ; and Frederick John, Jr., 
who married Adele Townsend, and has one child. 
These children are the lineal descendants of all the 
clerifvman. of an\ denomination, who were settled 
ii, \\'aterl)ur\- during its first hundred years. 

HOX. MIXOTT AUGUR OSBORN, who.se 
death occurred at his home in New Haven, Oct. 
24, 1S77, after a prominent career of upward of 
fiftv vears as the editor and puhlisher of the New 
Haven Rci^istcr, during which period he held a 
number of public trusts of honor and responsibility, 
was one of the strong journalists of the State. 

Mr. Osborn was born in New Haven April 21, 
iSii, a snn of Eli and Elizabeth f.Augnr) C)sborn, 
resiiected and csteenK-d peojile of the cnmnumity, 
the former of whom was engaged in the merchant 
tailiiring business. Jeremiah Osborn, the progeni- 
tor of this liranch of the Osborn family, was one 
of tile |iatentefs of the town. 

IMiuott A. ( )sborn's privileges for ol)taining an 
education were limited, as he only attended school 
until fourteen years of age. leaving at that time the 
Lancasterian school of John E. Lovell to learn the 
])riiUer's trade. He entered the printing office of 
his uncle, Joseph l'>arlier, of Xew Haven, from 
which was issued the Coliinibiaii H'ccklv Rc<^istc): 
r.eing a bright, intelligent boy he progresse<l rapid- 
1\-, and as the time passed was advanced by his 
luicle, ancl in 1834 was made a partner in the cm- 
duct of the paper and business. Young, with vim 
and \-igor. be inthused new interest and life into 
the i)a]ier. wbirli was evidenccil in flie bright, 
sharp paragra])lis appearing in the ])aper, wliich 
,';ttracte<I wide atteiUion and gave rise to 
nianv political tiUs. His lance n-as keen and 
its thrusts severe, -wt he always endeavored to heal 
tlu>e 1i\- a generous touch of kindly humor. The 
sriiiiir member of the firm dififered from the junior 
member in the fnct that the former was an advo- 
cate of the olil leffersoiiian Denioeracy. while the 
litter patterned at'ter Andrew lackson. Their dif- 
fereni-es culminated in i837-,^8 on the question of 
the sub-treasury scheme, -which the young man sup- 
ported, the elder ojiposed, and, as the majority oi the 
supporters of the pai^er favored Mr. Oshorn, Mr. 
llarliiM- withdrew froni the pajier. .\t this time Mr. 
( )'-bofii .associated with bini iti conducting the 
Kci'istcr W. 1!. lialdwin, and the business of the 
office was carried on by these gentlemen, under the 
firm stvle of ( )sborn & llaldwin. mvtil 1866, a period 
of twentv-eight years. Mr. I'aldwin retiring from 
the paper at the end of this tiiuc. Mr. Osborn 
associated with him in the business his eldest son. 
Minott l'". ( )sborn. the firm st\le becoming M. ,\. 
Osborn iV I o. .Vine years later, in 1875. another 
change occurred, a transfer of the 1)usiness being 
made to the Rci^istrr I'lil'lisliiiiti Co. Since the 



death of the elder Osborn. except for an interreg- 
num, the latter's son. Col. Xorris G. Osborn, has 
been the editor of the paper. The Register grew with 
the developinent of the city. The weekly edition 
was supplemiented with a tri-weekly, and finally, in 
1842, with a daily evening issue. Its circulation to- 
day is probably larger than that of any other paper 
in the State. Its controlling spirit from the start 
was a Democrat of the ardent tyjie, ani] from the 
foregoing it can be imagined that he nailed his 
colors to the masthead of the Register, and if the 
paper was strongly jjartisan it was always frankly 
and honestly so. 

The elder Osborn, through his long service with 
one of the leading papers in the State, wielded much 
influence both in the city of New Haven and in the 
State at large. He held a prominent place in the 
councils of the Democratic party in the State and 
Nation. Under the Pierce and Buchanan adminis- 
trations he served as collector of the port of New 
Haven. He was appointed by and served as rail- 
road commissioner of Connecticut under Gov. In- 
gersoll. .\t one time he was a member of the 
common council of New Haven, and also served as 
road commissioner under ]\Iayor Henry G. Lewis. 
His influence in New Haven was great, and he ad- 
vocated through his paper many of the measures 
that led to the city's growth and advancement. He 
was one of the promoters of the New Haven Water 
Co., and was its treasurer at the time of his death. 
He was also at that time a director in the New Ha- 
ven Gas Light Co.. and in the Connecticut Savings 
P.ank. When a young man ^Mr. Osborn w-as a mem- 
ber and (..fficer of the somewhat famous local mili- 
tary company known as the Xew Haven Grays, 
and also served as major of the 2d Regiment of 
State Militia. 

Mr. Osborn was twice married, first to Caro- 
line McXeil, of New Haven, who died in 1838, and 
second in 1 841 he wedded Catherine Gilbert, daugh- 
ter of the late Ezekiel Gilbert, of what is now the 
towti of Seymour, Conn. Two children were born 
to the first union, and nine to the second. 

COL. NORRIS GALPIN OSBORN, editor of 
the Xew Haven Register, is well and favorably 
known throughout the State in which for years he 
has been an important factor in the councils of the 
Deinocratic partv. and figureil im^re or less con- 
spic"ousb- in iiublic affairs. 

Born April 17. 1858, (_"ol. Osborn is a son of the 
late lion. Minott .\ugnr and Catherine S. (Gilbert) 
Osborn, the former of whom for fifty atid more 
years was prominentlv identified with the history 
of New Haven and the State, as editor and jiub- 
lisher of the Register, and whose mantle hns fallen 
upon the son who is provinsr himself worthv of its 
wearing. Col. Osborn ilescends on both sides from 
old New^ Haven families: in paternal lities from 
Jeremiah Osborn. one of the iiatentees of the town 
of New Ifaven, and in maternal lines from Eng- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



71 



lish ancestors who came to Xcw l'.ii,i;lan(l not long 
after the I'iltjrin) fathers. 

Mr. Osborn in hovliood atteiiiied both the ]jub- 
lic and private schools of Xew Haven, then entered 
Yale College fronv which he was graduated in i(S8o. 
In 1886 that institution conferred iii)on him the 
degree of M. A. After his graduation he liecanie 
connected with the editorial staff of tin- Rri^istrr. 
and was made editor-in-chief in 1884. In this im- 
portant position he has exerted a wide influence, 
and has made the Register rccosniized as the lead-, 
ing Democratic organ in the soutliern |iarl of the 
State. 

Col. Osborn has repeatedly been a delegate to 
the conventions of his party — local, .State and .\a- 
tional — and taken a leading ])arl therein. In 1883 
and 1884 he was an aid on the stafY of (iov. Waller, 
and in i8(/) was ap])ointed a State |)rison director 
by (Iov. Coffin, lie has also served as a director 
in the Xew lla\en Cni\er'-il\ b'.xten-ioii I'entre. 
In the fall of i<;oi, he w;is made the unanimous 
choice of both ])arties to re|)resent .Ww I laven in 
the Constitutional Cnnvention, and was chosen a 
member of that body in the election that fullowed 
in Xoveniber. In the deliberations of this conven- 
tion which conveneil Jan. I, 1902, ami which at 
this writino; ( March ) is still in session. Col. ( )sborn 
has taken an active interest and borne an iiMnoralile 
part. 

In his college lit"e Col. Osborn was a member 
of the Creek Letter Societv, Delta Kapjia Ep.sTlon, 
and of the Scroll and Key Society. He is a member 
of Hiram Lodge. \'. \- A. .M.. and the .\ncitiit t )-d<r 
of United Workmen. He is a member of the Xew 
Llaven Chamber of C'ommerce, a nu-mber of the 
Sons of the American Revohuion. and was formerly 
.governor of the Society of b^ounders and Patriots. 
Colony of Connecticut. .As a journalist Col. Os- 
born is a success. He is a forceful writer, his 
editorials are trenchant, livelv, and nnich (uioted. 
As a man he is widely popular through his winning 
personal qualities, and he is a hapi>y after-dinner 
speaker, and .greatlv in demand for such occasions. 

On Dec. 27. 1881, Col. Osborn was married to 
Kate T-ouise Cardner, of .\'ew ^'ork Citv, anrl their 
five children are: Innis, Minolt .\rllun-. Dorothy, 
Gardner and Katherine. 

AMOS MCXSOX. The late .\mos Munson, 
the "S'ankee pie maker of Xew lla\en and Xew 
York, and the founder of that branch of industry 
in this countrv. wps <renerallv known throughout 
Xew England from his connection with the business, 
buildinrr \<-ii;er than be knew. A f'lriune was ac- 
cumulated b^■ him. and he was able to establish his 
sons in a business in which they, too, have grown 
wealthy. 

^^r. Munson was born in X'ew TTaven in March, 
i/i)/. and was a true Xew' Knylander. beini'- tlic 
representative of families which have been identified 
with the annals of X^cw- LTaven for two hundred and 



sixty years. Jose])h and Hannah iHi.ggins) Mim- 
son were his parents, and he was a descendant in 
the se\-enih generation from Thomas Munson, who 
was first known in Hartford in 1637, as a i)arlici- 
])anl in the l'e(|U<Jt war. .At a later i:eriod be became 
a resi<lent of .\'ew llaven. where he died in lip,S5. 
This Thomas Minisou was born in 1O12, and was a 
carpemer In iraile. He belongetl to the Congrega- 
tional Church. His wife's Christian name was 
[oaima, anil she died in i()78. bVom this Thomas 
the late .Amos Mun^on's line of descent was through 
.Samuel, Theophilus, Israel, Joseph and Joseph Mun- 
son. 

Samuel .Munson, M)n of the foregoing Thomas, 
was baptized in i'i4,^. and was married in iW)5. to 
.\lanli;i, daughter ni \\ ini:un and .Mice ( Tritchanl ( 
llradley. .Mr. .Muii.-on was a shoemaker and farmer 
and made his home in Xew Haven and W'allingford. 
Ili> death occurred in 1603. 

TheO|)hilus Munson, son of .'-^anuiel, was born 
in \(>J^. He married b^sther, the daughter of John 
.Mix. This .Mimson wa> a lock>mith. and lived in 
Xew Haven, where he had his home for forty-five 
years at tlu' corner of (."ollege and Wall streets, af- 
terwards the site of the Imme of I'residmt Dwight, 
of Yale. He was fre(|uenil\- before the public as 
an official, and belonged to the Congregational 
Church. He ilied in 1747. a |)ros])erous and jirom- 
inem citizen. His wife died in 1746. 

Israel Munson was born in 1701, and was mar- 
ried first in 1727, to I'.Iizabetli, a dau.ghter of Sam- 
uel I'.ishop, and resided in .Xew Haven, wliere she 
was born in 1704. Mr. Munson was a blacksmith 
and an inu-kee])er. .Several public offices were held 
by him. and he was regarded as a man of probity 
and intelli.gence. He died in 17.^4, and his wife in 
1734, both in the faith of the Congregational Church. 
He was married a second time. 

Joseph Munson was born in 1727, and was mar- 
ried thirtv years later to Sarah, the daughter of .'Sam- 
uel Bishop, born in 1733. They had their home in 
Xew Haven, where he made his standing as a 
provident business man, and was long engaged in 
mercantile pursuits. His wife died in 171)0. and he 
three years later. 

Josc])h Munson, horn in 1770, was married in 
1706 to H.annah Hi.g.gins. and had his home in X'ew 
Haven, where he was a farmer all It's life. On sev- 
eral occasions he held public office, being fence 
viewer in 1801. t8i; atid 181''!. tithin.g man in 1816. 
His death occurred in 1842, and his widow died in 
Cincinnati in i860. 

.Amos Mtmson, whose name appears above, was 
the son of Joseph Afunson of the r>rcceding para- 
graph, in his youth learned the blacksmith trade, 
which he followed for vears. and became a thor- 
ough and efficient mechanic. The late James 
PireW'Ster was his ennilover in X'ew TIaven. where 
he worked at his trade in the carriage shops, and 
where he broke down, being compelled to change 
his vocation. .After this he was occupied for a 



72 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



time on a farm, hoping^ to regain liis health. Lpon 
one occasion he happened in Xew York to enter the 
estahhshmcnt of Sidney \\. .Morse, a geographer 
and journahst. where his l)roiher. Henry, and his 
own son, Lucius, were employed. Tlie latter, a 
keen-witted little fellow, hungered for the old-fash- 
ioned pie on his mothers pantry shelves. The 
making and selling of old fashioned pie was sug- 
gested hy him. and was received with favor hy 
both liis uncle anrl father. .\t that time the-re was 
no pie hakerv in Xew Tuigland. 'I'Ik- jiie industry 
of Amos Alunson was estahlished June lo, 1S44, 
in Wall street. New Haven, very modestly at first, 
at first jintting out only four or five dozen a dav, 
which were sold for the first ivw weeks I)\- one of 
his boys, who con\eyed them in a little wagon to 
the steamhoat dock for ihe .\ew \ny\< m,-irkct. The 
increase and prosjierily of the jirojeet soon called ■ 
for a horse and wagon. At that time there were 
no restaurants in Xew Haven, and accordingly all 
the bakery goods were sent to .\ew N'ork. hi the 
meantime there had been opeiie(l on tlu- corner of 
Nassau and lleekman .streets. ;i small lunch count- 
er called the Connecticut Tie Dejjoi. The delicacy 
met with instant favor, and vindicated the foresight 
of the '.son and f;it]ier. I'or ;i time at the first, 
Mr. Alunson 's brother, Henr\-, was associated with 
him, and the firm was kncjwn as .A. Munson iV 
Brother. The brother, however, soon dis])! sed of 
his interest, and .Xnios Ahnison bec;niu' sole |)ro- 
prietor. The bakery remained on Wall street mitil 
1874, when it was removed lo more c. )nimoilious 
quarters, and was occupied b\ S, M. .Mmison & 
Co. The business was sold out in iSi^i;. The rapid 
increasi- in the number of restaurants. m;ide a cor- 
responding increase in demand for pie. -o that the 
fourth year of the business of Mr. .Mtnison, he 
paid $r,30c) f.ir freight from .\ew Haven to New 
York, on an uiUput of about a thousand [lies a day. ! 
In 1849 Air. Ahmson erected a l;uilding on Twentv- 
first street, near Third avenue, in which the busi- 
ness was also conducted. In 1874 Mr. Alunson \ 
gave uj) his New Haven business to his son, Sam- | 
uel Ar., but retained control of the New A'ork end ' 
of the trade until his death, which occurred Sent ' 
3. 1877. 

The latter years of the life of Mr. .\liuison were 
passed in the enjovmrni of a well e.-irned com- 
petence, and though his health failed, he saw the 
business which he had established, and which had 
pas.sed in 1S77 into the hands of Charles E. Mun- 
son, widely extended and nniversallv recognized. 
Manv of the most successful nun in this line, both 
in New ^'ork and Xew Haven, le;irnel ibeir tnide 
with him, and traced their success to him. Among 
them were the ( )Ids, of Xew Haven, Case, of C\\t 
cago, and Perry, of Providence. 

Air. Munson was a man of remarkably cheer- 
ful temper, dearly loving a good joke and a good 
friend, lie was o|:)en-handed. and was known as a 
generous contributor lo the wants of the needy. 



His disposition was quiet, preferring retirement, 
and shunning display. His patience was unbound- 
ed, and his endurance of the pain and suf?ering of 
his last sickness was marked. For two weeks the 
was helpless on the bed, dying of starvation and 
inanition. Alany friends were left behind, and his 
memory is a fragrant one. 

On June 11, 1820, Air. Alunson was married to 
Alartha James, wdio died in 1823. at the age of 
twentv-nine years. His second marriage occurred 
Nov. 20, 1825. Rebecca, the daughter of Isaac Dick- 
erman, becoming his wife at that time. She was 
a descendant of Thomas Dickerman, the emigrant, 
wlio came to Dorchester, Mass., in 1635, her line 
running through Abraham, who settled in New 
Haven: Isaac: Stephen: and Isaac Dickerman (21. 
They lived to celebrate their golden wedding. Both 
were members of the North Congregational Church 
in New Haven throughout their married life. To 
the first marriage of ATr. Alunson were born : 
Sarah Rebecca, born Jan. 2. 1821. is now de- 
ceased: and William died in infancy. To the sec- 
ond union were bom; Lucius, horn Dec. it, 1826, 
married Xancv Baldwin, a daughter of William 
Tialdwin in 1840. and die<l in Des Aloines. Iowa, 
in i88r>: John .Adams, born Julv 8. 1820. is re- 
ferred to at some length on another iiage: Charles 
E.. bi:)rn Alay 11, 1831, was married Aug. 25, 1852, 
to Alarsjaret .\twell, and is a resident of New York, 
where he is the manager rif the business established 
by his father: Samuel Alerwin. luirn Alay 31, 1833, 
is referred to more fully elsewhere: and Mar}') 
Louise (deceased), born .Aug. 28, 1837, married 
Jime 16, 1857, Dennis Erisbie. who is a member of 
D. Erisbie & Co.. fif Xew ^'ork, and thev had two 
children, William and Alinnic. 

KEL.SEY. I'^ir the past sixt\- years in the in- 
dustrial fiekl in Aliddlesex and X'ew Haven coun- 
ties few families have jilayed a more conspicuous 
part than that of the late ( ieorge R. Kelsev. He 
and his sons, the late Israel A. and Horatio G.. 
were manufacturers and actively identified with the 
development of the borough of \\'est Haven and 
the town of Orange. 

r.orn May 15, 1820. in what is now the town 
of Croniwell, Conn., George R. Kelsev was one of 
the six children — five sons and one daughter — of 
Zebidon and Sally (I'.dwards) Kelsev who grew to 
ruhdt age. His mother was a daughter of Daniel 
Edwards, of Cromiwell. George R. Kelsev was a 
giandson, great-grandson and grcat-great-grand.son 
of three successive Israel Kelseys, all born in the 
Kelsey Ouarter, Aliddletown, m \v Cromwell, and a 
descendant in direct line from William Kelsey, who 
was born about iCkx), was at Cambridge, Alass., in 
1^32, an original proprietor of Hartford in 1639 
and removed to Killingworth, Aliddlesex countv 
about i'^>'>3. He was deputy to the General Court 
from that place in 1671. 

George R. Kelsev at the age of ten vears re- 





i /iclui 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



73 



moved with the family to Ohio, where the father 
and sons cleared off many acres of heavy timber. 
Our subject remained with his parents until of age, 
during: which period he learned the carpenter's 
and joiner's trade. In 1842 he returned to Middle- 
town, Conn., and soon thereafter his attention was 
called to the demand for clothing and suspender 
buckles, which were all imiwrted, ami he at once 
began in a small way the manufacture of these ar- 
ticles in Middletown. I'lissessing InU little capital 
and doing the work b\' hand he struggled with jier- 
sistent energy for ten years to establish the busi- 
ness and met with reverses that would have crushed 
less resolute men, being burnetl out twice in that 
time. His persistency each time enabled him to 
re-establish the business, and by the introduction of 
new machinery and patent improvemeiUs he pro- 
duced a stock of such excellent quality that he en- 
tirely broke up the importation of liucklcs. After 
the tire of 1847 h<^ began his business anew at 
Cromwell, where he was successfully engaged until 
1852. As a matter of protection his business was 
in 1855 combined with the Waterbury Buckle Co., 
and he accepted the presidency of the latter concern. 
Soon afterward he took the management of the 
West Haven Buckle Co. and remained identified 
with both corporations until the time of his death, 
in 1889. He built un a large business for the West 
Haven Co. Under his management within twenty- 
seven years was paid $750,000 in di\'i(Ien(ls to the 
stockholders on a capital of $17,000. In 1883 JMr. 
Kelsey established in West Haven the .\merican 
Buckle & Cartridge Co., under the management of 
his sons, the late Israel A. Kelsey being secretary 
of the corporation for years. Horatio G. Kelsey 
now continues the business. 

George R. Kelsey during his coimection with 
the manufacturing business took out some ten pat- 
ents for improvements in buckles. Throughout his 
long and laborious business career he proved him- 
self in a marked degree sagacious, energetic, up- 
right and faithful in all the relations of life. Lo- 
cating in \\'est Haven he became interested in the 
welfare of the place and was largely identified with 
its enterprise and sj^irit. I'or several vears he was 
first selectman of the town and town agent, and in 
1858 he represented the town in ihc State Legisla- 
ture. He was instrumental in building the horse 
railway l>etween \ew Haven and Savin Rock and 
furnished largely the means to accomplish the en- 
tery>rise. To him is due the existence i<\ the well- 
known watering place of Savin Rock, lie built the 
"Sea View House'' and surrounding dwellings and 
bought largely of property in that vicinity. Mr. 
Kelsey was an active church worker and for twenty- 
four years was on the standing committee and had 
charge of the salar>' fund of the Congregational 
Church in West Haven. 

In 1845 George R. Kelsey married \'irginia W., 
daughter of Capt. Dota Lord Wright, of Clinton. 
Conn., a member of one of the earliest settled fam- 



ilies in New Haven and Middlesex counties, and 
to them were born children as follows : Harriet 
v.. who married Frank \V. Kimbcrly, formerly oi 
Sioux Citv. Iowa, now living in West Haven; 
Georgea W.. of Chicago; Israel .\. ; and Horatio 
(i., treasurer and manager of the American Buckle 
Co., West Haven. The residence which Mrs. Kel- 
sev now occupies was built by her husband in i860 
and is still one of the handsomest in West Haven. 

LFA'I r.ACOX Y.\LF., who has been for many 
vears prominent among the well-to-do farmers and 
fruit growers of Meriden, was born March 25, 
1838, on the old homestead on Yale avenue, where 
he' still resides, and which is now^ in his possession. 

Mr. Yale is a descendant of t'a|>t. Thomas Yale, 
who was a son of David and .\im ^'ale, of F.ngland, 
and born there or in Wales abotU 1616. In 1645 he 
married Mary, daughter of Thomas' Turner, of 
New Haven. 'Capt. Yale came to .\merica in 1637, 
in company with Thomas Turner. Gov. Faton, and 
others, and in iC)3S settled in Xew Haven, as a 
merchant. He purchased laiuls in what is now- 
North Haven, and se:tleil thereoi as early as 1660. 
He was a signer of the I'lintation Covenant, and 
was one of the principal men in the colony, filling 
many offices of trust. Capt. N'ale died March 27, 
1683, and his wife died Oct. 15, 1704. 

(II) Thomas Yale (2), son of Capt. 'I'homas, 



the settler, born about 1(14;; 



Xew I la\en. married 



(first) Dec. 11, \<>(>/. Rebecca, daughter of Will- 
iam Gibbards. of Xew Haven. Mr. Yale became 
one of the first settlers of Wallingford. in 1(170, and 
one of the most active and energetic men of that 
'town, wdiere he died Jan. 20, 1730. 

(III) Thomas Yale (3), son of Thomas (2), 
born ]March 20, 1678-70. married Ma\- U>. 1705. 
Mary, daughter of Joseph lienham, of Wallingford. 
He settled as a farmer in wltat is now the town of 
Meriden. He w-as one of the constituent members 
of the First Congregational Church of .Meriden in 
1729. Mr. Yale died Sei)t. 26, 1750. 

(IV) Noah Yale, son of Thomas (3). born 
June 2, 1723, married .\ug. 2. 1744, .Vnna Ives. ;md 
settled as a farmer in Meriden. He died in 1803, 
and his wife in 1807. 

(V) Joel Yale, son of Xoah, born June 8, 175Q, 
married May 20, 1784, F.sther Clark, of Meriden. 
born Nov. 15, 1766. Mr. "N'ale was a farmier of 
Meriden. He died Dec. 14, 1805, and his wife died 
Xov. 12, 1848. 

(VI) Levi Yale, son of Joel, born .April ti, 
1792, in Aleriden, received his early education in the 
district schools there, and. like most men of his day 
who were ambitious for learning, educated himself 
in the intervals of hard work on the farm. While 
living at home he taughl sciiool in Meriden during 
the winter, and in sinnnu-r engaged in farming, con- 
tinuing thus for a munber of vears. lie owned a 
tract of 150 acres, ui)on which he finally settled, 
and upon which he made man\ improvements. 



74 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



buildiiif^ a fiiK- clwcllino^. He carried on general 
farming and stock raising. Mr. Yale was a prom- 
inent man in his locality, taking an active part in 
pnblic affairs, for which he was well fitted. In early 
life he was a Democrat, but being an anti-slavery 
man changed his allegiance in time, and lived to 
witness the triiini])h of tlie principles he n])lield. 
He was nominated for the State Legislature and for 
lieutenant-governor ou the Abolitionist ticket. For 
seven years Mr. Vale served as first selectman of 
his town, and three times he was the nominee of all 
parties for that office, a fact which testifies more 
stronglv than mere words to the universal esteem 
in wln'ch he was held, and the satisfaction his ser- 
vices gave. He was a good citizen in every sense of 
the term, temperate in his habits, domestic in his 
tastes, and as thought fid in his lumie as be was 
alert and watchful in matters relating to the gen- 
eral welfare. 

On Feb. 20, if^.^.V ^l''- ^ ^dr married Abigail 
T'.lleu I'.acon. of .Middletowu. who was born in 
W'estfield, .Middlesex Co., Conn., daughter nf Xa- 
thaniel an<l .Abigail Bacon, and sister of WilHam 1'. 
T.acon. <it Xew I'.ritain. Cnnu. Three children 
blessed this union: Harriet T'lllen, born Aug. t,. 
1835. who married Steplun I'lOwt'rs. of I'.ast I'.erliu. 
Conn., .-nid is now deceased: Levi l!;icon. who is 
mentioned l)eliiw: and Emma i... born I'eb. 10, 
1S43, who married Rtitledge W'hiteliead, of Rox- 
bur\-. Conn., and is now decensed. The mother of 
these died Mav I. 1845. and Mr. "N'ale snbse(|uently 
married, bm. i. iJ^So, jennelte Royce. <laughter of 
Deodatns .-ind b'.niilv ( r.ement') Roxce, lioth of 
whom are deceased. Levi ^'ale i)assed awav in l-'eb- 
ruarv, 1878, ou his farm, at the rijie old age of 
eightv vears. and was laid to rest in Walnut Cifove 
cemeicry, where his wife was interred, lie was a 
member of the Congregational Church. Mrs. Jen- 
nctte Royce Yale survived mitil i8(/), and her re- 
mains also rest in Walnut Cifove cemetery. Like 
her husband, she was ;i member of the C'ongrega- 
tional Church. 

(\'li) Levi P.aom Yale attended the schools of 
tlie honie (Ustricl in bis early l)o\liood. later was a 
student ,'il Meriden .\cademv, and ;dso in a select 
school at T.rookside. Herksbire. X. A', ilis homo 
has alwa\'s been in th<' old bome'-te.-id. where be 
ongacres in farming in all its branches, being a suc- 
cessful stock raiser, d.-iirv farmer and fruit grower. 
He is considered one of the most prosperous agri- 
culturists in Meriden. .and has m.ide numerous im- 
proveiucnts on his place, which liears m;m\' evi- 
dences of careful and judicious management. 

In 1865 Mr. Yale married, at the ^'alc home- 
stead. Miss Frances T'dlen Royce (daughter of Deo- 
datns Royce), who has proved a cajiable and de- 
voted helpmeet, an<l four children have blessed this 
union, namely: Jeimie Charlotte. Fannie F.Uen, 
Walter Levi and Laura .\nna. Mr. and Mrs. '\'ale 
and all their children 'are members of Meriden 
Grange, !'. of 11. I'bongh (juiet in his tastes and 



domestic in his habits. Mr. Yale takes a deep inter- 
est in the welfare of his community, being especial- 
ly interested in educational matters. He was orig- 
iiiallv a Republican in political sentiment, but is- 
now'a stanch Prohibitionist, by wdiich party he was 
nominated for Senator in the 6th District in 1900. 
Mr. ^"ale is an active member of the Congrega- 
tional Clun-ch, in which he has officiated as dea- 
con the last thirl \- \ears. In religious faith he is a 
Second Adveiitist, and is also a believer in Divine 
Healing. As a citizen he is above reproach, and 
ilis high standing in the community has been gained 
solelv on his own merits. 

Di-;oi).\Ti's RovcE, father of Mrs. Levi P.. Yale, 
was one of tiie many ilescendants <jf an old New 
England family in this section. Rol)ert Royce 
(identical with Rice), says Miss Caulkins. in the 
"Historv of Xew London," is presumed to be the 
Robert Rice wdio was at Boston in 163 1, miade a 
freeman there in 1634, and one of those disarmed in 
1637 for adherence to the opinions and party of 
Wheelright anij Ilutchinsem. According to Josiah .\. 
RoM'e, (if P.rookhii, formerly of Lanesboro, Mass., 
Robert Ro\ce was born in England in the year 1613, 
so that he was only eighteen year.s of age when he 
came to .America. He is known to have been in 
.Stratford. Coiui., in 1644, and was there in 1656, 
when chosen leather sealer. He went to New Lon- 
don in i'i57. and the town granted him the original 
Post lot. on Post Hill. He was a shoemaker by 
occupation. In 1660 he was chosen constable: in 
1662 representative to the General Court: in tC>(')T, 
a townsman: and in i^C)" he was appointed to keep 
an ordinarv and "freed from training." He died in 
1676, and his widow, Elizabeth, in 1688. They 
had six sons and three daughters, the sons being: 
(i) Neheiuiah had five daughters and one son, 
Nathaniel, born Alarch 8, 1682. (2) Samuel (see 
Oliver Rice). (3) Isaac married Dec. 15, \f,6g. at 
New London, Elizabeth, daughter of .Sanuiel Lath- 
rop, and had two sons — Isaac, born in i()73, who died 
the same year: and Robert, born in 1674. (]\Tiss 
Caulkins s;ns this familv also removed to W'alling- 
ford.) (4) Ton,-ith;m is fnrth.er mentioned below. 
(5) losbu.i :md his wife. P.athsheba. had one son, 
Joshua, who was born in Alay, 1664, and died tlic 
, same moinb. (6) Nathaniel, born .April i, 1639, 
lived to be nearlv ninety-eight years of age, (Litig 
I'eb. 8, T736. He was married five times, in 1673, 
t68i, 1707. 1708 and 1720. His .sons were: John, 
born in i'i75: Pienjamin, 1677: Daniel. 1726: I\ob- 
ert. Xov. Id. 1721): P'lisha, Dct. 27. 1731: and Na- 
thaniel, Jul\- I, 1733. He also had seven daughters. 
(This familv savs Miss Caulkins, also removed to 
Wallingford). 
j (in Jonathan Royce, son of Robert, the emi- 

grant, married at Xew London, in June, 1660, De- 
borah, daughter of Hugh Caulkins. and removed to 
I Norwich, Conn., as one of the thirtv-six proprie- 
tors of that town. He had seven ('augliters and 
three sons, the sons being: John, born Nov. 9,. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1663: Joiiatliati, in Auc:ust, 1^)78: and Daniel. Aug^. 
19, J 68 J. 

(Til ) Jonathan Roycc (2). son of Jonathan (i), 
married and prol)ahly settled in Woodbury, Conn., 
and is the Jonatlian Royce referred to in the town 
records as havinj^ a son, Jonatlian. born July 29, 

1739- 

( I\ ) Adonijah Royce. presumably a son of 
Jonathan (2), was born Jan. 10. 1744. in Wood- 
burv. and soon after attainintj his niajuritx' went 
to i.ancsboro. Mass.. to reside. In Man-Ji. 17(11. 
Jonathan Rovcc bou,£;-ht one hundred acres of land 
"in Lanesboro, for forty sovereigns and in Ai)ril, 
1765. soUl the same to .Xdonijah Royce. of Wood- 
bury, Conn., for the same sum. .About 1765 .Xdoni- 
jah Rovce married Amy P.rusli. of New l'"airfield. 
Conn. In i7'')() lie ]iurchased from Simeon Chitten- 
den, of (iiiilford. Conn,, another one hundred acres, 
for thirty ]K)unds. He continued t<i reside at T.anes- 
boro until his death, June 23. 1807. I lis first wife 
died Oct. 2t. 1794. Their children were: .\sahel, 
born May 6. 1771: Ann, (Jet. 2. 1772: Lucy Ann, 
Sept. 24, 1775: I'hoebe, Jan. 14. 1778; Xijah. Sept. 
28, 1779: Sarah, Jul_\- 29. 1781 : Panielia. April 17, 
1783: Polly. Aug. 2, 1786: Laura, (.)ct. 15, 1788. 
On June I. 179(1. Adonijah Royce married (second) 
IJeborah. dau,gliter of Peckham Parker, of Newport, 
R. I., and to this union were born children as 
follows: Dorcas, April 11. 1797: Alma, Feb. 27, 
1800: and Amos. Alay 17. 1803. The last-named 
married Laura, daughter of Josiah Rockwell, and 
was the father of Josiah A. Royce. 

(\') Asaliel Royce. son of Adonijah. born Mav 
(). 1771, in Lanesboro. Mass., married .Sally Petsey 
Clark, of that town. He settled in Perkshire. Tioga 
Co., N. Y.. where he died in March, 1847. His wife 
died April, 1848, aged seventy-six years. 

(\T) Deodatus Royce. son of .-\sahel. was bom 
Jan. 20, 1793. in Lanesboro. Mass., and went to 
Xew York with his father. His literary training 
was finished at the Lanesboro Acadeni}-, and he 
became a successful teacher, in later life, however, 
taking up farming. He was a .generous man and 
iniblic-spirited citizen and active in the religinns life 
of his community, being a deacon in the i'resby- 
terian church. Among the early opponents of slav- 
ery he became a Republican on the organization of 
that party, and was ever active in any work calcu- 
lated to further the general welfare. On Dec. 25, 
1817, Mr. Royce married Emily P.emcnt, a native 
of Berkshire, X, \. After her death, Sept. 5, 1873. 
he came to Meriden to reside, but his death oc- 
curred while on a visit at Perkshire July 8. 1877. 
His cliildren were : Charlotte, wife of Levi P. Dan- 
forth (both now deceased) ; Emilv, Mrs. James 
Williams (both deceased); Jane Elizabeth, widow 
of Robert Williams; Edwin Yale, a resident of 
Shelton. Jowa; Celia, who died at the a.ge of two 
years; Jennette, wife of Levi Yale (both deceased) ; 
Mary Louisa, wife of Ezekiel Hall (both deceased) ; 



Celia (2) deceased; Frederick, residing on the 
homestead in Perkshire, .\'. \ .; and Frances Ellen, 
Mrs. Levi P. Yale. 

PETER P, MACKEY. a well-known resident 
of Ansonia, who has long been ])rominent in this 
section as a manufacturer of and dealer in car- 
ria.ges, was born July 13. 1834, at Ivsopus. I'lster 
county, X. '^'., a sun of ( ieorge and .^arah ( Purger ) 
Mackey. and is a representative of a most excellent 
family. 

Alexander ^Tackey, his grandfather, was a na- 
tive of Edinburgh, Scotland, and came to this coun- 
try about 1800. For some years he was a resident 
of New York City. During the war of 1812 he 
was a member of a X'ew Jersey re.giment. and was 
stationed at .Sandy Hook. Tlis wife, whose maiden 
name was Catherine Roberts, was a descendant of 
one of the early Danish settlers of West Jersey. 
She died in Xew "N'ork Citv at the age of ninety- 
four years, and her remains are interred in Green- 
wood cemetery. 

George Mackev. son nf .Mexandcr, was born 
about 1810 in Xew "N'ork- l'it\, and was there eii- 
gage<l during most of his life in shii)buildin.g. as 
a member of the firm of Wcstervelt & Mackey. at 
Fourth and Seventh streets. T^ast River. This was 
a well-known firm. They built the ocean steamers 
"Washington" and "Herman." of the Premen Mail 
Line, which up to that time ( 1851-52) were the 
handsomest vessels on the (UH'an: they were jiio- 
neers in the steamship building line, and were 
among the first to construct ocean-going steamers. 
Thev also built the I'nited States steam frigate 
"Brooklyn." which did notable service in Farra- 
.gut's fleet during the Civil war. Mr. Mackey was 
a man of .great alnlitv and understood his work 
thorous'^lilv. lieing t-si)eci:dly skilled as a draughts- 
man. The strict integritv which marked his busi- 
ness career was but a natural result of his high 
moral character, and in all lines bis advice was 
sought bv young and nld. In 1841 he purchased a 
farm at Keyport. X. J,, whitlicr he moved his fam- 
ily, although he retained bis interest in the shi])- 
building business. He died in 1857, a.ged forty- 
seven vears. 'His wife, Sarah lUirger, was born 
in Rondout. X. ^'.. and died at l\ey]iort. X. J,, in 
1874, a.ged sixty-nine \ears, .She was for many 
years a faithful member of the Reformed Church 
at Keviiort. Mrs. M-'ckev's ancestnrs came from 
Holland in 1^)40. and located in the vicinity of 
Kingston. X. "N". (they were connected with the 
Ostranders and Hoiightalings ) . where the family 
has since been prominent, Mrs. Macke\'s father, 
William Burger, was a leading citizen of the local- 
ity in his day, and was extens'velv eii.gaged in 
farming and dealin.g in cattle, holding a govern- 
ment contract at one time to supply cattle for var- 
ious nurinses. He also conducted a hotel \vdiere 
the I'nited States mail coaclies secured relays. 
The circumstances of his death are unknown, as- 



76 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



lie went to New '^'ork City with a drove of cattle 
and did not return. Of the six children born to 
George and Sarah .Mackcv three are living: i'eter 
P>., our subject; (ieorge, a resident of Atlantic 
Highlands, N. J.; and Melissa, of Kcvport, N. J., 
widow of Joseph Collins. ( )f the nthers. I'rederick 
enlisted in Conijianv II, 4Sth X. '\'. \'. I., and served 
four years in the Civil war; he was wounded at 
l'"ort Wagner, died some months later, and was 
hnricd in Florida. 

Peter B. Mackey passed his boyhood .chiefly 
in New Jersey, his parents removing there when 
he was six years old. He learned the trade of car- 
riagemaker with an uncle, Peter S. Burger, in 
Hudson, X. Y., serving an apprenticeship of five 
years. While serving his time with his uncle the 
latter oljtained an order for a coach from ex-Presi- 
<lent \'an Buren. Wishing to consult him in re- 
gard to some matter in connection with this order. 
Air. Burger took his nephew with him to Kinder- 
hook, and while there they dined with .Mr. \ an 
P.uren. After leaving his uncle Air. Alackey wiirk- 
cd as a journeyman in New Haven, fm" llnoker & 
Osborn, and later in Willianistnw n. Alass. ( where 
he married his t'irst wife), and fur James t.iould 
in Albany, .X. ^'. .About the time nf the Civil war 
he took a ])ositi(in as foreman for Tuttle, I'aine & 
Co., of Xaugatuck, and in 1861) he settled in .An- 
sonia. where be was associated in l)usiness for the 
first three years with C. II. .Styles. Later be as- 
sociated himself with Xechols b'rench and W. I''.. 
Curtis in the shop known as the J. H. Downs fac- 
tory, for manufacturing and repairing carriages 
and wagons, the jiartnershi]) continuing some years. 
After one year alone Air. .Mackey sold out and in- 
vested in the kindling-wood l)usiness. which he con- 
ducted .some time, and his next enterprise was at 
Bridgeport, where he ccmducted a large carriage 
factory for fifteen years. In 1893 he returned to 
Ansonia, an<l in a small way. engaged in painting 
and repairing at Xo. 226 Wakelee avenue, die is 
less active in business than formerly. He owns 
bis residence, wdiich is ,-in attractive home, built 
l)y himself. .As one of the <ildest btisiness men in 
the city lie has watched its growth with interest 
from a town of 4,000 to its present population of 
13,000. and during bis stay there all of the finest 
buildings on Main street have been erected. In 
politics be is a i\e])ul)lican, and is at present serving 
as member of the citv board of relief, to wdiich be 
was appointed in the fall of upo bv Mavor Lock- 
wood Hotchkiss, for two vears. 11iat gentleman's 
successor recently nominated him for mend)er of 
the lioard of assessors, and the appointment was 
confirmed by the board of aldermen, but as it con- 
flicted with a law proliibiting the holding of both 
offices the mayor was obliged to withdraw Mr. 
Mackev's name. In religious matters be takes a 
liberal view, and is a niicmbcr of the First L'nitarian 
Society of Derby; be is a firm believer in the theory 
of evolution. bVaternally be belongs to Ckorge 



Washington Lodge, ¥. & A. M. ; is active in Alount 
A'ernon Chapter, No. 35, R. A. M., at present hold- 
ing the office of scribe; is also a member of Nauga- 
tiick Lodge, L O. O. F. ; and of the Order of Amer- 
ican Mechanics of Bridgeport, in wdiich he has held 
all the ofHces. 

In 1836 Mr. Alackey married Aliss Sarah Stack- 
pole, of Williamstown, Alass., wdio died in Bridge- 
i;ort, in 1892, at the age of fifty-five; her remains 
were interred in Alountain Grove, Bridgeport. In 
1895 Mr. Alackey w'edded Aliss Rissa A. Dow-ns, 
who was b(jrn in X'ewtown, a daughter of Amaziah 
and Catherine ( Powel ) Downs, the fomier of 
whom was a lumberman and farmer bv ocfupation. 
Mr. Downs enlisted during the Civil war in Com- 
])any K, 2d Connecticut Heavy .Artillery, and died 
a i)risoner at Salisbury, X. C, at the age of forty- 
two. Mrs. Catherine (Powel) Downs died aged 
fifty-six, and of her seven children only three are 
now living; Airs. Alackey; Josiah ; and Almond. 
While both of her parents were devout members 
of the I-'piscopal Church, Airs. Alackey is a L'nitar- 
ian in faith. Air. Alackey has one son by his first 
marriage, George W. Alackey, who married Miss 
Xellie Johnson, and is employed as foreman in the 
machine department of the Deoxidized Bronze & 
Ahtal Co., of Bridgeport. 

b:i )W.\RD AIILLER, manufacturer of Aleriden, 
founder and long president of the well-kncjwn bouse 
of Fdward Miller & Co., is a representative of fam- 
ilies who for generations have lived and occupied 
bonoralile positions in society and business in the 
towns of Wallingford and Aleriden. Air. Miller 
\\;is born .\ug. 10, 1827, in Wallingford, son of Joel 
and Clarissa (Plum) Aliller, ami grandson of Rev. 
Samuel Aliller and Seth 1). Plum, the latter one of 
the first to engage in the tinware business in this 
section am! a prominent business man of bis day. 

The genealogy of .Mr. Aliller is traced through 
ei,gbt generations to John Aliller, wdio emigrated 
from Maidstone. County of Kent, England, to Lynn, 
.Mass., and moved to East Hampton, Long Island, 
aliout i'i49. He and bis wife Alary bad five sons; 
.\ndrew, who settled at Miller Place, L. L. in 1671, 
and died Dec. 22, 1718; George, wdio died Oct. 12, 
1712; John, born in 1653, who died Dec. 15, 1738; 
\Villiam, whose wife w'as named Hannah; and Jere- 
miah, born in 1656, wdio died June 2, 1734. 

(II) George Miller, son of John and Alary, had 
four sons, namely : George, who was killed by a 
horse; John; Ilezekiah; and Xatlian. 

(Ill") Ilezekiah .Miller, of I^ast IIami>ton, L. I., 
son of George Aliller, married Elizabeth Sherrv, 



Dec. II. 1706 



'i'liey had children as follows ; A 
child born in 1714, died the same \ear ; one born in 
July, 1718, dicil the same year; a son, horn in 1721, 
died in 1733 ; a son, born in 1724, died the same year; 
Jane, who was liajitized as an adult in 1729, married 
Thomas I'iler in 1733-34; Thomas, baptized (as an 
adult) in 1730, married Sarah Hopkins in 1740; 




'^/^<^ 



,.^y ^^^-^^--^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



I / 



Henrv, baptized in 1730 (as an adult), married Anna 
Earle'; Keturah was baptized in 173O; Joanna in 
1737 married Ezekiel Hand; Jacob was baptized 
July 13, 1740, as an adult (record reads: "Jacob, 
son of Hezekiah .Miller owned covenant in 1740"). I 

(1\') Jacob Miller, son of Hezekiah and Eliza- 
beth (Sherrvj .Miller, married Susanna Wickes, or 
Weeks, of Oyster Bay, L. I., .May 24, 173S, and re- 
moved from South Hampton to Huntini;ton. b"or 
his second wife he married Mary Renland, ofllunt- 
ington, in 175''. He was the father of the follow- 
ing named children: Elizabeth, baptized June 10, 
1739; Elizabeth, baptized .April 4. 1742: Mallhew, 
baptized Dec. lO, 1744; Freelove, baptized July 20, 
1747: Jacob, baptized April 24. 1734. 

(V) Jacob Miller, son of Jacob and Susanna 
(Wickes) Miller, married Elizabeth iMler. During 
the Revolutionary war he came home in his whale- 
boat to the shores of Connecticut, and he died at 
Wallingford, as did also his wife. His children in- 
cluded Rev. Samuel, born on Long Island, April 15, 
1773; Rev. Thomas, who preached on Long Island, 
and is buried in Southington, Conn. ( by his two 
wives he had twenty-two children); (Jrrin D. ; 
Henry ; and others. 

(VI) Rev. Samuel Miller, son of Jacob and 
Elizabeth Miller, was married April 7, 1796, to 
\'incy Elakeslee, and died Nov. 14, 1829. He joined 
the Baptist Church May 12. 1821, and is said to have 
preached at Meriden for twenty-six years, and he 
died at Wallingford. His wife, Vincy (Blakeslee), 
daughter of Joseph and Lois (Ives) Blakeslee, was 
born July 29, 1775, and died Nov. 18, 1829. Their 
children were as follows: (i) Lyman, born Sept. 
27, 1797, died July 21, 1865. He married April 19, 
1821, Thankful, daughter of David and Thankful 
(Moss) Hall, and died July 21, 1865. Their daugh- 
ter, \'incy .Ann, was the mother of I\Irs. Grove \V. 
Curtis, of Hartford, Conn. (2) John Milton, born 
Sept. 22, 1799. died Dec. 4, 1837. He married Mer- 
cia Bryant, of Sheffield, Mass., in 1823. (3) Joel, 
father of our subject, born Oct. 24, 1801, died .''k.ug. 
25, i8ri4. He married March 13, 1823, Clarissa, 
daughter of Seth and Elizabeth (Hall) Plum. She 
was born Jan. 23, 1805, and died March 4, 1879. 
(4) Samuel, born Dec. i, 1803, died Jan. 11, 
1878. He married Jan. 21, 1829, Janet, daughter of 
Ira and Julia (Hull) Andrews. (5) Alonzo, born 
April 12, 1806, died Oct. 10, 1873 ; he and his brother 
Samuel were buried at Wallingford. He married, 
Aug. 13 1829. Eliza .\nn Hobson. (6) .\lmond, 
born Feb. 7, 1809, died Nov. 29, 1864. He married 
Dec. 25, 1845, Catherine Rogers. (7) Oliver, born 
May 31, 1811, died when a young man. (8) Rev. 
Harvey, born .-\pril 3. 1814, died Aug. 27, 1856. 
He married May 21, i83(), Sarah Rosetta Ives, 
daughter of Othaniel and Rosetta (Yale) Ives. (9) 
George, born July 12, 1818, died June 2, 1869. He 
was married Aug, 5, 1845, to Lucy ^L^rcia, daugh- 
ter of Elisha 15. and Hepsibah (Con wall) Wilcox. 



Edward Miller was reared on his father's farm, 
and had such school privileges as were afforded the 
sons of the general farmer t)f that day. I'.esides at- 
tending the public schiK>ls of his neighborhood he 
spent a few terms in the I'ost .Academy, in .Meriden. 
When fifteen years of age he worked for a time in 
the small factory of Horatio .\'. Howard, in .Meri- 
den, and learned how to make lamp screws, hoops 
and candle>tick-s])rings. l-'ulluwing this experience 
he was emploved for tw(i years with .Stedman & 
Clark, manufacturers of similar goods. This 
brought him to the period when, thuugh yet in his 
"teens, he began a business career on his own ac- 
count, ['urchasing a set of tools, he associated him- 
self with his father, under the name of Joel .Miller 
& Son, and began in a small w;i\- the manufacture 
of a similar line of goods in which he had been en- 
gaged for others. This ]):irtiiership lasted less than 
two years when the son, then only twenty, pur- 
chased his father's interest in the business and his 
own legal time up to his majority, paying for Ixjth 
$800, giving his notes in payment. Suffice it to 
sav that the young man's operations were so suc- 
cessful that before the end of the following year his 
notes were i)aid out nf the profits of the business. 
Through great industry, honorable dealing and hon- 
est effort Mr. Miller soon developed a great and 
growing business, and found larger (|uarters nec- 
essary. He erected a wooden structure on the site 
of the present works, which, together with practi- 
cally its contents, was destroyed .by fire in the early 
part of 1856. Though the blow was a severe one, 
which swept away the accumulations of years, Mr. 
Aliller met the situation with the fortitude and per- 
severance characteristics of the man, and before the 
close of the year the factory was rebuilt and was 
again in running order. This misfortime and its 
follower, the panic of 1857, were keenly felt, and for 
a time somewhat dampened his ardor, yet he pulled 
through and was soon again on the way to success. 
In January, 1858, he went to New York in search 
of some noveltv for manufacture and there saw the 
kerosene burner, which had just been brought from 
\'ienna, .Austria. Returning to Meriden, he deter- 
mined to make the burner, though in an improved 
form. Mr. Miller deserves the distinction of being 
the first in America to make and put upon the mar- 
ket the kerosene burner, for burning kerosene oil 
made from distilled coal. This led also to the manu- 
facture of lamps, bronzes, sheet brass, and various 
forms of utensils made from that metal. The fac- 
tory was soon taxed beyond its capacity, necessitat- 
ing successive enlargements. In 1866 it was deemed 
wise bv Mr. Miller to associate wnih him.self other 
capitalists in the business, so in July of that year a 
joint-stock company was formed, and the liusincss 
was continued under the name of Edward Miller & 
Co., the capital stock of the concern being $200,- 
000. Under the wise direction of its jjresident, Mr. 
.Miller, the business of the company was so enlarged 
that the factory now covers several acres of ground 



78 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and gives wurk ti nearly eight hundreil eni|)I(iyes. 
In speaking of this establishment some years ago 
the Meriden Jonnial said : 

The company'-- |lrlJ^pl•rily i> ^uch Uiat it Isiiuw^ iin 
dull periods or its wurknien no want of eniploynicnt. Tlie 
departments are fully ccpiippod with all the most modern 
machinery- that can aiil in the rapid and perfect produc- 
tion of goods. It is the rule in the manufacture of their 
goods that excellence is the grand thing to be attained, 
and the high esteem in which their products are held by 
dealers and consumers warrants the assertion that they 
realize the end sought. Their products are largely export- 
ed to foreign lands, and. immense as this business is. it is 
daily increasing. It would lie an impossibility to enumer- 
ate the great assortment of articles made by this com- 
pany. Prominent among them are lamp trimmings of 
every variety, tinners' hardware, together with brass and 
bronze good.s. Their designs are thoroughly their own. 
and are selected by those appreciative of the superiority 
of American goods and American styles over those of for- 
eign lands. Vet the company keeps a sharp eye on the cen- 
ters of artistic productions, with a view that none shall 
e.xcel them. The result is that not only are the designs of 
.art centers equalled, but in most cases excelled by the ad- 
dition of the -'Vmerican artist. 

In 1884 the company began to manufacture the "Koch- 
ester" lamps. No ade(|uate conception of their value as 
illuminators could be gained, however, except to see them 
when lighted. They give a clear, steady, beautiful, yet 
strong, light, that is proof at first sight of their superiority. 
Over one thousand different designs of the "Rochester" 
are made, varying from the "Rochester, Jr. " to the "Mam- 
moth." capable oi lloodmg the largest hall with a light 
almost equal to that of an electric .arc li.glit. 

Wheti the Rnchester lamp reached its present 
standard Air. .Miller, as imitations Ix'gati tu he 
jiisced on the mai'ket, determined to reach out fttr- 
ther thati ever intu the realms <.il lig'ht prodtiction. 
Every principle of the new lamp tiiust liave a sci- 
entific basis, and no detail be omitted which would 
affect its working iti the slightest degree. The re- 
sult of liis experiments fitids expressioti in the 
".Miller" lamp. It is sim])licity itself. It has no dirt 
pocket, and cannot get out of order; the central 
<lraft, through a solid, seamless brass ttthe, cannot 
leak; it has the screw adjtistnfent and ])ltinge nrnve- 
nient, to be used at pleasure, both ].ierfect ; oil cati- 
not drip down the ttthe, and, to crown all. it has 
the best atid simjilest device for re-wicking ever 
invented. Naturally Mr. Miller takes great pride 
in this latest achievetuent. Every jxiint of import- 
ance is different from all other lamps, and each new 
])rinci]ile is fully covered by patents. 

President .Miller, in his political views, is a Re- 
])til)lican, though he never sotight ptiblic otifice. His 
religious connections arc with the llroad Street 
l-iaptist Chtirch, of which he is a liberal supi)orter. 
In iXfK; 'he gave the chtirch an elegant organ, b'or 
years he was trea.^tirer of the Connecticttt I'aptist 
Educational Societv'. lie gives liberally of his 
means to all worthy benevolences, contnl>uted large- 
Iv toward the erection of the German I'.aptist 
Chtirch edifice, has remembered stibstantially the 
C'oiuiecticut Literarv Instittite, at StttTield, and the 
Y. M. C. .\. at Meriden. 

On .'\ug. 30, 184S, Mr. Miller was married \.o 
Caroline M. Xeal, wln) was born April 14, 1830, 



(laughter of Joseph and Matilda (Barnes) Xeal, 
of Sotithington, Conn., and to her wise counsel 
and advice Air. Aliller generously ascribes much of 
Ills prosperity and success. The following three of 
their five children survive: Edward Aliilcr, Jr., a 
gratkiate of Brown University, 'is the secretary and 
treasurer of the Edward Aliller Co. ; Arthur E. 
Aliller is superintendent of the same company; and 
Eayette A. is the wife of Charles .A. Kendrick, of 
Aleriden. 

Jl(_)\. GEORGE AUSTLX EAV, who for 
many years has been one of the leading lawyers of 
the i\'ew Haven County Bar, and located in the city 
of Aleriden, has been a resident of his adopted city 
and State for forty and more years, and been en- 
gaged in the practice of law there, largely in litiga- 
tions for corporations, for nearly that length of 
time. Born Aug. 29, 1838, in the town of Marl- 
boro, Alass., Air. Fay is a son of the late George W. 
and Amanda Almina ( Ward ) Eay, of Marlboro, 
and a descendant in the seventh generation from 
John Eay, his first Anterican ancestor on the pa- 
ternal side, who was born al)out 1648, in England. 

( 1 ) John Fay was born about 1648, in England, 
and sailed from Gravesend in the ship ""Speedwell," 
ill i')5(i, arriving in Boston in June of that year. 
Aniiing the passengers were some who were bound 
for .Sudl.)iiry, where they had either parents or rela- 
tives, young Fay among the numlicr. As earlv as 
ib(X) he is found at Alarlboro, wdiere are recorded 
the Ijirths of his children. Air. Fay soon left Marl- 
boro for Watcrtown, where he buried his wife and 
one (if his sons. He married (first) Mary Brig- 
ham, and (second) in 1678 Mrs. Susanna !Morse, 
born in i')43, widow of Joseph Alorse, and daugh- 
ter of William Shattuck. of Watertowu. Air. Fay 
seems to have left Alarlboro and gone to Water- 
town as a means of safety, as on the return of peace, 
after the close of King Philip's war, he returned to 
Alarlboro, and there died in i6(jo. 

(11) John Fav (2), son of John the emigrant, 
was born in Alarlboro, Alass,. Nov. 30, 1669. On 
Dec. I, \(*)0. he married Elizabeth Wellington, 
who was born Dec. 2(). 1673. a daughter of Ben- 
jamin and Fdizabeth (Sweetman) Wellington, and 
died ill Alarch, I72(^. He married (second) Dec. 
if), l7Jt). Leviuab Brigham. whu survived him un- 
til Alarcb 8. I74(). Air. P'av settled in that part of 
Marlboro which later became W'estboro, and after 
the incorporation of the latter he became one of its 
most jM'ominent citizens, and filled the principal 
town offices. He died in 1747. Of his ten chil- 
dren the births of the four eldest are recorded in 
Marlboro. 

( 111 ) John l'"a\' (3), son of Jiilin (2), was born 
Dec. 5, 1700. and died Xov. to, 1732. On April 
17. 1721, be married Hannah Child. He became a 
large land owner, and lived in Alarlboro and North- 
bor(i. His widow wedded ."^amuel l-xscomb, of 
Southboro. 



/ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



79 



(I\') Josiah Fay, son of Joliii (3). \vas born 
Feb. 4, 1731, and died \\\\:^. 8, 177''. He was mar- 
ried March 22, 1757, to Mary llent. who was horn 
April 18, 1737. a dautjhter of IVter licnt. o\ Marl- : 
boro, and died in 1831, the mother nf nine children. 
Josiah Fay settled in Southhuro. .Mass., about 1750, 
and was sergeant in the e.N])e<litiiin to Crown Point 
in 1756, was warden in 170<;. and selectman 1770- 
71-75. He commanded a comjiany of minute men 
who marched in the early morn of .April i<j. 1775, 
to Concord. The battle was foutiht before h.e ar- 
rived, Init he followed on to Cambridi^e. He was 
ordered to Dorchester Heights, and there stayed 
during the occu])ation b\- the llrnisb if iHe town 
of Boston. He enlisted in the army during the 
war, was jiromoted to the rank of major, was 
wounded in the battle of White Plains, and was 
ordered to New York City, where he died in the 
service of his country, Au|j. 8, 1776. His sword 
was in the possession of his grandson, Peter P'ay, ; 
of Southboro,.in 1883. 

( \' ) Josiah Fay, son of Major Josiah, was 
born June 10, 1758, and was a twin of .Mary. He 
settled first on the old Homestead in Southboro, and 
there remained until 1799, when he removed to 
Marlboro. By occupation he was a farmer, and he 
also manufactured nails by hand, being a very 
skillful mechanic. He was selectman in 1775, 
field drummer in 1787, and constable in 1791. lie 
had the title of captain, and was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war. His death occurretl at .Marl- 
boro Feb. 18, 1845. In 1788 he wedtled Hepzibah I 
Collins, of Southboro, Mass., a descendant f)f Miles 
Standish, the well-known Puritan. She was born 
in 1751, and died Aug. 19, 1843. They were the 
J3arents of ten children : Josiah, born .\ug. 2O, i 
1788; -Abigail, Sept. 19, 1790 (married b'eb. (), 
181 1, William Howe, Jr.); Mark, Jan. 29, 1793; \ 
Mary, Feb. 27, 1796; Peter B.. May 24, 1798 (died 
July 24, 1831J; Sally, July 30, 1801 ; ] lei)ze!)eth, 
March 13, 1803; George W., May 12, 1805: Jerub 
Amber, Dec. 14. 1808; Jtilins Augustus, ( )ct. i i, 
1812. 

( \'I ) George William P"ay. father of our sub- 
ject, was born May 12, 1803, and died I-\-b. 3, 1867. 
He was married at Willimantic, Conn., (Jet. 3, 1835, 
to Amanda Almiina Ward, who was born .\[)ril 20, 
1814, a daughter of Jeremiah and luinice (Storrs) 
Ward. They resided in Marlboro, Mass., where 
^frs. Fay died. Their children were: (t) Lucian 
Dana, born Sept. 14, 1836. died at St. Louis. Mo., 
Jan. 10, 1871. He was married .\pril 12, i8f>5, to 
Martia King Batchelor. (2) fieorge Austin, born 
Aug. 29, 1838, married in Meriden, Sept. 11. 1865, 
Jane Maria Curtis, who was born Jan. 4, 1842. 
(3) Mary Ann, born Oct. 28. 1840. died June 10, 
1880. 'Siie married Oct. 12, 1863. Hcnrv ( )tis Rus- 
sell, and had two children — Theresa Marilla. born 
June 27, i86fi: and Henrv Carlt<in. born June 27, 
iS^>9. (4) Franklin Sullivan, born Sept. 26. 1848. 
was married at Stuyvesant. X. V.. Sept. 2>'<. 1881. 



to Klizabeth Ham, born June 2, 1838. (3) He- 
man Storrs, born l-"eb. (). 1832, married Sept. 2J„ 
1891, i^lla C. l-'ontaine, and has one child, J leman 
Storrs, Jr., born June 10, i8</j. 

(\ II) lieorge Austin bay, son of George W., 
passed his early youth upon the home farm. He 
attended the common scliool of his native town, 
and was subseciuenilv graduated from the Marlboro 
high school. Jn 1839 ne left home, going to Meri- 
di_n. C(nm., where lie has since resided. During his 
earlv residence there he was em])loye(l as a clerk 
in the office of the .\dams F.xpress Co., and was at 
the same time the Western L'nion telegrajih opera- 
tor at_that place. 'J'wo years later, in May, 1861, 
he entered the Law Department of Vale Cniversity, 
where in 1862 he was graduated LL. 1!. After 
his graduation he enterecj the office of Hon. O. IL 
Piatt, now United States senator, where he re- 
mained a year. Jn .May, 18O3, he was admitted to 
the Connecticut liar as an attorney at law, and 
has since practiced that profession.' In 1871 Mr. 
Fay was elected by the Republicans to the State 
Senate from the Sixth Senatorial District, and in 
that body served as ciiairman of the committee on 
Incorporations, and also as chairman of the com- 
mittee on Elections, to determine who was elected 
governor of the State. The canvass for State of- 
fices during the preceding cam[)aign had been an 
e.xceedingly exciting one, and resulted, as will be 
remembered, in a fleclaration of the election of 
Hon. James E. Fnglish, of .\ew llaven. en the face 
of the returns, by a majority of thirly-nine votes. 
On account of the FourtJi ward of Xew Haven the 
election of Mr. English wa- contested and an in- 
vestigation instituted, with the result of unseating 
him, and awarding the gul)ernatorial ofhce to Hon. 
Marshall Jewell, who was duly inaugurated Gov- 
•ernor of Connecticut. Since that legislative term 
Mr. Fay has not taken any active part in politics 
beyond casting his vote for the candidate of the Re- 
publican partv. feeling obliged to devote his time 
wholly to his profession, in which he has l)een 
much more than ordinarily successful. Mr. l"av is 
one of the esteemed citizens of Meriden. He is a 
member of the .Masonic fraternity, lie is a lover 
of good books, and, |)robably, has one of the largest 
private libraries in the .State. 

In 1865 Mr. Fay was married to Jennie M. 
Curtis, only daughter of .\lfreil P. Curtis, of Mer- 
iden. 

' Fk.wk S. F.«iv. a broiher of Hon. (ieorge .\. 
Fay, and also a leading lawyer of the .Xew Haven 
County Bar, and a substantial citizen of Meriden. 
is a native of Marlboro, .Mass.. where he was born 
Sept. 26, 1848. He was graduated from the .Marl- 
boro higli school in uS^xj, and after this event at 
once came to Meriden to pursue his law studies in 
the office of his brother. ( ieorge .\. l'"a\'. He was 
admitted to the Xew Haven Cmintv Bar in Sej)- 
teniber, 1871, since which time he has practiced his 
profession in Meriden. and with desired success. 



8o 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



From 1882 to 1893 he served as prosecuting agent 
for New Haven comity, and at various times has 
held the position of city attorney, or corporation 
counsel, for the city of .\Ieriden._ In 1891 he was 
town site commissioner in the Territory of Okla- 
homa, and secretary and treasurer of the board of 
three, deciding land titles for the city of Okla- 
homa'. In :March, iyo2, he was appointed, by Oov. 
McLean, judge of the city and police courts of 
Meriden, succeeding Judge James P. Piatt, which 
appointment meets with the approval of all the 
leading lawvers of the city. 

On Sept. 28, 1881, -Mr. Pay was married, at 
Stuvvesant, X. Y., to Elizabeth P., daughter of 
Allen J. and Martha (Cutter) Ham. 

JOHN E. DUEY (deceased). For a number 
of years John E. Duey was a prominent citizen of 
New Haven, and was widely known in business life 
as an engraver, his work in this line commanding 
the attention of the most critical trade of the city. 

Although the greater ])art of his business life 
was passed in Connecticut, and his scene of success 
was New Haven, Mr. Duey was not_ of New Eng- 
land parentage. He was i)orn in Camden, N. J., 
Oct. 19, 1838, son of John G. and Emily ( Ed- 
munds) 'Ouev, the former of whom was a descend- 
ant of a French survevor who came to America in 
the suite of Gen. Laiavette. The mother of Mr 
Duey was born in England, and was a daughter of 
Nathaniel Edmunds, who lucated in the vicinity of 
Canandaigua, N. Y., where he became possessed 
of large tracts of valuable land. Later he remov- 
ed to Philadelphia, where he embarked in a broker- 
age business, his death occurring in that city, at the 
age of seventv-nine vears. ' 

John G. Duev, the fattier of our subject, was the 
youngest son of his parents, and inherited a fortune. 
After his marriage to Emily Edmunds, he settled 
in Philadelphia, the place ofdiis birth, but died in 
Detroit, Mich. A family uf three ciiildren came 
to John G. Duev and wife, namely: Matilda, who 
married Charles Stevens, settled in Philadelphia, 
and died there; Nathaniel, who died in infancy; 
and John E. 

John E. Duev was reared in I'hiladelphia until 
he was fourteen years of age, and acquired an ex- 
cellent education in the Catherine St. Grammar 
school. His early tastes led him into the study of 
engraving, and that continued to be his occupation 
through life. A natural talent, combined with re- 
fined taste and mechanical skill, enabled Mr. Duey 
to hold a very prominent place in his profession. 

At the outbreak of the Civil war, Mr. Duey be- 
came a soldier, enlisting in New York City as a 
member of Co. G. 83d X. Y. V. L, and remained 
in the service for three years, participating in many 
of the most decisive battles of the war. .\fter the 
war he located in New York, where he was en- 
gaged in engraving for Tiffany. He became a 
resident of New Haven, in iSUj, during the re- 



mainder of his active life following his profession 
in this city, designing to a considerable extent for 
the Meriden Britannia Co., and also pins and em- 
blems for various fraternities. 

On Aug. 15, 1865, Mr. Duey was married to 
Eliza Emeline Atwood, born in New Hartford,, 
Conn., daughter of Buel Atwood, of the same place. 
Her death occurred Sept. 26, 1898, when she was 
aged sixty-two years. A family of five children 
were bom to Mr. and Mrs. Duey, as follows : 
(k-orge P.uel. who died aged eight years: Tillie Ed- 
munds, who married, Feb. 9, 1892, Dwight P. Wil- 
cox, of Meriden, and died July i, 1893, leaving a 
son, Reginald Parker ; Eddie, who passed away at 
the age of six months ; ]\Iay Florence : and Bessie 
Maud, who married Oct. 24, iQoi, Charles L Bou- 
ton, of the New Haven board of education. His 
religious rearing was in the Episcopal Church, and 
through life, he was one of its consistent members 
and liberal supporters. In political life, Mr. Duey 
was an Indepenilent, binding himself by no party 
tic. but ever taking a most intelligent interest in 
public affairs, and actively promoting enterprises 
which he deemed to be of advantage to his country 
and city. He was much interested and actively 
identified with' several fraternal organizations, be- 
ing a member of Hiram Lodge, No. i, A. F. & A. 
M., in which he was senior deacon, and was Past 
Grand in Center Lodge No. 68, I. O. O. F., of Mer- 
iden. He also belonged to Admiral Foote Post, 
G. A. R. In the death of Mr. Duey, which oc- 
curred Jan. 30, 1902. the city of New Haven lost 
one of "its most prominent, sub.stantial and repre- 
sentative citizens. 

AL0N70 FELTON WOOD (deceased) was 
one of the representative citizens of New Haven 
county, and his influence was a factor in the devel- 
opment of the town of Orange, especially along re- 
ligious and educational lines. He was biTrn June 
27. 1824, in Huntington, Conn., son of Luther and 
Lydia (Felton) Wood. His father, horn Feb. 3, 
1778, in Westboro,, Mass., was engaged in business 
as a tanner in d'ififerent places in Connecticut dur- 
ing his life. He finally removed to New York 
City, but returned to Connecticut, and died at 
Huntington, aged seventy-eight. His grandfather, 
William Wcxid. was a soldier in the war of the 
Revolution, taking part in the battles of Lexington 
and T.unker Hill. His mother, Lydia Felton, bom 
Oct. 4. 1783, in Marlboro, Mass., lived to the age 
of eightv-seven years. She was a member of one 
of the oldest families of Massachusetts. One of her 
ancestors. Rev. Samuel Skelton, was the first min- 
ister at Salem, Mass. His daughter married Na- 
thaniel Felton, who was the first of his family to 
come to .America, settling at Salem in 1633. 

The subject of this sketch was the youngest of 
a family of three children, all now deceased. His 
early bovhood was spent in Huntington and at the 
acfe of thirteen he went to New Haven, where he- 




~^.^ <^/^^^^<A^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



8 1 



learned the drug business of L. 1\. \)n\\. a ])r(inunent 
druggist. He was always a person of >,irong fam- 
ily att'ectiuiis, and in those early days, after clos- 
ing store, late Saturday night, would freciuenlly 
walk sixteen miles to his home in Huntington, thai 
he niigln spend .Sunday with his parents, return- 
ing in time to open the store again on .Monday 
morning. In 1S45 he opened the drug store at the 
corner of Church and ( ieorge streets, which he c;ir- 
ried on until his ileath, Aug. 28, 1885. purchas- 
ing the old building there a few years after start- 
ing in business. In i87<j he built the brick build- 
ing oil the same site, where the business is still 
being carried on b\- his two youngest sons. At the 
lime of his death Air. Wood was one of ilie oldest 
and best-known business men of .\ew H.aven. He 
resided there during the earlier ])art of his life, 
Ihst on Cieorge street, then on Hill street, reiuov- 
ing from this latter place into a new house he Iniilt 
on Uroad street. At that time there was a stream 
of water by the side of ihe place where Connuerce 
street now is. 

.Mr. Wood married April i, 1846, Rachel 
Hodges, who was born Sept. Jo, i8_'5, in New- 
Haven, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Prior) 
ll'dges, bolli natives of Somerselshire, England. 
'1 lie\- came to America in 181S, on a sailing vessel, 
the vovage, which was a very stormy one, lasting 
s;.\ weeks. 

.Mr. and Mrs. Wood were leaders in the work 
of organizing St. Thomas Church, New Haven, 
some of the early meetings for that jjurpose being 
h.eld in their George street home. 'J'heir daughter, 
Ida M., was the first child ba])ti7.ed in the new 
sliiue church on Elm street. .Mr. Wood was all 
his life an earnest worker in the church, was the 
tirst treasurer, and held the office of vestryman as 
Ic-'Ug as he lived. H)e was also at one lime vi-slr\- 
man of Christ Church, West Haven, as well as 
superintendent (jf the Smulay-school. .\l the pres- 
ent tiiue Mrs. Wood is the only original member of 
St. 'I'homas Church now living. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wood were original members of Trinity Chhrcli, 
the latter having been baptized, confirmed and mar- 
ried there. 

Jn March, 1858, ihey settled in West Haven, 
in the home which Mr. Wood built, on I'^irst avenue, 
and which became his home for the remainder of 
his life, and is still that of his widow. West Haven 
was then but a small country ])lace of old-time 
houses, few streets, an<l but ijue small ]jul)lic school 
Ixuse, but Mr. Wood lived to see many changes, 
l)oth there and in New Haven. Wood street was 
opened by and named after Afr. Wood. As a resi- 
dent of West Haven he took an active and keen 
interest in local politics, served two terms in the 
State Legislature, and introduced the bill for the 
horse railroad through West Haven Ui Savin Rock. 
He was also clerk of the school boanl for manv 
years, and at times served as gran<l juror, llis 
sound ju<lgment and high moral character were 



recognized by his associates, antl ihr(4ighoul the 
communily he was held in ihe highest e>leini. 

C)f the eigln children born to Mr. and .Mrs. 
Wood. <jnl\ uur lived lo maturity; \\ ) Luther 
IL. the eldest son, a graduaie of the Shefiield Sci- 
entific School, of Vale College, auil the Yale .Med- 
ical -School, was for a number of years a practic- 
ing |>hvsician, first in Torrington, Conn., and then 



in Denver, Colo., where be died SeiJl. 



1NJ.J. 



left one son, Harry C, a journalist of Castle Rock, 
Colo. ( _' ) Ida M'. is the wife of Edwin .\. Hill, 
of Washington, 1). i . 1 _^ ) .\. h'eltou is residing 
in West J laven. 14) James 1'. is a resi<lem oi 
.\ew Haven. 

As a l'"reemason .\lonzo 1". Wood was well 
known to the older mend)yi^ of Hiram Lodge, .\ew 
Haven. He belonged to hranklin Chapter, Xo. 
2, and Harmony Louncil, .\o. 8. .\s a num of af- 
fau-s in the borough of West Haven and town of 
Orange, and its representative in the Cjeneral As- 
sembly, 'his inlluence was felt for many years in 
the local councils of the Reiniblicau parly, of which 
he was a .stanch adhereiu : and as a business man 
he became well known to the older generations of 
citizens, during the forty years of his Inisiness life 
at the corner tjf Church and (ieorge streets, .\'ew 
Haven. He was a member of the .\merican Pharma- 
ceutical Association, al.s-o one of the founders of 
the Connecticut Pharmaceutical .\ssociation. \\ti 
died greatly lamented and tmiversally respected. 

LEWIS AHX, for a number of years a .success- 
ful merchant tailor of New 1 laven. where he is 
now living retired, was born ( )ct. 2, 1821, in that 
city, where the family has long been established. 

Tradition says that the Mix family came to this 
country from London, fuigland. Thomas Mix 
(Mcekes), New Haven, i')43, was one <>f the early 
settlers and first grantees of the town. In i'>49 he 
married Rebecca, daughter of Capt. Nathaniel 
Turner. Thonias Mix died in i()i)!, leaving, a good 
estate. The pronunence in New Haven, about one 
hundred years after the seltlementj of the desccnd- 
aiUs of Thomas .Mix is shown bv the Wadswo.rth 
maj), J74S. Three of the principal corners on ihe 
public scjuare, the present "Green," were occupied 
by families of the name. Samuel Mi.x, schoolmas- 
ter, lived and kept the school on the southwest 
corner of College and lilm streets, where the Piattell 
Chapel now stands. Directly opposite, on the north- 
west corner, where the I'-ast Diviinty .School is 
built, Jonathan Mix ke|it the inn, and Timothy 
Mix, the physician, lived on or near the northeast 
corner of the "Green," now the corner of Church 
and Elm streets. Nathaniel Mix, farmer, lived on 
the same square with President Clap, of the college. 
Caleb and T. .Mix. both farmers, lived in the rear of 
the college. Aw earlier maj), by Joseph P.rown, in 
1724, shows the residence also of John Mix. on 
the northeast corner of College and Elm streets. 
Ilefore the vear 1800 three of the name of Mix h:id 



82 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



graduated from Yale College: Samuel, in 1720; 
iilisha, in 17.24: and 'i'iniii|ii\. In i/,y> a Joseph 
Mix was a nK-mber of ihe ( icneral Assembly, or 
deputy, from New Haven, with Jonathan Ailing. 
In 1744, and later, Samuel .Mix was prominent as 
a member of various committees ajipointed by the 
Assembly. 

Capt. Natlianiel Turner, referred to in the fore- 
going as the father of Mrs. Rebecca -\li-x, came in 
the tieet with Winthrop, I'l^o; was constable in 
Boston, 1O32; represenlati\e at the lirst court, 
1634-36. (Jn the formation ul tlie ci\il go\ernmenl 
in Xew Haven lie was elected one oi the first four 
magistrates, i()3y; in 1640 he was clioM-n chief mili- 
tary agent for i\ew Haven in the jiurchase of Dela- 
ware lands; in J643 was eho.sen deputy to the Court 
of Combination, or Congress of the -Xew England 
Colonies; in j64() sailed for London in the "'Phan- 
tom Ship," and was never afterwaril heard of. 

Joseph Mix, the grandfather of the gentle- 
man whose name introduces ihi^ sketch, was born 
m .Xew llaven, son of Lieut. Joseph, who served 
in the Jndian war, and died in 1757, at the age of 
seventy-two. Joseph Mi.x jjassed all his life in New 
Haven, and carried on the baker business in Chapel 
street, near Urange. He died July (j, 181 1, at the 
age of seventy-one. To him and his wife, i'atience 
S].>err\', nf \\'uodl)ridge, were horn nine cliildren, 
all of whom are now deceased. 

VM Mix, father of Lewis, was horn April 11, 
17S4. in -Xew llaven, where throughout his active 
life he engaged in the wholesale grocery business, 
conducting one of the largest establishments of the 
kind in the city. He was ])rominent in various 
connections. Tie died Nov. 2y, 1848, at the age of 
sixty-four, a member of the .Xorth C^hurch. He 
married Grace Teck. who was burn l)ec. J. 1786, 
in -Xew Haven, daughter of Henr\' I'eck. and ilieil , 
)an. III. ]8'i5. Ten childriu were born te) this 
union, two of whom survive; Lewis, whose name 
opens these lines; and X'irginia, who married Will- 
iam IVtlit and resides in Redlands. California. 

( 1 ) 1 lenry Teck, from whom Mrs. T^li Mix 
iraced her descent, was among the fust settlers of 
New Llaven in the spring of i'i38- 1 ''-' '^ ^"P" 
])osed tn have come to this coniUry in the cnui])any 
of Ciov. Eaton, with Rev. John Davenport and 
others, in the ship "1 lector," in ni37- -^l''- feck 
signed the compact of the settlers, made June 4, 
1639, and took an active interest in the manage- 
ment of the affairs of the settlement, 

(II) Joseph I'eck. son of llenr\- the settler, 
baptized Sejjt. 5, 1647, married Nov. 28, 1672, 
Sarah, daughter of Roger .\lling, and lived and 
died in New Haven, residing upon the homestead. 
( 111 ) James Reck, son of Joseph. Imrn l"eb. 17. 
i67i;-8o, married (second) July 10, 1721), IJannah 
Leek, anil settled in Xew llaven, where he died 
in 1760. 

(1\ ) Stephen Reck', son of J.ames. born June 



5, 1730, married (first) Esther JMunson and (sec- 
ond J Lydia Mills. Mr. Peck settled u])on the 
George Street estate (homestead). 

( \'j Henry Reck, son of Stephen, born Aug. 
-"' ^755- was a block maker in New Haven. iHe 
married Hannah Lewis, and they had a large fam- 
ily. They lived on the old George Street estate, 
Mr. Reck building the house subsequently occupied 
by Lewis Mi.x. 

I^ewis Mix, the subject proper of this article, 
has ])assed all his life ni the city of his birth. He 
received his education in the common schools and 
the Lancasterian School, and then learned mer- 
chant tailoring, in which line he started in business 
for himself in 1842. By thrift and industry he 
won a large patronage, and he continued the busi- 
ness profitably until 1880, in wdiich year he sold 
out. Subsequently he was health inspector until 
1897, being one of the first appointees to that of- 
fice in the city. Since the close of that service Mr. 
-Mix has lived retired, occupying a comfortable 
home at .X'o. 83 Mansfield street. 

In 1848 Mr. Mix married Miss Mary E. Lee, 
of New Haven, a daughter of Edwin Lee, and a 
.granddaughter of John Lee, who was born in 
Lyme. Conn., wdiere he spent his life, engaged in 
tarming. Edwin Lee was born Julv 25, 1802, in 
Lyme, Conn., and in 1824 settled in New Haven, 
where he engaged in carriage building the remain- 
der of his active life, dying in 1885. He was the 
first to engage in the manufacture of carriage 
"bodies" as a separate business. Mr. Lee married 
Abigail Ames, one of the six children of I'ri and 
Mehitabel (Mix) Ames, the former of whom was 
a shoemaker in New Haven. Mrs. Ames died at 
the age of sixty-four years. Two children were 
born to Edwin and Abigail (Ames) Lee: iMary 
E., Mrs. Mix; and Charles E., who is in Mexico. 
Mrs. Lee passed away at the age of eighty-seven 
years. She was a consistent member of the Con- 
gregational Church. 

Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
.Mix. six now li\-ing. viz.: (i) Edward Eli is book- 
keeper in the Xational New LLiven Bank, with 
which be b;i> been connected for manv vears. He 
mari-ied Ida .Xmlrews, who died in 1898, leaving 
two children, h'.dn;! and Harold. His present wife 
was Laura Baldwin. (2) Willis Lee. who is en- 
.uageil ill the drug business in New Haven, married 
Harriet Bradley, and has one daughter, Claribel, 
who married Albert L. Whitcomb, (3) Nellie is 
a resident of Ureioklyn. N. Y. (4) Lewis B. is a 
telephone manager in .Stamford, Conn. He mar- 
ried .\gnes lirown, and they have four children, 
Dorothy. Bradford, .\mcs and Carl. (5) Jessie 
.Ames lives at home. (6) Virginia R. also lives 
at home. Mr. ■Mix's religious affiliation is with the 
.X'ortli Clmrcli, Tn iiolitical sentiment he is a Re- 
publican, lie was formerly a memllier of the XTu- 
tual ,\id .Association. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



CHARLES DICKIXSOX (deceased). For 
fifty years the Dickiinsoiis, the late L'liarles ami 
his son, .Major Arthur ,M. Dickinson, of W'ater- 
btiry, have lieen prominently identified with the 
ntainifacturinij- interests of that city and town. The 
Dickinson family was prominent during and after 
the Ke\iiluli<inary war at .Saylirocjk Point, Coim., 
and at Saybrook the late Charles Dickinson was 
born Se])t. 7, 1826, antl there passed his boyhood. 

Charles Dickinson first engaged in business in 
Williamsburg, Mass., and for a period was al>o in 
New York L'ity. He came to \Vaterbnry in 1851, 
where he was made secretary of the Walerbury 
Jewelry Company. Xot long thereafter, in 1856, 
he was given a responsible position in the oflu-e of 
Benedict & Burnham, and had charge of the busi- 
ness of the large brass concern on the road. In 
January, 1866, he became the secretary of the com- 
pany, and on the death of the president, Charles 
Benedict. Oct. 30, 1881, he was chosen treasurer. 
The Watcrbnry Watch Coiupany was est;d)lished 
in March, 1880. and Mr. Dickinson was made its 
secretary with Mr. Benedict as president. On Mr. 
Benedict's death Mr. Dickinson was advanced to 
the j.iresidency of that concern, whose plienonienal 
])ros])erit\' is in no small measure due t(.) his execu- 
tive abilitw (iordon W. lUirnham had succeeded 
Mr. Benedict as pre^sident of lienedict & Burnham, 
and he died March 18, 188.5. Mr. Dickinson was 
at once chosen as the best man to succeed him in 
the position of such great res])onsibility — to keep 
up the business which had been advanced to such 
a hi.gh standard by men whose names arc inniiortal 
in the brass industrv of the world, .\othing can 
better attest the business capacity of Mr. Dickin- 
son. The continued prosperity of both concerns 
am[)ly demonstrated the wdsdom of the choice made 
bv them, and their prosperity has in a large meas- 
ure meant that of the whole town, hence the deep 
interest of W'atcrbury in ]Mr. Dickinson's career. 
In further evidence of his great ca])acit_\' for busi- 
ness, he was foremost the year prior to his death in 
advancing the project of the Meriden-W'aterbnry 
railroad, and was made president of the company 
on its incorporation. Those who saw him in those 
committee meetings' wdiile the stock was being- 
raised for wiiat w-as considered one of the greatest 
public blessings ever vouchsafed Watcrbury, will 
never forget how strong was his ])nl)lic spirited- 
ness. In a social way, Mr. Dickinson was als<.i a 
man of mark, and occupied the jxisition of second 
vice president of the Waterbury CIuli. 1 le w as a 
metnbcr of the board of aldernien several years, 
and at one time served as ])olice commissioner. 
He entered but little into politics. 

Mr. Dickinson was married to Sarah J. Lynde. 
and to them were born Nettie L. (Mrs. E. L. I~ris- 
bie, Jr.), .Arthur .M., Edith M. (who died .\ug. ^o, 
1863), and Ainelia B. Charles Dickinson died 
-suddenly at Fortress Alonroe, A'a.. .\i>ril 15, 1888, 



and on the following day the Waterbury American 
editorially thus referred to his death and life : 

It is dilTunili in tlio tirst siulik-niicss 01 sucli a shock 
to soberly cslimatt- how gre.nt is the loss of so forceful a 
ixrsonality. For a generation Charles Dickinson has hccn 
idcntitied with the j;re;it success of the largest niannfactur- 
m.g enterprise in Walerlmry. Found and jjroved by .\Ir. 
lienedict while he cnnlrollcd the policy of the P.enedict it 
Burnham Company, to he a capaljle and faithful lieutenant 
in wise direction and in executive management, it was but 
n.-itural that he should succeed Mr. Benedict in its control, 
and upon Mr. Burnham s death, should become the nom- 
inal as well as the real president. lndetatig;ible as a work- 
er, loyal through and through, alert and watchful, he 
brou.ght to the man,-iRem nl of its large interests (pialities 
which justified in the success he achieved the great trust 
imposed on him. The same <|ualilies made him a conspicu- 
ous leader in the struggle to secure for Waterbury the 
Meriden railroad. .-\nd it was universally recognized as 
only fitlin.g that he should be chosen president when the 
la^t dollar of the stock had been |iledge<l, and the enter- 
prise had become an established fact. 

In social life .Mr. Dickinson, liy his very positiveness, 
drew to himself many warm ami stron.g friends. His 
.geni;il qualities, and his love of life and of all that life has 
to offer, tnaile him one whose comr.-ideship was welc(jme, 
and whose loss will be felt ni no ci^nventional sense. The 
extent of that loss in depriving the laniily circle of a de- 
voted father so closely followin.g thai of the wife and 
niniher, appeals to the sincere symjiathy of the conmuinity. 

^lajor Arthur M. Dickinson, son of the late 
Charles Dickinson, \v;is born Dec. 23, 1850, in \\';tt- 
erburv, and received his education in the public 
schools of the city, at the Cheshire .\cademy, and 
at Yale Colle.ge. .Alter his school da\-s were over, 
he, in 1879, became employt'd in the office of the 
Benedict & lUirnham Matiufacturing Co. In July, 
i8qo, he was elected secretary of the corporation. 
He entered with zeal into the business of that con- 
cern, and has served it with great fidelity and ef- 
ficiency. He had a taste for military affairs, and 
in Jtily, 1889, he was appointed adjuttmt, with rank 
of cajjtain, on the staff of Col. J. B. Doherty, of 
the Second Regiment Connecticut National Guard, 
and iti 1893 was jiromoted to be major of the regi- 
ment. L ! 

ALFRED ARLING']-OX 11()W.\RTH. a re- 
spected and prosperous citizen of North ila\-i-'n. is 
one of the veterans of the Civil war, and has good 
cause to remember that conflict, havin.g gone 
through the horrors of iAndersonville and l.ibbv 
prisons, and he still bears the marks of war on his 
person. 

-Mr. Howarth traces his ancestry to lui.gland, 
his first -American ancestor, Thomas Howarth, com- 
ing hither froi-n that country, brin.ging with him 
his two-year old son. the latter of wh(^m became the 
father of our siibject. Tlu-imas Howtirtli located 
in Xew Haven, which beautiful city was then in 
its youth, and there enga.ged in his trade of shoc- 
makin.g: later he opened a store dealing in boots 
and shoes. His death occurred in New Haven 
when he was about sevent\- vears old. His chil- 



84 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



drcn were: Alfred; Julin, who established the 
sliue business in ,\e\v Haven now carried on by 
his suns, under the name uf liowarth Bros., on 
Chapel street. Thomas, who became the father of 
James A. Ilijwarih, the jjopular and efficient post- 
master of .\ew Jla\en; \\ Uliam ; and James. 

Alfrei.1 liowarth wa.s burn in iuigland, came to 
America with his paren.ls, and sjjent his boyhood 
days in .\ew llaveii, where he recei\ed his school- 
ing, lie early entered the shop of his father, suc- 
ceeding; liim later m Inisiness. In i!s5-' h.e came to 
the town (if Xorth lla\en, where he ].(urchased the 
farm, a part uf whicli lii^ sun nuw occupies, Jivmg 
on that place, but still conducting the business in 
New Haven, ( )n account of poor health he tmally 
dis]Josed of the latter, and gave his entu-e time to 
farming interests, also becoming interested in fruit 
growing, in which he was (|uite successfid. .\ir, 
Howarlh married Elizabeth Ilartlett, who was born 
in icSio in Xew Haven, daughter of Xatlian and 
Sarah (Judd) Ilartlett, and died in 1891. Mr, Hu- 
warth died six years previously. They had the 
following children: Jeremiah, who married .Mary 
I'eabody, and li\es in Lung Aleaduw, Ma^s. ; 
Thumas. wliii resides with his liruihcr ; William, 
wliu married Louise lligebiw; Su-annah, wile of 
Juhn Aliddlelirouks, uf Xew Haven: Alfred A,: 
Alar_\', whu (first) married (ieurge .Scranton, and 
sub,sei|Uentl\- weddeil William Kin.g, anil lives in 
Xew ^'urk ; and I'rank, whu married .\nna Leeds. 

Alfred A, lluwarth was born in Xew Haven 
Se])!. (1, iN.V), and attended the ili>trict schools 
and the .Xurtli I laveii acadein\ , leaving school to 
learn the trade uf carriage bud\' making, in Xew 
ilaveu. .\lr. lluwarth cuntinue<l at this excellent 
trade fur fuur a.nd a half years, but when the Civil 
war broke uut he was amung the hr--t to respond to 
the call of his cuimtry. In .\ugust, i8()i,, he en- 
listed fur service in i-'n. V, ()tli ( unn. \ , I., under 
(apt. Luuis (,'. .\llen and Cul.' l hatlield. and saw 
hard and exhausting service, taking part in the 
liattlcs ni Hiltun Head, Pocotaligo, James Island, 
Sccessi<in\ille. Jacksuiiv ille, Alori'is Lkind, I'ort 
Wagner, i'lermuda lltindre<I, Chester .'station and 
Drury's I'dull'. \t the latter place he was tak.ii 
])risoner. and w.i> also badly wuunded ii.l the right 
Itand, This injmw has been a s;imce ui ir.mble e^er 
since. The bayonet was .aimed at his heart, and 
was interce]Ued bv his hand. The duuble mis- 
furtune ha|i]iened \\:\\ 1(1, lSfi.|, .and Mr, liowarth 
was taken to Libln- ])rison, where he was kept ten 
days before being sent to the terriljle |)en at .\nder- 
sonville. During his four months of incarceration 
at the latter place he could scarcely have lieen mure 
wretched, his experiences being so frightful that 
his wei.ght w;is reduced from ifi2 pounds when 
ca])tured. tu (j" pounds when paroled. Dec. \(\ tS'()4, 
-Manv times while at .Andersonville lu' was required 
to assist in carrying out dead comrades, and when 
he anil others were discovered in an attempt tu 
tunnel a way to freedom, starving was imp'^'sed to 



dampen the spirits of the poor victims. From An- 
dersonville Air. Howarth was sent, in September, 
to the prison at Florence, N. C.^ from wdiich place 
he was i):iroled. He reached his home iri Xorth 
Haven soon afterward, sadly wrecked in health, 
;md suffering front his dangerous wound. A long 
time ela|)sed before he could use his hand at all, 
but he hnalh- returned to his trade, and worked for 
several years in Xew Haven. 

Mr. Howarth spent some time in work in 
( )range and also at Millbnrn. X. J,, but rheumatism 
settling in his crippled hand prevented a secure 
grasp of the necessary tools of his trade, and he at 
last found it necessary to give it up. Returning to 
X'orth Haven, he assisted his father on the farm 
until the latter's death, at which time he bought out 
the other heirs and is now successfullv operating 
tlie farm, growing fine fruit aufl earlv vegetables. 

Mr. Howarth was married Jan. 17, 1869, to 
Fllen I'>radley, who was born Jan. 8, 1841, a native 
of New Haven, daughter of Asa and Louisa Wales 
(.Stetson) Bradley: the former was for many years 
clerk of Yale College. Children as follows have 
cume tu this union: Irene, born in tS/O, is now 
the wife uf Albert .S. Leek, of Hamden : Gertrude, 
liurn in 1872. is a trained nurse in Providence, R. 
L; Frederick, born in 1874. married Ellen Fitz- 
morris, and resides in New Haven ; Mabel and 
Raymond, twins, were. born in 1878. The family 
connection is with the Congregational Church, 
where the\- are liighlv esteemed. In pcilitics Mr. 
Howartli is a Republican, and he is always inter- 
ested in tmything promising success to tlic partv 
he believes possesses the right princiriles. 

ll()RACi: 1', SII.VRES (deceased) an.l his 
father, the late I)axii:i. W, Sif.vkics, were both na- 
tiv'cs uf tln' town uf Ihmiden and Iioth prominent in 
that cumnnmitv, the furiner .-dsu in the business cir- 
cles of Xew llaven, lie w:is for fortv \ears iden- 
tified with tint city ?.s a ])rnminent brick' manufac- 
turer and tbi're his son. I'red L, is now actively 
eii!';agi'd in business, 'Ihe .Shares family, with its 
allied families thruugh marria<;"e, is of stnrdv an- 
cestrv of the Colotiial period of Xew Fngland, 

Murn M;i\- 8, iS^n, in 11,-imden, Cunn,, near 
\\ hitneyville, Ilurace V. .*~^hares was the son of 
Daniel 'W, and Janette I Bassett) Shares. The 
father was an inventor of considerable note, and 
his inventions, as labor-saving devices, took well 
and have given him fame. He invented and had 
I)atented horse hoeing ;uid platiting machines, which 
he manufactured, and which now are used with sat- 
isfactory results; also in.atiufactured other fann- 
ing implements, among them a colter harrow, which 
tuok the highest premium in successive State f.airs, 

Ilurace 1', ,'~^hares received such educational ben- 
efits as the neighborho<id schools of his youth af- 
forded — no great advantages, for his attendance 
was limited to a few months in the winter season, 
and was not then In- anv means regular. After a 




^z^^^c^L^^y 



:OMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



little traveliiiij experience lie married and settled in 
the Ouinnipiac \'alle\-. and there ensased in a Inis- 
iness which had long been carried on in that region 
and with which he was destined to become pronii- 
r.enilv and snccessfnlly identified. In fact, there 
was not another man Iivin<;- whose pro_t;rcssivcncss 
had done as much for an industry as Horace P. 
.'^hares accomplished for brick manufacturing in 
Xcw Haven and the vicinity. 

In the luiddle 'fifties Mr. Shares for a year or 
more tried farming in North Haven and then be- 
came interested in the manufacture of brick along 
wiih his father-in-law. .\lfred Ives. In aljout 1859 
he assumed charge of the yards of the Warner, 
.Mansfield & .Stiles P.rick Co., of North Haven Cen- 
ter, and he held that position until 1863. In the 
meantime he had been ]irospccting in the Ouinnipiac 
X'allev for a suitable (|uality of brick clay, which 
he found, and which hail not been previously known. 
In 1863 he became established there in a business 
in this line of his own. .and Later on he purchased 
of his former employers one of their yards, operat- 
ing both until 1887, with marked success and in- 
telligence. In the ownership of the newlv purchased 
\ard he had a partner. Loyal Ives. The manufac- 
ture of brick in the valley referred to has been an 
important industry for generations and has brought 
much iuone\' into the locality, esiiecially through 
the centurv just closed. The clay in this locality is 
T'f a superior quality and is fomid in aliuost ine.x- 
haustible quantities. In the development of this 
industry ni:i naiue has been more conspicuous than 
that of Shares. When Horace P. Shares began the 
business, nearly fifty years ago, one million brick' 
IXT year was considered a good otitpul. Some two 
\ears ago at his two yards were made some nine or 
more million brick, of better quality and superior 
in every way. Recently the yearly product, by the 
employment of modern brickmaking machinery, and 
the use of bituminous coal instead of wood, has 
reached enormous figures, imtil now there are made 
upward of 30,000,000 brick annually. .\t one time 
Col. Warner, who was the principal brick manufac- 
turer of his day in that vicinity, said to Horace P. 
Shares when the latter asked how many brick he 
thought would be made that season in that lo- 
calitv, "I wouldn't be surprised if 1 .000. 000 wtTC 
luade." 

Mr. Shares was the first of the numerous brick 
manufacturers of the valley to introduce inijirove- 
ments. In traveling through the country and by 
reading and constant observation he became ac- 
quainted with modern improvenicnits and adojjted 
them. In 1873 and 1876 he was the first to use 
the Philadel])hia repress system, by which the best 
of the pressed brick of that period were made, and 
he was the first manufactm-er. in 1880, to make 
use of the ()allet system for drying brick, establish- 
ing this system at his yards at considerable ex]iense. 
This was so great a success that all the other luan- 
ufacturers in the locality followed his t-\ample. In 



18S5 lie introduced the pug-mill and sander. using 
them in his vards ; until that time tluy were un- 
k'nown in this locality, but they proved to be great 
labiir-sa\ iiig machines and ha\e since been in al- 
most universal use. 

Mr. Shares succeeded ^\ . .\. Ives as jirL-siilent 
of the W. A. hes Manufacturing Co.. of llaniden, 
and later was one of the organizers of the llaniden 
Manufacturing Co., l>ecoming its first ])ri.sident and 
remaining as .^uch until his health necessiialed his 
alisence from New bjiglaiid during the greater ])art 
of the year, when he resigned, at the same time sev- 
ering liis connection with other concerns with which 
he was identified. His enterjirise and public s])irit 
were in evidence wherever he was located. lie 
traveled quite extensively in this country and in 
Mexico and he showed great interest in the devel- 
opment of Rock Ledge, h'la.. where he s])eiU his win- 
ters from 1884. It \\;is hr who built up the new 
"Rock Ledge 1 lotel" at that pl;ice, which mi<ler his 
management has been successfully conducted ever 
since, and many Connecticut ])eople ha\e been 
guests there fro)n time to time. 1 lis progressiveness 
was shown in many other directions at Rock Ledge. 
During the warm weather he returne<l to New 
lutgland, .'^pending his summers at .^hort Ik'acli, 
where he had a very comfortable cottage. His 
death occurred at Pasadena. Cal., Jan. j^, \i)uj. 

Reading between the lini's one can judge the 
worth of such a man as .Mr. Shares to a community. 
Successful beyond the ordinary he was entirely self- 
made and deserved the prominent ])lace he occu- 
pied among! the citizens of New Haven county. As 
a citizen he took part in local affairs an<l was deeplv 
concerned and interesleil in tin- welfare of the com- 
munity in which he so long lived. l'"or many years 
he was an efficient church and I-^abbath-school 
worker, was superintendent of the North Haven 
Sahbath-school and also of the Humphrey street 
school, in New Haven, and gave cheerfully and lib- 
erally to deserving charities, having been an all- 
round useful man, alwa\s modest and devoid of 
show. 

( )n Oct. 0, 1834. Mr. Shares was united in mar- 
riage with Charlotte Ives, daughter of .Alfred Ives, 
a resident of North Haven. The Ives family, too, 
is one of New Haven's oldest and most substantial, 
and the name is still honorably perpetuated in the 
county. This union of Mr, and iMrs. Shares was 
blessed with children as follows: I'dla J.. Mrs. Rob- 
ert Barnes, of North Haven, has four children, two 
sons and two daughters. Fred L is a brick manu- 
facturer of Hamdeii, conducting the business estab- 
lished by his father. John O. resides at Highwood, 
in the town of TTanulen, from which town he has 
been representative; he is a manufacturer, having 
interests in New Haven and Cheshire. Conn.; he 
married the onI\- daughter of Henry W. Munson, 
of Highwood. and has one son. Horace R. gradu- 
ated from Sheffield .'Scientific .School, ^'ale L^nivcr- 
sitv. class of 1807. Paul is with Horace R. at Rock 



86 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Ledge. Fla., in the hotel Inisincss. Sylvia. Mrs. 
Allen Treadway, of Stuckl)ridi;e, Mass., has two 
sons. 

HAR\'1-:V .S. MLWSo.V. president of The 
Munson & Co., of .\e\v Haven, is one of that city's 
self-made men — cine whose success in life can he 
directly attrihiUed to his energy, and aliilii\- to snc- 
cessfidly grapple with Inisincss sitnations where 
judgment and foresight are essential. His connec- 
tion with ihe folding paju-r hnx indnstry in all its 
branches dates hack to a time when it was in its 
infancy — in fact lir and his nhU-v hmther. lulward 
l!., were the pioneer mannfactm'ers in that line in 
New Haven, and have heen sn closel\- identified 
with that tiranch r>f indnstrs- that the\' are prob- 
ably the best known mamifactnrers of that [jrodnct 
in .America. 'J"he city of New Haven is indebted 
to them and their tnitiring efforts for one of its 
largest em|.)loyers of labor, as well as the reputa- 
tion of being one of the very foremost cities in 
America in that particular line of m:umfactiu"ing. 
No longer ago than 1S73 their industry was strug- 
gling along, riir .\huis<in lirothers, then but little 
more tlian boys, iioi onl\- handicai)])ed Ijy yotith, 
but r)y lack of capital as well, were laying the foim- 
dation of a structm-e, the btulding of which marked 
their lives and brought deserved success. These 
brothers are descendants of the old .Minison fam- 
ily, which IS one whose history reaches back to the 
early colonial perioil of C'onnecticnt. 

The ])rogeiiitor of the famih' in ,\merica was 
'i'liomas .Munson, who was born aliout idij, and 
was first known as a resideiU of Hartford, where 
he performed military ser\ici.- in the l'ei|uot war 
in 1(137- I'c came early to the .\ew Haven colony, 
where he -.s sjioken oi in historv as being' a good 
and useful citi/en. and wliert- he died in ioSt. l~rom 
this Thomis .Munson, 1 l.arvey .s. .Mmison's line of 
descent is through .S.amuel, Theopbihis, Daniel, 
Kirk, Josipb, Kirk, (,'harles ;'mil lulward lleach 
Munson. and iiiebides ;i line of ani'eslors. all of 
whom at some time or another li\ed in .\'cw Ha- 
ven, and were promineiU in their lines of business, 
wdiether as manuf.actnrers of that period, farmers 
or ]jrofessional men. 

The ])aternal gr.mdf.-uher <<i our subiect was 
Charles .Munson. who was \uiv\i l\b. 14, I7<p. in 
New Tla\en. He was m.irried .\pril 11. iSi^, to 
Mabel, born .Aug. J. I7<j2, a d.aughter of Benajah 
r>each. She died I-\b. \(,. i,S7S, and he died June 
9, 1879. Mr. Munson resided in New Haven, and 
was for a jieriod engaged in the shoe business in 
Newbern, N. C. He ;dso resided in ibe town of 
Woodliridge, Conn., where he was chosen highwav 
sm-ve\<ir in iS^j. 1S43 and 1856, and grand jiu-oV 
in 1835 and i>^,^C>. During the war of t8i2 Mr. 
Munson served in the militia imder (.';ipl. [oscph .\. 
Bishop. Both he and his w\\v ;ire nu'mbers of the 
Congregational Church. 

Edward I'.each Munson, .son of Charles, atid 
the father of the .Mmison brothers, Rdward B. and 



Harvey S., of New Haven, was Ixirn Oct. 30. 1817. 
He became an elector of Woodbridge in 1840. He 
early became associated in business as a builder, in 
partnership with his brothers-in-law, A\'illis Smith 
and N. D. Sperry, a business connection that was 
continued some three }ears. For years he was 
largely connected with the building of railroads. 
He su])erintended the masonry work and the pur- 
chase of materials for the Providence & Stonington 
railroad, and for the New Haven, New London & 
.Stonington railroad, 1857-59. President Giles in a 
letter on this work said of him : "He not onlv 
equalled our expectations, but far exceeded them 
in ability, energy and mechanical skill." Later Mr. 
Munson built the Derby railroad. This contract he 
completed for the bondsmen, after the original con- 
tractor had defaulted in his contract. Under the 
same conditions Mr. Munson constructed one of 
the main sewers of New Haven in an entirely sat- 
isfactory and profitable manner. Air. Alunson be- 
came superintendent of the Fair Haven & West- 
ville Horse railway. Flis place of residence was at 
New Haven, and in i860 he served in the common 
council. On the breaking out of the Civil war he 
raised Company K, loth Conn. V. 1., and \\as 
chosen its captain, his commission dating from 
Sept. 25, 1861. He was mustered into the United 
States service Oct. 3, 1861, remaining therein until 
the 14th of the following December, when, owing 
to i)hysical disability, he tendered his resignation. 
Capt. Munson was a man of imposing appearance. 
He commanded the resjiect and esteem of his fel- 
low citizens, and all with whom he came in con- 
tact, and in his death, wdiich occurred -Aug. 15. 
1879, the cit\ and county lost one of its valued 
citizens. 

( )n June 3, 1841, .Mr. Alinison was marridl 
to Amelia C. Sperry, of Wood'hridge, born Jime 
13, 1822, daughter of WAllis and Catherine (Rams- 
dell) Sperry. The chililn-n liorn of this marriage 
were as follows: ( 1 ) .Albert Lerov, born in 1842. 
resides in .\e\v \'ork. He was ati officer in the 
5th N. Y. Heav_\' .Artillery during the Civil war. 
and arose to the rank of lieutenant colonel of U. 
S. \^ol. (2) Henry Theodore, born in 1844, was 
for a numljer of years a jirominent ])atent attorne\' 
of \\';isbingto)i, 1). t'., wliere he married Nellie S. 
I'orler, of that citw He wa^; for some vears con- 
nected as an examiner with the U. S. Patent Office, 
and later jiracticeil bis profession of law in New 
^'ork, where his death occurred .\])ril, 1897. on 
the day following his wife's death. (3) Alary 
(lertrude, born in 1846, married, in Jime. 1867, 
I Richard Henr\ (Ireene. a law\er of New A'ork. 
(4) Kate Amelia, born in 1841;. married, in i8(k). 
Louis ll.irtnian Todd, who was connected with 
the jewelry lirm of TilTaiiN' ^K; Co.. New A'ork. 
15) .Sarah .August.i, born in 1832. married, in 1882, 
.\lbert Candee, a clerk in the .\ew llaven post 
ofiice. (6) F.dward Benjamin, born June 12. 1854. 
(7) Harvey .Sperry. born Alarcli 3, 1857. (8) 
Miss Harriet ICliza, born in 1859, lives at New 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



87 



Haven, (q) Kmnia ^I.. born in 1864. died un- 
married in 1S88. 

Harvey S. Afunson was born on West street. 
New Haven. March 3, 1857. He was reared in 
that city, attended the old \\'ebster school, and 
later the Hojikins (Irannnar School. Opportunities 
for further pursuing;- his education were offered, 
but he decline<l, and left at the as'e of fourteen to 
enter ui)nn his Inisiuess life. While as a clerk 
for the dry .c;oods firm of J. X. .Adam iH: Co. an 
incident arose in the form of an affront, nr in- 
di,£;iiity. which resulted in his severim;' his connec- 
tion with that firm, and taking- u|) another line of 
business. About this same time his brother. Ed- 
ward B.. retired from employment as a clerk, and 
he became a partner of his bnither. Harvey .'-^.. in 
the sale of office stationery. This business was 
carried on about a year, during which tinve they 
were on the lookout for soiuething better. Their 
older brother. Henry T., was then an examiner in 
the V. ?. Patent Office at Washington, and com- 
ing beneath his notice was a jiatent folding paste- 
board box. Tlie value of this invi.'nti(in and its 
future possibilitie, as it seemed to him, were made 
known to his younger brothers, who alninst at 
once began to look into that line, and if possible to 
get control of the invention. In this way they 
learned of a n'anufacturer, J. W. Osborn. of Xew 
ark. X. J-, who was then producing- a folding box, 
the Xew England agency for which they secured. 
This was in the early part of 1874. .\t once they 
began to pu<h their new line, and the first order 
taken was from C. Cowles & Co., of Xew Haven, 
for 50,000 l)oxes. When this order was sent in 
the manufacturer could not fill it ! The fact that 
one customer in Xew Haven could not be supplied 
sho'ved how verv far were these xoung- men from 
liaving an adequate sup]:)ly, when the whole of 
Xew bjigland was to be considered. Tlit-y readily 
saw the great future for the business, and con- 
cluded to enter into the industry of manufacturing 
this article, young as they were — one not yet twen- 
ty-one, and the other less than eighteen — and they 
had implicit conl"idence in tlie future of the under- 
taking. Tluir means were ([uite limited, which 
difficulty was but one of several necessary to over- 
come before the enterprise was started. It was in 
1875 when Munson & Co. was first established. 
The handicap of limited means had been tempor- 
arily overcome by financial assistance from the 
mother, and not only at the beginning, but later 
on, as it was several years before the business be- 
came self-su]j])orti",ig. Their final location was in 
the top floor of a Iniilding otf of Artisan street. 
The room (40x50) served as office, faetor\ and all. 
Tlie first three years was but a struggle, and many 
times, had those back of the business been less 
courageous and ]iersistent, it would certainly have 
been abandoned. It had grown, however, so that 
in less than two years from its inception larger 
(|uarters were necessary, and they occupieil the 
whole ton floor of the l)uilding, while still later 



they occujiied the floor (firectly underneath. It was 
practicalh- not until 1878 th;it the business had 
begun to show encouraging reltn-ns. The time 
])rior had l)een largely speiU in iiUroducing their 
goods, buying up jiateiUs that would perfect 
or protect their business, all of which had not only 
exhausted their means, but much more as well. In 
1879 this firm perfected a die for use in their busi- 
ness: the efficiency of this article is ;itteste<l by its 
almost universal use throughout the worlil, without 
improvements, to the i)resent time. In 1881 it had 
become necessary again to seek larger quarters, anil 
they purchased the jiroperty at the corner of llrad- 
le\- and Williams streets, it being the old jilant of 
the Xew Haven ( )rgan Cd., ;m(l the early build- 
ing thereon was the .structure on the corner, being 
35xc)0, and five stories high. In 1888 another 
building was erected, 4(1x50, and fi\e stories high, 
as well as a liuilding (jf the same height which con- 
nected the two. Long liefore (his their product had 
taken a front rank, and was being constantly im- 
proved bv the aid of most careful study of the de- 
tails of production, as well as the inventive genius 
of the proprietors, so that it was probalilv the best 
known in the country. In i8i)r the business was 
consolidated \vith others in the formation of The 
Xational Folding Box & Paper Co. The property, 
however, was retained b\- V.. I'., and H. S. ^lunson, 
and is vet owned by them. In T'ebrnary, !S()6, 
owing to internal dissension, the .Munson broth- 
ers severed their connection with The Xational 
Eolding Box & Paper Co., and at once made prep- 
arations to start up in business. The Munson & 
Co. was incorporated in 1897, with Harvev .S. as 
president and Edward P>. as secretary and treas- 
urer. An unusual coincidence in their career ap- 
jjeared at this time. The only available (|uarters 
for their business was in the same building on 
Artisan street, where nearly a quarter o\ a cen- 
tury before had been the scene of their modest be- 
ginning. Conditions had been greatly changed. 
Instead of inexperienced youths with but little more 
than their energy as their capital, they were men 
of experience, faiuiliar with every detail of the 
business, and favorablv known to the trade every- 
where. Competition was plenty and fonnidable, 
but to offset this the field of consumjition had lieen 
greatlv enlarged, the ])rodnct had come to be used 
in thousands of different ways, so that the degree 
of their success was only to be measured liy their 
ability to produce the goods — the character of 
which w'as thoroughly suggested by the name of 
Munson. In .March. i8c)8. they l)ought their pres- 
ent quarters on (,'linton .avenue, which they have 
transformed into one of the most modern and best 
ecpiipped plants of its kind in Xew England, and 
certainly the best arranged and most accessible of 
its kind in Xew Haven. The success of this firm 
began with its inception. The peculiar fitness of 
its proprietors is sucli as to form a combination of 
mechanical skill rmd business acumen from which 
but little else than success could come; each pes- 



88 



Commemorative biographicae record. 



sesses lo an inuisual cxteiU one or the other of those 
facuhies, and at tlie same time a \'akial)le combina- 
tion of hoih facilities is to lie fonnd in eitiier of 
liiem. 

1 lar\i'\' S. Munsoii's inventi\e L;enius lias been 
a most valiiahle asset lo the concern. He has ob- 
tained ])aienls on almost a score of his own in- 
ventions. JCdward 11. Aliinson has taken out patents 
on se\'en dit'fereiU inventions and he has ])rob:d)ly 
£;"iven more of his time ami eiierL;y lo ilie business 
end of the concern. 

l-'r.'ilernally .Mr. .Mniisini is a member rjf W'oos- 
ter l.odse, V . &: .\. W.: I'raiiklin Lliaj)ler: Tlar- 
niony Council; Xew 1 Ia\eii Coinmaiider\-. Knij^hts 
Temiilar : and of ryramid Temple. Mystic Shrine, 
lie was for a number of \ears a member ot the 
New 1 laveii ( ii-ays, in w hich organization he arose 
from ihe rank of prixale to that of acting captain, 
liavint:; declined the election to that capacity. At 
one time he was a member of the I'oot (aiards, and 
served two and one-half years as inspector of ritle 
])raclice. rolilicall\- he is a supporter of Rep/Ublican 
])rinciples, and while taking the interest of a public 
.spirited and eiiterprisiiio' citizen in political matters 
he is" far from beiui;- a iiolilician. The ancesti'al 
lii.story of Mr. .Miui^nn is such as ti render him 
eligible lo membership in se\eral of the most ex- 
clusive colonial societies, among them being the 
Mayflower .'society, but he has never sought to en- 
ter any of these. llis tastes are quite loo ilemo- 
cratic lo wish a social standing basid n])on any- 
thing bill his own intrinsic worth, and like a truly 
progressive, culluied and useful ciiizeii he lives a 
life worthy of emnlaiioii b\ fuinre generations in- 
stead i<f ri.siing (111 llie kaurels nf his hoiinred an- 
cestors. 

( )n l'"rb. II. i.StSCi. Harvey S. Mmison was mar- 
ried to Miss (irace Louise I'allin, of .\ew Haven. 
( )ne child, ;\Iarion Catlin. born .\ug. 5. 1887, has 
blessed this union. In iSi)4 .Mr. Mniison completed 
his eleganl home ;il .\o. ()i j \\'hitne\ avenue. I'loth 
he and his wife are members of llu Cliurch of 
the Uedei'iiier. 

S^■I.\■|•:STF.R .SMITH. The ancestor of the 
branch of the Smith family in (.'omiecticnt to which 
this genlleman belongs was Nicholas Seversmith or 
Sieversmith, iviaker of sieves or sifters, who came 
from lloUand and sellled in Milford, (.'onn.. wliere 
on July 1 _', tCiC)C). he marrieil M;ir\- ribb.ils. daugh- 
ter of Thomas 'I ibb.als. a iH'ied m,-m nf liuil town, 
llfjrace Day, the aiiti(|uarian. of .\ew Haven, has 
found evidence that when Mary Tibbals married 
Nicholas .*^eversinith she mack- him droj) ibe lir>' 
part of his nr.nie. Seven childnn were biirn of 
this union, (if whom .\ndri-w was llie direct ancestor 
of our subject. 

.Andrew Smilli was burn in \(i~o. seitleil in 
Herb', t'liiin.. was married to .Sarah Tomliuson, 
and died in IJJJ. He was the fatlu'r of seven chil- 
<lren. and his ihircl son, losiah, the great-great- 
grandfather of our subject, was born June 15, 1703. 



Ihe latter married, Aug. 24, 1727, Esther, daugh- 
ter of Thomas ( )viatt. and had one son, Fdijah, 
born June 28, \~2'), bdij.ah .Smiih married, .May 
3. 1748, .Vnn, daughter of I apt. .Moses Hawkins, 
and they had seven children, the eldest of whom, 
josiali, born Dec. u. 1748, was the grandfather of 
our subject. 

jiisiah Smith married .Se])t. 8. I77,v I'-slhcr, 
danghler of C'a])t. Isaac Smith, of Derby. Josiah 
.Smith was a large land owner and it was on a part 
of his farm that the village of Birmingham (now 
Derby city ) was built. His house — a large, finely 
constructed dwelling — and more than one hundred 
acres of land, after the death of Josiah became the 
properly of his son, Davis, who was the father of 
Sylvester Smith, who has often been heard. to sav 
that he was born in the only house there was then 
in llirmingham, now Derby city. Josiah Smith and 
his wife. I'^sther, had a inimerous family, of whom 
Da\is was born .Vpril 24, 1785. 

( )ii .Se|it. 2, 1810, Davis Smith married llamiah, 
danghter of John Coe, of Derby, Conn., who was 
of I'jiglish descent. .She was born July 18, 1790, 
and died June i, 1870. Six children were born to 
Da\is .Smith and his wife: .Matthew, born in 1811, 
w.as suceessfullv engaged in the bakerv business in 
Xew Haven for many years. Cynthia, born in 1813, 
died ill 1864. Julius, born in i8iti, died in 1876. 
l'"ranklin C"., born in 1822, died in 1889. Harriet, 
burn in i82''i. died in 1863, thus leaving our subject 
the sole snrvi\or of the family. 

Sxlvesler .Smith was born Jul\' 20. 1S20, in 
Derby. When he was twelve years old his father 
sold the farm, the family moved awa\- from Derby, 
;md SyU'i'ster went to school in I-"armington, mak- 
ing his home with Rev. Labau t". ('heuey. who had 
married his sister, Cynthia. In 1834 Mr. Smith 
went to Mid lletown, where his p.arents were then 
living, and attended the school of Daniel H. Chase. 
Not caring for books, in 183^, when between fif- 
teen and sixteen, he located in Xew Haven and en- 
tered the tMiiidiiy df Isaac ( iilbert & Sons, leather 
manufacturers and dealers, continuing with them 
until 1857. At this time, in association with How- 
ard P>. Ensign, Mr. Smith engaged in the leather 
business under the firm name of Smith & Ensign, 
this comiection lasting until 1865, when he entered 
into ])artncrship with his brother, who was the ]irin- 
cipal owner of the New Haven ISaking Co., the most 
lirominent concern in its line in Ibe citv. Mr. 
.Smith was actively concerned in Ibe Xew H;i\en 
Piaking Co., of which he was for many years pres- 
ident, until t8()o, since which time he has been re- 
tired from the cares of an active career. For fifty- 
four years he was in active business life and earned 
the rest he is now enjoying. 

( )n March 20. i84ri, Afr. Smith was married to 
Charlotte F>utler, of Xew N'nrk. who was born in 
1824 and died Sept. ,^. 1832. Two chililren came to 
this union: Joline I!., born M;i\' l<^, 1848, who is 
a well-known artist in Xew I laveii : and Charlotte, 



born Jul 



1850, who died in April, i86j. On 




Ulj Urtifev SjVMjOtlv 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



89 



May 8, 1855, ^^r. Smith marricil Mrs. Harriet L. 
Butler, widow of the l)n)ther of his tirst wife, and 
two cliihlreii came to tiiis iiiii<iii: luiward S.. 
born in 1857, who is a ])hysician of Uridyeport : and 
Robert S., l)orn in i8()3. until reeently connected 
with the baking business in Xew Haven, in the 
office of the Xew Haven liaking Co. 

Politically Mr. Smith is a Democrat and many 
years ago served in the city council, but of late 
years has refused any office. He is an active mem- 
ber of the ^lethodist Church, ha\-ing been for many 
years class-leader and trustee. During his business 
life he was noted for his strict integrity, and among 
business associates his name was ever a synonym for 
honesty. The family is one of the most respected 
in New Haven and the family home at No. Q Col- 
lege street is known to a very large circle of friends 
and acciuaintances as the center of so much gra- 
ciousness, cheerfulness and generous hos]Mtality that 
its beautiful influence is felt from the oldest to the 
youngest, from the most privileged to the most tm- 
fortunate, of the many who enter its doors. 

JOHN CYRCS KXIGHT, who was for many 
years a well-known designer and engraver of Mcri- 
den, was born Dec. 2, 1833. in .Xndovcr. \'t. 

Daniel Knight, his grandfather, was a native of 
Ashburnham, Worcester Co.. Mass.. where he fol- 
lowed the trade of shoemaker, and where he mar- 
ried Esther h'airbanks. Ten children were born 
of this union, namely: Daniel, who died in child- 
hood; Mary, wife of a -\Ir. Norton; \\'illiam; 
Phineas; Cyrus; Stedman ; F.lbridge : Daniel; 
Esther, who married David Kirk ; and Jane. The 
father of these served as a soldier i>f (he Revolu- 
tion in a Massachusetts regiment, .\fter the close 
of his service he removed, with his family, to And- 
over, Vt., and there passed the remainder of his 
life, being occupied during his active years in the 
prosecution of his trade. Both he and his wife 
were members of the Congregational Church, and 
they died anrl were buried in Andover. 

Cyrus Knight was born in .\shburnhani. Mass.. 
and there grew to manhood. He removed with his 
father's family to .\ndover, \'t., where he gained 
a knowledge of brick-making, and also engaged in 
farming. l-"or some years he followed brick-mak- 
ing in the Hudson river region, famous for the pro- 
duction of this valuable building material. In 1836 
lie became a resident of Meriden, and secured em- 
plovment with Parker i*v- Perkins, in the spoon 
shop. His busy and useful life came to an end 
in .April, 1863, and his remains were interreil in the 
West cemetery. Previous to the ("ivil war he hail 
been a Democrat, but later he afTdiated with the 
Republican party. He attended divine worship at 
the I'niversalist Chm-ch. In Andover. \'t., he mar- 
ried .\nna Tyrrell, daughter of John Tvrrell, a sol- 
dier of the war of 1S12. She died July i. i8r)8. 
and was buried beside her husband. .Six children 
mourned her as a kind and lovin^; mother. Tliev 



were: Daniel T., now a resident of C.reat Har- 
rington, .M;iss.: .\nna P., wife of .\sa <i. boster, of 
Meriden: John (_'.. whose name begins this article: 
Hiram P., who married Sarah I'enn, and resides 
in Meriden; Thomas .\., residing at Santa Clara. 
Cal.; and Mctoria A., who married Levi .\lkn, and 
left a daughter, .Anna X'ictoria. The last named 
liecame the wife of b'.dward Spink, and is the mother 
of June K. and b'stella Spink. 

"lohn C. Knight spent his boyhood days in his 
native place, where he attended school. When a 
voung man he came to Connecticut, ami for some 
time was employed at Clinton in the niamifacture 
of tin tovs. Coming thence to Meriden, he was 
emploved here in the manufactiu-e of tinware. W-- 
ing of ingenious mind, he drifted naturally into 
designing and engraving, and was emi)loyed in this 
line of effort by the Meriden Malleable Iron Co. 
for a long period. Failing health at length com- 
pelled him to abanilon active labor, and he retired 
to his handsome home mi Ilnlibard avenue, where 
he was cheered and com furled li\ a devoted wife 
mitil his demise, which occurred ( )cl. i i, t8()8, and 
his remains were tenderly l;\id awav in the West 
cemeterv. Mr. Knight wa> widelv kivdwn and re- 
spected for his manly, npriiilit clniracti'r, and his 
departure was mourned by many outside ot his 
circle of relatives and intimate friends. Broad- 
minded and liberal of view, he worshipped at the 
Universalist Church, ami sustained the ])rinciples 
of the Republican parly in public affairs. lie was 
not a self-seeker, and never asked any ])ublic of- 
fice in the gift of his contemporaries, preferring 
the quiet contentment of his own fireside. 

On Dec. 31, 1867, Mr. Knight was married to 
Miss Julia, daughter of .Aaron Higbv, who was 
born iulv 15, 1840, in Meriden. Mrs. Knight 
cared for her aged father in his closing vears. and 
is known as a highly sympathetic and kind neigh- 
bor, and widely respected for her mrmv graces of 
character. Like her late husband, she is of liheral 
mind, with charitv for the foibles of her kind, and 
ever readv to aid those seeking sympathy, or ad- 
vancement toward a higher life. 

HON. JOHN AlANXIXn IIAI.P. of New 
Haven, president of the New York, New ?Iaven 
& Hartford Railroad Co., and former judge of the 
Superior Court of Connecticut, until rcct-nt years 
has been a resident of Willimantic. ihe |>lace of 
his birth, and one that he has long honored. 

President Hall is the great-grand.'i<in of Judge 
George Hall, wlm came from Entrland when a lad 
and made his lumie in Rhode Island, where he 
became a man of prominence, serving for many 
years on the P.ench. Dixon Hall, the grandfather 
of PresidiMit Hall, was ;i resident of Sterling. 
Conn., holding there a mnnber of ])ublic offices of 
trust and honor, and otherwise being a useful and 
substanti;d citi/en nf Windham countx'. 

The late Horace Hall, father of our subject. 



90 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



was born in the town of Sterlinj,', and in the early 
histt)ry of the villan;-c of Williniaiitic, Conn., came 
tn it as a jcIkkjI teacher. Later he Ijecame identi- 
fu-il with the manufacturing interests of this sec- 
tion, for years servinnr as local manager of the 
Windham Manufacturing Co.. and for a time was 
an enterprising merchant of Williniantic. He was 
a man of education, good ability and judgment, and 
soon these qualities were recognized, and his serv- 
ices to public ]iositions were sought. lie held vari- 
ous offices of honor and trust, among them for 
twenty and more years that of trial justice, was se- 
lectman frir a dozen or more years, anil a repre- 
sentative in the State Legislature. He held the 
esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens, and 
wlien he passed from their midst his death was 
keenly felt. He married Elizabeth, daughter of 
John ALanning. of Albany, N. Y., and a descendant 
in direct line from John Aldcn, and to this mar- 
riage were born three children, of whom the suli- 
ject of this sketch is the youngest. 

John Planning Hall was born Oct. ]6. 1841, 
in \\'illimantic, Conn. He laid the foundation of 
his education in the schools of his native village 
and in the somewhat famous school of Mr. Fitch, 
in South W'indh.am, Conn., and then for several 
years he was a clerk in his father's store. Subse- 
quently, having acf|uired a taste for the law, and 
deciding upon the a(lo[)tion of that profession, he 
fiu'thered his stuflics in W'illisfon Seminarv. East 
Phmipton. Mass.. where b\- hanl stud\- he com- 
pleted a three-years course in two, and was grad- 
uated in 1862, standing among the hrsl in his class. 
Jn the fall following he enti'red \'ale College, from 
which he was graduated in the class of 1866. While 
at Yale he won distinction as a writer and speaker, 
and took a number of honors iu comjiosition and 
debate. He won the Townsend prize, and com- 
peted for the Dc Forest medal : lie was also presi- 
dent of the Linonia .Society. In 1S08 he. was .grad- 
uated from (■olumbi.i Law .^cliool, \ew ^'ork Citv, 
after which he contiinuMl his l.iw studies in the 
office of Robert lionner, and was admitted to the 
New ^'ork City liar soon after. He began the 
]:ractice nl law in Williniantic. and rapidlv rose to 
])rominence in the ])rotession, anil grew into a large 
practice not onlv in Windham, but in the adjacent 
counties. He was generally rejiresenled in all of 
the important cases in this section, one of which 
was that of the Will's Trust Company, which in- 
volved some $40,000 and in which he was sticcess- 
fid, the case passing to both the Sujierior and .Su- 
preme courts. He became the acknowledged leader 
of the P.ar of Windham county, and his abilitv 
gained him great honors and successes. bVom 1870 
to 1872, and again from 1S81 to 18R2. he was the 
representative from the town to ihe Lower House 
of the .State. He held the ch.airmanship in almost 
;dl of the imjKtrtant committees while a member, 
and in 18S2 lie was unaniuKHislv chosen Speaker 
of Ihe House. In i88q he was elected to the .State 
Senate, and was made chairman of the Judiciary 



Committee. He served as president pro tempore 
of the .Senate. Following the close of the session 
of the Senate he was made a judge of the Su- 
perior Court of Connecticut. The appointment was- 
well received and was regarded by all as a meri- 
torious one. He served in this lii.gh office for five 
years, giving eminent satisfaction, making an ex- 
ceptionally good record alike for a thorough knowl- 
edge of the law. courtesy, and unwavering firm- 
ness. This was the expressed opinion of the press 
in general of both political parties. Tn October. 
1893, he was appointed vice-president of the New 
York. Xew Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, 
the apiKiintment being hailed hv the jiress through- 
out the State with most flattering comments. The 
Xew Haven Leader observed: 

Jiulsc Hall was ver\' successful in ;ill the great cases 
in which he appeared before the higher courts. As a judge 
he has been universally liked, and his conduct of cases has 
won very .sincere approbation from his associates on the 
bench and from members of the Bar. There is great re- 
.gret among all the lawyers of the State that as good a 
judge is to retire. Jud.ge Hall will fill his new position to 
the enlire satisfai'tion of the directors and stockholders of 
the Consolidated road, and also to the public. He has 
ornainvnted every position he has ever held, and he has 
gained sleadily in public e-timation from the time he first 
aripearc-d before the people until the present day. His 
character is without a blemish: his reputation is untar- 
ni.-hed: his ability is great; his popularity is extensive. 

Tn his political afifiliations President Hall has 
been a stanch Republican, and has been active, as 
he has passed along through life, in the local ])ublic 
affairs of ^Villinlantic, where he has held al>out 
all the offices within the gift of the people. Him- 
self liberally educated, he ever took a great interest 
in Ihe schools of \\'indliaiii county, and worked for 
their adv.aiicement. He was acting school visitor 
for a number r»f years, and early advocated the es- 
tablishment of the high school, and he was chair- 
man of the first higli school committee appointed. 
Tn 1872 he advocated a more modern charter for the 
borough of Williniantic. and was made the com- 
niitlee to draft the same, and that charter remained 
until the adoption of the Citv Charter several years 
ago. He earlv advocated a liberal system of public 
improvements, which resulted in better streets, side 
walks, curliing and street lines, and finally the ex- 
cellent system of sewers, being chairman of the 
committee ]nilting the measures through. 

On Nov. II. i8rjg, vice-president Hall was 
unanimously chosen president of the Xew York. 
Xew TTavi'ii iV ll;irtford Railroad Co.. succeeding 
Charles 1'. ('l.irk. (hi his promotion the Hartford 
Courant of Xov. 13 observed: 

Vice-I'residciit John M. Hall was ])roniolc<l on Satur- 
day to the presidency of the New York, New Haven & 
Hartford Railroad Company. This was generally ex- 
pected, and expected because it was obviously the fit 
course, in view of the great interests of the company. Mr. 
Hall has been for years the vice-president, and in the vari- 
ous absences of President Clark, he has taken full charge 
of affairs, and borne the responsibilities, and done the 
work to the satisfaction of all. It was natural that, if Ik: 
would take the place, he should liavc it. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



9' 



The formal action of tlio directors, uhicli practically 
ratifies the choice of the public, will be received with very 
general satisfaction, and the pleasant relations that exist 
between the company and the State will n<it suffer any 
disturbance by this change of ollicers. Judge Hall is en- 
tirely familiar with the duties of his new position, indeed 
all he has to do is to change title and go on with the man- 
agement of that great propertv. as he has been managing 
it. He knows the road and its interests, and those of the 
communities that it lives on. and that depend upon it. A 
crisis in the alTairs of the company, and we may say, too, 
in the business affairs of the St.ate, has been succe^^fully 
met. 

President H:ill is too well known to Connecticut peo- 
ple to need any introduction; whatever position he has held 
he has filled admirably. He has breadth, industry, intelli- 
gence, and a high personal character, and his election will 
be welcomed by stockholders and the public as a sign that 
the road is to l)e managed as it has been, and to maintain 
its uni(|ue position among railroads in this country. If he 
is to be congratulated, so are the company and the .State. 

(>n Sept. 2~. 1870, President Hall was mar- 
ried to Jiilia Wliite. daughter of Silas V. Lootncr, 
former ])resideiit of the Windliani Savitigs liisti- 
ttite of W'illimantic, and to them have heen l)orn 
three children, namely: John L.. I'doreiice M. and 
Helen !'>. ( )f these John L. Hall, who was grad- 
uated from Yale in 1H04, was. like his father, dis- 
tingtiished in college ; he took the 'J'en iCyck prize 
in i8i;3, and in liis senior year was chosen class 
orator; he was a Townsend orator and took the De 
Forest gold medal — the highest Yale honor. He 
is now a practicing lawyer in the city of Boston. 

REV. JAMES HEXRY CHAPIX, PH. D.. 
late of Aleriden, Universalist clerg_\nian and for 
some years professor of Geology and Mineralogy in 
St. Lawrence University. New York, was horn Dec. 
31, 1832, at Leavenworth, Iml., Init passed his 
youth in Illinois, whither his father removed in 
1839. The son was graduated from Lomhar<l I'ni- 
versity, Galesburg, 111., in 1857, and was for sev- 
eral vcars an instructor in mathematics and nattiral 
science in that instittition. In 1839 he was or- 
dained a minister of the I'niversalist C-hurch, and 
was settled at Pekin, 111., and afterward at Spring- 
field, that State. During the Civil war he was in 
the service of the L'nited States Sanitary Commis- 
sion, and, crossing the Rocky ?kIountains in the 
spring of 1864, canvassed the greater part of the 
Pacific coast, from Mexico to British Colttmhia, 
for funds for the Commission, supplementing the 
work that had beeti so w-ell begun by Rev. T. Starr 
King, just before his death. 

In the autuinn of 1865 Dr. Chapin went to 
Boston as secretary of the New Englantl I'reed- 
men"s Aid Society, of which Gov. John A. Andrew 
was president, and while holding that position made 
several totirs of inspection of the schools of the 
Southern States. In 1868 he became financial sec- 
retary of the I'niversalist Convention, with head- 
quarters in Boston, and during the centeimial peri- 
od of that clinrch was instrumental in raising the 
larger part of the Murray centenary fund, now- 
held for missionary purposes. In 1871 he became 



professor of Geology and Mineralogy in St. Law- 
rence L'niversity, New York, which position he 
held until his death, March 14. i89_'. In 1875 he 
was elected jjresident of his Alma .\Iater, at Liales- 
bttrg, 111., bttt after due cotisideration declined to 
accept the position. In 1873 he resntned regitlar 
pulpit ministrations, and becatne pastor of the Cni- 
versalist Cliurch at Meriden, Conn., contintting in 
that relation until 1885, when, finding himself over- 
loaded with professional duties, he resigned. 1 )r. 
Chapin served as a member of the school board of 
Meriden, and from 1880 to 1887 was acting school 
visitor; and it was dtn-ing this period that the Meri- 
den high school was eslaiilished. and the present 
capacious building erected. He was an active fel- 
low of tile Alttmni Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, and one of the founders of the As- 
sociation of American Geologists. He served as 
piesident of the Contiectictit Convention of Cni- 
versalists for a dozen and more years, and was for 
p long period chairman of the committee on Alis- 
sions in the National Convention of that church. 
Eraternalh- he was connected with the hYeemasons 
and the Odd b'ellows, and in the former held the 
rank of Knight Templar. 

Dr. Chapin was twice married, first, in 1857. \.o 
Helen W. Weaver, of .\lstead, N. H.. and in 1878 
to Kate A., daughter of the late Isaac C. Lewis, of 
Meriden. Conn. He left a daughter, Mary A., now 
the wife of W. M. Jackson, of London, England. 

Dr. Cha|)in made several tours in foreign laiifls, 
and not long before his death returned from a 
trip around the world. He w;is the author of .sev- 
eral volumes, amoitg them "The L'reation, and the 
Early Development of Society:" and shortly before 
his death issued from the press a work entitled 
"Frotn Japan to (h-atiada." which was well re- 
ceived by both the press and the public. He was 
identified with the Republicans from the organiza- 
tion of the party, but never held a political ofificc 
till elected to the House of Representatives in 1888. 

RICHARD W. LAW is one of the prominent 
and successful oyster farmers of New Haven, and 
has prospered in this btisiness for many years, on 
Oyster Point. 

Mr. Law was born in Middletown. Conn., Nov. 
6, 1820.. a son of Richard W. and ll;mnah (Eng- 
lish) Law. Grandfather Jonathati Law was a son 
of Richard Law, who was a distinguished member 
of the ("ontinental Congress. Richard \V. Law 
married riannah English, a datighter of Cajit. Ben- 
jamin E.nglish. \vIio lost his life in the West Indies. 

Richard W. Law. of New Haven, had the mis- 
forttuie to lose his father while in infancy, and as 
soon as he could earn his own living, was ptit 
to work on a farm, actpiiring a limited schooling, 
and working in Madison, East Haven. Branford 
and other places, his cheerful industr\- making him 
welcome all through tliis agrictilttiral district. 
While engaged in farming in East Haven Mr. Law 
was married, on July i, 1849, to Harriet liarncs. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of Xew Ifavcn. She was a ilau^iner i-f Slu-rman 
and iluldah ( Smiili ) llanu-s, ai l'',asi llavcn. tlir 
ilariK'S faniih- lia\ir.i;- orit^iiialod in Xorth ilavci;. 
whtTC tlu'v were noted as excellent l'anner>. 

After his marriage -Mr. Law and wife remained 
fur one year on the farm in East Haven, coming- 
then in I1S50 to Xew Haven. Desiring- to enjjatje 
in the hnsiness of oyster farniing. then almost a 
new itnlnstry in these waters, j\lr. Law located at 
( )\ster or Citv I'oint. I'ttrchasing- lijs seed oysters 
from the great oyster beds alont;- the \'irgini;i coast, 
Mr. Law followed the best then known nieth()ds of 
jjropagation and was rewarded with nn(|ualified 
success in this enter|)rise. Althonuh he has spent 
so many years in this line, Mr, Law is still inter- 
ested in it. and has associated with him his three 
sons. 

The family of Mr. and .Mrs Law consists of 
four children: J\ichard W., Jr.. .Sherman J!., Jona- 
than IL and Harriet Enslish. The yonn;;- nien are 
all capable and reliable business men, and manage 
a business of large proportions. Miss Law is a 
lady of education and culture, and belongs to the 
social organization the Daughters of the American 
Revolution. She is also a member of the Congrega- 
tional Church, of wdiich her father is one of the 
supporters. In politics Mr. Law has always re- 
tained the right to vote indej)endentl\- as his judg- 
ment prompts. Fraternally he i,-^ comiected with 
the Order of Red Alcn. 

DEXTER ALDEN (deceased), in his lifetime 
a prominent merchant and mannfactiu'er of Xew 
Haven, was of the seventh generation in ilirect de- 
scent from John and Priscilla (Mullens) .\lden. 

The history of the family in America begins 
\\ith the coming of John Alden to ^hissachusetts. 
Jle was born in England in 1599, was married in 
i62t and died at Dnxhury .Sept. 12. i')87. His 
wife'.s parents came over with him in the "ALay- 
flower," to die in the February 'succeeiling their land- 
ing. John Alden and his wife had eleven children, 
of whom (H) Joseph, the second child, was born 
in 1(124 and died in 1697. There are curious stud- 
ies about his family history and the names of his 
children. He w;is atlmitteil a freeman in i(_)^i) aiul 
inheriteil his father's proprietary interests in 
Ilridgewater. where he settled in what is now West 
Bridgewater. ( )f his hve children, (111) Joseph, 
born in 1667, is in the pncestral line. 

(Ill) Jose])h ;\lden became a deacon in the 
Congregational (_"hnrch. He lived in what is now 
Soutli I'ridgewaler, was a noted character in the 
histor\- of his times and died in 1747, leaving a 
will, dated foiu- years before, to which he had af- 
fixed his mark. In i(«p he was married to Hannah 
Denham, of I'lymotuh, a daughter of Daniel Den- 
ham, and they became the jiarents of ten children, 
'idle mother died in 174S. at the age of seventy- 
eight. 

(!\"l .Samuel .Mden, eighth clr.ld of Joseph. 



was born in 1703 and died in 1785. In 1728 he 
married .\biah lulson, a daughter of Capt. Joseph 
b^dson, and they were the parents of nine children, 
of whom 

(\ J fosiah Alden, the fifth in order of birth, 
b( rn in 17.^'^. was the ancestor of Dexter Alden. 
josiah Alden, Iwrn in Ludlow, Mass., settled in 
Ilridgewater. In 17^)! he married Bathsheba Jones 
and iie became the father of nine children, of whom 
I'.eniamin. the youngest son, was the father of 
Dexter .Mden. 

( \'I ) llenjaniin Alden w;is born in 1781 and 
died in 1841. Alary llodges, called "Polly," who 
became his wife, was born in 1783 and died in 
iSf)5. They had seven children: i\lary, Jeiiferson, 
Caroline, David, Dexter, Lucinda and Eliza. 

Dexter Alden wa.s born in Ludlow, Alass., Oct. 
13, 1812. He was married twice, first time to Jiliza, 
daughter of Leverite and Esther (Sriswold, of New 
Haven. Tlieir daughter, Anna Griswold Alden, 
is the wife of William L. l-'ields, president of the 
National Tradesmen'.s Bank, in New Haven. On 
Dec. 30, 1857, Mr. Alden married Alargaret E. 
Feeter, daughter of John and Nancy (Failing) 
I'eeter, of Little Emails, N. Y. The Feeters consti- 
tute an old and honored family in the ^Mohawk 
\"alley section of New York, and Mrs. Alden's 
grandfather. Col. William Feeter, was one of the 
bravest patriots in his section during the Revolu- 
tionarv war and in the stirring scenes that led up 
to it. He belonged to the corps of forty picked 
men known as the "Tryon County Bulldogs." 
There were other Feeters in the region who es- 
poused the cause of royalty and followed Johnson, 
the Indian Sachem, to wdiom they were related by 
marriage. They fled to Canada, in which country 
thev abound, and slightly changing the name are 
now known as McFeeters. "Lhicle John," the 
father of ?\Irs. Alden, iiad an old flint-lock musket 
which he jjrized verv highly, as it was carried by 
Col. Feeter during the Revolution. It is still in an 
excellent state of preservation. For more than 
twenty-five years it was Mr. Feeter's custom to 
load and fire it on the first day of the year and on 
July 4th precisely at seven o'clock in the morning. 
On the stock of the gun there is a brass plate bear- 
ing this inscription: "Presented to Colonel Feeter 
by Henry Young din-ing the — year of the Revo- 
lutionary war and carried by him during the seven 
years' war." Col. William Feeter died at the age 
of eighty-eight years, in 1844. He reared fourteen 
children of his own to maturity and took into his 
own home, and cared for as he did his own, si.x chil- 
dren belonging to poor families in his neighhorhood. 
John h'eeler, the father of Mrs. Alden, was 
reared at the old I'eeter homestead on Top Notch, 
which is now knoAvn as the Coodell and Pickett 
farms, in the town of Little Falls, where he w"as 
born Nov. 30, 1804. On Sept. 17, 1820, he was 
m;irried, at St. Johnsville, to Nancv Failing. For 
many years tlu'x' followed a farming life, and in 





^^(^^ 




COMMEMORATIl'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



93 



1847 removed to Litlle Falls, where Mr. l<"ccter diil 
considerable contracting and constructed the high- 
way leading to "I'immernian's Hotel." lie also set 
out the trees surrounding Eastern Park, and materi- 
ally assisted in building the old "yellow tavern 
ch.urch." His brother, Adam I-'eeter, was the first 
post rider between Newport and Albany, and for 
three _\ears his father. Col. Feeter, who was a cl(jse 
friend of (len. Herkimer, maintained the exiienses 
of this ancient mail serxice. The b'ederal t'lOvern- 
ment, recognizing his valuable services, subse- 
i|uentlv ottered him the contract for the mail service, 
which he did not see fit to take. John and Nancy 
l-'eeter had children as follows: (i) Jacob, a promi- 
nent lawyer of New York City, whose home is at 
^'onkers; (2) ^Margaret 1^., Mrs. Alden ; (3) I'ar- 
nielia, Mrs. French, of Piuffalo; (4) Gertrude, Mrs. 
Cruttenden : (5) Cynthia, Mrs. Walker, of Utica; 
and (6) Mary C, Mrs. Easterbrook. The descend- 
ants comjirise seventeen grandchildren, and nine 
great-grandchildren. 

Dexter Alden came to New Ha\en when a 
young lad, and became associated with Mr. Allis, 
jiroprietor of the leading hotel in New Haven, as 
his stewartl. In early manhood Mr. .\lden \\ent to 
i'ainesville, (Jhio, with a ]);irty of settlers, who were 
confident that in the near futtn-e that jjlace would 
become an important railroad center. While there 
he contracted the fever and ague, and was obliged 
to return East. He stojiped at Little F'alls, where 
he went into a joint slock compan\', composed of 
(Jordon TrumibuU, Washington \'an l_)reesen, James 
Aldrich and himself, <5rganized for the manufacture 
of carpets and rugs. He was also interested with 
Mr. Aldrich in a dry goods store at IJttle Falls, 
which they sold out after several years' successful 
management. Mr. Alden also disposed of his in- 
terest in the factory about the same time and re- 
turned to New Haven, where he established a dry 
goods store in comjiany with a Mr. Hunting- 
ton, continuing with him until iS'()_>. He then en- 
ga.ged in manufacturing, fomiing the bdm City 
Kuf'tle Co. 1 le was also one of the originators in the 
formation of the American I'^ish Hook and Needle 
Co.. the first industry of the kind whose work was 
done by machinery, and the former line is still suc- 
cessfidly carried on, but the needle was abandoned, 
being too expensive to m;muf;icfure by machinery. 
Mr. Alden also had an interest in a hi(l(> and tallow- 
rendering establishment, which was very successful, 
and became a member of the United States Dairy 
Co., of New York City, individually purchasing the 
patent rights for Connecticut for the new jirocess 
cf making oleomargarine. In this business he was 
eminently successful, his profits from this interest 
in the month of March, 1883, being over $50,000, 
and during that year over S22^.(XX). The ruffler 
business proved (luite as satisfactory in its way, and 
his profits from it ran from $60,000 to .$ujo,ooo 
yearly. Mr. .Mden later invested money to develop 
an automatic fire extinguisher, but this \-enture did 



r.ot prove successful, and caused him considerable 
loss. Fie also erected many fine residences that 
were an improvement and ornament to the city. 

Mr. -Alden was an u]iright and conscientious 
man, and during his residence in Little l-'alls was a 
deacon in the Presliyieri.an Church. Jn New Haven 
he associated himself with the old Center Congrega- 
tional Church, and hi^ d.ailv living was in accord 
with his religious professions. 

To De.xter and Margaret ( I'eeter I .\lden were 
born the following nanu-d children: ( i I M;iry Eliza- 
beth is the wife of Charles Kingsbm-y Hillings, of 
New York City, a son of the late James N. and 
Julia (Holmes) I'lillings, the father a large im- 
porter in New York. .Mr. and .Mrs. Hillings have 
six children, Charles Kingsbury. M.argaret Louise, 
^laljcl F'rances, Julia Holmes, .M;iry l'"lizabeth and 
John Alden. (2) I,ouise Cert rude is the wife of 
Lieut. \\'illiam L. Howard, ('. ,'^. Navv, who was 
])resent at the liattle of Manila in i8()8, when the 
Spanish fleet was destroyed, being on the "P)oston'* 
during that engagement. The following I'eliruary 
h.e was sent home, and for some time was a start' offi- 
cer in the Intelligence Ihireau. In ( Jctober. i()00, 
he was put in charge of the gunboat "P.ancroft." as 
executive officer and navigator, was later at Cokm, 
and is now on the "Ulinois," which had the honor 
of being the flagship which met I'rince Henry of 
! Prussia. She will now ]>roceed to luigland, to rep- 
resent the L'uitcd .States at the coronation of King 
FIdward \"IL Lieut, and Mrs. Howard h;ive one 
child, Helen. 

JULIUS TT. MORRIS. The first members of 
the Morris family in this country came from Flng- 
land to America, arriving June 3, 1637, and located 
in Massachusclls. They sailed for what is now 
New Haven -March 30. i'')38, and arrived there two 
weeks latef. Thomas Morris, the ancestor of 
Julius H. Morris, a shiplinilder b\- tr;ide, signed the 
Plantation Covenant in 1^38, receiving a deed to 
property known as "-Morris Point" in 1671. The 
old house is still stanrling, and upon the chimnev 
is painted the date, "]C)yi." This ])ropertv passed 
from him to his descendants, and has never been 
out of the family name in all this long period. 

John Morris was the iirst proprietor who re- 
sided on the farm, and it has ever since been in the 
hands of his descendants, the line l)eing from Julius 
FI. back through Amos, .Xmos, Amos, J;mies, Elea- 
zer to Thomas, the founder. James -Morris was a 
merchant in .New Haven, and a deacon in the Con- 
gregational Chiu'ch. .\mf)s Morris, the grandfa- 
ther, was born on the oM place and li\ed and died 
there, engaged as ;i fruMner. He, too, was a dea- 
con in the church. He w;is a member of the Cov- 
ernor's Horse (iuards. and his son .\mos was a 
ca[)tain in the State Militia, .\nios Morris, the fa- 
ther, was born on the old tract, the .Morris farm. 
in 1750, anil married Lois ITotchkiss, who was born 
in East TIa\en, Conn., a daughter of a neighbor- 



■94 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ing farmer. Their children were: Lucius, who 
died in Xoveuiber, lycxj; Robert and Lydia, who 
died }oun,sj; Julius H. ; ani.1 Thomas, deceased. 

Julius II. .Morris was hnni I'el). j6, 1823, on the 
original farm, or what is now known as "Morris 
Point," and has always lived there, engaged as 
farmer, fisherman and hotel keeper. Ide is one of- 
the best-known citizens of the locality. His first 
marriage, which took ])lace April 8, 1844, was to 
Julia Rowe, who was i)orn in Fair Haven, Conn., 
in May, i8ji, and died Jan. lO, 1873. She was a 
daughter of Deacon Rowe. of Fair Haven, who was 
a tailor, merchant and oyster grower. The second 
marriage of Mr. Morris, on Sejjt. 10, 1S74, was to 
Mrs. Ann Eliza Hitchcock, who was born in Fair- 
field, Conn., and died Sept. 20, lyoo. 

Mr. ^ilorris has neen a Whig and later a Re- 
puldican, having been active in politics nearly all 
ills life, and has filled many positions of confidence, 
prominence anil trust, has been selectman for three 
terms, and for twenty-three years was clerk of the 
South School district and has luen connected with 
the board for forty years. The children of the 
first marriage numbered eleven, eight of whom 
grew to maturity: Robert R., a farmer at AFjrris 
Cove, iTiarried .\lary C lark, and has had six chil- 
dren, Lela. Wallace, Robert, Herbert, Grace and 
Julius. Julia UKU'ried I.yman C. Thompson, of 
I^Iorris Cove, and has one son, .Morris. Emma 
married (leorge W. Thompson, win.' lives in Mor- 
ris Cove, but she has passed awa\ ; she had five 
children, three of whom survive, h'dward, Lewis 
and FZmma. Jidius is an oysterman .at the Cove; 
he has never married. Lettie married ( icorge Cad- 
well, and resides in New Flaven ; they have had 
three children, CdilTord, (ieorge and Clarence. Hat- 
tie married J. W . iwerett, of New Haven, and has 
had five children, Raymond, J'urlon, FIthel, Ed- 
ward and .Sidnev. Carrie married Johrw \\'. Lewis, 
the well-known builder. J'.d^vin .\. is mentioned 
below. 

l-",i)\\ix .\. -MoKi^i.s was born in I'air Haven, 
Conn., l"eb. 8, i8'i(). and was reared at AFjrris 
Cove, the old family pro])erly. His school days 
were passed there, wliei'e he remained inUil he was 
nineteen, when lie entered the grocery store <.it R. 
II. Wright, of .\e\\ lla\en, in tlie capacity of clerk, 
continuing there for one year. He then opened up 
a grocerv business of his own, which he success- 
fully conducted until i8c)3, when he returned to the 
Cove and established there a large grocery and 
meat store. 

On Jan. 20. 1884, Mr. Morris wa,-. married to 
Ella Everett, who was born in (_)live, Clster Co., 
N. \'., a daughter of lUnry l-.verett, a farmer in 
that locality, and four clnldren have been born of 
this union: (lertrude, Jessie, Hazel and Dorothv. 
Mr. -Morris is in sympathy with the Rei)nl)lican 
])art\', and is :\ member of the Woodmen of .Amer- 
ica, while the whole familv belongs to the Con- 
gregation.al ChmTh. I'ew families in this vicinity 



can ])oint to a longer line of honorable ancestry, 
unbroken, and perhaps none possess such liistoric 
remains as the old homestead of 1671, ' 

C'tJJC. The Coe family, who for some genera- 
tions have lived at Middletown, Conn., are a branch 
of an old New I'Ingland family, and Hon. Levi El- 
more Coe, of Meriden, for eighteen vears judge 
of the cit\' an<l police cotirts, former mayor of the 
city, and jiresidcnt of the Meriden Savings Baid^ 
and the Meriden National Bank, is a notable de- 
scendant and a conspicuous representative of same. 
He is in the eighth generation from Robert Coe, 
his first American ancestor, through Robert Coe 
(2), Capt. John, Capt. Joseph, Capt, David, Squire 
Eli and Col. I^evi, a line of illustrious and noble 
men, ,dl of whom were prominent and useful citi- 
zens. 

(I) Robert Coe, who came from the County 
of SuJifolk, England, with his wife and three sons, 
arriving in Boston in June, 1634, was the first set- 
tler at W'atertown, Mass. The followmg year he 
removed to \\'ethersfield. Conn., and he was one 
of the first pinchasers of Stamford. Fie was among 
the original settlers at Hempstead, L. L, and with 
others Ijegan a settlement at Jaimaica, L. L, in 1656. 

(II ) Robert Coe (2) was born in England in 
if'>27, accompanied his father to Watertown, Weth- 
ersfuld and Stamford, and located at Stratford, 
Conn., where he married Hannah, daughter of Mat- 
thew and Susan (Butterfield) Mitchell, 

(III) Capt. John Coe, son of Robert (2), born 
in i'i58, in if)82 married Mary, daughter of Joseph 
Hawdey. In his mature life he was a ])rominent 
character in Stratford, serving in the French and 
Indian war. and becoming a captain. He was also 
deputy to the Ceneral Court, and held other po- 
sitions. 

ll\') Capt. Josc])h Coe. the son of Capt. J^hn, 
born in i(>8(i, was married in 1708 to Abigail, 
daughter of r):ivid Robinson. He was one of the 
early settlers of Durham, becoming one of the 
])rominent men of his time. He was commissioned 
ensign and lieutenant, rising to the rank of cap- 
tain in the militi.'i service. He attended the Gcn- 
er:d (oui't as a deputy, and held several important 
local positions. 

( \' ) Ca|)t. David Coe, son of Cajit. Joseph, born 
in 1717, was married to llaimidi, daughter of 
Nathan Camp. One of the early settlers of Middle- 
field, he took an active interest in military afifairs, 
in 1750 was appointed by the ( leneral Court lieu- 
tenant in the militia, and in 171 14 captain. Dur- 
ing the Ri'voltitionary war his services were im- 
portant and valuable. 

( \ 1 ) S(|uire l-di Coe, son of Capt. David, born 
in 1758. was married to R.achel, daughter of Deacon 
Ichabod Miller, and made his home in Middlefield. 
Tln-ir children were: Rela. Lucy, Rachel, Eli and 
Levi. I'or nian\' years I'.li Coe was a justice of the 
])eace. and was a selectman many years. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



95 



(\'II) Col. Levi Coe, son of Eli and the fa- 
ther of the Hon. Levi E. Coe, was born July ii, 
1788, and was married l''el). 14, 1811, to Sarah 
\\'ard, born April 2. 1788, a ilaiis;hter of William 
and Mary (Alillcr) Ward. After a sit;nall_\- hajipy 
married life of fifty-three years CliI. Coe died Jan. 
16, i8()4. and his widow passed away Dec. 10, 
1871. 'I'hey had the followiiii;' family: (i) Ken- 
jamin Ward, born April _'8. i8ij, married Uelsy 
-\1. l.Jirdsev. (j) .\melia M., Imni i,iet. 15, 1S15. 
married leliabod Miller. (3) .\l\in lU-miei;, born 
J-'eb. 15. i8ji, was married to Harriet 1'. Coe. (4) 
Levi Elmore, born Jnne d, iSjS. is mentiimel 
below. 

Col. Levi Coe was educated in the ])nblic schools. 
He followed farming;- all his life, and was a tbor- 
ouii'hl)- practical and common sense man, doi:!!;- 
what he attempted, and atteiiiptiiii;- r.o more than 
what he could do well. He would break no more 
ground than could be well culti\-ated. and kept no 
more stock than coidil be properly fed. His farm- 
ing was practical rather than theoretical, and he 
took pride in his fences, his crops and his stocks, 
ile acquired an enviable reputation in the lirecding 
and raising of good horses and cattle, being espe- 
cially fond of Devons. The ambiiion which mo\ed 
liim was always for the best. His dis[iosition was 
hopefid. his demeanor modest and courteous, and 
his -relations with his family tender and indulgent. 
in his transactions he was caul ions, and he was 
firm in his convictions of the right. Many sought 
his advice, and his judgment had great weight. He 
creditably tilled several positions of responsibility 
rnid trust, and he had the respect and confidence 
of the community to a marked degree, bor many 
years he was an active member of the .State .Militi.i, 
antl was advanced to a colonelc\' when military 
honors were worthy the ambition of any man, and 
when merit alone was the test of success. That he 
merited the title was attested by its universal tise 
in addressing or s])eaking of "Col. Coe.'' He took 
a deep interest in the affairs of his town, and of 
the Congregational Church, of which he was a de- 
vout member, punctual in his attend;mce at all meet- 
ings, hi 1842 he was active in the conslrncti()u of 
the new^ church building, and was instnnnental in 
raising the funds f(3r that pur])ose. Col. Coe had a 
social nature, l(.)ved his friends, and greatly enjoyed 
entertaining his friends and relativi>. His was a 
hospitable home, and the best the home afforded 
was none too good. He was fond of anuisements, 
innocent stories and harmless jokes. 

Judge Levi E. Coe, who is the am bor and com 
])i-ler of the "Coe-Ward- Memorial," traces his an 
ccstry to other emigrant ancestors as follows: b"n- 
sign William Ward, one of the patentees of Mid- 
dletown. Conn.; Thomas Miller, freeiuan of Row- 
ley, Mass., in 1639, one of the original i)roprietors 
of Middletown : Nicholas Camj), Milford, Conn., in 
i''\'^Q; Thomas Robinson, an earlv settler in (iuil- 
ford. Conn.; William C"ornwell. I'Jowlev, Mass., in 
1634, at Hartford in 1637, in the Pequot war, at 



Middletown in 1651; Alexander Bow, at Charles- 
town, and at Hartford in 1039, who was one of the 
original proprietors i.if .Middletown, Conn.; ('ornet 
Joseph Parsons, in Ahissachusetts ni i''i3i'. 'it 
Si-iringfieUl in ii'3(). at .Xorlhampton in i(>55, a 
member of the .\iicient and Honorable Artillery 
Company of Jioston; John Johnson, Roxbury, 
Mass., in 1630, mtide a freeman in 1631. deputy to 
the first General Court, surveyor general of arms 
and anmiunition, the first clerk of the Ancient and 
Honorable .Vrtillery Company; Ca])t. Istiac John- 
son, freeman at l\ow le_\ , in 1O35, made a ca])tain m 
1653, killed at the (ire:U .Swtun]) li.i^ht in the .Xtir- 
ragansett war, Dec. i<k i'»75; Itipt. Daniel Harris, 
at Rowdey, at Middletown in \(i^2, deputy to the 
General Court; llumphre\ I'rior, one i_>f the etudy 
settlers of Windsor; David .\t water, at \ew H;i- 
ven. Conn., a signer of the I'lantation Covenant. 
Jinu- 4, i'i39; Joseph J law ley, Boston, I'i3ij. at 
Stratford the same year, ;i dei)uty to the General 

I (_'ourt twenty-nine times; John Kirby, iirst settled 
in Boston, at ]'lymoiUh in I'i43, at Iltirtford, i()45, 
at Wethersfield, I'i4(;. at Middletown, 1^155; Jolui 
Taylor, ;it Windsor in i'i3i), stiiled from New Ha- 
\-en in the "j)haiitoni ship;" S:nnnel Xettleton, at 
Totoket (Branford) in 1044; Deacon Paul Peck, 
at Boston, i'>33. at Harii'onl the following year; 
Thomas Barnes, at Xcw Ibaven in 1643, one of the 
origii'.al ])ro]n-icloi-s of .\1 iildU town ; Thomas Tap- 
pin, a captain and a free pkuiter in Milford in I'i3<;, 
rentoved to Southaiupton. L. 1.. depiUy and assist- 
ant to the (ieneral Court ; I'.lder ICdw.ard Tm-ner, 
at Milford, 1651, an original projirietor of Middle- 

j tow-n; Bigot F.ggleston. at Dorchester, 1O30, at 
Windsor, i(>35; Samuel l-lggleston, one (jf the orig- 
inal pro[)rietors of Middletown; John ( )sborn, an 
etirly settler at Windsor, t'omi.; Rich.ard ( )ld;ige, 
at Windsor before 1(140; Thomas .Sayre. at Lynn, 
Mass., in i(')38, at Souiham|)ton. L. L, in 1640; 
John Rogers, called the "settler." a free planter 
of Milford, Conn., in i'i3i;: .\Kxander Knowles, 
freeman of Massachusetts in if>3'i, at Fairfield, 
Conn., in 1633, assistant to the ( ieneral Court; 
Thomas Bliss, at P.oston, i'i35. at Hartford, 1636;- 
Dr. Henry Woodward, at Dorchester, 1635, at 
Xorthampton, 1658; Cai)t. Joscjih Weld, a freeman 
of Rowley, Mass., iti i'')3''i. ;i soldier in the Pequot 
war, a member r,f the .Ancient and Honorable Ar- 
tillery Company; Xicbolas Disbrow, at Hartford 
in 1630, a soldier in the Peijuot war; Edward 
Birdsey. at W'ethersfield. Comi.. in 1^)36; Matthew 
Mitchell, at Charlestowu in iC>3'i. at Saybrook. at 
Wethersfield, Conn., in i(i3(). at St.amford the fol- 
lowing year, at Hempstead in i'i43. a deputy to 
the General Cotirt. and a soldier in the Pequot war. 
fb).\. I^i:\'i Im.moki-: Cot;, of Meriden, son of 
Col. Levi and Sarah (Ward) ( 'oc, is a native of 
wdiat is now the town of Middlefield (then Middle- 
town), Coini., born Jnne U, 1828. He received his 
eilucation in the comiuon scliools of liis neighbor- 
hood and Post's and Chase's .Xc-'demies, tlie latter 
a somewdiat noted school at Miildletown, from 



g6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



which went out into the world men who achieved 
fame and success in their various walks of life. 
Young C'oe began teaching school at the age of 
eighteen years, and followed that profession initil 
twenty-five. At that age, in 1S53. he located at 
Meriiien, nf which city lie has Ijeen a resident, and 
through the intervening forl\- odd years has been 
most closely identitied with the .growth and devel- 
opment of the cil_\', which has been remarkable, and 
so marked as a manufacturing center as to become 
known throughout the civilized world from the va- 
rietv and high grade of its manufactured products. 
Dm-ing thi> Inng ])erioil .\lr. (.,'oe has been one of 
the foremost among those whose elforts have 
brought about the proud position the ".Silver City" 
sustams in the manufacturing world, and during 
this period he has made and sustained a reputation 
as a business man and useful citizen of a high order 
in keeping with his honor;ible line of ancestors. In 
1S54 young Coe was elected treasurer of the Meri- 
den .Savings Bank, when, the assets of that institu- 
tion were only $-25,000, and the salary of the treas- 
urer only $200; the assets are now four and one- 
half millions. He has b.-. n connected with that 
institution eirlu-r as treasurer, director or president 
ever since. Wdicn he took the position ri treas- 
urer he was keeiiing books, making out lulls, .i.ul 
doing other writing for oiusiile parties, lur lilt;. 
years he was engaged in the real estate Inisiness, 
though TiCver on commission. He has taken great 
interest in agrictdtural matters and pet stock, and 
has been identified with \arious s(jcieties in this 
line, having been secretary of the Farmers Club, 
president of tlie Meriden I'oidtr)- .Association, sec- 
retary. treastuTr and president of the .Meriden Ag- 
ricultural Society, secretary an<l treasurer of the 
Connecticut State Agricultural Society, and a mem- 
ber of the State Hoard of Agriculture. He has 
served in various public capacities: Was grand 
itn"or in 1837: registrar of v'tial sttitistics in 1858- 
'13 : justice of the ]ieace from 1838 to i^^8(: trial 
jtistice for many years before the establishment of 
the city court; first clerk of the city coiu't ; and 
judge of the court for eighteen years. He ha.s 
also been agent of the town to convey real estate, I 
was registrar of vf)ters, town clerk, and judge of 
probate. At the tiniiC of the building of the water 
works, and for sever.al \ears 1 hereafter, he was 
water coninnssioner. l''or a long ])erio(l he was a 
member of the board of com|)ens.'ition. In i8()4 
Mr. Coc was elected mayor of Meriiien. and re- 
elected in 1896 and i8()7. He brought to that of- 
fice the ri[)e experience of long years of jniblic serv- 
ice and of a succcssfid Inisiness career, and gave 
the city a practical and dignified administration. 
Tn his political fruth Judge Coc is a Kejiublican, 
and has .served as a member of the town commit- 
tee and .Stale central committee. He was ajipointed 
Iiy the Secretar\- of the Interior a tov>-n site trustee 
for f )kIalioma Citv, ( )klahoma. .\mong other nu- 
nH'rous official positions in cor]iorations. etc., Iu'ld 



by Ju<-lge Coe, are those of director of what is now 
the Aleriden National Bank (since 1862) ; treasurer 
of the Meriden Park Co.; director of the Meriden 
Hospital; trustee of the Curtis Home; president of 
the Meriden Historical .Society; and a member of 
the Connecticut Historical Society; the Sons of the 
American i^evobuion; and of the Hon:e Club. Fra- 
ternally Judge Coe is a prominent Maseru; he has 
been secretary, treasurer and worshipful master of 
Meridian Lodge, No. ■/■/ ; eminent commander of 
St. Elmo Commandery, Knights Templar; and rep- 
resentative of the (ii-and Commandery of South 
Dakota near the Grand Commandery of Connecti- 
cut. In his religious \icws Judge Coc is an Epis- 
copali.an. a memlier of .*>!. .Vndrew's Church, Meri- 
den, in which he has been a vestryman since 1838. 
Judge Coe has lieeii an enterprising, liberal and 
piil)lic-S!)iriied citizen. He erected a beautiful me- 
morial librarv building, which, with its furnish- 
ings and the library, lie presented to his native town, 
Middlefield, June 6, 1893, as a free public librarv, 
placing it in control of a self-perpetuating incor- 
porated l)oard of trustees, known as the Levi E. 
Coe Library Association. Such a life needs no 
eulogy. 

On Nov. 27, 183 1, Judge Coe was married to 
Miss Sophia Fidelia, daughter of Harley and 
Martha Cone Hall, and they had two children: .\ 
son that died in infancy unnamed; and Charles 
Levi, Ijorn Dec. 4, i860, who died Feb. 19, 1862. 

F.LBI^IDGE LEWIS HOWE, the senior mem- 
ber of the firm of Howe & Stetson, proprietors of 
an extensive dr^'-g-oods and department store, at 
Nos. yby-y"/}. Chapel street. New Haven, was born 
in Marlborough. ALass., Oct. ii, 1871. Stephen 
.\ustin Llowe, his father, was born April 10. 1841, 
in Marlborough, where his father, Elbridge Howe, 
was also born, Nov. 15, i8r6. 

The Howes were among the first settlers of 
Marlborr)ugh, and in every ])eriod of the historv of 
that place have been numbered among the most 
numerously represented families. Abraham Howe 
emigrated from England about 1640, and about 
1660 his n;tme appears among the proprietors of 
INIarlborough, whither he came probably from Wat- 
ertown. JiLass. He had a numerous family, and 
many of his descendants remain in the town at the 
I^resent time. On May 6, i(')57. he married TTannah 
Ward, and soon after i6f« they came to ALirlbor- 
otigh, where he died June 30, i6<;)3, his widow on 
Nov. 3. 1717. They had ten children. 

Joseph Howe, third chihl of .\braliam, was born 
in 1661 in Watertown. and in 1688 married Dorothy 
Martin. They had six children. 

Jose])h Howe (2). fourth child of Joseph, was 
liorn in Marlborough in l'"dbruarv, 1697. On Feb. 
20, 1722. he married Zerviah Howe, his cousin, who 
died Dec. in. 1723. On July 12, 1727, he married 
Ruth Brigh;uii. J lis family consisted of ten chil- 
c'rcn. 



^ Ifc^ 








I 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



97 



Artemas Howe, son of Joscj^h ( 2), born Jan. 15, 
1743. married May 38, ij(>j. Mary 15i,<,a'lo\v, and 
thcv had twelve children. 

Stephen Howe, son of Artemas, Ijorn March Ji, 
1780. married jime 2tj, i8(j<j. Susanna l'.rii;ham, and 
thev liad six children. 

i-'lUridije Howe, son of Ste])hen, and grandfather 
of I. Wilder and I'llbridtie I- was a hnildint;- con- 
tractor hv trade, and put up the tir>t frame In .use in 
the citv of Austin, Texas. 1 lis stay in the Lone Star 
State, however, was not jjrolonijed, ami he retin-ned 
to Marlhorou.ijh. in his later years he became 
prominent in local ati'air.s, and was elected chairman 
of the board of selectmen, and was also chairman 
of the board of water works. l"ur many years he 
was president of both the Savin-s and National 
Banks. He died at the a.^e of sixty-nine. On June 
25. 1840, he married Sabra Holman, a native of 
Bolton, wdio bore him four children: Stephen A. 
(deceased), the father of J. Wilder and Elbridoc 
L. Howe: Emilv B. : George A.: and Sabra, who 
married William C. Hazeltine. The three survivors 
reside in Marlborough, Massachusetts. 

Cieorge A. Howe, the brother of Stephen A. 
Howe, and an uncle of Elbridge L. and J. Wilder, 
was one of the youngest soldiers in the Civil war, 
having entered the Union army at the age of fifteen. 
In after _\ears he became engaged in the lumber 
business. He is a prominent resident of Marlbor- 
ough, of which city he was second mayor. 

Stkphe.v Austin- Howk was reared on 
the farm, and received bis earl\- education in the 
schools of Marlborotigh, finishing in tlie seminary 
at Fulton, X. Y. At the beginning of the war of 
the Rebellion he enlisted as a member of the band 
in the 13th Mass. Regiment. After he had served 
fotirteen months all regimental bands were dis- 
charged. In i8C>4 he re-enlisted, becoming a private 
in the 57th Mass. Regiment. After going through 
the Wilderness campaign he was taken sick, in the 
vicinity of Richmond, was transferred to hos])ital 
ship, and taken to Mount Pleasant Ifosjiital, Wash- 
ington. Ujion his recovery he was retained as a 
niemher of the hospital band until the close of the 
war. Mr. Howe's business career was liegmi in 
i8r/i. in .Marlborougli, as a member of the firm of 
Wilson & Howe, and after a time he became sole 
proprietor of the business by reason of the retire- 
ment of Mr. Wilson, whose interest in the firm he 
bought. In 1885 he sold his interest in the business 
to Mr. Stetson, wdiom he ha<l taken in as a junior 
partner some time previous. In .May, i88C), Mr. 
Howe and Mr. Stetson removed to Xew Haven, and 
bought out J. X. .\dam, continuin;'; the business 
tmtil 1893, when .Mr. .Stetson withdrew. .Mr. Howe 
continuing the business until hi^^ de;ith, .\'ov. 29, 
i8y8. at the age of fiftv-seven \ears. The business 
was started in the J. X. .\dam store, anil later re- 
moved to the present store, known as the Wilcox 
store, and tlie Moses and (ireenwijod stores were 



I 



afterward added. The business has assumed very 
large proportions. 

'while in .Marlborough .Mr. Ibiwe was pnjuii- 
nent in bn>iness circles and an active member of 
the Unitarian rhurch. In Xew Haven he w.as pres- 
ident of the Retail .Merchants As.^ociation. He was 
trulv a grand man in every respect, tinvering above 
the level of his da\-. In business he had all the (jual- 
itications of success — integrity, industry, a clear 
conqirehension of the needs of his custom; kindness 
and com-te>_\- that n(.\er failed, making him beloved 
and respected by all who knew him. The day of his 
funeral, Dec. 2, i8<>8. was marked b_v the closing of 
all the dry goods stores in the city. Mr. Howe be- 
longed to the Masons, the Union League, the L'ham- 
l)cr of Commerce, and .\dniiral Foote I'ost, Xo. 17, 
C. A. R.. of Xew Haven. 

(Jn ()ct. 11, i8(j(), Mr. Howe married .\ima 
L'lizabeth Wibler, who was born in Rindge, X. H., 
a daughter of Jo^iah ;ind bdizabeth ( L'osdick) 
Wilder. The father was prominent in Rindge, 
where he was born. The uKjther was born in 
Charlestown, Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Howe h;id two 
children, Josiah Wilder and h'.lbridge L. The wid- 
owed mother is still living in Xew Haven. 

Elbridge L. Howe s])ent the earlier years of liis 
life in Marlborough, wliere he attended the public 
schools, and was later a student in the Ciles i)rivatc 
school, of Xew Haven. While he was still a boy 
he worked three years in his father's siMre, a?id then 
\\ent to Xew York for a year, with W. .\Itman & 
Co. On his return home, in |8()3. he entered his 
father's store at Xew Haven, of which he became 
manager, liolding the ])osition until his father's 
death, when he formed a p.'irtner^hip with his 
brother J. Wilder. 

Elbridge L. ilmve w.as married May ir. 1892, 
to Mary A. Hannan. who was born in Deep River, 
Conn., and they have two children: Stephen Rollin, 
horn Dec. 18, i8<;3: and .\nna Wilder, l)orn Xov. 
12, 1895. In politics Mr. ilowe is a Republican, as 
was his father l)efore him. lie is a member of the 
Young Men's Re])ublican Club, the Union League, 
the Pequot Club, the Xew I l;i\-en (iolf Club, the 
Chamber of Co'mmerce an<l the ihisiness Men's 
Association. He is a director of the Dry Cioods 
Alliance of Xew \'ork'. is president of the /Mlesan- 
dro Mining & Land C'o. ( which owns 5,000 acres of 
land in New Mexico), is on the Home liciard of Or- 
ganized Charities, and belongs to the Plymouth 
.Socielw 

J. \\'ii,iii;K llowi;, partner in the Xew 1 haven 
store with his brother, l'21bridge L. Howe, w.as born 
Jid\- 31, i8'«), in Marlborough. Mass., and received 
his earlv education in the i)ul)lic schools of that citv. 
Later he was at Allen's .School, West Xewton, and 
s'.ill later, after a lapse of several \ears, took a 
course of civil engineering in the Massachusetts In- 
stitute of Technology, which [)rofession he prac- 
ticed for six years after receiving his education, 



98 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



first going willi the Hoard of Survey, iJoston, and 
later to the City luigineer's ot'liee, at Cambridge. 
He was first identified with the general work of the 
office and later with the designing and construction 
of the new reservoir jiipe lines, of which work he 
was I'esident engineer. In lune, iXijS. he was ap- 
])ointed. hy the 1 'resident, second lieutenant in the 
2il I'. S. X'olunteer luigineers, Ijut resigned in De- 
cemher, iSyS, on account of the death of his father, 
tu go into partnershi].) with his ])rolher. ^Ir. Howe 
belongs to the Union League and I'equot Clubs, the 
National Army Spanish War \'eterans, the. New 
Haven Grays, Y. Al. C. .\., Military Order of For- 
eign Wars of the United States, and is an honorary 
member uf the Union X'eterans Union. 

EJ3WARD Ll'IOXARl) r.r-;C)XSOX (de- 
ceased). I'"or forty or more years Mr. Bronson 
was jiromincnt in business circles in Waterbury, 
and he was pre-eminently an exemplary man and 
useful citizen. His ancestors in both paternal and 
maternal lines were among the first to settle in 
Waterlinry. 

John llrownston's, or llronston's, name ap- 
]X'areil in the list of original proprietors of Hart- 
ford — those coming there prior to I'ebruary, 1640 — 
gi\en in the Memorial History of Hartford coun- 
ty. He is believed to have been one of the com- 
];)an\' who came with Rev. Thomas Hooker in 1636. 
He v.as a soldii'r in the I'eciuot war in I'l.^/. After 
the purchase of Tnn.xis (Farmington) by the Hart- 
ford ])eople John Pironston removed thither about 
1141. 

F.dward Leonard I'.ronsoii was a descendant 
in the seventh generation from John Bronson, of 
Hartford and h'armington, the line of his descent 
being through Sergeant Isaac Bronson. Isaac Bron- 
son (2 1. Isaac Bronson (3), Titus Bronson and 
Leonard Bronson. 

( 11 ) Sergeant Lsaac Bronson. son of John Bron- 
son. niarrieil .Mary, daughter of John Root. 

( 111 ) Isaac I'.ronson (2), son of Sergeant Isaac 
Bronson. born in tdjo. in h'armington. married 
( tirst ) in 1701 .Mary, daughter of Richard Mor- 
gan, of New London. Conn.: she died and he mar- 
ried (second) in 1750 Widow Sarah Lewis. He 
died in 1751. 

(1\') Isaac I'.ronson (3), son of Isaac Bron- 
son (2). born in 1707. married, in 1734. F.unice, 
daughter of Thomas Richards. 

( \' ) 'J'itus I'.ronson, son of Isaac Bronson (3), 
l)orn Oct. 5, 1751, married, I'eb. it, 1779, Hannah, 
vdaughter of Closes Cook. He died in I<S20, and she 
in iS'41. 

l\'l) Leonai'd I'.ronson, son of Titus Bronson, 
and the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
born June 24, 17117. He married Xancy (Richard- 
son) "i'latt, widow of -M. I'latt, and daughter of 
Nathaniel Richardson, a descendant of one of tlie 
old families of the town. To this union were I)orn 
chil(h\n as f<.)llows: Inlia M., liorn in 1S20. died 



in 1S41 : Cleorge !•'.. born in 1821 ; Catherine died 
when young; Isaac R., born in 1826; and Edward 
L,, our snl)ject, is referred to farther on. Leonard 
I'.ronson was successively a school teacher, sur- 
vevor and farmer, a man of much al^ility and was 
most thorou,i^hl\- resj-ected. l*"rom 1833 to 1857 
he was presideiit of the Waterbury Savings Bank. 
The late Ivlward Leonard Bronson, son of 
Leonard and Xancy (Richardson Piatt) Bronson, 
was born Jan. iS. 1828, in the town of Middlebury 
Conn. His mother was a devout and strong-minded 
woman, and with her husband a stanch member of 
Church. The son found about his early life influ- 
ences that developed his manhood along severe and 
exacting lines. A most intense sense of responsi- 
liility was the result of his home training, and 
Mr. Bronson's life was an exemplification of it in 
every detail and. requirement. After passing a 
])eriod of six months in the dry goods store of 
Benedict & Merriman in 1848 he concluded to lo- 
cate permaiiently in Waterbury, but soon left the 
store to teach in the Centre school district in Middle- 
Inirv. After a short experience there he returned 
to his former employers, Messrs. Benedict & Merri- 
man. Later on he became bookkeeper and ac- 
comitant at the factory, afterward Benedict & Burn- 
ham's. From that time on he was identified with 
that factory, and was a potent hand in its steady 
growth, giving to the business the most undivided 
and f-iithful services. He was chosen secretary of 
the company in tS8i, and in 1885 he was elected 
treasurer, a position he held at the time of his 
death. Mr. Bronson was one of the incorporators 
of the Waterljury Watch Company in 1880. and 
from that time on served as one of its directors and 
secretary. In 1888 he was chosen treasurer of the 
company to succeed Charles Dickinson. Early in 
the 'fifties, in company -with his brother, Isaac R. 
I'.ronson. he estal)lished a book store and general 
stationerv business, including a bindery, in \\"ater- 
bnrv. I'ldward L. Bronson was thoroughly imbued 
with that public s])irit which very many men, who 
devote their lives to business pursuits, sadly lack. 
F.vcrxlhing that interested his native city interested 
him. and he i)racticed as well as theorized on this 
jioint. lie was made a member of the board of 
Regents of the i'.ronson Lilirary in 1886. He had 
several times been an alderman; was a strong ad- 
herent to the ]>rinciples of the Republican party, 
and was that ]i,-irty's candidate for mayor in 1887, 
but \\;is not elected. .\t the age of thirteen he 
iK'came a member of the Congregational Church in 
Middleliury. In 1852 Mr. I'.ronson united with 
the h'irst (.'ongregalional Church, of Waterbury, 
:uid was a consistent exponent of his Christian be- 
lief in everv bi'anch of his life's work. He was 
chosen 



a deacon in that Chm-ch in 18^7, and also 



as superintendent of its Simday-school, serving in. 
the latter position until 1869. He was also clerk 
of the Church for some _\ears, and treasurer of 
its fun<ls from 1873 until his death. He was an 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



99 



enthusiastic worker for all the interests of the 
Church. The \'oiing Men's Christian Association 
of \\ aterjjiiry, of which he was vice-president, owes 
to his efforts more than to those of anv other in- 
dividual its existence anil pros]jerii\-. lii- had 
yreat confidence in youn<;- men, and to advise with 
them and do somethint;- for their welfare was one 
of his great jileasures. .Mr. JJronson died July 
20, 1890. 

llie W'aterljury American of July 21, 1890, said 
editorially : 

In the death of Edward L. Rronson Watcrlniry loses 
a citizen conspicuous for strict integrity and for scrupu- 
lous tidclity to every trust. This can be trutiifully said of 
Mr. Bronson, equally as a man of business, a.s a man in 
public office, as a worker in the church and as a friend and 
neighbor. He did not measure conduct by dilTerent stand- 
ards according 10 the nature of his employment. To all 
life's various affairs he brought the same conscientious pur- 
pose to do his duty upright as he saw it. In .Mr. Bron- 
son is well illustrated the value of what we call character. 
Its influence on the many with whom he was brought in 
contact will long be fell, an inlluence none the less lasting 
because it will gradually grow silently impersonal as the 
years go by. 

Un Oct. 22, 1 85 1, yU. Bronson was married to 

?iliss Cort'.elia To-wnsend, daughter of Charles 

Townsend, of Aliddlebury, who with a daughter, 

Julia M., and an adopted son, Charles 1'., stirvived 

, husband and father, tjne son dietl in infancy. 

AIJR.MI.VAI BENNETT HOTCHKISS was 
born in I'rospect, New Haven Co., Conn., in 1810, 
son of Joel and Esther (Beecher) Hotchkiss (the 
latter a daughter of Benjamin Beecher, of Che- 
shirej, and one of the 155 great-grandchildren of 
Capt. Gitleoii Hotchkiss, a soldier of the l-'reiich 
and Indian and Revolutionary wars. When Ben- 
nc<tt was about twelve years of age his family mi- 
grated to northern. Pennsylvania, settling on a large 
tract of farm lands and primeval forests, in Har- 
ford, Susquehanna county. On this wide field Joel 
Hotchkiss, .by his advanced intelligence atid skill 
in scientific and horticultural farming, developed, 
with the co-operation of his sons, an almost ideal 
estate. 

With his father and brothers Bennett Hotchkiss 
spent the summers at work on the farm, antl in 
winters pursued his education in the village acad- 
emy. His intellectual tastes and bias were very 
strong, and he had intended to fit himself for a 
profession. But, while he had developed a stature 
and physiqtic of remarkable proportions and vigor, 
he had also an inherited bronchial infirmity, which 
ultimately determined his j)ursuits. I'or several 
years he maintained an outdoor life, ptirstiing his 
mechanical tastes, and it is probable that northern 
I'emisylvania is still using the turbine and oilier 
waterwheels his skill and iiigetuiity put in o])cratioii 
along its waterways. Air. Hotchkiss married, in 
1834, Lucy Ann Daggett Fuller, whose family had 
migrated from Attleljoro, Mass., into the town of 
Harford several years previously. A few years 



later, in 1838 or 1S39. he came hack to Coimecticut, 
with his yotnig family, and in Nvw Haven csiab- 
li.sbedthe business of jjattern making, and was 
thereafter an inlluence to be reckoned with in ilie 
mechanical and scientific interests of New Haven, 
h'or fifl_\- years he lived and laljoreil in sincerest 
brotherhood with the industrial classes in New Ha- 
ven, amliitioiis for their interests, especially in the 
establishment of the course of lectures for .Me- 
chanics, in the Scientific School of Yale Univcr.^ity. 
Mr. Hotchkiss had inherited his mechanical tastes 
from his Beecher ancestry, llis brain was teem- 
hig with inventions, several of which he patented 
in this and foreign countries, notably his air-sjiring 
haimner, now in universal use, and iinder the high- 
est testimonials, originally patented in 1859, and 
renewed in 1863; also h'is rock drill and match 
patent. He continued abreast of tlie remarkable 
scientific advancement of the perioil, atid predicted 
with singular accuracy many of the great electrical 
discoveries. Mr. Hotchkiss believed implicitlv in 
the ultimate navigation of the air, and was n'luch 
occupied with the problem of the storage of solar 
heat for utilitarian purposes. He was interested 
in real estate, antl at one time built hundreds of 
houses in difi'erent localities, contributing to their 
development. His was a character of singular sim- 
plicity, probity and dignity. He died in 1883, 
aged se\'eiity-three \ears. 

DENNIS TCTTEh:. .son of Capt. Leverett an<I 
Electa (Kiniberlv) Ttitile, of Hamden. New Ha- 
ven Co., Conn., and grandson of Ezra Kimberly, 
a Revohitionary soldier, was born in I famden in 
1826. He prepared t"or college in the military acad- 
emy in Cheshire, Conn., and was graduated from 
^'ale Law School in 1850. I'or several vears Mr. 
Tuttle practiced his profession in New Haven. He 
was married in 1855 to .\nna U. Hotchkiss, datigh- 
tcr of Bennett Ihitchkiss. and removed to Towa 
City, Iowa, where he engaged in the entry of ptib- 
lic lands in connection with his law practice. Three 
years later he went to Hudson, Wis., and remained, 
as prosecuting attorney for St. Croi.x cotinty, mitil 
the beginning of the Civil war. 

In December, 1861, Mr. Ttittle enlisted in the 
20th Ind. \'. 1., and was present in the memorable 
engagement between the Rebels and the I'ltion 
fi)rces during the "Monitor" and ".Merrimac" fight. 
He was commissioned by (iov. Morton, of Indi- 
;ina, first lieutenant ami (|uartcrmaster of the 20tli 
Ind. \'. 1., and serxed with them fotir \ears in the 
.\rmy of the Potomac, re-enlisting with them for 
veteran service in i8'q, at Indianapolis. He was 
discharged with them from service in 1865, at 
Lotiisville, Ky., having served as acting brigade 
quartermaster of the Provisional Division of the 
.\rmy of the Tenressee. Mr. Tuttle returned to 
Coiinecticul and soon after engaged in cranberry 
culture in Madison. New Haven comity. E'or sev- 
eral \ears he served the town as chairman of its 



lOO 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



board of cducatinn, ami town ck-rk fur a term or 
two. 

Since iSjt; Mr. 'Tnttle lias resiiled in .\'ew Ha- 
ven, .-till ent;aij;e(l in active liusiness. lie reps- 
tered dnrin^; the late Uicentennial of ^'ale L niver- 
sit\- as amon^L;- its oldest tjradiiates. Mr. I nttle is 
a nieinlier of'Adniiral I-oote F'.jst, Ciraiid .\rniy of 
the Reptililic. 

]( )11\ r.lRXI".\' 'rL"!"'!'!.!'., snn nf Dennis an<l 
Anna T. (ll<itchki-si 'I'little, and .grandson of 
Abrahani llennett and Lticy .\nn l>asi;ett (I'nller) 
Hotchkiss, was horn in .\ew Haven, (.'luin., .May 
19, 1804, dnrint,' the nieniorahle ■'Wilderness C"am- 
paii,ni" iif the .-\rniy c,f the i'otoniac. with which 
his' father was serving- as an officer dnriny; the 
war cf the Rehellion. ' His family is <if the oldest 
New [•".ni.^land stock, prominent dnrini; earlier and 
later wars nf the country and in its civil aftairs. 
Two of his t;reat-i,'randfathers were soldiers in the 
Revohitionarv war — Kzra Kinvherly, of Connecti- 
cut, and Jo.ili i-uUer. of Massachusetts. In the ma- 
ternal line he is a descendant of (aiit. < lideoii 
Hotchkiss, Revolutionary officer and patrii_>f, also 
from the l)a,uK<-'"'^. "f Attlehoro. Mass., of wlioni 
Npjjithah, one of the early presid^ents of Yale, 
\va> a <listiiigtiished son. 

.Mr. Tuttle was ,<;-raduateil from the llillhouse 
liiiili scho.)l. 111 .\'ew Havt'ii, in 1SS4. ,-md from the 
Yale I.aw School in iS<)i. He spent \iw years on 
the editorial staff of ihe New Havtn h'ri^istcr. m- 
.sitrnino- wiieii elected assistant cilv clerk of Xew 
Haven in iS8(); was admitted to the I'.ar in June, 
]Sc)i : was assistant clerk of the court of common 
])lens for Xew Haven county in iSijo, in which 
vear he was also s|iecial .a-ent for the I 'iiited States 
census. He wrote the history of Xew Haven, pith- 
lisheil in the Citv \vnr Rook in iSSS. and tlie his- 
tory of the I'olice and fire Departments <d' Xew 
Haven, pulvlishcd in i88cj. Mr./ruttle was for sev- 
,.r-il \r-:u-s :in active member of the Xew Haven 



er; 



I. I 1 , I < II I 'I I.Tl I V V I 1 I ' I' V ., ^ 

\ears an active member of the Xew 
tira\--. servinj; as secretary- of same. Siiic< 
mission to the I'.ar he li,i> addre-se: 
chisivelv ti 



secretary- of 
ar 
his prole; 



aven 

lis ad- 

limself ex- 



.'.oll. 



(il'.X. (il'.i )i\(.l". M< iRRIS ll.\K.M( )X, one of 
Xew 1 lawn's prominent citi/.eiis, is a <;-entleman well 
known throUi;hout Connecticut and Xew Iuii;land. 
'ihe name Harmon has for years been well known 
in business circles in Xew Haven, where our subject 
and his sons are prominently identified with business 
interests. With his business connections elsewhere, 
Cicii. Harmon is projjrietor of the men's furni>hin.s;s 
store at Xo. 880 Chapel street, .Xew il.iveii (con- 
ducted under the firm name of Harmon I'.ros.), ami 
associated with him therein is his son frank. 

Cell. Harmon, whose loiijj business career has 
been lart;elv passed in .Xew Haven, where be has 
been a useful citizen, and attained an honorable 
position, was born in 1837 in the town of Rrookfield, 
Mass., son of Marvin and Laviiia II. Jackson 



(jeiiks) Harmon. His mother was a daughter of 
I-tev. f-lenrv Jenks, who was a lineal descendant of 
Roger Wiiliams. Young Harmon was reared and 
schooled in his native town, but owing to the death 
of his father, when he was sixteen years old, was 
thrown u])on his own resources, and obliged to care 
for himself, bi'r a lime following that event he was 
occui)ied as clerk in a store in Worcester, Mass., 
and then taught school for a year and a half in 
Pennsylvania. While thus engaged his mother had 
contracted a second marriage, and was living in 
Xew Haven, There the young teacher visited her, 
and decided to make Xew Haven his home. This 
was in his twentieth year, and, coming to Xew 
Haven, he at once secured employment in a shirt 
factorw At the outbreak of the Civil war he was 
in the factory of Winchester & Davis. When Sum- 
ter was fired upon, and President Lincoln called for 
sevent\-five thousand men, Mr. Harmon, filled with 
enthusiastic devotion to the cause of the L'nion, at 
once resjionded, and enlisted May 23, 1861, in Com- 
pan\- V. 4th Conn, \'. I. In reorganization this regi- 
ment became the 1st Connecticut Heavy .Artillery, 
under command of Col. Robert ( ). Tyler. The regi- 
ment is believed to have been the first to have beeit 
fully prepared for service to respond to the first call. 
Young Harmon was mustered in May 23, 1861, as 
second lieutenant of Company I*", was promoted to 
first lieutenant of Company !•", ( )ct. 2f), '61, and 
made captain of Company G, of the same regiment. 
.May 3, 1862. (hi Dec. I, 1863, he resigned his 
commission, after a year and a half of active service, 
in which he participated, among many other engage- 
ments, in the following battles: Yorktown, \'a., 
Hanover Court House, (iaines Mills, Chickahc)miny, 
(iolden Hill, and JMalvern Hill. ( )n returning to 
Xew Haven Capt. Harmon, at the request of Gov. 
Ruckingham, assisted Benjamin A. Pardee in rais- 
ing a colored regiment. Capt. Harmon's army ex- 
IK-rience was a rare one. for he did not receive an 
injury, nor was he in the hos])ital. but while in the 
service his health and strength improved, and he 
gained in weight thirt\' pounds. 

Capt. Harmon resumed his connection with 
Winchester & L^avis. but presently became engaged 
for himself in the manufacture of corsets. In 1869, 
associated with Charles A. luddwin, he came into 
control of the L. fi. I'oy corset business, of Worces- 
ter. Mass., wdiich had been removed to PJoston, and 
from there to Xew Haven, This partnership was 
terminated in 1873 by the retirement of Mr. Bald- 
win, and the firm became I'oy & Harmon. From 
1880 to 1885 the firm was Foy. Harmon & Co., and 
iin some time afterward it was Foy, Harmon & 
Chadwick. .\ few years later this firm was giving 
employment to some two hundred ojieratives, turn- 
ing out a hundred d(.)zen corsets a day. The factory 
was at the corner of (ieorge and Church streets, and 
goods were shipped to every State in the l'nion. 
C:en. Harmon proved himself a man of remarkable 
business ability, and very largely through his fine 




s^ Jt/'\ 



{/^'^yVTy^iTlX ^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



lOI 



inaiiafjfnicnt tliu firm mot with unusual success. Ii; 
1871), in company witli S. W. I'.annins' and C. M. 
Cliatlwick, lie opened a notion and conimissi<jn 
liouse in tin- city of Xcw \'ork. In 18S3 he oriianized 
a coni])any for llie pre])arati<in of corset cloih for 
uianufacturini;" purjioses. and ])resentlv this house 
came to contrcj! three-tif'.lis of all the cors.'t mate- 
rial offered thron,L,diout the coumry. The (leneral is 
still actively enj;ai;ed in the corset material husiness 
in J'loston, where he has huilt n|) one of the largest 
coi'.cerns of its kind in the world. However, he has 
alwavs retained his resilience in Xew llaven. 

(len. Harmon is a si rung ke]iul)lican in his 
political relations, and his genial and wanndiearted 
nature has won him a host of friends, h'rom July, 
1873, to ( )ctoher. \^~^. he ser\e<l as police commis- 
sioner, and was alderman in iSjcj and i<S8o. h'or 
several years he was chairman of the Repuhlican 
State Central C<imniittee, and his discharge of the 
dailies of the posiiio!i was a hrilliaiU success. L'nder 
his leadership the party nevi'r lost a battle. During 
the administration of ( iov. I'.igelow ( ien. Harmon 
was adjutant general of the Siatt', and it was largely 
due to his representations that the I ieneral .\ssem- 
lilv voted §200,000 to provide suitable armories for 
the Xational ( luard. ( ieii. Harmon did much to se- 
cure the construction of the breakwater in the har- 
bor, offering and advocating in the city council a 
resolution for a cominittee to go to Washington to 
secure a breakv.-ater from the .Xational (lovernment. 
lie is a member of the Xew ^'ork Coininandery oi 
the Loyal Legion. 

(ien. Harmon wa^- married May 10. iSOi, to 
Mary A. ]!aldwin. who was born Jan. u. 1S34, 
(laughter of Uarius and Theresa ( normanl liald- 
win. To this union have come children as follows: 
( I ) (leorge H. died at the age of twenty years and 
five months. (2) Mary L. is the wife of Charles 
v.. Hellier. of I'.oston, and has four children, Louise, 
Walter, Edwin and John. (3) Willirun is the secre- 
tary, treasurer and main stockholder of the Pond 
Lilly Laundry l"o. He marrietl .Mary, daughter of 
])r, Cargill, and is the father of two children, Mar- 
garet and William. (4) J-"rank. who is associated 
with his f'llher in the men's furnishings store on 
Cha])el street, is (;ne of the ])rominent \'oung men of 
the city, and the store ranks among the up-to-date 
ones in Xew Haven. {5) ICdwin is associated with 
his brother William in the Pond Lilly Co. 

Mrs. Mary A. Harmon is a descendant of one of 
the Xew England families. Richard ISaldwin, a na- 
tive of lUickinghamshire, ICngland, came early to 
Xew I'jigland. He was a son ('f Sylvester and 
Sarah ( IJyron) P.aldwin, the father dying in 1638. 
on the passage across the ocean in the siii]i '■.Martin." 
Kichard l'.aldwin"s name apjiears on the records at 
-Milford, Conn., in |63(). Hi- is recorded as a man of 
•character and standing, and took part in ])ublic af- 
fairs. In 1643 he married Elizabeth .Mso]), and he 
died in i(>(^^. J'roni this emigrant ancestor Mrs. 



Harmon is in the seventh generation, her line of de- 
scent being through llariiabas. Timothy, Enoch, 
.\le.xis. and 1 )arins. 

H()X. id)W.\Ri) x1';ls()X siii;Lr()X. 

whose death occurred at his home in Derby Sept. 
10, 1894, wa,-^ through a long lifetime one of me 
town's most ])rMm:iient Inisine.-.-- iiun and .-ub- 
stantial and useful citizens. 

Piorn Sept. 4, 1812, at the old Shelton home- 
stead — the home for generations of his ancestors — 
in the town of Hunimgton, l-'airfield Co., Conn., 
-Mr. .Shelton . was the son of Joseph and Charity 
(Lewis) .Shelton, ami a representative of >tm"<ly 
-Xew England slock of the Colonial ])eriod, tnnoug 
whom were me:i of r.ne i|u;ility and distinction. 

(I) Daniel Shelton, the jjaternal emigram an- 
cestor of the family and the founder in this coun- 
try of the Connecticut Shell nis, was a merchant in 
luigkmd. lie came to .Xew bjigland in 1O8 1. prob- 
ablly in the .spring of that year. aii<l loc,iie<l in 
Stratford, Conn. In i():)2 he married Elizabeth, 
daughter of Samuel Welles, and granddaughter of 
Hon. Thomas Welles, of Wethersfiel 1, t'onii., one 
of the early govern.jrs of the Commonwealth. Mr. 
.Shelton resided in the village of -Stratford until 
about 1707. when he settled at Long llill. now the 
town of Huniingion, in h'airtield county. Here he 
died in 1728. his wid(.)w surviviuL-' until 1747, when 
she died aged seventy-seven years. .Mr. ."^helton 
was a large landholder owning land in Stratford, 
Stamford, J''armingloti, ().\ford, Woodburv and 
Derby, and was an orii^inal. though iion resident, 
proprietor of Waterbury. 

From this settler, Daniel Shelton, our Mibject 
was a descendant in the fifth generation, his lire ]>e- 
ing through Josejih, William and Joseph Shel- 
ton (2). 

ill) Joseph Shelton. .-on of Daniel the settU-r, 
born in 1O98, married in 172C), .Mar\-, born in 1704, 
dau,ghter of Joseph and -\nn Hollister, of Cdaslon- 
burv, Conn. Mr. Sheltmi and famih- lived at Long 
Hill, wdierc he and his wife died in 17H2. 

(TIL) \\'illiain .Shelton, son of Josei)h. born in 
1739. married in I7''')4. Susan, daugiiter of Thomas 
Strong, of Brook Haven, L. L, and a descendant of 
Elder John .Sttrong, of the Dorchester (Mas.s.) 
Colony: of Elder j'.rewster of the ^layflower: and 
of Roger Ludlow. Depute Governor of Massachu- 
setts. .Mr. Shelton lived at Long Hill, and died 
in 1S12. 

(I\') Josei)h .Shelton (2'). son of Williani. born 
.■\ug. 27. 1765, married Nov. 24, 1701, Charity, 
daughter of .Sie])hen Lewis, of .Stratford, Conn., 
and to them were born eight chililren, three d-iugh- 
ters and five sons. The family lived at the home- 
stead. Long Hill, la'.rr the town of Huntington. 
His death occurred Sept. i, 1848, when agc.l eighty- 
three vears. 

Edward Xclson Shelton, son of Joseph and the 



I02 



:OMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



subject proper of this sketch, was reared on his 
father's far;n and had ^uod educational advantages. 
]l(j attended the schools of his native town, the 
Derhv Acaileniy, and the then celelirated Scientific 
SeJK o] cif Capt. I'artridgc at Middlctown, the last 
year of its existence, ancl also atteniled a cour^r "i 
iectures during one winter at Yale College. In the 
spring of 1836. M'"- ^helt .11 a-soriated with the 
late Nathan C. Sanford, lioth then men of some 
means, became identitied with the new village of 
Ilirmingham. which was founded two years prev- 
iously. The\ began the manufacture' of tacks, 
nails,' etc., and built a factory on the north side 
of .Main strict. 'I'h.e liusiness prospereil, hut in 
June, 1841, Mr. Sanford died, universally lamented, 
an;l the business was continued under the name ot 
I'.. .\. Shelton until in 1854, wben the Sheltun 
(_'om]ian\- was fcrnu'd with a capital of $8:).iimo, 
whicli later was increased to Sioo.ono. The ]ilant 
at I'drmingham being too small, a branch factory 
was o; erated in Shelton, to which i)lace the entire 
business ■;. as tr-n^ ;'fr'Td in later vears. Mr. S'kI- 
don continued to be identitied with the business of 
this comi)an\- througiuiut his lung active business 
]ifer"and the great success of the coucern was due 
largeh' to his careful and judicious management. 
The plant now consists of a half dozen buildings, 
or muri', in which are niannfacturi'd small bnlts, 
taclcs and small nails, and in which arr employed 
between one and two hundred hands. This is one 
of the leading industries of the locality. 

During the more than hfty vears of an active 
business life .Mr. .Shelton was identified with vari- 
ous business interests, corpnralions and enter- 
prises outside of the Shelton .Manufacturing Co., 
and his career was one of marked success. I'reib- 
ablv nothing, however, with which he was con- 
nected showed to the puldic his energy, persever- 
ance and ability as the project of building a dam 
across the llousatimic river atMlirmingliam. The 
river is, next to the Connecticut and .Merrimac, 
the most powerful river in .\e\v blngland, drain- 
ing about 2,000 .square miles of land, in which are 
nianv mountain lakes and springs, having a con- 
stant llow. It is estimated that, in conse(|uence of 
these conditions, the average ll'uv at Birmingham, 
at lowest water, xiidds 2,500 horse power tor twelve 
hours per day. The curbing of such a vast volume 
of water was an effort of no small magnitude. 'l"he 
question of damming the river was agitated in 1838, 
and in 1831; the Legislature authorized an improve- 
ment of tiie power at I'drmingham and Shelton, but 
would not allow a dam to be built. I leuce the mat- 
ter was allowed to rest until a more liberal charter 
C(.)uld be secured. This was granted in 1864, and 
two vears later the Ousatonic Water Co. was organ- 
ized under its provisions. I'.y this company, which 
einbrace<l among its members tlie leading manu- 
facturers of llinningham, the dam at .Shelton was 
built, though U'.it until sonu- had become disheart- 



ened, because so many obstacles beset the under- 
taking. ( )thers persevered and were richly re- 
warded in the ownership of one of the finest water 
])owers in the State. The work was begun in 1867 
and completed in 1870. The dam is a solid mass of 
masonrv 22 feet hi.gh and has an entire length of 
800 feet, 637 feet being in the river proper. This 
project w'us a long cherished one with Mr. Shelton 
who early foresaw the .great result that would fol- 
low. .\t the organization of the Ousatonic Water 
Co., in 18OM, .Mr. .Shelton was chosen its president, 
a ixjsition he held until his death in 1894. The 
l.iurden of the building of the dam fell upon the 
jiresident, and to Mr. Shelton's efforts the accom- 
plishment I f the proiect was mainly due. The 1:.- 
liiir in connectiiju with it was varied and arduous; 
tirst was the securing of the land, then the obtain- 
ing the charter from the Le,gislature ; ne.xt came 
the securing of the capital and the supervisicn 
of tile work in all its details. The following ex- 
tracts from the sjieech of I)r, .\. Beardsley, de- 
livered on the occasion of the celebration of the 
comjjletiou of the dam in 1870 is not out of place 
in this connection : 

Fur tin- success of this work, thus far, \vc are under 
^.■reaUr and uKire lasting obhgations to the president of 
the Company, Mr. Edward X. Shelton, I was about to 
say, than all others conil)ined. He has not only largely 
invested his fortune here, l>nt for more than three years, 
day and night, this "dam of dams" has hung like an incu- 
bus on his mind, but with an iron will and dcvotedness of 
purpose, with an eye single to success, he has braved every 
obstacle in his way, and without his exertions this water 
power mi,ght have remained idle for ages and we not have 
liecn here to-day rejoicing. The building of this dam will 
fi'rm a new era in the liistory of old Derby and Hunting- 
ton, 1 do not expect to live to see the results expected, 
but there are those within the sound of my voice, who 
may yet see in reality what I see in imagination, the rising 
glory of the city which is to line these shores and cover 
these hillsides as the "waters cover the sea." 

.Mr. Shelton lived to see in a measure the pre- 
dictions of Dr. I'.eardslev verified, and was an act- 
ive ])articiiiant in all that followed. Identifying 
himself with the villa.ge of Birmin.gham in its in- 
fancy, he saw it rise to a city of ten tht)usand or 
more.- lie was the chii'f founder of the city now 
bearing his name, and which he aided materia. I;, 
in developing into a great manufacturing point with 
its more than a score of industries, and havin.g a 
business rated at upwards of $2,000,000, and em- 
ploying more than 2,ock) hands. Mr. Shelton's 
heart and interests were largely in Birmingham and 
Shelton, and to their growth and development he 
gave greatly of his energies and means. He pos- 
sessed keen business foresight, ])rudencc and great 
])ul)lic spirit, ;ind it was his desire that whatevr 
was best for the benefit of the many sliould be ac- 
complished. He was generous and gave liberally 
to the Church and its iKiievolences, and to worthy 
objects, lie was an earnest member of the E])isco- 
pai Church, the church of his ancestors. .\ man of 
lionor and strict integritv he was a true friend and 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



\o^ 



a wise counsellor. Mr. Slielton was chcsc-n presi- 
dent at its or,e:anization of the old Manufacturer's 
Bank in 1848, which later hecanie the llirniini^iuun 
National, and remained its executive head until 
his death. Although elected to the State Senate and 
serving with ability in that body in 1869, he had 
no taste nor likinjj for politics or public office. 

Mr. Shellon was married to Mary Jane, horn 
Se])t. 28, 1819, daughter of Linsou and Jane De 
Forest, and the union was blessed with children as 
follows: (i) I'.dward l)e ]'"(jrest, who for years 
has been i<lentified with the Shelton Company, and 
since his father's death, been its executive head and 
treasurer, is tine of the leadinq- business men of 
the Xautjaluck \'alley. and is here claimed, thounh 
now a resident of lirooklyn, X. Y. (2) J^lizalieth 
}ui,<,a'ne. born July 31, 1841. married Thomas L. 
Cornell, and died Oct. 13, 18S1. 

THE Y.\Li: F.AMII.V. of whom the late Hor- 
ace 'Sale, a worlhv citizen of ML-riden, was a de- 
scendant, is an old family of Connecticut. 

( I ) Thomas ^'ale, son of David and .\nn. was 
born about \h\f). in lui.sjjland, or Wales. ])avid 
Yale was tiie descendant of an ancient and wealthy 
f;!mil\' of that name in Wales. Tic married, in 1613, 
-Ann, dauijhtiT of l!i>hop Morton, and died prob- 
ably before middle a.i,'e, leavinnf three children, 
David, .\nn and Thomas. In iTuS the mother be- 
came the wife of Tlieophih)-; I'.aton, then an opu- 
lent merchant in London, and with him and a larg-e 
company of other emi.ijTants, inclndinq- her three 
children bv David Yale, embarki'd on board the 
"liector" for America, arrivinsj- at lloston, Mass., 
June 26, 1637. and at Xew Haven (then Ouin- 
nipiac) .\pril 14, 1638. Thomas Yale nnrrievl, in 
1645, Mary, dausjhter of Capt. Xathaniel Turner, 
of Lynn, Mass., in 1630. and of Xew Haven in 
1638. Thomas Yale came to .-\merica in i(\^7. with 
Gov. Eaton and others, and settled in Xew Ha- 
ven as a merchant in i'>38, with an estate of £300. 
Later he pm-chased lands in that ])art of .\ew Ha- 
ven afterward Xorth Haven, and settled on them 
as early as iCido. He was one of the principal men 
of the Colony, a sisjner of the Plantation Covenant 
of Xew Haven, and hlled with honor many offices 
of trust. He died March 27, 1683, at^ed sixty- 
seven years, Mrs. Yale died Oct. 15, 1704. 

(H) Capt. Thomas "S'ale (2), son of Thomas 
(also called "Captain"), born about 1647, in Xew 
Haven, married (first) Dec. 11, 1667, Rebecca, 
daughter of William (jibbards, of Xew Haven, and 
she was th.e iijother of his children, .About two 
years after his first marriage he. with others, be- 
gan to agitate the settlement of Wallingford, to 
which place he removed in 1670, with a small band 
of other adventurers, under the guidance and di- 
rection o'f the .Xew Haven committee, liy the rec- 
ords of Wallingford it appears that he was one 
of the most active and energetic men among them. 
He assisted in the formation of the Church, and in 



ihc call of the first and second ministers. He was 
a. justice of the peace, cajjlain of the ir;iinb:uid. etc. 
He died at Wallingfonl Jan. j(<. 1730, aged eighty- 
nine years. 

(illj Nathaniel \i\\c. son of Cajit. Thomas 
12). l)orn Julv 12, I'i8i. married .Anna I'eck, born 
in 1685, flauglUer of John IV'ck, of Wallingford. 
He was a farnu'r and settled in that i)art of the 
t(_>wn now known as .Meriden. lie died Dec. II, 
171 1, and his widow became the wife of Josejih 
Cole, of Wallingford, and died in I7i''i. 

( 1\') Abel ^'ale, son of Xathaniel, born Alarch 
9- i/'^J. married (first) July 22, 1730, Esther Cook, 
and (second) June 3. 1742, Sar.ah Atkins, of Mid- 
dletown. Air. A'ale purchased a homestead on 1-last 
Main street, about three- fourths of a mile east of 
Broad street, Meriden, wliich was occupied for five 
generations by this family. When the ])eo])le of the 
Aferiden parish decideil to settle the first minister. 
Rev. Theophiius llall, lhe\- olTered him choice 
among their farms, lie selected that of .\bel A'ale, 
in what is now Cnriis street, tlu' i)resent Willard 
Hall [)lace, and Mr. N'ale purchased the homestead 
above referred to. in I'.ast Main street. By oc- 
cupation .\bel \'ale was a farmer, lie died .\])ril 
8, 1784, and Mrs. \i\]v died Dec. 20. 1800. 

( \' ) Daniel Yale, son of .Abel, born July 24, 
1730, occupied the |)a;ernal estate, which remained 
in the possession of descendaiUs till the year i8ri7. 
He married, I-"eb. I, 1781, I'hebe Mariams, of 
Aleriden, who died Xov. 17, 1835. The original 
house where all his childrtn were born was a short 
distance east of the ]iresent fine luiw owned by John 
Aubrey, and is noticeable because of its unusual 
distance from the street. .\t the time of its build- 
ing, bv Daniel A'ale, near the >'ear 1800, be was 
told that he should place his house with reference 
to the change in the road that was likely to be 
made when the .Middletown turniiike should be laid 
out, but he declared that no turn|)ike would ever 
go through his meadow, and ]ilaced his residence 
facing the old roa.l which formerl\- ])assed a short 
distance south of the house. But the turnjiike — 
harbinger of the canal, railroad, electric car tracks 
and bicycle ]iath — was inevitable, and thus it came 
to pass than Daniel ^'ale's new house soon stood 
with its back door facing the street. In 1776 Daniel 
A'ale, then twenty-six years of age, enlisted in Cap- 
tain John Couches' Conii)any in the jiarish of Meri- 
den, This company was assigned as part of Brad- 
lev's Battalion, Wadsworth's Brigade. B.radley's 
Battalion was stationeil din-ing the greater ]iart of 
the summer and earlv fall of 1776 at Bergen 
Heights and Paulus Hook (now Jersey City). In 
October it moved up the river to the vicinity of 
Fort Lee, then under (len, Cireen's command. In 
Xovember most of the regiment were sent across 
to assist m defending I'ort Washington, which 
on the fall of the fort, Xovember iTi, was captured 
with the entire garrison. .After his discharge from 
service, when on the journey home, which was 



I04 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



made on foot. ])anii.'I ^'ak- and his coinjianion were 
taken with smalI];ox and endiux-d <;i"eat sntl'ering 
before reaching a place of shekier. After traveHng 
till their feet were blistered, an ai;e<l woman took 
them in ar.d cared for them. Daniel \'ale was a 
man of sterling inteu;ril\- and decided o|)inions. Tie 
had a f<ircible inai;ner of e.\])ressing his views, es- 
pecially on the subject nf reliijion. Ir i< thought 
in tbenl(iL;y his ideas were thuse of a L'niversalist. 
lie was ;i cooper and supported his family of eiijlit 
children by carrying' on this traile in connection 
with farming-. Daniel ^'ale died March J8, 1834. 
Although he had four sons, there is only one of 
the fifth generation who bears the n.une, W'a'iker 
Asa \:i\v. smu nf Samuel I'. N'ale, of Xew Haven. 
( \ I ) .\l)tl ^'ale. son of Daniel, was hum June 
15. 17.SS. and was blessed with ;m inui>uall\' hajvpy, 
jo\ial nattire. lie enL;aL;ed in farmiuL;' in Meriden 
on the old homestead. On Oct. ,^. 1S16, he married 
J'olly .Austin, who died Auv;. 15. 1S40. a^ed forty- , 
ci<;ht year-;. ( )n .\uo-. 15, 1.S41. he married Lucy 
I'.oolb. .Miel N'ale died Sejjt. 23. \S~.t). His chil- 
dren were; Henry, born Jtdy S. 1S17. was married 
April _>i|. !SCi2. to Sarah Idizabeih Waring, who 
was born i?i ( Ireenwich, C'dim.. Dec. 17. iSjO; he 
was a britaimia manufacturer in Xew York, died 
in Meriden ( )ct. 14. icSOS, and bis remains rest in 
("ireenwich. .\usiiii. bin.-n .\pril 14. iSkj. died 
April ,^n. iSjj. Horace is mentioned belnw. 

(\ll) HoKAi I-; ^'ai.i-; was horn June 17. iSjfi. 
in Meriden, grew u]) nu the paternal farm, and 
receixed hi'- education in the local schools. I^ater 
he learned tlu- trade of stoue-masMU. and was en- 
gaged se\a i.al ye.ars as Inreman in thru line. His 
ne.xt employment was in the .Meriden liritannia 
factor\', umler I. ( '. I.twis, and he was sul)se(|uent- 
Iv with the .Meriden I'.ritaimia Co., where he con- 
tinued in;in\- years. lie died Det'. _'3. l8ij5, at his 
home on West .Main street, .Meriden. and was laid 
to rest in W .dnut (iro\e ceineterx. .Mr. \ ale en- 
joyed the liighest ri'piU.atinu as a man (if indus- 
trious habits. hoUL'SI and upright in his dealings 
with his fcllowineii, .and a Christian in all the re- 
lations of life. .\ l(i\iug Imshand and father, do- 
mestic in b's habits, and de\-oled lo his fimilw he 
was clevply mnuriied in his immediate honu- circle, 
and was also greatlv missed in wirious fields of 
usefulness. In religions connectinn he was a de- 
vout member of tlu- .Main street l',a.|itist (dnirch, 
in which he served for a time as deacon. He was 
strictb' leniperate, belonged tn the Independent Or- 
der (;f (iiurl Tenipbirs. and vnted the I'rohibition 
ticket. 

( )n Ma\ 2t). 1S53, .Ml. ^■ak• married Miss Caro- 
hne .M. .Andrews, whu w.as bnin in L'heslhre, Xew 
Haven ciiunt\, daughter i.f Hiram and .Martha 
Maria (Hotcbkiss) Andre\\s. anil this uninn was 
l)lessed with one child. C'barlnitr I.illa. born .March 
It. 1H55. ■'^'"■" received her early education in 
Aleriden rnid later gr.adnaled from the State Xor- 
mal -cbool at .Xew llritain, snbsi'|neml\ teaching 



two years in .Mi-riden and Southington. Havin,g 
a great desire to study art she gave up the teach- 
er's iirofessioti, studied at the Art Students League 
in .Xew ^'ork. and is now absorbed in her work 
at her studio, joS West Main street, Meriden. She 
united with the .Main street Baptist Church, of 
which Mis. ^'ale is a member, and belongs to the 
society of the Daughters of the .American Revo- 
lution, holding membership in Kuth Hart Chapter. 
Airs. \';de is .a woman of a retiring nature and 
firm t/hristiau character, wielding a quiet influ- 
ence for good (i\er all wdic^ know her. 

R( i|'d-:Rd" TRl^.XT AHiRWIX has, in his iden- 
tification of nearU' fifty years with the real-estate 
business in .Xew Haven, placed himself among that 
city's very oldest business men in point of service. 
Certainlv there is no citizen of Xew Llaven whose 
li ng Inisiness career has been any more character- 
ized by strictly upri,ght and honorable methods. 

Mr. Merwin was born Jan. 26, 183S, and w-as 
nrnned after ( lov. Treat. He comes from one of the 
oldest families of .Xew Haven county, one that has 
licen identified with Milford from the earliest his- 
tory of that town. Idle Merwin family were amon,g 
the earliest settlers of Alilford, and our subject is 
descended from Thomas Alerwin, one of three 
brothers who came froin Wales. .Amv (Treat) 
.Merwin. the .grandmother of our subject, was a 
granddaughter of Gov. Robert Treat, of Connect- 
icut. 

Ira Merwin. father of Robert T., was reared in 
Milfiifd. .and when a young man came to Xew 
Ha\'en to learn the trade of a joiner, wdiich was his 
occupation for many years. Li 184Q he w'ent into 
the real-esttite business in Xew Haven, and followed 
the same until his death, at the age of sixty-five. 
He was a man of much strength of character, and 
at one tiim- served as alderman in X^^ew Haven. .As 
jiresidt'iil of the lUiilding Association he constructed 
ni;iuy houses, several of the best in the citv. .A 
prominent meniher of the Masonic fraternity, he 
served as grand master, and was also a member of 
the ( )dd h~ellows and the State militia. Mr. Merwin 
belonged to h'ire Dep.artment Xo. 4. He was a ves- 
tryman in the l'4iisco])al CTmrcli, and took a verv 
active p.art in its alTairs. I fe married Elizabeth C. 
Tavlor, who was born in Suffield. and of their 
twelve chililren, Robert T. is the onlv one now liv- 
in.g. Mrs. Merwdn is remembered as a woman of 
grand character, alert in all the domestic duties of 
life, kind and thoughtful and self-sacrificing in her 
devotion to her nunterous fannl\-. .She was a mein- 
l)er of the l-'.piscopal Cduu-ch, and died in the faith 
of that connmuiion at the age of si\t\-one \ears. 

Robert d'reat Merwin s]ient his earlv \ears in 
Xew Haven, and obtained his education at the com- 
mon schools. He entered the real-estate business at 
the age of fifteen years, in the otTice of his father, 
with wdiom he remained as long as that gentleman 
contimied in active life. .Since the death of his 




KainAJr 






COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



105 



father Mr. .Merwin has been aluiic in his (iffico. and 
has hveil to 1)c llie ohlcst man in tin- Imsincss in 
Now Haven. Wiicn he l)et;an there were only three 
real-estate men in tlie eii>-, and nnw there are over 
two hnndred. .Mr. Merwin ha^ done mnch liuihhni,' 
for others and considerable fur himself. .\t tin- 
present time he is handlinj;- a lari;e amntint of prop- 
crt\-. not (.>nly for others, hut in his <>wii interest as 
well. He has heen called upon a numher of times 
to testify as an expert in re;d-estate liti.L^atinn, l)nth 
in and out of the city, his npini( 11 nil real-estate val- 
ues ]irohahl\' carrying as much weiL;hl as that of any 
man in Comiecticut. .\fter his many years of busi- 
ness activitv, Mr. .\rerwin"s intellect is as keen ;mtl 
comprehensive as at an\' time in his life. He has 
alwa\-s been a man of the most re^iiilar habits, 
strictlv temperate, never a drinker or user of to- 
l).'icco. In his (K-aliiii;"s with many tliiaij-aiid tenants 
liis kindnos and sjenerosity have been fre(|uenlly 
evidenced, for, thou^-li systematic and precise, h<' 
lias a ijcnuine syni|)athy for the pnnr, which he has 
many times shown in a substantia! tlniu^li cpiiet 
way. .Always courteous and gentlemanlN'. he i» the 
tyjie of a citizen which reflects credit on e\en such 
an honored and distins^uished family as the one 
from which he descend^, lie is one n\ the well- 
known and successful business men of bis citv. Mr. 
Merwin has never sou.t;lit or held public office, al- 
v.'avs findint;' his time t.akeu up with business, after 
which his interest in his home comes first. 

Mr. Merwin was luarried. in iS^ej, tn Harriet 1'. 
Northrop, who was born in Xew ITa\en, in a linuse 
which stood on the nresent site of St. Thomas' 
Church. Her father. Kudol]3hus E. Xi>rthrop, was 
a carver, and died at the ape of si.xty. Her mother, 
Martha J. (r.rown) Xorthrop, was horn in Xew 
Haven. Mr. and Mrs. Xorthrop had three chiblren 
who lived to adult age, and all are lixing at the 
present writing: Mrs. W'ellman, a widow; H;irriet 
P.: and lulward .\. 1'... who is in Kan.-as. Mrs. 
Xortlirop died in her seventieth year. The Xor- 
throps were memliers of Si. Thomas Church, where 
tliev had iiew rent free. To Mr. ,-md Mrs. Mer- 
win have been born three children : ( i 1 .Mice X. 
married Albert \\'. Maltnnn, a cigar mamifacturer 
in Xew Haven, and is the mother of three children, 
^ferwin, Robert T. and Lncien. (2) Edith E. is at 
liome with her parents. ( p,) ( )ne child is (U'ceased. 

Mr. Merwin is a Democrat, and takt's a fair de- 
gree of interest in pf)litics. He is an apjiraiser of 
real estate for the Xew Haven .Savings Hank, ami is 
a director of Crace Hospital. He ami all his faiuilv 
are members of St. John's Ejjiscopal Church, of 
which he is senior warden. 

EVM.AX H.XRRISOX ll.\EE. deceasrl. Dur- 
ing a lone and useful life, [.\;uan ! iarri-on Hall 
was one of Meriden's most highlv respected citi- 
zens, one whose memory is still cherished by those 
who were permitted to come close to his personal 
life. He was horn Dec. 2S, 182.^ in ^■alesville. 



Cnnn., a <lesctndaut of one of the ohk>t families 
in .\ew 1 iaven county. 

jnlui Mall, the fo'imder of this family, was a 
native nf i'nglan<l, and his hrst location in .\mer- 
ica was at l'.ii.--ton, Mass.. renrnval later I'cing made 
to Xew lla\en. .A c >mprehensive history of tliis 
famih will be fnund in aunther ])arl of this \dl- 
ume. 

Samuel llall. son of John, married Hann.ah 
Walker, in, itioS, and was one of the lirst settlers 
ill \\'allingfi)rd, where his death occurred March 
^, 1725, ;U the age of vv\-enty-se\ en year>, his 
widow surviving uulil Dec. 20. 1728. 

lolin llall, son of .Samuel, was I»irn Dec. 23. 
i'>7o, in W'a'linLjford, Conn., and married .Mary 
Evniau, who «lied ( )cl. I'l, 1740. He died .\pril 2g, 

Caleb llall. the fourth child of John Hall, was 
born in the town of \\;illingford Se]it. 14. \(.i)J. 
was graduated from ^'ale. and be became a |ir<im- 
ineut man in his day. Ills whole life was spent 
in W'allingford, wlii'ri' he du-d Jul>- JJ. 1741), and 
his remains are in the posses>ion of this old town. 
lie married Demaris ."vtwater, .May 15, 1721. her 
death taking place on Jul\ 20. 17^)2, at the age of 
sixtx-fi'ur \e;irs. To this union se\en children 
were born. 

Caleb 11,-dl (2), o)ie of the three sons of t.'aleb 
Half, was born ,\ug. 20, 17.^1. graduated from A'ale 
College in t752, and hi'came a jihysician of ])riim- 
inence in Walliiigford, where he died Sept. 21, 
17S3, Caleb Hall was marrie<l to Prudence 
Holt, who died Xov. .V>. l''^'>7. ''it '''e' age 
of sixtv-seveii \ears. 'idu'ir children were: Caleb 
Johnson, born Sept. J2. ij'\^: .Augustus, born .\ug. 
'](), 17^15: .Miigail. borti Jan. 21). I7'>7. m.arried first 
Samuel Carrington. and second, Xebemi.ih Rice: 
Eunice, born .Aug, 24, 1770: Henjamiu. born Julv 
2fi, 1772: Horatio Cates, born Jan. 17. 177S: and 
Cieorge and Demaris, twins, born h'eb. 10, 1782. 

Horatio Cates Hall, the grandfather of Evnian 
Harrison Hall, was born Jan. 17, 177S, and mar- 
ried Pollv r.\ingtnn, a daughter of lleniamin 
r.vington,' born .\ng. 23, 1777. Their chiklreii 
were: .Augustus, who was born July 14. 171)0, mar- 
ried Rlioda Doolittle: Eyman, who was born May 7, 
1 iSoi : Horace, wdio was iiorn Alay 25, 1804, niar- 
I ried a Miss T.uU : AFarv, who was born March iTi. 
1807, married I .I'vi-rett .Mien : hisiah II. and .\bi- 

gail. 

Evnian H:dl, sou of Horatio (iates Hall, and 
the father of E\nrin Harri-^on Hall, was born in 
W'allingford, Coim., .M:iv 7. 1801. His trade was 
that of bkicksmilh. which he folknveil in Vales- 

j' viile. Conn., his death occurring at the age 01 
fortv-two vi'ars. He uKU'ried Sina I'lUtton. who 
also passed out of life at a co;n])arativeIy early 
age. Thcv were consistent members of the Con- 
gregational Church in W'allinL'ford. and their burial 

' Took i^lace in that town. Their fimiily consisted 
of seven children: E\iuan ll;irri-oii. who wis born 



io6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Dec. 28. 1823: Xc\vl)iiry J'littiin, wlio was born July 
fi. 1826; Laura Amanda, wln) was born Aug. 25, 
1S28, married Cliark-s 1). Jlall, of Bristol, Conn.; 
Georn-e Starr, who was born Aug. 22, 1832; Sina 
Aseneth, who was born Scjit. 9, 1834; Adelaide 
Amanda, who was burn Se])t. 10, 1837; and Marv 
A., who was born June 8, 1843. 

The early life of Lyman Harrison Hall was 
that of the village l;ul (if his age, his instruction 
at school being umler tlu' Hon. i)exter T\. \\'right, 
in ])reparation f^r a business career. lie had his 
O])portnuily in the Meridcn liritannia works, and 
was entering upon an industrial life, when the stir- 
ring events of iSfii changed the currenc of his 
thoughts, and with loyal heart he became a soldier 
in the di'fense of his countrv. bjilisting in Co. !•", 
i.Sfh Conn. \'. 1., be faithfullv served through three 
long and eventful vears. suffering during this time 
imprisonment in Libby's dungeons, where his health 
was seriotish- impaired. As corporal of his com- 
]X'my, he performed every duty set before him, but 
was glad tn retinii tn bis nld home after the close 
of the war. 

Resuming bis pnsition with the Tlritamiia com- 
pany, he remained attiiclnd to that house until, after 
a verv short illne-s, lu- w.is called from earth March 
I, 18S8. and was buried in \\':dnut Crove cem- 
eterv. In political sentiment, ]\Ir. Hall was a Re- 
jHiblican, but he had no ambition for office. Other 
things interested him nmch more, one of these be- 
ing his church, his Sunil,i\ -school ,'uid hi< religious 
duties. The I'.ible was to him indeed •'the Piook of 
Books" and it was his habit to pre|)are himself for 
the trials and temptations of the day by reading its 
pages ill the early morning, also closing the dav 
in the same maiuicr. But a few moments before 
his s|iirit took its flight this wise counselor and 
comforter was in his band. r)e\iited to the inter- 
ests of .St. .\ndrew's J{piscopal Church, he acted 
as usher for many years and was Sf) beloved as 
a Sunda\-school teacher that Ibe Iieautiful and ap- 
I)ropriate memorial window which adorns St. An- 
drew's was placed there in lo\ing n;eiuor\' of him, 
by the Sunda\'-school. 

In fr;iterual circles, Air. Hall was valued for 
the active interest he look in these organizations 
and for his i)ersonal ([ualities, as conu-ade and man. 
With Meridian Lodge, \o. --. A. F. & /\. M.. he 
was long coiuiected. wdiile he was I'ast Grand in 
Meriden Center Lodge, Xo. ti8, 1. C). O. F. Reso- 
lutions of confidence, condolence and affection were 
prepared b\- both fraternities, that of the former be- 
ing as follows : 

Mkkuif.n. Oiw'., M.MiCH 5. 18S8. 
'J'o Mkkiiiiw 1 iiii(;k. X(i ". A. I'. &■ .\. M. : 

^'nl1r ci'miiiitti.'e that \va< aiipointoil to prepare a 
siiil;i1)lr Irilr.ite in nuinory nf oiir late nrelluT and P. M., 
L. H, ll.all. (ilTiT till' tiilliiwing voi)ort : 

We feel lliat we Init express tile feelings of every 
active meiiilier cif this l.eilge wlien we say that his de.atii 
is a liiss to ns of 110 ordiii.-iry ni;is;iiiltide. lie united with 
us wdiile servin.i; in llie honond capacity of the citi/cn 
soldier, and when "The war chum heat no longer" lie 



gave to our fraternity the ;anie loyal and willing service 
that he remlered to the Nation. 

It is a long and honorable record, whether in the 
hunihlest position, or presiding as \V. M. in the East, no 
call to duty was unheeded, no service neglected that he 
could render to our Great Brotherhood. His genial, 
kindly nature Won our love, his integrity our unbounded 
Confidence. 

In his tU.ath our city and town have lost one of the 
best citizens; the Church with which he was so lojig con- 
nected, a zealous ami faithful member. To us he was that 
emljodnnenl id' the ble.al Man, the just and upright Mason. 

To her who was for many years the partner of his joys 
and sorrows, we tender our heartfelt sympathy, while we 
say. "Look beyond the clouds." 

We place upon our records this tribute to his memory 
ami .adil his name to the long roll of our honored dead; 
Inn in our hearts will be written, in indelible lines, the 
name of our Friend and Brother. Lyman Harrison Hall. 

CoinniiUee: Willi.im Wallace Lee. Mathew Beatty, 
W. II. Wertwood. 

John P. Wki.v, ir. M. 

GroKcE .\. D.WTS, Src. 

The tnetiiorial a<lopted by Meriden Center 
Lorlge, .\'o. (18. 1. ( ). ( ). b'., of Meriden was no 
less expressive atid beautiful : 

IX ME}^IORL-\^L 

.Again the grim Monster has invaded our sacred bor- 
ders, and has taken from among us one of our oldest and 
most respected members. 

We looked to Past (iraiid H.ill as a wise Counsellor, 
a friend to the distressed and needy, a true .and tried Odd 
I'ellow. and one on whom we could rely. 

Brothers of Meriden Center Lodge, we mourn his de- 
partin'e. but we have the assurance that that which is our 
loss is his eternal gain. 

Rcsoh'ni. That we extend to the widow of our de- 
parted Brother, our sincere svnipathy in the hours of her 
affliction, believing that he is not dead, but gone before. 

Rcsok'i'd, That as a token of respect, we wear the 
bad,ge of mourning for the space of thirty days. 

Rcsok'nf. That these resolutions be entered upon the 
records <if the Lodge, and a coiiy sent to the widow of our 
late Brother. 

.Adopleil by vote of Meriden Center Lodge, No. 68, 
I. O. O. F.. April JO. 1S88. 

IL S. Hitchcock, Sec. Attest: 

On Dec. 22, 1847, Lyman Harrison Hall was 
married to Jane F. Ilradley. who was born Feb. 
IT, 1824, in Southington, Conn., a (laughter of 
\\'illis Bradley. She still resides in Aleriden, in 
her home on Crown street, with her sister, ]\Irs. 
Frances L. Linslex-. 

Bk.ndikv. The Bradley familv, of which Mrs. 
Hall and Mrs. Linsley are descendants, is an old 
one in X'ew Fnglatid, the first citizen of that name 
'11 Xew Haven county. Conn., being Isaac Bradley, 
who is recorded a resident of Bratiford, in 1674. 
Later be moved to i'^ast Haven, where be died Jan. 
12, 1713. His wif(\ b.'nzabeth. <lied Jan, 3, 1713, 
at the age of fifty-six years. 

Samuel liradley. sou of Isaac, was born in 1(186, 
and on Jan. 17, 1713. married Sarah, the daugh- 
ter of Jttcob Robinson, of I'.ast Ha\en. 

Daniel Bradlew son of Samuel, was luarried 
Xov. 28. 1737, to Sarah Judd, a daughter of Ben- 
jamin and Sarah (HoUister) Judd, of (ilastonbury, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



lo; 



her death oci-urriiii; Nov. n). i~C^. after g'iviii.i^ 
birtli to lier sixth child, wim. on this acccnint was 
named by his jiiotis fatiier. Ichaliod. (Jn h"eh. 12, 
i/(>/, Daniel llradley married fur his second wife 
Mehilahel llemin.i,'-\\a\-. a naii\e of I'.ast Ilaven. 
Until IJJi). he resi(k'd in Mast Haven, removing 
tlun to ,^onthingt(jn, where he l)oni,;ht a lar.ge fanii, 
upon which he continued initil iJ'jS, when he re- 
moved to Litchtield, where he died. 

Ichahod ISradley, son of Daniel, was born Xov. 
lo, 17(14, and on Xov. 27, 178S, he was luiited in 
marriage with .Miss .\bigail Moure, who was a 
daughter of Roswell Mocirc^ The children of this 
union were: Polly, who marrii'd llenjaniin An- 
drews ; Willis, who married h'anny Stedman ; 
William, who married .S;ir,ah ( lilbert ; koswell who 
married Julia Xewell ; Diadamia, who married 
Julius Hart; fJial, who married I'.liza (iilbert; 
Charles, who married Delia Stedman; and Anion, 
who married Sylvia I'.arnes, these last being one 
of the oldest married coujiles now living in South- 
ington. Ichabod liradley came with his ])arents 
to Southington when they removed thither, became 
interested here in farming oi)erations, and so eon- 
tinue<l through life, dying ( )ct. i.^, iS_^j, his wife 
having died on the 13th of the previous April. 
Both rest in the cemetery in .Southington. 

Willis Tiradley, son of lehaljod, was born in 
1791 in Southington, on the heimestead, where he 
grew to manhood, becoming an extensive farmer 
and stock raiser, and a man of res])ectal)ility and 
influence. His death occurrecl at the nM home, 
Feb. 15, 1851, when he was aged sixty years. His 
widow survived him, in a wonderful ]ireservation 
of physical and mental health, until the age of 
ninety-two years, dying at the home of her daugh- 
ter, ^Irs. Hall, and lioth parents now rest in Wal- 
nut drove cemetery, in Meriden. lioth h;id been 
wiirthy members of society, devoted ti> the belief 
of the Methodist and Congregational t_'hnrches. 
Mr. I'.radlev was married in 1820 to b";mny Sted- 
man, a native of Xew iirilain. Conn., daughter of 
Samuel and Afarx' Stedman. She was l>oru Jan. 
I?' ^7')?i- The two children of this marriage were 
tlie daughters who still survive them: Jane Eliza, 
born Feb. 11, 1824, married Lyman Harrison Hall; 
and Frances Louisa, I)orn Ma\' 21, 1834, married 
^Larcus i\L Linsley. lloth are active communi- 
cants of St. Andrew's Church. 

Moore. Through their grandmolher, Abigail 
Moore, Mrs, Hall and Mrs. Linsley are connected 
with another of the old and respected families of 
New Fngland. 

L")eacon Jcjhn Moore, the i)rogenitor of the fam- 
ily in .-\merica, came from luigland, in 1630, on 
the "Mary and John," the same vessel on which the 
Edwards family and the ancestors of ( len. (iraut 
also emigrated to the L'nited .States. Deacon Jcjhn 
Aloore first landed at Dorchester, Mass., and in 
company with Re\-. Mr. Warham came to Wind- 
sor, Conn., in ii'^^,^, the same year that John Hooker 
and his comiianv settled in Hartford. The Moores 



have nearly all been of a light and llorid complex- 
ion, and rather tall. 

John Moore, son of Deacon Moore, and a 
farmer by occuiiation, was i)orn in Windsor, tonn., 
and married llannah (lolT. John Moore, son (if 
John and Hannah, was born also in Windsor, and 
in i(x)^ married .\bii,;ail .Strong, a re])resentative 
of one of the largest and most distingnisheil fam- 
ilies in .America. I'heir s<in, known in the records 
as John (4 I, was also born in Windsor, became a 
farmer, and was married Dec. 2. 1724, to Miss 
Abigail .~>tonghton. 

Roswell .Moore, .son of Jiilm (4), w;is also a 
native of Windsor, but at an early day moved lo 
.Southington, where he married Desire L)miham, 
and there frdlowed ;in agricultural life. Roswell 
Moore, son of Roswell and Desire, was a farmer 
and manufacturer in Somhington, married Lovina 
I'hilips and for fourteen cousecutivi' years repre- 
sented ,Sonthington iu the State Legislature. His 
son, (ien. (Irannis .Moore, rrpresente<l the ttiwn 
fiir the same length of time. 'I hi> Roswell .Moore 
was the grandfather of Xelsoii .\ugustus .Moore, 
of Kensington, Conn., and the great grandfather 
of Mrs. Hall and Mrs. Linsley. 

AL\RCi;.s .Mi'xsox Ll^SI.^;^■. the well-known 
traveling salesman of Hartford, was born in .\'(jrth 
Haven, in .August, 1832, and is a son of Marcus 
and Clarissa (Fowler) Linsley. .\ sketch of this 
prominent family and its branches, will be found 
in another part of this \-oluine. 

ALarcus .\lunson Linsley attended the district 
schools of East Haven, but at the age of foiu-teeu 
years he gratified his ambition to become a sailor 
by running away from home and shipiiing on board 
of a whali:ig vessel. Three \ears of this life satis- 
fied him, and then he came to Meriden. Here he 
learned the carpenter and joiner trade with John 
D. Billard, with wdiom he worked for a number of 
years, through .Merickn, Middletown, Xew Ha\-en 
and Xew Britain, being asscnriated with his brother, 
Solomon b'owler Linslev. Mr. Linsley climbed the 
lightning rod to the belfr\- of the church, wdiich 
is the present .Meriden ( )]K'ra House, and rang 
the bell in honor of the nomination of John C. I"rc- 
mont for President. 

During the Civil war, .Mr. Linsley w^s no fpiiet 
onlooker, but an active jiarticipant, as a member 
Co. A, 15th Conn. \'. 1., bi'ing transferred in 1864 
to the Xavy, wdiere he most gallantly held the of- 
fice and ijcrformed the duties of Master's Mate. 

In 1858, Mv. Linsley was united in niarri.age to 
Miss Frances Louis.a Bra<Iley. ;md nuv daughter 
was born to this union, Colie, who married Samuel 
J. Hussev, a well-known decorati\-e .artist of liart- 
ford. The two children of the latter marriage 
were: L'kira, who died at the age of four years; 
and Earl l-"rank, who is his father's capable book- 
kee]XM-. J-"or twenty-five years Mr. Linsley has ably 
represented on the road one of the old business 
firms of Hartford. I'raternally he is connected 
with the <■]. A. R.. and the l"reemasons, and he is 



io8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



a ])leasaiit, iicnial i^-ciiticiiian, liii;lil\- cstcemcci in 
luilii business and sucial circles in his home coni- 

niuiiity. ■ 

1H»K,\(|-. 1IL-|;H.\R|) SrR(i.\(i. nne nf ihe 
ffiundcrs iif till' prtiducc liiin.--c nf StrmiL;', ilanu's. 
JIart iS: Cn., nf Xew liavcn, and fur niany \cars 
alter the middle nf the cenlnr\- one nf Xew Haven's 
active and enterprising;- merchants and substantial 
citizens, was a representati\'e of (ine (if the nld and 
])rnminent families of Xew l''ni;iand, generations of 
vhich were born, and lived and died in the town of 
Durham, C'onnecticut. 

l')orn in that town Ma\' 24. iS^o, our subject 
was a Son of Alvah 1'.. and lluld.ih ( Tooley ) 
.'^troui;-, and a de-cendant in llu' ei.ublh t^eneration 
from John Stmnt;', who was born in Tatuitiin, Imil;'- 
land. in i't()5, and later was of London and I'K- 
luoutb. A strong- J'nritan sympathizer, he sailed 
from rixntouih for Xew bjiLjl.and in I'l^o, in the 
ship "Mary ;nirl John,"' arriving- .\la\- ^rith of that 
}c;ir at a poiiu twelve miles south of I'.oston, 
known .as Xantasket. After a short st.ax" [hew he 
became one of tin- fomiders of I )orchester : thence 
in i'i,^5 went to llin.t;1iam: and kiter became one of 
the founders of Dorchester; and still later became 
one of the proprietors of T.annton, frmn wliicli town 
lie was a deputy to the (iener.al Coiu-t in i'i4i. I'q,^ 
and I '144. l'"roni Taunton he went to Windsor. 
Conn., thence to .Xorthampton. Mass.. becoming- 
one of the mo.st active founders of that place, where 
for forty vears he was a leading- m;in in the affairs 
of town and church, k'or his second wife he mar- 
ried .\bi!;-ail b'ord. of Dorchestt-r, who died in iCicSS. 
De died in I'lji). broiu this emit;i-,-iin .-mcestor Hor- 
ace llubb.-ud Stronti's line of descent is through 
Thomas, Thomas (2), Lieut. Lliakim, Lieut, jvli- 
akim (2). l':iiakim (.:;), and .\lvah I'.nrll .^trono-. 

1 II ) Thomas Strono-, son of John the emit>-rant, 
Ixirii in if._^ — , married (first), in ififio Marv, daUL^h- 
ter of Re\-. I'".phraiiu Ilewett, of Windsor, Conn., 
and later with his faiuil\- moved to .Xorthampton, 
vhere he ilied in iCjHc;. 

(MI) Thom;is .'■^troiii^- (2), son (jf d'homas, horn 
in Midi, mai-ried in I'lS:^ .\l,-ir\. daui.;hter oi |ohn, of 
North.-impl. 111. .Mr. Stroiii; ino\ ed to Durb;uu. 
Conn., in about 170S, and died there. lie w,-is a 
farmer. 

(1\') I.it'Ut. bdiakim ."^troni;-, son of Tboni;is 
(2), born in l()8S, marrii'il in 171J .Meliitabel, 
dau,i;hler of bihn Kini;, of Xorthampton, and re- 
moved to Dmb.-im, Conn., between 17J3 and I7.V>- 
]5y ()CCU])atioii .Mr. .Sii-on^ \\;is a f.-inner. lie died 
in 1745-4(1. 

( \" ) Lieut. I'diakim Strong- ( _' ) . son of Lit-iit. 
Fdiakim, born in 1720. married in 1731 Hannah, 
datit;hter of Lieut. Jose])li leeward, and became a 
lartje farmer of Durham, t'oim. His death oc- 
curred in iSo(.) in Dni-ham. .X. ^'., whither he had 
gone to a son in 1793. 

(\'\) I'-liakim Stron.ii- (3), son of Lieut. Lliakim 



(2), born in 1751, n-iarried (second) in 1790 Ruth 
d.-'ui!4hter of Lkab Camp. Mr. Stroufj was a farmer 
in Durham, and served in the war of the Revolu- 
tion. 1 le died in 1S04, and bis wife in 1814. 

( \ II I .\l\-.-di IUu-11 Strong-, son of Lliakim (3"), 
:md the father of om' subject, born Dec. 29, 171J9. 
married in 1S2S llnldah Tooley, who was born l"eb. 
25, iSo<). daui^hter of .\bram To(.)lcv, of Madison, 
Conn. ?\Ir. Stroui; was a farmer of Durhari-i, Conn., 
where he <lieil .April 21, 184C1. He and his wife had 
children as follows: Horace H., our subject, who 
IS mentioned at L;-reater length below: Lzra T\.. born 
M,-i\- 14, 1832: n.niiel, born June 24, 1834: and 
Laur.i .M., born June jt,. 1843, who is unmarried. 

Ilorace llnbb.-ird Strong, the subject proper of 
this sketch, was reared on the farm of his father in 
the town of Durh;im. In early boyhood he received 
the aih-anta.ges of the neiuhborhood schools in sea- 
son. .\t sixteen he became a farm hand in the neisjh- 
boi'liodd. ;md until eighteen worked for small wages, 
;iftei- which, for three vears, until nearlv of age. he 
\v-as employed in Webb's C'omb Factorv in Aferiden. 
I'ollowing this he w-cnt to the citv of .Xew LLiven, 
and fin- a pcrioil was em])loyed in the Monson I'ie 
liakerv. .\ few years later, in 1851, young Strong 
e^tablisl1ed a meat market on a sm-ill scale, associat- 
ing with him in the enterin-ise V. H. Hnrt, the style 
of the firn-i being Hart & Strong, and their nlace of 
business was the corner of Olive and Crand streets. 
Two vears later Mr. Hart witlirlrew fron-i the busi- 
ness for the purpose of moving to the West. He 
was succeeded in the firm by M. Ti. Hall, the name 
clianuing to Strong & Hall, sncceedii-tg \. :\. Todd. 
In 18(10 Mr. Strong purchased his partner's interest 
in the business and until i8r)2 was sole nronrietor. 
In that vear Mr. Hart, having returned from the 
West, again became interested in the business, the 
firm becoming .Stronij- iS: Hart, .\boiit a decade 
later, in L'ebruar\-, 1872, the jiroduce Iiouse of 
Strong, Barnes, Hart & Co, was organized from the 
business, the gentlemen comprising the firm being 
H. II. Strong. Herbert T'.arnes, I". H. Hart and 
Orrin Doolittle. .\t this change the business o' the 
concern was moved to X'os. ''i5-(')7 Long \\"harf, 
where it has since been carried on. and it has become 
one of the large and exteiisivelx- known ]iroduce 
houses of the Statt'. as well as o'U' of the most suc- 
cessfully conducted. Xot a little that has entered 
into the development of the business and given it 
character and confidence was due to the ener.gy and 
abilitv of him wlm stood at its head so long and 
whose name is so continued. 

Mr. Strong- through a long period of vears was 
prominent and useful in town and city affairs, .As 
a bnsines man his judgment was sound, his ability 
of high order ;uid his integrity unquestioned. Out- 
side ed" his regular business he was variouslv inter- 
ested in other enterprises ;md acli\-e in ]->nhlic afifairs. 
He was interested in ;ind president of the Strong 
hire .Anns Co., and w-as secretary and treasurer of 
the Mallett Cattle Co., of Texas. He held various 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



109 



positions under the city government, always prov- 
ing a valuable anil sale otficial. He gave great sat- 
islactiim as a nuinlier df the hoard of education, and 
the .*-'tr(ing .^cho il was so named in his Imncir. In 
1877 Mr. Strong represented the tnwn ot' i'.asl 
Ila\'en in tlie .State Legislature, lie was for a uinn- 
ber of years captain of the Second Couipauy. (lnv- 
ernor's Horse (luard, and in the early 'eighties was 
conimissidUed major, lie was a Knight Templar 
Mason, and ])ronuuent in .Masonic circles. l-'nr 
manv years he was identified with the Second (.'ou- 
gregational Church of hair Ita\en. 

( )n ( )ct. 10. I1S55. Mr. .Strong was married 1() 
Miss .Sarah Rebecca Johnson, of Litchfield Cotmty. 
Conn., and the union was l)lessed with two children, 
who grew to adult age, Fdla I'rances and .Xddie IL 
The former is the wife of Cieorge M. I'.aldwin, nf 
I'air Haven, and has two children, Sarah Strong 
and George Horace. The latter is >ingle. Mr. 
Strong ]iassed away July 2j, 1893. and his wife siu'- 
vived until .\ug. 3, 1894. 

.MIRAILVM TIK ).\11'S( )\-. whose wi.jnwis 
now residing at Xo. 7ig ( )range street, .\'ew 11a- 
ven, will I)e remeiuliered by the oliler re>i(lents 
of that city and Last Haven in Iirith of which he 
was well known in liis day. He was a native of East 
Haven, born in 1815, son of James Thompson. 

The Thoni])son family in ("onnecticut was 
founded by three brothers. John. Authonv and Will- 
iam, who came from Lenham, in the County of Kent, 
England, where the old mansion house still stands, 
and were signers of the Colony Constitution in 
1639. John Thompson (2). son of John, married 
I'riscilla Powell: both were natives of East Haven. 
Their son. John Thompson (3), was born in I'.ast 
Haven in 1667. and married Merc\- Mansfield, 
daugditer of Major .Moses ^Lansfield. Their son, 
John Thompson (4), was born in l^ast Ha\en in 
i'i<)2. and his son .Stephen Thompson was ])oru in 
1723. The present Thompson residence, and also 
the old stone church, which is a lanilniark, were 
partly built by .Steiihen Thompson, in 1774. 

James Thomjison, son of Steplien, and grand- 
father of Abraham, whose name introduces this 
sketch, was born in 1788. in East Haven, and fol- 
lowed farming in that town. He was one of the 
prominent men of his time and place, and rejire- 
sented his district in the Legislature eleven terms. 
He married Lydia Chidsey, also a native of East 
Haven, and they liad eleven children, ten sons and 
one daughter, all now deceased: Stephen, Mary, 
Leonard, Xathaniel (for many years president of 
the .Mechanics Bank), Henrv. Elizur, James, Abra- 
ham. .\braham (2), Edward E. and Haynes. Air. 
Thompson died .March 7, 1851, and .Mi^s. Thomp- 
son passed away at the age of eightv-four. They 
attended tlie East Haven Congregational Church. 

Abraham Thompson made his home in E.ast 
Haven until he was fifteen years of age, and re- 



ceived his early education there and in llranford, 
finishing bis literary training in his native place. 
At the age of fifteen jie wi.-nt to sea, and during his 
life as a mariner visited many ])laces of interest, 
sailing to California and .South .America, the West 
Indies, and he was well infoi'uied in all that jjer- 
tained to hi> calling. Later he was in the mercan- 
tile liusiness in .Sacramento, C'al., a mnnber of vears, 
and still later was in the carriage making business 
in .\ew J lawn uniil 1800. when he retired. (_)n re- 
tiring he settled in .\ew Haven, where he passed the 
remainder of his da\s, d\ing at the age of fiftv- 
five. 

On Sept. 5, 1844, .\lr. Thomjjson married .Miss 
Lydia Ives, who was born .Xjjril 12, 1824, in New 
Haven, where the greater jiart of her life has been 
spent, l-'our children were born of this union: (l) 
James E. is in the mercantile business in .\'ew \'ork, 
and resides in Koseville, X. J. He married [ulia 
i'ennoyer. and they have had five children, Louis 
(who married h:ila Lnbers). Arthur (a phvsician 
of ( )range. .X. J.), Charles, Carrie and Albert. (2) 
l-rank Ives was b;irii Sept. 18, 1851. in Xew Ha- 
ven, where he s|)eiii his boyhood days, attending the 
common schools ;iiiil finishing at RusselFs .Miiitarv 
Academy. After iliis, in ]8(i'8, he was emploved by 
D. _S. (ilenney, who tlealt in paints and glass, re- 
maining with him as clerk for sixteen years.' In 
I'ebruary, 1884, .Mr. Thoniipson and I-. 11. W-UV-n 
engaged in the same line, under the firm name of 
Ihompson & lleldeii. Thev are now located at 
Xos. 39^-398-402-404 Sate street, and do a whole- 
sale and retail Inisiness, selling goods all over Con- 
necticut, and doing the larger part of their business 
outside of the city. .Mr. Thomiison is Independent 
m politics, and has served as councilman fnmi the 
I'lfth ward. bVaternallv he is a inember of Hiram 
Lo.lge, .Xo. I, E. & A. .M., the R^M Mm and the 
Sterling Lodge, A. O. U. W. ( )n ( )ct. 11. 1882, he 
married Mary H. Hubbell, who was born in I'.rid'ge- 
port, daughter of .\lbert Hubbell, of that citv, a"iid 
they have two children, I'reilerick and Harold. 
Mr. Thompson and his family attend St. Paul's 
Epi.scopal Church. .Mrs. Tliomiison is a member 
of .Mary Clapp Chapter, I). A, R. (3) Erederick 
.\. is now in .Arizona, where he is engaged as a 
clerk : he married Mary Ainer, of Scranton, r\a. 
(4) Charles P. is ])roprietor of the ••Thom[).s<in 
Sho])." He married Lucy Lake and thev have two 
sons, Charles P.. Jr.. and Paul. The ■'rhompsons 
are identified with the Episco])al Church. 

Elihu Ives, the father of Mrs. Thompson, was 
born in New Haven, where his father, Dr. Eli Ives, 
practiced medicine throughout his active life, lie- 
ing one of the best-known ]iractitioners of his dav. 
He attended to his professional duties until his 
death, at the age of seventy. He served as surgeon 
during the .American Kevohition. When .Xew Ha- 
ven was invaded he sent two of his children, Elihu 
being one of these, to In's father in .Xorth Haven, 



I lO 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



wliilr lie was awav assisliiij;' in the defense of the 
town. Thev had a silver tankard, wliich was 
thrown down tlie well to save it from falling- into 
the hand> of the llriti>h. and which they afterward 
recovered and made into tahle spoons, etc. rjihn 
Ives was reared in New Haven, and commenced 
business life there as a merchant, htit he was after- 
ward eni,''ai^ed in dealinjj; in Merino sheep, in Ohio, 
imder the ])atr()nai.;e of David llnmphreys, and in 
his later life he ke])t the li.i;dit at Lighthouse Point, 
being- thus occupied for twenty years. He was a 
^■■reat traveler, i.'speciall\' for his time, had crossed 
the l\ock\' .Motuitains eighteen tintes, and was 
widely and favorably known in this section. He 
■died in New Haven at the age of seventy. Elihu 
Ives married Lucv W'hittemore, a native of Derby, 
and they had ten children, of whom Lydia, Mrs. 
Thoni])soii, is the onl\' survi\'or. Mrs. Lucy Ives 
■died at the age of seventy. 

CATLIX. 1'he family of this name at Meriden, 
of which tile late llenjamin H. Catlin, ,\[. D., a dis- 
tinguished physician and prominent citizen of the 
city, was the head, and where still resides his son. 
William H. Catlin (secretary and treasurer of the 
Meriden .Savings Ikink), and family, is a liranch 
of one ijf the (jldest and most prominent families 
■of Connecticut. 

Going back to the mother countrv, we find the 
family name is frecpient at Newington. Rochilan, 
County of Kent, hjigland. They have held prop- 
erty in that county since the Xorman Conquest. 
''R. de Catlin was one of the followers of William 
the Con(|uer(ir. and is mentioned in 'r)omesday 
I'look" as possessing two Knight's fees of land at the 
time of his succession in the County of Kent, and 
several indiviiluals of the same name a|)pear in Eng- 
land as honorably em])loyed in the King's service. 
Sir Koberi Catlin was knighted for lionorai)!e ser- 
vice at the battle of Agincoifri under Edward, the 
lUack I'rince. ami the Catlin coat of arms is that 
granted to him" (llinman's "I'm-itan Settlers," p. 
86()). The .Inns are: I'er che\-ron I )r and .•\;^ure. 
Three lions ])assant guardani in jial. counter 
charged in chief, .\rgent. C'rcsf: A leopard's head 
coui)ed at the neck, .\rgent. ducallv collared and 
bned, ( )r. regu:ii-dant. Motto: Sciiif^cr fides. 
[English .\nnals.] 

The t'lrst Catlin who apjtears to have come to 
this countrv was a bo\-. Thomas Catlin came to 
Hartford, Conn., in 1632. Later he left his master 
and went to .Saybrook, Conn., returning to Hart- 
ford about iCi45-j(i, where he settled. He ac- 
quired a good deal of properly, and took great pains 
with the edncntion of his only son, John. It is 
stated in the "Memorial History of Hartford Coun- 
ty," edited hv the Lite [. 1 lammoml Trumbull. LL. 
D., that Thomas Catlin was born aliout 1612, was 
first mentioned in the Colonial Records in 1644; 
was chimnev \-iewer 1C4", 164S and 1653: survevor 



of higiiwa\-s in 1655: townsman in 1659; constable 
in i'i02-~4, "an office at that time one of the most 
honorable and trustworthy in the Colony;" that he 
married (first) Mary, and (second) Mary, widow 
of Edward i^lnier. anil died in 1690. [Elsewhere 
it is stated that Thomas Catlin was living in 1687, 
when testified in court that he was eighty-seven 
vears old. .Savage says that "he died in 1690, aged 
about seventy-eight.''] 

'J'he late Dr. Benjamin II. Catlin, of ]\Ieriden, 
was in the sixth generation from Thomas Catlin, 
the line of his descent being through John, Ben- 
jamin, Sergeant Jacob and Benjamin (2). 

(1!) John Catlin, son of Thomas Catlin, mar- 
ried in iWj5, .Mary, daughter of Capt. Samuel 
Marshall, of \\'indsor, Connecticut. 

(Hi) Benjamin Catlin, born in 1680, in Hart- 
ford married iMargaret Kellogg, and died in Har- 
winton. Conn., in 1767. 

( 1 \" ) Sergeant Jacob Catlin, born in 1723, in 
llartford, married Hannah I'helps, born in 1731, 
in W iiidsor. Conn. He was a farmer in Harwin- 
ton, and died in 1802. She died in 1812. 

( \" ) Benjamin Catlin (2j, son of Sergeant 
Jacob Catlin and the father of Dr. Benjamin H. 
Catlin, was l)orn Oct. 6, 1772, in Harwinton, Conn., 
where he was occupied as a farmer. He married 
Xov. 27, 171)7, Rhoda, daughter of Isaac Catlin 
(2) (he in the fifth generation from Thomas, 
through John, Samuel and Isaac). Rhoda Catlin 
was born .\ov. 8, 1774, in Litchfield, Conn., and 
(lieil in llarw intiin, Sept. 3, 1863. Ijenjamin Cat- 
lin died Jul)- 10. 1835. He was for twenty years 
deacon in the Congregational Church. Their chil- 
dren were: .-Vuna. Rhoda, Lucy, Benjamin H., 
Ceorge. .'■Sheldon, Clorinda, Henry and Julius. 

l')i;.\- 1 \M IX Hoi'Ki.vs C.\Ti.i.\, M. D., deceased, 
formerly of Meriden, eldest son of Benjamin and 
K'hoila I C;itlin I t'atlin, was born Aug. 10, 1801, in 
the town of 1 larwinton, Litchfield Co., Conn. His 
advantages for obtaining an education were limited 
to the district school near his 'fathers residence, till 
his sixteenth year, when an academy was built in 
his native town, in which he had the opportunity 
of j)ursuing the higher branches of study not then 
taught in the common schools. At this academy, 
and under the tuition of the Rev. Luther Hart, of 
I'lvmoulli. he ]iursuecl his pre]iaratory studies. He 
studied medicine and surger\' nearly four years un- 
ikr the instruction of dilTereut ])hysicians, and at 
the Medical Instiliuions of Yale College from 
which he was graduated March 4. 1825. On July 
12, of that \-e;n-, he opened an office at ITaddan-i, 
Conn., tilling ;i \acancy made by the death of Dr. 
Andrew Warner. The first week he had patients 
to atleml. niul in twd or three months was in full 
j)ractice. I !e remained at 1 ladilam over sixteen years, 
his practice extending into all the adjoining towns. 
On March 31. 1S42. Dr. Wyllis Wooilruff, of I\[eri- 
den, died, and the same exeniug a messenger was 



COMMEMORATU'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



I 1 1 



sent to Dr. Catlin by some of tlie Icadiii.t;: citizens of 
Meriden retjuesling him to come to Meriden to fill 
the vacancy. 'J'he following- day, Ajiril i. Dr. Cat- 
lin went to .Meriden, made arrangements for his re- 
moval, and commenced [iractice there on Ajiril 5. 
He was elected a h'ellow of the Connecticut Medi- 
cal Society, and in 1840 received the honorary de- 
gree of Al. D., from Yale College. In 1854 he was 
elected vice-president of the Connecticut Medical 
Society, re-elected in 1855, ap])oimed president in 
185'). and elected in 1837. 

The following is taken from an obituary of Dr. 
Catlin which appeare<l in one of the Meriden papers 
at the time of his death, h'eb. 18, 1880: 

Dr. Catlin was one of our oldest inhabitants and most 
prominent pliysicians, and ho has taken a very high rank 
in the medical profession of the Slate and of the country. 
For forty-eight years previous to his death he had prac- 
ticed in Meriden. and enjoyed the fullest confidence and 
esteem of the whole community. In his private life he 
was unassuming, and he wore the honors conferred upon 
liim by his professional associates modestly, and no act 
of his long life ever caused his friends to blush for him. 
1 U- was by nature upright and honest, and liis life was a 
ci'nsistcnt following of the principles he professed. He 
had been a prominent member of the .American Medical 
.\ssociation from 1853 until the time of his death, and at- 
tended the annual meetings as dele.gate from the Xew Ha- 
ven County Medical Society, and from the State Society. 
In i860 he was elected an honorary member of the New 
York State Medical Society, and in 1869 a corresponding 
memlier of the Gynaecological Society of Boston. He had 
alsii held the ofifice of vice-president of the .\mcrican Med- 
ical Society, and was one of the most active members. He 
was president of the annual meeting held in 1871 at San 
Francisco, and was the first president of the Rocky Moun- 
tain Medical Society, composed of members who attended 
the annual meeting at San Francisco. He was a very 
active member of the medical profession in Connecticut, 
and it was largely due to his efforts that a State Board of 
Health was appointed, wdiich was one of the wisest pro- 
visions ever passed in the State. Dr. Catlin was also 
very much interested in the influences of sanitary condi- 
tinn~ ujion health, and his writings upon this important 
matter repre-ented the most advanced position of medical 
science. Apart from the offices connected with the med- 
ical profession which Dr. Catlm filled, he was a director 
of the Home National Bank from its organization, and 
was either president or vice-president of the Meriden 
Savings Bank from its organization. He held the latter 
office at the time of his death. At the time the Congre- 
gational Church removed to West Meriden. Dr. Catlin was 
elected deacon for life, and for many years he was senior 
deacon. He held the office of treasurer of the church until 
the 1st of January before his death, when his son. Will- 
iam H. Catlin, was appointed to the office. 

On Se])t. 9, 1835, Dr. Catlin was married to 
Amelia Deborah Spencer, horn Nov. 4, 181 1, 
daughter of William and Deborah (Sclden) Spen- 
cer. To this marriage came: ( 1 ) lienjamin .Sjien- 
ccr, horn Sept. 14. 1837, died Feb. 15. 1871 ; he was 
in the Civil war from 1862 to 1865, serving as sur- 
geon of the 2(1 X. Y. V. I., and 21st X. Y. V. C. 
(2) William II. is mentioned behjw. The mother 
died Aug. 7, 1883. 

WiiJ.i.XM Ilni'Kixs C.\Ti.i-V, second son of P.en- 
jamin II. and .\melia Dcliorah (Spencer) Catlin, 
born Aug. 24, 1842, was married .Seijt, 13. 1871, 



in Barton county. Mo., to Helen Mar P.ailey, who 
died June 22,. 1880. h"(.)r his second wife, he mar- 
ried, on ( )ct. to, 1883, Jane \\ inslow, of Xorlh 
I'.rooktield, Mass., daughter nf David Lilly ;mil 
Dolly I'owers (llarwnod) Winslow. .""^he was 
born Aug. 28, 1854. ller lather was a s<.)n of John 
W'inslow (j) [Cajit. Joshua (l>l, Thomas (5), Col. 
Thomas(4), Keiielni(3). Kenelm(2). KcneltiK \)'\. 
Kenelm Winslow ( i 1 w;is lirother of Cov. lulward 
W'inslow, and is suiiposed to have come over when 
the "Mayflower" made her second voyage, Mrs. 
Catlin's great-grandfather, Major Peter Harwood, 
was in the Revoluti(jnary war, and was ofiticer of 
the clav when Andre was hting. .She is a direct 
descendant of Cov. Prcticc and holder William r)rew- 
ster, through Edmund Freeman and Major John 
Freeman, who married .Mercy Prencc. licr great- 
great-grandfather, I^benezer Harwood, wa.s killed at 
Louisbourg, Cape Lireton, Jiuie 17, 1745. 

William Hopkins Catlin attemled the district 
school at Meriden and the Hopkins ( irammar school 
at Hartford, He taught school at .Xortheast, P'ric 
Co., Pa., during the winter of i8')i-f)2. Rettirning 
to Meriden in the spring of 1802. on June iith of 
that year he enlisted as a volunteer in the C'nion 
army, being atniong the first half dozen to form Com- 
pany A, of the 15th Conn. \'. 1. 'Phey went into 
camp at Oyster Point, Xew llaxeii. Conn., July 23d, 
were mustered into the army Atig. 25th, and in a 
few days left for W'ashitigton. The cannonading of 
the second battle of PUiU Run sounded in their ears 
as they crossed Long Pridge to their camp at Ar- 
lington Heights. Our subject was with his regiment 
until the close of the war, and was tiiustered out in 
June, 1865, drawing [jay for three years and one day. 
He was at Erie, Pa,, from 1865 to 1867 as book- 
keeper in the hardware store of Joh\i C. .'-^elden. The 
winter of 1867-68 he spent at home and in the spring 
of 1S68 left for Barton county. Mo., and bought a 
ranch. There he married and lived tmtil 1873, when 
he returned to .Meriden with his wife. 

In 1877 Mr. Catlin entered the Meriden Savings 
Bank as clerk, and in i8i;o was chosen secretary and 
treasurer, wdiich position he still occupies. 

In 1880 Mr. Catlin was chosen deacon of the 
First Congregational Church of .Meriden, and served 
fifteen years. For two years be was president of the 
Young Mens Christian Association. He is a mem- 
ber of the Board of Park Commissioners of that city. 

Twenty-five or more of our subject's ancestors 
took part in the early Indian wars and were mcint- 
liers of the General Court. Fiw served as soldiers 
in the Revolutionary war, one, Col. Samuel Selden, 
being captured at the taking of Xew York City in 
1776. He died in prison soon after his capture. Mr. 
Catlin's great-grandfather enlisted in 1777, when he 
was fifteen, and received a pension for his services. 
He is a direct descendant of Rev. Thom;is Hooker, 
founder of Ilartforil; of Rev. John Wilson, who 
came to America in 1630, and was pastor of the 



I 12 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



First Churcli of Boston ; of Rev. Rog-er Xewton. 
first pastor of the Farmington Church ; of Rev. John 
W'arham, who came from I'lvmouth, England, in 
1^30. and was first jjastor of the Church at Windsor, 
Connecticut ; and of Chad LSrown, who, in 1642, was 
ordained as the first settled jjastor of the Faptist 
Church at Frovidence, Rhode Island. 

HOX. WIFLI.\.M JL'D.SC )X CL.\RK was born 
in the town of Southington, Hartford Co., Conn., 
Aug. ly, 1825, of a ])arentage descended from three 
separate lines of Clarks, who were among the 
"Founders'" of the t'onnecticut and Xew Haven 
Colonies, i635-i()3(), as will appear later on in this 
sketch. He was the third chilil of Theodosius and 
Chloe Clark, and was reared on his father's farm. 

Air. Clark's primary education w'as received at 
the district school of his native town — the tradi- 
tional "little red school house," with long, heavy, 
slab benches for seats ; and a row of six or eight pu- 
])ils occupying each bench. As soon as old enough, 
he was emjiloyed on his father's farm, in the sum- 
mer, stuclying only in the winter and spring terms, 
but he kept up with bis classes, few of thijse who 
enjoyed tile full year's course sm-passing him in 
recitations. .\t the age of fifteen he began attend- 
ance at the Southingtun .\cademy, three miles from 
his home, walking daily six miles: and by studying 
evenings, easily kept up with the students who had 
the advantage of the full year's tuition. In this way 
he was nearly ])repare<l for college when, in the 
spring of 1845, a severe attack of ophthalmia cut 
short his educational career, changing, no doiilit, 
the whole tenor of his life. 

File autumn of 1846, Imwever, fnund him suffi- 
cientlv recovereil td take charge of the high school 
at West Avon, I'onn. His success as an instructor 
did not prevent him, however, fnun seizing an op- 
portunity which presented itself in the spring of 
1847, fiir engaging in cnnime/cial pursuits, by en- 
tering into a partuershi]) with his lirdther-in-law, 
Hezekiah C. Cinnmings. The new firm — Cum- 
mings & Clark — leased a countr\- store at Hitch- 
ci:)ck's Fasin, located on the ]-"arniington Canal, in 
the southern part n\ the town of ."-^i lutliiugton, where 
the \\'attrbur\ \- .Meriden turnpike crosses the 
canal. .\l tli;u time all the heavy freight for this 
and the other Southington stores was brought by 
boats from .\ew lla\en, and a large part of the 
Watcrbury freight was also brought to the "Ba- 
sin :" the firm running a boat, for general trans- 
portation, between Xew Haven and the home port. 
They also discharge<l much Watcrbury freight, at 
Beach Fort (now West Cheshire). 

The enterprise of the firm led them to branch out 
from the ordinary country store goods and add a 
coal and lumber yard, the first in the town. The 
following vear, 1848, the railroad succeeded the 
canal, and the name of the ])lace w^as changed to 
Hitchcock's Station, but the business was continued 
successfully until the end of the three years' lease, 



ami then, as it could not be renewed, the copartner- 
ship was dissolved. 

The California gold fever broke out in the. win- 
ter of 1848-49, and young Air. Clark thought it a 
favorable opportunity to see the world and prove 
the truth — or the untruth — of the marvelous stories 
that lloated eastward from the far-away country on 
the I'acitic coast. He was one of the company of 
fifty-six members who bought the .schooner "G. H. 
.Montague," of 200 tons capacity, and stocked it, at 
Xew Haven, in January, 1849, w't'i provisions for 
the long voyage around Cape Horn, and the ma- 
terials deemed best by an old and experienced 
X<jrth Carolina miner, W. S. Forter, to carry to an 
almost unknown land. On the 23d of that month 
the vessel's lines were cast off, and the white sails 
spread for the tvventy-thousand-mile trip, and amid 
much enthusiasm the "forty-niners" started off, like 
their forefathers of 1638, to found a new common- 
wealth, l-lve months frorrr that time the voyage — - 
successful, except that a sailor was washed away in 
a gale off Ca]X' Horn — was ended ; and on June 26th 
the little schooner, with all sails bellying to the 
breeze, euiereil the gateway to the beautiful bay, 
proudly ])Ioughing her way up to the anchorage in 
front of the new 1^1 Dorado — the canvas-built city 
if .San b'rancisco. Xo ship leaving the eastern 
States that year had beaten her into port, though 
she had liattled with adverse gales and rough seas 
for twenty-one days oft' Cape Horn. .She had led 
the procession to her destination without loss of 
a spar, or a damaged sail, and the old mariners at 
'I'risco looked upon the history of the successful 
voyage as a fairy tale until their own eyes verified 
it from the log-book of the brave little ship. 

,\ three days' tarry at San Francisco sufficed, 
and the "Montague" was headed up the river to 
Sacramento, another city of white cotton, nailed to 
scantling framework. This place being nearer the 
seat of the gold iliscoveries, the rush of people 
thev had witnessed at San Francisco was intensi- 
fied, and .■dmost immediately the excitement of the 
older gold-seekers was communicated to the newly 
arrived, .\fter spending the 4th of July at this 
|)lace they ran the vessel twenty miles farther up 
the Sacramento, moored it to the bank, and, as soon 
as teams could be bought, made up and etjuipped a 
jiarty for mining on the Yuba river. Air. Clark w^as 
a member of the ])arty that sallied forth upon the 
pathless i)rairie in search of the golden nuggets, fol- 
lowing the general course of the Feather river until 
they a])i)roached the Yuba, a branch or feeder of 
the former, and in three days found themselves at 
the diggings. Sufficient space on the river bottom, 
above "Corduay's Bar," was pre-em]>tcd for the 
coni])any, a camp established, and gold-digging suc- 
cessfulh' begun. .\n ounce of gold to the man per 
(lav was not unusual, and sometimes two or three 
ounces would be the yield from a lucky ].)ay streak. 
The confinement and diet on shipboard and the 
radical chtmge occasioned 1)\- roughing it in the- 





c CI r^i^ 




UtcU 




z^^ .(O^ ^ wC 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



I I 



mountains, however, brought on ilhu-ss that haffled 
the ship's doctor, and tliirtccii of the party were 
buried in tliree months, while many more became 
chronic invalids. It was thoutjht best to give the 
invalids a cliance to return to the States if they 
wished to do so. As Mr. Clark had been ill for 
three tnonths, and was so emaciated that he weighed 
only ninety i^ounds, he decided, in October, to start 
for the coast. lie was conveyed the fifty miles to 
the schooner on a mattress laid on the wagon bot- 
tom, as he was too weak to sit up; the two days' 
trip was successful beyond expectation, and he 
reached the vessel in a slightly improved condition. 
After remaining there two weeks he had gained 
sufficient strength to attemj)t the trip down the 
river, and the twenty miles to Sacramento, as pas- 
senger on a row boat, were safely accomplished. Re- 
maining there a few days to recuperate, he took the 
steamer "Senator" (an old Hudson river side-wheel 
steamer that had been brought around through the 
Straits of Magellan ) for San Francisco, the fare 
for the 150 miles being twenty-five dollars. 

Mr. Clark had contemplated returning home, 
but at San Francisco he met a physician who gave 
him hopes of recovery, and as business opportunities 
were at hand for those qualified to take them he 
decided to spend the winter there and test results. 
He found that good coftee was hard to obtain in 
the ground condition, all tliat had been thus brought 
from the States being tasteless. Tliere was but one 
primitive hand-mill working in California and that 
turned out low-grade goods by using damaged 
coffee-berries. Finding another hand-mill for sale 
in the city, and three young men anxious to do the 
work, but with no means to start the business, Mr. 
Clark made a contract with them for the winter, 
bought the coffee-mill outfit, with tents adequate, 
hired a vacant lot in Pacific street and launched into 
business. His factory had a capacity of three hun- 
dred pounds per day, finished by hand power, and 
as he bought only the best quality of raw coffee 
and turned out a delicious product, he easily got 
two or three cents more on a ]X)nnd than the only 
competitor there, and his trade soon grew to the 
capacity of bis mill. No steam engine suitable 
could be found, so he worked the three hand power 
by changes of one hour each imtil spring. The 
coffee venture was successful, but the contract made 
witli the doctor at seventy-five dollars per month, 
sick or well, was not quite so good in results, for, 
while ^^r. Clark's health liad improved, it had not 
reached its normal condition, and in March it was 
apparent to both parties that it would be a danger- 
ous ex]>erinient for him to sjjend another summer 
in California. Consequently a purchaser for the 
plant was found, and, with regret at leaving a 
profitable business and his newly-made friends. Mr. 
Clark took steamer for Panama and New York, 
reaching home in April. 1850. having been fifteen 
months absent. During the hfimeward voyage, with 
the many stops and unusual e.xperiences, there were 
numerous o])])nrtunities for a wide-awake yoimg 



man to see, as in a panoramic view, a great deal 
of men and things in tropical antl semi-tropical 
coimlries. 

'I'he homeward voyage proved so beneficial to 
]\Ir. Clark's health that within a month after his re- 
turn he felt all the energy of iiis manhood restored, 
and realizing the broadening of bis business per- 
spective, due to his observations of j^eoide and 
countries during his fifteen months' journeyings, he 
began to look about for some business in which he 
could utilize this new capital. As a starter he un- 
dertook a contract with a local manufaetm-er of car- 
riage-bolts, to make a trip "out West" (which 
then meant as far as Buffalo, the western limit of 
wholesale trade), to sell their goods. Lest Mr. 
Clark should make improper credits, owing tn his 
inexperience, he was required to guarantee his sales, 
for which a special commission was agreed iq)on. 
Early in June he started off on the new enterprise, 
with samples of goods and high hopes of success. 
Three weeks were spent in "drumming trade," two 
weeks more in visiting western relatives. The 
orders obtained were sent in to be filled, and when 
the young "drummer" returned the settlement 
showed that the guarantee had brought him over 
two hundred and fifty dollars to the profit side. 
The firm, seeing their mistake, were willing then 
to accept the risk and save the $250, Init Mr. Clark 
had no idea of .going back on a bargain, and in due 
time the business was settled without the loss of one 
dollar by bad credits. In the early fall another trip 
of three weeks was made over the same route with 
a fair but not so large a result, owing to the short 
interval between the trips. This seemed to be the 
opening for him, and as he had guaranteed the 
sales and the customers were his own by agreement 
he decided to "set up business for himself." 

On the Ouinnipiac river, near Mr. Clark's home, 
was a dilapidated building with a small water-power 
known as Morse's Mill. In the early days of the 
century it had been a satinet mill, weaving into 
cloth the yarn which was the product of the farm- 
ers' sheep anil the housewives' spinning-wheels. 
This work was given up in 1834-35, ''i"'' one of the 
primitive "bolt-shops" soon thereafter started in its 
])lace. This had a short life there, and then for a 
short time a horse-nail machine was operated in the 
old mill. This was followed by a clock niami- 
facturer. who filled the old .shop with business for 
two or three years, when he, too, failed, and the 
]iremises were rented to a party making colil pressed 
nuts for the boltniakers, who had become estab- 
lished with improved machinery in other parts of 
the town. It recpiired much courage for a young 
man just starting business to take a mill with so 
unlucky a history, but Mr. Clark's brave spirit was 
equal to facing the "hoodoo," and in .\ovember, 
1850, he bought the premises, subject to the least 
that expired "that year, so that he made jirejjara- 
tions to occupy, with a small amount of machinery, 
earlv in '51, tearing away the old building and 
erecting a new one more suitable for his require- 



114 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ments. He got a favorable start in the first year, 
makinsr tlie cold pressed mits for other boltma'kers. 
sellin_£; bolls fur tbeni in h\s own trade in exchange, 
and was alile lo adil t\\i> mure i)iiwer presses to the 
one with which he iK'gan the WMrk. The ill for- 
tune which had fdlloux-d ihe nld mill for so many 
years now swooped <l(i\\n ii|)(in him, ;uid the fac- 
tory was bnnieil down in Al.as. insured fur only 
aliout half its value. 

The indomitable courage of the man came again 
to the fore, and as soon as the ruins were cool 
enough to work in the debris was cleared away, and 
the uiachines were shi])ptil to the manufacturer, 
with orders to repair those available, and rt-place 
the others with new onis, and have them ready 
in one nioiuh. The insurance adjusters gave no 
trouble, saying that it was a clean loss for a much 
larger amoiin! than ihey carried, and promising a 
Itrompt settlement. Mr. (.'lark then winl to Xew 
Haven, bought the timber f.ir a new buibling and 
hired a force of carpenters llure to frame all the 
timbers in the lumber \;ird, .and while that was 
being doi'e the foundations of tlu' f.-iclory were re- 
built. When llu' limber and lumber were shipped 
lo Hitchcock's station a force of car])enlers fol- 
lowed the next day, and the carting, raising and 
covering of the new buililing were hustled in a 
manner ne\i'r before witnessed in Ih.al vicinilv. .\t 
the end 'if thirt\- ilays fnm ihi' tire Mr. t_'lark was 
ready to receive the new .and repaired machinery, 
and in sixl\' days was producing newlx' made goods 
frrini the rebuilt f;ictor\-. Though .Mr. t!'lark had 
nearly or (piile lo.st his origin.al slender capital by 
the fire, his credit, though perha|)s slender also, had 
not faded under the ordeal, and ;U the opening of the 
new factory his princijjal creditor, the ironmaster, 
tiild him to "lake all the -lime be wanted" as to 
invoices soon lo be due trom imp a'tations, on or- 
ders out at the time of the lire, tli.it could not be 
cancelled. The business ])rospered, n.alurally, uinler 
such a persistent manager, who coupled C(jura,ge 
with sound judgmeiU. 

Jncreased f.icilities and more operatives were 
required as time went on. and ibe business in- 
creased, and in 1S54 .vlr. Clark .associated with him- 
self his two younger brothers. Heiu'y II. and 
(.'harles 11. Clark, the st\le of the new linn being 
\\'illiani J. Clark iK: Co. The earl\- bu>iness of 
making nuts and washers li\- luavy machinery and 
pressing iheni from cold iron was sujiplemented 
with machinery for making carria.ge, tire and stove 
bolts, machine bolts, coach screws, and later other 
articles of hardware. ,\ steam engine, as auxiliary 
power, was installe<l, and more buildings con- 
structed, as more productivi' machiner\ was re- 
quired, .^ome of this had to be in\entt'd, in order 
to improve or lo increasc-the output of the works, 
and in this connection Mr. Clark made and ])atente(l 
several inventions in the line of bolt machinery 
which revolutionized the methods previe)uslv em- 
ployed. 

About this lime the Civil war broke out, and a 



lar.ge demand arose for implements beyond the ca- 
I)acities of the armories, so Mr. Clark added to his 
works machinery for making gun screws of the 
.government ])atterns. and of its gau.ge and stand- 
ard qiialit_\-. With his ready adaptability and Iw the 
aid of skilled help he soon mastered this most deli- 
cate mechanical task, and his gun screws passed in- 
s|)ection at ihe Springfield armory, \vith a loss of 
nf)t over one per cent., while other competitors lost 
from \\\c to ten per cent. This is referred to chiefly 
to show that his aim as a manufacturer w^as to make 
his goods the best of their kind, and it was to this 
lh.it he (jwed the success of the business. 

In 1871 the senior member of the firm retired 
trom ihe active part of the work, though he retained 
business relations with his brothers until 1880, wdien 
his p.'ilenls, under which a majority of the carriage 
bohmakers of the comitry were manufacturing on 
a royalty, expired, L'jjon his retirement W'illiaiii 
H. Cummings, a nephew, and Robert W. Bemis, a 
long-time confidential bookkeeper, were received 
into the firm, which took the name of Clark Broth- 
ers & Co. 2\bout this time, as the quondam agri- 
cultural hamlet had much increased in jjopulation, 
owing to the growth of this establishment, and the 
home building near it increased also, and as the 
nearest post offices were one or more miles distant, 
in either direction, }>Ir. Clark pre[)ared a petition 
asking the Post Master General to establish a post 
office at Hitchcock's Station, to be called ]\Iilldale. 
.Some objection being sent to the Deijarlment (pre- 
stmi.ably by an office that desired to keej) the mail- 
ing business of the firm), Air. Clark went to Wash- 
ington and so explained the situation that the peti- 
tion was granted, and the office of Milldale, wdiich 
lias sustained itself handsomely from the begimnng, 
established. 

Mr. Clark was not at that time, moreover, a 
novice in Washington. He was a stanch Repub- 
lican in politics, h.ad l.ieen chairman of the South- 
inglon town committee for ten or twelve years (be- 
ginning in the 'fifties, and continuing imtil he de- 
clined ri--election ) and was an active force as a 
Cniou man during the Civil war, aiding his State 
.and the govi'rnment in meeting the unfortunate 
coiiditions of the time. He was a trusted friend of 
the war governor. I'.uckingham. having been a mem- 
ber of the .Slate convention that nonfinated him the 
fii'st time. 185S, the wisdom of that act being proven 
by lUickinghani being kept in the office lor eight 
successi\e terms by annual re-elections by the peo- 
ple, his service covering the entire period of the 
wai'. Ml'. Cl.ark was inslrumental in organizing 
the l.'nion Lea.gue in his town, was its first jiresi- 
dent, and was ammally re-elected during the war. 
He also took the first steps in the movement which 
resulted in the "furlough Act." 1863, wherebv in- 
valided soldiers obtained a thirty-di"\s furlough, to 
visit their homes. 

Mr. Clark's youngest brother and jiartner in the 
business enlisted in the 20th Connnecticut Regi- 
ment in 1862. He served until 1865, having risen 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



to the rank of lieutenant, and then returned to his 
home and resumed his place in the business. This 
seemed an opiM)rtune time for the senior partner 
to take a vacation, so he ])lanned a trip to Montana, | 
where lie had a friend in the q<)vernmenl cmi)lov 
who had urj^ed him to come out and examine the 
grild diqjiinss tlu re and the qold <iuartz lodes re- 
ccntK' discovered and re])oned to he rich. Mr. 
Clark"s husines.s friends in Hartford, hearini;- thai 
he w;is plannins; this trip, and hax-ini,^ al>o heard of 
the rich sold and silver ([uartz lodes of Montana. 
])revailed upon him to heail a c<impany which wi.aild 
furnish funds and machinery to lie used in working 
there, he to decide upon location and superintend 
operations for one year. The fund was made uj) 
in one afternoon, the company formeil an<l me- , 
chanical slcill supjilied to assist in selecting;- the ma- 
chinery, which with the necessary supplies, makint;- 
a fiftv-ton cart^o. was shi])ped to St. Louis to he 
sent from there hy steamer to sail .May i, 1865. to 
l-'ort lienton. on the l']>per .Missouri river. 'J'he 
■■spring- rise" in the river, causitd hy the meltini^ 
snow in the i\ock-\- mountains;. -u-as not as great as 
usual, and when well up in the-Tndian country the 
boat grounded several times and tinally at Dophans 
Rapids it was found impossible t(.) pull over, so the 
.steamer was backed a few miles in order to find a , 
l)lace favorable for landing passengers and cargo. 
This was found 150 miles below I'ort Benton, and 
about four hundred miles from the place where the 
cargo was u-anted. In the Indian coinilry. and three 
hundred miles below Helena, .Monl., .Mr. Clark and 
the other passengers had to k'a\e the boat and 
make their wav to Helena as well as they could, 
leaving the freight to be brought u|) from the river 
bv ox-teams. It was Xovember befure it arrived, 
biU in the meantiiue Mr. Clark had not been idle, 
having managed to constmcl a mill. Mines were 
opened and work pushed for ;i winter and summi-r. 
Then, in c<innnon with .■ill others in that section, he 
found that be\iind a few feet below the surface the 
mines were practically worthless, and so the project 
was abandoned. .As the second winter came on. and 
he found his Labors unsuccessful. .Mr. (.'l.-irk- fell ill 
from over work and ex])osure, and in the early 
sjjring of 1867 he returned home, leaving the work 
in the motmtains to be managed by others. 'i"he 
homeward journey included one thousand miles of 
stage riding, day and night, and with his disease — 
ulceration of the intestines — from which he was 
scarcelv convalescent, it is wonderful that he sur- 
vived it. .\t .\orth I'latte he met the Union Pacific 
railroad, building westward at the rate of three 
miles a dav, and the rest of the journey was easily 
performed. 

Returning to his business in .Southington. .Mr. 
Clark at once set to work to improve and enlarge 
it. He enlarged the factory buildings and con- 
strticted one-fotirth of a mile of race-way of suf- 
ficient size to carry the average volume of the Quin- 
nipiac river at that ])Iace, tluis doubling the water 
power of the comi)any. This done, he attemi)ted to 



restrain infringements u])on his patents on dies and 
the process of forging carriage iii)lts by other man- 
ufacturers. Three years of expensive litig;ili(in fol- 
lowed, but residled in establishing incontestably his 
rights to the inventions, and ten or twelve infiing- 
ing firms were compelled to ])a\' royalty for the u-c 
thereof. 

In iS8j Mr. Clark w;is nominated by the Re- 
iniblicans as a can<lidate for the State .Senate, and 
elected by a hand>ome majority over <a string 
l_)emocratic candidate. In the session of i88_^ ilu- 
Senate a[)pL)inled him chairman of the commiliee 
on Military .Vffairs. whicii office he fille<l with 
|.)atriotic ami intelligent ability. In the session of 
1884 he was chairman of the comnn'ltees on Claims 
;ind Temperance and ConstittUional .Vmendments, 
the latter rci^orting favor;ibly the bill to establish 
Ijieiniial sessions of the Ceneral .Assembly, which 
was adopted. in the hearings of the coiumittee 
on Claims he had occasion to manifest his hatred 
of shams. Jiminently kdnd to just claimants, he was 
imtiring in opposing Ihe fictitious or padded claims 
that lobbyists wnuhl seek to dr.aw front tlu' public 
treasury, and was esteemed, or (lislike<l. accord- 
ingly. \\.'\> most notable ofiici.'d .action was. ])rob- 
ablv. his taking the ojjpositinn to the bill in the 
Ceneral Assembly of 1883 whereby tlu- .\etna i.ife 
Insurance Co.. ".^tock 1 )ej)artment." sought to caji- 
italize a large sum of money claimed to belong to 
it. but thought b\' s>:me to have been improperly 
drawn from the ".Mmiial 1 )e|)artment"' in the manip- 
ulation of policies. The bill was pushed through, 
regardless of a demand for investigation, InU .Mr. 
Clark had marked it as deser\ing one. and he (piicily 
employed an expert at his own expense before the 
next vcarly session and discovered the source of 
the wonderful wealth of the .Stock Department. In 
the session of 1884 he addressed the .Sen.ate on the 
subject, with an overfiow of listeners on the tloor 
and in the galleries, and with dnemnentary proof in 
abmidance begged for ;m investigation, but tlu' in- 
tluence against him was too |)owerful and his meas- 
ure was rejected. He kept the matter alive, how- 
ever, and had a bill ])resenied to the Legislature of 
1887 for the same pur])ose. It was by this time s(.) 
well understood tliat seventy-five rej)rescntativcs 
were willing to stand u|) ;md be counted as in favor 
of ati investigation, .^o the leawii worked, and to 
head it off an aniendi'd bill was reported, em])ower- 
ing the insurance commissioner, under a general 
law, to investigate the methods of any insurance 
company, etc. That jiassed, and then it re(|uired 
eight or nine \c-ars more to discover an insurance 
commissioner with the stamina requisite to call this 
great companv, with forty millions of dollars of 
assets, to the bar of the court for the mismanage- 
i ment of its jiolicies and fmids. Trulw as .Mr. Clark 
then quoted. "Though the mills of Cod grind slow- 
Iv, yet thev grind exceeding small." In i8i)6 pro- 
ceedings were commenced in the courts which veri- 
fied ali of the misdoings claimed by Mr. Clark, and 
the sijecified charges may be .seen in the public rec- 



ii6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ords of the insurance department of that year, as 
published in part 2, "Life Insurance Report, 1897." 
The court ordered a restoration of part of the di- 
verted funds and enjoined any continuance of the 
irregular transactions complained of. 

In 185J ^Ir. Clark was one of the charter mciu- 
bcrs of Eureka Lodge. L O. (.). F,, in his native 
town ; was chosen its first vice grand on May 16, 
of that year, and is in good standing in the order, 
having repeatedly been through the chairs. He has 
also been a delegate several times to the grand 
lodge of the State. 

Since his retirement from active business life Mr. 
Clark has spent most of his time at his beautiful 
country seat, at Stony Creek, which overlooks Long 
Island Sound and the picturesc|ue Thimble Islands. 
He is one of the trustees of the Stony Creek Con- 
gregational Church, which he and his family attend. 

(Jn Nov. 15, 1855, Mr. Clark married Sarah 
Jane Bradley, who, through her grandmother, Lydia 
Carey Montague, wife of Capt. yVnson Matthews, 
traces descent from Drogo de Montague, who came 
over to England with William the Conqueror, and, 
as we learn from the Roll of Battle .'\bbey, was one 
of the Xorman knights who bore shields, or coats 
of armor, at the battle of Hastings, (_)ct. 14. 1066. 
A picture of Mrs. Clark, taken about the time 
of her marriage, shows her to have been a strik- 
ingly beautiful woman, with a distinguished car- 
riage. To this union came three children : Rosa- 
lind, born Dec. 16, 1837; Eugenie, born March 21, 
1859, a specially bright, attractive child, who died 
March 26, 1861 ; and Marian, born July 26, i8tx5, 
who died Oct. 7, i860. The only surviving child, 
Rosalind, married. May 20, 1882, the late Emerson 
Pratt. Mrs. Pratt has inherited from both sides of \ 
the house a strong personality, and is not altogether j 
imknown in the world of art and public interests. 
Her daughter, ( )live L. Pratt, born June 21, 1883, 
has inherited the genius of both father and mother, 
and shows decided musical and .'irtistic ability. 

DE.XCl )X TlIlM )l)OSlCS CL.\RK, the father 
of \\'illi;im J. Clark, was born in Cheshire, Conn., 
Oct. 22. 17W. and reared on his father's farm, ob- ; 
taining his cilucation by adding private study to j 
the winter'.^ work in the district school. On reach- 
ing maturity he showed a remarkaljly well dis- 
cijilined mind, anrl was ready to inrpart to others the j 
knowledge that he had gained. At the age of 
eighteen he 'began teaching a district school in his 
native town, and, being successful, went across the 
town line in 1810 and took the "Southington Cor- 
ners" or Fourth District school, now known as 
Plantsvillc. Later he taught the schools in Plain- 
ville and Farniington. and also for many years those 
in the southern ])art of Southington. 

It was while thus employed that he met the 
youtliful IMiss Chloe Clark, of Southington, daugh- 
ter of Seth and Chloe (Bailey) Clark. A younger 
sister has related how. after Miss Clark's intro- 
duction tfi the v'otnig school teacher, and he had de- 



parted, she shook her finger at her sister, exclaim- 
iiig, as her dark eyes sparkled, "Tsn't he handsome? 
I'm going to set iny cap for him." That she did so 
with success the sequel proves, and on Oct. 28, 1816, 
the young couple were joined together in matri- 
mony. The combination of the two Clark lines was 
felicitous, and the children of the union were en- 
dowed, beyond the average, with marked intellectual 
and business ability and with long lives. About the 
time of his marriage Mr. Clark purchased a farm 
in the southern part of Southington, having decided 
to make his home there, paying for it in part from 
his earnings as a teacher. His reputation for trust- 
worthiness was such that he was trusted for the re- 
mainder of the amount without bond or mortgage 
security, although having the title to the estate in 
Ins ])ossession. 

On Aug. I, 1819, Air. Clark transferred his 
membership from the Congregational Church at 
Cheshire to that in Southington, the home of his 
atloption. lie was appointed deacon Feb. 16, 1834, 
and honored the office. His pastor, writing of hiin. 
says : "He at once put himself forward as a worker 
in the vineyard. No man in his part of the town 
more intelligently or acceptably conducted local re- 
ligious meetings. In that capacity he was one of 
the chief leadefs of the evening school house serv- 
ices that were held weekly in the various districts 
of the town, until he was incapacitated by age and 
disease. Often after a hard day's work on the 
farm he would ride three or four miles in the 
evening to attend those services. So regular was 
he in his attendance that his pastor, when too much 
wearied, or otherwise incapacitated to attend him- 
self, relied upon Deacon Clark, whom he felt sure 
woiild be there, to lead the people. 

"He was reluctant to accept the office of dea- 
con, and only took it as a matter of duty : having 
assumed it, however, he at once planted hiuiself at 
his pastor's side ready with words of cheer and 
by zealous work to uphold his hands. He was 
among the first to advocate the establishment of the 
Sunday-school in his church, which was the first 
one in the town. For many years he was super- 
intendent, and while holding this office, as ever 
after, he w-as a teacher." 

Any want or woe of humanity cnlisteil his at- 
tention and help, and time and again would he turn 
out in stormy or inclement weather to render as- 
sistance to poor families, of wdiose needs he had 
heard. One of Mr. Clark's lifelong friends (who 
was also a cousin) was Andrew Hull Foote. of 
Cheshire, afterward roar admiral of the L'nited 
States Navy and a frequent visitor at the Clark 
home, when on shore lea\'e. Subsequent to organiz- 
ing the -Sunday-school Mr. Clark became interested 
in other efforts for promoting the welfare of the 
comnumity. Among them was the temperance 
movement. The first step was an effort to induce 
every one to abandon the use of distilled liquors 
(there w^ere several distilleries in the town produc- 
ing cider-brandy), but this did not accomplish the 




C^^C^r^it.v.^2 -^y^,z-;^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1 1: 



degree of sobriety desired, while the cellars were 
anmially filled with barrels of eider to be used as 
a beverage through graduating degrees of hardness 
until consumed, and the American Temperance So- 
ciety at a meeting held at Saratoga in 1836 adopted 
the pledge oi "total abstinence from all iiito.vicatiii!^ 
liquors." This measure met Mr. Clark's approval, 
and be at once co-operated with it, by banishing 
the cider-liarrels from his own cellar, and shocked 
the emploves on his farm by drawing their daily 
beverage from "the old oaken bucket." The shock 
was great, but the reaction was beneficial to all 
concerned, and later, when the Martha Washington 
Temperance Societ_\- was started in Connecticut, 
about 1841, Mr. Clark was ready to welcome it, and 
work with it, to the extent of his ability. He was 
the chosen leader and first president of the first 
local branch in his town, and did much to further 
the cause by inviting reformed men of ability to 
come to the meetings and relate their experiences 
while under the "drink habit." Their vivid pictures 
of the sutYering, degradation and poverty of those 
days, in contrast with the restored respect and com- 
fort of the present, led many other 'broken-down 
men back to the right path, and were the means 
of binding together again many broken-up homes. 
One of these lecturers was John B. dough, who 
has left a name and history which the world will 
not soon forget. Mr. Clark was as ready to serve 
his country as his friends, and as a member of the 
Cavalry C'ompany commanded b\' Col. Hoadly 
served in the war of i8ij, receiving for this service 
bounty land in Kansas and a pension, which is yet 
enjoyed by his widow. 

^Ir. Clark had five children: ( i ) Harriet mar- 
ried liezekiah C. Cunnnings, of W'ateriown. (2) 
Francis Judson was killed when two years of age 
by being run over by a cart. (3) William Judson, 
whose biographical sketch is given above. (4) 
Henrv II. and (5) Charles II. are both referred to 
in the Commemorative I'liographical Record of 
Hartford Countv. 

On .Vpril 5,' 1848, Mrs. Chloe Clark died sud- 
denly of "putrid sore throat," undoubt(?dly the diph- 
theria of the ])resent day. She had been to her 
husband a true hel])mate, standing by his side in 
every good work, ancl to her children a mother 
whose memory will Ije jirecious as long as life lasts. 
On March 20, 1850, Mr. Clark married a second 
wife. Miss Sarah Morse, of Cheshire, who proved 
a pleasant companion dm'ing his declining years, 
and who now, ninctv-two years of age, sm^vives 
him. 

Deacon Clark died July 27, 1865, and was buried 
in Quinnipiac cemetery, Southington. In closing, 
we inav quote the words spoken by his pastor at his 
funeral: "lie has left us an example which we 
may follow with safety and advantage. ''' '•■' ''' 
Whosoever liveth as he lived, may ho])e to die as he 
died — in favor with Cod and man. '■■ * '■'■'■ 
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." 



CLARK. Hon. William Judson ClarK is a de- 
scendant of James Clark, who, with Cov. Eaton, 
Daven])ort and others, founded the Colon\- of Xew 
Haven, 1638-31), his name appearing as a signer of 
the Civil Compact, June 4, i'J3y. 'I he name of his 
first wife, the mother of his children, is unknown ; 
Init he married, second, Oct. 17, lOOi, Ann, widow 
of John W:ikefie!<l. James Clark died in January 
or Kebruarv, i088-8(). and his body probably lies 
with those of the other fathers of the Colony, under 
the green sward of the beautiful "Creen," of which 
the Elm City is so justly proud: for that was the 
"God's Acre" of the early colonists. Of the five 
children whom lie left, 

(II) Ebenezer Clark, baptized at Xew Haven 
Xov. 2y, 1651, removed early to Wallingford, and 
died there April 30, 1721. His wife was Mary 
Peck, whom he married May 6, 1678. .\niong his 
children was 

(III) Stephen Clark, born Dec. 18, 1O86, who 
lived in that ])art of Wallingford now called Che- 
shire, and died there Xov. 23, 1750. He married 
(first) Lydia Hotchkiss, who was the mother of 
his son, 

(IV) Stephen Clark, born in 1721, who died 
at Cheshire Nov. 4, 1800. His wife was Ruth Burr, 
who, through her mother, Mabel Clark, was a de- 
scendant, in the fifth generation, of Xicholas Clark, 
of Hartford. 1635. its first white settler. He was 
numbered among the "original proprietors," and for 
his service in the Pequol war, 1636-37, received 
an allotment in the "Soldiers' Field." Through her 
father, Lieut. Baze Burr, she descended from Ben- 
jamin Burr, who probably came over in W'inthrop's 
tleet in 1630, and was an "original proprietor" and 
large land owner of Hartford: and from John 
Baisey, another "original proprietor" of Connecti- 
cut's capital city. The names of these three early 
settlers, with that of Elder John White, another 
ancestor, are inscribed on the "Founders' .Monu- 
ment," the tall, brownstone shaft which stands in 
the historic graveyard just back of Center Church, 
on Main street. 

(\') Amasa Clark, son of Stephen and Ruth 
Clark, born at Cheshire Xov. 25, 1753, died there 
Dec. 30,' 1833. lie married Lydia (Hull) Judson, 
widow of Josci)h Judson, of r.ethlehem. Conn., and 
among their children was 

(VI) Theodosius Clark, born in 1788, of Che- 
shire and Southington, where he died July 27, 1865. 
Through his wife, Chloe Clark, comes m another 
line of Clark ancestry, beginning with 

(I) William Clark, of Hartford, 1630: and in 
1662 one of the twenty-eight young men who went 
from that place to make homes in the unopened 
lands of the Connecticut Valley. In i6r)8 the name 
of the "Plantation at Thirty Mile Island" was 
changed to Haddani, doubtless from a tender recol- 
lection of Haddani, Hertfordshire, England, the 
English home of most of its early settler,'. William 
Clark died there in 1681. His son, 



ii8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



( II ) Ser.a;t. John Clark, of Middletown. mar- 
ried Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. Nathaniel White, 
of Middletowii, whose name is held in high honor, 
not only in the town whose interests he served so 
well, but all over the country, wherever his de- 
seendants have carried the name, l-'or over fifty 
years he represented .\l!(l<lletown in the Legisla- 
ture, the last time when In- was an old, white- 
haired man of eighty-one. lie filled, also, the of- 
fices of magistrate ami conmiissioner for Aliddle- 
town. Haddam and Meriden. Xor, though serving 
his country well in her peacefid legislative halls, 
did he shrink when sterner <linies called, as witness 
his title of "captain." 

(Ill) Daniel Clark, son of Sergt. John and 
Elizabeth, of Middletown, 1^180-1723. married Eliz- 
abeth Whitteniorc, daughter of Lieut, h'rancis 
Whittemore, Kj^o-ijoo, another of .Middletown's 
early settlers whose name ^he delighls to honor. 
Their son, 

(I\') Deacon Joseph Clark'. 1720-1778. town 
clerk of Middletown from I7''5 to 1777, also deacon 
of the church there, married Joanna Fairchild, of 
Stratford, who brought into the Clark family the 
goodly heritage of a long line of distinguished Strat- 
ford ancestors, of whom, later, their son, 

(\') Seth Clark, of Middletown and Southing- 
ton, 1768-1851, married in i7i;_^ Chloe Bailey, and 
their daughter, 

(\1) Chloe Clark, (.,f Soutliington, liy marr\- 
iiig Theodosius Clark, of L'heshire. merged her 
L'lark line into that of another. 

Joanna Fairchild, 1727-1793, wife of (I\') Dea- 
con Joseph Clark, of Middletown, was descended 
from Thiinias I'airchiid, an early settler of Strat- 
ford, wdio died there in 1670, and his second wife, 
Katherine Craig; also from William Wilcoxen and 
Deacon John liirdseye. Throngh her mother, Kath- 
erine C-"oe, she descended from Robert Coe, born in 
.Sufiolkshire. pjigland, in ijij'i, who, with wife and 
children, emigrated to New luiglaiul in i()34: and 
from Matthew .Mitchell, of Sonthouram Parish of 
Halifax, I'ji.gland, ;ind his wife, .Susan I'utterfield, 
whom he married at ( )venden, in the same parish, 
in 1616. Emigrating to this countr\- in 1635, and 
suffering severely from sickness, tire and savage 
warfare, in the v.irious places where be settled, he 
bore it -all w ith L'liristian patience. 1 le died in 
164.5, at Stamford, C"omi., of which [ilace he was 
one of the founders, and had served it .as magistrate, 
representative and as.sociate judge of the Plantation 
Court. Mrs. Joanna ( h^aircliild ) Clark also de- 
scended front Joseph llawley, born in Oerbx-shire, 
luigland, in i^x).^, who died at Stratford, Conn., 
May 20. 1690. He was town clerk at Stratford six- 
teen years, town treasurer several years, and also 
surveyor. In 1687 In- was chosen one of the com- 
mittee for considering and drafting a ])atent for 
the town. He was deputy to the (ieneral Court 
nineteen years, and commissioner eight vears. 

Lydia Hull, wife of i\') .Amasa Clark, born 
in Cheshire July 2^,, 1753, belonged to the noted 



Hull family, lieing a descendant of the sixth gen- 
eration from ( I ) Richard Hull, of Derbyshire, Eng- 
land, who settled at New Haven in 1639. His son, 

(II) Dr. John Hull, of Stratford, Derby and 
Wallingford, was a prominent man in each of these 
]jlaces, serving as selectman and representative. In 
i()87 the Cieneral Assembly granted him 700 acres 
of land for services in King Philip's war. His son, 

(III) Dr. Benjamin Hull, 1672-1741, married 
Elizabeth Andrews, daughter of William Andrews, 
an early settler of Xew Haven. Dr, Hull was a 
prominent physician in Wallingford. His son, 

(I\') Dr. John Hull, 1702-1762, married Sarah 
Ives, a great-granddaughter of William Ives, a set- 
tler of Xew Haven in 1639; also of Capt. Nathaniel 
Alerriman, an early and prominent settler of New 
Haven and Wallingford, and a soldier in both the 
Pequot anfl King Philip's wars. His son, 

(\') Dr. Zephaniah Hull, 1 728-1 760, of Che- 
shire and Bethlehem, Conn., married Hannah Doo- 
little, daughter of Lieut. Moses Doolittle, a promi- 
nent man in Cheshire, and a grandson of Abraham 
Doolittle, an earlv settler of New Haven and Wal- 
lingford. and chief officer or sheriiif of New Ha- 
ven Colony in 1(144, He was sergeant of the train- 
band, and a member of the vigilance committee in 
King Philip's war; also deputy from Wallingford 
eight times. Through his mother, (III) Hannah 
Hall, wife of Ebenezer Doolittle, Lieut. Moses was 
a grandson of (II) Capt. Samuel Hall, 1648-1725, 
who took an active part in the French and Indian 
wars, and serxed as deputy from Wallingford to 
the General Court four years. He was a son of 
(I ) John Hall, an early settler of New Haven, and 
a soldier in ihv Pequot war, 1637. He married, at 
New Haven, in 1I141, JeaiuTe \Volen. of Huguenot 
ancestry. Inith the Hall and Wolen families bear 
coats of anus, as do also the Coe, Mitchell and 
Hawley families, mentioned above. 

REW ALEXANDER HOLMES MEAD, a re- 
tired clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and un(|uestionably, in the estimation of the citizens 
of Meriden, one of the "grand old men" of that 
city, was born in the city of New York Jan. 7, 1821, 
a son of Staats Morris Mead, who was a well- 
kn'iwn resident of the Metropolis. The Mead fam- 
ily was established in this coimtry 1)\- 

( 1 ) William Mead, who came from Cireenwich, 
Kent, England, in 11)42, and located in Massa- 
chusetts. His brother Joseph, who came at the 
same time, went to \'irginia. For a time William 
Mead lived at Hempstead, Long Island, whence in 
ifiOo he went to Creenwicli, Conn., accom[)anied 
l)y his sons John and Jose])h. 

(II) John iMead in 1672 became one of the 
twenty-seven projirietors who purchased a large 
tract from the Indians in that year. This land, ever 
since called "Horseneck." included the ])rcsent 
homestead of one of his descendants, Solomon 
.^toddard Mead. John Mead married a Miss Pot- 
ter, whose father afterward owned Shippan Point, 



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K. 





COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



119 



and tlirouijh this marriaijc gained consideralilc 
property. He died in l(y)(>. leaviiitj' the tollowiiiL; 
children: John, Jose])h, Jonathan, l^henezer. Da- 
vid. I'lenjaniin, Xathaniel, Samuel, Susannah, Al)i- 
gail an<l Alary. 

( 111 ) I'lhenezer Mead married Sarah Knapp, of 
Stamford, and they had chikh-en : l-'lienczer, Abi- 
.^ail, Susannah. Jemima, Caleb, Sarah, Hannah, Ja- 
bez and David. His second marria_y;e was to Han- 
nah lirown, of Rye. X. Y., who liore him twelve 
children, as follows: Ebcnezer, Silas. Ahram, Jo- 
nas. .Siilonion, Deliverance. Amos, JCihnund, Han- 
nah. Jahez. Jaretl and Ahram (J). 

( l\' ) Jonas .Mead, horn Dec. J5, i7-'5. at Indian 
Field, in the town of (ireenwich, died there Sej)!. 
14, 1785. I'or manv years he was a deacon in tlie 
Conq-rcijational Church at ( Ireenwich. His lirsl 
wife, Sarah (h^erris), bore him two sons, Solomon 
and Edmund. His second wife, .Sarah (Howe), 
was the mother of Xoah, Mark and Jonas. 

( \' ) Hdnnnul Mead was a merchant in Xew 
York City. While he was on a voyage to the West 
Indies, about the close of the eiglueenlh century, 
his vessel, the "Sally," was lost, and no trace of 
crew or passengers was ever found, ( )n Feb. 15. 
1776, Ednnmd Mead married 'I'heodosia Mead, 
who survived him. Their children were: Ed- 
mund, Jr., born in Alay, 1777, died April 28. 1778; 
Solomon, born .April 28. 177S, died of yellow fever 
Sept. 20, 1798; Benjamin, bom A]iril 24, 1780, died 
Dec. 10, i86o, in Xewark. X. J.: Sarah, born Aug. 
27, 1782. married ISenjamin Mead, of Golden 
Bridge, X'. Y. : Obadiah, born March 10, 1785, died 
Feb. 28, 1878: .Mary, born June 1. T787. married 
Judge .Aaron Reed, of I'edford, X. V.: Ralph, born 
.April 24, 1781). was killed by a carriage in Xew 
York Citv, Jnlv 23. 1866: .Staats Morris, born 
-April 23, 1791, died in .\aples, Italy, Jan. 17, i8(')3; 
Alaria, born March 13, 1793, was drowned at the 
age of fourteen months; Brockholst L.. linrn -Aug. 
8, 1795. died the ne.xt year: Brockholst (2), born 
.Aug. 3, 1797, died June 21, 1874. .After the death 
of the father of this family the mother returned to 
the home of her father. Benjamin .Mi'ad. Jr. The 
latter adojited her son ()badiah, who inherited the 
farm. The other sons became wealthy business 
men of Xew York City. 

Benjamin Mead, Sr., was the first of the family 
to settle on the homestead in Greenwich now occu- 
pied by Solomon S. Alead. This he deeded to Ben- 
jamin Mead, Jr., July d, 1770, with some other 
lands. Benjamin Mea<l, Jr., was born in 1735, and 
died March 5, 1815, and his entire life was passed 
on the homestead farm. He was a prfmiinent cit- 
izen, and acted as justice of the peace many years. 
He married Martha I'erris, and they had five chil- 
dren : .Annie, the eldest, married David Mead, and 
afterward Janies liailey; Theodosia, above men- 
tioned, was the wife of Edmund Mead: Obediah 
was a Revolutionary soldier, and was killed on the 
iiomestead bv Iirllish soldiers: Marv married .Sam- 



uel Peck, of Clapboard Ridge, Conn. : Phrehe be- 
came the wife of Jehial Mead. 

( \ I I Slaats .Morris Mead was born in (ireen- 
wich .\])ril jj,. 171)1, and as he lost his fatiier while 
still young his educruional opportunities were un- 
usually limited. In every sense of the word he was 
a self-educated ni.'in. .After a very short attendance 
at jniblic school he was bound out as an ajijirentice 
to a cabinetmaker in .\ew A'ork Cit>', working prin- 
cipally for his board and clothes for seven years. 
He had been cnaliled to save a little mone\'. by 
working overtime, and thus, withoiU working one 
(lav as a joiwneyman. he bought out his emplover, 
setting u]) a small furniturt' husiness for himself 
on I:!road street, near Stone and Mill streets, Xew 
York. There he built u]) a trade an<l became pros- 
perous, being known far and wide for his sterling 
character and honest dealings. l'"or leu years he 
was a member of thi' .\'ew \'ork N'olunteer I'ire 
Department. \\ lien he retired frum active busi- 
ness he made his houie in Xew Jer>ey. Travel be- 
came a source of great pleasure to him. and his 
wanderings led him into uian\ lands. His deatii 
occurred suddenly, of heart failure, while he was 
making a tour through the i'.uropean Continent, at 
Xaples, Ital>-, oti Jan. 17, 1893. ( )n account of his 
clerical duties his son had been obliged to leave 
him, but his body was brought to .\'ew York, and 
now rests in (h"eenwood cemetery. Mr. Mead was 
a stanch Whig, later a Republican, but never a seek- 
er for office. In habits he was domestic and temper- 
ate. He was a consistent member of the .Methodist 
Chnrch. 

Mr. Meail married L\(lia Holmes, a native of 
P>elleville, X. J., whose sisters. Betsey and Sarah, 
married the two brothers of Mr. .Mead. I'.enjamin 
and Ralph .Mead. .Mrs. I.ydia .Mead died in Xew 
York City in 1S21, and was liuried in her native 
home cemetery, at llelleville, X. J. She was a 
good Christian woman, a devoted wife and mother, 
and a consistent member oi the M. 1'^. Church. Her 
three children were: Sarah Elizabeth, who mar- 
ried .Amos M. .Sacketf. of Greenwich, Conn.: Caro- 
line E., who married W. K. llelcher. a son of the 
renowned Dr. Belcher, of .Xew \'<irk : and .Alex- 
ander Holmes, the subject ])ro])cr of this sketch. 
The second marriage of Staats M. Mead was to 
Hannah .\. ( ilass. who also died in Xew \'ork City, 
and was laid to rest in beautiful (ireenwood. She 
was also a consistent member of the M. E. Church. 
There were no children by this union. 

.Alexander Holmes Mead was but six months 
old when his mother dii'd, a deprivation he has 
lamented through life. He attended a ]irivate 
school in .Xew Vovk City, .and in 1842 graduated 
from the Wesleyan Cniversity, at Middletown, 
Conn. Having a strong inclination toward the pro- 
fession of the law, he entered the office of Lyman 
Tremaine. then a well-known lawyer of Xew York, 
and later the distinguished attorney-general of that 
State. \\"\{h legal i)ractice in view Mr. Mead con- 



120 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



tinued his studies, I)tit before he was fully prepared 
for admission to the liar the whole course of his 
life was changed by a religious experience, and he 
turned to the ministry instead of the law. 

In 1844 Mr. Mead received his license to preach 
the riospel from the New York Conference, and 
was ordained by the same Conference in 1846. His 
first pastorate was at Glen Cove, where he remained 
fronii 184G to 1847, and he was at Moriches until 
1850, when he was appointed to (jreenjiort. There 
he made extensive repairs on the church, and dur- 
ing a useful year faithfully ministered to the spir- 
itual needs of this congregation. Then he was re- 
ceived into the New Jersey Conference and ap- 
pointed to the church at Passaic, remaining in that 
charge until 1S53, when he went to Elizabethtow-n. 
There he built a parsonage and remained until 1854, 
at which time ne was appointed to the church at 
Middletown Point, N. J., continuing there until 
1859, when, according to the discipline of his de- 
nomination, he was changed. He was sent to Hud- 
son City, where he built up a church, and he was 
subsequently stationed ;;t the Quarry Street Church, 
Newark, until i860. 

At this date Mr. Mead was transferred to the 
East New York Conference and tixjk the pastorate 
of the De Kalb Avenue Church, in Brooklyn. In 

1862 he was transferred to New Canaan, Conn. In 

1863 he took charge of the Ninth Street Church, in 
New York, remaining there until 1865, and going 
thence to the Second Avenue Church, in New York, 
where he remained until 1866. For the two follow- 
ing years he was a supernumerarv, and from 1869 
to 1870 lie was pastor of the Greene Avenue 
Church, of Brooklyn. From there he came to the 
Davenport .\venue Church, of New Haven, Conn., 
in 1873 changing to Hartford, where he became 
jjastor of the North Church. 

In 187(1 "Sir. Mead was made secretary of the 
Prisoners' Friend Corporation, of ("onnecticut. In 
1877 he was transferred to West Haven, and re- 
mained there two years, at the end of that time tak- 
ing a cliarge in South Meridcn and Yalesville, 
where he remained imtil 1S80. He spent 1881-82 
at the Wattrtnwn Church. ;uid 1882-83 ^^ tlie How- 
ard .\\enue Church, in Xew iiaven, going from 
there to W'estville antl thence io the Dixwell Ave- 
nue Church, in New Haven, where he remained 
until 1887. .\rter that date, on account of the crit- 
ical illness of his wife, Mr. Mead gave up active 
labor in his jirofession, and has Ijeen since on the 
siipemumerary list, residing in the citv of Meriden, 
among those who honor anil love him. His travels 
have extended over many lands, while his knowl- 
edge of his own country is that of a scholar. Al- 
though he has passed fifty years in active minis- 
terial work, Mr. Mead still occasionally fills a pulpit 
and ex[Knmds the Scriptures with the convincing 
power which has made him so useful in the vine- 
yard of the Lord through the past half century. 

In 1847 .Mr. Mead was married to IClizabcth A. 



Stephenson, a lady of culture and refinement, who 
was much devoted to her family, her husband and 
his work. Her death occurred in 1894, in Meriden, 
and she was laid to rest in the East cemetery. For 
forty-seven years she was her husband's congenial 
companion, and in his declining years her loss is 
one of his greatest sorrows. A family of seven 
children blessed this happy marriage. Hannah, the 
first-born, died in infancy. States Maurice and Min- 
nie Elizabeth were twins; the fomier died when 
fourteen months old. Minnie E. married Richmond 
W. Armstrong, son of Lorenzo Armstrong, of 
New Haven. Ella Josephine died when three \'ears 
old. Kittie H. married Alfred P. Sloan, then of 
New Haven, now of New York City, and member 
of the well-known firm of Bennett. Sloan & Co., 
wholesale grocers, corner of Franklin and Hudson 
streets. Maurice is a successful jewelry merchant 
in Chicago. Sarah E. married Edwin R. Ives, of 
r^Ieriden, who died in 1892, and she is now the wife 
of Harry H. Johnson, of Fall River, Mass. 

Although the snows of eighty years have 
touched the head of Mr. Mead, they have not 
touched his heart, nor have they affected his physi- 
cal faculties in any marked degree. A temperate 
life and regular habits have done much to preserve 
a naturally robust constitution, and that his years 
may extend as those of the patriarchs of old is the 
sincere wish of those who know him best. Blessed 
with good health, in a pastoral service of fifty 
years he never missed but one period of service on 
account of illness. Mr. Mead has long been a mem- 
ben of the i\. F. & A. M., holding membership in 
Meridian Lodge, No. yy, of which he is chaplain ; 
Sylvan Chapter. R. A. M. : and Palestine Com- 
mandery, K. T.. of New York Citv. 

As a clergyman Mr. Mead has not only admin- 
istered the fluties pertaining to his own charges 
with extraiirdinarv success and increasing useful- 
ness, but by his example and advice he has en- 
couraged many to pursue the path of rectitude. Al- 
ways charitable and philanthropic, he has never 
hesitated to go outside of his own denomination in 
his benevolences, but he has been singularly unos- 
tentatious. To the extent of his powers he has 
spent a half century in upbuiUHng Christianity and 
in fighting e\il and immorality. 

THOMAS BENJAMIN DOOLITTLE, of 
Piranford, New Iiaven Co., Conn., is a native of 
this state, horn Jime 30, 1839, in Woodbury, Litch- 
field county. 

.Abraham Dooliitle, the ])rogenitor of the fam- 
ily in America, was born in 1620, probably in Eng- 
land : was in Salem. Mass., at an early date, and 
was in New Haven prior to 1642, being the owner 
of a house there. In 1644 he took the freeman's 
oath. He was made the chief executive officer (or 
sheriff) of the county, and was chosen by the peo- 
ple of New Haven as one of a conuuittee to super- 
intend the aft'airs of th.e new settlement then (1669) 



COMMEMORATIJ'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



121 



juft begi-in at the village tlic name til which was 
cliaiiged to \\'alHng;ford, an<l wliich village was in- 
coriioratcd May 12. 1670, l)y an act of the General 
Ciiurt then sittin<j at Hartford. Abraham Doolittlc 
was one of the first to settle in the place, beinj:;; a 
resident thereof two or three years liefore its iu- 
cor|>()ration. Jle was a nreniber of the vigilance 
coniniittec in the time of King Philip's war, and 
his dwelling 'during that monicntous jicriod was 
fortified with a picket fort against an attack that 
might he made on it by the In<lians. Jle was sev- 
eral times chosen a deputy from New Haven, and 
afterward from W'allingford. to the General Court; 
fre(|uently was elected selectman, and altogether 
appears to have been a very valuable and respected 
citizen, lie died .\ng. i i. i('k)o, aged seventy years, 
his wife, .\bigail (.Moss), on Nov. 5. 1710. aged 
sixty-nine. Their son, Samuel Doolittlc (great- 
great-grandfather of our stibjeet). Iiorn July 7, 
1665. marricfl Mary ilitchcock. Their sou, Ben- 
jamin Doolittlc ( great-grandfalher of our subject), 
was l)orn Jan. 17. 1730. His wife's name was 
Elizabeth. 'I'heir son. llenjaiuin fgrandfathcr of 
our subject), born July 15. I75.V married Sarah 
French. 1 Fe was a Revolutionary soldier. 

r.enjamin Doolittlc f father of our subject), son 
of Benjamin and .Sarah (French) Doolittlc, was 
born in Wallingford. Cunn.. March 0, I70<S, and 
died in Xew Haven l-'eb. nj, 1S68, aged seventy 
years. In earlv life he was a mannfacturcr of 
chairs in Litchfield, later for ni;iny years conduct- 
ing express routes (of which he was proprietor) 
between Xew Haven and various other points in 
Connecticut, lie married Betsey Collier Moore, 
and they had children as follows: Miranda (Mrs. 
Clark Lindsley), W'illirmi H., Frances F.. Mary J. 
(Mrs. ritis Warner), John H., George, Harriet P. 
(Mrs. Harvey Loveland). Thomas C, Thoiuas 
Benjamin, Merritt ]•".. and Mortimer. 

David Moore, of Litchfield, Conn., father of 
Betsev Collier Moore, married Mary C oilier, daugh- 
•ter of Richard Collier, who had another daughter 
Margaret, the wife of John Draper, editor of the 
Boston A'fTC'.f Lcltcr at the breaking out of the war 
of the Ke\'.olution. .Shortly after the breaking out 
of that struggle Mr. Draper died, but his widow 
continued the pulilication of the paper, and edited 
it successfully until the close of the war. Richard 
Collier was a descendant of Richard Collier, who 
landed in Plymouth in 1630. and at one time was 
g'overnor of the Colonv. 

Thomas Benjamin Dor)littlc. the subject proper 
of these lines, was reared in Litchfield countw and 
educated at the Woodbury Acadeniy. At the age 
of seventeen years he was apprenticed to the trade 
of machinist, serving over two years. later working 
as a journeyman for a year or more at \arious 
points. Tn 1861 he entered the eiuploy f)f the 
Colts Arms Mf.g. Co.. at Hartford, where he had 
charge of a portion of the revolver department for 
nearly two years, at the end of which time he be- 
came a contractor for the manufacture of Spring- 



field rilles with the same company, in which ])ur- 
suit he contiiuicd until the close of the Civil war. 
Mr. Doolittlc then sjjent a short lime in An.sonia, 
from there removing to Bridgeiiort. where for sev- 
eral )ears he was connected with the Bridge])ort 
Brass Co.. having charge of one of their depart- 
ments. In 1870 he embarked in the manufactm-ing 
business in P)ridge]K)rt. as jiresident of a corjwra- 
lion which was engaged in the niiamifacture of 
metallic goods, carriage trimmings being among 
the chief articles. Later this corporation became 
the pioneer in the mamifacturc of liar'bed wire for 
fencing. In 1877 Mr. Doolittlc bccatne interested 
in the telci.ihone. and engaged in the telephone busi- 
ness, having been granted a license f'lr western 
Comiccticut and western Massachusetts, under the 
Bell patents. It was ar this time that he look out 
the first letter ])atent that was ever issued, show- 
ing a complete telephone exchange. This patent 
was dated Oct. 22. 1878. The first complete tele- 
jihonc switchboard ever made in any manufactur- 
ing establishment was designed by Mr. Doolittlc, 
and was built bv Charles Williams, Jr.. of Boston, 
Mass. Several patents were taken out by Mr. Doo- 
littlc covering the essential features of telephone 
exchange apparatus. He soon became directly con- 
nected with the .American Bell Telephone Co., of 
I'oston, and en.gaged m the general development of 
the telephone business throughout the L'nited Slates 
and Canada. 

Mr. Doolittlc is the atlaptcr of hard drawn cop- 
per wire (a most important contribution to all 
electrical industries), for which the iMMiiklin In- 
stitute of Philadelphia awarded him the '"Long- 
stroth ATedal of Merit." This wire, while retain- 
ing those ])roperties of conductivity inherent in 
cojjper. has the additional (|uality of great tensile 
strength, and ii is stated, liy those qualified to judge, 
that without this discovery long distance telephony 
and the electrical transmission of energy over long 
distances would l)c impossible. In a word, the im- 
f)orlancc of this process, an<I its extensive applica- 
tion, is sufficiently evident fnim the fact that the 
annual consumption of hard drawn copper wire in 
the l'nited .Stales alone, from an experimental 
quantity of 500 ])ounds, manufactured in 1877. now 
t'xcccfls So.ooo.ooo [xninds a year. Mr. Doolittlc 
conducted the experiments with hard drawn copper 
wire lines, which led up to the organization of the 
.\nierican 'J'elephone & Telegraph Co., of which be 
became the first president. 

On Dec. 24, 1866. Thomas B. Doolittlc mar- 
ried Mary Louise, daughter of ^^'i^lelt and Harriet 
(Ilotchkiss) Bradley, of Ansonia, Conn., and five 
children came to this union : Charles Benjamin, 
Harry W.. Ruth F... I'.dith A', and Mary Alice (de- 
ceased). Charles B. Doolittlc is an officer of the 
.Southern Xew I'jigiand Telephone Co. He mar- 
ried Laura Leggctt .^eymour. of Washington. D. 
C. daughter of Henrv .\. and Mary L. Seymour, 
and thc\' have one S'>n. Mortimer Leggctt. 

Harry \\'. Doolittlc was born Aug. 13, 1870. 



122 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



He was (.(Jucatccl for the ikir at "N'ale. and afccr- 
\-"iiil at llio Boston L^nivcrsity Law ScliO'j!. Ife 
ilii-'n viUiTi'd the news[japer field, and was a special 
corresjjondent in lioston, Mass., until 1897, when 
lie hecanie associated with Attorney TalcoM Ji- 
Russell, of New [[a\en. having hccn admitted to 
the New Haven liar, lie enlisted in the navy dur- 
iuij the Spanish. \nieriean war, and served initil its 
close. He is now Jud^e of the llranford Town 
Court, and is the yoini.nest judije in the State. 

Thomi's JSenjaniin Doolittle has l)een a re:;ident 
of Pine Orchard, in the town of Branford, since 
1893, owning- there a liandMinie piroperty known as 
"Thimble I'^arni." u Inch commands a delightful view 
of Long Island Sound. He and his wife are mem- 
bers of Trinitv P^piscopal Church, Branford, and 
fraternally he 'is affiliated with the F. & A. ^l., St. 
John's Lodge, No. 4, of Hartford. He is a member 
of the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, and the 
American Society of IClectrical Engineers, New 
York Citv, and of several clubs, including the I'lay- 
ers, of New York City, founded by Booth, the St. 
Botolph and the Papyrus (/lubs. both of lioston. In 
his political preferences he is a Democrat. 

.M()RT().\'. I'l.r a generatiim fdllmving i8,^(j 
tliere existed in New Haven a Inisiness partnership 
in which were associated two very successful busi- 
ness men. who became men nf means and of in- 
lluence in 'hat citw These gentlemen were l)roth- 
ers-in-law, and were the representatives of the best 
families that c.ame fmin I'jigland to the New Fng- 
land Coliinies. ( )ne nf these gentlemen was Hor- 
ace J. Morton, tlir olher Charles I'rindle Hnbbell. 
of tin- linn of llnlibell \- .Morton, carriage builders. 
They began the manufacture of e.irriages in New 
Havi'U in iS_^() or 1X40. in ;i building on lirewery 
street, which h;id been pre\ionsl\- occupied by Ste- 
vens & I'rancis. Tlu- business from the verv start 
was successftd, and. by the t;nerg\-. careful man- 
agement and progressive direction of its projectors, 
l)ecame large and pros])erotis. Through the long 
perioil trom iS:;() to the early 'seventies the names 
ol llubbell iS: .Morion were s\non\inous in Inisiness 
circles for integrity, honest) and high crc-dit. In 
the antibellum days in the South, when that section 
was most prosperous, the New Haven firm in c|ues- 
tion h;i<l a number of carriage re])osilories. notably 
al S.ix.mnali, (ia.. ;nid .Mobile, .\la., where large 
stocks were carried. During the Civil war the stock 
at Savannah was confiscated b\' the government of 
the Confederate States, a receipt being given the 
firm and a promise of payment in three vears after 
tlu' recognition of flu' t.'onfederacy as an independ- 
ent g<i\-ernment. Through, ami just after, the jjcri- 
od of the Ci\il war. the depressed condition of 
business affairs in general had made the carria.ge 
business like many other lines unprofitable, and es- 
pecially so with tile firms whose Inisiness extended 
wiilelv over the .South. The llubbell & Morton 
linn, however, had. prior to (his time, been so suc- 



cessful that its members were already in possession 
of a com]jetency. and the surviving member, Mr. 
Morton, closed out their business soon after the 
death of Mr. Hubbell in 187 1. 

HoR.\CF, J. MoKTON, of tlic abovc named firm, 
was born in 181 5. in Hatfield, Mass., son of Joseph 
and Martha (Day) Alorton. of that town, and he 
is a lineal descendant of Richard ^Morton, who 
was earlv at Hartford, Conn., where he was made 
a freeman in 1669. Tie removed to Hatfield, ^lass., 
in 1670, where his death occurred in 1 710, and the 
death of his wife. Ruth, in 1714. 

Hatfield and Hadley, Mass., were settled at the 
same time — 1')59 to 1661 — and the two towns be- 
came the property of a colony fnmi W'ethersfield 
and Hartford, Conn., men of wealth and high so- 
cial ])Osition. 

(in his mother's side Mr. Morton is in the ei,ghth 
generation from Robert Day, who with his wife, 
Mary, sailed from Ipswich, England, in the bark 
"Elizabeth" for Boston in 1634. Mr. Day was born 
aliout ifio4. He located in Newtown, now Cam- 
liridgc. Alass., where his wife likely died soon 
thereafter. Mr. Day married (second) Editha 
Stebliins. He was one of the original proprietors 
of JIartford in id^cj, and died there in 1648. His 
widow, who was twice married thereafter, died in 
1688. From this Robert Da_\- Mr. Morton's line of 
descent is through John, Thomas, Nathaniel. Joel 
and j\Lartha (Day) Morton. 

(II) John Da\-. son of Robert the emigrant set- 
tler, married Sarah Maynard, of Hartford, and 
died in about 1730. 

(III) Thomas Day, son of John, married Sept. 
2\ . ifxjr). Hannah Wilson, and lived in Hartford. 
He died in 1724 or 1725. 

(I\') Nathaniel Day, son of Thomas, baptized 
Jnl\- 3, 1 71 5, married Jan. 20, 1737, Thankful Cles- 
soii. and lived in Northampton, Alasb.. She died 

ill 1754- 

(\ ) Joel Dav, sfm of Nathaniel, born Au,g. 
1(1. 1741), married .March 10, 1783, Martha .Murray, 
of Hatfield, Mass., and lived in that town. 

(\'l ) .Martha Daw daughter of Joel, born Sept. 
6, 1786, married b'eb. 10. 1810, Joseph Morton. 

Horace J. Morton ])assed his boyhood on his 
father's farm, alternating between working on the 
farm in the summer sea.son ;uid attendance al the 
neigbborhooil school during the winters. In 1830 
he came to New Haven and began employment in 
the shop of liis uncle, Lelotcs Day, a carriage 
builder, .\fter reaching his inajtnMty he passed one 
season in (harleston, S. C. and on his return to 
New Haven at the close of the st^ason began the 
manufacture of carriage-; for himself. He applied 
himself closely to his business, was a young man 
of honor and inte.grity. kc])t all of his financial en- 
gagements, and soon became successfully estab- 
lished in business and in the confidence of the peo- 
[ile. .\s stated in the foregoing Mr. Morton as- 
sociated with him in the business in 1839 or 1840 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



123 



his lirother-in-law, Charles P. IluhbcU. a partner- 
ship that existed until the death of. Mr. Iluhhell 
in 1 87 1, and at that time the firm was the oldest 
in its line in Xew Haven. Like his partner, Mr. 
Morton has not been a man who soui^ht notoriety, 
or cared for dis])lay, aiKl he has had little taste for 
]nihlic honors, yet he occasionally ha.s been pre- 
vailed upon to serve his fellow townsmen in a pub- 
lic capacity, notably in tlie eonmion council and 
tire dejiartment. He has often l.ieen solicited to ac- 
cept important trusts, luit has as often declined. 
I-'or many years he has lieen one of the trustees of 
the City Saving's liank ami a director in the A(er- 
chanls Hank. .Since Mr. lluhbell's death Mr. Mor- 
ton has not been actively eniiaijed in business. I lis 
time has since been g'iven to the settlement of the 
old firm's l>usiness, and in cariuij for some private 
trusts left to his keeping;-. He has been through 
a long lifetime an esteemed member of society. 

In 1840 .Mr. Morton was married to I'^lizabcth 
riarnett. a:id 10 tlu-m [\\o children were born, of 
whom the son is now deceasetl : and Gertrude K. 
is the wife of Mr. H. A. Warner, of New Haven. 
Mr. .Morton is a niemi.ier of the I'irst M. E. Church 
at Xew Haven. 

J()HX t'. ]'.R.\1)L1-A', whose death occurred 
at his home, Xo. 86 Grand avenue, Xew Haven, 
Dec. 24, 1897. was for many years one of the most 
])rominent citizens of b'air Tdaven. 

;\lr. liradley was born C)ct. 11, 1836, in New 
Haven, son of Harvey liradley. When a ycnmg 
man he became a clerk in the Merchants' blank, 
gradually rising- through the various grades until 
he became cashier of the bank, a position he satis- 
factorily filled for over a (juarter of a century. In 
1889 he retired from the bank, and took up real- 
estate interests, and from that time as long as hi- 
lived he hail an office in the Exchange building. 
Mr. Uradlex's ])olitical affiliations were with the 
Democratic party, and for several terms he rejirc- 
sented the E.Ieventh ward in the board of alder- 
men. His judgment was regarded as .sound, and 
comuianded respect in the commercial circles of the 
city, and his genial disposition won him many 
friends. Socially he was a member of Woolsey 
Lodge, Knights of Honor, and religiously he was 
associated with the (jrand .\veiuie Congregational 
Church, where he took much interest in its song 
wor.sbip. 

On Oct. U). 1858, ^Ir. Bradley was married to 
Mary Josephine, a daughter of Henry and .\zubah 
(Mix) Tryon. To this marriage came the follow- 
ing: John Colton, <if New Haven; W'allace H., 
of r.rooklsn; iMJward .M., ;i banker; Lucius, of 
New Haven; I'^lihu A.; and M. Josephine. 

JoiiX Coi,Tox Hr.\dm-:v, whose name aniiears in 
the above list of children, was born Dec. 2, 1831), 
spent his early days in the (irand .Avenue .School, 
and later in the Woolsey School. I'or six years 
he worked with his grandfather Mix iti the .soap 
business, when Hradley & liall bought out Mr, Mix, 



and ran the business for six years. Mr. I'.radley 
followed the fortunes of the house, an<l was with 
Mr. Malooney, and then with Mr. Hemingway. 
l'"or the last seven years he has been holding the 
•position of cashier with the l-^dward Malley Com- 
pany. 

.Mr. I'.radley was married, in i88_:5, at hi> pres- 
ent residence, Xo. 264 Exchange street, to Alice 
Isabella, a daughter of .Andrew J. Hull, of .Xew 
Haven, by whom he has one child. Margaret Hull, 
.Mr. I'.radley lielongs to the Royal .\rcanum, and 
has Served the local lodge as secretary for several 
\ears. He served as councilman from the Eleventh 
ward for a year. In his i)olitics he is a Rej)ub- 
lican. 

EuwAKii Mix r.K.\iii.i;v, member of the banking 
house ol II. C. Warren S: I'o., of Xew llaven, was 
born at the home on b'erry street, .\ug. 25, 1864, 
and spent his early .school days in New Haven, 
where he attended the ilillhouse high school, in 
1884 he coimected himself with .Mc.Mlister & War- 
ren, a firm that later became II. t". Warren & Co.. 
and in i8i)() he became a member of the firm, llis 
entire life from boyhood has been devoted to this 
line of business. Mr. liradley was married in 
.Xew Haven. .April 2,^, 1896, to Miss hlorcnce 
Strong, a daughter of John S. Eowder, an assistant 
clerk of tlu' .Su])erior Court. To this union have 
come two children: Edward liolbrook, born May 
T,. 1897; and Alargaret. born Nov. 25. 1901. .Mr. 
I'.radley belongs to the Oiiinnipiac and the New 
Haven Country Clubs. 

Wallace H. Bradley was born .March to. i89r. 
and spent his boyhood days in New Haven. He 
became bookkeeper for the Whitney .\rms Com- 
pany, a position he held for many vears. r>ut of late 
he has been engagt'd in the life insur;uice l)u>iness, 
and resides in I'.ronklyn, X. ^'. In that city he 
married r.erlha !•". Lyon, by whom he has the fol- 
lowing family: Leon Wallace, born July 9, 1891 ; 
Whitney Lvon, born Xov. 20. \i^()2: Sheldon, born 
June 17, i8(jC; and I'.ertha Josephine, born July 
13. 1899. 

Henry Mix. the father of .Mrs. John C. I'.rad- 
lev, was born in New Haven, son of Eli Mix. of 
the same ])Iace. In .Saybrook, Conn.. Henry Mix 
married .\zubali Tryon. and at that place was con- 
nected with a stage line, of which he was ])res!- 
dent, that operated from Xew ^'ork to Hartford. 
I le was l;Uer engaged in a grocery, and still later 
was connected with what has since Iiecoine the 
New Haven I'.aking Company. 

HON. GEORGh: I'R1TCH.\RD (deceased). 
Throug'h nearlv two centuries the I'ritchards have 
lived in Waterbury, where the late George 1'ritch- 
ard was born May 25. 1816, and through a long 
[)eriod of years was actively identified with the 
city's afl'airs, and especially wdth its industries. 

Roger I'richard (as the name w.is originally 
spelled), the ancestor of this branch of the.fam- 
ilv, was of W'ethersfield, in 1640. and came from 



1-4 



COMMEMORA TII'E BIOG. . - - - ^ - .ECORD. 



Springfield. Mass.. to Milford, Conii.. previous to 
Dec. iS. 1653, at which date he was married to 
Elizabeth Slough, of Milford. He died in Xew 
Haven in 1670-71. 

The late George Pritchard, of Waterbun,-, was 
a descendant in the sixth generation from this 
Roger Prichard. the line of his descent being 
through Benjamin Prichard. James Prichard. Isaac 
Prichard and Isaac Pritchard {2). 

(Ill Benjamin Prichard. son of Roger Prich- 
ard. born in 1657. married in 16S3 Rebecca Jones. 
He removed to \\"aterbury about 1733. 

(_ III V James Prichard. son of Benjamin Prich- 
ard. baptized in 1698. in Milford. Conn., married 
in 17JI. Elizabeth Johnson, of Stratford. Conn., 
and died in 1749. 

(,I\'i Isaac Prichard. son of James Prichard. 
bom in 17^. married at Milford. in 175S. Lois, 
daughter of Isaac Bronson. He died in 170S. and 
she in 1S24. 

i^X""! Isaac Pritchard i^V son of Isaac Prich- 
ard. and the father of George Pritchard. was bom 
in 1772 or 1773. ^'^"J married in 1795 Lucina. 
daughter of ^Iajo^ Xoah Baldwin. 

The late George Pritchard. of Waterbnry. was 
married in that town. For many years he was 
connected with the Warren & Xewron Co.. n:an- 
iifacturers of webbing and su-;penders. a business 
which was successfully carried on under joint man- 
agement of Messrs. \\'arren. Xcv.ton. \\ oodruff 
and Pritchard. This company was consolidated 
with the Hotchkiss & Merriman Manufacturing 
Co.. foraiing in 1S57 tlie American Suspender Co.. 
and of the new company Mr. Pritcb.ard was one 
of the leading managers, having charge of its Xew 
York department. He retired from active busi- 
ness in 1S73. and passed a period in. travel in 
Europe. He represented Waterbury in the Gen- 
eral Assembly in 1S71 and 1S72. He was a promi- 
nent and active member of S:. John's Church. 

In. 1S3S Mr. Pritchard \va< married to Frances 
T.. dauirhtcr of Daniel Scot:. She_^died Feb. 10. 
'1S85. He died July 31. 1S77. iheir children 
were: Margaret S.. who married. April 9. iSoo. 
Theodore I. Driggs: and Cora Le Roy. who mar- 
ried Oct. "2. 1S72. Charles William Burre:'.. of 
\\'aterbury. 

WILLIAM WARD. The earliest ancestor of 
Mr. Ward in America was Andrew Ward, an Eng- 
lish gentleman, who was the rifih son of Ricli- 
ard \\ard. of Gorlcston. County of Suiro'k. Eng- 
land, and who. tradition sa>-s. emigrated to the Col- 
onies in the ship ""Arabella." It is known that he 
landed in Boston, where he took the oath of a free- 
man in 1634. Two years later h.e removed w 
Wethershe'.d. Conn., thence to Stamford. Conn., 
and from tliat place to Hempstead. L. I. Returning 
to Connecticut, he settled at Fairfield, where he 
died before Oct. 20. 1650. as that is the date upon 
which his will was admitted to probate. He mar- 
ried Hester i.or Esther^ Sherman, wlto was a mem- 



ber of the fajnily froin which sprang Roger Sher- 
man, one of the signers of the Declaration of In- 
dejjendcncc. The nine children bom to them were: 
Edmund, Anna (^Xicholst, William (^married De- 
borah Lockwoodi, Man.- i^Burr), ]chn, Sarah 
(Burr), Abigail, Andrew and Samuel. ^Man.- mar- 
ried John Burr, of Fairfield, and was the mother 
of two sons. Daniel and Peter. The elder, who 
graduated from Yale College in 173S. was tlie father 
of Rev. Aaron Burr, and grandfadier of Aaron, 
Jr.. whose ambitious projects and meteorically 
brilliant career furnished an interesting page in our 
national history. The younger son. Peter, was an 
alumnus of Hansard. 

The following e.xiracts from tlie wills of An- 
drew and Hester Ward will be found interesting. 
The will of Andrew Ward, dated June 3. 1659, ^.d- 
mitted to probate in Fairfield Probate Court, Oct. 
20. 1659, recorded in the records of said court. \'ol. 
164S-56, Pages 5S-59. gives to his wife ""Ester" 
forty pounds in money, and one-tliird of all his 
lands. To his son John fifty jxiunds. to be paid 
l-.im at twenty-one years of age. To his daughter, 
Sarali. to be paid her one year after her marriage, 
forty pounds. To his daughter Abigail, to be paid 
lier at eighteen years of age, forty pounds. To his 
■"sones" .\ndrew and Samuel, all the rest of his 
property on their attaining twenty-one years. In 
the seventli item of his will, after ha\ing disposed 
of the bulk of his property as above, he says : "~ — 
And for the rest of my children, they have received 
their full portion all ready except my son Edmond. 
who if he come to this place my will is that out of 
my two youngest sons Andrew and Samuel's por- 
tions there may be paid twenr\- poimds," etc. 

Will of Hester Ward (widow of Andrew 
Ward), probated Feb. 28. 1665. Fairfield Probate 
Record. Vol. 1656-75, Page 11, gives to her daugh- 
ter Mary Burr fony shillings. To her son William 
Ward five pounds. To sons Andrew and Samuel 
eight pwunds apiece. To her daughter Abigail 
se\en pounds. To the children of her daughter 
.\nr.a Xichols nine pounds. To her grandchild. 
Hester Ward, nine pounds. To her son Johns 
child nine pounds. To Sarah Burr and Xathaniel 
Burr, children of her daughter Sarah, nine pounds. 
To her daughter Anna ""her best red i)etticoat. To 
her daughter Sarah her mohair coat. To her 
daughters Ann and Mar)", Sarah and Abigail, her 
wareing iinnen." 

.Vndrew Ward, the eighth child and fourth son 
of Andrew, was the ancestor of the gentleman 
whose name opens this sketch. He was bom in 
Fairfield in 1645. and died about 1690. He estab- 
lishevt himself in Killingworth. Xew Haven county, 
niarried Tryal. a daughter of John Meigs, of Guil- 
ford, and was the father of ten children : Andrew. 
bom in 1669. became a captain in the militia, and 
died in 1756. John. K-im March 16. 1671. died 
with.out issue. Abigail, bom Sept. 15. 1672, mar- 
ried Samuel Xonon. of Guilford. Conn.. Jan. 25, 
1693. and died in 1733. Sarah, bom Xov. 15. 1674, 



m 





a^y'T^^ 




CZ.U:// 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



125 



became the wife of Stephen I'.raillev. Peter, born 
Oct. 14, 1676, married Mary, a tlaujihter of Jacob 
Joy, of Killing-worth, and died Dec. 18. 1763. Sam- 
uel, born Sept. 24, 1680, died in 1681. Esther, 
Ixjrn -Mav 2, 1684, died the .same year. Of Mary, 
the ninth child, nothing; can be told. .Anna, the 
_\oungcst, was married to Samuel liossiter. 

\Villiani Ward, the lineal ancestor of William 
Ward, of ;he present generation, was the sixth of 
this large family. He was born Oct. iS, 1678. and 
died Dec. 18, 1768. He married l.ettis, a daughter 
of John Beach, of ^\'allingford, and to them came 
eleven children, the seventh of wluim, John, was 
Mr. Ward's great-great-grandfather. The others, 
with the years of their res])ective births, were as 
follows: Mecock, 1702; William, 1705; Amy, 
1707: Mary, 1708; .\mbrose, i/cxr. l.ettis, 1711; 
Pryal, 1716; Arab, 1718: Zenas, 1720; and Titus, 
1723. A record of the marriage of each has been 
preserved, with the e.xception of Titus, of whom 
nothing is known. Mecock mtirricd Hannah Tyler, 
and after her death, which occurred Nov. 2, 1759, 
be was married to ^\'idow Mary Hulls; he died May 
6, 1783. William married Al)igail Cratnpton 
( whose father. John, was a resident of East Guil- 
ford 1 , and died Dec. K), I7t)i. .Amy was united 
to Samuel I'owler, and Mary to I'hineas Atwater, 
of Cheshire, Conn. Ambrose married Rachel Dor- 
man. Lettis was the wife of Daniel Curtis. I'ryal 
married Daniel Pickett, of Stratford. Arab was 
joined to Phcebe Towner. Zenas was twice mar- 
ried, first to Mary Bates, and after her death to 
Patience Square. 

John Ward, born in 1714, was a druggist in 
Wallingford, where be died Dec. 2, 1754. On ,\lay 
II, 1736, lie married Elizabeth Abernethy, and to 
them were born five sons and two daughters: Phe- 
lus. born April 24, 1737, married Lydia Aleigs. and 
died April 24, 1804: his first wife having passed 
away June 14, 177.=;. he married Sarah Shelly, who 
died in 1823. Abel, born July I, 1740. died in 
childhood. Titus was the great-grandfather of 
William Ward. Martha, born July 16, 1744, mar- 
ried ^\■illiam Carter, June 8, 1762. Eunice, liorn 
July 17, 1746, on Dec. 5, 1773. becanie Airs. David 
Cook. John (i). born May 24, 1748. died in in- 
fancy. John (2) was born Nov. H), 1751, but 
nothing else is known concerning him. 

Titus Ward was born Alarcli 10, 1742, and ciu 
June 7, 17')3. married Amy Smith. He had an ad- 
venturous spirit, and from his boyliood a sea-faring 
life appeared to him the most delightful on earth. 
In time he owned and commanded a vessel sailin.g 
l)etween the port of Xew A'ork and the West In- 
dies. The family tradition is that during the war 
for independence his vessel sailed from the port 
of .\e\v Haven, and was captured by the British, 
and he was i)ut aboard a British ])ri,son ship, where 
he starved to death. His home, when on shore, 
was in Wallingford. Ten children were Ixjrn to 
him, wbose names an<I dates of birth are as follows: 



Sylvia. .Aug. 8, 1764; Abel, May 24, 1766: Titus, 
AJarch 30, 17O8: P>etsey, March 22, 1770: Xancy, 
June 10, 1772; John, .May 12. 1774; Sarah, May 
25. 1776; William. Jan. 5. 1780; Siatice, Feb. 16, 
1782; Pauline, aljout 1783. .^\lvia married Isaac 
I'lumb, of Alilfonl. and removed to Ogilensburg, 
X. Y., where she died Jan. 18. 1841. Titu> mar- 
ried Sarah .Smith, and died in the West Indies in 
1805. Betsey iK-came the wife of .Samuel Beach, 
and died in (Jrange, Xew Haven county. Xancy 
was married to Joseph Xichols, i)roprietor of the 
"Eagle Hotel" in Xew 1 laven ; she died in that city 
Sept. 16, 1855, and he in New A'ork June I'l, 1819. 
John and William died in boyhood. Sarah, who 
became Mrs. Elijah Prindlc, of Alilford, died .Au.g. 
17, 1827. Statice was Mrs. lUirough \\'riglu, of 
Xew Haven. Pauline was twice married, first to 
James H. Blinn, and aflerward to Isaac Frost; she 
died in 1842 or 1843. 

Abel Ward, the second child and eldest son of 
Titus, and the grandfather of William A\'ard. was 
a blacksmith by trade. He died in the town of 
Woodbridge, now Liethany, Oct. g, 1792. He was 
twice married, first to Rachel Ilotchkiss. who died 
in 1787. and afterward to .Anna Wheeler. To the 
first union came one son. Richard, born Sept. 21. 
1787; and to the second marria.ge one daughter, 
Rachel, born Jan. 2;^. i7i>2, who married Jervis 
Sommers, a farmer of Southbury. 

Richard Ward, the father of William, passed bis 
boyhood and youth in bis native town, Woodbrid.ge. 
learning the trade of a millwright. Desirous of 
visiting new scenes and hoping to improve his con- 
dition he traveled to the South and the West, mak- 
ing part of the journey 1 m foot. Finding" no busi- 
ness which suited him he returned to his native 
State to make his home in Xau.gatuck. There he 
perceived an opening for the erection of a b'n^eed 
oil mill, and having secured financial support he 
entered into a co-partnership for the establishment 
of a plant. In 1810 he became part owner in one 
mill and not many \ears afterward he built a new 
inill and occupied it with others for a numi)er of 
years. While this business enterprise was in prog- 
ress he met and married Ro.xanna Hoadle\-, their 
wedding being solemnized Dec. 15, ]8ii. by Rew 
A!r. Dodd. Mrs. Richard Ward was burn in 
Xaugatuck July 13, 1787, daughfer of Cul]je])i)er 
Floadley, who was a drummer bo\- in the war of the 
Revolution and a descendant of the old English 
family of that name, a meml>er of which was among 
the early settlers of .Saybrook. Richard Wanl died 
Alarch 2, 1851, and his wife Feb. 6, 1865. They 
had five children, of whom William was the young- 
est ; Lewis was born Sejit. 2"/, 1812: Lauren, Dec. 
27, 1814; Alaria. Feb. 11, 1819: and Marv, Feb. 
17, 1823. Lewis was a man of many vi'xrations, 
being first a shoemaker, next a contractor and later 
a maker of spokes. He was married .April 19. 1835, 
to Mary Ann Curtis, of Huntington, Conn., and 
died Aug. 3, 1878. Lauren passed the greater part 



126 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of his life in A'augatuck, where for many years he 
was famous as a clockmakcr. Later he constructed 
machinery of especial pattern to fill jirivate orders, 
and after remaining for several years with the W^at- 
erhury Hook & Eye Co. (first in \\'aterhury and 
later in Torrington ) formed a co-partnershii) with 
his bnither, William, in the manufacture of curtain 
rings and other small wares of Jjrass. Their busi- 
ness associations lasted thirty-two years. In 1840 
he married Emily Hotchkiss, who died Jan. 19, 
1887. and he passed away Jan. 4, i8y8. Maria, the 
eldest daughter of Richanl, is the widow of Ralph 
Smith, a carriage maker, of Eitchfield county, whom 
she married Nov. 23, 1842. Mary married Feb. 17, 
1 841, Clanoe 1 'otter, a tailor, who yet lives in I'lain- 
vdle ; she died Aug. 2, 1842. 

\\'illiam Ward was l)orn Marcli 7, 1823. in 
Naugatuck. When a boy he attended the local 
schools and at a suitable age liegan work in the 
satinette mill of William DeForest & Co. From 
there he went to Litchfield couiUy, where iov eigh- 
teen niiiuths he was in the emplov of a wagon- 
m.ikrr, learning the trade, which he thereafter fol- 
lowed for several years at Naugatuck and New 
Llaven, remaining in the last named city from the 
autunni of 1840 to 1864. louring this time he man- 
aged, through industry, assiduity and economy, to 
accumulate sufficient capital to t'uable him to em- 
bark in business on his own accnunt. ;ind went on 
a i)ros])ecting tour to Colorado, where he remained 
tVi'cnty-two months. Li i8c'/) he nnee more re- 
turned to Naugatuck. where he and his brother 
formed a partnership, as already mentioned. The 
business i^roved jjrofitable, but he has not confined 
his attention wholly to the affairs of L. & W. \\'ard. 
He is a trustee of the Naugatuck Savings liank, of 
which for several years he has been president and 
holds the same position in the Naugatuck Water 
t'o., bi'inging lo the discharge of his official duties 
n]>e business experience, keiJn sagacity and tried 
fidelity. He is a man of enlightcne<l ])nb!ic spirit, 
always ready to aid. l)y counsel and jjursc, every 
well-conceived jiroject for the puljlic good. He 
has been prominently identified with the restoration 
( f the ancient cemetery, which was rapidly .going to 
d''c:i\. and w;is one of the incoriiorators of the 
drove Cemetery Association. In early life he was 
a \\'hig. Init since 1856 he has acted with the Re- 
])ublican ])arty, although never actively interested 
i.i politics outside of his native town. In matters of 
local history Mr. Ward is an acknowledged author- 
ity. In his .'irchives he holds scores of ancient 
deeds, and the genealogy of the old families of New 
Jiaven county is to him an open book. Lawyers 
constantly consult him as an antiquarian. Desp.-'tc 
liis seventy-seven years he is light of step and alert 
of body, with unclouded memory and an active 
bi'ain. 

( )n May 2, t852, Mr. Ward was married to Miss 
Elizabeth A. Hine, of Milford. Three daughters 
have come to them: Emmie K., born May 6, 1853, 



in New Haven, Conn., is the wife of ^^'alter P. 
Hatch, of Stamford, Conn.; Alice M., born Feb. 4, 
1856, in New Haven, married Charles A. Briggs, 
and is at present a resident of Brooklyn, Windham' 
Co., Conn. : and Josephine B., born in New Haven 
Oct. 22. 18^14. is now Mrs. Clarence Lsbell, of Stam- 
ford, Connecticut. 

CHARLES E. LONGDEN. The prosperity 
of any comnumity depends upon its business activ- 
ity, and the enterprise manifested in commercial 
circles is the foundation upon which is built the 
material welfare of town, State and Nation. The 
most important factors at the present day are there- 
fore the men who are in control of successful busi- 
ness interests, and such a one is Charles E. Long- 
den, of Haniden, who was the founder, and for 
a number of years ending in April, 1901, the su- 
perintendent and .secretary, of the Seamless Rubber 
Co., ()f New Haven. The history of Mr. Longden's 
hfe is closely identified with a line of manufacturing 
for which Connecticut is noted, the rubber busi^ 
ness. and in the manufacture of seamless rubber 
,goi)ds_ he was the pioneer in America. The busi- 
ness, in con.imon with so many that have assumed 
large proportions, had a verv modest beginning, 
and a hard struggle at first for a mere existence. 

Mr. Longden comes of a family, several mem- 
bers of whom seem 10 have been endowed, with 
much more than the ordinary mechanical ingenuitv 
and skill. The Longdens are of English origin, 
coming from Lincolnshire, and while not as long 
established in Connecticut as many of those herein 
mentioned, its members have certainly become 
|)rominent in the lines with which thev have been 
identified. Charles E. Longden was born in Bos- 
ton, Lincolnshire, England, March 21, 1840, one of 
the younger children of the large family of \\"\\\- 
iam H. andi Mary A. Longden. James Longden. 
father of William H., fought under Nelson." Of 
the fourteen children of William H. and Mary A. 
Longden, twelve lived to adult ages. There were 
four sons, three of whom are yet living, viz.: Will- 
iam H.. a machinist of Jirid.geport. Oinn., who has 
two children. Teresa and William II., Jr.: Charles 
E.. our subject: and h^lmer A., of I'lridgeport. 
William II. I-ongden, father of our subject, was a 
skilled mechanic. He came to the United States 
alone, his wife and family joining him not 
long afterward". His first location was at Nauga- 
tuck, Conn., where he worked for Lyman Brad- 
ley for a few years, and later he was with Bcn- 
j;imin JL .Moss, a knife manufacturer, of Water- 
ville, Conn. Mr. Longden was the first knife blade 
forger in America, and made the first blades for the 
manufacturers here when they were experimenting 
with same, carrying on this work at what was 
then called Salem Lridge, Conn. He was an ex- 
l)crt in his line, and his skill and ideas brought 
nuich money into the hands of his employers. He 
died at Watervillc, in 1878, aged eighty-two years, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOCRAFHICAL RECORD. 



127 



his wife passing away in 1889 at about the same 
ai;e. Thev are buried in Riverside cemetery at 
\Vatcrbury. 

Charles VI. Lont;-den was but an infant when 
brought to the United States, and to WaterviUe, 
Conii. The voyage was a long one. lasting over 
ihirtv (lavs. Jn \\'aterville he grew to manhood, 
receiving his education in the district schoi.ls nf 
the neighborhood. After the age of fourteen he 
did not attend regularly, so that all in all hi.^ ad- 
vantages were somewhat limited, b'roni early boy- 
I'.ooil he was somewhat "'handy" with tools, and 
showed adaptness for work around machinery, and 
before he was far advanced in his teens he began 
work as a forger in a knife manufactory, being 
thus employed the greater part of the time until 
after the breaking out of the fivil .war. 

On .Au.g. .T. i86j. our subject enlisted, becom- 
ing a jirivate in the first detachment of the 2(1 Con- 
necticut Light I'.attery, and the first important en- 
gagement in which be took pan w;is the battle of 
Gcttvshurg. Later he went with bis cnmmand to 
New ^'ork to (piell the riot in that city, and re- 
mained there on duty for six weeks, after which 
he went to New ( trleans. and with the .\rmy of 
the (lulf operated aroinid that city. .\s a jiart of 
the land liattery they assisted Farragut in taking 
l-'urt .Morgan, at llu' entrance of Mubik- I'.ay, and 
then went to i'ensac-la, b"la. Later they cmssed 
the I'.av to Mobile, and lud])e(! t.ake what was 
known as Spanish l^'urt. a few days before the sur- 
render of (ien. Lee. .Mr. Longden was with his 
detachment all through the war. and took an active 
part in all the engagements in which they partici- 
jiated. lie was honorabl}' discharged at .\e\v Ha- 
ven Sept. 10, i8f>5. and returned to \\';iler\ille. 

A few nionlhs after his return fmm the serv- 
ice -Mr. Longden went to .Xaugatuck, where he was 
in the employ of the l'ni(jn Knife iS: Cutlery Co. 
until 1873. In that year he embarked in business 
for himself .at I'rosjject, near Xaugatuck. as a man- 
ufacturer of harness trimmings, and was thus en- 
,ga,ged tnilil 1875, when, in company with Ceorge 
Jline, he erected a plant at Cnion City and began 
the manufacture of seruiiless rubber ,goods, he be- 
ing the iinentor of the seamless method and the 
pioneer mamifacturer in .America. Two years later 
a stock company was organized under the name of 
the Seamless Rubber C'o.. of which Mr. Longden 
became secretary and su])erintcn(lent, and in Oc- 
tober, 1877, the establishment was moved to New 
Haven, where business has since been carried on. 
and where are manufactured all kinds of seamless 
rubber goods. i-".m])loyment I-, furnished to from 
.■^00 to 400 men and women. In .April, Kjoi, Mr. 
Longden severed his relations with this company. 
])uringhis connection therewith it was a recognized 
fact that his services were of far greater value to 
the concern than might be cxjiected even of one 
filling successfully so important an inctnnliency. 
Not only his managerial skill, but also his inventive 
.genius, contribtited toward the success of the Inisi- 



ness, in which as its founder he felt a keen ])ri(le. 
Lahorin.g for its advancement. In- taxe(l his powers 
of invention, year after year imiiroving the ma- 
chinerv and adding to tlu' assets and earning ca- 
[Kicitv of the plant b\' "i\ing lo it a mimber of val- 
uable ]>atents that facilitated the manufacture of its 
product, which bore a distinctive mark of super- 
iorit\' in the jud.gment of the consumer. Several of 
these patents ,gave the concern a jjractical monoi)oly 
of certain goods, and likewise enabled them to take 
a foremost rank among maimfacturers in that line. 
Mr. Longden's recompense for all this, howe\'er, 
was no more than his share as an ordinary stock- 
holder entitled him to, every other holder of stock 
being equally benefited. Mr. Lon.gden has taken 
out at least a (Uizen patents on dit'ferent articles 
and devices. Two years before he severed his con- 
nection with the coniiiany he took out a patent for 
the automatic manufacture of seamless rubber 
goods. On ALay ,^0. i8<j(j, he jiatented a sto]i])er for 
a hot-water bottle, which at the time was the best 
thing of its kind in existence. These and many 
others were jiractically given over to the com]i:my, 
so interested was he in its prosperity. 1 lad he been 
less unselfish he could doubtless have realized thou- 
sands of dollars on his own account. < )n Sept. 
17, I()0I, he patented an im])roved rubber bottle 
stopper, which ])atent he retains. This is undouln- 
edlv the best article of its kind now known, and 
should prove extremely valualile to its owner. ( >ur 
subject's skill as a mechanic and his great inventive 
genius were (luite efl'ecti\el\- shown wlu-n he lirst 
embarked in the rublier business, at which time he 
desi,giied all. and made most of, the tools and ma- 
chinerv necessary in the first nianttfaclure of seam- 
less rubber ,goods. Me made the first rubber bi- 
c\'cle tire turned out in .\merica. tires having iire- 
viously been imported, and was the sole manufact- 
urer for the first three years that this article was 
made in the Cnited States. 

Air. Lon.gden was married, in \\'aterbur\. Conn., 
Ran. I, 1867, by Rev. Dr. Clark, to AIi.>^s Sarah 
Tavlor, of Xaugatuck, who was born I'eb. 27, 1847. 
in Sliefiield. England, daughter of 'Hiomas and 
Ahirv Ta\lor. Mrs. Longden was a child of five 
wars when brought lo the I'nited States; the voy- 
age lasted over si.xty days. Mr. Lon.gden has 
been fortunate in his selectiott of a* wife, as Airs. 
I Longden has, hv her able assistance and counsel, 
'< ])rovcn a most valuable lu'lpmate. Air. and .Mrs. 
Longden have had two children, of whom the 
younger died in infanc>'. lunma L. is now the 
wife of Edward R. Street, mana.ger of the llvcninf^ 
Leader, in New Haven, and has two children. .Allen 
Taylor and I'byllis. 

Whatever the capacity in which Mr. Longden 
has acted he has shown an unusual ability for both 
mental and physical labor, lie ])ossesses a robust 
constitution, an<l for one of his years is most re- 
markably well preserved, being to all appearances 
a decade younger than he really is. This circum- 
stance ma'v be attributed, lo no small extent, to his 



128 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



fondness for and indulgence in athletics, especially 
outdoor sports. From his youth he has been more 
than an ordinary athlete, h'or several years when 
a young man he was a member of one of ^ the 
strongest base-ball teams in western Connecticut, 
their success entitling them to a position in the 
front ranks of the amateur teams of the State. Mr. 
Longden's fondness for outdoor sport has never 
(lecreased, and has been gratified along such lines 
as his advancing years and the demands of his 
business life permit'ted. He has been for a number 
of years a member of the New Haven Gun Club, 
of which for eight vears he was president, and has 
shown wonderful skill with the shotgun, his reputa- 
tion extending outside of the city and State; he has 
met in competition many of the noted shots in the 
United States, with more than a fair degree of 
success. Fraternally he is an honored member of 
Wooster Lodge, No. 79, F. & A. M. Though a 
stanch supporter, of the Republican party, lAIr. 
Longden is bv no means a politician, taking simply 
the interest of a public-spirited citizen in party 
affairs. 

Mr. Longden made his home in New Haven 
continuously from 1877 to 1895, when he bought 
the fami of forty acres where he now lives, resid- 
ing there during the summer months until 1899, 
when he built the excellent home there which he 
has since occupied. The farm is situated on the 
Hartford turnpike, a short distance north of New 
Haven, and Mr. Longden has made many improve- 
ments upon the place, converting it into a fruit 
farm. It is now one of the most attractive su- 
Inirban homes in the vicinity of New Haven. Mr. 
Longden's life is a practical illustration of what 
may^be accomplished through industry, persever- 
ance, good management and a <letennination to 
succeed. f-Ie is an excellent example of the self-, 
made man, and the qualities which have won him 
success are not made less agreeable by the air of 
self-assertion which so often n.arks a career like 
his. Indeed his relations with others have been 
invariably marked by modesty, and he has shown 
a decided distaste for prominence. 

CHARLb:S H. NETTLETON. Among the 
names of those who have contributed largely to the 
development of all that is good in ihe community, 
the honest historian of this vicinity must write that 
of Charles 11. Xcttleton wdio, born in New Haven, 
Conn., in llu- \ear 1830. sonn movt-d with his par- 
ents, Charles and Ellen (Iline) Nettleton, to the 
city of .\ew \'ork. where he attended the public 
schools and fitted fur the College of the City of 
New \'ork, from which he graduated in the class of 
i87(j. 

in 1871 Mr. .\ettleton came to reside in Derby, 
Conn., and immediately entered upon a business 
career which has been marked by signal success. 
Being interested in the Derby Gas Company he at 
once took charge of the construction of its plant, 



and has continuously since that time held the office 
of treasurer and general manager of the corpora- 
tion. The importance of this position is manifest 
when we remember that the company supplies the 
gas and electric light, both private and public, for 
the cities of Ansonia and Derby and the borough of 
Shelton, besides furnishing electricity for manufac- 
turing purposes in these municipalities. In 1874 
Mr. Nettleton was chosen manager of the Birming- 
ham \Vater Company (of wdiich he is the treas- 
urer), and still serves the concern in that capacity. 
In 1894 he was elected president of the Birmingham 
National Bank, located at Derby, through which 
the banking business of Derby and Shelton is trans- 
acted, and still occupies that position. For many 
years Mr. Nettleton has been an acknowledged au- 
thority in the manufacture and distribution of il- 
luminating gas and allied industries, having intro- 
duced into the community all the most approved 
methods for utilizing the commodities placed upon 
the market by the Derby Gas Company. He has 
been prominently identified with the New England 
Gas Association, of which he was secretary from 
1885 to 1891 and president from 1893 to 1894. In 
1897 he was the president of the American Gaslight 
Association. Upon the removal of Hon. H. Holton 
Wood to Boston, Mass., and his consequent resig- 
nation as president of the Derby and Shelton Board 
of Trade, Mr. Nettleton was chosen to fill the im- 
portant office thus made vacant. 

The business and social interests of Derby and 
Shelton are so interminably interwoven that the 
more prominent citizens of the one municipality are 
often equally identified with the other. This is 
true of Mr. Nettleton; but while his vast business 
enterprises seem to center largely in Derby, his 
beautiful home and extensive grounds are situated 
on the Shelton lianks of the Housatonic river, and 
he is always loyal in his devotion to the town and 
borough in which he resides. All measures con- 
ducive to their true advancement have always re- 
ceived his hearty support. When Shelton was in- 
corporated as a borough Mr. Nettleton was elected 
it's first warden and served in that capacity for tw'O 
official terms with credit to himself and honor to the 
municipality, in which many improvements were 
carried forward under his administration. In pol- 
itics ]\Ir. Nettleton is an unswerving Republican — 
r-ne whose devotion to his jjarty has never been 

j doubted. \\'ith him Republicanism fs a conviction 
and its success in Huntington is in part attributed to 

j his suggestions and support. Yet. however strong 
his party affiliations may be, in him the upright pa- 
triot is never lost in an office-seeking politician ; 
and it may be trul\ said of him that he represents 
the type of citizen in whom, as voter and statesman, 
rests the hope of the State and Nation, and all that 
is best in American civilization. 

Mr. Nettleton is a vestryman of St. James 
Church, Derby, and has served as treasurer of that 
society since 1885. In these days of intense com- 




1 




^c 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



129 



petition whicli try the moral fibre of men be has 
reached an enviable eminence in the Inisincss world, 
v.hile vet a comparatively \oung- man, living' mean- 
while a life so true that those who know him l)est 
love liim most. With him 

"To do the will is more than creeds 
As words are less than deeds." 

With marked executive ability, undoubted moral 
integrity, and a dignity which, to a stranger, might 
seem severe, Air. Xettleton has a kind, genial na- 
ture. Xo man abhors more deeply than he any- 
thing like a Pharisaical display of virtue or benev- 
olence, yet it is but justice to add that he never 
turns a deaf ear to the voice of the worthy poor, 
many of whom have found in him a friend in their 
necessity, while many a young man owes his success 
in life to his wise counsel and substantial encour- 
agement. 

In 1874 Air. Xettleton was married to Miss 
Katherine Arnold, daughter of the late Joseph Ar- 
nold, a prominent citizen of Derby, and two daugh- 
ters — christened Katherine Arnold and Ellen Ar- 
nold — were born to them, the former on June 29, 
1880, and the latter on July 21, 1883. 

DW'IGHT. Few families in the annals of Mas- 
sachusetts and Connecticut, from the early Colonial 
period to the present, have been more conspicuous 
than the one whose name is here given. We have in 
mind the ancestral line of the venerable Rev. Tim- 
othy Dwight, D. D., of Xew Haven, late President 
of Yak University, and the immediate familv of the 
first Rev. Timothy Dwight. S. T. D., LL. t)., also 
President of Yale, and of these it is the purpose of 
this article to briefly treat. 

Rev. Timothy Dwight, D. D., of Xew Maven. 
is a son of James and Susan (Breed) Dwight. and 
a descendant in the eightli generation from John 
Dwight, the common ancestor, it is believed, of all 
the Dwights in this country, who with his wife. 
Hannah, and two sons came from Dedhani. F-ug- 
land, to Xew England in 7634 or 1635. settling 
first in W'atertown, Mass, of which town he was 
a proprietor. He early removed to Dedham, where 
he was a fanner of means and an eminently use- 
ful citizen and a Christian. He was selectman for 
sixteen years. ?Te died Jan. 24, '[CiCio. and bis wife, 
Hannah, passed away Sept. 5, 1656. 

From this emigrant settler Dr. Dwight's line 
is through Capt. Timothy, Justice Xathaniel. Co\. 
Timothv, A'laj. Timothy. President Timothy and 
James Dwight. 

ni) Capt. Timothy Dwight, son of John, liom 
in England, in 1629, came to this cmmtry with 
his father in 1634-5. He was for ten years town 
clerk, selectman for twenty-five years and a rep- 
resentative of the town in the General Court in 
1691-2. He was cornet of a troop in his younger 
years, and afterwards a captain of foot. He went 
9 



out ten times against the Indians. He married 
(third) Jan. 9, 1O65, Anna blint, daughter of Rev. 
Henry, of iJraintree, Mass. Capt. Dwight died 
Ian. 31, 1717. and his wife iVnna died Jan. 29, 
■1G86. 

(HI) Justice Xathaniel Dwight. son of Cajit. 
Timothy, l)orn Xov. 20, 1666, removed from Ded- 
ham to Hatfield, Mass., at first, and afterwards 
(about i(')95j to Xorlhampton, where he passed the 
remaining sixteen years of his life. He was a 
trader and farmer, and a justice of the peace and 
surveyor of land on a large scale. He married 
Dec. 9, 1693, Mehitable Partridge, born Aug. 26,. 
1675, daughter of Col. Samuel I'artridge, of Hat- 
fiekl, Mass.', and Mehitable Crow. Justice Dwight 
died Xov. 7. 1711. His wife lived in widowhood 
for forty-five \ears. ami died at Xurthampton Oct. 
19, 1756. _ 

(\\ ) Col. Timothy Dwight, son of Justice Xa- 
thaniel, born Oct. 19, 1694, at Hatfield, Mass., mar- 
ried Aug. 16, 1716, Experience King, born .April 
■7. i*^'9,v daughter of Lieut. John King (2). of 
Xorthami)ton. and Mehitable Pomerov, and lived 
and died in Xorthani])ton. He was a lawver by 
[jrofession, and was lu'ld in high esteem for his 
talents and his worth. He ]iossessed aiuple means, 
and was much engaged in matters of business, pri- 
vate an<l public. He was es[)eciall\- remarkable for 
his great energy and decision of character — a man 
of great influence. He was selectman, judge of pro- 
bate and of the county court of Hampshire county,, 
then including in it also what is now Berkshire, be- 
ing some of the time its Chief Justice. He was for 
many years a representative from the town in the 
Legislature. Pie was colonel of a regiment, and in 
(he old French war was captain of a company. He 
figured conspicuously on the frontier. He died. 
.A])ril 30, 1771, and his wife passed awav Dec. 15,. 

'/(■'S- 

(Y) Alajor I'imothy Dwight, son of Col. Tinr- 
othy, l)(irn at I'ort Dummer. \'t.. Ma\" 17, 1726 
(his birtii and death both occurring awav from 
home), was graduated at Yale in 1744, married 
Xov. 8, 1750, Mary 1m1 wards. Ixirn .April 4. 1734, 
daughter of Rev. Jonathan E(hvanl>. of Xorth- 
aiUipton, Alass., and Sarah Pierpont. Major Dwight 
was graduated from \'ale in 1744. and became a 
merchant of Xortham])ton. He was selectman, 
1760-74: town recorder, 1760-75: register of pro- 
bate and judge of the C'lnirt of Common Pleas,. 
1758-74, succeeding the father in the same ])osi- 
tion, who resigned it in 1757. He was a man of 
large i)h\-si(|ue, six feet four Inches in height, of 
fine proj)ortions and great ])hysical strength. He 
purchased a large body of land at Xatchez, Miss., 
in 1776, went thither and there died June 10, 1777, 
His wife died at Xorthanipton Feb. 28, 1807. 

(VI) PRKSiDKiVT Timothy Dwigiit, son of Ma- 
jor Timothy, born Alay 14, 1752. at Xorthanipton, 
.Mass., married March 3, 1777. Alary, born .A]:)ril 
II, 1754, daughter of Benjamin Woolsey, of Do- 



132 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Haven, son of James, and who but recently has 
retireil from the [Jresiclency of Vale I'niversity, was 
horn Xov. i(>. iSjX. in Xorwich, Cnnn. He was 
grailnated from ^'alc College in i84<7, and from 
1851 to 1855 ^^''1^ •' ii'tor in that institution. He 
.studied theolocry at the \ew Haven Theological 
Seminary from 1S50 to 1853, then s])ent two years 
(185^1-58) in (iermany at the Universities of Bonn 
and llerlin. He has since until his recent retire- 
ment been ciMinected with, and taken an acti\e in- 
terest in, the affairs of Vale I'niversity. and its 
financial growth has heen largelv due to his per- 
sonal efforts, .Since 1858 he has been pmtesscir of 
Sacred Literature and X. T. (ireek in Vale Theo- 
logical Seminary. He was for some years one of 
the editors of the Xczc Eiiglandcr, and in 1870-71 
he published a series of articles in it on "'The True 
Ideal of an American L'nivcrsitw" which was 
afterward issued separately, and attracted much at- 
tention. He has ]nibli:;hed a translaticm of ( 'rodet's 
"Commenfjiry mi John's (_!o.s])eI." with additional 
notes, and has edited with addition.il notes several 
volumes df Meyer's "L'omments nn the Xew Testa- 
ment;" he has also published a volume of ser- 
mons entitled "Thoughts of and for the Inner Life," 
also various articles on educational and other sivl)- 
jects. He was a member of the Committee for the 
Revision of the liible from 1872 till its comple- 
tion in 1885. During the foregoing years, while 
earnestly devoted to his chosen and greatly lo\-ed 
work as an exegetical liililical student, and greatly 
fond, as if I'y hereditary instinct, of guiding young- 
er minds into high courses of scholarly investiga- 
tion anfl discovery, he also ])reached frequently and 
with great acceiilance in the college pnl])it. as well 
as elsewhere in the city. In 188(1 1 'rof, Dwight 
was chosen the successor of .Xoah I'orter as ]jresi- 
dent of N'ale. and was formcTlv installed in the 
office Jiil\ 1st. (k'livering an inaumiral address 
which was pulilisheil with an aciJount of the cere- 
monies at his induction in ]iam]ililet form (Xew 
1 la\en. i8^'(i ). 

( )n I )e.'. ^^i. i8h(>. President Dwight was mar- 
ried to Jane Wakenian Skinner, daughter of Roger 
Sherman Skinner, of Xew ILaveii, and Mar\- Lock- 
wood l)e k'orest, ;in(l tlu'ir childieii are: Helen 
Rood and W'inthrop b'.d wards, of whom the latter 
graduated at Vale I'niversity in i8<;3, and is now 
a kiwyer in Xew ^'ork C'itw 

A number of the sons of tin- tlrst President 
Timothy Dwight were men of ])rominence in the 
communities in which tbe\- lived: Timotlu . ])nvu 
in .Strattord in 1778. was for forty year> and more 
a merchant of .Xew Haven. d\ ing in 1844; iienja- 
iiiin W'oolsey, born in Xoi-iliam])ton in 1780, was 
graduated from \;de in \j<)i). pr.acticed medicine 
some ve'irs ;il ( '.•it->kill. .X. ^■.. then was a nier- 
chanl in Xew N'ork- City, and Liter at Catskill, and 
died at Clinton, .X. ^'., in 1850, a farmer; Sereno 
I'.dw.-irds. born in 1786, in ( h-eeiifield Hill, was 
graduated fi'om N'ale in 180,^, was a tutor there 
from 1806 to 1810, then a lawver there, 1810 to 



iStT), entered the ministry and was chaplain of the 
L'. S. Senate. 18 16- 17, engaged in literarv work, 
was president of Hamilton College, Clinton, N. 
v.. i83_v,vT : William Theodore, bom in 1795. in 
Greenfield Hill, was graduated from Vale in 1813, 
tutor there. 1817-19. studied law in Philadelphia, 
an<I practiced from 1821 to 1831, then entered the 
ministry and in 1832 was ordained pastor of the 
Third Congregational Church at Portland, ]\Ie., re- 
maining there until the year before his death in 
1805, which occurred at Andover. Mass.; Henrv, 
horn in I7i;7. in Xew Haven, was graduated from 
\'ale in 1815, studied theologv at Andover, Mass,, 
1824-28, ami became an author and lecturer, living 
in Xew Plaven in 1832. 

-MAJOR FREDERICK A. SPEXCER, late a 
prominent citizen of Waterbury, was torn in that 
city Xov. 7. 1833. and descended from an English 
family that settled in America long prior to the Rev- 
olutionary war. His ancestry may be briefly traced 
as follows : 

(ierard .Siieneer. a native of Bedfordshire, Eng- 
land, emigrated to America about 1633 and settled 
ill Cambridge. Mass. Pie removed to Lynn, Mass., 
and in ](>(>(> was one of the original settlers of the 
town of Haddam. Conn. His son, Samuel, who was 
liorn in Lynn. Mass., came with his father to Had- 
dam, where he married Hannah W'illey Blachford. 
Isaac Spencer, son of Samuel, and grandson of the 
emigrant, married Mary Selden and had a family of 
children, among whom were two sons, Isaac and 
Joseph, the latter a general in the Continental army 
during the Revolution. 

Isaac Spencer, son of Isaac and ]Mary (Selden) 
Spencer, and great-grandfather of Major Freder- 
ick A. Spencer, was a lay preacher of the Separat- 
ists, and a very devout man. His death occurred in 
Prospect, Conn., in 1787. To his marriage with 
Temperance Coodspeed. of Barnstable, Mass., were- 
born eight children, of whom Selden, Elihu and 
.Ansel served in the war of the Revolution. 

Ansel Spencer, son of Isaac, and grandfather of 
the Major, was born in the town of P^rospect, then 
a part of Waterbury, in I7'^)3, lived in Naugatuck, 
aii<I died in 1850. He enlisted in the Patriot army 
at the age of seventeen. In early life he had been in 
mercantile business with his brother, Elihu. but later 
became a farmer. He was religiously inclined. Pic 
married Loly Benham, of Waterbury, and they had 
the follmving children : Mary C, who married 
Deacon James Street: Willard. father of the Major; 
Ansel, who resided in Naugatuck, and died at the 
age of sixty-four years: Henry W., who was deputy 
sheriff of Xew Haven county and removed from 
Naugatuck to ]-"ulton county, N. Y., where he died 
when seventy-eight years old : James, who died un- 
married in Naugatuck. when he was about scventv- 
eight years of age ; Shandy, who died single at 
twenty-seven ; and Catherine, deceased wife of Will- 
iam B. Lewis, of Naugatuck. 



idk. 




<^ 



c,<^ 



C^M.yC.'O-'- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



133 



Hon. Willard Spencer was born in Prospect, 
Conn., May 14, 1801. He was a ijentleinan who 
lield the respect of the conniiunity in any and e\'ery 
position lie hehl, I'^or seventeen years lie was tirst 
selectman. A lifelong friend says of hiai ; "If 1 
could pass out of the world as he did, respected In- 
all and against whom naught coidd he said, 1 would 
feel that 1 had successfully lived and died." He 
came to W'aterhury in \^z(> and engaged in mercan- 
tile business. About 1811 he formed a partnershii) 
with Mark Leavenworth, 15. ]•". Leavenworth and 
•Greene Kendrick in the same line, .\bout 1836 he 
became connected with Mark Leavenworth and C. 
S. Sperry in the manufacture of gilt buttuns, and 
in 1839, with Dr. .\mbrose Ives, in the same line 
of manufacture. In 1834 Willard Snencer repre- 
sented the town of Waterbury in the State Legisla- 
ture ; from 1837 to 1839 he was town clerk, and 
for twenty years following 185 1, with few excep- 
tions, was selectman and agent for the town: in 
1846 he was judge of probate, in 1857 .^tate sen- 
ator. He frequently declined the nomination of 
mayor, but was often elected alderman and council- 
man. He was a director of the Citizens' r>ank, presi- 
dent o'f the Waterbury Savings Bank and president 
of the Bronson Library Board. As an executor, ap- 
praiser, administrator, guardian, referee, commis- 
sioner and auditor, and as an incumbent of such 
other ajipointive offices as recpiire strict integrity 
and good business habits, no name from 1840 to 
1880 is so frequently found in the records as his. 
Willard Spencer died May 2, i8go, at the age of 
eigbtv-nine years, less twelve days. 

C)n June 2y, 1830, \\'illard S])encer married Miss 
IMarcia Burton, daughter of Joseph Burton, of Wat- 
erbury. She was born March 31, i8(i8, and died 
Feb. 28, 1887, the mother of the following children: 
(i) Susan is unmarried. (2) Frederick .\. is the 
subject of this sketch. (3) Joseph B.. for years a 
successful traveling salesman, was born March 27, 
1836, educated in the schools of Waterbury. and 
was graduated as a civil engineer at West Toinl : 
he went thence to Kansas to practice bis jirofession, 
but returned on account of ill health in 1858, when 
he entered the office of N. J. Welton. reiuaim'ng 
there for several years, later serving for some time 
as city clerk, mayor and in various other responsi- 
Tile positions. He died ^ra\- 6, i88(). (4) William 
A. ^5) Mary E. 

Frederick .\. Spencer was reared in Waterliury, 
attended the local schools and also Willisfon .'Semin- 
ary, at Easthampton, Mass. .-\t the age of seven- 
teen years be entered one of the brass mills of W'at- 
erlniry, in which be was eiuploved seven years. He 
then went to Kansas and to Colorado, and on re- 
turning to the East again entered the mills and was 
superintendent for six years. .\l tlie breaking out of 
the Rebellion Mr. Spencer was commissioned lieu- 
tenant in the 2d Colorado \'ol. Cav. and served 
throughout the entire struggle. Tie was womided 
at tht' battle of Little Blue, Mo., Oct. 21, 1864, and 



at the close of the war was honorabh' discliarged 
and returned to his native city. His record shows 
him to have been a l)rave and efficient officKM-, and 
his intert'st in military affairs diil iu)t cease with 
his service in I he army, for he played an iniluential 
|)art in the lii>tury of C'oniiecticnf militia. In 187(1 
he was a]>ixiinted on tlu' slatt of Col. S. R. .'^mitb, as 
paymaster of the 2d Keginient, L'onn. X. ( i.. and in 
March, 1877, be took command of Compam' A, 2d 
Reginient, Conn. .\'. ( i. and remained in command 
for five years, at which time he was promoted to the 
rank of major: he was brigade inspector of Rille 
Practice of the Conn. .V. (I., which office lu' resigned 
ill 1885, and at the time of his death was on the re- 
tired list, ranking as major. 

After his return at the close of the l\el)ellion 
Major Spencer held many important positions. He 
was a director and vice-prt'sident of the Dime Sav- 
ings Paiik, and was a nuniibcr of the common coun- 
cil, and twice assessor ot Waterliurv; was a mem- 
ber of the first board of police commissioners: one 
of the engineers of the fire department : member of 
the board of health ; memlier of the l-'inance commit- 
tee of the Center school district, and clerk of the 
probate court. By a])pointment of ( iov. Morris 
he served as a member of the board of State Prison 
Directors, in wdiich he was chairman of the commit- 
tee on- liuilding and Repairs. He w;is also ap- 
pointed a director of the Connecticut Reformatory 
by Gov. Coftin and filled a numlier of minor offices 
not here enumerated. 

As a Freemason .Major .S|)eiicer stood verv high. 
He was "made'" in 1855. In 1870 he became a char- 
ter member of Continental Lodge, No. 76. In 
1866 he became a Knight Tem])lar, was elected 
Commander of the commandery in 1870 and again 
in 1892. i8r;3 and i8<>5, and was (iraiKl Commander 
of the (irand Commandery of the State in i8.8(). 
In 1894 be was elected (Jrand ]ns]>ector of the 
,' Grand Comm;inder\- for five years, and in i8t)9 was 
re-elected for another five years term. The Major 
Vv'as also a nu'iiiber of the Consistory, .\. A. Scottish 
Rite, of I'.ridgeport, the Royal ( )rder of .Scotland, 
and was a thirty-third degree Mason — the highest 
attainable. Major Spencer was past commander of 
\\'adbams Post, Xo. 4c), d. .\. R., of Waterbury, 
and held bis membershi]) un to ilu- time of his 
death which occurred Dec. 8. kioi. lie was al^i <i 
member of the Militar\ ( irder of the Lnval Legion 
oi the Cnited ."States, the \\',-iterluirv Club, the I'on- 
necticut Society of the Sons of the .\meric,in Revo- 
lution, the Reform Club, of Xew York I'itv, the 
.•\rmy and .Xavy Club, of N'ew \'ork City, and sev- 
eral other social and fraternal associations. In ])oIi- 
tics be ^vas a Democrat, but at the same time not a 
follower of William Jennings Bryan. He was un- 
married. 

The Major's personal (pialities made him friends 
in whatever ])osition he was jilaced ancl his life was 
alwavs svnonymous with integritv and uprightness. 

.Some attention should now be given the P.ur- 



I u 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ton fainily. iron\ whom Major Spencer ilescendcil 
maternally, and whieli eame from luit^land in the 
C'oloni;fl days and settled at Stratford, (."onn. t >f 
tl'.is family, (."apt. Joseph lUirton served in the early 
wars (if the (\ilonies wi'h the lndiai;s and tlu' 
1-reneli, and his son. Henjamin I'lnnon, i;reat-gran 1- 
father of .Major .'^peneer, serve. 1 as a private sol !ier 
i;i the war oi the Uivo'.tnion, a'ul w;!S a priior.er 
for Siinie time in the hand.s of the "ii'isolent foe," 
litiiii;' eoiithied on hoard ore oi ilu' prison sliips in 
New \'t)rk Inrhor. .\fier liis release he serve! tii- 
iler Cien. l.ai'ayette in the e.ipiiire oi \\>rkto\vn. 
His death took place in iSii. lii'-eph r.iir!o:\ .-on 
of Keiijaniin, came to W'aterhnrv in his early years 
and niurried Susan ISro'ison, (lani;h!i'r of Heac m 
Stephen I'.ninson. ( )| llieir chiMre:!, the n-olher 
oi the .Major, Marcia I'.nrton, was the only one to 
s;ri>w to maturity. Slie was horn in W'aterliuiy. 
Jose])h Uiirton was a prominent hnsiiiess man atd 
extensively enj;as:,ed in mercantile intrsnits and a;^- 
nciiliiire. 

-ArSri.X IU)\\h: (deceasedl. .\mon,o- the 
highly respected citizens and prominent hnsiness 
men (>l Meriden, who have ]iassed out of life hiit 
are still rememhered, was .Austin r>owe, the founder 
of lite firm of A. I'.owe & S<mi, nianiilacturers of 
fine litjiit carriaijes and dealers in harness, blankets 
and rol)es, located on West Main street, in Meriden. 

The lUnve ancestrv extends far hack among the 
oldest settlers in .Middlesex county, .\lexamler 
lUiwe. with his wife. .Sarah, having come from 
luig'land. and settlei! in Middletown, L'onn.. with 
tlie first settlers. There he died Xov. (), 1O78, his 
wife liaving passed away .\pril it). i(V,v 

Samuel l'>owe. son of .\lexantler, was horn Jan. 
2S, i(>5i). and married .Mar\- Turner Mav g. 1(183. 

Alexander Iknve, stMi of Sanniel. was horn Jan. 

20, 1701, ami married l.yilia Kenex, of (.ilaston- 
bury, Ccmn., Sept. 21, 1720. 

IVleg Howe, son of .Mexauder, was horn Sept. 

21, 1727. and on Jan. 21), 174S, married Mary 
Woodward. 

Isaac r.owe. sou of rdeg, was horn I'eb. 6, 
1753, '"'*! ''<.' died .April 2-,. 171)1. I lis wife was 
I'llizaheth Lee, and from this worthy couple de- 
scended the liowe family of .Meriden. 

.Austin I'owe was a son of .Albert liowe and 
was hut six years old when his father died. His 
early life was spent in Mid<lletown. but his educa- 
tional opportunities were ver\ limited, and as a 
fanner boy he worked for .\mos Miller, in the 
meantime attemling school during the winter sea- 
sons, remaining thus euii>loyed until he was eighteen 
years old. Then he began to learn the blacksmith 
trade with Mr. (."randell. in Miildletown. working 
as a jonrnevnian several years, and later came to 
Meriden. Here he soon found employment as a 
jonrneyiuan blacksmith and horse-shoer with Mr. 
Atkins, anil remained in his employ for several 
years, but later returned to Middlefield and started 
in business for himself as a horse-shoer and general 



blacksmith, tiuding so nuieli encourageiuent that in 
|S(>8 he decided to go into the business more ex- 
tensively. .Meriden olYered the best field, and here 
he formed a partnership with Walter J. L'halker, 
erected a shop on .Stone street and entered upon 
carriage making, in connectiiin with his other busi- 
ness, contimiing this association for the folknving 
eight \ears, the firm name being liowe iX; (."halker. 
.At tliis period .Mr. lUiwe deeided to take Ins 
son. W'all.aee l-'.. into business with Inni, and the 
new partnership was formed, anil condueteil under 
the firm name of A. [".owe iS: Son. which as years 
passed grew into one of the leading business in- 
terests of this cit\'. The lines upon which this 

i business have ever been conducted have ensureil 

I for it its c(.i!itinu;mce, although the bonoreil fomuler 
passed (Hit of life May 2~. i8()i), and was laid to 
rest in West cemetery. 

.Austin Howe was a man we'd known and highly 
respected, industrious, honorable iu the highest de- 
gree, and one wlui fultilled e\erv demand made 
upon him l.y life as a devoted husband and father, 
progressixe and honest business man auil thoroughly 
reliable citi'eii. In his earl\- life he was a Dem- 
ocrat, and later embraced the principles of the Re- 

j publican part\ , hut never sought ]iolitical favor, liv- 
ing a i|inet, indiistritnis life, and as closely as pos- 
sible following the (ioldui Rule. 

.Austin r.owe was married in Midilletown. Conn., 
to Miss Hannah W'. (."hamherlain, iHiru in Middle- 
tcnvn, a daughter of (."oUins R. Chamberlain, and 
to this union live children were born: Wallace !■". 
is mentioned below, (.diaries, wdio is engaged in the 
soda water business, married llulda A', lirown. l.ul- 
ward .\. is mentioned below. .Alliert died at the 
a.ge of tweiit\-five \ears. (ine (lied at the age 
of four months. Mrs. I'.owe still survives, resid- 
ing in her handsome Ik^iic near the factory, and is 
well and most favorably known in Meriden for her 
main- fine traits of character. 

W.\i.i..\ci-: F. I'.ow i:. eldest son of the late .Austin 
r.owe. a ]iartner and the manager in tiie business 

i of .\. r.owe & Son, w;is born in .Meri leu Xov. 25, 
1857, and attended school in the Corner district. 
For three years he was emriloved in the factory of 
.Asaiih Merriani in the i>aiiiting department, Init 
at the age of ei«;liteen years went into his father's 
factorw ( )n attaining his niaiority he liecanie a 
partner, managing the business for many years iirior 
to tlie death of his father, assuming responsibilities 
which had becon;e lieavy for the latter. His dis- 
cretion and good judgment have caused his con- 
tinuance in this hnnch of the business, in which 
he has h'X'u so eminently successful. Mr. Howe is 
a man of original ideas, and is the inventor of the 
Howe suoke extractor, which is in >;enerd use in 
some of the largest carriage manufactories iu the 
L'nited States, 

(^n Dec. 5, 1803, Wallace 1". I'.owe married 
Lucv 1. .Andrews, who was Ix^ru in Wallingford, 
daughter of John R.. .Andrews, a well-known real- 
estate dealer in Meriden. Mr. Rowe has taken 



COMMEMORATiyE BIOGRAPHICAL RECOKD. 



'35 



a proniineni. jjart in jjuhlic affairs, i^ a Kcjnihlicaii, 
ari'l flurinj( \'>i')'j .sc-r\ei| in the city CAincil, on tli<- 
Street an'l I'oHce committees. Iraternally lie i- a 
member of Coliimljia (Joimcil, Xo, 543, koyal Ar- 
canii-.li, of .Meri'len. 

l-j(\\ AKij Ai;.-!JiN J'.'MVi;, son of the late Austin 
Jlowe, was Ijorn in Meriden Xos-. 14, 1862, at the 
(Jari;eiiter homesteail in fvast Main street. His ]*ar- 
ents niove'l to Mi'l'lletield wlien lie v. as tiiree yrars 
ol'i, and returned to Meriden three years lat'-r, 
moving into tlie lionie which is still occupied by 
the mother. Until the age of fifteen years he at- 
tended the Corner school, and then as cash ly>y 
went into Arnold & W'ightman's Jioston dry-goods 
store, in the V. .M, C. .\. building. Through hi^ 
ability he was soon j^romoted to a ckrkshijj, which 
he held three years until a better inducement was 
offered by .\. .S. 'I'h.onias. Later he took a year's 
trip through the South, and then entered the em- 
jjloy of Ives, L ]jham & i<an<l, as salesman, leaving 
later to accept the ]josition of agent to work up new 
routes for the X'ienna Com]>ressed V'east Co., on 
the Xaugatuck railroad, and then going to I'hila- 
(Itlijhia to work ujj the business which had col- 
lapsed on ;iccount of the inability of his jjredeces- 
sors. Jn this line he was quite successful. Later 
he took a tri]j through f^ennsylvania and Xew 
V'ork, finally returning to Meriden, where he ac- 
cepted a jjosiiion as bookkeeper with the firm of 
A. liowe & Son, where he now has charge, and is 
building up an increasing business. Mr. Howe be- 
longs to Silver City Lodge, A. O. L'. \\'., and Court 
Ceorge K. Curtis, F. of A. 

FKAXK i'. IM-LKCHAR, a noted mechanic 
and manufacturer of hardware sfx-cialties at Xo. 
74 Crown street, Xew Haven, was born in Wur- 
temberg. Germany, April 12, 1835, a son of I'ranz 
Pfleghar, a native of the same c/mmunity. 

I-Vanz I'lleghar was a wheelwright, and came 
to the United States, lf>cating at Xew Haven about 
i860, where he died. His father was al.so a wheel- 
wright, but he never left his native Cermany. The 
mother of our subject died in the old country, the 
mother of four children : Frank I^., a successful 
business man in New Haven : Ferdinand and Hern- 
hard, also residents of Xew Haven: and l-"ranzisca, 
who died young. 

I-'rank P. Pfleghar spent his school days in his 
native town, and began work when twelve years 
old. He came to Xew York when alxjut nineteen 
years of age, and spent a year there working at 
cabinet making. Jn the old country he had worked 
with his father as a w'heelwright and had a g'j'jd 
knowledge of the use of tools, in 1855 he came 
to Xew Haven and secured emjjloyment in the 
Whitney .Armory at W'hitneyville, and for twelve 
years remained in the employ of that firm. At the 
expiration of that time, in company with William 
ShoUhorn, he engaged in the machinist business un- 
der the name of Pfleghar & Shollhorn. .After four 
years Mr. Pfleghar withdrew from the firm, and in 



company with .McLagoii & .'-^tevens went into \'>fV. 
making under the name of il;<- Union I^ock Coni- 
](any. .At ihe end of two and a half y-ars this com- 
l^aiiy was dissolved, and .Mr. I'lleghar engaged in 
business for himself, <levoi!ng himself e-->]>ecially 
to the making of hardware -p'-'iahi'- and tool-, 
and in that iin'.- has develop''! a v-ry llaitering i^usi- 
liess, at ,Xo. 74 Crown street, 

< >■,^ l-'eb. li, 1858. .Mr. I'H'-ghar v.as inarrie'l 
to 'Iheckla Kutz, a native of Jiavaria, aii'l r!i»\v ']';- 
cease'l. She was the mother of -ix chil'Iren, livr 
of whom livc'l to maturity: i'rank, wIkj i^ en- 
gaged with his father in business; Henry, who mar- 
rie'l .Anna CV'/iian ; 'iheckla; Mary, who married 
Ci.-orge \'orschmi'lt, and has five childr<-n, .Anna, 
I'aulina, L'^uisa, J'jsejjhine and Kulalia ; an'l Liz- 
zie. .Mr. i'fleghar is a Hemocrat, an'l be.'jiigs to 
St. iioniface l'j'nev<;Ient S'jciety, and also to two 
Cerman Singing Societies. He is a member of thir 
(/erman Catholic Church, an'l is held in rnarke'i es- 
teem by those familiar with his industrious life aii'l 
upright character. 

ALLFX V. .\Xi>i<F\\' (d'.-c'^sed). who rlur- 
in hi.s lifetime was one of the l>est-knowii and 
most highly resj.ected residents of the town of 
Orange, was a native of same, Ixjrn .April 28, 1836, 
a son of William and iisther C\llen; .An<lrew, 
industrious farming peojjle of that ifxaiity. 

Mr. .Andrew, our subject, received a liberal 
e'lucation at the district schools of the town of 
Orange, and remained under the parental roof, ai'l- 
ing in the work of the home farm until his mar- 
riage. He then removed to the Clark farm, not 
far from the .\ndrew homestead, where he fol- 
lowed general farming, inclu'ling dairying, etc., 
making many imjjrovcments, and passed here the 
remainder of his days, dying May 17, 188O; his 
remains were interred in the Orange cemetery. 
Mr. .An'lrew wars originally a Whig in jjoliticr, 
later a Pepublican, but at no time was he v.hat 
might be termed an office seeker, though always 
loyal to his party. In religious faith he was a 
memlx-r of the Congregational Church, active in 
all its workings, and for a long time a teacher in, 
and superinten'lent of, the .Saljbath-school. 'i'hor- 
oughly domestic in his habits, he was a iover of 
home, temix-rate in all things, a goo'l citizen, lov- 
ing husband and indulgent father. 

( )n .Xov. 17. 1857. at .Xew Milford, Conn., the 
birthplace of the bri'le, .\llen V . .An<lrew was 
united in marriage with Pet.sey B. Giddings, a 
daughter i)f James and .Susan H. ( Harlow ) Gid- 
dings, and granddaughter of James .A. Gi'Mings, 
a sol'lier of the Pevolutionarv war; on her moth- 
er's side she is a gran'Maughter of Gersham liar- 
low. Chil'lren as follows have been born to this 
union : Hurton (j., a resident of the town of Or- 
ange, maTied to Mary Piatt, of West Haven ; and 
Leonani F.. conducting the home farm, married to 
Grace Jordan, of Torrington. Conn., a daughter of 
I", v. and J-ucy ( IJaMwin; Jordan (they had two 



136 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



children, l-'iulils Jordan; and Charlutte. who thed 
when about a year old), ^[rs. Allen V. Andrew 
and her daugluer-in-law are ladies of culture and 
refinement, highly useful in their respective s])heres, 
esteemed and respected L)y all. 

HON. WILLIAM WALLACE LEE. long a 
leading citizen of JMeridcn and prominent in the 
public affairs of both cit_\- land State, conies of a 
sturdy New England ancestry and of Revolutionary 
stock in several lines. He is a representative self- 
made man. 

Born July 20, 1828, in the town of r.arkhamstcd, 
Conn.. Air, Lee is a son of the late Henry Bradley 
and Jidia (.Simimers) Lee. and a descendant in the 
fifth generation from John Lee, horn al)0Ut 1620 
who, when a lad of from thirteen to fifteen years 
came to New England from Colchester, in the 
County of Essex, England, sailing from Ipswich. 
After a vear at Camibridge, tmder the guardianship 
■of William W'estwood, he went with him to Hart- 
ford in i'>,i5. Young Lee became one of the orig- 
inal proprietors of Earmington, Conn., in 1641. In 
1659 he married Mary, daughter of Deacon Stephen 
Hart. He died Aug. 8. :6()0, and his widow mar- 
ried, Jan. 5, 1692, Tedediah Strong, son of Elder 
John Strong, of Northampton, Mass.. to which 
place she removed. From this emigrant settler 
William Wallace Lee's lineage is through Thomas, 
Thomas (2), David and Henry B>radley Lee. 

(H) Thomas Lee, son of John, the settler, born 
in August, ifi/i, in Eamtington, married Lydia 
Benton, of Hartford. She died about 1700, and on 
Feb. II. 1707. he married Mary Camri, of Hart- 
ford. She died March 22. 1/22. and he married 
(third) Elizabeth Hubbard, after whose death, 
which occurred March 23, 1733. he married 
(fourth) Widow Martha Howard, of Windsor, 
Conn. Mr. Lee was a mason [)y trade and was an 
extensive land holder in Earmington, Bristol and 
Avon. He served as constaljle and was sergeant of 
the trainband. He died Sept. 2f\ 1740. 

(Ill) Thomas Lee (2), son of Thomas, born 
Dec. 17, 1 717. married Ezabal. il;mghter of Jona- 
than and l'>.abal -Sedgwick, of ll.-irtford. He lived 
on the east side of and near the l''armington river, 
was a shoemaker by occupation and also taught 
music. There is now in the |)ossession of William 
Wallace Lee a singing liook-, h;md made, the notes 
as clear as jiriru. with "rules for tuning the voice 
and finding llie pitch;" all wi-itteii in rlnnie. On 
the co\er in a f.'iir round hand is ihe following; 
Thomas Lee; his singing book. ".\nno Domini 
1752. Thomas Lcc (2) particinated in the old 
French war, enlisting .\])ril (1. 1758. and servin,g 
eight weeks and five days ; and was an ardent i)atriot 
in the days of the Revoltuio)i, to which, too old him- 
self for service, he seiil his two sons and melted 
the leaden weights of his clock into bullets. He 
<licd Jan. i I, 180O, and his wife p;i>sed awa\' several 
years jireviously. 



(IV) David Lee, son of Thomas (2), born Dec. 
16, 1763, married in 1789 Elizabeth, daughter of 
.\ndrew (soldier of the Revolution) and Mabel 
(l'"ox) Hayes, of Turkey Hill ( Granby), Conn., 
wdiere he then resided. She died May 27, 1815, 
aged fortv-five years. For his second wife he 
wedded Fanny (Chidsey) Kilbourn, widow of Tim- 
othy Kilbourn. She died March 13, 1861, and was 
buried in the old cemetery at.Barkhamsted, David 
Lee was the father of seven children. He was a 
Continental soldier in the Revolution, serving in the 
Second Regiment, Connecticut Line, was on duty 
in the Xorthern Department, in New York, and 
also served in New Jersey ; he stood guard over 
Major Andre when that officer was a prisoner. In 
his later years he was a United States pensioner. 
In 1801 ^Ir. Lee removed to the Pleasant Valley 
District, in Barkhamsted, Conn., where for forty 
years he kept the. toll gate on the Earmington river 
pike. He was a blacksmith by trade. 

( \" ) Henry Bradley Lee. son of David, bom 
July 22. 1800, was married Jan. 10, 1826, to Julia, 
daughter of Joseph and Clarinda (Crane) Sum- 
mers (he a soldier of the Revolution), and grand- 
datighter of Elihu Crane, of Durham, Conn, (also 
a soldier of the Revolution). Airs. Lee died Feb. 
13, 1835, and on Sept. 13, 1835, Mr. Lee married 
Mary Goodwin Austin, daughter of Benjamin and 
Susannah (Goodwin) Austin (he a soldier of the 
Revolution). She died Dec. 4. 1863. On .Vpril 6, 
1864, Mr. Lee married (third) Annis, widow of 
Orsemus Ransom, and daughter of Truman Case 
(both her grandfathers — Humphrey Case and 
Thomas Wilder — were soldiers in the Revolution. 
Henry Bradley Lee was a lumberman — operating 
a sawmill — and building contractor, and also car- 
ried on a farm. He served as postmaster at Pleas- 
ant \'alley by appointment of President Taylor. He 
was a "prominent citizen, a man of influence and 
much respected by his townsmen, having held 
nearly every office within their gift, except repre- 
sentative to the Legislature, which latter pKJsition 
he would never accept." Mr. Lee and five sons 
voted for Abraham Lincoln in i860. He died at his 
home in Pleasant X'alley, Litchfield Co., Conn., 
Sept. 17. 1865. He was the father of the following 
named children; Henry Bryan, born Oct. 10, 1826, 
was killed at I )cci) Run. \'a., in .Vugust, 1864. while 
serving as lieutenant of Company E, 7th Conn. \\ 
1. William Wallace, born July 20, 1828, is nien- 
lioned below. Edwin Ruthyen, born Feb. 7, 1830, 
died Nov. 4. 1831. Catherine Brown, liorn Nov. 
2(>. 1 83 1, died ¥eh. 8, 1835. Edwin Ruthven (2), 
born April 28, 1833, commanded Company D, nth 
Conn. \'. 1. and was killed at tlie battle of 
Newbern. N. C., March 14, 1862. James Austin, 
born Jan. 11. 1837. was a sutler in the 19th Conn. 
\'. L: he died of diphtheria in 1883. Davitl Brad- 
Icy, born March 24, 1838, was quartermaster of the 
Hjtli Conn. \'. L. and was promoted to brigade 
quartermaster, with the rank of major; he was a 




if^^^iM^'.ex. Juu. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



I ?; 



prominent attorney in St. Louis, and dird in iSy^. 
Julia Hlizabcth, born Jan. 13, i<S4o, married June 
13, 1867, James L. Flint, wln) was huru Sept. y, 
1840, at Meridcn, and is a meelianieal e.xpert and 
contractor in New Britain. 

William Wallace Lee did not attend school 
regularly after he was nine years old and worked 
faithfully for his father until he was seventeen years 
old. He then took up the trade of machinist, serv- 
ing an apprenticeship of four years at W'insted and 
becoming- an expert workman. After working as 
journeyman in Hartford. (Guilford, Ansonia, 
Bridgeport and Birmingham, he settled at Meri- 
den, in 1862, since wdien he has served the interests 
of the Edward Miller Co. as machinist, and the con- 
tinued connection with one establishment testifies 
to his integrity, ability antl industr\'. He enjoys the 
respect of his employers and fellow workmen, as 
well as of all others who have been privileged to 
know him. On the occasion of Air. Lee's golden 
wedding anniversarv, the r^Ieriden Record said: 



He was never known to do an injustice to any one, 
and lias been generally beloved by all wlio have known 
him for the sterling traits of courage and integrity that 
have dominated his long career. He has never been an 
applicant for public office. There have been times when 
he would have been given high honors at the hands of 
his party if he had been a seeker after office. In 18H5 
and 1886 he represented Meriden in the State Legisla- 
ture, and was popularly regarded as one of the leaders of 
the session of that year. Mr. Lee has always been an en- 
thusiastic Republican, but he has never allowed party 
loyalty to sacrifice the right of private judgment. He 
was a delegate to the first Republican State convention 
Jield in Connecticut, in 1856. The votes which he recalls 
with the greatest satisfaction were those he cast for I.in- 
-coln. Greeley and Harrison. 

For years Mr. Lee has taken a very active part in the 
work of the various fraternal organizations, notably tlie 
Masons, Odd Fellows, and the Sons of Teniperancc. With 
the latter organization lie was affiliated for over forty 
years, and held all the highest offices in the gift of the 
f>rdcr in the State. .About fifteen years ago. however, this 
order passed resolutions reipiiring all nieiiilu-rs in g<K}d 
standing to vote the straight Prohibition ticket in the 
future. This Mr. Lee refused to do. and he immediately 
withdrew from the organization. It should !)e addeil 
that Mr. Loe has never drank intoxicating liiiuor of any 
kind, and he is a thorough believer in tot;il abstinence, 
l)iit he does not believe that the cause nf imiperance is 
best promoted by voting tlie Proliibition ticket. 

In 1852 he joined the Masons, and in 1874 .-hkI '75 he 
was (Jrand Master of Connecticut, and he has been at the 
head of nearly every branch of Masonry in Connecticut 
except the Knights Templar. He is now in his twenty- 
second year as the chief officer of the Ma>on!c Veteran 
Association of Connecticut. 

In Odd Fellow circles Mr. T,ee is one of the best 
known men in Connecticut. He was Grand Master of the 
Slate in 1877 and 1878. and was elected the first Noble 
Grand of the Pacific Lodge in this city. Mr. Lee has 
always taken a great interest in the welfare of his native 
town of Kai'khaniste<l. and in various ways has shown his 
love of the old hill town. He was the moving spirit in 
the dedication of a soldiers' monument in that place ;i 
few years ago. and at the centennial celebration of the 
town, in 1S7Q. he delivered an able and clo(|uent historical 
address. The fifty years of wedded life have passed very 
happily for Mr. aiwl Mrs. Lee, and the latchstring of their 
home has always been open to a large circle of friends, who 



have enjoyed the unosienlatiou^ but generous ho.^pitality 
and gcKid cheer of thi^ most worthy C'juple. 

I'^rom another source the following account of 
Ins public service is obtained: 

He represented Meriden in the (.iener.il .Vs^^embly of 

1885 and 1886, and was assigned to ini])<>rtant committees 
each year. He introduced a resoUUKin. which was car- 
ried without a dissenting voice, to publish such military 
records as were in the State Archives, from the early 
wars down to the close of the Mexican war (records of 
the Confederate war having been previously publishetl ). 
The result was the publication of a large (piarto volume 
which was ordered to be su|)plied to every town clerk's 
office and all public libraries in the State. He served four 
years on the board of aldermen of Meriden, and held 
other ix>sitif)ns of note. He was a delegate to the first 
Republican Convention held in the State, in 1856, was ;i 
Free-soiler in 1848, voted for Lincoln in i860 and 1864, 
and has never missed an opiiortuivity to cast a vote for 
e(iual rights, temperance and good morals. He is one of 
the most widely known secret society representatives in 
the State; was a member of the Sons of Temperance at 
eighteen years of age. and eventually held every office in 
the order, and for thirty-five years was connected with 
the National Organization ; was (jrand Master of the 
Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows in 1877-78. His Masonic 
career was commenced in 1852; he was knighted in St. 
Elmo Comniandery. in Meriden, in i87j ; Grand Master 
of the State in 1874-75. Prior to that he held the office 
of Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of the State 
(1872-73). During the Civil war he was a lieutenant in 
the State militia and enlisted for service in the army, 
but was rejected for physical disability. 

Mr. Lee was otic of the organizers of the Sons 
of the American Revolution in Connecticut, He is 
secretary of the Lee Association, wliich was organ- 
ized in 1884, and compiler of the pivblishcd proceed- 
ing of the first general family meeting of the de- 
scendants of John Lee. He has been deeply inter- 
ested in collecting statistics of the descendants, 
freely expending both time and money in his efforts, 
and has succeeded in searching out families of 
which all trace had been lost for more than a cen- 
turv. j\lr. Lee's tastes arc essentially domestic, and 
he finds his chief enjoyment in the companionship 
of his books and such friends as may visit his hos- 
pitable home. .\ lover of good literature, he has 
a large and well selected library, and has done much 
in preserving worthy records, including the Lee 
family history, and the history of lodges and towns. 
Mr. Lee has been a suhscrilier to the New York 
Daily Tribune for fifty-two years. 

At the election of 18S4, when he was chosen to 
represent the town in the Legislature. Mr. Lee was 
the only Re])tiblican candi(late to escape defeat. 
During tlie two sessions which he attended he was 
a member of the committee 011 Judiciary, an<l in 

1886 was chairman of the committee on Laiior. 
He attends religious worship at the Lniversalist 
Church. 

M .\nsonia. Conn.. July 24. 1831. Mr. Lee was 
married to Miss Alary Jane Carrington. daughter 
of Samuel and Asenath (Lines') Carrington. Her 
maternal grandfather, .\shbel Lines, was a Revo- 
lutionarv soldier, and served at the defense of 



138 



lOMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



N 



He 



ow Haven in 1779. Airs. Lee is a representative 
<ii the oldest and best families of Woodbridgc and, 
-Milford, tracing;- her ancestry to Henry and Ral])li 
Lines, who were residents of Xew Haven in ii')4r), 
and to Edward Carrini^non. of Alilfonl. ( )nlv one 
of the children horn lo .Mr. and Mrs. Lee is liNini;-. 
Charles Carrin^-ton, the first, l>oni in 1854, died in 
infancy. William Wallace, born ( )ct. 12. '1856, died 
Sept. 18, 1858. George Henry, horn Sept. 8. 1861, 
died in December, followino-. Jennie Jav, born Mav 
14, 1864, is the wife of Edwin E. Smith, busine.s's 
manao;er of the Meriden Morning Record, and has 
had three children — Isabella Lee,' a graduate of the 
Meriden high school; Elorence W., who died at the 
age of five years; and ^Vayne Carrington, a high 
school student. .Mrs. Smith is a prominent member 
of Ruth Hart Cha[)ter, Daughters of the .\nierican 
Revolution. 

HOX_\Lr,ERT DOOTH DLWILXM, ,)f the 
town of Seymour, long prominent in public affairs 
and at this time High Sheritt of .Xew Haven coun- 
ty, IS one of the widely known and influential Re- 
publicans of the county and State — a man whose 
good common sense, excellent judgment and prac- 
tical business methods shown in a long and suc- 
cessful public service in the affairs of his town and 
county, have deservedly given him rank among the 
leading citizens of .Xew Haven countv. 

JSorn Sept. 28. 1838. in the town'of ( ).\fonl, 
Conti., Mr. Dunham is a son of Iknrv and Henri- 
etta (Tucker) Dunham, and is descended on both 
sides from among the earliest families to come, to 
Xew England, and is of Revolutionary stock. The 
Dunhams for generations have resided in Xew Ha- 
ven county ; the earliest ancestor of the Southing- 
ton family, from which our suliject is descended, 
appears in the history of the town as ( iideon Dun- 
ham, who, it is believed, came from .Martha's N'ine- 
yard to that ]Kiint. The ChuriMi records of South- 
ington show that "old man Dunham" died .\])ril 
27, 1762. and Widow Dunham died .Aug. 26. 1762. 
leaving nine children. I->om this (jideon Dun- 
ham. ShcriiT Dunham, of Seymour, is in the fifth 
.generation, his line being through Cornelius, Sam- 
uel and I lenry Dunham. 

ill) ('ornelius Dtmh.am. son of (ndcon, born in 
1740, married I'eb. 2, 17^)4. Jemima, daughter of 
Jonathan and Susanna (Richards) .Vndrews. Cor- 
nelius Dunham lived at the upper end of Queen 
-Street in Southington, when' he ke|)t a tavcni for 
many years, which had (|uite a rcputaliou for the 
generous bosi)italitv there dis])ensed. Mr. Dun- 
ham's standing in the town was e.xcelU'Ut. He died 
l'"eb. 2,^, i8i(;. and his wife passed ;iw.-i\- Ma\- 24. 
1818. aged se\'enty-three vears. 

(I'll) Sanuiel Dunh;nn. son of Cornelius, born 
May 15, I7C)7, married l-\b. 4, 1708, Lucy, daugh- 
ter of John and llann.ah (Rich) .Arijiil, and lived 
in the vicinity of his father. His death occurred 
.'^ept, 20, 181 I. 



(I\') Henry Dunham, son of Samuel and the 
father of Sheritt Dunham, was born in Alay. 1806, 
and married Henrietta Tucker, of the town of O.x- 
ford, and became a resident of that town. He was 
a merchant, and a resjK'Cted and esteemed citizen. 
His wife, who survived him, died March 7, 1876, 
a.getl sixt\-four. She was the daughter of David 
and Laura C. Tucker, of O.xford, the Tuckers be- 
ing an old family in that town. 

Sheriff Dunham is also a lineal descendant of 
the old L!«oth and Hawley families of Stratford, 
in I-"airfield county, so many of whose posteritv are 
still living in that and adjoining counties. Richard 
P.ooth. the ancestor of the old Seymour family of 
the name, was one of three brothers who came 
fnpui Cheshire. England, between 1630 and 1640. 
and landed at Xew Haven. Richard being the 
only one to remain in this locality. He settled in 
Stratford, where he appears as early as 1640. 
There is a family tradition that he was a descend- 
ant of Richard i'.ooth. of Cheshire, England, who- 
was the fifth son of Sir \A'illiam Booth, Knight, 
who died and was buried at IJowden, Cheshire, in 
1578, Richard dying in 1628. The latter's son, 
Richard, who came to .Stratford, Xew England, 
married a sister of Ca])t. Joseph Hawley. who also 
came from lingland and settled in Stratford in 
1 640. 

.■Albert liooth Dunham, the subject proper of 
this sketch, received his education in the public 
schools of his native town and in the State Normal 
School at Xew Britain, Conn. He passed his 
youith and early manhood as a clerk in the mer- 
cantile house of his father, and as an associate 
with him in business, there laying a good founda- 
tion upon wdiich he built an honorable and useful 
career, Eor many years Mr. Dunham has been 
the genial host of the old "Wooster House," at Sey- 
mour, in connection with which he has kept a livery 
and feed stable, and is widely and favorably known 
to the traveling public to whom he dispenses a 
generous hospitality. But it is as a [niljlic servant 
that Sheriff Dunham is best known. His public 
career dates back to the President Lincoln admin- 
istration, through which he served as postmaster 
at Oxford. Later on he was deputy sheriff of Xew 
Haven county, and for the long period of fifteen 
vears was countv commissioner. In 1S78 he was a 
representative from Seymour in the (leneral .As- 
sembly, and in i8()8 he was electe<l high sherift' of 
Xew Haven county for a term of four years. To 
judge of his efficiencv as a public official, and pop- 
ularilv as a man and citizen, one has only to read 
between the lines of this article. 

In 1872 .Mr. nunham was married to .Anna 
TuckiT. and to the union ha\e come children as fol- 
lows; Henrietta, .Xiiiia and .Sadie. 

JOHX ITERSOX TCTTLE, whose death oc- 
curred at his home in Xew Haven. Conn.. May 27, 
1893, \\''''"^ '"",!? one of the city's substantial men and' 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



139 



first citizens, and a representative of one of the 
Colony which settled in New Haven. 
^/'\\'il]iani Tnttle, the emitjrant ancestor of our 
subject, with his wife. Elizabeth, and three children, 
sailed in the ship "Planter" from London, Entjland, 
in 1635. \\'bcn listed for Xew luisjland, he was 
(iesi,e:natcd as a husbandman, but in lioston was a 
merchant. ITe liecame one of the colony that settled 
Xew Haven, in 1639. Mr. Tnttle was represented 
as a man of intelligence and jjrohity, who died in 
167.^, bis wife survivin<j imtil 1684. 

From this enn'tjrant ancestor, the late John T. 
Tuttle, of this review, was a descendant in the ei.e;hth 
Q-eneration. bis line beinsj throuq-b Thomas. Thomas 
(2). Captain .Andrew, Hezekiah, .\bner and Isaac 
Tuttle. 

Thomas Tuttle. son of the emigrant, born in Eng- 
land in 1634. married in 1661, Hannah, daughter of 
Thomas Powell, and lived on College S(|uare, where 
Phelps Arch is now, in Xew Haven. 

Thomas Tuttle (2). son of Thomas, born in iC'Oj. 
married in 1692. Mary, daughter of .\ndrew San- 
ford, of Milford, Conn. Mr. Tuttle was a cooper 
by trade, and bis death occurred in 1703. 

Capt. Andrew Tuttle, sen of Thomas (2). born 
in 1702, married in 1725, Eunice, daughter of Daniel 
Sherman and resided in Xew Haven, where be was 
jirominent and influential in local affairs. In 1737. 
be .served as lieutenant in the 2d Company of militia, 
and in 1747, as captain of the Fifth Company. 

Hezekiali Tuttle, son of Capt. Andrew, born in 
1736, married in 1758. Martha, dau.gbter of Abncr 
Bradlev. Air. Tuttle died in 1796, and his widow in 
1823. ' 

Abner Tuttle, son of Hezekiah, born in ijCio, 
married, in 1783. Elizabeth Mi.x. His death oc- 
curred in 1813. but his wife survived him many 
years, dying in 1854, at the age of eighty-nine. 
Their son, Lieut. John Pierson Tuttle. of the I'nited 
States Xavv, died at sea, near A'alparaiso, South 
America, in 1825. 

Isaac Tuttle, son of Abner and father of the late 
John Pierson Tuttle, of New Haven, was born Xov. 
22, 1700. He married Oct. 8, 181 5, Polly Cooper, 
of Cedar Hill, who died Xov. K), 1840, aged 45 
years: but Mr. Tuttle survived until Alarch 8, 1864. 

John Pierson Tuttle, the son of Isaac and the 
subject proper of this sketch, was born Julv 30, 181 7. 
in Xew Haven, where be was reared and educated, 
and where he passed his life. Along in tiic forties, 
Mr. Tuttle was associated with the late Hon. Charles 
L. English in the lumber business, up to 1862 under 
the firm name of English & Tuttle, when he with- 
drew, and became associated with nenjamin R. F,ng- 
lish in the same line of business under the firm name 
of Tuttle & English, and continued with him until 
1878, when he retired from nTcrcantile business. For 
vears be was treasurer of the Xew Haven Savings 
Bank, and was also president of the .Mechanics I'.ank, 
and served for several years as street commissioner. 



On April 28. 1842, Afr. Tuttle was married to 
Elizabeth C. Augur, who survived bini. Air. 'I'uttle 
l)assed a long and useful life in the city of his birth 
and the home of bis ancestors, and was beloved, re- 
spected and esteemed for bis many nol)le traits of 
character. For years he had been Senior Warden 
of Trinity E])iscopal Church, in .\ew Haven. 

'i"o John Pierson Tnttle and his wife were born 
the following children : Emma Susan, l)orn Dec. 
2<>. 1850. married Dr. Lewis, formerly of Xau.ga- 
tiick. Lonn.. now of P>rooklyn. X. A'.; and \\'ll.I,I.\^t 
l'iKK,-«<j.\, born July 18, 1853. married in June. 1877. 
Carrie Al., daughter of Deacon George Baldwin, of 
P.ranford, Conn. l"or years Air. William P. Tuttle 
was a wholesale grocer, in Xew Haven, later a dealer 
in investment securities in Xew A'ork city, and is 
now the assistant jiostmaster of the citv of .Xew 
Haven. 

HEXRV EDWTX LOI/XSBURA^ (deceased). 
In an agricultural region, where class distinctions 
do not prevail, there are, nevertheless, men whose 
abilities give them public eminence. Leadership 
is won not by fortuitous circumstancs. but bv in- 
trinsic worth. In bis career of more than three 
score years the subject of this sketch lived con- 
tinuouslv in the town of Bethany, where be be- 
came widely and favoralsly known for his nianv 
estinnble c|ualities, and where his success and farm- 
ing affairs gave bim high standing as an exemplar 
and a counselor. Pie was born in the town of 
Bethany, Xew Haven count\-, Feb. 0. tS2«), one of 
the four children of Alajor and Hannah (Beecher) 
Lonnsbur\-. 

Henry E. Loinisbury was reared upon a farm, 
receiving a good common-school education and re- 
maining at home until be attained the age of twen- 
ty-two \-ears. He then engaged in the butcher busi- 
ness, which he conducted successfully for a jjeriod 
of ten years. His liking for the farm induced bim 
to return to the a\-ocation to which he was reared, 
in connection with which he also, until bis death 
manv years later, bought and sold cattle extensive- 
Iv. becoming one of the most prominent and suc- 
cessfid citizens of the town. In politics he was a 
Democrat. He held various local offices, including 
those of selectman and assessor, and in 1878 be was 
elected a member of the State Lcgislatm-e. filling 
bis imjiortant duties as a law maker with satisfac- 
tion to bis constituents and credit to himself. His 
death occurred Oct. 2. i8i)i, and his remains were 
interred at the Center cemetery in Bethanv. 

'Air. r,ounsbury was twice married. His first 
wife, whom he married in i8^6. was Cornelia Doo- 
little. of Wallingford. She died in Alay. 1864. and 
for his second wife he married. .April 4, 1866, 
Alarv I". Dickerman, a native of Cheshire, and a 
(hugbter of William P.. and Louisa ( Bradley) 
l^ickerman, the former a lumber merchant who re- 
moved to Winsted when Airs. Lounsl)urv was a 
.girl of twelve vears. There she received her edu- 



140 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



cation in the select shools, and for two \'cars prim- 
to her marriage she hail engaged in teaching school 
JNlrs. Loimsibury survives her husliand. and since 
his decease she has most sucessfully carried on the 
work of the farm. She is a hidy of cuUure and 
refinement, and most highly esttenieil hy all her 
many friends and ac(|naintances. In her religions 
'belief she is an Episcopalian. 

JL'LIL'S HALL. \vh.,se death, on Oct. 4, 1898, 
removed from Aleriden one of her most successfid 
agriculturists and most estimable citizens, was born 
on the old Ilall homestead, J.uiie 7, 1813. and traced 
his descent to early families of Xew Haven countv. 

John Hall, the founder of the family in Con- 
necticut, was l)orn in Lngland in i'i()5, and upon 
coming to America, aboiU i'i_'3, located in lioston, 
]\Iass., but later removed to .\ew lla\en. After 
the settlement of Wallingford he remnved to that 
towu, in Ifj72, and was chosen a selectman there in 
1675. He died in that place ten years later, a large 
land owner and prominent citizen. Tn his mar- 
riage with jane \Voolen came eight children, John, 
Sarah, Richard, Samuel, Daniel, Thomas, Jonathan 
and David, and few families have been more re- 
spected than their descendants. The Hall family 
and Jane (Woolen) Hall's conuectinns in luigland 
each h,ad a coat of arnts. 

Thomas Hall, son of John, was liorn March 25, 
1649, and when twenty-one \'ears of age retnoved 
to Wallingford in 1670. He was one of the orig- 
inal settlers of the ttiwn, a signer of the Plantation 
Covenant, and became a farmer and land owner. 
He died Sept. 17. 1731. He was town clerk four- 
teen years, from Dec. 28, 1607, to 171 1. (Jn June 
II, I^i73> '"-' \\<is married to ( Irace Watsnn, who 
died .May 1, 1731. This tuuon was blessed with 
■eleven children. 

Daniel Hall, son of Tlvomas, born Jan. 27, 
1689, engaged in fanning iii j-'.ast .\leridcn (then 
a part of Wallingford), where he ])uilt the first 
house, and where his life ended. ( )n .Ajiril 20, 
1721, he married Martha Donlittle, ;mil the fnl- 
lowing childrt'ii came m them: Abraliani, Imrn Ian. 
27, 1722, mru'ried .\l,ii\- I'rindle; Jnhn. burn |an. 
29, 1724, died in .\lenden .\l.iy 13. 171)5: 1 lamiah. 



born SeiJt. 



married I'.enajah T\lrr, nf 



Tiranfiird: Daniel was born June 1, \J2y: .Martha, 
June 14, 172'); Samuel. May 5, 1731 ; .Mary, Sept. 

7. 1733; ami Abigail, .\pril 27, 1731). 

John ilall. Sun of Haniel, w.is Imrn Jan. 2(), 
1724, and was engaged in farming in what is now 
known as LasI Merideu, wliere lu' bi'canie a large 
land owner, living un and succeeding to the home- 
stead of his father, where he died .\la\- 13. 1795. 
He was a soldier in the war i\\ the Revolution. 
On May 4, I74<), Jnhn Hall married b",Iizabeth 
rrindle, who died ( )ct. 21, 1802, ;nul their children 
were: I'rindle, Imrn Jinie 30, 1730; John. Alav 

8, 1732; Mary, Sept. 10, 1734 (died on March 31, 
1823); .Sarah. May 1 1, 173(1 (died in 17(10) ; ICliza- 



beth, April 20, 1757 (died March 30, 1847) ; David, 
Sept. 16, 176!; Sarah, Feb. 13, 1764 (died in 
1777) ; -Abigail, Leb. 24, 1766 (died on Oct. 28, 
1828; ; John, Jan. 9, I7(j8 (married Ruth Hall, and 
died -Vpril 21, 1851) ; Joseph, Oct. 28, 1770; Jedu- 
than, .April 25, 1773 (died July 9. 1851) ; and Isaac, 
-May 28, 1776 (died Jan. I, 1838;. 

Joseph Hall, son of John, was born on the old 
homestead in East Meriden Oct. 28, 1770, and lived 
a (|uiet, bu-y life, engaged in farming, and making 
improvements on the old place, until his death, 
March 13, 1831. His remains rest in the ^ileriden 
cemetery. He married Hannah I'rancis, of Wal- 
lingford, and children as follows were born to them : 
Sherman, born .April 26, iSo(), died Dec. 6. 1869; 
John, born Jan. 5, 1808, died July 9. 1836; Emen,-, 
born Sept. 29, 1809, 'lied Jan. i, 1892: Lucy, born 
.May 2j. i8ti, died Feb. i8, 1818: Julius was born 
June 7, 1813: Maria, born Aug. 30, 1815, died 
May 5, 1846. 

Julius Hall, the sul>ject proper of this biographv, 
grew up on the old homestead, and received such 
educational advantages as the times afforded. .Ag- 
ricultural pursuits offered the niost natural em- 
ployment for the young men of that ])eriod. and, as 
the estates were large and miuch of the labor-sav- 
ing machinery still unthought of, there was never 
a dearth of work for willing hands on the farms 
of the wealthy old families. Julius Hall erected a 
fine dwelling and made many other improvements 
on his place, operating 130 acres of the old home- 
stead, besides other tracts in Middlesex countv. 
His death occurred there, and his remains were 
reverently laid in the East cemetery. On Alav i, 
1852, Julius Hall married Laura L. Parker, who 
was born in Berlin, Conn., a d'augbter of James 
and Maria (Ives) Parker, the latter of whom was 
a daughter of Icliabod Ives, a soldier of the Rev- 
olutionary war. Six children were born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Hall: Crace Mari:i, born .\'ov. 2(1. 1834. 
i resides on the homestead. Ida Jane, born .\])ril 4, 
1836, died March (), 1895 ; she was one of .Meriden 's 
most successfid teachers, having been engaged in 
the ])ul>lic schools twelve }'ears : was a meiuber of 
the iMerideu' Scientific Assoc 'ation, ;uid a director 
of one of its departiuents : belongeil to Ruth Hart 
Cha])ter, 1 ). .A. R.: was a member of the I'ii'st I'.ap- 
tist Chm-cli : and was greatly beloved by all who 
knew her. John Parker, born .\u,g. 31, 1837, re- 
sides on the old homestead, wdiere he carries on 
fnnt growing and dairying in connecti( n with .gen- 
eral farming. Mary l^rancis, born .Aug. 17, 1861, 
resides at home. ICrmina Cedelia, born Jan. 29, 
18O4. an artist of unich talent, re^des at home. 
JJexter J'jnery, born J;m. 20, 1870, is extensivelv en- 
.gaged in the fiUMUtnre and house furnishing busi- 
ness in Meriden and Wallingford. and in this con- 
nection also con<lucts a livery and luidertaking 
business at Meriden. The death of the iu<nher of 
this faiuily took p'ace May 28. 181)3. when she 
was aged sixt\-eight \ ears. She bad endeared her- 




ri-/>C-c^/^<5 





^A 



COMMEMORArH'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



141 



self to all with whom she bad come in contact, and 
was sincerely mourned by tbe eomnnniity ; she is 
greatly missed Ity tbe members of tbe liaptist 
Cluircb. with which she bad lon^- been connected. 

Julius Hall was a n'.an well kn(.)wn and must 
bii^bly esteemed, beloved and respected by bis im- 
mediate family. an<l re_y;arded l.)v tbe pulilic as a 
type of tbe best citizen, llis life bridt;ed a vast 
gulf of history; and he viewed with iiitellitjeni in- 
terest the great strides made in every department 
of the world's work, assisting, with inlluenee and 
means, tbe progress of his native town. He aided 
several who were afterward most successful busi- 
ness men. and although stnne of his ventures did 
not prove remunerative he was rewarded lor his 
enterprise find ])ublic s])irit. and at the same time 
enjoved tbe conseiousness of assisting worthy 
young men in l)uilding u[) home institutions. His 
private charities, while unknown and unheralded 
bv the general public, were many and wisely be- 
stowed. 

Mr. Hall's family now reside on tbe old Hall 
homestead, ji.nrt of which was owned by Thomas 
Hall ( I ) in if>7g. They have had old deeds, rec- 
ords, etc.. and thev now have tbe large, old-fash- 
ioned trunk which John Hall brought with him 
when he came to America about i62_S. «i'^ ^^'-'H <ts 
other articles of furniture he must Iiaxc bad soon 
after coming here. 

THE BALDWIN FAMILY. There are yet re- j 
siding in Xew Haven several of the sons of the late 
Darius and Tbirza (Dorman) Baldwin, born in the 
town of Orange and in Xew Plaven. respectively. 
Among them are Charles A. and Allen D. Baldwin, 
both veterans of tbe Civil war. and long substantial 
citizens of Xew Haven. I 

These brothers, both natives of Orange. Conn., 
are descended from one of tbe old and prominent 
families of Xew England. Richarc! Baldwin, the 
emigrant ancestor of this branch of tbe family, was 
born in Buckinghamshire. England, and was the sun j 
of Sylvester and Mary (Bryan) Baldwin, tbe form- 
er of whom died on the ship "Martin," on tbe [pas- 
sage to Xew England. The son, Richard Baldwin, 
is on record in Milford, Conn., as early as 1639, the 
year after the death of his father. His marriage oc- 
curred in 1643, when he became the husband of 
Elizabeth .Alsop. of Xew Haven. Mr. Bablwin was 
a man of character and ability, and served in the 
(General Court several terms as deputy from his 
town. He died in 1663. From him Charles A. and 
.Mien D. Baldwin, of Xew Haven, are descendants 
in the seventh generation, their line bein,g through 
Barnabas. Timothy. Enoch, .Alexis and Darius Bald- 
win. 

Barnabas Baldwin, sun f)f Richard the Emigrant, 
was born in ifi^)5. in Milford, and married for 
bis first wife, Sarah, daughter of Samuel Bucking- 
ham, of T^niford, who died while still young. After 
her death he was married again, to .\bigail . 



.Mr. Bahlwin w;is one of the grantees to the charter 
uf Derby, and in 173S. was one of tbe fifteen inhab- 
itants of Derby, who with others from Xew Haven, 
were incurporateil ini(j the i)arish ot Amity. He 
>erved as selectman of Milford. and dietl in 1741. 

Timothy Baldwin, son of the foregoing, was born 
in Milford in i'«»5. where be was married in 1719, 
to Zurinab Johnson, uf Derby, fur his first wife, and 
Later tu .Mabel ( surnamt- nut given). Mr. Baldwin 
occni)ied lands lying in both Wdodhridgc and Derby, 
l>rubably having his home in the latter town. He 
joined in the formation of the church at Amil_\- in the 
town of W'ooilbridge. and died in 1766. 

Fnoch Baldwin, sun uf Timoihy, was born in 
173'). in the town i<\ Dt'rbv. and was jircjliablv a child 
<ii the second marri.ige <>( bis father. His life was 
spent in Derby, where be died in 1S15. 

Alexis Baldwin, born in 1778. in the town of 
Derby, married Comfort Baldwin, daughter of Hen- 
ry Baldwin, and lived in W'oodljridgc. His death 
occurred in iS_>i. and his widow passed awa\' in 
1857. 

Darius Baldwin, son of Alexis, was Ijorn Mav 
('i. 1804. in Woodbridge. He married Tbirza, daugh- 
ter of Amos Dorman, of Oxford, Comi., and to this 
union were born : ( i ) George A., born Jan. 28. 1S30, 
in Oxford: (2) Charles A., born Jan. 2^. 1832: (3) 
Mary A., born Jan. 12. 1834. liecame the wife of 
CJeorge M. Flarmon, a sketch of whom appears on 
another page: (4) Allen D.. born Aug. 20. 1836; 
and (5) William II.. born Xov. 4, 1841, now de- 
ceased. The family home was first in Orange, and 
later in Xew Ha\en. Darius Baldwin was occupied 
in the former place as blacksmith, and be died in 
Xew Haven, at tbe age of seventy-six years, and 
bis widow passed away aged eighty-four. 

Cii.\Rr-Es A. I'lAi.iiw I x. whose Ijirth is noted 
above, received his literary education in the common 
schools of his native town, and at the age of seven- 
teen went to Xew Hawn. where be learned the 
trade of carriage-body making with Edwin Lee. 
During the panic of 1857. fur about nine months, 
he w'as in L'rbana. Ohio, where be worked at his 
trade, wdiich he resumed on his return to X'ew Hav- 
en. For a little more than a year previous to the 
outbreak of the Civil war be was associated with 
the late James P. liarker. About this time they be- 
gan business on their own account, establishing a 
factory for carriage-body making, but this enter- 
prise was in existence only about two years, owing 
to the outbreak of tbe Civil war. 

Fired by the stirring events of those momentous 
times, Mr. Baldwin enlisted in the service of his 
country, Aug. 25, 1S62, and was made quartermaster 
sergeant of the 27th Conn. \'ul. Infantry, bearing an 
honorable part in tbe fortunes of that organization. 
He was mustered out July 27, 1863, serving there- 
after until the closing of the war in the office of 
the provost marshal at Xew Haven. The term of 
service of the 27th. though not extended, was active 
and thrilling. For a short period it was in tbe di- 



'142 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



vision of (Ion. AlnM-crdiiihir, ami was stationed at 
Washing-ton, Imt later it hrcank' a part of the Third 
ISrig-ade, hirst Division, .Second .\rni\' C'or|)s, ini- 
der (ieii. Hancock, and formed a part of the ri.giit 
.L;rand division of the Arniv nf the I'ntoinac. under 
General Sumner. .\t tlie hattle of h'rederickshnr,^; 
in i8f)2 that ]>ortinn of the re.giment not employed on 
])icket duty along the Rappahannock, was in the line 
of hattle on the open plain hetwecn the city and 
Mary's llei.ghts. where the\- were exposed to a ter- 
rihle fire from the enemy's liatteries. When ni.ght 
fell one-third of the regimeiil was dead or wounded 
on the field or in the hospital. In the change that 
followed the advent of Hooker to the command, the 
27th became a jiart of (lie hounh Mrigade. mider the 
commtnid of C'ol. John K. I'.niok. now one of the 
e)ldest otfict-rs in the regular service. After coniin,g 
(iiit of winter (|narlers in April. iS'i,^, thev were ac- 
ti\e in the pieliminaries that hi-ought in the hattle 
of Chancellors vi lie, where the\- were engaged for 
several days with little chance for eating or vieepin.g. 
The regiment, which occupied on Sinida\- morning 
the intrenchments it had thrown uj) the previous 
Friday evening when it formed a part of the picket 
line, held an important position, and were exposed 
to a terrilile tire. It was soon surrounded and ca])- 
tured. Comiianies 1) and 1-" of the regiment es- 
caped the fate of the balance of the command, hav- 
ing been previously detailed for other duties. The 
27th continued to form a part of the .\rmy of the 
Potoniac tmtil the \y.\\\]v of (ietlvshm-g. It reached 
that bloody held July >. moved forward to i.nke the 
line ol battle, and was stationed a nule ami a half 
south of Cemetery Hill, in the line occupied bv the 
Second Corps. It w.is hurried forward to the sup- 
port of the Third Corps, which in the afternoon wa.s 
heavily en,gaiged on the hjiimitshurg road. The 27th 
with others of the bonrth lirigade entercil the wheat 
field as the disordered and broken colinuns of the 
Third L'orjis were slowK retiring, clnseb followed 
by the exultant enemw and moxed towards the ad- 
vancing foe, which was now in close range, meeting 
a sweeping tire, under which l.ieut. C'ol. Merwin fell 
mortally woinided while leading his men with his 
accustomed bravery. Mere Capt. JeiK'diah C'lia])- 
man was also kilU-d. The I'nion line dro\i- the en- 
emy out of the wheat lields into the woods bexdud. 
In this Ijatlle the 27th went into action with seventv- 
five men. all it could muster at the lime after an 
active service of not quite nine months, ei,ght com- 
panies having been taken ])risoners at the battle of 
•Chancellorsvillc. .\t dark eleven bad been killed, 
and twenty-se\-en wounded. The position of the 
27th on jiil\- ^(1 w;is in the lu.iin line a few vards to 
the left of the point attacked 1>\- the rebels in the last 
char.ge made by them in that great battle. I'rom 
(iettysburg the 27th moved to b'alling Waters, a 
short distance from Williamisport, arri\ing there in 
time to ])articipate in the closing scenes of ih.u en- 
ga,genient. Then it was ordered to llarjier's I'errv. 



and enroute from home, l)ein<;- mustered out |ul\' 2J 
i8()3. 

.\fter the close of tile war Charles A. llaldwin 
was in the employ of the firm of Osborn & Ad- 
riance. of .\ew Haven, for a time, and then becaiue 
enga.ged in the manufacture of corsets, successively 
belon.ging to the firms of Harmon & Baldwin, Foy, 
Harmon & lialdwin, and the IJaldwin Corset Com- 
l)any. At a later period he traveled in the interest 
of Foy, Harmon & Chadwick, which firm succeeded 
to the business he himself helped to establish. Along 
in the middle eighties, having been elected to the 
board of Assessors, he severed his connections with 
I'oy, I larmon & Chadwick, to assume the duties of 
his oflice, which occupied hi.s tiiue f(.)r a little over 
fifteen years. I'or two years he was a member of 
the city council from the First warrl, and for two 
and a half years he was alderman from the Tenth 
ward. .\s tire commissioner he completed two 
terms. In these various positions he has shown sig- 
nal aliilit\- and inte.grity of a iiKirked de,gree. 

.Socially .Mr. lialdwin has taken a ]jrominent place 
in the city. He is a member of the Wooster Lod.ge, 
of the Masonic fraternity, at Xew Haven, and for 
nearly fifty vears he has been identified with the 
Sons of 'I'emperance, in which order he was twice 
elected (irand Worthy Patriarch of ConnecticiU. 
His reli.gious connections are with the First Meth- 
odist Clnn-ch at Xew Haven, where he has held 
membership for (|uite half a century, havin,g been 
steward, trustee and class leader. 

In the Simday-school he has also taken an act- 
ive ])art, .-md was superintendent for si.x years. 

( )n Dec. ,^, 186,^, Mr. r.aldwin was married to 
Miss ll.imiah I'itt Smith of Lima, Delaware county, 
J'ciui. To this union were born: ( i ) Charlena H.; 
(2) William 1'.. now a promineut physician in Xew 
Haven, who was graduated wdth hi.gh honors, hav- 
ing studied and made thorough prei>arations for his 
])rofession : ( ,^ i .Mar\ I"... who ilied in 1870: (4) 
Sherii'.an 11.. who died i''el.). 13, 1877; (5) .-Mfred 
Weslex , who died aged three n:onths. 

Cpon the seventieth anniversary of his birth. 
Jan. 2S, 1002. .Mr. lialdwin received three hun- 
dred and seventy letters of congratulation from 
lo\ing friends, and 

If llu' loU;T^ llial were -cm liiin were out in prim it 
would make a liook of 250 pages, and ue must conclude liy 
-ayins lliat there were letters from Maine to California 
and from Alicliigan to Texas and Florida. Mr. Baldwin 
has friends in every Stale over wliicli the .American eagle 
vpreaiN his wings. .Among llie many letters of congratu- 
lation were tho-c from Hishop I). .A. (loodscll. formerly 
a pasior of the Fir>i M. E. Church of Chattanooga, Tenn, : 
Major Frank D. Sloal. of Wa-hington, I). C. : "\V. .A. K. 
Hawley. (!. W. Palriarcli of the -Sons of Temperance of 
Conuecliciu. who resides in New Canaan: resolutions from 
l.i\ing .Sjirnig Division. \'o. 22. Sons of Temperance, of 
liridgi'port. Conn. : and from four Chinamen who are 
mcmliers of his class in tlic First M. F. Church. Choung 
l'"oo of \o. 101 Crown streets says: "Dear Mr. Baldwin. 
I wish yon many happy hirllidays and prosperity through 
the years to come, ile loscth ni thing that keeps God.' 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



'43 



Your frii-iul. Chcuiiig Foo." There was a bcauuful plate 
sent l)v Lee Scion, cininiis F<>", l.iiUe B. Ton. Cliin l.an 

The following cliaraeteristic letter was wruten to -Mr. 
Baldwin bv Juilge of I'robale Livingston \V. Cleaveland. 
of this city, accompanying the gift of the volumes ot the 
National luicyclopedia ; 

Xew H.wen. Conn.. Jan. -'8. icpj. 

Clia-. .\. Baldwin. Esq. ; ,,-,,,, 

Dear Brother — You have my be>t wishes. It 1 shall 
live to three score and ten and can be half as vi.gorons as 
yon are to-day. witli as clear a conscience, I shall have 
good reasons to be congratulated. 

Laitlifully yours. 

LiVl.NGSTO.S- W. Cl.F..\Vi;i..\NII. 

P. S. — .Although you are yourself a walking encyclo- 
pedia, I trust that the new National Encyclopedia which I 
send with this may prove of service to you. especially when 
you dedicate churches in the wilds of Florida. 

The following lines were sent lo him by Mrs. E. S. 
Northrop, of Bloomfield. N. J., and it wa- read at the sur- 
prise jiarly last evening. They were louilly and earnestly 
iipplatided. Here they are : 

So Charley is going to be seventy on 

Wednesday ne.xt — you say : 
'Twas a happy thought to make him 

a grand surprise that day, 
.And so we've been asked to load him 

with love letters plain and clear 
Congratulating him warmly on reaching 

his seventieth year. 
So bring out the largest bread-tray, 

and basket or two besides. 
And smile while the postman fills them as 

he empties his bag outside. 
For his friends are all over New Eng- 
land, clear down to the Florida coast. 
And mighty few are the men who claim 

the number Charley can boast. 
There's the Keystone state, and New 

Jersey, which stands for itself you know, 
Why, half the people are friends of his, 

the sequel will surely show : 
Then look ri,ght here in New Haven 

his life-long home and abode. 
And rhe dear old church, where many 

a time his songs and tears have flowed. 
He has marked the steps of the infant, 

from childhood to manhood grow; 
Has helped them into tlie kingdom 

and into the church below ; 
Of his class work, 'twere wise to be silent, 
they are present to speak each for self. 
Rut feel free to make the assertion. 

they would not change their leader for wealth. 
He has stood for the right when 'twas 

questioned 
.Against wrong, 'mongsl the jioor and 

oppressed, 
The Celestials can tell their story. 

A rehearsal of which might be blest. 
When the tocsin of war was sounded. 
He quaile<l not to beckon the foe, 
Which makes him a double veteran. 

With his seventy years, you know. 
We've not exhausted his virtues, but 

friends are here to he beard. 
But we know wlien he reaches Heaven 

(which we bojie may long be deferred) 
There will shine bright stars in his 

crown above. 
And songs of rejoicing be heard. 



Ali.icx D. r>.\Lin\iN. son of Daritis, and lirotlicr 
of Charles .\.. spent his earlier years in the fam- 
ily home in ( )ranoe. where he remained tmiil his 
si.xteenth vear. and he was an associate in th.e 
s.-hools with Con.nrcs.stnan Sjjerry. of whom a 
sketch appears on anoth.er pa.tje. When he was 
ohler he learned the Iniilder's trade, which he fol- 
lowed for fonr years in comjiany with I.. \ . 1 real, 
after having heen eiigaoeil un his own account for 
two \ears. 

Mr. llaldwin enlisted in the L"ni(>n service Sept. 
I). 1862, and was mustered in Oct. 22. of the same 
vear, as a sergeant of Company C. 27th Conn. \ . !., 
it heing the same command in wdiich his hrother had 
joined', and whose history a|)pears ahove. in the 
fortunes of the regiment Allen 1). Ilaldwin bore an 
honorable part, and was mustered out of service witli 
the organization July 2J. iW),?. After the close of 
the war Mr. Baldwin settled at N'ew Haven, where 
he followed the building and contracting business 
until 1890, having a large patronage, and making a 
great success. Since that year he has been exten- 
sively interested in the orange industry, at Indian 
River, Fla,, where lie spends the winter months, re- 
turning to Xew Haven for the heated term. 

Allen D. I'.aldwin was married Oct. 7. 1862. to 
Miss Juliette Treat, of ( )range, Coim.. a daughter 
of William Treat. She was liorn .\ng. 5. 1841. and 
to their union were born: (i) iM'ank \\ .. bnrn 
April 17, 1864, died in December. i8<)7: (2) I-:ibert 
H., born Aug. 3. 1867: and (3) l're<l D.. born I'cb. 
7, 1870. Mr. r.aldwin is a Republican in his i)oliiK-s, 
and a member of high standing in the Masonic fra- 
ternity, wdiere he has risen to the thirty-second de- 
gree. ' For two vears he held chairs in the New Hav- 
en Commanderv. and was Commander one term. He 
also belongs to the .Admiral Foote I'ost, C. .\. R. At 
one time he was a member of the Mercantile L Inb. 
In religion he is a member nt the Dwight Place 
Church. 

Elbert I'.aldwin, the son of .\lleii 1)., who is en- 
gaged in the mason's trade, irvarried .\nnie M. Mal- 
fory. and is the father of fnur children, Sophia, Har- 
old', Allen !•:. and Robert Treat. I'red H. I'.aldwin 
is a resident of Xew Britain, where he is working 
as foreman in mason and other building work. 

KLl 1\KS (deceased 1. In the death of I'.li 
Ives on May 13, 1886, the city of Meriden lost one 
of its sterlin'g citizens and active bu-iness men, evei] 
deeply interested in whatever seemed for the good of 
Meriden and its people. 

Mr. Ives was born in Meriden Jan. 7. 1809. of 
an old New England family, 'rhe first of the name 
in this vicinitv was John Ives, wdio was at A\'allmg- 
ford, Conn., early "in its settlement, and who was 
the ancestor of our subject, tin- latter ]>eing in the 
sixth generation from him. The line of descent of 
Eli Ives was through John Ives (2). John Ives (3), 
John Ives (4) and CJthniel Ivcs. 



144 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(II) John Ivf> (2), son of John Ives, born in 
\(ihi), marrieil in i(k^_5, in Mcridcn, Aiary Gillette, 
and ciieil in 1738. 

(III) John l\-cs (3). Min of Jnhn Ives (2), 
liiiin in i'"j4, married in IJHJ, Hannah R(_)yee, 
and ilied in ij')^. Slie (Hed in -1770, in Aleriden. 

( 1 \ ) Jihn l\es I 4 ), sdii iif Jnhn 1 ve> ( 3 I , V)orn 
in 172^, marrieil (fn>i). .Mary Hall, wiio died in 
1788. His seeond wife, Sarah, died in 1804. Ik- 
died in 1816. 

(\') Othnicl Ives, son of John and Hannah 
(Royee) Ives, born Aiis;-. 17, 1779, married (first) 
(Jet. 28, 1800, Sarah, daughter of Nathaniel Yale, 
and (second) Oct. 26, 1815, Rosetta Yale. Othniel 
Ives resided in the eastern part of jMeriden. His 
c'hildren were Eliza, who married Edwin R. Yale; 
Elias, who married Cornelins Pomeroy ; Eli, who 
married Gelina .^nn Pomeroy ; Othniel, who mar- 
ried (first) Jnlia Cook, and (second), Mary How- 
ard ; Isaac i., who married Eloise White ; Juliette, 
who married Eli Butler; John, who married (first) 
Alina Birdsey, and (second) Wealthy JMerwin ; 
Frederick, who married Frances Jones ; Russell ]., 
who married (first) Flora Ann White, and (second) 
Eliza Yale. 

The late Eli Ives, son of Othniel and Sarah 
(Yale) Ives, and the subject proper of this review, 
was reared on the farm and left home when in his 
twenty-second year, and, with the late Noah Pom- 
eroy, began the manufacture of tin ware. In 1837 
young Ives went to Wetumpka, .Ala., and began busi- 
ness in which he retained an interest, although living 
most of the time in Aleriden. In 1843 he bought the 
Tyler Mills in Yalesville, anil carried on the milling 
business and the manufactin-e nf hritainiia spoons. 
In 1849, ''1 eompany with Bennett jeralds, he com- 
menced manufacturing britannia spoons and other 
articles in Prospect, Conn., which business was car- 
ried on until 1S54. In 1852 Mr. Ives was admitted 
as a partner in the firm of (iyodrich & Rutty, and 
the firm was changed to (ioodrich, Ives & Rutty. 
Mr. Goodrich retired hi 1864, and Edwin R. Crocker 
and Nelson Payne were admitted, making the firm 
Ives, Rutty & Company. 

JNIr. Ives was a good business man, and a man 
of excellent judgment. His services were often 
called for in the settlement of estates. In his po- 
litical views he was a stanch Democrat. At the time 
of his death he was a member of the board of Com- 
pensation of the city. I le w.as always greatly inter- 
ested in the improvements of Meriden, had served 
both as councilnvan and alderman, and he presided 
at the last Democratic town convention held before 
his death. He was a man of strict integrity and 
ever held the confidence of his fellow citizens, and 
was held in the highest esteem by them ; he never 
was sued nor sued any one else. Though past man's 
allotted years, he had an iron constitution and was 
active to the last, up to within ten days of his death, 
having been driving about town attending to business 
matters. .'-leN-eral times within twenty years prior to 



his death, he had been at death's door, but his re- 
markable recuperative power and wonderful vitality 
brought him safely through the ordeal. 

Mr. Ives married Gelina Anna Pomeroy, and this 
union was blessed with children as follows: Isaac 
O., Charles P., Mrs. Charles R. Flower, Mrs. Sarah 
I'arshley and Airs. Isadore Ives. 

\\ILLIA.M B. BRISTOL. 'Tlistory," says a 
well-known writer, "is best studied 1)v means of 
biography — indeed, history is biography showing 
collective humanity as influenced and governed by 
indivi<luals." The future historians of this section 
will find nuich valuable information in this volume, 
in connection with the work of development of local 
industries and activities, and the following account 
of one who was a leading business man of Ansonia 
will be of special interest. 

Mr. Bristol was born Nov. 21, 1811, in O.xford, 
.\ew Haven county, where his family has been 
prominent from pioneer times. His great-grandfa- 
ther, Eliphalet Bristol, vv'ho was a farmler there, at- 
tained the adi\-anced age of ninety years. Gad 
ISristol. our subject's grandfather, was born in Ox- 
ford, and followed agricultural pursuits in the town, 
his death occurring at the age of seventy. He and 
his wife. Nancy (Riggs), who died at the age of 
si.xty-five, had several children, among whom was 
a son Sheldon. 

Sheldon Bristol, our subject's father, was born 
Feb. 8, 1780. in O.xford, and his life was spent in 
farming in that locality. While he received a com- 
mon-school education only, he was a man of ability, 
and held a prominent place in k)cal public affairs 
and in social life, being a member of the F. & .A.. 
M. and 1\. .\. (if (. )xforil. In religious faith he 
was a Methodist, and he and his wife were both 
active workers in the church. He died July 29, 
1851;, in his eightieth year. His wife, Agnes 
(\Vheeler), who died aged seventy-seven years, was 
a daughter of Deacon .Aden Wheeler, a leading 
citizen of Southford in his day and the owner of a 
farm and gristmill. (Jur subject was the eldest of 
a familv of five children, and the last survivor. 

The comanon schools of O.xford furnished Will- 
iam B. Bristol his early educational opiwrtunities, 
of which he availed himself so well that at sixteen 
he was (|ualified to teac'h. He taught in Ro.xhury 
in 1827, in Woodbridge in 1828, and in the "Bowers 
Hill" district of Oxford in 1829, and one of his 
"boys," Fred Hull, now of Birmlingham, is eighty- 
six years of age. Mr. Bristol then attended .school 
for a time with the intention of studying medicine, 
but financial considerations caused him to change his- 
mind, and he decided to learn the mason's trade. 
He worked for Burr Hall at $2 per month for the 
first \ear. and $3 the secontl, continuing to teach 
school in the winter. In the fall of 1831 he taught 
at Southbm\v (/enter, and s]ient the following sum- 
luer at the mason's trade at $4 per month. During 
the next winter ( when he was twenty-one years 
old), he taught at Bennett's Bridge, and in the 





/ 1^ 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



■45 



spring he hired out to George Perry, of Monti- 
cello, X. Y., at $24 per month. ' Jn tlie fall he 
taught at Monticello, and in the summer of 1833 
he returned to his father's home. In the summer 
of 1834 he followed the mason's trade in New Ha- 
ven, and in the fall went to Charleston, S. C, to 
spend the winter in the same line of work. On his 
return, in the fall of 1835, he Kjcated at liirming- 
hani, and entered the employ of Harvey Johnson, 
then building the first factory (copper mill) in 
the town. He taught school for some years in the 
winter while following the mason's trade in sum- 
mer, mainly in this State. In 1837 he took charge 
of a school in Derby, Conn., where a previous teach- 
er could not govern and had been obliged to close, 
but Mr. Bristol had good success. In 1838 he 
taught in IJirminghaiu, and one of his "boys" there 
has since become very prominent, and recently had 
to give up the office of judge of probate, having 
reached the age limit of seventy. In 1838 Mr. 
Bristol spent a short time in Bridgeport, and later 
went to St. Louis and other W'esern points, travel- 
ing quite extensively in that section. In 1840 he 
was in Springfield, 111., and organized a school there 
in a log house. The Legislature held the first ses- 
sion in a church, the State House not having been 
built. Stephen A. Douglas and Abe Lincoln were 
not then known. Returning East in the spring of 
1840, Mr. Bristol followed niiasonry near Ansonia 
for a time, and later did masonry work on the 
Housatonic road. He also taught school in 1840- 
41-4. in Orange, and in 1843 he tau,g-ht in the Sec- 
or. District of Orange. He followed the mason's 
trade in Xew Haven in 1844, a year made memor- 
able by the excitement of Polk's campaign, and 
spent the winter in teaching at Derby. In the sum- 
mer of 1845 '16 settled at the site of the present city 
of Ansonia; at that time there were no dwelling- 
houses on what is now the main street, and he had 
to board half a mile out of the village. He was 
identified with the town ever after, and taught 
school there previous to 1850. Soon after his ar- 
rival he formed a partnership with Lyman Treat 
and be,gan taking contracts in masonry, but in 1848 
he engaged in business independently as a dealer in 
wood and coal. There were no other yards there 
at the time, and he was the last survivor of the 
earliest business men of the place. Mr. Bristol had 
an automatic railroad at Derby, where he had his 
largest yard, and unloaded all his coal, bringing it 
by water to the dock and placing it directly upon 
the automatic railway. In 1862 he was elected 
president of the Savings Bank, upon its organiza- 
tion, and he continued to hold the position until 
his death, June 10, 1900, being the last representa- 
tive of the first board of directors. He was a di- 
rector in the Ansonia National Bank, which he 
helped to organize, and at the time of his decease 
was serving as vice-president. He was formerly a 
director in the Birmingham National Bank, begin- 
nin.g with its organization, and was president of 
that bank in 1870. In politics he was a Republican, 

10 



and he served on the board of selectmen, being 
town agent during his term of over seven vears. 

In 1854 Mr. Bristol married Miss Harriet A. 
Pickett, who was I)orn in New Mil ford, daughter 
of Sheldon Pickett, a carpenter of that town." She 
was one of a large family of children. Mr. an<l 
Mrs. Bristol had seven children : Agnes, who mar- 
ried John V. Osborne; William P., a machinist; 
Arthur M., a letter carrier in .Xn.sonia ; Heri)ert 
L., who was with his father as bookkeei)er antl gen- 
eral assistant; Charles H.; David \\'. : and b'red- 
erick L. The family is identified with the Episcopal 
Church, Mrs. Bristol being a member thereof. With 
three exceptions i\lr. Bristol was at the time of 
his death the oldest Odd l''ellow, having been a 
member of the order fifty-seven years, and he was 
the chief veteran in the \'eteran Organizatinn of 
the State. In 1841 he united with Ouinni])iac 
Lodge, of New Haven, and in 1849 ''^ liecame a 
charter member of Naugatuck Lodge, No. (13. of 
Ansonia, in which he passed all the chairs. l"or 
thirty-five years he was a member of the !•". 1.K; .\. 
M., belonging to (ieorge Washington Lodge. .\o. 
82, and Chapter No. 35. Mr. Bristol was widely 
and sincerely mourned in the town where so many 
years of his long and useful life were passed. 

THE ROGERS FAMILY. For more than fifty 
years the name of Rogers has been prominently 
identified with the industrial interests of .Meriden. 
The firm of C. Ro,gcrs & Bros., composed of Cej^has 
B., Gilbert and Wilbur F. Rogers, has been a con- 
spicuous factor in the development of the city. They 
have all been thoroughly trained and experienced in 
the silver and silver-[)lating business, and have con- 
tributed to their city not only business skill and acu- 
men to a high degree, but jiersonal character and 
reliability in their transactions t'ar above the usual 
code of commercial morality. 

The Rogers Brothers, sons of the late Ilervey 
Rogers, of Saybrook and Meriden, Conn., are de- 
scended from James Rogers, a lineal descendant of 
John Rogers, who suffered martyrdom, uirder 
the reign of Mary in l^ngland, in 1555. On 
the maternal side they are of the ninth gen- 
eration from Jolui .\iden and Priscilla Mullen 
of the ••.Mayflower." Jam\;s Rogers came to 
New England in the ship '•Increase" in 1635, 
when twenty years of age. Stopping for a lime at 
Stratford, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel 
Rowland. At a later time he was found in Milford, 
where his wife united with the church under the 
pastoral care of Rev. Prudden in 1645, and he in 
1652. In i6(5o James Rogers removed to New Lon- 
don, where he became prosperous and influential. 
Six times he was sent as a representative to the (Gen- 
eral Court. His sons and daughters were men ami 
women of character and energy. They were ; Saiu- 
uel, Joseph. John, Bethsheba, James and Jonathan, 
fronii whom have come many of the naiue in Con- 
necticut. 



1 46 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Tlie late Hervcy Kuq-ers was born Jan. 19, 1805. 
in the town of Alidtllctown. Conn., and married 
Elizal)cth .\. Tryon, who was born in 1S07. Tlie 
nine children born to them were: (i) George W ., 
who died in 1880, was |)ostma.ster in Meriden under 
the administration of i 'resident Lincoln, and prev- 
ious to that doorkeeper of the House of Representa- 
tives, at Washington, 1). C. ; (2) Hervey is a resi- 
dent of Meriden: (3) Watson Brewer was lost at 
sea in 1S57; (4) Cephas B. ; (5) Gilbert and (0) 
Wilbur J*', compose the firm of C. Rogers & Broth- 
ers : (7) Isaljella \'irginia died in childhoDd : (8) 
Isabella \'irginia (2) is the wife of l^gbert \'oung : 
(g) X. Burton, who servetl in the Civil war as a 
drummer boy in Company C, 7th Conn. \ . 1., under 
Capt. Joe Hawdey (who later becaiue a major gen- 
eral, then governor of Connecticut, and is now a 
United States Senator), has been for years a prom- 
inent and influential citizen of I)anhur\-, Conn., 
where he is engaged in business as the ijresident of 
the Rogers Silver Plate Co. of that city, and the 
largest stockholder in the Russell-Tomlinson Electric 
Com])any. In 1849 the family remioved from Say- 
brook to Meriden, wdnere the father took the man- 
agement of the "Rogers Hotel," and there remained, 
rearing his children to useful manhu. id ami woman- 
hood. The parents were deeply religirnis people, 
plain and unostentatious, and commanded the esteem 
and respect of their many acfpiaintances. Mr. Rog- 
ers died in 1882, and Mrs. Rogers in i88g. 

Cephas B. Rogers, the senior member of the firm 
of C. Rogers & Bros., is a nati\e of the town of 
Saybrook, L'onn.. where he was born Dec, 30, 1836. 
His early schooling was obtained in the common 
schools of Meriden, whither the family had moved 
when he was thirteen years of age. I'art of his 
boyhood was passed in a neighl.ioring factory where 
tinware and japanned goods were made, and it was 
there that he early develojied that energy and al)ilit\' 
which so largelv determined his future success. He 
was accusti imed to rise at foiu" o'clock in the morn- 
ing to do the chores, and the pre])aratorv work of 
the da\ , and bis habits and systematic methods of 
work were nr.teworthy. .\ better opening soon came, 
when be was offered a position a> clerk in the office 
iif a hnnber and coal company. When be was some- 
what older, he resimied his studie-- and completed 
his schooling in the Meriden .\c;i(lenv\. While as- 
sisting his father in the hotel he dis|ilayt'd an apti- 
tude for that line of work, and \\;is engaged as 
clerk in the "Xew llaven House." where he re- 
mained until 18O3. Those were stirring times, and 
'his positiDii affiirded him the opportunitx of a wide 
ac(|naintance with men, especialK' with the political 
and military leaders of the State, as that hostelry 
was their ])rincii)al rendezvous in the cit\-. To this 
flu'u young man was given the iirivilege of accom- 
panying .Mr. Lincoln, when that distinguished visitor 
ma<le addresses in the State, introducing re])resenta- 
tivc citizens to him. The enthusiasm of ^^r. Rogers 
for the Republican party carried him upon the ros- 



trum for the discussion of the great questions of the 
day. His read} 'speech and wide knowledge of the 
political situation made him an agreeable and suc- 
cessful public speaker, and when Mr. Lincoln was 
inaugurated president, i\Ir. Rogers visited Washing- 
ton to share in the eclat of the great occasion. 

In 1863 Mr. Rogers left the "New Haven House" 
to take charge of the "Wadawanock House," at 
Stonington, Conn., and later was host of the "St. 
Denis Hotel." a famous New York establishmient. 
In both of these engagements Mr. Rogers was very 
successful, and accumulated a goodly sum of money, 
but his health was broken by the close confinement, 
and he was obliged to return to Meriden for recup- 
eration. It was during this period that the partner- 
ship of C. Ro.gers & Bros, was planned, and it was 
entered into in February, 1866. Our sul)ject's two 
brothers, Gilbert and Wilbur F.. were skilled manu- 
facturers of silver-plated ware, and there appeared 
to be room in the business world for a new- com- 
pany and a new factory in that line. Beginning in 
a small way, the silver-plating industrv of C. Rogers 
& Bros, has advanced imtil it hasi now become one of 
the principal establishments in Meriden. and chal- 
lenges the admiration of all who are familiar with 
its inception and growth. About three hundred 
hands are steadily employed, and so successfully is 
the institution managed that the doors are never 
closed save for holidays or inventorv. The products 
of the factory are ranged in three departments : sil- 
ver plated spoons, forks, knives and table ware, the 
manufacture beginning with the metals from which 
the goods are finally made : casket trimmings and 
undertakers' supplies : furniture hardware. In one 
or more of these departments business is always 
brisk. The manufactured products of C. Rogers & 
Piros. have a world-wide reputation. The foreign 
shipments are large, going to Europe. Australia and 
South America. So fully does the company enjoy 
the confidence of its numerous and widely-scattered 
patrons, and so exactly do all its goods correspond 
to the statements concerning them, that the entire 
business is comlucted from the ofifice in Meriden. 
The Rogers give their personal supervision to the 
workings and ]iroducts of all their great factory. 
By strict inte.grity. by honorable and prompt methods 
of business, and bv close attention to every depart- 
ment, C. Rogers & ISros. commend themselves to all 
the markets of the world, and have won a reputation 
that is liest measured by the constant .growth of 
their business from year to year. The aim of the 
three brothers in their manufacturing enterprise is 
not money making for the sake of money alone, 
but chiefly for the .good wdiich may be done through 
it. so that the marked pros|)erity they have won 
serves a hi.gh moral end. They arc not only jirom- 
inent in business, but also in social and religious 
circles. They are Methodists, and have been sfrcat- 
ly interested in the fortune of the Mrst Methodist 
Church, to which they all belong. Cephas P>. Rog- 
ers has served on the official board of that church 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



147 



since 1866, and is now president of the board of 
trustees. In the denomination at larsje lie is well and 
favoraI)ly known, and his ability has given dignity 
and standing to the governing bodies of the church. 
In 18S8 he was president of the Lay Conference, in 
i(;oo was lav delegate to the (leneral Conference at 
C hicago. For twenty years he has been trustee of 
the Weslevan University in Middletown. In Mcri- 
den lie has taken much interest in local matters, and 
the schools of the city have engaged his special at- 
tention. For six years he was a valued niemlier of 
the city council. In i8S<i Mr. Rogers visited hJig- 
land and France. 

The vounger brothers, who arc older in the sil- 
ver-plating business, in which they have been en- 
gaged for almost half a century, are most substantial 
and useful citizens, enterprising and public-spirited, 
and have contributed very largely of their time and 
monev, as well as personal effort, toward the building 
of Meriden and the uplifting of their fellow men. 

Cephas B. Rogers was married in 1870 to 
Mar,garet, daughter of Dr. Peter F. and .\nna M. 
Claris, of Xew York City. Mrs. Rogers is a Chris- 
tian ladv, beloved in her church and highly esteemed 
in the society of Meriden. Their home is the Rog- 
ers homestead in Meriden, beautifully located in 
North Colony street, from which is dispensed a gen- 
erous hospitality. Mrs. Rogers is the granddaugh- 
ter of Dr. J. Clark, a Presbyterian minister. Her 
great-grandfather, grandfather and father were all 
graduates of Yale College. She is an aunt of John 
I'oster Carr, another Yale graduate, .and also a grad- 
uate of Oxford University, the famous English in- 
stitution, who sustains ([uite a reputation in the 
literary circles of London, England. Mrs. Rogers is 
a member of Susan Carrington Clark Chapter D. .A.. 
R., of Meriden, and is much esteemed in all circles, 

WILLI. \M TllK iEWELL, one of the ol-ler and 
more venerable employes of the Winchester .\rms 
Co., at Xew Haven, where he holds the creditalile 
jjosition of superintendent of the Water Shops at 
W'hitneyville, was born in Sheffield, England, Jan. 
7. 182^). a son of James Tidgewell, a native of the 
same city. 

James Tidgewell came to the United States very 
earlv in the ccnturv, and s])ent a few years in Xew 
York. .About 18,^), hi' came to Middletown, Conn., 
where he enga,ged in business as a maker of car- 
penters sf|uares, bevels, printers articles and similar 
goods. In En.gland he had been an engineer. His 
death occurred in Middletown about 1863. .Ann 
Eaton, who became his wife, was born in Sheffield, 
England, and died many \ears a.gtx She was the 
mother of five children; James, William, Eliza, 
Elizalieth and I'annie. Of these James became a 
mechanic, and lived in Middletown most of his life, 
altbou.gh he died in I'irooklyn : Ediza is the widow of 
AN'illiam J. I'owen, formerK- chief of police of Xew 
Haven city, and for a ))eriod of years assistant super- 
intendent of the Slate Reform School at Meriden, 



Conn.; Elizabeth, now deceased, married ( ieorge -M. 
Pratt, formerly superinten<lent of the X'iclor Sewing 
Machine Co., at Middletown, and now a |)rominent 
merchant and coal dealer: I'"annie is the widow of 
Dwi.ght E. ISailey, of .Middletown, who was for 
thirty years connected with the Pope .Manufacturing 
Co., of Hartford, Conn., as contractor. 

William Tidgewell came to .\\-\v \ovk when sev- 
en years of age, and attended the city schools of that 
place and of Middletown. b"arl\- in life he was aji- 
jjrenticed to the machinist's trade, and when he was 
twenty-one associated himself in business with his 
father to manufactm-e the line of specialties alreadv 
noted. In i8((o .Mr. Tidgewell entered into business 
relations as contractor with the Sava.ge .Arms Co., 
of Middletown, and was couni'cted with that insti- 
tution until i8()5, when the company went (Jut of 
business. For aliout a year and a half Mr. Tidge- 
well was with the Hubbard Hardware Co., of .Mid- 
dletown. In i8f)7 he was cnga.ged by the Remington 
Arms Co., of llion, .X. \'., and worked (Uit a contract 
for twenty thousand guns for the Danish govern- 
ment. Air. Tiilgewell is distinguished f(jr being the 
first mechanic to make ,ginis by machinery for the 
Remington people. Following this he was employed 
as contractor by the X'ictor Sewing Machine Co., 
of Middletown, for fiftei-n years: and in Meriden 
he worked three years for the .Malleable Iron Co., 
after which he was employed for a time in a factory 
at -Milford. In .April, 1888, Mr. Tidgewell came 
to Xew Haven to take a ])osition as tool maker for 
the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., and after a 
year and a half at this work was made superintend- 
ent of the Water Shops of the company, and for 
twelve years the work in tliis department has been 
under his direction. Mr. Tidgewell is n<jted for 
his ability, and for his strict and unwavering atten- 
tion to business. On Ma\- 6, i84(). .Mr. Tidgewell 
was married to Sarah .\. Kelsey, of Cromwell. Conn., 
a daughter of Calvin Kelsey, and a descendant of an 
old Xew England family. .\lrs. Tidgewell died leav- 
ing a family of three children : Sarah, now deceased ; 
IT'ederick, a mechanic who for It f teen years has been 
with the Winchester .\rms Co. : and Florence, tin- 
married. In politics Mr. Tid.gewell takes verv little 
interest. In religion he and his family are Uni- 
versalists. 

XORRIS M. JOILXSOX (deceased) was for 
many years one of the successful and prominent 
farme:rs of Hamden, Xew Haven county, his entire 
life being passed on the old homestead, where he 
was born Jan. 2t,. 1835, a .son of Hezekiah and 
Iletsey (Little) Johnson. The father was born on 
the same fami in 1808. and died there in 1845. 1" 
his family were the following children: Hezekiah: 
Charles: Lorenzo: .Alonzo: S\lvanus, a resident of 
Iowa and the only son now living: Xorris M.; and 
l-'rances, the wife of I'^zra Stiles, of Xorth Haven. 

The early life of .Xorris M. Johnson was spent 
imder the ])arental roof, and his literarv education 



148 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



was received in the conmion sdiools of the locahty. 
He soon became famiHar witli every department of 
farm work, and also witli brick making, his father 
being- engaged in the latter occupation in connection 
with farming. Mr. Johnson continued to reside on 
the old homestead throughout life, and for a great 
many years he also devoted a part of his time to 
the manufacture of bricks. 

On March 29, 1858, he was united in marriage 
with Aliss Josephine M. Benham, who was born at 
Church Corners in the town of Hamden, March 24, 
1839, a daughter of Luther L. and Elizabeth (Hea- 
tcnj Benham, and granddaughter of Amos Ben- 
ham, all natives of Hamden. She is the oldest in 
a family of five children, the others being Willis, 
a prominent farmer of Hamden ; Dallas, who died 
in 1891 ; and Lydia, who died in Hamden ; and Liz- 
zie, who died in December, 1898. Our subject and 
his wife had two children: Charley, who was born 
Dec. 27, 1858, and died Feb. 5, i87'8; and Adelaide, 
who was born March 22, 1862, and died in Febru- 
ary, 1896, leaving two children — \\'illard Douglass 
Warren (who died when six years old) and New- 
ton H. \\'arren (born August 7, 1895). 

Mr. Johnson died March 4, 1898, honored and 
respected by all who knew him. He affiliated with 
the Democratic party, and' was a consistent and 
faithful member of the Baptist Church, where he 
sang in the choir for many years. Those who knew 
him best were numbered among his warmest 
friends, and no citizen in the community was more 
honored or highly respected. His estimable wife 
still resides on the old homestead. She was a mem- 
ber of the church choir for many years, and has 
always taken an active part in church matters. 

GEORGE HENRY SMITH. The name of 
Smith in the city of New Haven is associated with 
the extensive business done there by that family in 
the planting, growing and ^shipping of oysters. 
George Henry Smith was not only one of the pio- 
neers in that business in New Haven, but he has 
also been one of the most successful, the firm of 
G. H. Smith & Son being well known all over the 
countrv. His operations are carried on at City 
Point, New Haven and Providence, Rhode Island. 

George Henry Smith was bom in West Haven, 
Conn., Aug. 20, 1834, and was fourteen years of age 
when his parents moved to New Haven. His school- 
ing had not been neglected prior to this time, and 
after locating in New Haven he was a student in 
a private school tauglit by a Mrs. Nichols. Then he 
gratified a boyish love of adventure by shipping for 
the West Indies, and his years between fifteen and 
twenty-three were spent on the sea. In 1867. in 
association with his brother, Jeremiah Smith, he 
built a house on a vessel at Long Wharf, having 
j)rcvi()usly, in 1864, erected an oyster house on 
Ovstcr Point. In 1883 he built a large oyster house 
in Washington street, and in 1884 purchased his 
brother's interest in the business, which had grown 
to such an extent that in 1888 he found it necessary 



to erect his present oyster plant, on Oyster or City 
Point, where he cultivates 700 acres of oyster 
ground, having for his wholesale trade one gasoline 
and one steam boat of his own, and hiring a num- 
ber of others. The business is known all over 
the United States, and there is no more successful 
firm in this locality than that of G. H. Smith & 
Son, growers, planters, shippers and wholesale 
dealers in native oysters. The product of their 
grounds has been found satisfactory all over the 
country. 

On July 5, 1858, George Henry Smith was 
married to Miss Pauline M. Butler, of New Ha- 
ven, who passed away Oct. 8, 1864. Two children 
were born to this union : Grace E., who married 
Lewis W. Hulse, of Port JeiTerson, L. I., and 
Sarah P., who married Lewis W. Gates, of New 
Haven. The second marriage of Mr. Smith, cele- 
brated Nov. 6, 1865, was to Mary A. Babcock, of 
West Haven, who died Aug. 9, 1887, leaving five 
children : Harriet RL, Jeremiah C, Mabel A., Olive 
L. and Mildred L. Of this family, Harriet M. mar- 
ried S. Hamilton Nussbaum, of La Porte, Ind. 
Jeremiah C. (who is in business with his father) 
married Helen Lattin, of Shelton, Conn. IMabel 
A. married Albert E. Wilson, of New Castle, Del. 
On Aug. 20, 1888, Mr. Smith was united in mar- 
riage with Mabel Thomas, of Rushville, 111., a 
daughter of Chauncy T. Thomas, of New Haven. 
Mr. Smith has four grandchildren : Dorothy and 
Hamilton, daughter and son of S. Hamilton Nuss- 
baum ; Marion, daughter of Jeremiah C. Smith ; and 
Paul, son of Lewis W. Gates. 

In politics Mr. Smith is a Republican, but he 
takes no active interest in public affairs. His en- 
grossing business enterprises, his beautiful home, 
and his family ties and associations, sufficiently fill 
his days without tlie excitements of public life to 
add to his cares, while such honors would not in- 
crease the enjoyment of a quiet and home-loving 
citizen such as is George Henry Smith. 

DEACON NELSON WARREN MITCH- 
ELL. That deep religious conviction which in- 
duced the settlement of New England and gave to 
the Colonies their distinctive meaning still dwells in 
the hearts of many of the Puritan descendants. 
Deacon Mitchell, the subject of this sketch, is one 
of tile Ix'st-known citizens of the town of South- 
burv, where for many years he has been one of its 
most influential and representative farmers, but he 
is, perhaps, most widely known for his active and 
earnest church work. For nearly forty-two years 
he has been a deacon of the Congregational Church 
of South I'ritain. He became a member of the 
church in 1841, at the age of sixteen years, and 
has ever since been one of its most earnest wor- 
shipers. 

Deacon Mitchell is a descendant of one of the 
earliest New England settlers. He is of the seventh 
generation from" Matthew Mitchell, the founder of 
the familv in America, w^ho in 1635 migrated to 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



149 



America from England. The first winter this pio- 
neer spent in Charlestown. Mass., then in 1636 set- 
tled at Saybrook. I Ic successively lived at Wethers- 
ficld and Stamford, then joined the New Haven 
Colony, and died in 1645. The line of descent Id 
our subject was ihrou.cfh (2) David Mitchell, (3) 
Math.ew .Mifclu-11 and (4) Deacon Eleazer Mitchell, 
v.-ho was the first of the family to locate in South- 
bury. Deacon Eleazer ^litcIicU was the great- 
grandfather of our subject, and was born in the 
town (if Woodibury, Nov. 24, 1732. When oul\- 
(hree days old his mother died, and he was adoptetl 
and raised by Capt. Richard Bronson. He partici- 
pated in the French wars, became a large land 
owner, and a very prominent citizen of Xew Haven 
county. He died Feb. 3, 1810, aged eightv-seven 
years. His son. Warren Mitchell, was the grand- 
father of our subject. 

Cyrus Mitchell, son of Warren and father of 
our subject, married Avis Charlotte Pierce, who 
died in Soutlibury. 

Deacon Xelson Warren Mitchell was born on 
the farm in Southbury which he now occupies. May 
29. 1S25. His education was commenced in the 
common schools of Southbury. and completed in the 
academy at South Britain, to a farm near which 
town his parents moved when he was eleven years 
old. In 1S49 he returned to the old homestead, 
where he 'has ever since resided. 

On Feb. 28, 1849. Deacon Mitchell married Miss 
Edna Piatt, of South Britain, daughter of David 
Piatt, and to them were born three children : Ed- 
ward, proprietor of the New Haven Game and Nov- 
chy Co.. who married Carrie E. Bradley and has 
three children : Gertrude Elizabeth. Warren Elliott 
and Leroy Bradley; Annie C. who married H. C. 
Stalil. of Bellevue, Ohio, and has four children: 
Edna Rachel. Alice Emeline. IMarion Bell and Har- 
low Mitchell: and Charles W.. who died at the age 
of twenty-one years. Mr. Mitchell owns a well- 
improved farm of 170 acres, and conducts a gen- 
eral farming and dairy business. In politics h-e has 
been a Republican since the organization of that 
party, and he has held various k>cal offices, in 1882 
being elected representative to the State Legisla- 
ture. He is one of the most influential citizens of 
the town. His commodious home was erected in 
1812. an<l is one of the historical landmarks of the 
vicinity. 

LYON. ]"or generations the L\<ins of New 
Haven have been among the citv's intelligent and 
substantial citizens. ])rnminent among them Col. 
William Lyon, of the jjeriod of the Revolution, a 
number of whose children allied themselves by mar- 
riage with the first families of the city and locality — 
the Lewises. Linslcys. Bennetts and others. Richard 
Fitch Lyon, still of New Haven, though retired 
from active business life, has been one of the citv's 
leading residents. 

Several persons bearing the name of Lyon were 



found in the settling of New England at Dorchester, 
Roxbury, Salem and other points in the Massachu- 
setts colony, as early as 1635. A Richard Lvon 
was at Fairfield, Conn., as early as 1649. Thomas 
Lyon, probably a brother (says one authoritv ) of 
Richard, the Fairfield settler, bought land in 'Fair- 
field, in i(.)34. at which time he is first of record 
there. This property he sold in 1675. and removed 
to Greenwich, Conn. He was a large land owner 
in both places. There is a familv tradition, savs 
the "History of Rye, N. Y.," that Thomas Lvon, 'in 
company with John Banks, came from ^'orkshirc, 
England, and settled on the east bank of the I'.vram 
river. John Lyon. >, ,n of Thomas, was living in 
Greenwich. Conn., in 17 10. A John Lyon removed 
from the town of ( ireeuwich to Rye. in Westchester 
county, N. Y., and James Lyon, one of his descend- 
ants, was proprietor at one time of Byram Point. 
It is claimed by some that John Lyon, of Greenwich, 
Conn., was of Scottish origin. Again, there was a 
Henry Lyon at .\lilford. Conn., in 1645. who. says 
Savage, was a son of Richard, of l-'airfield. and nwr- 
ried a daughter of William Baleman. This Henry 
Lyon was of Fairfield in 1652. So much for some 
of the forerunners of the Lyons of Fairfield county, 
Conn., and contiguous territory. 

Col. William Lyon, of New Haven, referred to 
in the foregoing, born i\Iarch 6, 1748. a son of 
William and Elizabeth (Maltby) Lyon, married 
Lois Mansfield, born April 24. 1747, daug-hter of 
Lieutenant Nathan Mansfield, of New Haven, and 
a descendant of Richard Mansfield, one of the first 
settlers of New Haven, in 1639, through Major 
Moses and Deacon Jonathan Mansfield. Col. Will- 
iam Lyon was one of New Haven's literary charac- 
ters and foremost men of culture. He early ex- 
hibited remarkable mental power, having been pre- 
pared for Yale College at nine vears of age. He 
was the first cashier and at the head of the old New 
Haven Bank, incorporated in 1792. The last twen- 
ty-five years of his life, approximately speaking, lie 
devoted to intense reading. He possessed an extra- 
ordinary memory, and was considered one of the 
greatest antiquarians, and thoroughly versed his- 
torians in the United States. Although his pen 
enriched so many periodicals of his time, he could 
never be persuaded to publish any volume of ancient 
or modern history. This has been deeply regretted, 
as for fifty years he was the oracle of so many his- 
tories published by others. Col. Lyon died Oct. 
12. 1830. and his wife died Aug. 26, 1821. 

The following extract taken from a chapter on 
"New Haven in the Revolution," in the "Atwater 
History of New liaven,'' we judge refers to the 
home of Col. Lyon : 

Capt. William I.yoii resided in a house which stood 
where the Lyon Building now is (1886"). in Chapel street. 
While the British held possession of the town, as some 
ot them were passing down Chapel street on the opposite 
side from this house, a musketshot was fired at them from 
it< windows, which wounded one of them. It would ap- 



I50 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



piar that llic lamily. liaving vacaUd the liou-.t', <;oinc per- 
son hail iMitcri'd, gone upstairs anil fruin one of the win- 
dows had tlrod on this part of the enemy, and then fled 
liy some back way. The soldiers came across the street in 
great rage, and searched the rooms to find the person who 
fired upon them. Not finding him they committed con- 
siderable damage in the way of lireakiiig doors and wdn- 
dows. and liy ransacking ile>ks. drawers, and other re- 
jKisitories. and by tearing up and scattering papers. Two 
of the door^. one having a panel replaced where it had been 
da^hed out by the soldiers, and the other pierced by a 
mu-.ket ball, continued in use as long as the house re- 
mained. It was in this house that the "New Haven Bank," 
the " ijee-hive." was first establi>hed. 

W'illaril Lyiiii. soti of Levi ami Rutli (Fitch), was 
a liiK-al ilcscciiilaiit oi tlu- aiicii-iit family of Lyon in 
Scotland, wlieic in 1371, ."^ir John L\oti was Thane 
(Earl) of (ilanii-s. and in 1.^76 married the Princess 
Jane, ilanphter of Kino- Roljert IL and was Lord 
Chancellor of Scotland in 13S0. William Lyon, the 
first ancestor in this country, at the a.e;e of fourteen 
years, came Sept, 11, 1635, in the ship "Hopewell" 
and settled in Roxbtiry, .Mass. Willard Lyon was 
born Jttly 12, 1789, in .\shford, Conn, He came to 
New Haven when a young man and engaged in rtin- 
ning S'tage lines, in the emjiloy of John Babcock 
(then one of the largest stage proprietors in this 
section ). and on his own account ; after a long sick- 
ness, he gave up this occupation and was appointed 
the "Penny Post" (letter carrier) at the New Haven 
postofitice (there being at that time Init one stich 
official), but declining to conform his political prin- 
ci]>les to those of the administration iti power, the 
of^ce was given to a Democrat, .•ind Mr. Lyon was 
soon after a|)])ointe(l "City Sextnti" and "Hearse 
Leader," having charge of all city burials, wbich 
offlces he held for fifteen years, and at the time of 
his death. Mr. Lyon was an old line Whig, and 
took an active interest in politics and public affairs 
generallv. I'raternally he affiliated with Hiram 
Lodge, A. 1'. i.^- .\. M. and to..k all the Masonic de- 
grees ttp to and inchidiug th;it of the Knight TemjJ- 
lar ; he was grand t\ler of the (irand Lodge of Con- 
necticut. In religious contiection he was a memlier 
of Trinity Chtircb, to which his wife belonged. Will- 
ard Lyon married, Jutie I, i8i.V -Amanda Scarritt. 
who was born in Wallitigford, C"onii., .-Xpril iTi, i/ij,^, 
daughter of |nhn Scarritt, and three childreti were 
])orn to them, namely: ( 1 ) James Willard, borti 
June Id, 1SJ4, married I'.liz.a Kirbv, of Sti.niingtotl, 
.'^ept. II, 1S5J. He carried on business as a tailor 
in New llaven and Waterbttry. and in 1853 he re- 
moved to Chicago, 111., and was one of the most 
prominent merchant tailors in that city at the time 
<ii the great tire, in which bis store and contents 
were swept .Mwav-. 1 lis wife died -\tig. 2,S. 1885, 
leaving no ibildren, and be si h n afterward rettirned 
to Xew ll;i\-en in greatly iminiired heallb. lie is 
a member uf the I^piscoi)al Cbttrcb, and of Cleve- 
land Lodge, .\. 1'. & .\. M., one of the largest in 
Chicago. (2) i\ichard biteb is mentioned more 
fully below. (3I Ruth .Amanda, born June 27, 1832, 
married ( ieorge 1'". .Selleck. of Xorwalk, Conn.. I'eb. 



8, 1864, and thev are now residing on a farm in 
IJethany. Mr. Selleck was a volunteer in the 5th 
Conn, V. L, participating in most of the important 
battles of the Civil war, and was promoted to the 
rank of first lieutenant. In September. 1863, the 5th 
Regiment was transferred from the Army of the 
Potomac to 'Tennessee, and served with Sherman's 
armv in the l)attles about Chattanooga and the fam- 
ous march to the Sea ; he was wounded and cap- 
tured at Cedar .Mountain, where the Fifth was so 
badly cut up, and was confined a short time in Libby 
prison. After the war he served twenty years on 
the Xew Haven [tolice force, and is retired on a 
pension. Willard Lyon died Sejit. 22. 1849, and 
his wife Jan. 14, 1869: he was buried with the 
church service and the .Masonic ritual, his funeral 
being attended liy about two hundred Knights 
Templars and Masons, and a large assemblage of 
citizens. Savs a local paper: "In the death of 
Willard Lvon, City Sexton, the public has lost a 
good citizen and an honest man." 

John Scarritt. the father of Mrs. Lyon, was a 
son of Jatnes Scarritt, who was born in Dranford, 
Conn. He married Love Hall, of Wallingford, and 
settled in that town. Entering the army at the age 
of si.xteen years, he served with the Colonial troops 
in the French and Indian War. He was by trade a 
weaver, and being a man of goo<l education, was 
fi.ir man\- \ears a schoolmaster, and as "i\[aster'' 
Scarritt w^as well known and respected by his fel- 
low townsmen. He was among the first churchmen 
in the town, and was a Freemason. John Scarritt, 
his son, was also well educated, and he learned and 
carried on the trade of his father, and also became 
a schoolmaster, in time becoming one of the ])rom- 
inent men of Wallingford. An earnest member of 
the Episcopal Church, he conducted the services, 
when the Church was without a rector, and on com- 
ing to Xew Haven united with Trinity Church, of 
wliicb he was the oldest member at the time of his 
death. In middle life he came to New Haven. an<I 
was elected town clerk, the duties of which office 
he performed faithfuUv, until unfitted b\ the in- 
firmities of age: he was also a justice of peace, and 
it is w^orthy of note that in cases of appeal, his 
judicial decisions were sustained by the higher 
courts. His death occurred Oct. 18, 18.^4, and he 
was buried from 'iVinity Church. John Scarritt 
married Eunice, daughter of Merriman Cook, of 
Wallingford, May 24, 1792, and they had a family 
of two sons and four daughters: (i) .Amanda 
(Mrs. L\on): 12) Lydia, born July 2, 1797: (3) 
Marcus Cook, b<u-n l"eb. 21, 1800: (4) Eunice Lou- 
isa, born I'eb. 2(1. 1803: (5) James, born .April 17, 
i8od: and (')i Xancv Love, born .May 11, 1810, 
died .Ma\- \l>. 181 i. ()f these Lvdia married Judge 
John Davenport ReMiolds. of Wallingford, .March 

18, 1824: and luinice Louisa married Clement Peers, 
son of Deacon .\athan T'ecrs, of Xew Haven, .Aug. 

19, 1830, 

Deacon Xathan fieers, the father of Clement 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



'5' 



l^eers. was lioni in Siratford. l-'ch. 24. 1753. In 
1754. his pan-nts rciiioved to Xcw Haven, lie was 
a charter nu-niher of the Second coni])any. Govern- 
ors I'^jot (iuards, an<l went with fortv nieniliers of 
the comixuiy to L'anihridg-e in April, 1775. ( )n Jan. 
13' '^777- 1'^' received a commission as ensis^n from 
Gov. TrumhiiU. of Connecticut, and on .March 23, 
1778, was commissione<l a lieutenant in the army 
of the L'nited States: in May, 177?^. was made ]jay- 
master : and in July, 1788, the rank of ca|)tain by 
brevet was conferred upon him. He was one of the 
ofificers to whose care .Major Andre was committed 
during- the ])eriod from his capture to his execu- 
tion, and he received frnm that unfortunate officer 
a sketch of himself drawn by his own pen after his 
sentence; this sketch is now in the possession of \'alc 
College. On May J'l. 1781, he married, at .\"ew 
Haven, Mary Phelps, daughter of John I'helps, 
Esq., of Stafford. Conn, After the war .Mr. Beers 
engaged in mercantile business, and was for twenty 
years steward of Yale Collefe. .\ man of strong 
reli.gious princijjles, he was for many years deacon 
in the North (Congregational) Church. He died 
Feb. 10, 1849, lacking onlv fcjurteen days iif ninety- 
five years of a.ge. 

Ruii.\Ki) I'lTCii LvoN, son of W'illard antl 
Amanila ( Scarritt) Lyon, born ( )ct. 3, 1826, in New 
Haven, married, Oct. g, 1853. Josephine, youngest 
(laughter of Henry Becker, of Chatham Center, N. 
Y. Richard F. Lyon received his elementary edu- 
cation through the instruction of his grandfather; 
John Scarritt. in a private school ke]n by Rev. Smith 
Dayton, a retired Methodist preacher, and also in 
classes of the Young Men's Institute, of which he 
was a director and treasurer. In 1841 he be,gan 
clerking in a drv goods store, and later served as a 
clerk in the post office for a period in the forties, 
receiving his appointment as such through Henry 
Huggins, under the administration of William Hen- 
ry Harrison. In 1849, soon after the organization 
of the .-Kmerican Mutual Life Insurance Co., in Xew 
Haven, Mr. Lyon entered the company as a clerk 
and became its secretary, and for a mnnber of years 
most efficiently performed the responsible duties of 
that office ; he was also secretarv and treasurer of the 
Fair Haven Water Co., until its consolidation with 
the Xew Haven Water Co. During the last two 
terms of office of Hon. X^. D. Sperry, as postmaster 
of Xew Haven. Mr. Lyon was cashier in the post- 
office. He was elected city clerk in 1894, re-elected 
in 1896, and served until June l. 1899, since when 
he has lived retired. 

Mr. Lvon's earliest religions connections were 
with the Trinitv Church, in which lie held the of- 
fices of clerk and vestryman, and he is now a mem- 
ber of that Church. Having taken an active inter- 
est in the mission of Christ Church, established by 
Trinitv I'arish on Broadwav, he became one of the 
founders of the present Christ Church I'arish, in 
which he held the offices of clerk. vestr\nian. ward- 
en, and was a member of the choir, and was fur 



The children of 
( I'.ecker ) Lyon are : 
Aug. 8, 1856. marriec 
sephine, daughter of 
.graduate of the Xew 



several years direi-tor of music. He lias been active 
and proiuinent in musical circles in the citv, having 
been a member of the .Xew Haviii Musical .\ssocia- 
ti<Mi and its secretary, a member and one "f the 
board of directors of the .Mendelssohn .'>cieiet\, and 
active in other choral organizalinns. 

At the age of eighteen years Mr. L\iin enlisted 
in Com])any A ( .Xational Blues), Lu^dn .\rtillery. 
Second i-iegiment Connecticut Militia, rising to the 
rank of first lieutenant, resigning his commission in 
October, 1837. on account of business engagements. 
I'olitically Mr. Lyon has lieen a stanch Republican 
from the formation of the party, and is a member 
of the '^'oinig Men's Repulilican Club. l-"raternally 
Mr. Lyon is affiliated with Hiram Lodge, Xo. I, A. 
V. & A. M., (if Xew Haven, and socialK' belongs to 
the Xew Haven Colons- Historical .Societ\-. It i.-; 
needless to add that he connnands the res[iect and 
esteem of his fellow citizens, for one has but to read 
between the lines, to judge of his useful and prom- 
inent career. 

Richard I-~. and Josephine 
( I ) Richanl Becker, born 
May II), 1884, .Xellie Jo- 
Tereiuiah Barnelt. He is a 
Haven high school and the 
Sheffield Scientific; School, and is a jirofessor of mu- 
sic. He is a member of Trinity Chm-ch and of the 
Young Men's Republican Clul). (2) Josejihine 
.■\manda, born Xov. 15, i8<'>2. graduated, i8(j8, from 
the New York Training .School for Deaconesses, 
and in the autumn of the same vear was "set 
apart" to the work of a deaconess In Bishop I'ot- 
ter of Xew York. ( ,^ ) James Robinson is men- 
tioned below. 

J.V.MRS Roi!i.\s().\" LvoN' was born Jan. 28. 1867, 
in New Haven, where he received a thorough edu- 
cation in the ]niblic schools. \\. the age of fifteen 
years he commenced work for F. S. Bradlev iS: C'o., 
wholesale hardware merchants, ren-iaining with them 
until Jan. i, i8()i. when he associated himself in 
business with D. T. Mallet (in the same line), and 
in September, i8tj2, with .Xewton H. Cox, purchased 
the entire business, and the firm is now Cox & 
Lyon. They have an ujj-to-date store, 25x13,^ feet 
in dimensions. ^Ir. Lyon has l)een verv active in 
various circles in this city. He is a stanch Repub- 
lican, and a prominerit member of the 'S'oung .Men's 
Republican Club, in which he has served as a i-neni- 
ber of the executive committee, rece[)tion committee 
and house con-imittee, of which latter he was chair- 
man for two years. On Xov. 5, 1885, he joined the 
Xew Haven Grays, in which he served five years, 
during which jieriod he became C(-)rporal and secre- 
tary. In 1886 he joined the Governor's l^oot 
Guard, l-'ratcrnallv he is a member of Hiram Lodge, 
.\. F. & A. .M.: the \\'(-iodmen of the World: the 
l'nited Workmen: and the L O. R. M,' 

On Jan. 23, i8()9. Mr. Lyon was miited in mar- 
riage with Miss Marion Stiles, a native of Roches- 
ter, X. W, the onlv child of .\lbcrt C. Stiles, who 



15- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



now resides in Xew Haven. Two children have 
been born to this union : Ida Becker and Henry 
Stiles. The family attend Christ Church. 

HOX. WILLI A AI SKINNER BEECHER, cx- 
director of public works of the city of New Ha- 
\cn, former State senator from the Eighth Dis- 
trict, and for nearly a third of a century superin- 
tendent of what is now known as the Diamond 
Match Co., at W'estville, is a man of j^rominence 
in the public afl'airs of his town and county. 

Air. Beccher was born Oct. 8, 1839, in the 
town of Plymouth (now changed to Thomaston), 
Conn., son of the late Anson and Nancy (Benton) 
Beccher, and grandson of Wheeler Beecher, who 
was born in 1754, in W^oodbridge, Conn. His ma- 
ternal grandfather, Ebenezer Benton, was a native 
of Litchfield (now called Morris), Conn. Both 
were of English ancestry. 

Anson Beecher was I)()rn in Watertown, Conn., 
Oct. 19, 1805, and died April 7, 1876. He mar- 
ried Nancy Benton, who was born Aug. 17, 1803, 
and died Jan. 13, 1884. They were plain and tni- 
assuming people, whose lives commanded the re- 
spect and esteem of the community in which they 
lived. After marriage Mr. Beecher located in Mor- 
ris. Litchfield Co., Conn., and about 1853 moved j 
to New Haven, establishing the fVrm of A. Beecher ] 
& Sons, manufacturers of matches. _ j 

Our subject received such privileges for obtain- 
ing an education as the neighborhood district schools 
afforded, but like thousands of young men of his 
period his business career was broken in upon by 
(he outbreak of the Civil war, he being among the 
number who hastened to uphold the flag of his 
country. Enlisting July 16, 1862, in Company E, 
15th Conn. Y. I., he performed efficient duty as 
first sergeant, and saw three years of active serv- 
ice, retiring with a creditable war record. The 15th 
was mustered into the L^nited States service at 
Cam|) Lyon, Oyster Point. New Haven, Aug. 25, 
1862. under the command of Col. Dexter R. Wright, 
of New Haven, and later was under Col. Charles L. 
I'pham. of Aleriden, Conn., and became a part of 
the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 9th Army Corps, un- 
der Gen. Burnside. This regiment participated in 
the battles of Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862; 
Edenton Road, Va., April 24, 1863; Providence 
Church Road, Va., May 3, 1863; siege of Suffolk, 
April 12. 1863; and Kinston, N. C, March 8, 1865. 
Young Beecher shared the fate of the command, 
bearing an honorable and gallant part throug'hout 
the campaign. On March 8, 1865, he was cap- 
tm-ed by the cnemjV, confined for a short time in 
I.ihh\- prison, was paroled March 26, 1865, and 
was discharged from the L'nited States service with 
his company and regiment June 27, 1865. 

Rcturniirg from the war to his home, our sub- 
ject soon entered the match factory of .-K. Beecher 
Ik Sons, at Westville, and was there made super- 
intendent, wliich pnsitidU he must efficiently and 



creditably filled for nearly a third of a century, 
severing his connection in 1 897. This business later 
was transferred to the Swift, Courtney & Beecher 
Co., and in 188 r to the Diamond Match Co., and 
has become an industry of considerable magnitude 
and importance, the latter company now having a 
capital of $15,000,000, and controlling the match 
industry of the United States. 

In his political affiliations Mr. Beecher is a Re- 
publican, and has done good service for the party, 
in whose councils he has long been an influential 
and prominent factor. His tastes and natural equip- 
ment have fitted him for public life, and he has 
honorably and efficiently discharged every official 
duty. For a period of ten years he has served as 
selectman for the town of New Haven, thus pre- 
paring for his service in the General Assembly, 
where he well represented the Eighth District dur- 
ing 1897-9S; he was chairman of the committee on 
Claims. His term of service was marked by many 
wise acts of legislation, and his influence was felt 
in many ways. Mr. Beecher possesses executive 
abilitv of a high order, and his appointment as 
trustee of the Connecticut School for Boys gave 
most general satisfaction. Socially he is connected 
with the Republican League and the Young Men's 
Republican Club of New Haven, and also belongs 
to Admiral Foote Post, G. A. R., taking a promi- 
nent part in the work of all these organizations. 

The marriage of our subject to Fannie Char- 
lotte Hopkins, a native of Westville, was celebrated 
July 31, 1862. She passed away June 28, 1898. 
Mrs. Beecher's father. Isaac Hopkins, yet lives in 
Westville, now (1002) over ninety years of age. 

HENRY J. BRISTOL, one of Milford's enter- 
prising business men, was born May 4, 1830, and has 
always resided in that town. His ancestors were 
early settlers in Milford. His grandfather, Jehial 
Bristol, was born there Aug. 30. 1765, and followed 
farming and shoemaking in the locality many years, 
his death occurring Nov. 28, 1858. at the age of 
ninety-three. Jehial Bristol married Martha Beech- 
er, who was born in Orange, Conn., Nov. i, 177^' 
and they had seven children, viz : Miranda, bom 
Dec. 29, 1798, and Clarence, born Dec. 23, 1800, died 
in childhood; Willis, born July 15, 1804, was a shoe 
manufacturer in New Haven : Johnson, our subject's 
father, is mentioned below ; Alartha C. married AVill- 
iam Thomas, of West Haven, a seafaring man ; Hi- 
ram, born Oct. 6, 1817, was a shoemaker by trade 
and died in New Haven: and Lucia, horn Oct. 21, 
1820, who married Samuel Sanford. 

Johnson Bristol was born in Milford Nov. 19, 
1807, and learned the shoemaker's trade with his 
father. Later he opened a grocery store, which he 
conducted for many years, retiring some time before 
his death in 7 89r. He was prominent in local af- 
fairs, first as a \\'hig and then as a Republican, and 
at one time he represented the town in the Legisla- 
ture. His wife, Elizabeth Davidson, was born in 




Lu7-i>cy, ^ 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



153 



Milford ; she was a daughter of Ricliard David- 
son, a carpenter of that town, and her death oc- 
curred July 10, 1893. Nine children were born to 
them, as follows : Henry J., who is mentioned more 
fully Kelow : Jane, horn Aul;. 14. if^.^i: juhnson, 
born Nov. 6, 1833; Ann M., born Aug. 6, 1835; 
Theodore, born Feb. 18. 1839; Harriet, born June 11, 
18 — : Elizabeth, born Sept. 12, 1842; Charles, born 
June 22. 1849: and Edson, born June 9, 1832. 

Henry J. Bristol was educated in the common 
schools of 2\Iilford. and during his youth learned 
the shoemaker's trade, which he followed only one 
vcar. For three years he worked in the straw fac- 
tory in Milford, but he then took a position as clerk 
in a grocery, and in 1872 he opened his present 
grocery, which he has conducted independently, 
never liaving had a partner. His family are mem- 
bers of the Congregational Church. He belongs to 
the Masonic fraternity. For many years he has 
been an active worker in the local Democratic organ- 
ization, and at one time served as assessor. 

On June i, 1856, Mr. Bristol married Miss Em- 
ma .\. Thomas, of New Haven, and they have one 
son, Frank, now a bookkeeper in Xew York. Mrs. 
Bristol belongs to a well-known family of West Ha- 
ven, and her father. Asahel Thomas, and grand- 
father, Augustus Thomas, were both sea-faring 
men. Asahel Thomas, who died in West Haven 
Sept. 6, 1849, niarried ^lary Kimbcrly, daughter 
of Eliakim Kimberly. a farmer of West Haven, 
and they had seven children, namely: Charlotte 
M., deceased, who married James Everetts, of 
"Wcstville : Hawlcy C, deceased, formerly a car- 
penter in Xew Haven : Louisa A., who married 
Richard G. Stokes, a marble dealer; Jane E., who 
married Cornelius Benedict, a merchant in New 
York, now deceased : Emma A., wife of our subject.; 
William L., a railway conductor; and Henry E., a 
mechanic in New Haven. 

EDWIN MYERS PRATT, a well-known and 
highly esteemed citizen of Meriden, Conn., has de- 
scended from one of the old and honorable families 
of New England. 

Lieut. William Pratt came from the parish of 
Stevenage, in Hertfordshire. England, to New Eng- 
land, supposedly with Rev. Thomas Hooker, in 
1633, settling at Newtown, now Cambridge, Mass. 
Lieut. Pratt was a son of Rev. William and a grand- 
son of .Andrew Pratt, and the great-grandson 
of Thomas Pratl. of Baldock. From Cambridge, 
Mass., he went to Hartford, Comi., in 1636, and 
later to .Saybrook. His marriage was to Eliza- 
beth, the daughter of John Clark, who first lived in 
Savbrook and later in Milford. Lieut. Pratt was a 
large land owner in Savbrook, and from 166*;) to 
1678, the year of his death, he was deputy to the 
General Court, serving at twcntv-three sessions. 

Deacon Nathaniel Pratt, son of Lieut. William, 
the settler, born alwut iT/w. married first. May 2, 
1688, Sarah Beaumont, who died Oct. ir. 1716, 



aged fiftv-five years. Deacnn Pratt lived on Essex 
Point, was a large land holder and was also en- 
gaged in mercantile pursuits. J^ir many years he 
\va"s a deacon in the Second Congregational Church 
at Saybrook, antl held other iniixjriant offices in 
the church and town, probably dying in 1744. this 
being the \ear in which his will was probated. 

Hezekiah Pratt, son of Deacon Nathaniel, was 
born on Jan. 9, 1701, and married Ann (name not 
given). He succeeiled his father in the mercan-tilc 
business, and died Oct. 4, 1786. 

Tabor Pratt, son of Hezekiah, was born in 1751, 
and married Mary Brcckway, a daughter of Rich- 
ard Pirockwax , and they resided in W'e.stbrook, 
Conn., where he died Nov. 22, 1829. 

Tabor Pratt (.2), son of Tabor, was b(jrn m 
1780, and married in 1S14 Sarah CoiTord. (jI Soulli 
Carolina, and they had a family of eight children; 
Susan, who married Capt. James Post; y\lbert; 
Oliver; John; Mary, who first married Wilson Ste- 
vens and second Daniel tlubbard, of Ivillingworth ; 
Edwin Myers ; John ; and Frank. 

Tabor Pratt "was a ship carpenter by occupation, 
and moved from Saybrook, Conn., to South Madi- 
son, Conn., and there followed his trade, which at 
that time was a flourishing one all along the river. 
His death occurred in Madison, and there his re- 
mains lie. The mother died in North Killingworth, 
where she was known for her exemplary life and 
kind, neighborly actions. In politics Tabor Pratt 
was a stanch Deinocrat. 

Edwin Myers Pratt was born in the town of 
Madison, Conn., Nov. 4, 1831, and was but an in- 
fant when Iris father died. This was very unfortu- 
nate for him, as it was necessary for him to find 
a home among strangers. When only seven years 
old he was bound out as a farm boy to Charles Lane, 
of Clinton, the arrangement being for him to remain 
until he was si.xteen years of age, and receive his 
board and clothes for his services. The matter of 
education did not interest his employer, and the lad 
had scarcely any chance, a couple of terms in the 
winter covering every educational opportunity. 
The discipline on the farm was strict and the work 
laborious, and when the boy saw a ehance to better 
his condition he ran away, and in July, 1846, started 
for Madison, earning on the way the first twenty- 
five cent piece that he ever owned. Young Pratt 
.felt pretty sure that he could obtain some kind of 
a berth on one of the coasting vessels after he 
reached Madison, and was not mistaken, being ac- 
cepted as cook on a vessel engaged in trade along 
the coast. This occupation he followed on various 
vessels for seven years. Giving up life on the 
water at this time, he returned' to North .Madison, 
and for four years engaged in charcoal bm-ning, and 
then came to Meriden, Conn., to accept a position 
as a farmer with John Plumb. Here also Mr. Pratt 
remained a long period, and after his six years of 
experience on this farm, was employed as a team- 
ster in 1862 bv the venerable Charles Parker. For 



IE4 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



three years he faithfully carried out 'Sir. Parker's 
wishes, and so gaineil iiis ci mtidence that he was then 
^asked to take charge of the Charles Parker farm, 
consisting of 300 acres, and l)etter stocked, perhaps, 
thaiii any farm in this vicinity. This business con- 
nection has lasted for thirty-seven years, to the satis- 
faction of both Mr. I'arker and .\lr. Pratt. The 
latter is a temperate, industrious man, devoted to 
the interests of his employer, and that he was highly 
appreciated by .Mr. Parker has Ijcen shown by many 
testimonials to that elTect. 

Mr. Pratt was married in (iuilfnrd. Conn., to 
Aliss Jane Davis, who was born in Madison, a 
daughter of Zina and .Amanda (Stevens) Davis, all 
of whom are among the highly respected people of 
Madison, The three children Ixirn to Air. and Mrs. 
Pratt were: Elbert E., born in January, 1859; 
Luther, who died young: and Jennie, at home. 

Mr. Pratt is socially connected with Meriden 
Center Lodge, Xo. 68, I. (). ( ). F. In politics he 
has always adhered to the principles of the Demo- 
cratic party. For forty years he has been a worthy 
and consistent member of the Methodist Church and 
is esteemed highly in the communitv. 

Elbp:kt E. Pu.ai'tT, son of Edwin Myers Pratt, 
attended the public schools, and when of sufficient 
age enteredi the screw shop of the Charles Parker 
Co., and later the coffee mill department, where he 
remained three years, accepting t'hen a position in 
the grocery store of H. L. Spencer. From there he 
went West and engaged in the shoe business in 
Milwaukee, Wis. L'pon his return to Meriden lie 
was employed for a period of six years by the 
Adams Express Co., and subsequently became a 
driver for the Fire Department, continuing four and 
one-half \'ears. He was a "call man" as volunteer 
in the I'ire Department before taking a regular 
position, his connection with the service covering a 
period of eleven _\ears. l-'or three years he was con- 
nected with a fire apparatus license as salesman. In 
1898 he embarked in t'he spring water business, ami 
now supplies the Meriden market. Elbert E, Pratt 
was married to Mary Mathews, a daughter of Amos 
Mathews, of Danbury, Conn., who died in Mil- 
waukee, an infant dying at the same time. His 
second marriage was in October, 1901, to ( Irace 
Risley, of b'.ast Hartford. Mr. Pratt, like his father, 
belongs to linth the Democratic party ami the C)d<l 
I'ellows, and is ver\- popular in this city. 

.XDR.M.W e'O.N'E HALL, whose death, on 
I"el). 24, i8<;2, remiovcd from Meridtn a well- 
known business man and prominent citizen, was 
lioni in the town of Middlefield, Middlesex Co.. 
Conn., Dec. 31, 1832, son of the late Harle\- and 
Martha ( Cone | liall. He was a lirother of Mrs. 
Levi Coe and the late Rufus Hall, of Meriden. 

The life <if .Xnruian Cone Hall began on a farm, 
and until he was fourteen years olcl he was more 
or less engaged in assisting in farm work, mean- 
time ])ursuing his education in the common schools 
of the locality. In those days it was quite usual 



for young men to carry goods by wagon through 
the farmmg districts for the accommodation of the 
housewives, who often found it impossible to go 
to the centers to supj^ly Miiall wants. In the ped- 
dling of trunks and tinware through the Xew Eng- 
land States Mr. Hall laid the foundations of his 
future commercial success, becoming thus self-re- 
liant and accustomed to the details of business. 
After he opened a grocery house in Meriden Mr, 
Hall was for a time associated with his brother 
Rufus, but later again ct)nducted the enterprise 
alone, directing everv eftort to its success, and con- 
tinuing for manv vears a leader in the grocery line 
in his city. At length, warned by failing health, 
he retired from activity, and spent the remainder 
of his days at his comfortable home in Butler street, 
in Meriden, his life peacefully ending on F'el). 24, 
i8(j2; he was burned in beautiful Walnut Grove 
cemetery, Meriden. Mr. Hall was especially noted 
for the way in which he lived up to the old- 
fashioned code of morals, which demanded a life 
of integrity in business and virtue in the domestic 
circle. Temperate in his habits, devoted to the wel- 
fare of his family, he was a valued citizen. He was 
a useful member of the Republican i^arty. 

The marriage of Xornmn Cone Hall took i)lace 
in Meriden, in 1854, to Miss Harriet Elizabeth 
Redfield, who was born in (Juilford, Conn., daugh- 
ter of Roswell Redfield. To Mr, and Mrs. Hall 
were liorn three children : Wilbur Eugene, who 
died at the age of five years ; Etlward Xorman, who 
resides at home : and Emma Louise, who married 
I'rederick Miller, and has one daughter, Martha 
Retlfield. Mrs. Hall, wdio makes her residence in 
the old home in lUitler street, in Meriden, is a lady 
of great intelligence, and enjoys life surrounded 
by her bcioks and in the companionship of friends, 
who with her sustain and ujihold the courtesies and 
refinements which ])ertain to tiie best social circles 
of the city. 

The Ri'.i)i-ii:i.n I'amily is one of the oldest fam- 
ilies in Xew England, and the ancestral records,, 
which reach far back in the past, are based on 
authentic annals. William Redfield, the founder 
of the familv in Xew England, had an only son, 
James, of wIkiui' it is jjroved that he was bound out 
in an appreuticeshi]i of five years to Hugh Roberts, 
of Xew London. Conn. There James settled, and 
his son, Theoi)hiliis Redfield, by his first marriage, 
was born in 1082, in the time of the reign of King 
Charles H of En.gland. Theophilus Reclfield settled 
in Killingworth, Middlesex county, where he fol- 
lowed the trade of carpenter and joiner. He mar- 
ried Priscilla, the comely daughter oi Daniel (Ireene, 
and became the father of thirteen children. He 
passed away Feb. 14, 1759, his wicK)w surviving 
until Jan. T2, 1770, and both were buried in Killing- 
worth. 

Daniel Redfield was born Sept. 22, 1707. eldest 
son of Theophilus. His residence was in the lo- 
cality now included in the town of Clinton. He 
was an ensi,gn in the 3d Companv of Colonial 




,n 



C>-^^ ^.z-^^^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



55 



troops, was with Col. F.Iisha Williams, of Wetliors- 
lleld. ami took jiart in the expedition against the 
Freneh, in Canada. l!y oecnpation he was a sea 
captain. L'apt. Daniel Kedtield died July ii, 1758. 
and his wife Mlizaheth passed away Xov. 2. 1775. 
They were the parents of seven children. 

Roswell Kedtield. a son of Ca])t. Daniel. Imrn 
Sei)t. 4. 1731. in (hiilford. Conn., also followed 
the sea. and he hecame the owner of vessels and a 
man of ini[)ortancc. His home was in Clinton. 
Conn. His marriaije. on June (\ 1755, was to 
Lucy Murry. who died Oct. 16. 175^). The second 
marriage of 1\oswell Rcdfield. on .\'ov. 21, 1758, 
was to Mehitahle I'ost. In 1764 he suffered the 
fate of many a brave mariner, his shi]) .goin.g down 
with all on hoard. .Mrs. Redfield married Capt. 
Samuel Crane J'eh. 21. 1770, and died luiie 12, 
1814. 

Martin Redfield. the grandfather of Mrs. Hall, 
was the only child of Capt. Roswell an<l Lucv 
(Murry) Redfield. and was born in Clinton June 
10. 1756. By trade he was a shij) carpenter. an<l 
he worked both in Middlesex county and in the 
town of Guilford, spending his last days in the 
latter place. Martin Redfield was a Revolutionarv 
patriot, and took part at the time of the Lexing- 
ton .-Marm : he entered the service from Killing- 
worth under Capt. .Samuel Cale, did his full duty 
through those vears of trial and de])rivation. and 
was a pensioner under the law enacted in 1832. 
Tin Aug. 26, 1778, Martin Redfield took as wife 
Lydia (^riffing, a daughter of Cajjt. Daniel and 
Martha (Case) Ciriffing. the former of whom was 
the commander of the privateer "Humbird," with 
seven men and four swivels, in 1775. ("iranchnother 
Lydia Redfield was born on Long Island in 1760, 
and died .Aug". 24, 1823: her husband, who sur- 
vived her until .April 30, 183,^, died in Cuilford. 
The three children born to Martin an<l Lydia 
RedifieM were: Roswell, born Feb. 3, 1780: Xa- 
thaniel, born Jan. 18, 1782; and Daniel Grifiing, 
born June 20, 1 789. 

Roswell Redfield. the father of Mrs. Hall, was 
born l-"eli. 3. 1780. in Guilford. Conn., and there 
his f|uiet, unostentatious life was passed, an in- 
dustrious career as carpenter and joiner l)rin.ging 
him a competencv. His death (Xcurred in Guil- 
ford .April 20. 1833. ( )n .Ai)ril 13. 1804, he was 
united in n^iarriagc to Harriet Stone, who was born 
in Guilford Feb. 2n. 1786, a daughter of l!enja- 
min and .M;irv Ann (W'atrous) Stone, Her death 
took ])lace in .Meridcn. Conn.. Inil she was buried 
in the old cemetery in Guilford. I'.oth parents had 
been consistent members of the I'.aptist Church. 
The familv born to Roswell and Harriet Redfield 
numibered nine children: l-'rederick William, born 
Xov. 19. 1805, (lied in .A))ril, 1845. at .-e;i : Daniel 
Stone, born in 1807, lived and died in Guilford; 
Frances Clarissa, born March 2f;, uSog. was mar- 
ried May 23. 1828, to Horace Rartlett, of East 
Haven; .Martin (irif¥ing was born .\\)r\\ 2'!<. 1811; 



John Watrous was born Dec. 11, 1814; .'^usan 
Jennette. born I'eh. 14, 1817, niarrivd Charles W. 
Richards; llenjamin Roswell wa> burn .Ma\' 11, 
]82i ; Lydia Griffing. born .\ug. 23. 1823. mar- 
ried George Heacli, of .Mrriden; and Harriet Fliza- 
beth. born |une I. 1829. luarried .X'orman C'one 
Hall. 

CART. MAT'rillAV i;i:,\TTV, one of the 
best-known Irish-Americans of .Meriden, Conn., and 
the pleasant and capable foreman of the glass cuttingr 
department of the Wilcox Silver Plate Co., was 
born in the town of Roscommon, comity Roscom- 
mon, Ireland, .Aug. 23, 1838, and there his father, 
Luke lieattv, was also born. 



Luke Beattv grew to manhood 



\\\ 



native 



county, and there married Aliss Bridget Kedian. 
In 1846 he brought his family to .America, and their 
first home was in Xew A'ork, where they remained 
until 1869, when they came to Meriden, and here 
the last years of Mr. and' Jvlrs. Beatty were spent. 
.After coming to this city Mr. Ik-atty was engaged 
in the ])acking department of the Wilcox Silver 
Plate Co. A family of nine children was born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Beatty, but four sons died in in- 
fancy. The others being: Matthew; fallen, who 
married P. J. (3'Rourke, of .Xew York : Luc\'. who 
resides in Meriden; Kate, who also resides in .Meri- 
den; and Elizabeth, who married W. J. AlcCaullift'e, 
of X^ew York. 

Matthew Beatty was but eight years of age 
when he reached the shores of this continent. His 
parents attended carefully to the matter of his edu- 
cation, and when of sufficient a,ge he was taught the 
trade of glass cutter, in the establishment of Tur- 
ner & Lane, of Xew York city, where he remained, 
learning every tletail of the business, until i8r>r). 
.At this time he accepted the ofi'er made him by 
the Wilcox Plating Co., of Meriden, and became 
their efficient foreman in the .glass cutting depart- 
ment, in the factory on Pratt street. l"or a period 
of thirty-six years Mr. Beatty has been tin- foreman 
of this very ini]>ortant branch of the business, hav- 
ing under 'his charge a force of fifty special work- 
men, and obtaining their service without friction, 
and to the satisfaction and advantage of his em- 
ployers. 

Captain l'>eatt\- obtained his official title as cap- 
tain of Company P>, 77th Xational (luards, serving 
in that capacity frotu 1864 to 1807. In his iiolitical 
symiiatbies he is a Democrat, and has ser\-ed the 
city in the council as a member from the Third 
ward. In the .Masonic fraternit\- he is well and 
t'avorably known, as a nu'nil)er of .Meridian Lodge. 
.Xo. J~. \. V . & .A. M.. of which he is past 
master; Keystone C'lia[)ter, .Xo. 2J. i\. -\. M., of 
which he is past high ])riesl : llamihou C'outicil, Xo. 
22, R. & S. M.. being past T. 1. .M. : St. I-"lnio Com- 
mandery. Xo. (), K. T.. past commander and present 
captain general ; is ])ast jiatron of the Eastern .Star. 
Ik belongs to .Myrtle Lodge. Xo. 4. K, of P.. being 



156 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



past chancellor ; and lie is also a member of N. E. 
i). P.. and of iMerriam Post, No. 8, G. A. R. As 
a faithfid comrade and active worker Captain Beatty 
is highly valued in fraternal life. 

In 1S62 Captain Beatty was married in New 
York, to Delia Nortin, who is a native of that 
city, a woman of exalted character, devoted to her 
home and family and prominent in her church. To 
them were born six children : Emily, who married 
William Y. Russell, who is the buyer for A. G. 
Thomas, the well-known merchant of Meriden ; 
Anna, who resides at home; Molly, who is a grad- 
uate of the Meriden High School, later became a 
teacher, and was the valued principal of the Pratt 
street school, and who married Prof, Charles E. 
Finch, principal of the high school at Quincy, 
i\Iass. : Xellie. who died young; John, who is a 
conductor on the Meriden Electric road ; and Lettie, 
at home. 

In 1861 Captain Beatty showed his loyal spirit 
by enlisting in the army in April of that year, en- 
tering Company I, 12th New York National' Guards, 
under Col. Daniel P.utterfielrl and Captain Raynor, 
and served through three months, and three months 
of re-enlistment, and then he was elected as men- 
tioned above, to the captaincy of Companv B of the 
77th Regiment. Captain Beatty is a pleasant, genial 
man. devoted to his business, his city and his home, 
and is justly regarded as a valued representative 
resident of that little city. 

.STILE.S DEMSON WOODRUFF. For 
many years the name of Woodruff has been promi- 
nently identified with the agricultural interests of 
the town of Orange, where our subject holds a 
deservedly high place in the regard of his fellow 
citizens. The Woodruit's were among the early 
settlers of New Haven county, and their names 
and achievements form part of its historv. Stiles 
D, Woodruff can trace his lineage back in a direct 
line to the early settlers of New England on both 
his father's and mother's side, his ancestors includ- 
ing such men as Gov, Robert l^rcat, Gov. Pond and 
Rev. Peter Prudden. 

^Fatthew and Hannah Woodruff, who moved 
from Hartford to Farmington in 1640, are the 
earliest ancestors rif Stiles D, of whom we have 
record. HT) Matthew Woodruff' {2). their son, 
was born in 1646. and died in 1601. He married 
Mary Plumb. (Ill) John Woodruff, son of Mat- 
thew (2), born I'cb, i, 1673, married Mary Piatt, 
who was Iiorn in 1681, (IV) Joseph Woodruff, 
son of John, born Feb, 18, 1705, was married Jan, 
22, 1729, to Phebe Newton, (V) Joseph Wood- 
ruff (2), son of Joseph, was born in April, 1732, 
in Milford, and died in August, 1777, His wife's 
name was .Abigail, He was known as Capt, Joseph, 
of the First Military Company in Milford, Second 
Regiment, and on Oct, 23, 1756, was ordered to 
malce a draft for the French and Indian war, for 
a quota of men iiropcrly equipped, to report at Fake 



George, The order was signed by Col. Roger 
Newton. 

(\'Ij Nehemiah Woodruff', son of Joseph (2), 
and grandfather of our subject, was born May 24, 
1774, in Milford, and settled in Orange while 
young. There he was married, March 5. 1797, to 
Hannah Jones, and there he died Dec. 23, 1843, 
after a long and honorable life of sixty-nine years. 
Mrs. Woodruff' was born in Milford Aug. 6, 1777, 
and lived to her eighty-seventh \-ear. dying Feb. 
24, 1865. She owned a large farm. Mr. and j\lrs. 
Woodruff had ten children. 

evil) Jeremiah Woodruff", father of Stiles D,, 
was born June 26, 181 1, in the town of Orange, 
and grew to manhood on the home farm, which 
he helped to till. With the exception of five vears 
he passed all his life there, dying Dec, 19, 1890, By 
keen judgment, careful management, and judicious 
investment he became quite wealthy for his day. 
He married Charlotte E. Nettleton, who was born 
Dec. (>, 1809, daughter of David and Mabel Nettle- 
ton, of Orange, and died April 7, 1888. They be- 
came the parents of five children, Stiles D. being 
the eldest. The others were named George E., 
Charlotte, Mary F. (deceased) and Frank H. 
George E. is' a resident of Bayonne, N. J. Char- 
lotte married Everett B. Clark, of Orange, Conn, 
h'rank H. lives in Milford, and represented that 
town in the Legislature in 1899: he is a deacon in 
the Plymouth Congregational Church. Mrs. Wood- 
ruff was an earnest, sincere Christian, a devout 
member of the Congregational Church, and an 
active worker in the cause of religion. 

Stiles Denison Woodruff was born in the north- 
ern i^art of the town of Orange Nov. 27, 1837. For 
several generations the Woodruffs have followed 
agriculture as a vocation, and never has there been 
lacking in the representatives of the name that 
hard common sense, disregard of discouragement 
and patient industry which constitute the salient 
characteristics of a successful New England fanner. 
Work upon the farm developed our subject's phys- 
ical strength, while his intellectual training was 
received at the common schools. In September, 
1862, he enlisted in the 27th Connecticut \^olun- 
teers, was made a corporal of Company G, and 
.served nine months. He was taken prisoner at 
Chancellorsville. with eight companies of his regi- 
ment, while guarding breastworks, and after be- 
ing detained a night at Guiney's Station, within a 
few rods of the house in which "Stonewall" Jack- 
son breathed his last, was forced to march to Rich- 
mond, a distance of some fifty miles, I'or two 
weeks he was an inmate of Libby prison, and at 
the expiration of that time was paroled and sent 
to Georgetown, D, C, talking transport at City 
Point, on the James river. There he remained 
until mustered out of the service, July 22, 1863. 
For a year after his discharge he lived at home, 
and in 1864 he bought one hundred acres of land 
— the nucleus of Ins present farm of 300 acres — 




I Ma ^ k. 



/r-7>-'ziA^-^i~^ 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



157 



and the following year took up his residence there- 
on. He at once began seed growing in a small 
way, having only a few acres under cultivation, 
while at present lie devotes mnny acres to this de- 
partment of agriculture. .Mr. Woodruff is one of 
the most pronuneu't and successful growers of 
seeds in the Stale. Starting in this business in 
1865, he soon made a specialty of the growing of 
garden seeds, which for twenty-seven years were 
sold at wholesale to the seed dealers of the coun- 
try. In 189J -Mr. Woodruff added a retail (Wpart- 
mcnt to his business, and the same year associated 
his two eldest sons with iiim, under the firm name 
of S. D. \\'oodruft' & Sons, Orange, Coim., of 
which he is senior partner. It has been their aim 
from the first to furnish good, reliable seeds, and 
their business has deservedly increased year after 
year, the demand for their annual catalogue being- 
greater with each issue. They have originated and 
introduced several new varieties of vegetables, in- 
cluding Country Gentleman Sweet Corn, Early 
Fordhook Tomato, Ensign Bagley and Admiral 
Foote Potato, and in coimection with their seed 
business carry on market gardening. 

On Oct. 16, 1862, Mr. Woodruff married Miss 
Elizabeth ]M. Clark, who like himself was born 
in Orange. Her father, Bryan Clark, a farmer 
by occupation, was a man of means as well as of 
large influence, and served as selectman and a 
member of the Legislature; he was a deacon in the 
Plymouth Congregational Church of Milford. .Mrs. 
Woodruff was one of a familv of four children. 
To her union with our subject have been born four 
children, Frank C, Watson S., Robert J. and Mary 
R. (i) Frank C. graduated from the Hillhouse 
high schcKDl, and from Yale College, Ph. B., in 1888, 
and is now in business with his father in Orange. 
He married Julia Ailing, daughter of J. S. Ailing, 
and they have had five children, of whom three 
survive, Ailing, Ruth H. and Harriet P.. (2) 
Watson S., the second son, is a graduate oi the 
Hillhouse high school and is also associated with 
his father in business. He married Harriet Hotch- 
kiss, daughter of Merritt Hotchkiss, of Derby, and 
they have had five children, Catherine, Stiles. Julia 
and Jane (twins) and W'atson S., Jr. (3) Robert 
J. graduated from the Hillhouse high school in 
1892; from Vale, A. B., in 1896; and from' Yale 
Law School in 1899. He is now practicing law in 
New Haven, and in April, 1901, was appointed 
prosecuting attorney of the common pleas court 
for a term of four years. In 1899 he was tax col- 
lector in Orange, and in 1900 he represented that 
town in the Legislature, during his term serving 
as member and clerk of the Judiciary coinmittee. 
He is a member of the Royal Arcanum, in West 
Haven, and of the Masonic fraternity, affiliating 
with .\nnawon Lodge, Jofe])h .Andrews Chapter, 
Hamiony Council and New T-faven Commandery. 
He also belongs to the C. N. (].. being second lieu- 
tenant of Troop A. Cavalry Regiment. (4) Miss 
Mary R. is a graduate of \\'esleyan College. 



Mr. Woodrutf is a man of earnest convictions, 
both political and religious, an<l wields a weightv 
influence in both church and town affairs. Jn 1879 
he was elected rejiresentative to the first Legis- 
lature which met in the new Capitol, and was re- 
elected in i8S(). .\s a member of these bodies his 
record is an enviable one, he having manifested an 
acumen and ])ainstaking desire to serve the public 
interests which can scarcely be too highly praised, 
l-'or many years he has served on the town com- 
mittee, and for nnjre than a quarter of a century 
as acting grand juror, his term in the latter office 
having been rarely ])aralleled in New Haven coun- 
ty. I'or twenty years he has been clerk and treas- 
urer of the Orange Congregational Church, in the 
work of which body his family is also actively 
interested, his son Watson having long been the 
church organist. In January, 1900, Mr. Woodruff 
accepted the office of deacon in this church, to 
which he had been chosen, he having declined to 
accept the same appointment on two former oc- 
casions. 

ALBERT TILTON has for more than a third 
of a century been connected with the Winchester 
Repeating Arms Co., and since 1892 has been its 
general superintendent. He is a native of New 
Hampshire, born at Meredith, Aug. 19, 1839. son 
of Newell andi Alice (Clougih) Tilton, both natives 
of Loudon, N. H. Newell Tilton, the father, was 
a farmer and drover. In politics he was a Whig 
and Republican, and in religious belief a Congre- 
gationalist. Of the children born to himself and his 
wife, eight grew to adult age, as follows: Jnhn 
C, for many years a manufacturer at Manchester. 
N. H., where he died; Julia; Lavinia; Alice ].: 
Lucia; David, proprietor of the Atlantic Screw Co., 
of Hartford, Conn. ; Newell, Jr., who was manager 
of the Whitney Iron Mills, and died in New Orleans 
in 1899; and Albert. The mother died in 1861. 

When eig^ht years oldi Albert Tilton removed 
from Meredith to Manchester, N. H., where he at- 
tended the public schools, and he was later a student 
in the preparatory school at New London, N. H. 
His education comjileted, Mr. Tilton engaged for 
a time in the manufactiu-e of cotton bags at Man- 
chester, N. H., and then began an apprenticeship 
at the edge tool making trade with the Manchester 
Edge Tool Works, remaining si.K months, after 
which he took up the machinist's trade at Man- 
chester. He was next employed in the Lowell Fire 
Arms W'orks for si.x months, and in 1861 enlisted 
for the three-months service in Company K. 1st 
N. H. V. I. When mustered out he was engaged 
for a year with the Colts Fire Arms Co., of Hart- 
ford, Conn., and another year or more at the Star 
Armory, located' in Yonkcrs. N. Y. He ne.xt be- 
came connected with the Winchester Repeating 
.Anns Co., at Bridgeport, Conn., and in 1865 went 
to New Orleans, where for fourteen months he was 
employed in a machine shop belonging then to the 
New Orleans & Opelousas Railway. Returning to 



158 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Connecticut, he, in 1867, resumed his connection 
with the Winchester Repcatintj Arms Co., and four 
years later, when the company removed to New Ha- 
ven, he continued work witli them there, and has 
e\er since been in their service. Starting in as a 
machinist, lie became foreman when the New Ha- 
ven shops were opened, and later a contractor. 
Since 1892 he has filled the position of superintend- 
ent. 

Air. Tiltun married. May 30, i8(jo, Zilpha J. 
Carter, a native of Goffstown, K. H., daughter of 
Moody Carter. To Mr. and Mrs. Tilton has been 
born one son, Walter H., who attended Yale Col- 
lege, taking the Scientific Course, and is now em- 
])loyed by the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. In 
politics Mr. Tilton is a Republican. He attends the 
Congregational Church. Socially he is a niemlx-r of 
Wooster Lodge, No. 79, A. F. & A. M., and of the 
Ouinnipiac Club, Fishing Club and other clubs of 
New Haven. He erected a beautiful residence at 
No. 362 Whitney avenue, New Haven, which was 
comijleted in March, 1901. 

JOHN A. RICHARDSON (deceased), whose 
•services with the Yale National Bank covered a 
period of thirty-eight years, thirty of w'hich he was 
the efficient cashier, was one of the widely known 
and high!}- esteemed citizens of .New Haven. 

Air. Richardson was born June 22. 1832, in 
North Canaan, Conn., and laid the foundation of 
his education in the common schools of his native 
town. His father, Gilbert 11. Richardson, was born 
in New York, but spent his life in North Canaan, 
where 'he was extensively engaged in contracting 
and building; in this State he built live large 
churches, and followed the business for many years. 
He died at the age of seventy. His wife, Caroline 
Dibble, who died at the age of forty-six, was the 
mother of four children, of whom John A. was the 
last survivor. Both Air. and Al/s. Richardson were 
members of the Congregational Church. 

W'lhile yet in his 'teens young Richardson en- 
tered the employ of Hawley & Alerwin, as an assist- 
ant bookkeeper, in a general store at Lakeville. 
They were also engaged in the manufacture of 
]i<>cket cutlery, and were the second firm in the 
country to enter this business. Air. Richardson re- 
mained with them three years, and after four years 
at New Alilford, as a bookkeeper, he came to New 
Haven, and in 1863 entered the Yale National Bank 
as ;i member of the bookkeeping staff. Two years 
later he was made teller, and in 1871 became cashier, 
in which ]iosition he remained contimuiusly at work 
fnr o\er thirty vears. Nearly forty years with t'he 
ban]< is a record seldom ecpialled, and it speaks vol- 
umes fur him who makes it. 

In ])olitics Mr. Richardson was always a Re- 
])ublican, and took a prominent part in party affairs. 
In 1888, and again in 1889, he was elected town and 
city treasurer of New Haven, From its organiza- 
tion he served as the treasurer of the Republican 
League of Connecticut, and was the treasurer of 



the l~iremen's Benevolent Society and also of the 
Congregational Club. He was one of the incor- 
porators and was treasurer and a member of the 
board of directors from its incorporation, in 1881, 
of the New Haven Co-operative Savings and Loan 
Association. Air. Richardson was also one of the 
organizers of Grace Hospital, and was treasurer 
from its organization until his death. For ten years 
he was treasurer of the Young Alen's Institute, 
was treasurer of the State Bankers' Association, and 
was also treasurer of the Union League Club. In 
these various positions of trust and responsibility 
he ever sustained the high esteem and confidence of 
his fellow citizens. In the banking circles of New 
Haven Air. Richardson commanded regard not onlv 
for his extended service but for his high character 
and accurate judgment. From the time he entered 
the bank he saw the passing of five presidents, and 
in point of service was the oldest cashier in the city. 
On the afternoon of April 12, 1902, Air. Richardson 
was stricken with apoplexy in the Hyperion Theater, 
and passed away at five o'clock. 

Air. Richardson was married, in 1858, to Alary 
E., daughter of Robert, Irwin, of New Alilford, 
Conn., where he was formerly a merchant. The 
home of Air. and Airs. Ric^hardson was blessed by 
the liirth of one child, Caroline E., who, with his 
wife, survives him. 

BENJAAIIN T, CLARK, in his life time an oM 
and highly respected citizen of the town of Orange, 
was a native of that locality, born Feb. 11, 1814. 

The Clark family, of which our subject was a 
worthy member, are old settlers of the town of 
(iuilford and are classed among its best citizens. 
Benjamin Clark, grandfather of Benjamin T., was 
a native of that town and passed his entire life 
there as a land owner and farmer. By his wife, 
Sarah (Rogers), he had children as follows: Ben- 
jamin: Alathew, who moved to the central part of 
Illinois: and Rebecca, who married Josiah Fowler. 

Benjamin Clark, the father of our subject, was 
born in the town of Alilford (which at that time 
included the town of Orange), and received a com- 
mon school education. He was reared on his 
father's farm, and while yet a young man removed 
to what is now (_)range (ilenter, where he bought a 
tract of land and engaged in stock raising and gen- 
eral farming the rest of his days. In the town of 
Orange he married Susan Treat, daughter of Jon- 
athan Treat, and five children were born to them, 
viz.: .Susan, wife of Dr. Josiah Colburnc. of New 
Haven; .Sarah C, deceased wife of Treat Clark; 
Benjamin T., oin- subject : Charlotte, who died 
young; anil Alary .S., widow of E])hraim Baldwin, 
of Woodbridge, Conn. The father of this family 
died at the age of ninety- four years, the mother 
when ei.ghty-seven years old, both devout members 
of the Congregational Church. 

Pjenjamin T. Clark, of whom this sketch more 
particularly relates, was liberally educated in the 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



159 



local schools of his native place, later attending; an 
academy for a time. I'or several years or inuil his 
marriajje he taught school, during the summer 
months ojierating the home farm along with his 
father, and then settled on land owned by Dr. Col- 
burne, a tract of 25 acres, and he later became the 
owner of 280 acres of land in the town of ( )range. 
being the largest land owner in that town, and 140 
in the town of Woodbridge. All his lite he was a 
hard working, industrious man, iioncsl and honor- 
able in his dealings, and moreover, was always most 
tcnii)erate. never having tasted a drop of strong 
drink all his life, nor used tobacco in any form, 

( )n Se])t. 6. 1839, Ilenjamin T. Clark was mar- 
ried in Woodbridge, Conn., to Elizabeth Rogers, 
who was born in 1816 in Woodbridge, a daughter 
of Joseph and Khoda ( Russell ) Newton. She died 
in February, 1895, in Orange Center, after a mar- 
ried life of fifty-six years. One child came of this 
union, Joseph Xewton. born March 2j. 1840, who 
was educated in the ]>ublic and select schools, the 
latter being in Xew Haven. He has always been 
engaged in stock raising and dairying on the home 
fami and resides at the homestead. Socially he is 
a member of the A. F. & A. '^\. Lodge at Ansoiiia. 
He married Sarah .A.. ^liles, who was born in the 
town of Orange. \'ew Haven county. Conn., daugli- 
ter of Albert F. INIiles. l"i\e children have been born 
to them: Benjamin 1".. Jr., farming on the home- 
stead, married Bertha .M. Russell: Joseph Xewton, 
Jr.. a dairy farmer, who married \'etzora Turner; 
Albert Miles and Henry F., at home; and George, 
deceased at the age of seven years. 

r.enjamin T. Clark, our subject, in his ])(.)litical 
])redilections was originally a \\'hig, Imt after the 
organization of the party became an equally standi 
Republican. For forty years he was a justice of 
the peace of the town of Orange ; for twenty-eight 
years was selectman ; and assessor four terms. In 
matters of religion he was liberal an<l always lived 
up to the "(iolden Rule" — in fact his integrity was 
above question, llis life was an honorable and up- 
right one. and he jn>tly enjoyed the confidence and 
esteem of the community at large. 

lIi^.\'l\^' .S. PECK, secretary and treasurer of 
the Brass City Lumber Co., is one of Waterbury's 
most prominent residents, and has been identified 
with her business interests from early manhood. 
He is a descendant of one of the old and jirominent 
fanu'lies of Xew Tuigland. 

The Connecticut J'ecks are descendants of Jo- 
seph Peck, of Milford. Deacon William Peck and 
Henry Peck, of Xew Haven, and Deacon Paul 
Peck, of Hartford, each of whom became the pro- 
genitor of a numerous race. Of these, Joseph Peck, 
wno was the ancestor of the Xcwtown branch of the 
family, the one to which tlie subject of this sketch 
lielongs. resided first at Xew Haven, Conn. His 
name does not appear on the records until aljout 
l'')43. although he is generally supposed to have 



resided there earlier, and to have l)een the brother 
of 1 lem-y. who settled there in i'»38, with whom he 
seems to have resitled or been associated, and with 
whom he ])robal)ly came <.iver to this coiuitry. He 
left Xew Haven in or about 1649, and settled in 
Milford, Coim.. where lie became a member ui the 
church in 1652. He married (first) .Mrs. Alice 
l'.m-\vell and (seconil) Miss ALarie Richards. He 
died in 1700-OI. 

h'rom this Joseph Peck, of Milford, Henry S. 
Peck, our subject, is a descendant in the eighth gen- 
eration, his line of descent being through loseph 
(2), ICiyhraim, Henry, Capt. Zalmon. Ezekiel and 
Zahnon S. Peck. 

(11) Jose])h J'eck (2), son of Joseph, of Mil- 
ford, baptized in 1053, married in" 1678-79 .\Larv 
Camp. He settled in Milford. and there died. 

(HI) Ephraim Peck, son of Jose])h (2), bap- 
tized in 1692, married in 1716 Sarah Ford, of Mil- 
ford. He renioved from Milford to Xewtown, 
Conn., where he died in 1760. 

(1\") Henry I'eck, son of ICphraim, Ikhmi in 
1719, married (first) in 1755 Ann Smith, and (sec- 
ond) in 1765 wedded Hannah Leavenworth. He 
resided in Xewtown. 

(\ ) Capt. Zalmon Peck, son of Henrv, born in 
1758, married (first) Zilpha Hard, and (second) 
Mrs. Sarah Booth. He resided in Xewtown. where 
he died in 1812. He was a soldier in the Revolu- 
tion. 

(\'I) Ezekiel Peck, son of Capt. Zalmon, born 
in 1786, married (first) Sarah A. John.son, and 
(.second) in 1818 wedded Mrs. Betsey Briscoe. Ik- 
was a soldier in the war of 181 2. The tombstones 
of the four generations of Zalmon S. Peck (still 
living) are in perfect condition in the family burial 
lot in the cemetery at Xewtown, Connecticut. 

(\T1) Zahnon S. Peck, son of Ezekiel, and 
father of Henry S. Peck, of Waterbury, was born 
May 22, 1812, in Xewtown, Conn. During the Civil 
war he served as the enrolling and drafting officer 
of the town. He was made [jostmaster of the town 
under Lincoln's first term, and held the position for 
twenty-six years, being out for two years (from 
1867 to 1869) under the Jo'hnson achninistration. 
During his active years Mr. Peck was one of the 
lironiincnt public men of the town. He is now re- 
siding in South Center District, Xewtown. Time 
seems to have dealt kindly with him, as he is still 
quite active and remarkably well preserved. He is 
an interesting conversationalist. In 18^3 he was 
married to Polly J. Lum, and they had children as 
follows: Sarah .V., born in 1834, is deceaseil ; 
Henry S., Iiorn Sept. 1, 1838, is mentioned below; 
.Austin L.. born June 3. 1844, is a member of the 
firm of .\ndrews & Peck, Hartford; and Mary 
F. was born June 10, 1854, married Roswell S. 
Chcvcs, of (Georgia, and now resides in Tennessee. 
Henry S. Peck was reared and educated in Xew- 
town. Fie served in the Civil war. and soon after- 
ward entered the employ of the Waterbury Clock 



I Go 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Co., at Waterbury. He remained with that con- 
cern over twenty years, a large portion of which 
period he spent in Chicago, looking after the west- 
ern trade of the concern. He is now secretary and 
treasurer of the Brass City Lumber Co., and vice- 
president of the Equitable Unance Co., of Balti- 
more, Md. Throughout his career Mr. Peck has 
held the reputation of a thorough business man, and 
his genial and sociable disposition, no less than the 
substantial qualities, has gone far toward winning 
him the popularity he enjoys. 

On Sept. 25, 1865, Mr. Peck married Miss Isa- 
bell Boughton, of Waterbury, and they have had 
two children. Burton and Florence. The latter was 
married in April, 1894, to Charles C. Reed, and 
they have one daughter, Katherine, born in Febru- 
ary, 1896. 

REV. SYLVANUS P. .MARN'IX. The first 
of the Marvin family of whom we have any record 
is Roger Marvin, born in 1430. From him de- 
scended, in the sixth generation following him, 
Reinold Marvin, whose baptism is recorded in the 
church books as taking place the "th of June, 
1593. The above ceremony took place and the rec- 
ords are preserved in St. Mary's Church, which 
stood on the great Bentley Green, in England. He 
resided in his native parish until shortly before he 
sailed for New England, as in 1637 his estate is 
charged with the "ship money tax" which may 
have been the occasion of his following his younger 
brother Mathew to America, where we find him 
in 1638. The imposition of this illegal and tyrannous 
tax led many of the more prosperous classes, men 
of "blood and fortune," to emigrate to this country. 
This Reinold Marvin, the sixth generation from 
Roger of 1430, was the great-great-great-great- 
great-grandfather of our subject, and was one of 
the founders of the Marvin family m America, his 
brother Mathew being the otlier. They both first 
located at Hartford, Conn., hut Reinold soon after- 
ward removed to Farmington and later to Lyme, 
where he spent the greater part of his life. His 
son Reinold was a large land holder, and repre- 
sented the town in the General Court from 1672 to 
1676. He was called Lieut. Reinold Marvin. His 
son was famous as Lyme's Capt. Reinold Marvin, 
who represented the town in the General Court 
from 1701 to 1728, twenty-seven years, and must 
have been an important man in the town. His son 
Reinold was deacon of the church. The latter was 
quite an eccentric man, as proof of which his man- 
ner of courtshii) may be cited. Going to a neigh- 
bor's house on horseback, and without alighting, 
he rapped on the door, when a young lady opened 
it, and he said to her: "Sally Lee, its the Lord's 
will that you marry me." After a brief pause she 
replied: "The Lord's will be done." At one time 
he had a vision that he must give away all his 
cows ; one poor man was afraid he would not get 
one, and said to the good old deacon, "The Lord 



has sent me to you for a cow." "What cow was 
it to be,'' said the deacon, "a nc-w milch cow or a 
farrow one?" The man replied, "a new milch 
cuw." '1 he deacon answered, "it could not have 
been from the Lord, as 1 have just given away the 
last one." 

Dan Marvin (2), one of his grandsons, mar- 
ried the second daughter of John Mather, a relative 
of Cotton and Increase Mather, Colonial celebrities, 
wiiose second son was Deacon John Marvin, the 
father of our subject. Deacon John Marvin, the 
father of our siibject, married Lydia Hull Pratt, 
daughter of Capt. Samuel Pratt, a prominent man 
of Essex, Conn. He was for twenty-five years a 
teacher in the public schools, and was clerk of the 
town of Saybrook for nearly twenty years, judge 
of probate, and at one time member of the State 
Legislature, a man honored and beloved for his 
Christian integrity, urbanity and high ideals of life. 

Our subject, second son of Deacon John, was 
born in Lyniie March 17, 1822, and at the age of 
fourteen years removed with the family to Deep 
River, Conn. He early attended Essex Academy, 
and was graduated from Yale in 1847, and from 
Yale Theological Seminary in 1850. In recounting 
some of his school day associates we note the fol- 
lowing: Henry Hadley, uncle of the president of 
Yale, valedictorian of his class; Rev. N. A. Hyde, 
1). D., the nestor of Congregationalism in Indiana 
aird founder of the First Congregational Church in 
Indianapolis, Ind.; Rev. William T. Reynolds, the 
beloved pastor of the Congregational Church, Xortli 
Haven, for some twenty-five years ; Rev. James 
Willard, D. D., for some forty years pastor of the 
Westville Church, of New Haven; and H. G. Jes- 
sup, professor of botany in Dartmouth College ; 
Rev. James B. Cleaveland, who married Miss Eliz- 
abeth Jocelyn, the poetess, author of "No Sects 
in Heaven," and E. I. Sanford, Superior Court 
ludge of Connecticut. While connected with the 
Theological Seminary he taught three years in the 
celebrated Gen. William H. Russell's Military 
School of New Haven. 

In 1 85 1 Mr. Marvin received a call and was 
ordained and installed pastor of the Congregational 
Church at Jamestown, Chautauqua Co.. X. Y., 
where he remained six years, doing much to 
strengthen the Congregational Churches in that sec- 
tion of the State, and resigned his pastorate nuich 
to the regret of the church. After he left James- 
town he received a unanimous call to the h'irst 
Congregational Church of Franklin, Delaware Co., 
N. Y. He declined the call, but continued to labor 
with them without installation for some three years, 
during which time there was an extensive revival 
in the church and sixty united with the church at 
one time. He was also instrumental in the fonna- 
tion of the Delaware Association of Congregational 
Churches in that and the adjoining counties. After 
leaving Franklin he spent between two and three 
vears with the I'irst Congregational Church of Tor- 




c>^^ 



^:::iLy2y-z^^'<^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



i6i 



rintjton. C'.nn.. which he jerved during- the later 
vear? of the Civil war as an eniergencv charge, the 
corgreg-atirn thinking- that witb.out a leader (there 
being- no little dissension among them) they could 
not hold together. 

In 1865 Mr. Marvin received a unanimous call 
and was installed over the Woodbridge Congrega- 
tional Church, of which he is still pastor, being in 
the thirty-sixth vear of his pastorate, and one of 
the oldest pastors in the State. 3Iany iinprovements 
have been made in the church property during Mr. 
Marvin's pastorate. The house of worship is sur- 
rounded by beautiful grounds, which were orig- 
inally some five acres in extent, and on the Sunday 
preceding the first election that took place after 
he entered upon the duties of his charge our subject 
requested that each man plant a tree on the church 
green before casting his ballot. .As a result some 
ninety trees were brought, and handsome trees now 
adorn the grounds which he had already caused to 
he enclosed with a neat fence. To the church itself 
a lecture roon-i and ladies' parlor have been added, 
at a cost of some two thousand dollars, and a pipe 
organ, the gift of Mrs. Mary Clark Treat, has been 
put in. Mr. Marvin was a member of the school 
board and superintendent of schools for some ten 
or fifteen years, securing a librar\- and a John- 
son's Cxclopedia for each district. 

On May 27. 1851, Mr. Marvin married Miss 
Svlvina Ruell. daughter of Miles and Lucinda 
(Plum) Buell. of Clinton, Conn. Two sons were 
bom of this union: ( i) John Miles is senior part- 
ner and general manager of the Glof)e Silk Works. 
Xew Haven. He married .Adella M. "Smith, daugh- 
ter of Isaac T. and Lucretia ( Sperry 1 Smith, of 
Xew Haven, and they have one daughter, Grace 
Edna. He is deacon of the Dwight Place Con- 
gregational Church of Xew Haven. (2) Edward 
Reynold, the younger son, died when ten years 
of age. 

On May 27, 1901, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin cele- 
brated the g-olden anniversary of their wedding at 
the parsonag-e. There were manv griests from the 
surrounding towns, from Xew Haven. Xew York 
City and Springfield, as well as the parishioners : 
and rrtany handsome gifts, besides between three 
and four hundred dollars in gold, testified to the 
love and esteem in which the pastor and his wife 
are held by his parishioners and other friends. .-\ 
poetical tribute from one of their old Eranklin 
parishioners. Mrs. Whitnev. and also one from Mrs. 
E. Jocelyn Qeavelan<l. added to the interest of the 
occasion, which was also enlivene<l with excellent 
music by a string band from Xew Haven. Mr. 
Marvin has a fine gold-headed cane, presemted by 
the young men of the church on the twenty-fifth 
anniversary of the Ix'ginning of his pastorate. 
There was also a great gathering- on his seventy- 
sixth birthdav. when a beautiful crayon portrait 
of him. presented by the young ladies societv. was 
hung in the lecture room .,f tin- chnrrli and on 
11 



numerous other occasions the members of the parish 
have shown hi.gh appreciation of hi? services and a 
personal esteeni wann and genuine f'jr tiieir past'jr 
and his wife. 

The family have always adhered to Republican 
ideas. On attaining his majority Mr. Marvin Ijc- 
came a \\ big. and at the birth of the Republican 
]>ariy he joined its ranks. He takes great interest 
in gathering historical data, and from time to time 
lias delivered interesting papers and published 
articles on tb.e progress of events in church and 
State. He has published, by recjuest, a memorial 
sennon delivered before the Redshaw Post of the 
Grand Army, .-Vnionia, Conn., twenty-fifth anni- 
versary of his settlement in Woodbridge, 150th an- 
niversar\- of th.e church, funeral sermon of Rev. J. 
L. Willard, D. D., of Xew Haven, and of Rev. W. 
T. Reynolds, of Xorth Haven, lecture before the 
Xew Haven Historical Scxiety, published in \'ol. 
\ I. of their papers. He is widely known and 
highly respected, not only by the people of his own 
congregation, but by those of Xe'>v Haven and the 
surrounding towns. 

WILLI.\M BROWX COMSTOCK. superin- 
tendent of the machinery department of the Brad- 
ley & Hubbard Manufacturing Co., and a well- 
known citizen of Meriden. was lK)n-i July 20, 1837, 
in the city of Springfield. Mass. He is a descend- 
ant of one of the old and substantial families of 
Connecticut. His paternal great-grandfather. Jacob 
Comstock. married a Miss Bennett, of Ludlow, 
Mass.. and to them were born two children. Jacob 
and William. The latter had three children, namely: 
\\illiam. Sheppard and Matilda. 

Jacob Comstock was twice married, first to Me- 
netabel (jlds, of Belchenown. Mass.. and second ta 
Abbie Smith, of Brimfield. Mass. Two children 
were bom of the first marriage, Cromwell B. and 
Catherine. The only child of the second marriage 
was named Mehetabel. 

Cromwell B. Comstix-k was bom in Ludlow, 
Mass., where he grew to manhood, and learned the 
trade of stone and brick mason. He removed to 
Springfield, and. later, to Chicopee. where he died 
at the age of thirty-two years, and was buried in 
Chicopee Falls Cemetery. He was a member of the 
M. E. Cliurch. He married (first I Caroline San- 
derson, of Smithfield. R. I., who lx)re him two chil- 
dren. .Abbie and Henry, of whom the former mar- 
ried Harvey Woodburn, of Springfield. .After the 
death of the mother of these children, Mr. Corn- 
stock married Lucinda Wyman ( a widow 1 . a 
daughter of John S. Edwards. Two children were 
lx)rn of this union. \\'illiam E. and Daniel E.. a 
resident of Kensington, Conn. ^Irs. Lucinda Com- 
stock died at the home of her son William, in Meri- 
den in 1876. and her remains repose in a cemetery 
at Spring^field. Mass. She was a member of the 
L'niversalist Church, and an exemplary wife and 
mother. 



\62 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



William B. Comstock was only live years old 
when his father died, and 'he was early obliged to 
earn his livelihood, lie remained (jn a farm in 
ijelehertown until fifteen years tif age, receiving his 
clothing and hoard as compensation for such labors 
as he was able to perform. He then began to learn 
the trade of painter, but after a year of effort in 
that line he entered the novelty factory of William 
Bailey, in which Mr. Charles Parker had an inter- 
est, and remained until 1854. After one year in fhe 
Curtis-I\lorgan Lock shop at Meriden and one year 
in Springfield, he returned to Aleriden in 1856, and 
spent one year in the Frary-Benham Com[)any's 
sho]), after which he passed one year in Waterbury, 
and subsequently was in Meriden and New York. 
He became a permanent resident of Meriden in 
i860, and spent the five years succeeding this date 
in the hardware factory of Wood & Breckenridge. 
He then secured a position with the Bradley & Hub- 
bard Manufacturing Co., and' through the faithful 
{>erformance of 'his duties, w'on his way to the po- 
sition of superintendent of machinery, wdiich he has 
filled several years. He has wdtnessed the growth 
of this institution from comjjaratively small begin- 
nings to a manmioth establishment, and has borne 
his share in developing its possibilities. 

Mr. Comstock is a member of Meridian Lodge, 
No. 7;, A. F. & A. M., of Meriden ; Keystone Chap- 
ter, No. 2j, R. A. M.: and Hamilton Council, No. 
22, R. & S. M. tie is also identitied with Meriden 
Center Lodge, No. 68, L ( ). O. F., and Columbia 
Council, No. 5, C). U. A. M. In politics he is a 
stanch defend'cr of the principles of the Republican 
party. He represented the I'ourlh ward in the city 
council during the incumbency of Mayors H. C. 
Wilcox. P)enjamin Page, Amos Ives and F. F. West. 
He acted on Police, Water, Sewer and Printing 
committees, and acquitted himself with credit to 
his ward and constituency. Of broad mind, he takes 
a lilieral view of men and things, and is active in 
])romoting all measures calculated to benefit the 
community. He sees in the general welfare the 
ho])e of prosperity for himself and family, to which 
he is warmly devoted. 

On Nov. 27, i860, in New York, jMr. Comstock 
was married to Mrs. Mary I-'lizabeth Whittaker, 
who was bom in New York City, daughter of 
Charles Stewart and widow of James Fdward Whit- 
taker. To Mr. and ]\Irs. Comstock were born five 
children, namely: Caroline Matilda, Henry Fd- 
ward, William Cromwell, Cornelia A\igusta and 
Marv Alice, of whom Caroline Matilda, Henry Ed- 
ward and Marv Alice died in infancy. William 
Cromwell is a foreman in the same shops where his 
father is i'm[)loved; he married Mary Card, and has 
two children, Robert Card .and William Stewart. 
Cornelia Augusta was educated in the IVP'riden 
schools, graduating fnnn the high school in 1888, 
anil attended the Normal School at New Britain, 
■and -he has spent several vears in teaching; she was 
emi)loved at l.ynie, New London county, and is now 
].rincipal of the Lewis Avenue School, in this city. 



Pier long service shows her to be a practical teacher, 
and she is valued as a useful member of society. 
Dora Whittaker, the first child of Airs. Comstock, 
resides with her mother. 

Charles Stewart, father of Mrs. Comstock, was 
a native of London, England, and was a soldier un- 
tler Wellington at the battle ot Waterloo, being then 
only eighteen years old. After attaining his ma- 
jority he followed the sea and was a captain in the 
merchant marine. Coming to America, he located 
in New York. While on a voyage in the West 
Indies he contracted yellow fever, vv'hich caused his 
death, and he was buried from quarantine on Staten 
Island. He was a member of the Dutch Refon-ied 
_ Church. His wife, Catherine Williams, was a daugh- 
ter of Robert and Elizabeth (Hughes J Williams, of 
Welsh descent. Mrs. Comstock is a lady of many 
domestic virtues, devoted to her home and family. 
Mr. Comstock attends the Universalist Church, and 
is a highly respected citizen, esteemed for 'his manly 
worth. 

John S. Edwards, father of Mrs. Cromwell B. 
Comstock, was a native of Dedham, ]Slass., born 
July II, 1764. He settled at Norwich, Mass., in 
1775, and in that town, in April, 1781, was drafted 
for six months' service in the War of the Revolu- 
tion, and was in Capt. William Forbes' company, 
Col. Tupper's regiment. During the times when 
hostile Indians were harassing the settlers, Mr. Ed- 
wards, wdth his command, marched into the interior 
of New Yi>rk. and for three months was stationed 
at Fort Schuyler ; then was ordered to Fort Stan- 
wyx (now Rome, N. Y.), and was there stationed 
for another three months, and from this place w'as 
discharged from the service. After the close of the 
war he returned to Norwich and continued to re- 
side there, and at Russell's, Mass., until about 1798, 
w'hen he removed to Springfield, wdiere he died 
April 5, 1857, in the ninety-third year of his age. 
He married Phoebe Williams and had ten children 
who reached maturity, namely: John S., Lucinda, 
Henry, Daniel, Gideon, William, Clara, .Mary, 
I'lioebe an<l Leonard. 

HENRY BALDWIN FIELD was born in 
Waterbury Jan. 11, 1811, son of Dr. Edward Field, 
who was born in Enfield, Conn. When sixteen 
v-ears of age he entered a dry-goods store in New 
Haven, as clerk, and three years later he went to 
New York City, where he was engaged in the whole- 
sale drv-goods business for a number of years. In 
middle life lie spent a few years in the mercantile 
business at Baltimore, Md. Going to California in 
1841), he returned to Waterbury and in 1854 took 
the position of secretary and treasurer of the \\'ater- 
Inu-y (ias Light Co., a position which he held for 
over twenty-eight years. 

On Jan. 14, 1836, Mr. h'ield married Miss .Sarah 
.■\. Bulkley, who was l)orn in New Haven, daughter 
of I'rancis and Content (Mix) Bulkley, who lived 
and died in New Haven. Capt. Bulkley was born 
in Wcthersficld, and was a son of Francis Bulkley, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



163 



also a sea captain, and a native of W'etliersfield. 
I'llisha Mix, the father of Content Mix, was born in 
Xew Haven, Conn. Bol'h faniihes were of English 
extraction. To -Mr. and .Mrs. l'"ield was horn a 
family of two children: Francis B. ; and' Charles 
H., United States stamped envelope ag;ent at Hart- 
ford. ^Ir. hield was a Re[)ublican. While his an- 
cestors were all Congregationalists, he and his wife 
united with the Episcopal Chinxdi many years ago. 
A good man and a public-s])iriteil citizen, he was 
highly respected in the commnnity. His death oc- 
curred in Waterlmry, Jan. I, 1892. 

MERRl.XM. h'or upward of two lunnlred and 
twenty-five _\ears members of the Merriani family 
have lived in Wallingford and Meriden, and 
throughout the past century a number of the name 
have been prominently identified with the manti- 
facturing interests of Meriden, notably the posterity 
of Lauren Merriam, whose grandson, George C. 
Merriam, is secretary and treasurer of the large 
corporation of Foster, JNlerriam & Co., of that city. 

The family was located in Lynn, Mass., whence 
William ]\Ierriam came to Meriden, Conn. He died 
in 1689. His wife's name was Sarah. Among his 
children is a son John, who, bv his wife Mary, be- 
came the fatlier of Wilham (2). William Merriam 
( 2 ) was married March 24, 1726, to Ruth Hart, and 
their son William (3) was married Sept. 24, 1755, 
to Mary Austin. 

Asaph Merriam, son of William (3) and Mary 
Austin, was one of the patriots of the Revolution, 
serving three years in the Continental army. In 
1782 he married Damaris Todd. 

Lauren Merriam, whose death occurred in April, 
1867, was the son of Asaph and Damaris Merriam, 
and was bom in 1787. He was one of the first to 
engage in the manufacturing business in Meriden. 
He began making block tin buttons in his own house, 
and later in a small shop near what in after years 
was the factory of Foster, Merriam & Co. Still later 
he was engaged in comb making in Crow Hollow, 
and continued in that line until 1830, when he sold 
out to Julius Pratt & Co. He was very active and 
enterprising, devoted entirely to business, and ac- 
ctunulated a large property. On Oct. 25. 18 10, Mr. 
Merriam married Temperance Todd, of Bristol, 
Conn., and his three sons — Asaph. Nelson and 
Lauren T. — became active and iiromincnt business 
men of Meriden. 

Xelson Merriam, son of Lauren, was born in 
Meriden, in which place he resided throughout life, 
dying I'"eb. 11, 1880. About 1835, associated with 
Albert and Hiram Foster, Mr. Merriam began the 
htisiness of manufacturing furniture castings. 
Some 31 years later the firm was changed to a joint 
stock company with a capital of $80,000. liy de- 
grees the business was developed, by t'he tact, abil- 
ity and good management of these men, into the 
grat establishment of to-day which bears the u'une 
of Foster, Merriam & Co., and which gives em- 
ployment to hundreds of operatives; the goods go 



all over the world. The product of the factory is 
in the line of casters, drop handles, furniture trim- 
mings and cabinet hardware. ^Ir. Merriam for 
years did nmch of the outsitle business of the con- 
cern, which to(_>k him often to Xew York and Bos- 
ton. At the tiiBc of his death he was president of 
the company. 

Xelson Merriam was one of the strong and 
forcible characters of Meriden, toward the devel'iji- 
ment of which city he did much, and in which he 
lived a useful life. As a citizen he was tniivcrsally 
esteemed and respectetl. He was a prominent mem- 
ber of the AL E. Church. In early life a Whig, he 
was an uncoini)romising toe of slaverv. When 
a young man he espoused the cause of tem- 
perance, and advocated and strongly favored 
a prohibitory law, which he thought would do away 
with the evils of the liquor traftic. He was several 
time nominated by the Prohibition party for import- 
ant offices, and served in the common council of 
Meriden. He was a man of sterling character and 
fixed opinions, always immovable after they were 
formed, regardless of the effects upon himself. 
Wrong and wrong-doing of every kind found in 
h.im an aggressive foe. He was an unswerving de- 
votee of the cause of temperance, and religion and 
morality in his death lost one of their best and most 
imcompromising supporters. He had the courage 
to live up to his convictions, at times amounting al- 
most to heroism, and yet he never gave himself un- 
due prominence, while he evaded no diUv which he 
ought to perform, or failed to identify himself 
openly or otherwise (according to the requirements 
of the case) with any cause which benefited his fel- 
low men. That the cause was not popular had no 
])lace in his mind. .\ rigid standard of right was the 
level that guided his every act In his dispensation 
of private charities, in giving liberally to wortliv 
enterprises that were calculated to help religion, 
morality aiiid the elevation of the people of Meri- 
den. Mr. Merriam was generou,s — often more than 
generous. He was ahva>s readv to back up his 
views with his means, but he was averse to having 
any jjublic mention made of his liberality. One of 
the oldest business men in his town, and one of the 
oldest natives, he livrd to see his native jilace grow 
from a mere hamlet to a busy, well-peopled city, anil 
it can be truly said that he did his share toward 
making Meriden what it is. ''May we all lie as well 
prepared to "go when called' as Mr. Merriam's life 
has indicatcil that he was, for he lived the life that 
marks the true Christian and gcxjd citizen." 

On March 2j. 1833. Mr. Merriam was married 
to Rosctta Couch, who died Dec. 18. 1S90, aged 
seventy-three xears. The children who survived 
him were: (reorge C.. Xelson C. and F.va R.. Mrs. 
.\. J. Converse. The second is now deceased, and 
the others reside in Meriden. 

C.\PT. Cii-ioniit; Coiuii .MiiKRiA.M. of Meriden, a 
veteran of the Civil war. and for many years a |)rom- 
incnt manufacturer and business man of that famed 
manufacturing center, has long been secretary and 



104 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



treasurer of Foster, Merriam & Co. Born Sept. 17, 
1834, in Meriden, Air. Merriam pa.ssecl his boyhood 
in the tuwn of his nativity, and there in its puljHc 
schools received a common-school education. In 
185 1 he went to Xew Y(irk City, and from that year 
until 1859 he received a thoroutjh business training 
ir, the emi)loy of Hopkins, Allen & Co., wholesale 
dry-good's dealers. In 1859 he went to Wilming- 
ton, X. C, NVhere lie became a member of the busi- 
ness firm of j. .M. .McCarter & Co. ( )n .\])ril 12, 

1 86 1, when l-'i>rt Sumter was iired upon, young 
Merriam, tilled with ]:)atriotism and zeal, at once re- 
turned to his Connecticut home. lie there bided 
his timfe until the following year, when, on July 10, 

1862, he enlisted, becoming a private suldier in 
Company A, 15th Conn. \'. 1., and serving through- 
out the war with lioth credit andi honor to himself 
and country. He was appointed second lieutenant 
of the company mentioned, and was mustered into 
the L'nited States service wit'h the command Aug. 
25 of that year. The 15th Reginfcnt went out un- 
der cnnnnand of Col. Dexter R. Wright, of Meri- 
den. was attached to the Eastern army, and num- 
bered among its princi])al engagements Fredericks- 
burg, \'a.. Dee. 13, 18O2: Edenton Road, \'a.. .\pril 
24. i8<i3: Providence Church Road. \'a.. M;i\ 3, 
i8f)3; the siege of Suffolk, \'a., .\pril 12 U) .\la\ 4, 
1803. Lieut. Merriam shared the furtunes of his 
command in its movements an<l actions during his 
stay with the regiment. C)n May i. i8()3. he was 
promoted to first lieutenant of Comjiany E, 15th 
Conn. \'. I., and on Nov. 4, 1864. liecanie captain 
of Company K, 8th C<inn. \". 1., with which com- 
mand he serverl until Ik w.is mustered out of the 
service, Dec. 12. i8'>5. The engagements of the 
Eighth from May, 1804. were: Walthall Junction, 
\a.. May 7, 18O4: retersburg, \a., .\ug. 2^. 18^)4: 
and b'ort Harrison. \'a., Se])t. 29, 1864. 

( )n the close of tlve war and at the expiration of 
his term of service C'a])t. Merriam returned to Con- 
necticut, and in about a year went into the State of 
\'ermont, where for twn years he was engaged in 
the luml)er l)U.-~ines>. Then returning to Alerid'en, 
he spent a vear in the nfiice of h'uster. Merriam iS; 
Co. Following this experience he passed twu years 
in Nevada. He then again returned to Meridien, 
and for eight years w'as identified' with the Charles 
I'arker Co.. of that city. ( )n the death of Albert 
l^'oster, Cai)t. Merriam became secretai"}- and treas- 
urer of Fiister. .Merrianv& Co.. a ])osilion he filled 
with ability and eflieiency until his election as ]>resi- 
(k'nt and treasurer to succeed the late James Sutliff. 

Cai)t. .Merriam for some years tilled important 
and responsible trusts in the municijiality of Mer- 
iden, and has won the confidence and esteem of his 
fellow men. He was a mcMiXier of t'he common 
ccmicil for six or mure years, and for two \'ears 
« member of the bo.ard of aldermen. I'olitically he 
has alwavs been a l\i.'pul)lican. and in religious con- 
nection is a member of the birsl .M. 1',. t'hurch of 
Meriden. 

On May 29, l8()7. (."ajit. Merriani was marrieil 



to Helen R., daughter of Charles and Sarah (Par- 
ker) Bradley, of Meriden. From the Bradley fam- 
ily have come many noted physicians, and the name 
has been prominent in the history of Lowell, Mass. 
Mrs. Charles Bradley was a sister of Charles 
Parker, mention of wdiom ajjpears elsewhere in this 
work. 

JA.MES TIBBALS P(jMEROY (deceased), 
for many years a prominent stock raiser and dairy 
farmer of East Meriden. was well and widely 
known throughout that locality. Ide was born 
July 19, 1827, and descended from one of the oldest 
families in the State of Connecticut. 

Eltwood I'omeroy was the first of that name 
in Connecticut, and the Pomeroy familv of Xew 
England are his worthy descendants. Xoah Pom- 
eroy, a native of Colchester, married Lurana 
Xortham, .April 24. 1748, and had four children. 
Among them was Charles Pomeroy, father of Xoah 
Pomeroy, of Meriden. Charles Pomeroy miarried, 
March 17, 1774, Temperance Waterhouse. and be- 
came the father of live children, the fifth, Xoah, 
being a posthumous child. The mother married 
for her second husfiand a Mr. Hall, of Colchester. 

X(j.\ii Pom]-:rov, in his day one of the best 
known men in Meriden, was born March i, 1786, 
in the town of Saybrook. He lived at home with 
his mother ami stepfather until he was ten years 
of age, and then started out in life for himself. 
He found work on the neighboring farms which 
he was able to do during the summers, antl he had 
the opportunity of going to school in the winters 
until he w^as fifteen vears old, wdien he started out 
to peddle tinware. Three years later he essayed to 
learn the trade of carpenter and joiner, but re- 
mained in this line only a short time, and then re- 
sumed the life of a peddler, which he continued 
to follow for several vears. The tin business of- 
fered many opportunities, and Mr. Pomeroy saw 
that it woulil benefit Ihni to learn the trade of 
tinsmith, which he mastered in six months, and lie 
then entered into the manufacture of tinware, which 
he carried on in several sections of the State for a 
number of years. In 1807 he removed to Plynnouth, 
Conn., wdiere he continued in business eight years, 
also spending six months in Baltimore. Mr. Pom- 
erov was tendered a lieutenant's commission in the 
regular army during the war of 181 2, but did not 
accejit. although he materially assisted the Govern- 
ment. In 1813 he removed to Wallingford, wdiere 
he spent three \ears, and then came to Meriden 
and estalilished his business, there passing the re- 
mainder of his days. He also bought a farm in 
I-'.ast .Meriden, where he made his home, and con- 
tinued in the manufacture of tin an<l other ware, 
being the first in this country to engage very ex- 
tensively in the manufacture of japanned and or- 
namental tinware. In 1835 Mr. Pomeroy retired 
from business, and siieiit his declining years on his 
fine farm, on which he had made extensive improve- 
ments. There he died Xov. 23, 1868, aged eighty- 



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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



165 



two years. leaving wami friends and many acquaint- 
ances all liver Connecticut. In public life, as well 
as in business, he was ([uite active, and held all of 
the offices in the jjift of the peo]ile of Meriden : 
was selectman and justice of the ijeace, bciui.;- ap- 
pointed to the latter ot'tice by the Les^islature, and 
was an ard.ent advocate of protjressive reforms and 
of roli.L;ious as well as jOTlitical liberty. Mr. i'nm- 
erov earuestlv urt^ed the necessity of callint;- the 
convenition which framed the Constitution of the 
State in 1818 and ex]-)un,<jed nianv of tliose statutes 
\\hich have been knv)wn as lUue Laws. In 1832 
he was elected a meml)cr of the House of Rejire- 
sentatives. and in 1837 was chosen senator from 
the Sixtii District, during- wbieli he strontjly sup- 
ported the tiill for the abolition of the law which 
imprisoned for debts. The Meriden I'uiversalist 
Church was org-anized in Mr. I'nmcroy's house, 
and he was amonq; its most active su]5porters. 

In 1833. when the Meriden Bank was estab- 
lished, Mr. Ponieroy was appointed oiw of the di- 
rectors, and in 1849 was chosen its president, which 
position he filled with efficiency for some time. 
His judtjment was .5'ood, his foresis^ht was un- 
usual, and his intetrritv unimpeachable, while his 
business sense was liig-hlv developerl. makincr of 
him one of the popular and successful men of his 
day. 

Mr. Pomeroy was marriefl (first) in W'alling-- 
ford to Miss Xancy iVferriman, and their children, 
all of whom are now deceasefl, were: Cornelia, 
who died unmarried: Eliphalet T.. who left home 
at the ay^e of twenty vears and was never after- 
ward heard of: Angelina, who married Eli Ives; 
Eliza, who married John S. Rlakc : Harriet, who 
wedded Isaac C. Lewis: Xorman W'.: Eugenia, 
Mrs. James P. Stowe : Nancw who died unmar- 
ried : Charles, and James Tibbals. Eor his second 
wife Noah Pomeroy took Miss Ha'ttie Hasen, who 
died in 1880, leaving a dausjbtcr, now the wife of 
George B. Eoote. .\nother daughter, Cornelia, died 
when one \ear old. 

James Tibbals T'onieroy was born in Meriden 
and followed an agricultural lite, owning and o]i- 
erating the large estate of his father in East Meri- 
den. raising mucii stock, and farming extensively. 
His death took iilace on the farm Dec. 21. i8()i, and 
he was bin-ied in the Ea.st cemetery. He was one 
of the best of citizens, and his interest in the i^rog- 
ress of his section k'(l him to be one of the or- 
ganizers of Meriden Crange. to which be gave 
much attention: he was also connecte(l with ^^eri- 
den Center Lodge. Xo. 6c), I. (). O. I"., of Meri- 
den. In religion he was a devout believer in the 
])rinciples of the Cniversalist Church. 

On Sept. 17, i84(>. James Tibbals Poiucroy was 
united in marriage with Delila I". Ciuild, a daugh- 
ter of William II. Cuild. of Middletown, Conn., 
and five children were born to this union: Leonora 
V.., who married Joseph P>eckett, of Meriden ; Xellie 
L. wife of Richard I. Mollov. of Meriden: Carrie 



1'"., deceased wil'e of David I'lansberg; Charles L. ; 
and William llarri-on. wlm m;irried l.ura Boi.ith. 
Tl;e beloved mother of these is one of the honored 
and esteemed residents of Meriilen. a devout mem- 
ber of tb.e Cuiversali>t Clnirch. and a member of 
.Meridm ( irauge. 

Cii.\ui.i-.s Li-;\\ IS I'oMi-.KoN' attended the district 
schools of -Meriilen and later the Connecticut Ag- 
ricultural College, and then settled down to farm- 
ing on the home farm. re:uainiug with his parents 
until he was nineteen years old. He then entered 
the Me:iden I'.ritaimia L'o.'s shojis, where he spent 
three years learning the luachinist's trade. The 
ne.xt six years he si)eiil- at the butcher business, 
bin on the death of his father he took charge of 
the farm, and for the past six years has been en- 
gaged in general farming and stock raising, in con- 
nection conducting a dairy. His cows for the dairy 
number twenty-five and are of the best breed, and 
his dairy j^roduets rank high on the market. His 
business aliility is excellent, and he c<inducts all 
his enterprises with success. 

Mr. Pomeroy was married, in i8<)2, to Lena 
Olive Beardslc)-, of .Meriden, and three children 
have been born to this uniun: l{r\\ in James (who 
died in infancy). Hazel ( )live and I)oris Irene. 
Mr. Pomeroy is a meirilier of the Cniversalist 
Church, and both he and wife are consistent mem- 
bers of Meriden Clrange and among the most es- 
teeiued residents of this coiujiuinity. Mr. Pom- 
ero)' is a member of Meriden Ceuter Lodge, Xo. 
(tf), I. (). ( ). I-"., and both he and Mrs. Pomerov are 

identified with Rachel Lodge, .\ 2. Daughters of 

Kebekab. 

Erwin IJeardsley. father of Mrs. Charles L. 
Pomtcroy, was born on I'road street, Meriden, son 
of John Heardsley. who was a native of Hunting- 
ton, Conn., came to Meriden whin a \iiung man, 
and died in Wallingford. John I'.eanlsles was a 
soldier in the war of 1812. l-"or many years he 
followed the trade of shcx-maker. but later became 
a far.iier. He married ( )li\e .\nthony, a native of 
Meriden, and their children were: .^amantha, wh.o 
married Levi .Mleu ; .Melinda. who luarried John- 
son Royce : Harriet, who married .\lbcrt Ward, of 
Durhatii ; Hiram and Julius, deceased: Maria, who 
n:a"ried Maurice Hitcl'cock; and lu-wiu. 

I'j'win ISeardsky received his education in the 
public schools, and engaged at farm work both in 
.Meriden and Wallingford. and after his marriage 
settled down to farming in I'.ast Meriden, where he 
bought a tract of land. He i> now, after a busy 
atiil ir^eful life, spending his ad\ancing years in 
retirement. He married Mary Potter, who died in 
Wallingford without issue. In ]X<>4. in Killing- 
worth, he married Jatie ( )rnelia lUirr. a daughter 
of Joseph au<l Irene ( Hubbard I Purr, of Killing- 
worth, and the following naired children were born 
to them: Eckford Leroy ; E.ldon Piurr, deceased; 
.Annie Irene: Lillian .\ugusta, deceased: Lena 
( )live : and F.rvie, who died when three months 



1 66 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(lid. Air. Beardsley lias always been an independ- 
ent thinker and voter on, political questions, and lias 
always possessed the esteem of his fellow citizens. 

THE BEACH FAAHLY has b.en conspicu- 
ous in the annals of Connecticut for nianv gen- 
erations. It is the pur|)use of this article to treat 
briefly of the fortunes of several of the descendants 
of Rev. John Beach, fornierlv of Newtown, Conn., 
among- the more distinguished of whom were the 
late Hon. John Beach, of Xewtown ; t'he late Judge 
John Beach, of Xew Haven; John Sheldon Beach, 
the eminent lawyer of Xew I laveii ; and his sons, 
John Kimberly and CapL. iM'ancis Gibbons Beach, 
both eminent members of the Xew Haven Bar, and 
tire late Adjt. Rodmond \'enion Beach, whose life 
was given io his ci untry in the S]3anish-Anierican 
war. The sons of the late Jnhn Sheldon Beach are 
in the eighth geri-eration fmm Jnhn Beach, whose 
name first appears in fhe recurds of the Xew Haven 
Cnluny in ifi43. This pione.r was married in 1650, 
and his wife, Mary, bore him ten children. In 1660 
lie purchased land in Stratford, and his name ap- 
pears as an inhabitant there in the list of 1668. 
The line of descent of the.se sons of John Sheldon 
Beach is through Isaac, Rev. John. John (3), John 
(4,), John (5). 

(II) Isaac Beach, son of John, of New Haven 
and Stratford, was born in 166)9, ^n^l '" i'^'93 mar- 
ried Hannah Birdsey, who was bory in 1671. 

(HI) Rev. John Beach, son of Isaac, noted 
above, was born in 1700, and was married (the first 
time) in Stratford, when he was twenty-six years 
old, to Sarah, daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah 
(Porter) Beac-h. She was his cousin, and was born 
in 1699 in Stratford. She died in 1756, and Rev. 
Mr. Beach was married to Abigail (Cunn) Hoi- 
brook, widow of John Holbrook. and daughter of 
Sergeant Abel Gunn, of Derby, wiiere she wa"s born 
ill' I/O", and died in 1783. Joh;i Beach was grad- 
uated from Yale in 1721, and three years later was 
ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in 
Newtown. In 1732 he declared fur Episcopacv. and 
crossed the ocean to be invested with sacred or- 
ders. Returning from England, he labored as an 
Episcopal missionary in and aboiU Xewtown dur- 
ing the years of his active life. In Trinitv Church, 
at Xewtown, are four tablets, elaliorate in design 
and detail, n:*)re so perhaps thaui any others in the 
coimtry. and exceedingly rich in their ornamenta- 
tion, which commemorate the virtues of some of the 
earlier pastors of this church. On one of them, in 
ein-ious 6'olonial letters, is engraved this inscription: 
"Td the blessed memory of Rev. John Beach, A. JVL, 
J'oinider of this Parish. Born at Stratford, Conn., 
A I). MDCC, Graduated at Vale College, 
MDtl'XX. At great .sacrifice, upon tlKirough in- 
vestigation and deep convicti(vn, conforming to the 
Church of I'.ngland, he was a<lmitted to IIolv Car- 
ders in hjigland, A. I).. MUCCXXXII : he was ap- 
iioint^'d Missionarv at Xewtown and Rcadinir, of 



the \'enerable Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel. He was a scholar thorough, a reasoner 
cogent, a controversalist able, a preacher persuasive, 
a pastor untiring, a Christian hero undaunted. He 
was of all the most effective in laying deep and 
broad the foundations of the Church in the Colony 
of Connecticut. From the beginning of his min- 
istry assailed by bitter intolerance and pursued by 
mialicious ])Iottings, he patiently endured. In the 
addedi [)erils of a cruel war, remaining with the 
flock, he continued his ministrations at the constant 
risk of threatened violence and death. I'ull of years 
and labors, he entered into rest March xix, .\. D., 
MDCCLXXXII, uttering, shortly before his last 
breath, 'I have fought a good fieht.' " 

( 1\' ) John Beach (3), son of the minister noted 
in the preceding paragraph, was born in 1734, and 
was n.nrried in 1756 to Phoebe (Judsonj Curtis, 
liorn in 1737. L'niike his father, the younger Beach 
'had strong sympathy with the cause of liberty. 
(Jwning extensive real-estate interests in Xewtown. 
he was prominent in the community, and served as 
a delegate to the Convention at the time of the 
adoption of the State constitution. Air. Beach died 
in Newtown, in 1791, and his widow in 1815. 

(V) John Beach (4), son of John Beach, noted 
above, was born in 1757, and was married when 
twenty-two years old to Mabel, a daughter of Dan- 
iel and Mabel (Booth) Beers. She was born in 
1756, and died in 1844. Mr. Beach was a resident 
of Newtown, and of central Vermont, and died in 
1830. 

(VI) John Beach (5), son of the above, was 
bom in 1789, in Newtown, where he was married 
in 1818, to Marcia, a daughter of Abijah Birdsey 
and Anna (Glover) Curtis. She was born in 1796 
in Newtown. The senior Mr. Beach having gone 
into V'ermont, the son remained in Newtown, and 
was reared as an adopted son of his uncle and aunt, 
Daniel and Naomi (Glover) Beers, who had no 
children of their own. They gave young Beach a 
liberal education, his studies being completed in 
New Haven, where he was admitted to the Bar in 
18 14. In this city he practiced his profession until 
infirmities and age ])revented. He was elected' city 
attorney of Xew Haven in 1821, and filled that 
office until 1824. From 1824 for twenty years he 
was clerk of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and 
then served as judge of the city court of Xew Ha- 
ven for a minilier of years. "A man of great firmness 
of character, instinctive integrity and high ideals, 
his career as a lawyer, clerk and judge in Xew Ha- 
ven for half a century was mfarked by continued ex- 
pression of regard audi tieference, both during and 
after his years of public .service." Judge Beach died 
April 12, 1869. and his wife passed away -Aug. 16. 
1861. .At a meeting of the Xew Haven county Bar 
held the day after his death, generous and highly 
a])])reciative resolutions were adopted' by a unani- 
mrus vote. These resolutions recited liis long and 
faithful service in ])ublic jiosition, and noted that 



:OMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



167 



though "retired from active business, y-et he was 
universally and deservedly honored and n-speeted 
as one of the must upright and exemplary of our 
professional brethren, and for bis Christian virtues 
and private worth as a citizen.'" 

(VII) John Sheldon Beach, LL. D., son of 
Judge John Beach, was born Aug. 28, 1819, in New 
Haven! lie was a graduate of Yale, and became a 
teacher very soon after his graduation at Wilming- 
'ton, Del. After a tinne he came back to New Haven, 
and graduating from the I^w School at Yale, was 
admitted to the Bar in 1843, and began his pro- 
fe.-sional career in the city of his birth. Becoming 
a jiartner the following year with General Dennis 
Kimberly, he quickly came to the front, and won 
an enviable standing in his iirnli'ssion. In 1832 
General KimlnTly retired. .Mr. i'.cach continuing 
alone in his business until he was joined by his son. 
At \'ernnn Place, Sept. 13, 1847, in Wilmington, 
Del., Mr. Beach was married to Rebecca, a daugh- 
ter of William and Rebecca (Donaldson) Gibljons, 
of that city. .Mr. lieach died Sept. u, 1887, his 
widow surviving until Sept. 5, i8ij_v 

.\t the death of Mr. Beach expressions of sym- 
pathy and of personal loss came from many quar- 
ters. Formal resolutions were presented from the 
United States Court, the Circuit Court, and the Su- 
perior Court of Xew Haven, as well as from 
the X'estrv of Trinity Episcopal Church, of which 
Mr. L'.eacli had been a useful member for more 
than tuentv vears, and other official bodies. Let- 
ters from private individuals came thick and fast 
Out none more nearly touched the hearts of the 
faniilv, says a daughter, than the words of Gov. 
Charles R. Ingersoll, spoken before the Bar of Xev,- 
Haven countv, and following resolutions submitted 
by Tilton E. Dixjlittle: 

It is not easy to express adequately by formal rrsoliition 
the sentiments by which we are movrci to-day. For more 
than forty years we liave bt-fn by his side in the formal 
practice of our profession, and during that long period in 
the friendly companionship involved in sucti rt^lations. It 
is very hard to rupture such a tie. But my jiersonal associa- 
tion with him goes back to an earlier date. Horn in the same 
neighborhood in this town, we were companions in scho >1 
and college life; and following hini to the Bar, we have ever 
since been associated in ways not professional. I look back 
on this long lite with which mine has been connected, and 
it is luminous with the (|ualities that go into the making of 
good men and honored citizens. I cannot venture at this 
time to dwell upon these personal relations. A single allu- 
sion in this connection I will make, for the incident has 
given me too much satisfaction to be ignored. Hut a few 
weeks ago at a so:ial gathering, the last he ever attended. 1 
heard him, in a conversation with a brother lawyer, S[ieak- 
ing on Some of the agreeable characteristics of our [iro- 
fession, say that he had been in practice with me for over 
forty years, and that this had brought us together on the 
trial of many cases, and not often ujion the same side; but 
that during this long e.xperience, with it varied occasions 
for antagonisms of o|)inion, no serious misunderstanding had 
ever arisen between us. And that was the literal truth. 

As to his relation to the Har he was notably a lawyer. 
His element was the atmosphere of courts. His ambition 
and his delight was to be active where justice is sought. 
.-\nd outside of his home, with its associations inost cher- 
ished by him, his life duty was centered here. There was 



ne\er found occasion to reproach him for neglect liere. N 
phantom fif popular fame ever led him away in its pur- 
suit. Ouietly and unostentatiously, iiulu-trlously and con- 
scientiously, for fiMly-fonr years he has steadily followed 
the common routine of Coniu-clictit law. followed it. liow'- 
ever, we all kn<nv, not as a plodder. He had a broad na- 
ture, and his way of lite was a generous one. 'I'liere 
was notice.-ilily in him a freedom frnni anything warped 
or cynical in his dealings with men. or his judgment ot 
their conduct or motives. He devoted himself to his c.ireer 
because he loved it. He was a man of purposes, and was 
linn to them Jii--<tum ct tiunreui — and 1 have no doubt 
hedeterminded u|M>n this plan of life t)ecause he determined 
that in no other worldly vocation could his inti-llectual and 
moral nature procure higher and fuller satisfaction. In 
the open field of legal controversy, where principles could 
be expounded ;md applied, and in the region of pure fact, 
as in the mechanics of a patent suit, he was always ready 
and firm. Ills style of presenting a case reminded one 
of the old saying, " The-re is no rulibish in his mind." Sim- 
ple, clear, without rhetorical or any other display, and 
apparently to an on-looker without any special effort, his 
prepared arguments were nevenh -less the result of [lains- 
taking care. They rommanded the attention, but required 
the vigilance of him who had to hear and decide. I 
do not think any lawyer of this Har ever had a su-ouger 
clientage. There were few if any of the representative 
men of tliis conimimity during the last thirty years, who 
were not at some time familiar with his office. Most of 
the monied institutions and commercial establishments 
have availed themselves of his services. What roused 
their confidence? Not alone the intellectnal skill and pro- 
fessional experience, which I have pointed fmt. Hut the 
primitive, bed rock of private virtue and moral strength, 
without which it is the glory of our profession that the 
accomplishments of the lawyer avail hut little. Let this 
Rar cherish the memory of him among its jewels I know 
no richer legacv to leave to that iust pressing oji than 
the example of John S. F,each. 

In the ijreamble of the res(iltiiions referred to 
above, Mr. Beach was referred to ;is the "honored 
leader and for many years an eminent practitioner 
in the courts of Coimecticut." 

E.x-(]ov. Ilenrv 1'.. 1 larri.xiii. in an ubituarv of 
Mr. Beach, said : 

John .Sheldon Heach was one of the alile-t lawvers 
who ever practiced at the Bar of Connecticut. Differing 
m noticeable particulars from each of his professional 
hiethren. he was in the total force of his peculiar powers 
at least the e()ual of the strongest of them, and easily the 
superior of all the rest. 

()l .Mr. Beach his daughter wrote in i8ij8: 

It may be truly said th:it his grasp of the high-water 
mark of his calling never relaxed: and we, his children, 
might almost be [lardoncd for thinking him devoted to his 
profession alone, were it not for the occasional swift revela- 
tion of his dee]) affection and solicitude for us. I.ate in 
life — later than .should have been — the Faculty of Vale 
College conferred on him the degree of LI,. D. Imiate 
modesty struggled always with his forensic jiowers; and 
rich in values, and complete as were all his arguments, 
he never rose to address the Court without the moment 
of stage fright and trembling of the knees which in a less 
controlIe<I nature would have prevented speech. 

The children burn to John SheldMU and Rebecca 
((iibbons) Beach were: ( 1 I Jnhii Hamilton, born 
in Xew Haven, July 3, 1848, died there .\]jril 14, 
1841). (2) Rt>becca Donaldson, born .Aug. 0. 1850, 
in Xew Haven, is at this writitig (1901) a resident 



i6S 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of tliat city, and is tlu- daus^Iiter referred to in a 
])rec:edin,t;; paraL,'rai)li. She i> tlie autlmr of an ex- 
cellent wiirk, wliicli appeared in i8(;8, 1)earing the 
title, "i\ev. John I'.eaeh and John Sanford, and 
their Descendant^. " ( ^i William ( iiihljons, Ijorn 
A])ril 24, 1854. died the day of his hirtji. (4) John 
Kiniherly, born in Xew Haven, ( )ct. 18, 1855, was 
married .April nj, i8<)(), in .\'e\v \'ork, to Alary Row- 
land Sanford, dau^lUii- nf Jnd^e C'harles I'Vederiek 
and IClizalieth (I.oony) .Sanford. Mr. lieach was 
gradnated from ^'ale C'ollege in 1877, and two years 
later from the Law School of the same institution. 
1 he same year he was admitted a mem1)er of the 
P>ar. and had already entered u|)on his stndii'S in 
his father's office. His al)ilities very shortly ob- 
tained for him a partnership, i'atent law. the spe- 
cialty (if both, became almost their exclnsive ])rac- 
tice : and although not by any means relaxing the 
pressure on himself the older lawyer often invited 
the precedence of his junior, where nothing gave 
him so nuich pleasin-e as t(.) attend court a silent 
partner. ( )f late an<l .Muce the death of his 
father, he has taken a wider ])ractice in general 
law; and he is to-day recognized as a fit rejirc- 
sentative of the third of his name in the ]>rofession. 
(5) Donaldson, born April (>. 1858, died Dec. 
15, 1864. (6) Francis Gibbons, l>orn I'"eb. 28, 
1861, was graduated from Yale in 1883, and from 
its Law Department two years later, lieing at once 
admitted to the l!ar. Since that time he has been 
engaged in the jiractice of his profession in his na- 
tive city, lie has onl\ recently retired froni a term 
■of service as postmaster of Xew Haven. In that 
position he acquitted himself creditablx' in every 
way, and commanded the confidence and respect of 
the community to a marked degree. .\ member of 
the Xational ( iuard of Connecticut, on the break- 
ing out I if the S|)anish-.\merican war he ]jromi)tly 
entered the I'nited States service and was made 
Ca])tain of liattery C, Conn. Heav\- .\rtillery, U. S. 
v., and later ca|)tain of Com])any II. 3rd Conn. 
Volunteers. He served with his command until it 
was imistered out in ( )cfo!;)er. i8(;8. Capt. Beach 
was married Juni' i. 188(1, in St. M. ark's Episcopal 
Church, ;it .Minneapolis, to Miss I'dizabeth Charn- 
ley Wells, burn .\ov. 21, i8(]o, at (Juincy, 111. Her 
father, Kev. Thomas Wells, was a graduate of Yale 
College in 1851J, and comes of a I'ing Comiecticut 
ancestry. Capt. I'lcach and his wife became the par- 
ents of the following: |ohn l'"rancis, born .Ajiril 
12, 1887: Charles Wells. "b,.rn Dec. 2(\ 1889, died 
July 7, 1890: an<l Rebecca Donaldson, born l-'eb. 
2J. l8i;2, died Sept. 2'i. 18(^3. (7) kudniiind \'er- 
non lieacb. born May 18. 18(15, graduated from 
'N'ale in 1887. .\ meinber of the Connecticut Xa- 
tional ( luard, at the breaking out of tlu' .Spanish- 
.\merican war he entered the Xation.al service, be- 
came an adjutant in the I'. S. I'.ngiueers. and died 
in I'onee, .Sept. 28, i8(;8. 1 le was a young man full 
of uUhusiasm for the uiilitare service, and as earlv 
as i8gi entered Com])any V. 2nd (^'onn. X. G., 
which was better known as "The Xew Haven 



(jrays." In January, 1892. he was made first lieu- 
tenant; and [jaymaster of the regiment, |uly 22, 
i8(j3. In 1897 he became adjutant of the battalion. 
In the autinnn of 1895 1'^' became a Mason and in 
the spring tif 1898 took the 32nd degree. He en- 
tered Vale College when he was eighteen years old, 
and was graduated at his majority. He added the 
studies of the first year of the law course to those 
of his senior year, so that he could take his degree 
of LL. li. in 1889. He entered his fathers law 
office, anil liis death on the island of Porto Rico cut 
short a promising career. . , 

WILLIAM MASON, master mechanic of the 
Winchester Repeating Arms Co., at Xew Haven, 
whose pleasant and hospitable home is at Xo. 569 
Elm street, in that city, was born in (Jswego, X. 
v., Jan. 30, 1837. His great-grandfather, Capt. 
Ebenezer Mason, of Revolutionary fame, was born 
.March i, 1723, in Watcrtown, Mass., and spent 
his last years in Sj)encer, Mass., where he died 
March 26, 1798. 

W'illiam Mason, grandfather of William Mason, 
born X'ov. 30, 1762. in Spencer. Mass., was a tan- 
ner, and followed that calling a number of years 
at Palmer, Mass., wdiere he spent his la.st years in 
farming, audi died' there March 15, 1843. -^Ir. 
Mason was a member of the Presbyterian Church. 
By his first wife, Xancy (White), the grandmother 
of our subject, he had ten children. She was born 
May 25, 1769, and died Feb. 15, 1820. 

Ebenezer Mason, father of William, was born 
Jan. I, 1797, in Palmer, was reared in his native 
place, and there mastered the trade of tanner, which 
he followed for sonve years in l^almer. A gifted 
musician, and a master of artistic writing, he was a 
pqpullar Iteacher Of both nuvsic and writing in 
.Springfield, Hartford and New Haven. Later in 
life he moved to Oswego, X. V.. tcj take the posi- 
tion of bookkeeper in a flourmill. Still later he 
established a tannery at Oswego, fie was taken 
sick with consumption, ainl, returning to Palmer, 
died-Dec. 11, 1838. Mr. Ma.son married Electa P. 
Rohinson. who was born in ( )nondaga, X'. V.. 
March 21, 1802, and died Oct. 9. 1875, They had 
six children, only one of whom is living. Both 
parents were memliers of the Presbyterian Church. 

William Mason, whose name introduces this 
anicle, sjient his earlier years with his uncle, Will- 
iam Mason, Jr., in Palmer, Mass.. where he at- 
tended ])ul)lic school until he was ten years old. 
At that time he went to Thorndike. where he spent 
two years with his nyitber. who had loecome the 
wife of Shnball Cha])man. L'ntil he was fourteen 
he worked on a f;irm, which place has in recent 
years been converted into a summer resort, and is 
known as h'orest Lake. In 1851 he went to Mon- 
son, wdicre he began the trade of a cabinetmaker. 
He S])ent three years acquiring proficiencv in that 
line, and then went to Jenksville, town of Lud- 
low. Mass.. to m;ike patterns and designs for ma- 
chinery for W. (i. l-'ay & Co. In 1854 he re- 



^ wS0 



»i 



* 





J-tm^T^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



169 



moved with W. (i. I'ay & Co. to We.-it Warren, 
^lass., where he wa.s cii,t;ase(l on designs and pat- 
terns for niaehinery for the Warren Cotton .Mill, 
long sinee elo.sed down, lie also assisted in the 
designinj.;" and ennstriietion oi the eelehrated 
Knowles -^team pump and Knnwlcs tancy looms, 
and was engaged in a similar eapaeiiy for L. K. 
Truesdell. on his iron bridge. In iSdi he leti West 
Warren to take a position in L'olt's faetory, at 
Hartford, which he held for a year, working on 
steel gauges, fixtures and tudls (and designing 
same) for making S])riug-field rifles. .\t the end 
of that time he entered the eni(])loy of the Rennng- 
ton Arms Co., at llion, X. \ .. and was engaged ni 
designing and superintending the huilding of gun- 
stock machinery and other gunmaking machinery 
After a time he took a contract to make thirteen 
parts of the gun, and worked thus four years, 
during the last year of the service holding the 
position of master mechanic. .\t the end of that 
time he was called to Colt's factnry, tn take charge 
of the armorv. This ])osition he held fur sixteen 
vears, giving it up to take the place of master 
mechanic with the Winchester Re])eating Arms 
Co.. of Xew Haven, May i, 1882. The most deli- 
cate and difficult operations come under his direc- 
tion, and he has taken out many valuable patents, 
both with the Colts and the Winchester Co. on 
firearms and machinery. During the fifty years 
and over in which he has been engaged in the me- 
chanical business he has seen it radically trans- 
formed, and with all the changes he has kept 
abreast of the times. His high standing has been 
attained solely by merit, for he has liatl no special 
aids of fortune or influence to smooth his path- 
wav to success, and he began life at an early age 
with onlv his own resources to rcl_\- upon. How- 
ever, these were not so inconsiderable, consisting 
as they did of unusual mechanical skill and inge- 
nuitv, but it is the energy and ambition, the per- 
severance and patience, bv which these gifts have 
been brought to their highest use, which have 
brought Mr. Mason to his eminent ])osition in the 
mechanical wnrld. Tn addition to accunudating a 
comfortable ci>m])etence he has gained what is of 
far greater value, the highest respect of all who 
know liim. Throughiuit his life he has worked 
hard, but nevertheless he is well preserved. 

Mr. Masnu was marrieil. April iS. 1863. to 
Mary M Ward, who was born in .Middletown, and 
died Sept. 12, i8(/), in Xew Il.aven. Mr. Mason 
married, for his second wife. Jan. 11, 180S. Mary 
E. Hastings, wdio was burn i)i I'elham. Mass., 
.April 2, 1848, daughter of Chester S. and Mary 
.■\. (Whipi)le) Hastings. 

Mr. .\lason is a Repulilican, and cast his first 
vote for (Jen. I-'remont. He has refused all ])0- 
litical honors, and tm-iu-d a deaf ear t<i the solicita- 
tion of friends who woidd have him run for of- 
fice. However, he has done efficient work in the 
A'oiuig Men's Re])ublican Club and the L'nion 



League. In Masonr\- he has taken nuich interest. 
He first joined Ouaboag Lodge, ]•'. & .\. M., at 
Warren, Mass., in 1802, and thence transferred to 
llion Lodge, V . &. .\. .M., at llion, X. \'., of which 
he was a charter member. Ik' has during his resi- 
dence in different cities been aftiliated with variou's 
Masonic bodies. \\ bile in llion he joined Oneida 
Chapter, Xo. 57, and Ctica Commandery, Xo. 3. 
K. T., both of Ctica, X. \'. He now holds mem- 
bership in Lafayette Lodge, Xo. 100, V . & .V. M., 
of Hartford. Mr. Mason also belongs to J'ioneer 
Council, Xo. I, ( ). C. A. M. In religious con- 
nection he is a member (d' Calvary Rajitist Church. 
Mrs. Mason is a member of the Cniled Congre- 
gational Churcli. 

HUX. HEXRY DALDWLX HARRISOX, a 
lironiinent lawyer of New I laven, is truly a product 
of the 'City of Elms," which is proud to claim him, 
for here he passed his boyhood, and here, too, have 
come the triumphs of long and active life. 

Gov. Harrison was born Se])t. 11, 1821, in Xew 
Haven, a son of Ammi Harrison, jr., a member of 
the Xew Haven liar. Henry Baldwin Harrison at- 
tended the famous Lancasterian school, taught 1)\' 
John E. Lovell, an Englishman, wIkjui he assisted 
in teaching at a later period. He entered Yale Col- 
lege in 1842 and was graduated in 1846. taking the 
honor of valedictorian of the class. Lnmediatel)- 
beginning the study of law he was admitted to the 
Bar in 1848, and began its practice in company with 
Lucius G. Peck. Ouickly gaining a large clientage, 
in a short time he was ranked high in the profession. 
He continued actively engaged in his professional 
labors until about 1880. wdien he practically retired, 
especiallv from court cases, though he continued 
to give advice and counsel. "His legal reputation 
is second to none in the State. He is conscientious 
in his methods, clear in his statement of facts and 
tireless in clearing away the rubbish which rhetoric 
and cunning may have ])iled \\\i to conceal tact." 

One of the n¥3St noted cases with which the 
name of Mr. Harrison has been connected was that 
of Willard Clark, at Xew Haven, under indictment 
for nuu-der. .As-sociated with .Mr. Harrison for the 
defense in this case was Charles II. Chapman., of 
Hartford. Says a critical writer: "Xo one had sus- 
pected before that Clark was insane within the or- 
dinarv meaning of the word. .\s junior counsel in 
the case he went into the jireijaration of the defense 
with marked thoroughness and abilitv. The young 
woman w^as about seventeen years old and Clark in 
the neighborhood of thirty years. He had courted 
her with assiduity, and she had repulsed his atten- 
tions with (Hsdain. Clark, however, insisted that 
she was deeply in love with him, and that in her 
marriage witli Wight she was dumbly pleading 
w ith hhn for release from a hateful alliance. .\t that 
time the defense of insanity upon a monomania had 
not received the favor with the jury it has since 



I70 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



acquired. The eloquence of liis counsel and the 
careful preparation of his defense, convinced the 
jury that Clark was not legally responsihle for the 
crime he had committed. So that he was acquitted 
on the g-round of insanity." 

When a young man Mr. Harrison was actively 
engaged in politics in connection with the Whig 
party. In 1854 he was elected to the State Senate 
for the Fourth District. In that body he was asso- 
ciated with some men who afterward rose to na- 
tional prominence. James Dixon was afterward 
United States Senator; William T. Minor became 
Covernor of Connecticut: David C. Sanford he- 
came of a Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors. 
I\Ir. -Harrison was made chairman of the Joint Com- 
mittees on Incorporations anrl Tciuperauce. The pro- 
hibitory law. sometimes kudwn as the ".Maine Law." 
was reported and adojjted through his acti\e and in- 
cessant labor. It was so carcfullv drawn that it 
stood all tests before the court of last resort in the 
State. Mr. Harrison was also the authnr of the 
Personal Liberty PdU, wdiich was designed to pro- 
tect colored men from illegal attem|)ts to deprive 
them of their libertv under the Fugitive Slave Law. 
Thus fairlv embarked upon the political seas. Mr. 
Harrison shaped his course fearlesslv. Uniting witit 
the Free-Soil partv. he remained with it until it 
was merged in the Republican party, which he was 
instrumental in organizing in Connecticut. Attend- 
ing the first mass convention held for the purpose 
of organizing in this State, at Hartford, in Feb- 
ruary, 1856, the following spring he was the nomi- 
nee of the Republicans for Lieutenant Governor of 
the State, the Hon. Gideon \Wdls being nominated 
for Governor. The voice of Mr. Harrison, aided bv 
iiis pen, was potent for the cause of freedom, and 
during the Civil war he was an ardent supporter 
of the administratinn at Washington. In i.%5. to- 
gether with Eleazur K. Foster,, he was elected from 
New Haven to the General Assembly. He declined 
to be a candidate for Speaker and requested the 
nomination of Air. Foster. He became the leader 
of the i);(rty on the floor, where he displayed such 
adiuirable qualities that the partv all over the State 
sought to make him its next candidate for Governor, 
and only his own act prevented it. A great friend 
of the soldier, he would not consent to the presen- 
tation of hi-; name, and' insisted im the nomination 
of (ieneral Hawlev, whcise war record deserx'ed 
recognition on the part of his nwn State. In 1873 
Mr. Harrison was again a member nf the Lower 
House fro)n .\ew Havt-n. ;nid \v:is jqipdinled on the 
Judiciary committee, and also on the comnn'ttce on 
the Constitutional Convention, reporting the bill 
which called that body together. This bill w;is de- 
feated, but was supported by Mr. 1 lai-ri-on with an 
elaborate and eloquent argument. .Mr. Harrison 
advocated measures in the Legislature to regulate 
the railway rates, and the giving of the ballot to 
colored men. In 1874 he was nominated bv accla- 
mation for Governor but was overwhelmed bv the 



tidal wave of reaction that submerged the country 
and gave many old and reliable Republican States 
to the Democrats. In 1883 Mr. Harrison was again 
and for the third time elected to the General As- 
sembly. He was elected Speaker of the House in 
obedience to the very general sentiment of the party. 
In 1884 Mr. Harrison was again nominated for 
Governor, against Hon. Thomas M. Waller, then 
the incumbent of the chair, and who was elected in 
1882 by a large majority. Mr. Harrison threw him- 

{ self into the campaign for Blaine with characteristic 
zeal and indomitable persi-stence. making many elo- 
quent and impressive addresses. The Burchard in- 
cident undoubtedly prevented the Republicans from 
carrying the State by a positive majority, and the 
election of Governor was thrown into the General 

i Assemlily, wdiich body elected Mr. Harrison as Gov- 
ernor in January, 1885. 

"In all political contests Mr. Harrison has been 

I found in the front ranks of his party. One of its 
founders, he has never failed to be a champion and 

i a leader. His political foes have always been ready 
to acknowledge his justice and fairness, his sin- 
cerity and unimpeachable honesty, and thev have 
rejoiced as neighbors and fellow citizens in his many 
honors. The evidences of his public spirit, of his in- 
terest in private and public enterprises, of his char- 
ity and courtesy, of his activity in behalf of all the 
institutions of New Haven, and of Yale College, in 
whose corporation he has been enrolled since 1872, 
all this should be rehearsed. It nuist all be im- 
plied in the description of him as a citizen worthy 
in every way of the community wdiich esteems and 
respects him, and of the State which honors him." 
In early life Governor Harrison was married to 
Miss Mary F... daughter of Hon. Thomas B. Os- 
borne, of Fairfield county, at one time a member 
of Congress, and a judge of the County Court. 

ERUS ELAKESLEE BISHOP. The name of 
Bishop is not unknown over a wide range of coun- 
try, but in North Haven, Conn., for generations it 
has been familiarly recognized, intermarriage hav- 
ing connected it with very many of the prominent 
families of New Haven coimty. and its numerous 
representatives filling many positions of life with 
honor, and all with credit. The subicct of this 
sketch is the oldest living member of this family in 
North Haven, and is one of the self-made, substan- 
tial citizens. 

James Bishop came to .America from England 
and located in New Haven, being secretary and dep- 
uty governor of the colony, and became lieutenant 
governor, serving from i(")8r to ^Gq\. He lived at 
the northeast corner of State and Elm streets. His 
first wife was Mary Lamberton, a daughter of Cap- 
tain George Lamberton, of the ship "Phantom." 
The children of this marriage were: Hannah, 
Grace. Sarah. Elizabeth. -Abigail. John and Ruth. 
His second wife. Elizabeth, daughter of Aficah 
Tomi>kins. of AHlford, bore him: Samuel (who 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



171 



became town clerk of Xcw ITaven. bcinq- succeeded 
by his son and then by his grandson, a nejihew fol- 
lowing, the office being in the family for 116 years), 
JMary, James and Rebckah. 

(II) James Bishop followed farming in North 
Haven and married Abigail liennett. 'i'heir chil- 
dren were: Elizabeth; Mar\- : James; Rebecca, 
who married Stephen Hill (remarkable because he 
never weighed over too jxjunds. while his wife 
weighed over 200), wdio was styled "Uncle Silver" 
on account of his hair; Abigail; Ruth; and Joy. 

(III) Joy Bishop, youngest son of James, was 
born in 171 1 and married Marian Perkins, who 
died in 1794. He died in 1796. Their children were; 
Elisha, Benjamin, Jesse, Ruth, Meriam, Joy. F.uuice. 
Asa and Ruth. 

(I\') Jov Bishop, the si.xth of his father's fam- 
ily, was born in 1745, enlisted in the company of 
Capt. Caleb Mi.x. in the Revolutionary army, was 
at the battle of White Plains, and did garrison ser- 
vice in the forts along the Hudson river. He married 
Abigail Tuttle in 1767 and died in 1837. Their chil- 
dren were: Elisha. Mabel, Joy, Abigail, Penina, 
Stephen. Riah, Rachel and Chauncey. .\ second 
marriage, with Mehitable Culver, resulted in two 
children, Mary and Mariam. Mehitable Culver was 
a native of \'ermont, and her death occurred at the 
home of Dennis Thorpe in North Haven. Elisha, 
Penina, Joy and Stephen Bishop moved to Reads- 
boro, \'t., and their posterity is scattered over New 
England and some of the western States. 

(\') Joy Bishop, son of Joy, was a farmer in 
North Haven and lived near the location of Smith's 
old carriage shop, a little less than one-fourth mile 
north from ^Mansfield's bridge, and was also ex- 
tensively engaged in shad fishing in the river, his 
catch anijounting to several thousand in a season. 
His son also engaged in the same business and Mr. 
Erus Bishop has tools that were then in use. Joy 
Bishop later moved to the farm now owned by 
Isaac ilansfield, and on this place he died, having 
been a successful farmer and the owner of a largo 
extent of land. 

(VI) Riah Bishop, son of Joy Bisho[i. was born 
April 20, 1783, on the farm where his father died. 
When we recall these dates and remeniber the pro- 
gress the world has made since, the wonderful de- 
velopment in every line, it is with added respect 
that we view the successful efforts of those who, 
with none of our advantages, so well accomjilished 
their life work. The old house was torn down when 
Erus Bishop was but a youth of twenty years, and 
upon the site Riah Bishop erected a new one, the 
son doing the work from plans of his own. This 
house still stands and is occu])ied bv his daughter, 
Mrs. Edwin Mansfield. Riah Bishop married Con- 
tent Blakeslee, a daughter of Seth and Jemima (Tut- 
tle) Blakeslee, born Se])t. 24. 1793, and died Dec. 
26, 1848. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bishop 
were: Andrew B.; ]\Ierab, born in 1811, married 
Alerlin Bradley; Bela, born in 1813, married Sally 



Abby; Orrin Orson, born in 1815, married Maria 
I'hillips; Erus Blakeslee; .\urelia, burn in 1819, 
married 1 lorace Johnson and lived in Cheshire; 
Amelia, a twin sister, married .\mos Stone, wiio 
after the death of his wife removed to Salt Lake 
City, I'tah, where he became an elder in the Mor- 
mon Church; Betsey A., born in 1821, married Or- 
I'in Mansfield and moved to Harrison, (.'alumet Co., 
Wis.; an infant daughter, unnamed: Polly Content, 
born in 1824, married Edwin .Mansfield: James E., 
born in 182(1, married Elizabeth Turner, of Fair 
Haven: (ieorgc, born in 1828, married Clarissa 
Buckingham; Jason, and an infant daughter, born 
in 1830, the former living three years, the latter 
but one tla\' : Laura, born in 1833, died in 1836: and 
b'llen, born in 1837. married C.eorge M. Beach, in 
Sherwood. Wis., and is now deceased. This large 
family claims kindred with many of the prominent 
ones of this part of the State. 

Erus Blakeslee Bishop was born March 13, 1817, 
in the old home and enjoyed but limited oppor- 
tunities for acquiring an education. (Juite earlv he 
sought work outside the home farm, as the old place 
became crowded with the coming of the numerous 
family, and' being of a mechanical turn of mind, he 
successfully pursued some lines without any in- 
struction. Tlie house which still stands is a sample 
of his boyish labor, a testimonial to the energv and 
natural ability which afterward made of him so 
skilled a workman. .Miout 1834 he began work in 
a lirick yard, working two summers, afterward en- 
gaging in caqienter work, and five years later went 
to Meriden where he followed this trade, being con- 
sidered an expert in frame making, and his wages 
of $25 per month were considered excellent. After 
several years in Meriden Mr. Bishoj) returned to 
North Haven, bought a farm and erected his pres- 
ent house in the year 1847, performing all the work 
of this more pretentious structure also. The mason 
work, plastering and everything pertaining to its 
erection, except the chimney, is the work of his 
own hands. 

The fertile brain of Mr. Bishop was constantly 
at work, and the result has been a ninnber of valu- 
able inventions in the making of brick, including 
motdds and a machine which was in general use 
throughout New England for many years, and in 
the western States. Mr. Bishoj) re-commenced the 
making of brick, locating his vard on the east side 
of Quinnipiac river, south of the Stiles Brick Co.'s 
];lant. Here he and his brother. James Piishop, en- 
gaged in the business under the firm name of 
Bishop P>ros., and continued for four years, when 
Erus bought his brother's interest and remained in 
the business until 1887. He was succeeded by F. 
IT. Brocketl. a son-in-law. who continued several 
years, later leased another yard and the old yard is 
discontinued. Mr. Bishop then retired to his farm, 
where he employs himself for recreation. 

On -Xj^ril 17, 1844, Erus B. Bi.'^hop married 
Charlotte Thorpe, who was born May u, 1825, a 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(laughter of Aniasa and Cliloe (liassett) Thorpe. 
Ijnth of whom lived to an advanced age in this com- 
nuniity, the former attaining; eighty-two years and 
the latter eight_v-eight, and were well known to the 
iMder citizens. Tlie children horn of this union 
were: ( i) Charles Mlhert. horn in 1845. died in 
icSjj; he was an educated man and sufjerior in 
nianv lines, a fine mathematician, an expert short- 
hand writer and bookkeeper and the com])iler of the 
familv history, and was connected m l)iisine>s with 
his father. (2) Julia Amelia. l)orn in 1850. married 
Elizur Z. Clinton in i8(«) and lived in Clintonville 
until her death in 1S73. ( 3 ) Su^an Anrelia. born in 
1852, married .Stephen A. .Smith in i8()<j and lives 
in Vlintonville. (4) Ihutie. bnrn in 1836, married 
James Munson. nf Xi.rth Haven, in 1876. (5) 
Charlotte T,. bmn in 1851^. married I'rederick 
Hrockett in 1882. ((>) I.ucie. born in 1861. mar- 
ried Andrew D. Clinton in 1885 and lives in Clin- 
tonville. (7) Edgar S.. horn in 1865, died in 1877. 
(8) John F.. born in i86y. died in 1870. _ Democ- 
racv "seems to Mr. Bishop the liest form of politics, 
ami he always does his public duty b\- casting his 
vote, but does no active party work, nor has he 
taken anv interest in office holding. His social con- 
uection with the North Haven ('.range is a pleasant 
and congenial one. He attends the Congregational 
Church," to which he liberally contributes. It is 
not given to all to celebrate a gnMen wedding, but 
Mr. "Bishop and his estimable wife had that happi- 
ness on April 17. 1894. when their four daughters 
gave a reception in their honor at the home of Mrs. 
Brockett. There were eight of the original guests 
present, besides relatives and friends, who contrib- 
uted much to the joy of the occasion by poems and 
congratulatory speeches. .\n original |ii>em, written 
for the occasion, by Whiting S. Sanford, was also 
read. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop are rounding out lives 
of charity and benevolence. ;uid the wish of the 
whole community is that the_\' may be spared many 
more years. 

EMERSOX .M. H()TCilKISS. the founder of 
llnu-likiss I'ajjer Co., of W'alerbnry (since Novem- 
ber, igoi, Hotchkiss I'aper Co., Incorporated), deal- 
ers in nearlv all kinds of ])aper and paper g-oods, 
twines, manufacturers' supplies. woodenware, 
baskets, broomjs, brushes, oil cans, lamp chimneys, 
lantiTus, grocers' and butchers' scab's, cufilce mills, 
me;U grinders, and a great line nf similar goods, 
is (lie "t the siilid and successful business men of 
tli.'it cit\-. In the business world his standing is 
above reproach, in priwite life his eharacler is un- 
blemished. 

Ezekiel Hotchkiss. his great-grandfather, was a 
sergeant in the ('ontiiunt;d ;irni\\ and serxed with 
marked bra\er\ ihrnuglinut the l\e\( iluticiiary war. 
with honor to himself and tn his enuntry. With 
the surrender of the I'.ritish he returne<l to Con- 
necticut, and ^Jiiught a farm in W'oodbridge, upon 
which he settled and passed the remainder of his 



days. In after years, to his children and grand- 
children, his stories of hardships endured, and of 
battles fought in which he and his comrades par- 
ticipated, were of the most interesting and thrill- 
ing nature. 

Miles l^lotchkiss, Sr., son of Sergt. Ezekiel, was 
born in W'oodbridge, New Haven Co., Conn., and 
became a fanner and blacksmith. After his mar- 
riage he located in Southington, this State, where 
he reared the following children : Miles and Mar- 
tin, twins; Benoni ; Selden ; Susan; and Emeline. 
Miles is mentioned below. Martin was a farmer 
and mechanic in Southington, where Benoni was 
a farmer and stonemason ; Selden was an iron and 
brass molder in the same town ; Susan married 
Charles Thompson, a farmer of Southington, and 
Emeline married Burton Hine, also a tarmer of 
that town. 

Aliles Hotchkiss, Jr.. son of Miles, Sr., was 
born near Compounce Lake Ajiril 16, 1822, and died 
in I'lantsville May 17, 1898. He was a man of 
modest, retiring, cheerful disposition, a most highly 
esteemed and respected citizen, one whose honesty 
was irever questioned and whose sterling menti 
were acknowledged by all. In early life he was foi 
several years a boatman on the h'armington canal, 
running from New Haven, Conn., to Northampton, 
Mass., but later he became a mechanic, and finally 
a gardener and produce dealer. He was noted for 
giving full measure, weight or count, and his gen- 
erous nature impelled him to give even more than 
he expected in return. In 1846 he married Miss 
Celia .\ndrews, a native of Cheshire, New Haven 
Co., Conn., and a daughter of Hiram and Martha 
M. (Hotchkiss) Andrews. The Andrews family 
is an old liistoric one in Connecticut, and was rep- 
resented among the soldiers of the Revolution, as 
were also the Royee and Hotchkiss families, with 
whom the .\ndrews had intermarried. Hiram An- 
drews was a sun of Thomas and Sarah (Brooks) 
.\ndrews. and his wife, Martha M. (Hotchkiss) 
Andrews, was a daughter of Israel and Martha 
( Royce ) Hotchkiss. all of Cheshire. To Miles 
Hotchkiss and his wife were born two children: 
Celia M., who married William .M. I'.igelow, of 
.Springfield, Mass., a mechanic and man of fine 
,-diilit\ and high standing: and Emerson M. One 
iif the best iiKithers. grandmothers anu great-grand- 
mothers thai vvvv li\ed. Mrs. Hotchkiss could never 
do enough, in her own estinntion, for tho.se whom 
sill loved ;uid respected. She was essentially do- 
mestic in her tastes, tirinl\- belie\ing that a woman's 
first dutv is caring and working fur her family and 
immediate friends, and in her unselfish, iKible life 
beautifully exemplifying this belief. Loyal to all. 
she was a loving, faithful heli)nieet. an ideal mother, 
companion and friend. Hos])itable to the core, her 
first thoughts were always for the comfort and eii- 
jovment of others, and to that end she was ever 
willing and hai)]>y to sacrifice her own time, health 
and even life itself. Tenderly and cheerfully she 
would nurse and care for anv of her family when 




^'^. JC^] Xoi^^cc^. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



'/ j 



sick, aiul when llu-y were in liealth she was no less 
soliciliins. seekint;- to liL;hlen their burdens hy ever\- 
means in her i)ower. Thus site Hved, hai)i)iest in 
niakiiii^ others hapjiy. until, at the aye of se\enty- 
six. she was strieken with the ilread disease pneu- 
monia, and she calmly passed away alter one short 
week's illness, Jan. 27. ii;()2. 

EiiKTSon .\1. 1 lotchkiss was hirn in .'^nuthing- 
ton. Conn.. .May 13. 1X41^. and iias>ed the earlier 
years of his life- in I'lantsville. I'oini., atteiidint;- the 
public schools of that pkife, as well as those of 
.Milldale and Cheshire. In the l.ewis .\cadentv at 
Southini^ton he coniiileled his school education ni 
I(S')5. and iniinediatcly thereafter ciuered upun hi> 
business career as clerk in a ijeneral store in I'lants- 
ville, where he S|)ent >e\eral inunths. The ])osl 
oftice was in this store, anil the youn^ man ,t;ained 
a good insight into general business matters. In 
his ambition to make himself valuable to his em- 
ployer. Mr. I loichkiss overworked, was taken seri- 
ously ill. and finally passed through a severe attack 
of typhoid fever. lOuring his illness the term of 
the postmaster (his emjiloyer ) had nearly ex])ired. 
and another man, of political views in harni(in\' 
with those of the new a(huinistration. >ecured the 
appontmint. He. ti^i. conducted a general slori'. 
and, being favorably imi)resse<l with the maimer in 
which young Hotchkiss hail attended to his duties 
and conducted himself generally while in the em- 
])l(iy (it his competitor, and previousK'. called npun 
him during his convalescence, and urged him i<i 
enter his employ at as early a date as he was alik-. 
to take charge of the post office as soon as it should 
he moved into the new quarters. After several 
interviews the young man consented, although 
strongly importuned hy his former emplo\er to re- 
turn to his store as head clerk ami bookkeejier. 
After a few months in his new place Air. Hotchkiss 
was offered and acce])ted the position nf book- 
keeper in the office of the S. Stow .Manufacturing- 
Co., of I'lantsville ( later the Peck, Stcjw &. Wilcox 
Co.), wdTere he remained until 1871. s])ending part 
of the time during his last two years there on the 
road as salesman. His experience and schooling 
while with this firm gave him a most thorough 
practical knowdedge of office work and the conduct 
of business in general, which has i)roven to be of 
inestimable value to him in his life work. 

Previous to entering the office of the .Stow Man- 
ufacturing Co. Mr. Hotchkiss had managed to save 
a portion of his wages, and with his increased sal- 
ary he was enabled to save still more, which accu- 
mulation, vvhen^ it amounted to a fev.- hundred di:)l- 
lars, he invested in stock in the .Stow Co., adding to 
same until, with cash and stock dividends wliich 
had been declared, his hohhngs in J 871 amounted 
to about eight thousand dollars. He then deter- 
mined to sell out and ti-> engage in 'business for 
himself, and accordingly, although strongly urged 
by the officers of the company to remain with them 
at a largely increased salary, he sold his stock, 
launched out, ])urchased the Mad River Paper Mill 



at Wolcott. Xew Haven Co.. Coim.. and at once 
began extensive alterations and improvements with 
the iiUention of making it a first-class wrajjiiing 
pajier and straw board mill. With tlu' high prices 
tluu ruling for tlie-e gooils the outlook was bright, 
but prices soon declineil, and within two vears had 
reached so low a point thriutgh com])etition with 
western mills--that b.ad the ad\'antages of chea]) 
sto.-k. fuel atid labor — that the eastern mills running 
on these common grades of pajjer could dispose of 
their proiluct only at a loss, the actual cost to them 
of stock and fuel (reckoning nothing for labor and 
other ex])euses ) being more than their western 
comi)elitors were asking for the finished goods laid 
down in the eastern mai;k-et. Then followed the 
panio of 1874-75. and ,\lr. Hotchkiss, with his 
small capital and twice as much m<ire tied up in 
real estate, buildings and fine new machinery, no 
sales for his product except ;it nmch less than cost, 
his customers on every hand failing and others 
winding up their business, met with heavy financial 
losses and found himself unable to pa\ the running 
expenses of the mill and to carr\- on the emer])rise 
longer without getting more deejdy involved and 
also further involving his friends, many of whom 
had advanced ami were ready to advance still more 
money if he so desired. Taking into consideration 
all the existing conditions, he decidt-d to discon- 
tinue operation.s. The mill i)ropert\' he transferred 
to the mortgagee, sold the slock on hand, collected 
oiitstaivding account>, and with the proceeds paid 
his indel)tedness as far as possiljle. Jlowever. tliere 
was still a balance of many thousands of dollars 
standing' against him, which he i)ropi_ised to i)a\- 
from his future earnings, and tliis self-imposed 
task was faithfully [lerfonned. kHr (jver rtftLcn 
years succeeding he jiaid all that could possibly be 
spared from salary or ]jrofits, and eventualh- all 
these claims were satisfied, in ne;irl\- ever\- case 
with interest added. During his stay with the Stow 
Manufacturing Co. Mr. Hotchkiss had proven him- 
self an expert accountant. ;md now. as soon as he 
was again in |)osition to take up that class of work, 
his services were jiromjjtly secured to unravel some 
intricate and complicated accomits for firms with 
whom his <ilii employers and business associates 
were coimected. After several months in emijlov- 
ment of this character, he accepted a position in the 
office of a manufacturing firm in Indianapolis. Ind.. 
whither he removed. The climate of Indiana 
proved disagreeable to his family, esjjecially so to 
his two small boys, and, his oftlcial connection al.so 
proving unsatisfactory and generally disappointing, 
he resigned his position in 1876 and retm-ned to 
Connecticut, where in a short time he secured a j)o- 
sition as su])erintendent in the burner department 
of the Plume & Atwood Manufacturing Co.. of 
Waterbur\-. Put the longing to be out again in the 
business world made him feel dissatisfied: and in 
1877 he severed his connection with this com])anv, 
and. with a capital of six or seven hundred dollars, 
bought a small stock of j)aper and paper bags. 



■174 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



With this \i.T\- hniitcd c;i|iital. against the advice 
of ItIs friends, he worked, soHciting orders, deliver- 
ing, haiiHng and caring for his stock in the day- 
time, and doing liis office work at night, often con- 
tinuing until one or two o'clock in the morning, 
utterly regardless of pleasure, comfort and health. 
There were old-established and wealthy concerns 
already in the field, and some of them boasted 
openly that they would comi)letely atmihilate the 
young man within six months, 1>ut Mr. llotchkiss 
proved himself to be a good fighter, aljle to keep up 
the pace as long as they desired, and in no sense a 
"quitter." For a year or more he was r)bliged to 
do practically all the work himself in order to keep 
down running expenses. -Rent was an item t" he 
considered, and he first stored his stock in ;i small 
basement on Cherry street, later muving it tn a 
more central and convenient basement on Bank 
street, where he employed one man as a helper. .\s 
his trade increased he occupied a store on Phoenix 
avenue, in addition to the Bank street basement, 
and then enii)lo\eil two men. Tn iS8o his business 
had gr(j\vn td such proportions that additional store 
room and help were needed, si) he purchased the 
property at the corner of (iraiul and Cedar streets, 
where in 1883 he erected the five-story brick block 
which he occupied until Nov. 15, igoi, at which 
time he leased it to the newly incortmrated com- 
pany. Since 1883 he has bought adjoining pro])- 
ertv, and added new storehouses, until now there is 
over 26,000 square feet of floor space, so thoroughly 
crowded with goods that more space mu:-t be found 
in the near future, hive men are nut as salesmen 
and collectors, eight men and two ladies are em- 
ployed in the warehouses and oflice, and the busi- 
ness is still on the increase. 

Within the past year or two, the demands for 
the devotion of all his time and attentinn to his Xew 
Haven business (nxntinn of which follows) and 
other interests outside haxiiig liecome almost im- 
perative, Mr. Hotchkiss finally decided to retire 
permanently from the payier and woodenware trade, 
and therefore, nv .Vovemlicr, njoi. he sold his entire 
■Stock of nierchandise. e(|uipment and good will in 
the Waterlinrv business to a newly organized cor- 
]Xiration. which continues in the same line mider 
the style of llotchkiss Pajicr Co., Incnrjiorated. 

Through his successful management of the 
paper Inisiness, and some ])rofitab]e outside ven- 
tures, 'Mr. llotchkiss was in 1SS6 enabled to buy the 
olcl Blackstone farm and homestead in the town of 
Bran ford. W \v 1 laven county — a most beautiftil and 
picturesque coimtry and seaside home on the shore 
of Long Island Sound. He still owns nearly all of 
this property, and has at great ^^xpensc and labor 
improved the same, built several tasty cottages there- 
on for summer guests, and made of it an ideal fam- 
ilv summer resort, which is known as llotchkiss' 
Grove. The old red farmhouse which was built by 
the I'.lackstones nearlv two hundred years ago still 
stands there, well-preserved, a famous landmark 
for miles arounil, and especially so for sailors on 



the .Sound. Mr. Hotchkiss is the owner of prop- 
erty in other sections of the country, and has en- 
gaged in other business as well. He owns the plant 
and is sole proprietor of the business which he is 
conducting under the style of E. M. Hotchkiss Co., 
of Xew Haven. In 1898 he bought this large fac- 
tory property, formerly the Manvill Carriage 
Works, corner of Wooster and Wallace streets, 
Xew Haven, and equippeil a portion of the five- 
story brick building with the latest improved 
machinery for metal working and an experimental 
machine shop. For about two years he employed 
expert mechanical engineers to build and perfect a 
superior and thoroughly reliahle motor for auto- 
mobiles, but the results not being entirely satisfac- 
tory he took up other lines, and now, in addition to 
general machine work, he is manufacturing for 
home and export trade the Xew Era Lawn Mowers, 
Crescent Wave Lawn Sjjrinklers, \\'orId Hose 
Couplings, and other patented specialties. The 
outlook for his having a large, constantly increas- 
ing, and profitable business in this line is most en- 
couraging. Mr. Hotchkiss is also largely inter- 
ested in several other manufacturing and financial 
enterprises. Ijoth in and' out of the State. 

.Vbout twelve years ago, through too close ap- 
plication to l)usiness, Mr. Hotchkiss' health became 
impaired, and for several years he was unable to fol- 
low his (Occupation as closely as formerly. During 
this period his younger son, Irving INL, for whom 
a brilliai'.t career was anticipated, was taken ill and 
passed away, very suddenly and unexpectedly. This 
was a gre'U blcnv to the father, and such was his 
weakened conditicjn at the time that his family and 
friends greatly feared the outcome. Soon after the 
physicians recommended the entire abandonment 
of care and work, a foreign trip, or a prolonged so- 
journ in some remote section of this country, where 
complete rest and change of scene could be had, 
but .Mr. llotchkiss declined to drop the 'business 
which he bad worked so long and so hard to build 
up, and with his characteristic grit remained at his 
post, letting his elder son, ^\'inford E., who was 
then with him. attend as far as possible to details. 
As a result of this more careful husbanding of his 
strength, coupled with skulful medical treatment, he 
pi'acticalK regained his health in a few years, and 
look hold nf bis various enterjirises with increased 
vigor; but the added strain ])roved to be more than 
he could yet stand, and early in the spring of 1897 
he was again stricken, this time with such sudden- 
ness and severity that he fell miconscious in his 
room, where he was found later by his family, 
rigid, set and apparently lifeless. By heroic treat- 
ment, however, he was brought back to conscious- 
ness. .\ raging fe\er then develo])ed. running so 
high and jM-oving so obstinate that, with extreme 
])rostration, weakness and complete collapse of 
stomach, the conqilications were so excoeilingly 
dangerous that on several occasions throughout this 
sickness it seemed impossilile for him to live more 
than a \er\- short time, a few hours at the most, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1/5 



imich less to ever rallv sufficiently to conquer the 
disease, leave the sick room and a>;ain become 
active in his vocation. Hut to the surprise of all 
who were intimately conversant with the case he 
after several weeks sj;aine(1 rapid!), rccnvered he- 
fore fall, and once more took up his work, ancl now. 
at the asjc of fifty-three, after thirty-seven years of 
continuous l)usiness life, he is still "in the harness," 
cnjoyin_£;; fairly o;ood health, a very active man, 
lifjht-hearted, ami ever ready to extend a cheery 
ijrcetinq- to his friends. 

Mr. Hotchkiss has not found all his pathway in 
life strewn with roses, mimis the thnrns. His 
career has indeed been a strenuotis one — a long, 
hard battle to fight against kxsses. disap]iointmcnts, 
treatcliery of so-called friends, hostility of enemies, 
lack of working capital, hot and ruinous comjjeti- 
tion, ill health and bereavement. Hut through it all 
the blood that he inherited from Revolutionary an- 
cestors on both maternal and paternal sides came 
in evidence, and he recognized no such word as de- 
feat. Although his investments have in a few in- 
stances proven to be poor ones, and the money 
might much better have been placed elsewhere or 
given away, he has always taken a philosophical 
\iew of the situation, persevered in his undertakings, ' 
and in the end has become a wealthy man, in the 
honorable position of deserving all he possesses. 

Mr. Hotchkiss married jMiss Mary L. Dudley in 
1872. Mrs. Hotchkiss was born in \\'aterbury, a 
daughter of Whiting B. Dudley, an old and hon- 
ored resident of that place, who held the office of 
superintendent of the city Water \\'orks from its 
organization until his death in 1882. For eight 
years he was a deacon in the Prospect Congrega- 
tional Church. Mr. and Mrs. Hotchkiss are the 
])arents of three children : Winford F... born Feb. 
5, 187,^, has been associated with his father in the 
paper business in \\"aterbury from his youth, and is 
jiow at the head of the Incorporated compain-; lie 
is married. Irving ]\I., born April 3, 1874. died at 
the age of seventeen, whde preparing for college. 
Cclia E., born March 10, 1888, is a student in the 
Waterbury high school. 

Mr. Hotchkiss belongs to Townsend Lodge. No. 
89, I. O. O. F., and is well satisfied with the work 
of this order. During the time he was connected 
with the Stow Manufacturing Co. he tuiited with 
the Congre.gational Church, and for several years 
was a member of the choir <ii the Plantsville 
Church, and he is now identifieil with the Second 
Congregational Church in Waterbury. 1 le also be- 
longed to Ouinnipiac Lodge. Ciood Temjilars, in 
Plantsville. and was advanced from one office to 
another until finally, for succeeding terms, he was 
elected chief of the lodge, being released only when 
business ref|uired his removal from the town. He 
has continued to follow in the path of temyx'rance 
in all things, never having used e\en tobacco in 
any form, and in choosing his associates he has al- 
ways sought com]5anions whose reputations would 
bear close ins)iection. In politics he is a stanch Re- 



]niblican. Init in no sense can he i)e called an r4tice 
seeker nor a scheming politician, and in all elec- 
tions reserves the right to cast his ballot U>v the 
men and nieasnrts he thitiks l)esi for the public 
welfare. In either personal or business relations 
with his fellow men .Mr. Hotchkiss is strictly hon- 
est, appearing for exactl_\- wdiat he is: his ■■wor<l is 
as good as his bond," he has an intense hatred for 
all forms of hypocrisy, snobbishness and deceit, and 
is (|uick to discmer a m.an's true wni-th in s])ite of 
any false exterior. In business and all other mat- 
ters he is straightforward and jirogressive : as a 
friend he is faithfully loyal, ever mindful of a favor, 
and notably hospitable. He is magnanimous to his 
enemies, not over-ready to pick a (|uarrel, but has 
always been found perfectly ca])able of taking his 
own part when forced to do so. and seldom forgets 
an insult, slight, or injury. He is firm in bis con- 
victions and tenacious in maintaining them, al- 
though ever willing to listen to the "other siile." 
Conservative, unassuming, level-headed, of quick 
perception and good judgment, Mr. Hotchkiss 
through energy, perseverance and talent has gained 
his present enviable jx.isition, and with the broad 
charity that comes from hard experience he is ever 
ready to j.ilace a man on his own merits rather than 
on any inherited social standing, and to assist by 
word or deed any worthy struggler in life's race. 

By studying the genealogy of Mr. and Mrs. 
Hotchkiss it will be seen that their children can 
number among their ancestors three different 
branches of Hotchkiss' in a most extraordinary 
way : 

First — Emerson M. Hotchkiss had great-grand- 
fathers, great-grandmothers, great-uncles, great- 
aunts, and cousins liy the name of Hotchkiss on 
both the paternal and maternal side, between which 
two lines there existed no blood relationship so far 
as can yet be traced: On his father's side, Sergt. 
Ezekiel and his descendants down, and on his 
mother's side Israel Hotchkiss and bis descendants, 
Israel's daughter, Martha M. marrving Hiram .An- 
drews. Their daughter, Celia Andrews, showed par- 
tiality toward her grandfather's name, and brought 
it into the family again by marrying Miles Hotch- 
kiss, Jr., of a ditTerent branch entirelx', and not 
known to be connected, thus bringing two lines of 
Hotchkiss together, the result nf this union being, 
as hereinbefore stated, Celia M. and luncrson M. 

Second — Emerson M. Hotchkiss, in marrying, 
added the third line, as the mother of Mary L. 
Dudlev (his wife) was, before her marriage to 
\\'hiting B. Dudley. Rosanna Hotchkiss. Her father 
was Benjamin Hotchkiss. of Prospect. s<in of 
.Vbraham Hotchkiss, of Watertown, whose father, 
Deacon Gideon Hotchkiss. of Waterbury and Pros- 
pect, was a captain of militia in the I'rench and In- 
dian war and also in the Revolutionary war. So 
far as is now known this line is in no wav related to 
either of the lines of ancestry of F.merson M. 

The children of h'merson .M. and .Mary L. ( Dud- 
ley) Hotchkiss, namely, Winfortl E. and Celia E., 



1-6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



nuw theref(jre have relatives by tlie name of llntcli- 
kiss extending in three different lines which for 
several tjenerations ajipear to he entirelv se])arate 
and d.istinct. 

LEW IS. The family of this name, from whicii 
descended the Lewises of W'allint'-ford and Meri- 
den, Conn., where, from jjeneratioii to .Q;eneration, 
the_\' have lived for ujnvard of two lunidrcd years, 
and of which the late lion. Isaac C Lewis, of 
^leriden, was a <listinL;uished member, were in 
direct line of descent from \Villian> Lewis, their first 
American ancestor. 

William Lewis came from Limdon in the ship 
"Lion," arriving- in Boston, ^lass., Se])t. id, I'l.^^. 
He settled in what is now Cambridge. Mass.. and in 
the snmmer of 1636 was one of the Rev. Thomas 
Hooker company who settled in Hartford, Conn. 
Mr. Lewis removed to Farmington. I'onn.. before 
1644. Later he removed to Hadley. Mass.. and was 
one of the founders of that town in i(i(i[. He was 
a leading spirit and prominent man in these several 
places. His wife w'as Felix Lewis. 

The late Isaac C. Lewis was in the eighth gen- 
eration from William Lewis, the line of his descent 
being tlirough William (2), Ebenezer, Caleb. Icha- 
bod, Jared and Isaac. 

( il) William Lewis (2). son of William Lewis, 
was born in England, and came to Uoston with his 
father. In i()44 he was a resident of Farmington, 
and was chosen the first recorder of the town in 
i()45. In 1657 he and Samuel Steele liought of the 
Indians, on behalf of a I-'arminuhai company, a tract 
of land sixteen miles s(|uare. lie. too. was a man 
of prominence in his contniunity. He married 
(first) im iC)44, Mary, daughter of \\'illiani Hopkins, 
of Stratford, Conn., and (second) Mary, daughter 
of Ezekiel Cheever, a famous instructor, of Xew 
Haven, Conn., and Boston. Mass. William Lewis 
died in i6c)0. ' 

(III I Ebenezer Lewis, son of William (2). was 
liorn in I'^armington, Conn. He married Elizabeth, 
daug-hter of Capt. Nathaniel Merriman, of W'alling- 
ford, Conn., and settled in that town, where he died 
in 1709. 

(IV) Caleb Lewis, son of I'"benezer Lewis, born 
in W'allingford. Conn., luarrii-d Sarah (Curtis) 
Cook, daughter of Isaac Curtis, and widow of 
Isaac Cook. 

(\') Ichabod Lewis, son of Caleb Lewis, born 
in Walling ford, married, after the death of his first 
wife. Sarah ICsther ( Cmberfii'ld ) 1 lall, daughter of 
Caleb and Esther Cmberfield. 

(\'l ) Jared Lewis, son of Ichabod Lewis by his 
second marriage born .May 10, 17C11. married Ulioda 
Mtinson. Jareil Lewis was a patri<it in the Revo- 
lutionarv war. in which he served in a regiment 
coiumanded b\- Col. Cantield. In later \ears he ki'jit 
a hotel in W'allingford. a)id was no exce]ition to the 
rtde in tbose days when the landlord was generally 
the most inHuential man in the conununitv. lie 



was active in politics, and his advice was sought in 
all luatters ])ertaining to public affairs. 

I \ II ) Isaac Lewis, son of Jared Lewis and the 
father (if the late Isaac C. Lewis, of Meriden, was 
born in Wallingford. He married Esther, daughter 
of Deotlate and Mar\' (Parsons) Beaumont, re- 
moved to Meriden and there died in 1823. His 
widow died five years later. In 1806. at the time 
Meriden was taken from W'allingford and incor- 
porated' in a separate town. Isaac Lewis was chosen 
town clerk, and as such served until his death. He 
was a man greatly esteemed and highly respected. 

Hex. Is.\.\c Cii.M'XCEv Lewis, son of Isaac 
Lewis was horn ( )ct. 19, 1812, in Meriden, Conn. 
After his father's death, when the son was but eleven 
vears of age, he had l)ut one term of schooling save 
an occasional attendance at an evening school. On 
the death of his father young Lewis lived one sum- 
mer with Levi Yale on the Carpenter place on East 
Main street, in \Ieriden, and the next summer with 
Moses Andrews, a farmer in the west part of the 
same town. In the next year he went to live with 
his grandfather, jared Lewis, in W'allingford, and 
assisted him in his store and hotel. On the death 
of his grandfather, a year later, young Lewis re- 
turneil to Meriden, and there remained two years, 
living a part of the time with his mother, and after 
her death, in 1828, with his brother Patrick, who 
kept a tavern. \\'hen in his fifteenth year he re- 
turned to Wallineford. and emtered the establish- 
ment of Charles & Hiram Yale, manufacturers of 
britannia ware, to learn the trade. He remained 
with Hiram Yale until the death of that gentleman, 
in 183 1 (Charles Laving withdrawn in the mean- 
time). He then entered the em])loy of Lewis & 
Holt (of which firm his brother Patrick was a mem- 
ber), who.kei-t a store in a part of his lirother's ho- 
tel building, and had a small factory. Young Lewis 
worked at a foot lathe. and his first business was that 
of making molasses-gates. Later his employers en- 
larged their business, and began making Britannia 
ware. In 1833 the firm failed, and young Lewis lost 
about half of the little capital of $800 wdiich he had 
accumulated. The business of the firm fell iirto the 
hands of Almeron Miles, with wdiom Mr. Lewis re- 
mained two vears and added $200 to his capital. 
Being then twenty-two years of age, he formed a 
partnership with George Cowles. under the firm 
name of Lewis & Cowles. They closed up their 
business in the spring of 1836, by which time Mr. 
Lewis had a capital of $1,300. Later and for a time 
until in 1840 he was in business in partnership with 
Lemuel J. Curtis. 

In 1841 Mr. Lewis bought the Fordred farm, 
wdiich was located about one mile east of Meriden 
Center, where he resi<led for many years. Flere he 
built a shop and carried on the Britannia business on 
his own account. His business increased, and in 
1850 he bought the Crocker shop in which he had 
carried on business with ^Ir. Cowles. Soon after, 
associated with Daniel IL Wells, the firm of T. C. 



Ssli^v' 



^^ 





C//V//^^ 6 




f^ ^ € ^i::y 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



177 



Lewis & Co. was formed, but th<j (k-atli of .Mr. \\'ells 
soon afterward terminated the ]jartnerslii]). He 
purchased the interest of Mr. Wells and continued 
in business alone, rapidly enlarq'ing his product ami 
the means (jf manufacturing- it. About this time 
Horace C. and Dennis Wilco.x, two enterprising 
men who made themselves known in the business 
world, conceived the plan of forming a joint-stock 
company, and bought up the several Britannia-ware 
establishments in Aleriden, so in 1852 the Meriden 
Britannia Co. was formed and incorporated with a 
capital of $50,000, the incorporators being Horace 
C. and Dennis Wilcox, W. W. Lyman, Lemuel J. 
Curtis. John Mun*,on. James Frary and Isaac C. 
Lewis. Mr. Lewis was made president. For nearly 
fourteen years he stocxl at the head of the new cor- 
poration, giving his constant personal attention to 
the business in its many details. Xot only did he 
perform all the onerous duties of the presidency, but 
he exercised a careful supervision over the manu- 
facture of the company's goods, that went far toward 
establishing the enviable reputation that the product 
of the factory soon gained. At the end of this period 
the affairs of the Britannia Company were running 
so smoothly, and its successes had been so pro- 
nounced that Air. Lewis felt that he should be par- 
tially relieved from his arduous duties. He accord- 
ingly, in January, 1866. resigned from the presi- 
dency of the company. The office of superintendent 
(which office he had practically held all these years ) 
was created, and Mr. Lewis was elected. This 
office he held until 1874. when he resigned that 
position. On the death of Horace C. Wilcox, in 
1890, at the earnest solicitation of the directors of 
the Britannia Company. Mr. Lewis again assumed 
the presidency and remained in that office until his 
death. Though relieved of the presidency from 
1866 to 1890, Mr. Lewis was during all these years 
a potent factor in the managerial and executive af- 
fairs of the company, and his views always played a 
large part in shaping the course of the Meriden 
Britannia Co., which had grown from an infant in- 
dustry to become one of the largest manufacturing 
concerns in the country, with a capital of one mil- 
lion dollars, and having five million dollars invested. 

As years passed Mr. Lewis' business interests 
embraced wider and wider fields. Every new busi- 
ness interest that needed encouragement and capital 
enlisted his support until he had become a stock- 
holder in a score of thriving concerns, and a director 
in a dozen of them. He was president of the Meri- 
den Trust and Safe Deposit Co., the Miller Brothers' 
Cutlery Co., and one of the directors of the Meriden 
National Bank, the Meriden Savings Bank, the Wil- 
cox Silver Plate Co., the Meriden Silver Plate Co., 
the Manning & Bowman Co., Edward Miller & Co., 
the Wilcox & White Organ Co., and others. 

During the busiest year of his life Mr. Lewis 

found time to devote to town and municipal afifairs, 

and his fellow citizens were always eager to avad 

themselves of his services in the local government 

:2 



and in the State Legislature. He was elected repre- 
sentative in 184S. in i85_^, in 1862, and in 1866. 
Previous to i86j he was elected as a Democrat, but 
in the year of the L'nion Republican ticket, when 
Sumter was fired uiX)n. he joined the Republican 
cause for putting down the Relx'llion. He took a 
deep interest in the prosecution of the Civil war, and 
subscribed liberally whenever funds were needed bv 
the North. He believed in sustaining the Cnii:)n 
forces at any cost. And all through those dark 
years Mr. Lewis gave freely of his time and wealth 
to assist the families of the men who were figiuing 
at the front. In 1856, 1858 and i860 Mr. Lewis 
served as justice of the peace, and was on the board 
of relief in 1861 and 1867. He was a member of 
the city council in 18^)7. and in i8()8 was alderman. 
He served his town as mavor, elected first in 1870, 
and his administration was particularly successful. 
He was placed at the head of the commission ap- 
ix)intedi in 1875 to build the water works, and in 
the following year he was appointed one of the 
sewer commission, and in both did splendid work, 
giving the city one of the best supplies of water of 
any city in New Eirgland. 

Mr. Lewis was alwavs known as one of Meri- 
den's most liberal philanthro])ists. and the extent of 
his private charities was never known, so <|uietlv 
and in such an unostentatious manner were they 
made. Among those that the public knew most 
about were his gift of a hand.some block on the cor- 
ner of Alain and \'eteran streets to the Meriden 
City Mission. His contributions in aid to this so- 
ciety's charity have also been most liberal. There 
is scarcely an organization to which he belonged to 
which he did not make most generous contriliutmns, 
among them being the Political Et|uality Club, tem- 
perance societies and other kimlred institutions. To 
the support of the St. Paul's I'niversalist Church, 
of which he was so long a devoted and consistent 
nicnil>er. he was liberal, almost to lavishness. In 
the building of the new church, the dedication of 
which he in the last years of his life witnessed with 
so nnich stratification, Mr. Lewis contrilnued the 
major pnrtion of the $100,000 that it cost. The new 
organ was also his gift, and several other features 
were secured there as the result of his generosity. 
.Mr. Lewis was reared an l-'piscopalian, and after 
marriage in 1836 he attended the I'aptist Church 
until in 1854. wheii largely through his instrumental- 
it\' the hirst l'ni\-ersalist Societv of Meriden was 
formed, and there his religious zeal received its real 
inspiration, and tiiere the nwst generous iminilses 
of his life found their rich fruition. After the so- 
ciet\- was organized Mr. Lewis founded the Sun- 
dav-school. and was chosen its superintendent, an 
office he held for eighteen years. Alwa>s an ear- 
nest supporter of the temperance cause. Mr. Lewis 
joined the Sons of Temperance u]>on its organiza- 
tion, and was one of its loyal leaders, and the larg- 
est societv in Meriden bore his name. In 188^ he 
joinecl the Prohibition^ jiarty. in su])port of whose 



178 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



principles he was ever after active and efficient. He 
contributed liberally to the Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union. He was a firm believer in Woman's 
emancipation, advocating her right to suffrage. 

Among the most noted personal characteristics 
of Mr. Lewis were generosity, public spirit and 
modesty. He was never hasty in reaching con- 
clusions, but when taken would maintain them until 
the wisdom of his jx^sition was established and ac- 
knowledged, yet he was at all times, no matter what 
the discussion or controversy, amiable in manner, 
modest in stating his own position, and generous 
in admitting the honestv of those who differed from 
h.im. In all his varied affairs of life Mr. Lewis avoid- 
ed litigation ; never on a single occasion did he re- 
sort to a court of law for justice, and never was he 
sued. He always found some quiet way of settling 
disputes, and thus made lifelong friends. To young 
men Mr. Lewis was always a source of wisdom and 
inspiration. To him they went for counsel, and they 
always found in him a guide and friend. He was 
a life long member of Meriden Center Lodge, No. 
68. L O. O. F., and was a member of the Sons of the 
American Revolution. 

In his home life those personal characteristics 
which made Mr. Lewis beloved in business and so- 
cial circles, shone forth in even a greater degree. 
There he was the embodiment of goodness, there 
his noble Christian manhood found its truest mani- 
festation. His death occurred Dec. 7, 1893, and 
never was a man more deepl\- mourned, never was 
grief more keen; every one in Meriden fck that lie 
or she had lost a personal friend. The day of the 
funeral was one of general mourning throughout 
Meriden, — flags were displayed at half mast on all 
the factories and public buildings, while shops and 
places of business were cluscd during the hours of 
the funeral ceremony. 

On May 11, 1836, I\tr. Lewis was married to 
Harriet, daughter {)f Noah and Nancy ( Merriman) 
Pomeroy, of Meriden, and their children were: 
Nancy M., born Feb. 26, 1837, died Jan. 27, 1856; 
Martha E., born Oct. 3, 1839, married Oct. 2, 1861, 
Charles H. Fales; Henry J., born Oct. 21, 1841, 
married Aug. 7, 1884, Mary E. Stringer, and died 
Jan. II, 1902, at Stratford, Comi. ; Isaac, born July 
15, 1843, died April 30, 1847; I'^^te A., born May 8, 
185 1, married Jul V 29, 1878, Rev. James H. Chapin, 
Ph. D. : and l-'rank. born Dec. 30. i8t2, died Oct. 
9. 1855. 

WILLIAM JACKSOX' I\'ES, who. during his 
life, was one of the best known, representative citi- 
zens of ^^eriden. was born in that town July 28, 
1815. A complete history of the early members of 
the Ives family is given in this volume in connection 
with the biography of Frederick W. Ives. 

Lazarus Ives, son of John I ves ( 2 ) , was Ixirn 
Feb. 5, 1703, in the town of Wallingford and was 
married first, Jan. 5, 1731, to Mabel Jerome. His 
second wife's name was Isabella. His children 



were: Timothy, born Oct. 16, 1731 ; Lazurus, Nov. 
2, 1734; Ambrose, May 22, 1736; Isabella, April 
19, 1738; Joshua, March 16, 1740; Amasa, March 
14, 1743 ; and John and Phebe, the former of whom 
was baptized May 17, 1747, and the latter Nov. 
26, 1752. 

Amasa Ives, son of Lazarus and Isabella Ives, 
was born in that part of Wallingford now the town 
of Meriden, and was baptized March 14, 1743. Here 
he lived all his days. His wife was Rebecca \\'ard. 

Watrous Ives, son of Amasa and Rebecca Ives, 
was married Sept. 15, 1809, to Polly Yale. Of their 
children we have the following record : ( i ) Woos- 
ter Yale, born July 8, 1810, first married Elizabeth 
Lake, of Meriden, and second, Elizabeth Parish. 
No children were bom of either marriage. In 1849 
he went to California, and later became a farmer 
at Fulton, Illinois, where he died. (2) Phoebe, 
bom July 29, 1813, died May 2, 1889. She became 
the wife of William Hale, of whom extended men- 
tion appears elsewhere in this volume. (3) Will- 
iam Jackson is mentioned farther on. (4) Aaron 
Watrous, born May 25, 1817, died March 18, 1888. 
On Nov. 10, 1843, he married Sarah E. Atkins, who 
died Aug. 11, 1844, and on April 5, 1846, he mar- 
ried Sarah Leantine Upson, who died Feb. 16, 1898. 
His family included five children, as follows: Sarah 
Hubbard, born Aug. 8, 1844, married AN'illiam Mar- 
shall Jan. 3, 1872, and had four childrai, Marion 
Ives (born April 9, 1873), Ruth Ives (born Aug. 28, 
1878, married Edgar G. Clark in Jul\-, 1898. and 
resides in New Haven), Myra Ives (born Sept. 12, 
1880, resides with Waldo C. Twiss, in Meriden), 
and Luther Ives (born Nov. 7, 1882, was adopted 
by Dr. Means, of Michigan) ; Cornelia Leantine, 
born July 16, 1850, died Dec. 3. 1873; Henry M. 
and Harvey Miller, twins, born March 3, 1859, the 
former of whom died April i, 1863, while the latter 
became a Baptist minister and married Anna Bishop, 
of Meriden. by whom he had one child, Margaret; 
and Ernest Manning, born Dec. 17, 1865. (5) 
Amasa, born March 28, 1819, was long engaged in 
the dry goods business at Benton, Ala., and died 
unmarried in ^leridcn. (6) Stephen, born Aug. 
5. 1821, died in New York ]\Iarch 19, 1898 He 
married, first, Marictte Hall, of Meriden, and theii 
only child, .Stephen Dallas, is now a resident of San 
Francisco, Cal. Flis second wife, Celia Fish, was a 
native of New York State and bore him five chil- 
dren, namely: John, Clara, Frank F., Mae and a 
daughter who clied unnamed. Mrs. Ives died in 
Meriden. (7) George W., born Jan. 15, 1825, died 
unmarried. (8) Samuel Miller, born Jan. 29, 1829, 
married Julia Ann Crocker, March 25, 1852. They 
had three children, born as follows : Lelaiid 
Crocker, Nov. 12. 1856, died Feb. 22, 1885; Luella, 
I'eb. I, i86r, died Aug. 26, following: Birdie, Dec. 
19, 1872, died Sept. 14, following. (9) and (10) 
Cornelia and Delia, twins, Ixjrn Feb. 28, 1833, ^^ 
whom the latter died April 3, following: Cornelia 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1/9 



married Waldo Clinton Twiss, of iMeriden. Oct. 15, 
1862, and her only child. Frank Bolivar, born Mav 
12, 1863. died Sept. 10, following-. 

William Jackson Ives was reared on the home 
farm and educated in the district schools. In early 
manhood he was a peddler with a team in the South, 
disposing- of wares made by Parker & White, of 
I\leriden. receiving a compensation of one hundred 
dollars per month and expenses. For some years 
lie made suspender welihing in Meriden but lost 
his factory by fire. Subsequently he established 
himself in business on his own account at Benton, 
Ala., keeping a general store. After achieving 
marked success he admitted to partnership his 
brother. Stephen Ives, and his bookkeeper. \\'illiam 
Sayre. ]\lost of his time was spent in the North 
buying goods to supply the demands of a large num- 
ber of customers, and looking after his farm. The 
large planters bought much on credit and the de- 
vastation caused by the Civil war impoverished their 
debtors and the firm was forced to sustain a loss of 
about one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Ives' per- 
sonal loss included a large store and warehouse, 
amounting to eighty thousand dollars, of which 
he never recovered anything. Much of this loss was 
caused by the burning of the town by the Union 
armv. Retiring to Meriden he abandoned his 
southern' interests and took a more active part in 
iiome affairs than had previously been possible. He 
was quite extensively engaged in rearing fine stock, 
and as he was a lover of fine horses this occupa- 
tion was congenial to him and many animals were 
disposed of by him at handsome figures. His bus- 
iness ability and integrity were well known and ap- 
preciated, and he was often called upon to settle 
estates. A most charitable and hospitable man. he 
vi-as universally respected. He was an active mem- 
lier of the Baptist Church and gave largely to be- 
nevolent and charitable undertakings. In politics, 
like most of the early residents of ]Meriden, he was 
a Democrat. Refusing to be a candidate for mayor, 
he served in the city council and board of aldermen, 
and as street commissioner and took an active in- 
terest in public affairs, both local and general. His 
mfluence was wide-spread and contributed much to 
the general welfare. A devoted husband and father, 
and a kind and upright neighbor, his demise caused 
a great loss to his native town. He passed away at 
his home -n this city May 16, 1887, and was buried 
in East Cemetery. 

On Sept. I, 1 84 1. Mr. Ives was married to 
Lucy Julia Birdscy. who was born in Meriden, a 
daughter of Gershom and Lucy Coe Birdsey, of 
whom further mention is made in the genealogy 
of I''Ii C. Birdsey in this volume. Mrs. Ives is a 
l.i(l\- of nuich character and business ability. Dur- 
ing the long absences from home of her husband, 
she cared for his local interests in a thoroughly 
business-like wav. She is also well-read and refined, 
and is a favurite with the young people of her ac- 



quaintance, with whom she loves to mingle. The 
embodiment of Christian virtues, she is a valued 
member of the First Baptist Church and pursues 
the same line of Christian labors which were so 
\fell undertaken by her lamented husband. Though 
well advanced in years she is still in the enjovment 
of vigorous health, and is active and useful in the 
various aflfairs of life. The children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Ives were five in number. ( i ) William Bird- 
sey, born Oct. 2~, 1843. in Meriden, married S. 
Clarissa Rutty, daughter of Fzra Rutty, of Meri- 
den. (2) Ellena Lucy, born March 24, 1S47. niar- 
ried Conrad G. ISacon. of Middletown, Conn., and 
died July 30, 1870, leaving one child, Kllena Ives, 
born July 27, 1870, who married Arthur .A. Allen, 
of Middletown, Oct. 6, 1890: she has had three chil- 
dren, Margaret (born Xov. 30, 1891), John Will- 
iam (Oct. ig, 1898, died the 26tli of the same 
month), and Ellena (born ( )ctober, 1900). (3) 
Elizabeth, born May 29, 1849. died two days later. 

(4) Carrie, born Dec. i, 183'), died six days later. 

(5) George W., born Aug. 8, 1861, was a success- 
ful business man in Meriden and Mussell Shell, 
Montana, and died in Meriden. unmarried. April 
17, 1889. 



HENRY DENNISON HALL, now retired 
from the butcher business, in which he was so long 
and successfully engaged in Wallingford, was born 
on a farm in that town Sept. 7, 1836, and is a de- 
scendant of John Hall, the founder of the family in 
New Haven Colony, through his son John and 
grandson of the same name. 

John Hall, son of John and Mary (Parker) Hall, 
and grandson of the first John Hall, was born March 
14, 1681, in the town of Wallingford, wdiere he was 
an extensive land owner, spending his life in the 
cultivation of the broad acres that constituted the 
Hall homestead. He was a man of character and 
standing in the town and church affairs, being 
deacon of the church and an occupant of several 
public positions. At the ripe age of eighty-six 
years this worthy and honorable progenitor of 
Henry D. Hall passed away, April 27, 1766. 

Elis'ha Hall, born in \\'allingford, was a ser- 
geant in the State militia, and participated in the 
war of the Revolution. All his life was spent in 
Wallingford, where he died January 19, 1800, 
at the age of seventy years. Thankful At- 
water, his wife, w'as united in marriage with him, 
June 14, 1755. Born in 1732, she became the 
mother of a numerous family, and died June 28, 
1792. The following children were born to this 
marriage: Phebe, born Feb. 10. 1756, married Mr. 
Parmalee, of Durham: Sarah, born April 5, 1758, 
married John Fields, of Cheshire: Joseph, born Julv 
25, 1759, married Mercy Cornwall, May 31, 1799: 
Lydia, bom July 17, 1761, married Mr. Curtis, and 
settled in Durham; Sallv. born Dec. 8, 1763; Eliza- 
beth, born Oct. 3, 1765, married Benjamin Hall; 



i8o 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Hannah, horn Jan. 26, 1769; Jolin, Ijorn July 13, 
1770; and Eunice, horn Aug. i, 1772, married Miles 
Peck. 

John Hall, whose name is noted in the preceding 
paragraph, was the grandfather of Henry Dennisbn 
Hall, and was horn on the Hall homestead, and his 
early youth and boyhood were passed amid the 
troublous years of the American Revolution. He 
became a substantial farmer, a well and highly re- 
spected citizen, and followed the tillage of the soil 
all his life. He married (^irace Dcnnison Hall, April 
3, 1800. and she died Jan. 3, 1840. Both husband 
and wife are buried in Center .Street Cemetery. 
These were their children : Lowly, born April 21, 
J804, married a Mr. Johnson: Jeremiah Atwater, 
liorn in 1806; John, born in 1807; ThankfuU, born 
!^ept. 6, 1808, married a .Mr. Hopson ; Phebe, born 
Dec. 18, 1810; Dennison D., born Dec. 9, 1815 ; 
Grace D., born July 18, 1813, married George Simp- 
son ; Elisha, born March 15, 1818; Jenuette, l)orn 
May 31, 1820; and Patty. 

Jeremiah A. Hall, father of Hem-y Dennison 
Hall, was born and reared on the old family home- 
stead, and had a fair education in the district school. 
He was a life-long farmer, and was also engaged 
in teaming l)etween Waterbury and Wallingford, 
carrying in (k-rnian silver to the local manufac- 
turers. .'\ well known and much respected man, he 
liad many friends in the community, and was long 
regarded as one of the representative men of the 
town. In politics he was in early life a Whig, and 
then became a Ke]inblican. Temperate and do- 
mestic in his habits, his life was singularly free 
from flaws and stains, and those who knew him best 
entertained for him the most profound respect. In 
religion he was a Presbyterian, and his long and 
u[.)right life of more than eighty-four years cast no 
stain uj)on his jjrofession of faith. Jemima I'ield, 
born in the town of Madison, became his wife, and 
was the motlier of four childreiy, of whom the oldest, 
Henry Dennison, is the suljject of this writing. Her 
second son, Joseph Atwater, was born Oct. 11, 1838, 
and had his education in the \\'allingford district 
school and in a private school at Southfield. He 
remained at home and worked with his parents until 
he reached the age of twenty-five, when he went to 
New York City, and for a year was a clerk in a 
hotel on Cortland street. For two years he was clerk 
for A. L. Chamberlain, a general luerchant at Fair 
Haven. In 1863 he became a partner with his 
brother, Henry D., under the firm naiue of H. D. c^ 
J. A. Hall, and engaged in the butcher business in 
Wallingford, where he continued until the time of 
liis death, April 27, 1900. He was buried in the 
Center Street Cemetery at Wallingford. He was a 
Mason, and was known as a good man who lived 
very close to the Golden Rule. During the Civil war 
he served as a soldier of the Union army, being a 
member of the Regimental Band connected with the 
5th Conn. \'. I. He was a nuisician of marked 
abilitv. and fur man\- vears he wa^s a member of the 



Wallingford Band. He was married at Broad 
Brook, Hartford Co., Conn., to Miss Cora Beamen, 
a native of South Windsor, and a daughter of Shel- 
don Beamen. They had one child, Eva Lillias, who 
graduated from the Wallingford high school in 
1899, and married Edwin Francis Ives, a son of 
Dobson Ives, of East Wallingford. Mrs. Joseph 
Hall died in 1892, and is buried in the Center Street 
cemetery. The third son of Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah 
Hall was Julius C. Hall, who is now engaged in the 
butcher business at Wallingford. Their only daugh- 
ter, Hannah Elizabeth, married Andrew Anderson. 
Mrs. Jeremiah Hall died at the age of fifty-two 
years, and is buried in the Center Street Cemetery; 
she was a member of the Presbyterian church, and 
a lady of fine character. 

Henry Dennison Hall attended the district 
school, and was a student in a private school for 
four years. He remained at home working for his 
parents until he was eighteen years of age, when he 
started out for himself in life, finding- his first work 
in a coal office at New Haven. For three years 
he worked in the New Haven office, when, desiring 
to start in business for himself, he returned to Wall- 
ingford and engaged in business with Willard & 
Hopkins, old butchers and meat men. At a later 
period he formed a partnership with his brother, 
after a four years' partnership with Mr. Willard, of 
the firm already mentioned, and the firm of H. D. 
& J. A. Hall built up a large and enduring business. 
The third brother, Julius, becatne a member of the 
firm, and is now carrying on the business. Henry 
Dennison has bought stock very largely. In 1872 
they built a fine brick market on Center street. Air. 
Hall is an active and energetic man, and has never 
married. He has a farm of sixty acres, and is one 
of the solid men of the community. 

FRANKLIN TITUS 1\'ES, an (.Id and much 
respected citizen of Meriden, who for many years 
was one of its leading Inisiness men, is now spend- 
ing the evening of his days in retirement at his 
very comfortable home on Broad street, Meriden. 
He was born on the Ives homestead, in the town of 
Meriden, near the Wallingford line, .\ug. I, 1828, 
and is a descendant of one of the oldest and most 
respected families of New England. 

John Ives, the first of the name to settle in Xew' 
Havt'ii ciiunty, was a land owner and farmer in 
that part of Wallingford whicli is now Meriden. 
There he spent his life, and had ;i faniil\- of eight 
children. John h'es, his oldest son, was born Nov. 
if), lOfHj, and was engaged in farming in what was 
then the .\orth l""arms of Wallingford, where he 
dietl in 1738, at the age of sixty-nine years. In 
i('>93 he was married to Mary Gillette, by whom he 
became the father of eleven children, the eldest of 
whom, JmIhi. was Ixirn Se])t. 28, irxj4. This Jolui 
Ives was a farmer, and owned considerable land 
near the Wallingford line, in the southeast part of 
Meriden. His life was sjient on the farm, where he 




^^ ^ ^^ 




C^-v^^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



iSi 



died Aug. 4. 1745. His remains were laid to rest 
ill Mt-ridcii. ( )n Dec. 18. 1719, lie married lianiiah 
Rovce. dauqhter of Samuel and Hannah Kovce. of 



1770 at the age of 



W'allingford. She died Xov. 

seventy years. Their cliildren were twelve in nuni- 

l)er. 

John Ives, eldest son of John and Hannah 
(Royce) Ives, was born July 4, i72y. and was a 
lifelong fanner. He was twice married, his first 
wife being Mary 1 lall. a daughter of Dr. Isaac Hall. 
She died in T'ebruary. I7<S8.' and Mr. Ives married 
for his second wife Sarah Hall, who jiassed away 
Xov. 24, 1814. He entered into rest in h'ebruary, 
181*"). He was the father of eight sons and four 
daughters: (i) Lucretia married C'apt. Samuel 
Ives. (21 John married Martha Merriman, and 
settled in Lewis county. X. Y. ( .^ I Isaac married 
a Miss Benedict, and after her <leaih wedded a Mrs. 
White, of Danbury. He was a member of the firm 
cf Ives & White, the first wholesale hatters in Xew 
York. (4) Levi married Fannie Silliman, June 
18, 1789, and settled in Lewis county, X. Y. He 
was the father of Bishop Ives, of Xorth Carolina, 
who later became a Catholic, and died at Fordham, 
X. ^'.. (Jet. 13, i8<')7. (5) Joseph married Lucy 
Hall, a daughter of Benjamin Hall, and located in 
Canada. (6) Joel M. married a Miss Hart, and also 
found a liome in Canada. (7) Othniel. born Aug. 
17, 1779, married Sarah Yale, and after her deatli. 
Rosetta Yale: he was engaged in farming in Meri- 
den, on ]iart of his father's estate, and died about 
1829. (8) Titus was the father of Franklin T. 
Ives. (9) Eli was engaged in the hat business in 
New York, and died of yellow fever. He was a 
penman of ven,- artistic tastes, and Mr. Ives has in 
his possession samples of drawing and writing from 
tliis exquisite artist, which are almost without equal. 
(10) Anna married Xoah I-'oster. ( 11 ) Polly mar- 
ried John Hooker. ( 12 ) Meriel married a Mr. 
Clark, and moved with him to Canada. 

Titus Ives. notcHJ above, was born July 15, 1782, 
on the old homestead, where he was reared, and he 
secured his education' in the neighborhood district 
school, though he always regarded himself very 
largely as a man self-educated, by close observation 
and wide reading, h'or twenty-five years he taught 
school in Wallingford and Meriden, and he was 
also engaged in farming, building a dwelling house, 
barns and other a])purtenances on that [Kirtion of 
the large estate whicli fell to him, and which is now 
owned by Robert ()wen. The house was destroyed 
hy fire in t<)oi. Titus Ives spent his life on the 
farm, and became one of the most prominent and 
highly respected men of the town. Long serving 
as trial justice in ^feriden, he was familiarly known 
as "Squire" Ives, and he also acted in other local 
positions. In jjolitics he was a stanch Democrat. 
In religion he was a member of the Baptist Church, 
helping to organize the church of that denomination 
in Meriden, and was always deeply interested in its 
welfare. In 1806 Titus Ives married, in .Meriden, 



Lodenia Yale, a daughter of Xathaniel ^'ale. who 
was a deacon of the Presbyterian Church. She is 
remembered as a woman of great Christian worih 
and high moral character. To this union were born 
SIX children: (I) .^ilas Yale, who was a school 
teacher for forty years, and died in X'orth Madison, 
Conn.; (2) Xathaniel Yale, who clied of small ])ox 
in Xew 'S'ork : (3) Maria, who married Luther 
Hall: (4) A daughter that died in infancy un- 
named; (5) Susan L.. who died young: and (6) 
I'Tanklin T., whose name introduces this article. 
Titus Ives died March 11. 1834. 

Franklin Titus Ives was reared under the par- 
ental roof, and secured his educatinn in the local 
schools. All his life he has been a close student, 
and at an early age became a teacher, for a number 
(d' years being a verv successful worker in the 
school room. \'ery early in life he became inter- 
ested in the stock Inisiness. and as early as his eigh- 
teenth year began buying cattle in the \'ermont and 
western centers of that trade, and selling them in 
the homt' market. In i8()2 he began the tobacco 
Inisiness. and followed that line for more than 
twenty-five years, having long been one of the 
largest buyers and packers of tobacco in the State. 
His knowledge of the art of curing and ])acking the 
article is profound. By the feeling of the weed he 
could tell the kind of land on which it grew and 
what kind of fertilizer was employed in its growth. 
He was ready to pay the highest market prices, and 
his packing always sold at the top of the market. 
During the other seasons of the year he also bought 
wool and skins, a line in which he was eminently 
successful, buying wool in nearly every State of 
the Union, and building up a very extensive busi- 
ness. Mr. Ives was also interested with I. C. 
Lewis, in the manufacture of boots and suspender 
web, inider the firm name of Ives, Lewis & Co., and 
was a member of the firm of Hall, Ives & Co., com- 
mission mierchants, in l>iew York, dealers in Cali- 
fornia wines and brandies, and for years among the 
largest dealers at X'ew York in wines of the Pacific 
coast. 

In 1887 Mr. Ives, in company with Lemuel J. 
Curtis. Robert Bowman and O. B. .Arnold, became 
interested in furiushing $100,000 to a miiung com- 
pany known as the Aurora Mining Co., of Wiscon- 
sin, which went under with a debt of $120,000. 
Mr. Ives was sent out by the creditors in Meriden 
t'T look after their interests, and when he reached 
the mines met a number of strangers all bent on a 
similar errand. After a consultation a new com- 
pany was formed, with Mr. Ives as secretary, treas- 
urer and general manager, and Judge Stevenson 
Burke, of Cleveland, as president. Mr. Ives was so 
successful in his management that he paid the debts, 
put $512,000 to the company's credit, and then sold 
the mines to the \\'isconsin Central Railway Co. for 
$1,000,000, and this inside three years. 

Mr. Ives became connected in 1887 with Judge 
Burke and lames Corrigan. also of Cleveland, in 



IS2 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the Corrigan-Ives Co., dealers in ore. This firm 
built up a business of nearly three million dollars a 
year, but suspended operations in 1893, owing to 
the tightness of the money market, paying, however, 
in full all claims against them. The business was 
finally closed in 1901, with a substantial profit to 
the investors, and Mr. Ives settled down to a private 
life after a very eventful business career. In Sep- 
tember, 1 901, he made a voyage on the private 
yacht of Mr. Corrigan, just before that vessel went 
down with Mr. Corrigan's family on board. 

Mr. Ives built his present fine home on Broad 
street in 1861, and it is reputed to be one of the 
most substantial in Meriden. He is a practical man, 
a deep thinker, with decided opinions, as well as 
respect for others' thoughts, and he is a strong ad- 
mirer of the late Robert Ingersoll. He is known 
a;- a man of letters of no mean ability. His poetic 
ability is marked, and a poem of his which follows 
sets forth his views on theology : 

ORTHODOXY. 

Life is the time to serve the Lord, 
The time to insure the great reward ; 
And while the lamp holds out to hurn 
The biggest rascal can return. 

From youth to age in "^in can revel 
Cheat. He and steal and serve tlie Devil; 
And when life's clock is past eleven, 
Profess religion, and go to heaven. 

If man's last breath speaks faith, hope and belief, 
Who all his life has been a knave, and thief, 
.•\nd makes success to gain the great reward. 
Gives doubts as to the judgment of the Lord. 

Al)surd such faith; pn.ifessions are a cheat; 
The acts men do make character complete; 
With unbelief, an honest life should have 
An honored memory, and a peaceful grave. 

This creed seems safe: Re always true and just; 
Nor fear God's wrath when we "return to dust. 
Or that our souls the vaults of hell may till; 
Do right ; and when death calls, let come what will. 

While in the West Mr. Ives wrote quite occa- 
sionally for the Meriden and other papers, and his 
communications were regarded as peculiarly valu- 
able and interesting. He also possesses musical 
gifts of a high order, and is an expert checker 
player. He has presented some valuable scientific 
papers before the Meriden .Scientific Association, 
and has in contemplation the ]ireparation of a work 
describing his theories : a voltime of reminiscences 
of early New England life is now in ])rogrcss. Mr. 
Ives' thcorv of the earth formation, and origin of 
the water su|)i)ly, is snnu-uh;il mii(|iu'. He holds 
that the source ui all w;iter supply is the interior of 
the globe, and that ceiUrifugal force brings it to the 
surface, ;in(l he shows many evidences to confirm 
his theory. He believes the earth to be hollow, with 
openings at the ])olar ends nearly i ,500 miles across ; 
that tln' ice belt is (he dividing line between salt 
ami fresh wattr, the outside ocean being salt and 



the inside fresh ; that no point of actual polar cen- 
ter will ever be found, nor can be, any more than 
the moon can be explored ; that the earth to be cen- 
trally hot is impossible, but that the internal ocean 
is intensely cold, as evidenced by its exhaustless 
supply to our lakes and springs of uniformly cool 
water, with few exceptions ; that rainfall has its 
main purpose to temporarily refresh the surface 
and vegetation, and nothing to do with lakes, etc. 
These claims, with various others, contradicting 
many accepted theories on this subject, he purposes 
to publish and explain at an early day, if life is 
spared. 

In politics Mr. Ives is a Democrat, but has no 
desire for f>olitical honors. In 1897 he was ap- 
pointed to a tiiembership on the .State Board of 
Mediation and Arbitration, by Gov. Cooke, was 
successively reappointed by the State administra- 
tions, and is now chairman of the Board. In fra- 
ternity matters he belongs to Center Lodge, Xo. 97, 
A. F.'& A. M., at Meriden. 

Mr. Ives was married, in 1871, to Lucy Ann 
Miller, widow of the late Charles Rogers, of Bran- 
ford. Mr. and Mrs. Ives are much respected in the 
circles in which they move. He is marked by the 
possession of good artistic tastes, and by the devel- 
opment of high moral character, and an enviable 
record of business success. 

WHEELER. The name of Wheeler has been 
prominent in the annals of Connecticut from the 
very dawn of the Colonial period. For quite 260 
years, generations of the family have occupied lands 
in the territory now comprising the counties of 
P'airfield, New Haven and Litchfield. From the 
Southburv branch descended the family of the late 
Hon. Elisha \\'heeler, and of him and his sons, who 
have occupied or are now occupying honorable 
positions in society, it is the especial purpose of this 
article to treat. Among these are the late Hon. 
Henry Samuel U'heeler, of Southbury, and Alfred 
Newton Wheeler, a member of the New Haven Bar, 
and who for some years has been assistant State's 
attorney. 

Moses Wheeler, the emigrant ancestor of this 
branch of the Connecticut Wheelers, probably came 
with the company from London, England, who set- 
tled New Haven, in 1638, as he is of record there 
as earlv as 1041. He married in New Haven Miri- 
am, a sister of Joseph Hawley. Stibsequent to the 
period of his residence in New Haven he removed to 
Stratford, where his family became prominent and 
for generations ranked among the ntost influential 
citizens of the town. 

Lieut. Samuel Wheeler, a descendant of Moses, 
the emigrant, was the great-grandfather of Elisha 
Wheeler, who left Stratford about 1740. and set- 
tied in what is now the northern part of the town 
of Oxford, and there reared a large family, one of 
whose sons, and the next in line, was Robert, whose 
son, Moses, the pioneer of the Southi)ury family, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



i8- 



was the father of the late Elisha Wheeler, of that 
town. 

Moses Wheeler, born March 4, 1773, was mar- 
ried in 1795 to Betsey A. Loveland and soon alter 
built and moved into the house in which he died, 
July 24, 1827, and which is yet standing and is oc- 
cupied by the family of one of his sons, the late 
Elisha Wheeler. Betsey A., widow of Moses 
Wheeler, died May 28, 1835. Like his ancestors. 
Moses Wheeler was a man of unusual prominence 
and possessed many excellent qualities ; was a Free 
Mason of high degree and was well known in the 
county and State. 

Of the ten children of Moses and Betsey A. 
Wheeler, Elisha was born June 16, 1816, and died 
m the paternal home in Southburv Jan. i, 1877. 
His education was acquired in the common schools 
of his native town where he was reared a farmer 
end continued as such through life, and in that vo- 
cation was successful, accumulating a comfortable 
estate. Industrious and thrifty, he managed his 
business alTairs so as to become one of the largest 
land owaiers in the town. Judicious in the man- 
agement of his own business matters and possess- 
ing a broad knowledge of general affairs, he was 
frequently consulted by his neighbors in business 
matters and had the care and settlement nf many es- 
tates. All these trusts he discharged with care and 
fidelity and won by his conscientious life the esteem 
of the entire community. Although e.xact and just 
he was a warm friend and a good neighbor, ever 
taking an interest in the affairs of his town and 
througli his interest along these lines, and owing to 
his especial fitness, he was brought into prominence 
in official capacities. For many years he was first 
selectman of the town, and while a Democrat in his 
political affiliations, he discharged the duties of 
selectman all tlirough the period of the Civil war 
in a manner to win the approbation of all jiarties. 
During the trying period of the war he was a stanch 
Union man and believed in the active prosecution of 
the war and the liberal care of the families of the 
enlisted men. Mr. Wheeler was an enterprising 
and public-spirited citizen, foremost in the town's 
progress and was sent by his fellow townsmen to 
lepresent. them in the General Assembly in 1855 
and 1 86 1, and was sent to the Senate from his dis- 
trict in 1863, serving with credit in both bodies. 
On the questions at public issue he had strong con- 
victions, but was not radical or intemperate in his 
speech or actions. 

In 1836 Elisha Wheeler was married to Anna M. 
Johnson, by whom he had one child, James L., bom 
in 1837, who lived in the town of Beacon Falls, and 
Nov. 18, 1863, married Mary A. Curtis, of New- 
town ; lie died Jan. i, 1S75. For a second wife, 
Elisha Wheeler married, on .\pril 10, 1838, Eliza 
A., daughter of Calvin Leavenworth, of O.xford, 
who survives him. Mrs. Wheeler was born Feb. 
29, 1816, in Oxford and is a descendant in the 
sixth generation from Thomas Leavenworth, who 



came from England with his wife, Grace, and set- 
tled sometime after 1664 on Good Hill, in what is 
now the town of Woodbury, Conn., where he died 
in 1683. The line of descent of Mrs. Wheeler is 
through Thomas {2), Thomas (3), Thomas (4), 
and Calvin Leavenworth. In her early life Mrs. 
Wheeler was a school teacher, and she has retained 
an active interest in the intellectual life of the com- 
munity in which she has so long resided. She is 
a devoted member of the Ei)isco])al Church and has 
been much engaged in charitable anil benevolent 
v.'iirk. 

To the secontl marriage of l^lisha W heeler were 
born children as follows: (i) l-'rances Eliza, born 
Oct. 17, 1840, married Truman V.. Hurd CJct. 17, 
1865, and died .A])ril 12, 1875. leaving three chil- 
dren: Mary Frances married, Aug. 14, i8<^o, Louis 
A. Mansfield, of New Haven : Katie I'.liza ; and 
Henry Baldwin Harrison. (Ji .Martha Elizabeth, 
born Aug. 12, 1842, married, June 13, 1883, Rev. 
Ehhu T. Sanford, of New Haven, who died Jan. 12, 
1895, and she later resided in New Milford, Conn., 
and now, a widow, resides in New Haven. (3) 
Ralph Elisha, born May 17, 1844, died June 7. 1838. 
(4) Mary S., born April 26, 1846, married, June 9, 
1870, Charles Edward Webster, of Mauch Chunk, 
Pa., and now resides at South Bethlehem, that 
State ; their children are as follows : Margaret \'ir- 
ginia, born Jan. 24, 1872 ; Mary Seabrook, born Aug. 
31, 1874, died Aug. 29, 1876; and Charles E., Jr., 
born Nov. 11, 1877. (5) Henry Samuel. (6) .M- 
fred Newton. 

Hon. Henry S. Wheeler was born Aug. 5, 
1848, and died in Southbury July 19, 1889. Mr. 
Wheeler received a good education in the common 
schools and was prepared for business in the Britlge- 
port Business College, after which he was engaged 
in business at Rockford, Bl., and in the city of New 
Haven, Conn. Later he returned to Southbury and 
there, amid the scenes of his childhood and the 
friends of his parents, and also many of the grown- 
up youths of his boyhood, lie lived a useful and sue-, 
cessful life, filling a number of public trusts of 
honor and responsibility, and otherwise commend- 
ing himself to his fellow townsmen. Mr. Wheeler 
served on the board of education, was a justice of 
the peace and first selectman and took an active in- 
terest in the jxilitics of his party, and as a member 
of the Democratic Slate committee he rendered 
good service. For two terms he re[)resentcd the 
town of Southbury in the General Assembly and 
was the jiarty's nominee for State Senator. His ac- 
(|naintance in the State was large and he was fav- 
orably known. Of a genial dispo.sition and gener- 
ous heart, he was universally beloved, and died 
ileeply lamented. 

In Deceinl)er. 1877, Mr. Wheeler married Han- 
nah .v., daughter of I'rederick and Louisa (Tom- 
linson) Candee, of Oxford, and their only child 
was a son, Ralph Elisha, liorn July 27, 1883, now 
a resident of Waterbury, Connecticut. 



1 84 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Alfred X. Wheeler, the youngest son of the 
late EHsha Wheeler, was born Jan. 2, 1855, in 
Southbury and was prepared for college at Gen. 
Russell's school in Xew Haven. He entered Yale 
College, from which he was graduated in 1875. and 
two years later was graduated from the Yale Law 
School. Mr. Wheeler still furthered his prepara- 
tion for the legal profession in the office of Judge 
Sanuiel L. Bronson, of New Haven, and was ad- 
mitted to the Bar in that citv in June, 1877. Since 
that time he has been actively engaged in the prac- 
tice of his profession. Having inherited many of 
the rare qualities which contributed to the useful- 
ness, success and popularity of his distinguished 
father, 'Sir. Wheeler is winning deserved success 
and has taken high rank among the younger mem- 
bers of the New Haven county I3ar. For some years 
he has been one of the officials of the Superior 
Court, serving ably as assistant State's attorney, 
and has also served the city- in the conuuon coun- 
cil and as a member of the Board of Health. 

On Sept. 30, 1891, Air. Wheeler was married to 
Lilian Edith, a daughter of Elisha and Julia (Ben- 
jamin) Wilson, of Elizabeth, N. J., and they have 
three children: Richard EHslia, born Aug. 15, 
1893: Elizabeth Cruttenden, born Jan. 12, 1896; and 
Alfred Xewton. Jr., born July 30, 1899. 

MOSS. The Moss family, as the Morse family, 
of Xew Haven, was originally known, had its begin- 
ning in this country in the arrival of John Moss, who 
came from England to make his home in New Ha- 
ven, where he settled as early as 1638, being one of 
the original settlers of the tovt'u. He was a promi- 
nent citizen of his day. representing the town in the 
(ieneral Court, and otherwise taking an active part 
in local affairs. In 1667 he removed to Walling- 
ford. where he became one of the first settlers, and 
in 1670 he attended the General Court from Wal- 
lingford, securing the incorporation of that town. 
He died in Wallingford at the advanced age of one 
hundred and three years, and there his wife also 
died at a \enerable age. Thcv had six children, 
Ji)hn. Mercy. Joseph. Elizabeth, Hester and Isaac. 
.Ail were menrbers of the church. 

John Moss, son of John, the emigrant, was born 
in Xew Haven, and moved with his parents to the 
town of Wallingford. where he followed farming, 
:ui(l died in 1713. In 1677 he married Martha 
Lathrop. who died in 1719, the mother of the fol- 
lowing children: Esther; Deacon Samuel, who 
married Susannah Hall: John; Martha; Solomon, 
who married Ruth Peck; Isaac, who married 
Hannah Royce ; Mary, who married Solomon Mun- 
son : Israel; and Benjamin. 

John Moss, son of John and .Martha (Lathroji) 
Moss, was born in 1(182 in Wallingford. there grew 
to manhood, and was engaged in farming until his 
death, in 1755. He was buried in Wallingford 
cemetery, as a member of the cluu'ch. .\lr. Moss 
was married in 1708 to Elizabeth Hall, and b\- her 



became the father of the following family: Eliza- 
beth. Joseph, Mary, John, Levi, Eunice, Martha, 
Ann, Hamiah, Samuel and Thankful. 

Joseph Moss, son of John, was born in Walling- 
ford in 1714. He was a lifelong farmer, and a 
[jrominent citizen. In his later years he removed 
to Cheshire, where he became a prominent land 
owner, and died in 1775. His wife, Lydia (Jones), 
was born in Wallingford in 1714, daughter of The- 
ophilus and Hannah (Mix) Jones. She died and 
was buried in Cheshire. Their children were : 
Phebe, Moses, Eliadiah, Eunice. Hannah, Joseph, 
Elizabeth, Isaac. Sarah and Amos. 

Isaac ]Moss, born in Cheshire in 1754. grew to 
manhood in his native community, atul there en- 
gaged in farming. A young man at the outbreak 
of the Revolution, he was quick to take up arms 
for the cause of independence. He died on his 
farm in 1839, and was buried in Cheshire. He 
married Sarah Tuttle, who was born in Cheshire, 
daughter of Moses Tuttle, and granddaughter of 
Timothy Tuttle. Their children were: Mason, 
Isaac, Joseph, Lent, Freelove, Sarah, Aaron and 
Jedediah. 

Lent Moss was born in 1780 in Cheshire. In 
early manhood he removed to Prospect, where he 
was a land owner and farmer. He died Oct. 12, 
1845, and was buried in the cemetery at Prospect 
Centre. .-X.fter his death the family name was 
changed from Moss to Morse. In his political 
views he was a Whig, and filled many prominent 
places. In Cheshire Lent Moss wedded, for his 
first wife, Lydia Doolittle, a daughter of Benjamin 
and Lydia (Ives) Doolittle. and a granddaughter 
of Caleb and Tamar (Thompson) Doolittle. They 
had the following family. Lydia, who married 
Samuel Bronson : Lent, who married Lucy Merri- 
man ; Luther; Levi, who died in Elyria, Ohio, in 
July. 1900: Harry, the father of Byron L. Morse, 
of Prospect : and Achsah. who married George 
Pavne. Lent Moss iiMrried for his second wife 
Chloe Muuson, widow of Riley Tuttle, and by her 
had the following children : Sarah, Lydia, August, 
Ernahan and William (twins) and Jane. 

LrTHEK Morse was bom ()ct. 5. 1809, in Pros- 
j.iect, was reared on the farm, and in mature life 
became a manufacturer of pocket-books, but later 
returned to farming. He died in Prospect Feb. 21, 
1888. and his remains were interred in Prospect 
cemetery. He was a man of note, served in the 
General .Assembly, and filled several local offices 
from time to time, being selectman for many years. 
He married .Adelia Piatt, of Prospect (a daughter 
(if l>enjamin Piatt ). who passed her declining years 
at the home of her daughter, Mrs. l-'oote. in Xew 
Haven. an<l died Xov. 17, 1900. They had children 
as follows: ( i) Xancy A. is the widow of Benja- 
min I 'aimer j-'oote. son of Merritt h'oote, of Bran- 
ford. Mr. l-"oote was a well-known druggist of 
Meriden. (2) .Agnes A. is the wife of Watson 
Hitchcock, connected with the firm of Price, Lee & 
Adkins. and thcv have one daughter. .A. Louise, 




LUTHER MORSE. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



185 



who is now Mrs. John I). Davis, of Xew York 
City. {^2>) Edward L., i)orn Dec. i8, 1842, hix-ame 
a number of the 20th !'. \'. I., and died in l'"airfa.\, 
\ a., while serving- in tiie L'i\il war. 

SULOMOX FOWLER Li.XSLh'.N' (deceased) 
was (jne of the liighl\- esteemed citizens of Xorth 
Haven. Conn., a worthy representative of an old 
and inii^nrtant family of .Xew ]'ji.i;Iand. The first 
niemlier of the family of whom we have reliable 
information was Jolm l,insle\-, who. with his 
brother, 1-Vancis. came from I'ji^land to .\merica, 
and in i((43 was nuc of the original ])nrchasers of 
land in Totoket (n<iw Uranford). Connecticut. 

John Linsley was twice married. It is supposed 
his first marriage occurred in JCnglantl. and his wife, 
Ellen, died April 6, U)34. lie married July 0, 1665, 
Sarah I'ond, and died in i'haS. leaving five chil- 
dren, all probably born of his first marriage: Jon- 
athan. John, Mary (born l-"eb. 22. I'i52), F.llen and 
Hannah (born April i, 1654). 

(II) John Linsley. of the the aljove named fam- 
ily, married Hannah , and died in 1684. Of 

his children, two, John and [onaihan, were baptized 
in 1 688. 

[III) John Linsley, grandson of the emigrant, 
John, was known as Ensign John Linsley. He was 
married in 1(^)99 to Mary, daughter of Thomas Har- 
rison, an early settler of Totoket, and by this mar- 
riage became the father of four children, as follows : 
]\Iary, born June i, 1701 : John, born ]'"el>. 20, 1703; 
Elizabeth, horn Jan. 20, 1703: and Joseph, born 
Xov. 28, 1707. 

( I\' I John Linslev, son of Ensign John, married 
]\far\' l-'risbie, and died in 1787. His children were: 
John, Isaac and Edward. 

( \' ) Isaac Linsle\', .son of John, became a far- 
mer in Xorth Branford, Conn. The house in whicii 
he was born was still standing in 1899. He married 
tliree times. His first wife was a Miss Beach, his 
second a Miss Munson, and his third a Mrs. Rus- 
sell. His children were Munson, Isaac and Lydia. 

(VI) ]\Iunson Linsley was born in \~(^) and fol- 
lowed farming in Xorthford. He was a deacon in 
the Congregational Church there, and aI>o in Wall- 
ingford and Xorth Branford. ( )n Jan. 1, \~nA- 'i^' 
married Anna Foote. who wa> born in 1770 and 
died Feb. it, 1842. His death occurred June 13, 
1845. lught children were born to them, as fol- 
lows: Samuel, baptized May 20, 1799, died unmar- 
ried in early manhood; Esther Louise, baptized 
May 20. 179*;. married Benjamin Hall, a butciier and 
farmer of W'allingford : .\ngelina, baptized Mav 20, 
1799, married lienajah .^^niith. a f;irnier of Xorth- 
ford: Cleora, ba])tized Dec. I, I7<;(>, married Bayard 
Barnes and became the mother of lienry E. llarnes. 
of the firm of Sperry & Barnes, of Xew Haven; 
Marcus, mentioned l)ek)w ; .\lfred, born Jidy 3, 
1803, married Polly I'risbie and engaged in Inisi- 
ness as a farmer and lumber dealer: Mary, born 
March 30, 1805. married Ciilbert Page, of Chapman 



and Plymouth, Conn., one of the most prominent 
[japer manufacturers in the .*^tate : and Lucy .\nne, 
l)orit l"el). 28. 1813. 

(\I1) Marcus Linsley wa> born in Xorthford, 
Conn., June 20, 1801, and s])ent his boyhootl days 
and attended school in his nati\e i)lace, and there 
also engaged in farming. I'rom there he removed 
to a farm near .Meriden, thence to (ioshen, Mass., 
still later to Southwick, Mass., and on .Vjjril i, 1845, 
tc Poquoiinock, L'onn., in the town of Windsor, lo- 
cating in Xorth Ha\en .\pril I, 185 1. These many 
changes gave Mr. Linsley a great deal of valuable 
experience, and Aju-il 27,. 1855, when he was aj)- 
pointed to the iM)siti<in of head farmer at the State 
School farm he was well ])re])ared for the jMjsition. 
However, in July, 185'!, he removed to .Miildletown, 
Conn., and later to r>ri>iol. Wis., his last removal 
being in 1899 to IJeKidere, 111., where he died Oct. 
27,. 1887, and there his remains were interred. A 
man of excellent understanding, he made his pres- 
ence felt wherever he was and he was elected to be 
a deacon in the Congregational Church in Goshen 
and Southwick, Mass., in Xorth Haven and Wind- 
sor, Conn., and in i'.ristol. Wis., and an elder in the 
Presbyterian Cluu-ch in IJelvidere. While residing 
in Bristol, in i8()i, he represented his district in the 
Legislature of Wisconsin. When the Legislature 
bad adjourned, and the members were on their way 
home the news came that I'ort .Sumter had been 
fired upon. A special session was immediately called, 
and during a discussion of the call of President 
Lincoln for 75,000 men, .\Ir. Linsley, in the course 
of his remarks, declare<l that he had three sons to 
send to the war and "if they are not enough, I will 
go myself." Without his knowledge the three sons 
had already enlisted and one of them gave up his 
life on the field of battle, while the others distin- 
guished themselves as brave and loyal soldiers. 

On Nov. 13. 1825, Marcus Linsley married Cla- 
rissa Fowler, who was born Oct. 2, 1802, a daugh- 
ter of Deacon Solomon l'"owIer and granddaughter 
of Col. William Douglas, of Revolutionary fame, 
and she died at Rockford, III., Dec. 19, 1867, and 
sleeps her last sleep in the cemetery at Bristol, \\'is. 
Their children were : ( i ) Olivia Douglas, born 
Oct. 24, 1826, died May 20, 1846. (2) Charlotte 
Fowler, born Aug. 19, 1828, married William D. 
Gregory, a farmer and school teacher in Canan- 
daigua, N. V., and died in Rockford, III., Aug. 23, 
i^5<^- (3) Solomon F., born May 26, 1830. (4) 
Marcus Rlunson, born Aug. 15, 1832, married Fan- 
nie Bradley. (5) Catherine Cleora, born Oct. 30, 
1834, married Alarch 31, 1858, Charles D. Love- 
land, a carpenter and builder of Middletown. {Ci) 
Joseph Foote, born June 22, 1837, married Betsey 
Sperry Nov. 17, 1861. He was a joiner by trade; 
was a captain of a company in the 33(1 Wis. Y . I., 
and was killed .'\pril 19, 18^)3, at Cold Water, Miss., 
a ball passing through his head, mercifully causing 
instant death. His hat. pierced by the I)idlet, is in 
the iK)ssession of his widow. (7) .Vbby Lemira, 



1 86 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



burn Jan. lo, 1840. married William D. Greg- 
ory. (8j Edward Sereno. born Sept. 20, 1842, died 
young. 

Solomon F. Linsley was born May 26, 1830, in 
Northford, Conn., where he was sent to the common 
school and later to W'illiston Seminary, after which 
he returned and took u]) farming. For si.x years 
he drove a team, and also served an apprenticeship 
as a joiner with Lyon & Billard, builders of Meri- 
den, and did much work in Middletown, New Ha- 
ven, New Britain ajid other places in Connecticut 
and Wisconsin. On Aug. 26, 1861, he enlisted as 
a private in Company G, 6th Conn. V. I., and on 
Oct. 4, 1861, was promoted to the office of corpora!, 
but on account of poor health was discharged iNIarch 
14, 1862, at Port Royal, S. C, and returned home 
until his health was restored. He chafed under 
forced detention at home and as soon as he could 
be accepted he re-enlisted, on Aug. 9, 1862, joining 
Company K, 15th Conn. V. I., when he was com- 
missioned second lieutenant and, for gallantry, was 
promoted to be first lieutenant Nov. 16, 1863. On 
March 8, 1865, he was captured at Kinston, N. C, 
and was imprisoned in Libbv Prison, but was pa- 
loled eighteen days later on account of the close of 
the war. He served at the battles of Fredericks- 
burg, Dec. 13, 1862, Edenton Road, Providence 
Church Road, siege of SufTolk and Kinston, and 
was also through the scourge of yellow fever at 
Newbem, N. C. On June 27, 1865, he was finally 
discharged and returned to his home in North Ha- 
ven. As soon as he could again take up peaceful 
pursuits, he found plenty of congenial work await- 
ing his hand, and in many of the best buildings in 
North Haven may be seen both his designs and 
v>'orkmanship, among which may be mentioned the 
new school building and the Memorial Building, 
which was completed in 1886. He was conceded to 
be a leader in his line in the county. 

Mr. Linsley was married Feb. 28, 1855, at 
Windsor, Conn., to Lucy A. Tracy, who was born 
May 19. 1834, a daughter of Solomon F. and Al- 
mira (Nichols) Tracy. Mrs, Linsley is in the ninth 
generation of descent from Capt. Miles Standish, 
and can trace her ancestry back to the third cen- 
tury. The children of this union were: Edward 
Tracy, born in New liritain .\])ril 15, 1856, died 
April 6, i8f)o; Louise Nichols, born June 11, 1859, 
married June 27, 1888, Roswell J. Shepherd, a car- 
penter, and has four children, Marguerite (born 
Aug. 28, 1889), Esther Louise (born Jan. 12, 1893), 
Lucy Almira (born Nov. 23, 1895) and Roswell 
Linsley (born Oct. 26, 1897). 

In early life Mr. Linsley was a Whig, and in 
turn a stanch Republican. He was connected with 
Quinnipiac Lodge, No. 77, O, U. A. M. and held 
many ofifices in the order ; and was also a member of 
Admiral Foote Post, No. 17, G. A. R., of New 
Haven, in which he had held several offices. Tak- 
ing a deep and conscientious interest in his religious 
duties, few Sundays came round when his place 



was vacant either in the Congregational Church 
or in the Sunday-school, in which he was a beloved 
teacher for thirty-five years. One of the most in- 
telligent and hospitable of her citizens. North Ha- 
ven had reason to take pride in him as a represent- 
ative man. He passed away March 13, 1901, at his 
home in North Haven, and his remains were in- 
terred in Fairview Cemetery, New Britain. 

JOEL HALL BLATCHLEY, a representative 
citizen of New Haven county, residing in the Nut 
Plains District, Guilford, is a descendant of old set- 
tlers of Guilford and Branford. 

(I) Thomas Blatchley, the first of the name in 
New Haven county, is supposed to have come from 
Wales. He sailed for America and landed in Bos- 
ton in 1635 ; he moved to Hartford in 1640, to New- 
Haven in 1643, to Branford in 1645, then to Guil- 
ford in 1666, and was admitted a planter. Subse- 
quently he removed to Boston where he engaged in 
mercantile pursuits and died there in 1674. He 
married Susanna Ball, by whom he had four chil- 
dren: Aaron, born in 1644, who married Mary 
Dodd and died Aug. 31, 1699; Moses, a sketch of 
whom follows; Miriam, born Alay i, 1663, who mar- 
ried Samuel Pond ; and Abigail. For her second 
husband Mrs. Blatchley married Richard Bristol. 
She died in 1677. 

(H) Moses Blatchley, born March 29, 1650, iii 
Branford, removed to East Guilford (now the town 
of Madison), where he died Oct. 15, 1693. He was 
a farmer by occupation. His wife, Susannah (Bish- 
op), born in 1657, died in October, 1729. Their fam- 
ily consisted of eight children : Moses, born June 10, 
1678, married Sarah Benton and died Oct. 17, 1703 ; 
David, June 23, 1679, died young; Mehitabel, March 
13, 1682, died March 6, 1751 ; Abraham, Sept, 24, 
1684, married Elizabeth Stone; Abigail, Dec. 10, 
1686, died April 15, 1785; David, June 23, 1689, 
ir.arried Abigail Hand and died Oct. 22, 1756; 
Joshua, sketch of whom follows; and Beal, Feb. 7, 
1694, died June 15, 1763. 

(HI) Joshua Blatchley, born April 14, 1692, in 
East Guilford, was engaged in farming in that town, 
and died there March 31, 1742. On Nov, 22, 1721, 
he married Mary Field, born Nov. 15, 1699, died 
Feb. 9, 1793. She married for her second husband, 
Ebenezer Bartlett. Joshua and Mary Blatchley had 
two children: Moses, born Aug. 28, 1722, died 
Nov. 16, 1791 ; and Joshua, mentioned below. 

(IV) Joshua Blatchley, born Feb. 15, 1724, in 
East Guilford (now North Madison), spent his 
entire life there engaged in farming and died Sept. 
2, 1816. On Oct. II, 1752, he married Abigail 
Dudley, born Dec, 22, 1735, died April 18, 1820. 
Their seven children were as follows : Anna, born 
May 23, 1757 (married Ebenezer Walkly), died 
April 4, 1827; Nabby, Sept, i, 1763, died June 23, 
1764; William, Nov. 19, 1765, died Nov. 24. 1767; 
Nabby, May 12, 1768 (married David Chittenden), 
Nov. 24, 1792; Joel, sketch of whom follows; Selina, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



187 



Nov. II, 1772 (married Elisha Butler) ; May, Nov. 
29, 1775 (married Joel Munger), June 17, 1838. 

{V) Joel Blatchley, bom July 12, 1770, in the 
town of East Guilford (now North Madison), be- 
came one of the leading citizens of that locality, 
where he carried on farming and also kept hotel 
for many years. He spent his closing years in the 
town of Durham. Middlesex county, where he died 
July II, 1853; his remains, however, rest in the 
North ^Ladison Cemetery. IMr. Blatchley was a 
Democrat in political faith, but did not seek office, 
lie was married four times, first on ?^Iarch 9, 1794, 
to Ruth Loper, born Sept. 20, 1774, in North Guil- 
ford, died April 7, 1823, by whom he had ten chil- 
dren : William, sketch of whom follows; Dency, 
born Oct. 16, 1797 (married Frederick S. Field), 
died November, 1881 ; Selina, Dec. 24, 1799 (mar- 
ried Russell Evarts), Dec. 11, 1831 ; Betsey, Feb. 
16. 1802 (married L)TOan Hull) ; Samuel Loper, 
Feb. 13, 1804, July 26, 1883 (married Mary Ann 
Robinson) ; Joel, March 12, 1806, Oct. 8, 1834; Ruth 
April 10, 1810, Jan. 5, 1859; Abigail, Feb. 4, 1812 
(married Adnah Hall) ; Clarissa, Sept. 8, 1814, Feb. 
18, 1818: Joshua Selden, Oct. 4, 1816, April 19, 
181 7. Joel Blatchley's second wife was Mehitable 
Bartholomew: his third, Margery Robinson, whom 
he married Oct. 10, 1825: his fourth, Harriet Hull, 
whom he married Aug. 8. 1839. 

(\'I) William Blatchley was born April 21, 
1795. in North Madison, where he attended school, 
receiving a practical training. He was to a great 
extent, however, self-educated, and he made such 
progress that he became proficient to teach, follow- 
ing that profession in the winter season for thirteen 
years. During the summers he engaged in fanning, 
Nvhich was his life work, and in which he met with 
abundant success, accumulating a snug competence. 
In adilition to agriculture Mr. Blatchley carried on 
tl"ie lumber business to some extent. He was quite 
prominent in the public life of his locality, and in 
politics was a stanch Jeffersonian Democrat, and 
was chosen twice to represent his town in the State 
Legislature ; the first time he was elected to that 
incumbency sickness prevented him from serving; 
conseeiuently he served only one term. Mr. Blatch- 
ley joined the Episcopal Church, but during the 
latter part of his life attended the M. E. Church. 
In 1817 he married Minerva Hall, who was born 
in 1800 in Wallingford, this countv, and died Oct. 
16, 1863. He died July 10, 1868, 'in North Madi- 
son, and the remains of both lie in the North Madi- 
son Cemetery. Nine children were born to them, 
as follows: William Selden, l)orn in 1820, died 
March 12. 1871 (married Zerviah E. Lane, of 
Killingworth) ; Jane A., June 25, 1822. Dec. 6, 1871 
(married Frederick Chittenden) ; Aldcn Austin, 
March, 1826, Oct. 25, 1848; Hiram Silliman, 1827 
(married Sarah J. Harrison in Indiana) ; Esther 
Minerva, Oct. 11, 1830: .\bbie Minerva, May 
9, 1835 (married Dr. R. C. Bowdish and (second) 
Andrew K. Crawford, and is now a widow) ; Joel 



Hall, sketch of whom follows ; Salmon Noble, 
April I, 1841 (married Mary E. Crane; he resides 
in New Haven and is engaged in the real estate 
business); Francis Emerson, Oct. 11, 1S44 (mar- 
ried Ardeless i'armelee and lives on the homestead 
in North Madison). 

(\'I1) Joel Hall Blatchley, whose name intro- 
duces this sketch, was lx)rn May 7, 1837, on the 
old homestead, commenced his education in the dis- 
trict schools of North Madison, and subsequently at- 
tended select school. He was at home with his 
parents until he attained his majority, at which time 
he went West and located in Illinois, buying a trace 
of land on which he remained, however, but a short 
time. Returning to North Madison, he conmienced 
farming and sawmilling, getting out railroad tim- 
ber and continued thus for thirteen years, at the 
end of which time he sold out and went west again. 
This time he located in McPherson county, Kas., 
where he homesteaded 160 acres and lived thereon 
for six months after receiving his title, which bears 
the signature of President Grant. On his return 
to Connecticut he took uj) his residence in Guilford, 
v.-here he has since engaged in general farming, 
stock raising and lumbering, owning a large farm in 
Guilford, and also one in the West where he makes 
farming a success. Mr. Blatchley is a hard worker, 
temperate in his habits, and a man of quiet, unas- 
suming disposition, whose upright life has won him 
the respect and confidence of all his associates, and 
he has many friends. Though business interests 
have naturally absorbed the greater part of his time 
and attention, he is always ready and willing to help 
those whom he considers needy, and he takes the 
Golden Rule for his guide. He takes an intelligent 
interest in local affairs, although he is in no sense 
an office seeker. Our subject's political support was 
originally given to the Democratic party, but he is 
now a Republican. 

On Dec. 27, 1866, in (niillord, Mr. Blatchlev 
married Mary Hall Davis, born March 13.- 1839. 
and three children blessed this union, viz. : Will- 
iam Hall, born Feb. 3. 1868, is a contractor in Guil- 
ford; he married Elizabeth Brewer. Samuel Davis, 
born June 12, 1869, is engaged in farming, owning 
a farm in Guilford, where he now resides. I-'red- 
crick Noble, born Feb. 7, 1873, is also a contractor: 
he married Grace Morse. Mrs. Blatchley passed 
away in February, 1898, after two }ears of great 
suffering from spina! disease. She was a good 
Christian woman, a devoted wife and mother, and 
was universally admired and beloved for her many 
virtues. Her remains rest in Aldcrbrook Cemetery. 

The Davis Family, to which Mrs. Mary Hall 
(Davis) Blatchley belonged, is descended from Ben- 
jamin Davis, who is su])]x>se(l to have been a native 
of Scotland, and who settled at Soulhold, L. I. His 
son, Benjamin, born in 1700, married a Miss Conk- 
ling, and they had a son James, born May 28. 1726, 
in Southold. who married Mary Bailey, born Dec. 
25, 1733. They were driven from their home on 



!8S 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Long Island on account of the Revolutionary war, 
and came to Guilford, Conn., where he died July 
;4, i<Si4. Eig'ht children were born to them : James, 
born July 27, 1761, died Aug. 23, 1762; Mary, June 
1(1, I7')3, Sept. II, 1769: James, March 25, 1765, 

15, 1767, April 2'^. 

: Mary, Sept. 21. 



mentioned below; Phebe, .Apri 
iStt (married Noah Benton 



Sept. 7, 1863 (married Joel Lee): Benjamin, 
3. 1771, 1778; (iilbert, Alarch 26, 1774. 1804 



(ioldsmith I : Lucretia, March i. 



17'"^ 

April 

( married Betscv 

1780. 1836. 

James Davis, son of James, born March 25. i7^'5i 
came to Guilford, where he died March 12, 1852. 
On Dec. 11. 1788, he married Ruth (iriswold, born 



Feb. 



70, (lied 



April 25, i8'io. 



Sarah, born June 8, 1781J. died July 31 



Children : 
1830 (mar- 



ried Anson Kennedy ) ; Christopher Bradley, April 
23, 1791. Dec. 25, 1875 (married Betsey Hall) ; Joel, 
May 13, 1793, Oct. 17, 1870 (married Polly Loper) ; 
Ruth Marietta, Jan 11, i79f>, Oct. 4, 1830 (mar- 
ried Cornelius Hull) : Mary, l"eb. it,, 1798, Sept. 
23, 1888 (married Justin liishop) ; Betsey, Aug. 
22, 1800, Dec. 9, 1887 (married John Hall) ; Con- 
tent, April 17, 1805. (married James S. Loper) ; 
Samuel, mentioned below: George Bartlett, March 
5, 1810, July 14, i8s7 (married Hannah E. Hub- 
bard). 

Samuel Davis, father of Mrs. Blatchley, born 
April 21, 1807, died Dec. 29, 1879, He resided in 
Guilford. On Feb. 6, 1833. 'ic married Mary Hall, 
born Jan. 11, 1808, died Aug. 14. 1836. On March 
26. 1838, he married Harriet Benton, born May 20, 
1813. died Feb. 18, 1863. In 1865 he wedded Julia 
Fowler, liorn Jan. 5, 181 1. died May 20, 1883. 
Children: Alary Hall, born March 13, 1839, married 
Joel H. Blatchley: Samuel R., born Aug. 11, 1841, 
died July 6. 1863 : Abigail Lindsley, born March 19, 
1844, married William C. Bishop: Frederick R., 
born July 6, 1847, niarried Isabella C. Bishop, and 
died Oct. 24. 1877: Harriet Benton, born April 14, 
1855, niarried Daniel R. Spencer. 

The H.\ll F.\milv. of Wallingford, of which 
Mrs. Alinerva (Hall) Blatchley, mother of our sub- 
ject was a member, was early settled in Wallingford. 
TlKimas Hall, son of John Hall (the first of the 
name in the New Haven Colony), was born March 
25, 1649, in New Haven, and wl'icn he grew to man- 
hood removed to Wallingford, of which town he 
was one of the first settlers. He died there Sept. 
17, 1731. On June 5, i'')73, he married (irace Wat- 
son, wild died "May "i, 1731. Their marriage cere- 
mony \^•as the first performed in Wallingford. 
Children: Abigail, born Jan. 7, 1673 (married John 
Tvler): Thomas, June 17, 1676; Mary, Nov. 22, 
1677: Jonathan, julv 25, 1679: Joseph, July 8, 
1681: Esther, Feb. 23. 1683 (married Benoni At- 
kins): Benjamin. April 17. 1684: Peter, Dec. 28, 
1686: Daniel, Ian. 27, ir.89; Rebecca, Jan. 6, 1691 
(married Daniel Holt) : Israel, Oct. 8, 1696. 

Jonathan Hall, son of Thomas, born July 25. 
1679, in Wallingford. died Jan. 15, 1760. On May 



12, 1703, he married Diana Andrews, who was born 
in 1684. Children: David, born Oct. 16, 1705, died 
Sept. 2^, 1731 ; Jonathan, June 13, 1708, married 
Dec. 15, 1739, Sarah Cook; Joseph, Alay 31, 1710, 
married April 17, 1736, Hannah Scoville ; Anna, 
Jan. 18, 1 713; Isaac, July 11, 1714, married Nov. 
5, 1739, Mary Morse, and .died March 7, 1781 ; 
Phebe, Feb. 12, 1717, died Alay 14, 1735; Ezekiel, 
May 13, 1719, married Anna Andrews, and died 
( )ct. 29, 1763; Thankful, Sept. 20, 1722; Benjamin, 
Oct. 20, 1725; Temperance, April 16, 1727. 

Benjamin Hall, son of Jonathan, born Oct. 20, 
1725, married Dec. 27, 1752, Mary Ives. Children: 
Benjamin, born Sept, 25, 1753, died young; Eliab, 
Ixjrn in 1755, died in camp in New York, while 
serving as a soldier in the Revolutionary war ; Ben- 
jamin, l)oni Nov. 3, 1756. On April 28, 1757, the 
father married (second) Phebe (surname not 
given). He was a farmer in Wallingford and Plym- 
outh, Conn. Children by second marriage : Ben- 
jamin, born May 27, 1758; Andrew, Aug. 15, 1759; 
Mary, August, 1761 ; Phebe, Aug. 20, 1763; Linus, 
Sept. 25, 1765; David Jonathan, Nov. 17, 1767; 
Erastus, Feb. 12. 1770; Adnah. May 8, 1772; Sal- 
mon, 1774; Eliab, December, 1776 (settled in North 
Killingworth) ; Grace Denison, May 5, 1779; 
Asaph, Oct. I, 1 78 1. 

Salmon Hall, born in 1774. married Lorena 
.Austin, a daughter of Joel Austin, of Wallingford, 
and a niece of Aloses Austin, who founded the city 
of Austin, Texas, after whom the city was named. 
Their nine children were Alinerva, wife of William 
Blatchley, and mother of Joel H. Blatchley ; Hiram ; 
Joel ; Salmon ; Lorena : Frances ; Adnah ; Louisa ; 
and Amanda. 

NATHANIEL LYAIAN BRADLEY, treas- 
urer of the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Co., 
of Meriden, Conn., is one of the best and most 
favorably known manufacturers of New England. 
His business career in the "Silver City" covers the 
manufacturing epoch in the history of Meriden, a 
perioil in which that city rapidly sprang from a 
quiet little New England village into a great manu- 
facturing center, whose name is known the world 
over, owing to its great variety of manufactured 
articles and their high grade. Such a condition of 
affairs has been brought about by a class of mien of 
high character, whose energies, enterprise, tact and 
ability have been given to its accomi)lishment with- 
out re.serve or stint. To this class belongs the sub- 
ject of this sketch, who was born Dec. 27, 1829, in 
Cheshire, New Haven county. Connecticut. 

Levi and .\bigail .\nn (Atwater) Bradley, his 
parents, were pious and unassuming farming peo- 
ple, who reared their children to habits of industry 
and in the observance of correct moral principle 
and religious duty. Daniel P>radley. father of Levi, 
was a farmer in A'ermont, and was driven from 
his home by the military operations of the ISritish 
during the Revolutionary war. Removing to Ham- 




7^^^^^!^^^^. 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



189 



den. Xfw Haven Co.. Conn., lie soon afterward set- 
tled in Cheshire, where his last years were passed. 
Levi I'.radley was born Nov. 11. 179J, in Cheshire, 
and died in Meriden March 18. 1877. All of his 
active life was i)assed in Cheshire, where he wielded 
a wide inlluence and was recotj-nized as a man 
whose moral worth was a wholesome and strong 
virtue in his community. His sym])athies were de- 
cidedlv Christian, and he gave a liberal support to 
the work of reli.gion. He was a thrifty and intelli- 
gent farmer, kept abreast of the times, was well- 
read, and practical in his operations. To the influ- 
ence of such an atmos])here about the home were 
undoubtedly due much of the success and useful- 
ness of the lives — in their several spheres — of the 
children there reared. Like many men wlu) have 
achieved fame or great success, the subject of this 
sketch gives credit for it to his [larents. Levi 
Bradley was one of the most thrifty farmers in 
Cheshire. His energy, good taste and judgment 
were such that he was bound to succeed, and he 
took great pride in having the best crops and best 
fences, in short, the best of everything, pertaining 
to farm improvements. \\'henever he entered his 
farm products for State premiums lie never failed 
to take the first prize. He was the first in his time 
to undertake the production of wheat in Cheshire, 
procuring the seed from New York State, and his 
growing crops of this cereal were quite a curiosity, 
visited by many sightseers. Mr. Bradley, besides 
being a good farmer, was possessed of natural abil- 
ity for general business. He was the discoverer of 
the first barytes mine in Cheshire. While driving 
along the highway one day, he noticed that |x'ople 
who were working on the highway plowed uj) a pe- 
culiar looking white stone. Getting out of his 
wagon to examine the stone, he foun<l it had great 
w'eight in proportion to its size. He jiut it in his 
wagon, and next day took it to Xew llawn and 
submitted it to Prof. Silliman, of "i'ale L'ollege. for 
analysis. The latter ])ronounced it to be first-class 
barytes and very valualile. .Mr. r>radley immedi- 
ately secured an option on the farm where the min- 
eral was fiiund. ami suliseipiently completed the 
purchase, anil he afterward sold the ])lace ti> a 
Xew Haven firm, at a handsome prnfit. The new 
jjurchasers o]:)ene(l a vein and worked the mine 
for years, and sold millions of dollars worth of its 
jjroduct. Because of the acumen dis])layed in the 
matter by Mr. Bradley the owner hastened to se- 
cure his services as su])erintend'ent of the mine, 
which jjosition he filled two years, resigning to look 
after his private interests. 

^^r. Bradley began at a very early a.ge to evince 
his unusual energy and business capacity. L"p to 
the time he was seventeen \ears old he was con- 
tented to remain with his father on the farm and 
assist in its labors. His literary training was lim- 
ited to that afforded by the district schools of the 
day. In the great university of reading, travel and 
observation, he supplemented the rudimentary edu- 
cation thus obtained, to the great advantage of 



himself, his family and the communit_\- l)lessed by 
his influence. Before the completion of his eight- 
eenth vear he made a ]>roi)osition to his father \.o 
])av the latter a sti])ulated sinu each year for his 
time until he attained his majority, which was ac- 
cejited. His enterprise must have been previously 
observed bv others, for he found no trouble in pro- 
curing, on credit, a stock of tinw;u'e and a horse and 
wagon, with which he started South. There were 
no railroads in those days, and the roads were diffi- 
cult to travel in many places, but with characteristic 
pluck the voung man drove to .\tlanta, (!a.. before 
offering his stock for sale. In that neighborhood, 
however, he sold out to such ailvantage that he wa> 
enabled, on his return, to ])ay for the goods and 
also to discharge his indebtedness to his father. 
The trip required six weeks of travel in each direc- 
tion, and ^Ir. Bradley was gone from home from 
September to May. After si)ending the sunuiier at 
home he again went .South, taking a stock of dr\' 
gcx.)ds on the second trip, on which he was also 
successful, and he continued to spend his winters in 
this way during ei.ght or nine years, until he mar- 
ried and settled down on the farm, b'or several 
vears thereafter he wa> employed by several of lii> 
Xew England friends who peddled in the South 
to buv drv goods for them in Xew "S'ork, as they 
considered his judgment and taste in these matters 
verv valuable. These (pialities were also reco.gnized 
by his townsmen, who chose him to re])resent them 
in the State Legislature. 

On Sept. 30, i8n), Levi r.radle\- marric<l Miss 
Abigail .\nn, dau,ghter of Samuel and Patience 
(Peck) Atwater, of Cheshire. ]\Irs. Bradley wa> 
borii Oct. 17, 1800, and died May 25, 1897. Her 
first paternal ancestor in .America, David .\twater. 
came from, Lon(k)n in I '1.^8. and was one of the 
si.gners of the New Haven Plantation Covenant in 
1C39. His son. Jonathan .Atwater, a prominent 
merchant in .Xew Haven, married Ruth Peck, 
daughter (jf Rev. Jeremiah and Joanna ( Kitchel 1 
Peck. Their son, Jonathan .Vtwater, Jr., married 
Abigail P>radley, and had a son, Abraham Atwater. 
who married Mary Ball and reared a large family. 
Two of his sons. Isaac and Samuel, served with 
their father in the Revolutionary army, the latter 
entering as a drummer when only fifteen years old. 
After the war .Samuel . Vtwater settled in Cheshire. 
Mrs. Levi Bradley was the eighth of his children. 
Few women were as well informed upon general 
topics as she, and she continued to be an omnivor- 
ous reader (without .glasses) until her death. .After 
her surviving children were settled in Meriden she 
came with her husband to reside in that city, and she 
was among the m-ost highly respected members of 
Susan Carrington Clarke Chapter, Daughters of 
the American Revolution, there. Mr. anil Mrs. 
Bradley had five children : iMueline .Amelia, born 
Dec. 19, i8jo: Samuel .Atwater, Jan. 18. 1823; 
William Lambert. .May 2^. 1826: Xathaniel Ly- 
man, Dec. 27. 1821K and Abby .Ann, Feb. 2(). 1833 
(married Walter Hubbard). 



190 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Nathaniel Lyman Bradley received his early 
education in the district schools, and subsequently 
was graduated from the old Meridcn Academy. At 
the close of his academical studies, when he was 
tifteen years old, he became a clerk in the store of 
E. B. ^I. Hughes, a hardware merchant in New 
Haven, Conn., for one year. Then, because of the 
strong desire of his parents, he returned home, very 
much to the regret of Mr. Hughes, and devoted 
himself to the work on the farm. At twenty-one 
years of age Mr. Bradley had as yet conceived no 
other purpose than that of being a farmer. Farm- 
ing was not remunerative, however, and its toils 
not satisfying to his ambition. The little fortune 
he had accumulated he placed in a clock factory in 
Southington, a town about four miles away. His 
compensation was $1.25 per diem. It was_ here 
that his genius for business showed itself. Conse- 
quently he was offered the contract for making 
clocks' in the factory — three hundred per day— 
which he readily accepted. On account of a great 
accumulation of goods, which necessitated the 
stopping of the works, it v/as proposed to Mr. 
Bradley that he visit New York, Philadelphia, Bal- 
timore and Washington, for the purpose of selling 
the goods of the company. The success of his 
venture was so gratifying to the president that IMr. 
Bradley was elected a director, and also the repre- 
sentative salesman of the company. 

The year 1852 marked the inception of the great 
industry in }ileriden with which Mr. Bradley's name 
has since been associated. A joint-stock company — 
Bradley, Hatch & Co. — was formed with a capital 
of $5,000. William L. Bradley and Walter Hub- 
bard were members of the firm. So rapidly grew 
the business that after two years, in 1854, mpre 
capital became an imperative need. The Hatch 
Brothers, not having any money for investment, 
chose to sell out their interests to the company. 
Walter Hubbard sold out his dry-goods business, 
and with William L. (brother of N. L. Bradley) 
and Nathaniel L. Bradley organized the company 
under the title of Bradley & Hubbard. The prop- 
erty of Bradley, Hatch & Co. was purchased, and 
a large business v.-as permanently located where the 
immense factory plant now stands. In 1862, how- 
ever, Nathaniel L. Bradley and Walter Hubbard 
bought out the interest of VVilliam L. Bradley.. The 
business was continued under a copartnership until 
1875, when a joint-stock company was again 
formed, under the name of the Bradley & Hubbard 
Mfg. Co., taking in C. F. Linsley, who was then in 
the employ of the company, and it has since been so 
conducted, no .stock having changed hands since 
the organization of the company except on the ad- 
mission of C. P. Bradley, son of Nathaniel L. Brad- 
ley, as a stockholder and director; he is also his 
father's private secretary and treasurer. Since the 
forming of the present company the following 
officers have continuously served : Walter Hub- 
bard, president: Nathaniel I.. Bradley, treasurer; 



and C. F. Linsley, secretary. In referring to this 
company one of the Meriden papers thus wrote : 
"The history of the company has been one of rapid 
development, due to the great energy and business 
ability of Messrs. Bradley and Hubbard, the found- 
ers of the original firm. The firm started in busi- 
ness in an old two-story wooden building now 
used as a repair shop, and. a small brick foundry. 
A glimpse at the immense building of to-day tells 
the story of the growth since then better than words 
can do. In 1870 the first large brick structure was 
erected, and since then the constant demand for 
additional room has necessitated the erection of 
other factories, in which there are employed over 
1,000 liands. Without doubt the company is the best 
known in manufacture of chandeliers, gas fixtures, 
lamps, electric fixtures, fancy hardware, bronzes, 
stationery goods, and large lines of other goods too 
numerous to mention. There are many of the larg- 
est buildings all over the country that have been 
fitted out by this company, and their goods are al- 
ways eagerly sought for, since they possess the 
merit of artistic beauty far ahead of all competitors, 
as well as stability and honest quality. The com- 
pany's factories are equipped with the finest machin- 
ery and mechanical appliances in the world. Every 
part of the immense establishment having been built 
by them for the express purpose for which it is 
used, their facilities for producing work in every 
branch are unequalled. Among the army of work- 
men which they employ are artists, designers, mod- 
elers and skilled artisans. With a rapid but sure 
progress the company has grown from a modest 
beginning to occupy a prominent position in the 
manufacturing industries of the world. The com- 
pany's great plant now occupies eleven acres of 
floor space. This company added a new line of 
goods in i8q5, and has been very successful with 
same. It comes under the name of Architectural 
Metal Work, composed of bronze, brass and iron, 
and the reputation of the company for producing 
these goods also stands first in the market, although 
young in this line, which goes to prove that in what- 
ever line of goods they make they come to the front 
every time. The present prospects indicate that 
the company will be obliged to add more buildings 
to their immense plant in order to keep up with the 
growing demand for the goods." 

Mr. Bradley is a business man, not a politician, 
and has generally been so absorbed in his business 
that he has given no time to looking after official 
positions, although frequently importuned to serve 
in this or that capacity. However, he at one time 
served Meriden as aldermian and acting mayor. He 
is a director of the First National Bank; the City 
Savings Bank ; the Meriden Fire Insurance Co. 
(of which company he is also vice-president) ; the 
]. D. Bergen Co., Meriden (who manufacture the 
"finest cut glass in this country) : the Meriden Trust 
& Safe Deposit Co. ; the Meriden Horse Railroad 
Co. (now the Meriden Electric Railroad Co.) ; the 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



191 



Mcriden Republican Publishing; Co. ; and is also in- 
terested in other financial enterprises in Aleriden. 
He is a trustee of the State School for Boys, and is 
president of the Meridcn Hospital. In politics he 
is a Republican, and he cast his first vote in the 
bascnient of the Con.cjreg-ational Church in Cheshire 
at the Presidential election of 1832. Mr. Bradley 
is not too busy to give attention to the improvement 
of his town in its physical features. The streets, 
parks and cemeteries are objects of his special care,, 
and he is president of the Meriden Park Co. 

Mr. Bradley has been a liberal supporter of 
every public enterprise, and in benevolent and rc- 
litjious circles his influence is strong. He gives 
freely and constantly to proper objects of charity, 
everv good work receiving his sympathy and aid. 
He was among the first to liberallv provide for the 
work of the Y. M. C. A. in Meriden, and subscribed 
generously for the Association building. He has 
been very closely related to the work of the First 
Congregational Church, of which he is a member, 
and gave a princely sum toward the erection of the 
handsome edifice of that congregation. For nearly 
twenty-seven years he has been chairman of the 
committee of the Society, and through all that time 
has earnestly studied and labored to build up a har- 
monious and prosperous fellowship. 

On Oct. 25, 1859, Mr. Bradley was married to 
Harriet E., daughter of Selden and Lucy Hooker 
(Hart) Peck, of Kensington, Conn., a ladx- who 
encourages the good spirit of her husband and co- 
operates in his benevolent and religious design. One 
son has been born to them, Clarence Peck Bradley. 
The family estate and residence is one of the finest 
and most beautiful in the city of Meriden, located 
on one of the principal streets in the city. 

Mr. Bradley has been quite an extensive trav- 
eler in foreign lands as well as in his own country, 
having crossed the Atlantic ocean a number of 
times. 

GILBERT ROGERS, one of the prominent citi- 
zens of Meriden. entitled to honorable mention 
as the architect of his own fortune, w'as born in the 
town of Saybrook, Middlese.x countv, Julv 4, 1838, 
fifth son of the late Hervey Rogers. He is a mem- 
ber of the firm of C. Rogers & Bros., siher-plate 
manufacturers, of Meriden. 

Gilbert Rogers attended the little brick school in 
his native town, which structure has sheltered the 
youth of many now noted men, and is still standing. 
Among the teachers of Mr. Rogers were Miss Sallic 
Whittlesey and Henry Pratt, well-known educators 
of that dav. In Meriden, to which place he was 
brought by his parents when young, he attended a 
school taught bv Hcnrv D. Smith. However, his 
education w'as very largely wrought out in the 
school of experience, as but little oppcrtunity was 
given him to advance beyond the elementary grades. 
Gilbert Rogers began work for himself at the age of 
fourteen years, being in the employ of Luther \\'ebb. 



who was at that time making pocket-books on a 
somewhat extensive scale. Here he spent two years, 
and then learned the trade of buft'er in the factory of 
the Charles Parker Co. I"or five _\ears he was work- 
ing in this factory, receiving but seventy-five cents 
a day for two years, then $1.25 for the third year, 
and after that $1.50 per day. In 1858 Mr. Rogers 
removed to Hartford to work for the Hartford Sil- 
ver Plating Co., and was later employed by Rog- 
ers, Smith & Co. .\t Waterbury he was made su- 
[)erintendent of the buffing department of the Rog- 
ers Bros. Silver Plating factory of that city, which 
place he filled with satisfaction to all for two years, 
at the end of that time forming a partnership with 
.\sa H. Rogers and starting a plating business for 
the making of silver-plated spoons and hollow ware, 
on Nassau street, in New York, wdiere they con- 
tinued in business until the breaking out of the Civil 
war compelled them to close. Mr. Rogers returned 
to Meriden, where he was appointed enrolling offi- 
cer by the United States government, a position he 
filled for a year. At the end of this time he formed 
a connection with the Meriden Britamiia Co., where 
his name was used on the silver-plated spoons, and 
v.'here he was engaged for about a year. In 1866 
he united with his brothers in the formation of the 
C. Rogers & Bros, firm, with which he has been as- 
sociated for thirty-five years. The personnel of this 
noted firm consists of Cephas B., Gilbert and Wil- 
bur F. Rogers. The company was incorporated in 

I New Jersey in 1899, and in 1901 was incorporated 
under the laws of Connecticut. Gilbert Rogers is 
treasurer of this company, and is a director of the 

! City Savings Bank of Meriden and the Walnut 
Grove Cemetery Association, which he helj^ed to 

I organize. He is also a director of the Independent 
Thread Co. In politics he is a Republican, and has 

, served two years as second selectman of the town 
of Meriden. He has represented the First ward in 
the city council, where he was a member of the 
finance committee. 

Mr. Rogers belongs to Meriden Lodge, No. JJ. 

j A. F. & A. M., and is also a member of the Chapter 

{ and Council, and a member of the Sons of the 
American Revolution. In religion he is a Metho- 

> dist, and belongs to the P'irst Church, which he 
serves as Sunday school superintendent, and secre- 
tary of the official board. 

On Feb. 6, 1867, Mr. Rogers was married to 
Miss Estelle V. Rogers, who was born Nov. 23, 
1845, 3. daughter of Julius W. and Esther Eliza- 
beth (Culver) Rogers, the latter a daughter of 
Moses and Esther (Hall) Culver, and granddaugh- 

j ter of Lieut. Titus Hall, who was a soldier of the 

' war of the Revolution. Mrs. Rogers is a nitnnber 

I of Susan Carrington Clark Chapter, I). A. R., at 
Meriden. She is a lady of nnich culture and re- 

j finement. To Mr. ;ind Sirs. Rogers have come the 

! following children: ( 1 ) Mabel Estelle. Iwrn March 

23. 187 1, married Frederick .\rthur Wright, Feb. 

12. 1889, and is the mother of two children — Har- 



192 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAE RECORD. 



old Gilbert born March 31, 1890, and Mildred 
Estelle, born ]\Iarch 21, 1892. (2) Eugene Culver, 
born Jan. 8, 1876, graduated from the district and 
Meriden high schools, and is now paymaster of C. 
Rogers & Bros. He is a young man of much ability, 
his energetic character and business acumen com- 
manding the respect of those with whom he is as- 
sociated. (3) Ralph Gilbert, born April 8, 1878, is 
a graduate of the citv high school, and is now a 
bookkeeper with C. Rogers & Bros., and, like his • 
brother, is a young man of prominence, quite popu- 
lar in the city of his nativity. ( 4,) William and 
(5) Emmerson, twins, born Feb. 3. 1893, died in 
infancy. 

WILLIAM O. RUSSELL ( deceased ) was for 
many years a leading farmer and |)opular citizen of 
East Haven, New Haven Co., Conn., and spent 
his entire life upon the old homestead where he was 
born Feb. 18, 1814. His paternal grandfather was 
Joseph Russell, who was born July 4, 1740, and died 
Feb. 21, 1826. He was married, Nov. 7, 1769, to 
Abigail Granniss, who lived to the advanced age of 
ninety-one years. 

Major Russell, father of our subject, was also 
born on the old homestead in East Haven, July 20, 
1778, and remained there throughout life, dying 
Dec. 17, 1844. He married Miss Polly Otty, who 
died Jan. 12, 1842. In their family were nine chil- 
dren, whose names and dates of birth were as fol- 
lows: Harriet, Nov. 15, 1807; Mary A. Jan. 7, 
1810; Nancy, Dec. i, 1811: William O., Feb. 18, 
1814; Benjamin, April 10, 1816; Isaac S., April 9, 
1818; Lydia, Nov. i, 1820 (died in 1822) ; Erastus, 
Aug. 16, 1824 (died July 23, 1866) ; and Lydia, 
March 29, 1827. 

William O. Russell passed his Ixiyhood and 
youth in nmch the usual manner of farmer boys of 
his day, and when quite young took charge of the 
farm, which was given him' by his father at the 
latter's death. Throughout his active business life 
he continued to engage in general farming, owning 
and operating a valuable tract of 100 acres, upon 
which he made many improvements that added to 
the attractive appearance of the place. Upon the 
farm is still standing the old family residence which 
was erected about one hundred anil twenty-five 
years ago. 

On Nov. 7, 1855, Mr. Russell was united in 
marriage to Miss Mary A. Curtis, who was born in 
Hamden, Conn., May 28, 1823. a daughter of Philo 
and Rachel (Potter)' C"urtis. She was the oldest in 
a family of six children, the others being Caroline, 
who died at the age of two years; Emeline, wife of 
Charles A. Warren; Levi W., a resident of Fair 
Haven : Ellen, wife of James Sanderson : and David, 
a resident of New Haven. The father of this family 
died in 1865, at the age of seventy-seven years, the 
mother in 1891, at the age of ninety-three years. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Russell were born three chil- 
dren, namely: (i) Mary A., born Oct. 26, 1856, 



married James P. Ricketts, of New Haven, and 
died Jan. 2},. 1893. She had three children, Jessie 
Curtis, burn Feb. 25, 1888; Alargery Cooper, Nov. 
14, i8<p; and Harold Russell, Dec. 5, 1891 (died 
Jan. 10, 1895 j. (2) Georgiana, born March 6, 
1858. is the wife of Edward B. Rowe, who is en- 
gaged in the ice and dairy business in New Haven, 
and they have two children, William Russell and 
Mary Curtis. (3) Caroline M., born March 16, 
i860, died Jan. 20, 1882, unmarried. Mr. Russell 
died upon the old homestead July 25, 1872. He was 
a sincere and consistent Christian, a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and took quite an act- 
ive interest in church work. For many years he la- 
bored with all the strength of a great nature and 
all the earnestness of a true heart for the bettering 
of the world about him, and when he was called to 
rest and reward of the higher world his best monu- 
ment was found in the love and respect of the com- 
munity in which he lived. He was never active in 
politics or public maters. For three years after his 
death Mrs. Russell superintended the operation of 
the farm, and continued to reside thereon until 1892, 
since which time she has made her home with her 
daughter, Mrs. Rowe. She is a most estimable lady, 
bel<jved by all who know her. 

JAMES FAIRMAN was in his day a promi- 
nent resident of New Flaven, where for many years 
he was one of the leading men in the dry-goods Inisi- 
ness and active also in public life. He was a native 
.of Newtown, Conn., bora July 16, 1817, son of James 
B. Fairman also a native of Newtown, who held 
various public offices there and was well and favor- 
ably known in that locality. James B. Fairman had a 
family of seven children, four sons and three daug'h- 
ters. 

James Faimian remained in his native ])lace until 
he was fourteen years of age, receiving his early edu- 
cation in the district schools. On leaving home Mr. 
Fairman came to New Haven, where he commenced 
work as a clerk in the dry-goods store of Washing- 
ton Yale, a prominent dry-goods man, with whom 
he continued a number of years. He then started 
that business on his own account, his location being 
in Chapel street, between Church and Orange. 
After many years in this line he entered the pa]jer- 
hanging and carpet business, in which he was en- 
gaged for himself some time, subsequently acting as 
manager of the paper-hanging department of H. P.. 
Armstrong's establishment, with which he was con- 
nected the greater part of the time until his death, 
in February, 1892, at the age of nearly seventy-five 
years. Mr. Faimian was a well-known memljer of 
the Chamber of Commerce. At the time of his re- 
tirement from active business he was one of the old- 
est dry-goods men in the city. Public-spirited and 
deeplv interested in the growth and progress of his 
adopted citv, he was an efficient worker in municipal 
affairs, and was honored with election to the board 
of aldermen and common council, in which he served 




WILLIAM 0. RUSSELL. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



'93 



many years. In political affiliation lie was a Rcpuli- 
lican. ] Ic was an active cluirch nieinbcr, aitendini^ 
the Calvary Uaptist Clnircli. in which he served as 
member of the society's conmiitiee, and he was al- 
ways deeply interested in church WDrk. 

\\'II,COX. Conspicuously prominent in the 
growth and development of Aferiden was the late 
Hon. Horace C. \\'ilcox, the founder of the Aleri- 
den Dritannia Co., and whose name lias been ])rom- 
inently identified with almost every other of the 
many large industries that have gi\en fame to the 
name of Wilcox as well as to that of the "Silver 
City." 

Horace C. Wilcox was a descendant in the 
seventh generation from John Wilcock (Wilcox), 
who was an original i)roprietor of Hartford in i'^,^*). 
He had a son, John, who accompanied him from 
England. The family, however, is of Saxon origin, 
and was seated at Burv .St. Edmonds, in the county 
of Suffolk. England, before the Xorman Conquest. 

The line of the descent of Horace C. Wilcox is 
through John (2). Eijhraim, T<ihn ( V. I"se]ih and 
Elisha B". 

(H) John Wilcox (2). son of John Wilcox, was 
four times married, his son. Ei)liraim Wilcox, be- 
ing a child of his third wife, AFary. Jr)lm Wilcox 
moved to Middletown, Conn., in iCi-t^. 

(HI) E])hraim Wilcox, son of John \\"iIcox. 
born in 1672, married at Middletown. in iTitjcS. 

(TV) John Wilcox (3) was a son of Ejjhraim 
Wilcox. His wife's Christian name was Hannah, 
and they resided in Middletown. 

('\') Joseph Wilcox, son of John \Vilcox (3). 
horn in 1746. married in 1785, Miriam, daughter of 
Josiah and Sybil Ijacon. 

( \T ) Fllisha B. Wilcox, son of Josejih \\'ilcox, 
was boni June 20. 1795, in Wesifield I'arisli. Mid- 
dletown. On Jan. 2Ci. 1818. he married He])si- 
bah Cornwell, and the union was blessed with chil- 
dren as follows: Erances S.. Lucy M.. Hannah J., 
Horace C, Julia, Jededi.ih, Denuis Cornwell, Ed- 
son, Hezekiah. h'clmund X.. Marv V... anrl Watson 
Elisha. 

Hoi«ACE C. \\Tlcox was bom Jan. 24, 1824, in 
Westfield ]jarish. town of Middletown. Conn., where 
in the neighboring schools, he received the usual 
education given to the sons of general farmers of 
that day. He remained at home, assisting his fa- 
ther o:i the farm, until of age. fic began his busi- 
ness career as a peddliT of tinware through the 
country, at which he continued a coui)lc of years. 
Following tliis, in 1850, he went on tlie road as a 
traveling salesman for James Erary. a manufacturer 
of Britannia ware. Later lie traveled in the same 
capacity for William Lyiuan and John Munson, of 
\\'allingford. Conn., ancl Isaac C. Lewis, of Meri- 
den, manufacturers of the same line of goods. In 
1852 -Mr. Wilcox, along with his brother. Dennis 
C. \\'ilcox. Isaac C. Lewis. James .\. Erary. Lennicl 
J. Curtis, W. W. Lvman and John Munson, or- 
is 



ganized the Meriden Briiiannia Co.. Horace C. Wil- 
co.x Ijecoming secretary and treasurer of the com- 
pany. In 1866 he succeeded Isaac C. Lewis as 
president of the company, and continued to hold the 
office until his death. .Vug. 22, iSijo. Mr. \\'ilcox 
was a man of marvelous energy and perseverance, 
and devoted his life to the interests of the company. 
Having in the start, from his experience as a sales- 
: man. become thoroughly identified with the Britan- 
nia manufacture ancl its selling markets, he became 
a pt)wer in the new concern from the very begin- 
ning, and with such associates as Iho-e named the 
company earlv established itself on a solid and jier- 
manent foundation, though it very soon ceased the 
I manufacture of liritannia, and took up that of silver 
I plated ware am! other kindred products, and it be- 
came the leailing establishment f)f the kind in llie 
world, ever since maintaining such place. To show 
I something of the business in which Mr. Wilcox 
I was so important a factor, and to wliose great ability 
I and untiring energy its marvelous success is in a 
i great measure due, only a brief history is necessary: 
In 1856 a large ])laling factory was built on State 
street, the first of the large collection of shops in 
that vicinity. The business had grown so large by 
1863 that the comjjany erected the large factory 
(over 500 feet long) on the west side of State street. 
I'he wares of the com])any by this time were not 
only sold all over the Cnited States, but exported 
to man\' foreign countries, notably to .South Amer- 
ica, where a large and profitable trade was built up,. 
so that a few years later it was necessary to send a 
re])resentative to that continent, which connection 
has since been maintained. Gradually warerooms- 
were established in .\ew \'ork, on the Pacific coast, 
and an agencv in London. In 1881 another large 
factory was built on the corner of .Miller and ."^tate- 
streets, in Meriden, and in the same year a branch 
fact(jry was established in Hamilton. (Ontario. Later 
other additions and extensions were made. In 1876 
the com])anv made brilliant displays (jf its ])roduc- 
tions at the Contennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, 
repeating them on a still more elaborate scale at the 
Columbian I'air at Chicago in 1893. They exhiljited 
at Paris in i88y. The cajiital stock of the company 
at its organization in 1852 was $25,000. soon in- 
creased to $60,000: in 1857 to $100,000: in 1860 it 
was made $200,000: in 1863, $250,000: in 1866, 
$550,ocx:): and in 1871; it was increased to $1.1005- 
000. 

l!ut the demands of the great business did not 
exhaust Mr. Wilco.x's ability and sagacity, for he 
was instrumental in founding many other large in- 
dustries in Meriden. 1 le was the founder and presi- 
dent of the Wilcox & White Organ Co.. a director 
m the Meriden Silver Plate Co.. the Manning & 
I'owman Co., the .Meriden Saddlery and Leather 
Co., the Aeolian Organ and Music Co.. the Merideit 
.Street Railroad Co., the Rogers Bros. Co., of Water- 
bury, Cxjiin.. the R. Wallace & .Sons Co., of Walling- 
ford, the William Rogers & Sons Co., of ITarif:^r(l,. 



194 



COM M EM UR ATI I 'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the Mt-riden Fire Insurance Co.. tlie Home National 
Bank of Aleridcn, the RepubHean Puljlishing Co., 
of Meriijen. the W'ahuit Grove Cemetery Associa- 
tion, and trustee of the City Savins's liani-:. One of 
the ver\ iniixirtant enterprises in which Mr. Wilcox 
was engaged was the Aleriden, Waterbury and Con- 
necticut River Railroad Co., which he organized for 
the construction of a road from Aleriden to the line 
of the Xaugatuck railroad, as well as Connecticut 
river, having become satisfied that another outlet 
for both passengers and freight was essential to the 
projier development of the interests of Meriden. In 
this enterprise, with a public spirit universally ap- 
preciated by his fellow citizens, he invested, with 
httle expectation of adefjuate returns, more than a 
million dollars. 

While Air. Wilcox was a hard working business 
man. he never shirked iniblic duties, and made his 
intluence felt in the various offices he held. In all 
of them he was an uncompromising Repul)lican. 
He was an alderman at the time of the organization 
of the city government, and the fifth mayor of the 
city of Meriden, holding that office in 1875 and 1S76. 
In 1877 he was elected State senator from IMeriden 
district, and was frequentlv solicited to accept other 
offices, but increasing business cares and failing 
health pre\'ented him from acceiiting the same. 
With all his business affairs Mr. Wilcox never neg- 
lected church matters. His connection with the 
First Congregational Society began many years ago. 
He was always one of the heaviest contributors, and 
served i;in the building committee which had in 
charge the buiUling of the present beautiful edifice. 
Up to 18S4 he was on the Society's committees con- 
nected- witli that organization. 

On Aug. 3, 1849, Mr. Wilcox was married to 
Charlotte, daughter of Jabez Smith, of iMiddletown. 
She died in 1864, and on M.ay 31, 1865, he married 
F.llen M., daughter of Edmund Parker. To the 
first marriage were born childrefi as follows: Ella 
Augusta (now Mrs. William I'. Morgan of San 
I''rancisco ) , Ccorgine. Walter and .\llyn. To the 
second marriage were born (George Horace, since 
his father's death, president of the Britannia Coin- 
panv; Dwight P., deceased; Horace, deceased: and 
Florence C(.)rnwell. 

( )n the death of Mr. Wilcox one of the Meriden 
papers thus referred to his life: 

Mr. Wilcdx will ho iiuiiirneil in .Mi-riden not as an emi- 
nentlv siicct--sstul busiiicns man, not as a foinidiM' and pro- 
niotL-r i)( great c-nterpnsi'S that have made Meriden known 
thron^'hnijt the civilized world, not as an able and faithful 
servant of the people in jiositions of jjublic trust that he 
had occupied, through he was all of these and more. He 
will he mourned as a friend would he hy every member of 
the c. immunity. The vast business enterprises in which he 
engaged set the pace for the progress of Meriden from an 
insigniticant country village to the proud |)osition she now 
holds .iniong the manufacturing centers of the country, and 
how rapid and successful that pace has been, there are 
plenty of our citizens who know from memory and expeir- 
ence. The Meriden firitannia Company, whose goods are 
known throughout the civilized world; the Wilcox and WMiiti' 



Organ Co., almost as well known, although an infant in 
years by comparison; the .Meriden Silver Plate Co., the 
Waterbury &: Connecticut Kiver Kailroad~all these are 
lasting tributes to the business sagacity, the indomitable 
pluck and tireless enterprise of Horace C. Wilcox. He 
was no pampered child of fortune, neither was he a self- 
made man ol the stamp that builds upon the misfortunes of 
others. His great wealth was the reward of his own hard, 
persistent endeavor, aided by the native sagacity and rug- 
ged honesty that characterized the best and notjiest of New 
lingland's sons. 

Mr. Wilcox was a loyal and influential Republican and 
his sound judgment and faithful service will be missed in 
the councils of his party. He always took a deep interest 
in local affairs, and his advice and influence was always tor 
the best interests of Meriden. 

Although .Mr. Wilcox had reached that period in his 
career when he might have taken things easy, so to speak, 
he still insisted upon close attention to business, even 
against the advice of his physician, who feared for the con- 
sequences to one in such delicate health as Mr. Wilcox dur- 
ing the past six years. The breaking down of the physical 
man could not conquer the wonderful will power and energy 
that enabled him to make such progress in the battle of life. 
He fought manfully to the last, although he must have been 
conscious of the fact that the uneijual struggle could have 
but one ending. 

To his business associates who have for so many years 
shared with hiin the responsibilities and success of his 
career, the death of Mr. Wilcox must come in the nature of 
personal affliction. The ties that death rudely sundered 
were those that twine about the heart and thrive upon the 
noblest sentiment thai man can entertain for man. They 
have been the growth of years of business and social rela- 
tions — years tliat have brought honor and prosperity to all 
concerned. 

To the hundreds of working people who are now and 
have been in the past employes of the great business con- 
cerns of which .Vir. Wilcox was the head, the loss will 
come with a force hardly less impressive. Mr. Wilcox, as 
is well known, was a man of the [jeople and knew how to 
create and preserve the relations that should exist between 
employer and employe. 

Of the loss to his family nothing need be said. They 
have lost a kind and indulgent husband and father, and to 
them the sympathies ot the community go out intaishiur 
of their great affliction. 

NATHAXlhX J(JCJiLYX, artist, was born -n 
New Haven, January 31, 1796. His father, Simeon 
Jocelyn, was noted especially for his skill 111 mathe- 
matics. The son learned the art oi watchmaking, 
btU when only fifteen began a thorough course of 
sltidy in drawing, with himself as instructor, and 
three years later he apprenticed himself to an 
engraver. At the age of twenty-one he entered 
into partnershi]) with Tisdalc, Danforth & Willard 
in the Hartford Ciraphic & I'.ank Note Engraving 
Co. ;md later, with .Mr. Danforth, he virtuailv 
fotindcd tin- National liank .Note F.ngraving Co. 

Jn i8_'o Mr. Jocelyn gave up engraving, ch:ing- 
ing the graver for the pencil, and soon after estab- 
lished himself as a ])orlrait ])ainter in New lia- 
ven, demonstrating his capacity to transfer, to can- 
vas, faithftil likenesses. His skill was the theme 
of conversation and there was a conniion desire to 
secure portraits painted by him, many of which con- 
tintie to wdiisi)er of his fame. Several of his por- 
traits appeai'ed in the first exhibition of the National 
Academy, and in 1841; he was elected academician, 
lie was also elected honorary member of the Phil- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



195 



ack'Ipliia Art I'nioii. In 1S30 he travelcil ami stiul- 
ii'd in Europo with his.friend, I'rof. S. !■'. I'., .^[orse, 
inventor of tile iclcgrapli system, in 1844 iie re- 
ceived tlie goid palette for tlie laest portrait ex- 
hibited in the State of Connecticut. The Yale Por- 
trait Catalogue shows that more of the portraits 
owned by the University were painted by Jocelyii 
than by any other artist exce])t Col. Trumibull. 

When \\'ebster's Unabridt:;ed Dictionary was re- 
vised in 1847 all the words pertainiiii,^ to portraiture 
were intrusted to Mr. Jocelyn and found their way 
into that work as they left his pen. His name ap- 
pears in connection with his definitions. As a 
teacher he had among his pupils Thomas Rossiter, 
\\'illiam Oliver Stone and other artists of note. 
Later he served for many years, with great suc- 
cess, at the head of the art department of the Amer- 
ican r>ank Note Co., of wdiich he was one of tli£ 
foiniders, and still later he retired from active busi- 
ness and returned to New Haven to exercise his 
art. His studio was amid the pleasantest of sur- 
roundings in the Yale Art Building, a structure 
in the erection of which by his friend, Mr. Street, 
lie had manifested so much interest. H. \\'. I'rench, 
in giving a history of Yale Art School, in his in- 
troductory chapter to "Art and Artists in Comiecti- 
ciu" savs : "Mr. Jocelyn's influence has been pow- 
crfid for art throughout his long residence in the 
•city; and Mr. Street many times confessed that it 
was chietly through suggestions and appeals of Mr. 
Jocelyn that the fact of this important lack was 
impressed upon his mind. Hence, in a sense, the 
art school owes its existence no less to Mr. Jocelyn 
than to its founder, Mr. Street." An eiUhusiastic 
sjjirit tempted him early in life beyond the con- 
fines of art into large real-estate transactions, the 
laving out of streets and the inauguration of many 
improvements that are the pride of Xew Haven to- 
day. 

Mr. Jocelyn's common ancestry with the Trum- 
bull family, which gave Connecticut three govern- 
ors and tlie renowned "soldier-artist," Col. John 
Trumbull, is traceable from Capt. John Higley, who 
came from England to Windsor in 1666, later re- 
moving to Sinisbury. John Higley was a repre- 
sentative to the Assembly for thirty-seven terms in 
twenty-two years, and was pronmicr.iiv identified 
with the discovery and development of llie rich cop- 
per mines in Granby, which afterward became the 
"Newgate" of Connecticut. In view of the artistic 
talent which displayed itself in both Col. Trumbull 
and Nathaniel Jocelyn, it is a significant fact that 
an historian has referred es])ccially to the skill as 
an artist of Capt. Higley's son. Dr. Samuel Higley, 
from whom ^Ir. Jocelyn is descended. The cur- 
rency known as "Higley coppers," specimens of 
which are on exhibition at the Connecticut Histori- 
cal Society in Hartford and the United States Mint 
at Philadelphia, were designed and manufactured 
by this Dr. Higley, who also ownerl the mines. 

Mr. Jocelyn was a quiet yet cordial sympathizer 



with the slave. The story of the Amistad Africans 
v.dio were captured by the Spaniards for slaves and 
brought into the port of New Haven is a matter nf 
history and familiar to all. Mr. Jocelyn was mucli 
interested in their behalf and painted the picture 
of the African leader, Cin(|uez, which now hangs 
in the rooms of the Historical Society in New Ha- 
ven, where is also a fine painting of the artist him- 
self, by Harry Thompson. 

Until his death, which occurred January 13, 1881, 
at the age of eighty-four, at his home on York 
street, in New Haven, he was for forty-six years 
deacon of the North Congregational Church, of 
New Haven. He was widely known as a man of 
scholarly tastes, an extensive reader and one of the 
best authorities on events of the past, both local 
and general. In announcing his death the New 
York Journal of Coiiiiiiercc said: "Eifty years ago 
the name of Jocelyn was better known on the face 
of a bank note than the name of the bank itself. 
Elis portraits were among the cleverest works of the 
kind produced in tliiscountry. He was the founder 
of the most celebrated of the bank note companies 
and was a leader in the highest st\ie of art for 

j more than two generations." 

1 The following letter appropriately serves to pre- 
serve his memory : 

N.XTIOXAL Ac.MJEMV OF DeSIGX, 

Cor. 23d Strt'ft and 4tli .Vveniic, 
New Yokk. J.\n'v. 25, 1S81. 
To Mr. J.H-i-lyn P. dnnrland. 
De.ar Sir : 

The Academy desires to express its high regard for 
the memory of its veneralile and esteemed honorary mem- 
ber, the late Nathaniel Jocelyn, and its sympathy with 
his bereaved family and friends. 

As a member of the .Aeademy in its earliest years, 
and as an active and enicient fellow worker with its 
founders, more than half a century ago. Mr. Jocelyn is 
remembered and lamented liy his contemporaries who snr- 
vive him, and liy the Later generation of .artist^, by whom 
his good life and works are not less known and appreci- 
ated. 

In his long and honorable career, he had the happi- 
ness to witness the grfiwth of the .Academy, in whose 
progress he was so greatly imterested. and to share alike 
its early trials ;uul its late trimnphs: contributing always, 
both in its darker and in its brighter <lays. his full quota 
of successful work. 

His prolonged life embraced, indeed, nearly the v\diole 
period of the history of .Xnierican art: and to have filled 
a worthy and useful place in such a history is a lasting 
monument to his nienmry and a nolde record for his pos- 
terity. 

With great respect. I am. dear sir. 
Truly yours. 

fSigue<l| T. .Addison RIcn.^RDS. 

Cor. S\-c. X. A. 

Mr. Jocelyn mrirried July 3, t8i8, S;ir;ih .\t- 
watcr, daughter nl C';ipt. '>:inn;el Plant, of New 
Haven. The\- h:id sc\cn children, one son ami six 
[ daughters, the son dying in childhood. 

I 

JOCELYN I'L.wr cl1':a\i-:land. ll. b., 

lawyer, son of Pew James Bradford and Elizabeth 
H. (Jocel\-ii) Cleavelantl, was born in New Ha- 



196 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



veil .\ugust 22. 1S53, in York street, where he Hved 
and (Hed, at what' had been for many generations 
the ancestral home. His fatlier wa.* a Connecticut 
Congregational minister of a])ility and Ms mother 
is a" well-known writer (if verse. His maternal 
g'.andfather was the late Xathaniel Jocelyn, of 
vrhosc noteworthy career as a jjortrait painter this 
book makes honorable mention. The ancestral line 
of the subject of this sketch dates back not only td 
five of the "Mayflower" pilgrims, among them 
(iov. William Bradford and John Howland, but to 
those of an earlier age, the Alsopps, of King John's 
time, the Drakes, of Exmouth fame, and the Honey- 
woods, of the time of Henry H. 

In addition to the other ancestral lines, men- 
tioned elsewdiere in this work in the sketch of his 
brother. Judge Livingston W. Cleaveland, the gene- 
alogical record is directly traceable to several early 
settlers of distinctly local interest, among them 
\\'illiam I'eck. Richard .Miles and Richard Bald- 
win. 

William Peck, who came to .this country in T637 
with Govs. Eaton and Hopkins and Rev. John Dav- 
enport, signed the first compact for the Xew Ha- 
ven Colonv in June, lO.^g, and was an original pro- 
prietor and frt^eman, and deacon of the original 
cinn-ch, the First Church of Xew Haven. 

Richard Miles, also deacon of the First Church, 
Vi'as prominent in the affairs of Ijoth Xew Haven 
and Milford, where he was one of the judges in 
civil affairs. Stom- Xo. 4. in the Milford Memorial 
Bridge, being s])ecifically set apart to his memory. 

Richard Baldwin was one of the settlers of Mil- 
ford. a member of the General Court and one of 
the committee "for ve consummating of matters be- 
twixt Connecticuit an<l us." when the two colonies 
were joined in 1(1^14. His name is perpetuated by 
Slone Xo. 7 in the Milfor<l Memorial Bridge. 

■ The subject id" this sketch, after |)reliminarv 
work in the Xew Haven preparatory schools, and a 
course of study in the Scientific Department of Yale 
College, entered Yale Law School, from which he 
was graduated in iSjfj, being admitted to the Xew 
Haven CotnUy Bar the same year. Here in his 
native city he ]n-acticed his profession for hve years, 
beir.g for four \ears connected with the firm of 
\Vright i.^- Ilai'rison in tlie Xational Xew Ha\e)i 
Ikmk Building, and for one year preceding his death 
in busines,- for himself in the Cutler building. His 
career, bright with hope, came to a sudden end at 
the age of t wentv-st-ven, his death, which occurred 
|une 15, iSSi, bring the result of oxer-exertion in 
the sun. lie \\;is a mi'mber of the North Congre- 
gational t'hnrch and of its choir and musical direc- 
tor in its mission Sunday-school. IB- was con- 
nectt-d with the .State Militia, serving in Company 
]•", Second Regitnent, C. .X. Ci. (Xew Haven Grays), 
and was .a mendier of Hiram Lodge. Xo. i. l". & 
.■\. M. 

At the time of his death Mr. Cleaveland was 
contemplating ])ubli>liing a book relative to the 



rights and duties of police officers and the board of 
police commissioners. Especially interested in the 
dangers encountered by brakemen, he was gather- 
ing facts that he might secure legislation in their 
liohalf. Hopeful, considerate of the interests of 
others more than of his own, perseveriiig, an earnest 
and ingenious pleader at the Bar, he was the life 
of the social circle and gave early promise of success 
in the vocation he had chosen. 

The esteem in wdiich he was held by his brother 
Lawyers is indicated by the following resolutions 
adoj.-ted at the meeting of the Xew Haven County 
Bar held in his honor: 

Rcs.il'cd, Tliat wu regard with profound sorrow tlie 
death of Jocelyn P. Cleaveland, one of thu junior mem- 
bers of the Bar, who. by God's all wise providence, has 
suddenly been called from our midst in the full vigor and 
energy of his early nranhood .while yet at the threshold 
of his professional life. 

Resolved, That in the death of oiu- late brother, this 
Bar has lost a diligent student, a genial and social mem- 
lier, and a conscientious gentleman, who by his earnest 
apirfuration and strict attention to his professional duties, 
hid fair to become an able lawyer. 

Mr. Cleaveland was never married. In addition 
to his mother and brother, abo.ve referred to, he is 
survived b\- his sister. Airs. Rcibert L. Rice, of 
(iranby, Conn. A younger brother, Foster Wild 
Cleaveland, died in infancy in 1856. His father 
died in 1S89. 

JUDGE LIMXGSTON W^\RXER CLEAVE- 
L.AXD, LL. B., M. L., has been a member of the 
Xew Haven County Bar for about twenty-one years 
and Judge of Probate for the District of Xew Ha- 
ven for the past seven years. 

Born January 31, i8()0, in South Egremont, 
Berkshire Co., Mass., Judge Cleaveland is a son of 
the late Rev. James Bradford and Elizabeth H. 
(Jocelyn) Cleaveland. and is descended on both 
sides from prominent and historic New England an- 
cestry. The direct line of descent on the father's 
side is from Gov. W'illiam Bradford, the historian of 
the Plymouth Colony, and on his mother's from 
John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley and the parents 
of the latter, all passengers on the "Mayflower" in 
1 620. 

Moses Cleveland, from whom Judge Cleaveland 
is descended, was the first American ancestor of the 
Cleaveland family. He came from Ipswich, in the 
county of Suft'olk, England, in 1635, locating in 
Woburn. Mass.: married Ann, daughter of Ed- 
ward Wimi. anil die<l abot;t ijor. Several of his 
sons settled in what is now Canterbury, Conn., 
about the close of the seventeenth century, and to 
them many of the name in Connecticut trace their 
ancestrv. Moses Cleveland's son, Samuel, from 
whom Judge Cleaveland is descended, was one of 
the seven who foundt^d the first church at Canter- 
bury June 13. 171 1. 

Our subject's father. Rev. James I!. Cleaveland, 
who ilied in 1889, was a Congregational clergyman 





M ^f0^' 




Xy^^^ 



y^'^ 






COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



197 



of talent and courage. lie was ]wslor over 
cluirches in L'onnccticut for many years, liavint;- 
1)cen previonsly pastor of the Conjirei^alioiial 
Cluirch in South Jv^reniont. ^[ass. James 1!. 
Cleavehuiil "radiiated from ^'aIe in 1S47, and from 
^'ale Seminarv several years later. ISy common 
ancestry Juds.;e Cleaveland is related, iiaternally, 
to three Presidents of the United States. John Ad- 
ams, lohu Unincy .\<lams and ( iroxer Tleveland. 
and to one Connecticut governor, (iov. C'hauncey 
]•■. Cleveland, the latter bein^- also descended fmm 
jMoses Cleveland. 

Judge Clcavelanil's mother is a woman of cul- 
tiu'e and a poetess of recognized aliility, her |)oem 
''Xo Sects in Heaven" having licen widely read in 
lioth this country and England. Her father. Xa- 
tlianiel Jocelyn. was a noted portrait i)ainter and 
engraver and founder of the Xational r>ank Xoie 
Engraving Co. In 1844 he won the gT)I<l palette 
given as a prize for the best portrait liy a Connecti- 
cut artist. .\ sketch of Mr. Jocel_\n"s life a])])ears 
elsewhere in this work. 

Judge Cleaveland is related, maternally. ])y com- 
mon ancestry, to the illustrious Trumbull family, 
v.hich furnished Connecticut with three chief mag- 
istrates, including W^ashington's 'T'lrother Jona- 
than." the first Gov. Trumbull. 

Judge Cleaveland was admitted to the Connecti- 
cut ISar at Xew Haven in 1881, at the time of hi.s 
graduation from the Law Department of Wale with 
the degree of LL. B. In the year 1887-88. while 
practicing his profession, he took graduate work at 
Yale, receiving the degree of M. L. from the I'ni- 
vcrsity in t888. He was engaged in tlu' general 
practice of law until his election to the I'roliate 
Bench, in 1804. He has always been a Republican 
in jjolitics and is the only Republican who has ever 
been honored with an election to the Probate Judge- 
shiji for the District of X'^ew Haven, with the excep- 
tion of Hon. Francis Wavland. now Dean of the 
T-aw Department of Yale I'niversity, who was 
elected just after the close of the Civil war. The 
Probate District over which Indge Cleaveland ])re- 
sides comprises the citv of Xew Haven and all ad- 
joining towns, and is the most imijortant district in 
the State. The term is two years. In this Dem- 
ocratic stronghold our subject has been elected four 
times, the first time by over one thousand ])Iurality, 
aithough his popular competitor had held the office 
for eight years and had carried the previous election 
bv about five thousand majority. In 181/) Judge 
Cleaveland was re-elected by a majority of over 
tliree thousand and he was again re-elected in 1898, 
ill which year he was the only candidate on the 
Republican ticket to carry the citv of .\'ew Haven. 
In igoo. at the Presidential election, he was again 
elected to the Judgeship. .At this election Brvan 
carried the city. The normal Democratic plurality 
in the city was over fifteen hundred, but the Judge, 
running far ahead of any other candidate on the 
Re]:)ublican ticket, Xational, State or local, carried 



the city by eleven hundred and the district l)v over 
twenty-two humlred. His first election of signifi- 
cance to public ol'lice was in l8i;o, when he was 
elected to represent the Tenth ward in the Board 
if Counciliiien of the city of .\"e\v Haven for the 
\\i\r i8(;i. In i8i>i he was re-elected for the year 
i8(;2. During both years lie servetl on the commit- 
tee on ( )rdinances. In the yc'ar iXiji he w -is ch(>sen 
by the Board of Councilmen as its l\ei)ul)lican rcp- 
reslative on the ISijard of l-'inance for the city of 
Xew llaveii. b"or a number of years Judge Cleave- 
land has lietn the only commi- -ioiur i;i' deeds in 
.Xew ICngland, outside of Boston, for all the States 
and territiiries and the principal (./anadian ])rov- 
inces. 

Socially. Judge Cleaveland is a member of tlie 
Massachusetts Society of Maytlower Descendants; 
has been the presiding officer of N'aU- C'onclave, Im- 
proved ( )rder He])tasophs, in tlie supreme body of 
which fraternal order he served as a member of the 
.Supreme Committee on Laws in i8i;4-(/i: for _\ear.s 
has been a member of the N'oung .Men's Re]niblican 
Club, of Xew Haven; for fifteen years one of the 
directors of the local "\'oung Men's Christian .\s- 
sociation, of which for several years he has been 
chairman of the Educational Department ; and is also 
a member of the executive committee of the .State 
Association. For thirteen years he has Ijeen su- 
perintendent of the English Hall Sunday-school, of 
which he had previously been assistant su])erin- 
tendent for four years. In igoo he was elected 
president of the Xew Haven Congregational Club 
and has twice filled the position of ])resident of the 
>len's Club of the I'nited Church. 

The Judge is unmarrieil and lives with his 
mother in Xew Il;uen, llis sister. Mrs. Robert 
L. Rice, resides in Granby. Conn. His l)rother, 
Ji.icelyn P. Cleaveland, who was also a Xew Haven 
attorney, died in 1881. and reference is made to 
the sketch of his life, found t'lsewbere in this bi- 
ographical record, for ancestral lines not repeated 
here. 

WHITX'E'S'. The name of W'iiitney has been 
a familiar one in luigland since the .Xorman t'on- 
quesl. The first Whitney was a ion or grandson 
of .Sir Turstin. one of the Coiupieror's Knights, and 
standard bearer at the batt'e of Hastings. The 
early Lords nf \\'liitne\- made themselves famous 
by their invasion of Wales. In 1 J84 King Edward 
I granted a "free warren" to Sir luislace dc W'hy- 
teneye. and in 1,^^)8 Robert de Whitney journeyed 
to Milan in eompan\ with the Duke' of (."larence. 
Twenty years later Sir Robert Whitney negotiated 
a treat V in bdanders. was a member of I'arliament 
in i,^<;[, was Royal Commissioner to I'rance in I'^o,^. 
Knight Marshal to Ireland in i,^i;4. ■'•''"l ^^'i^ killed 
at the capture of Edmund Mortimer" in 140J. 
In 1404 Robert Whitney, doubtless a son of the fore- 
going Robert, was granted Cliftord Ca.-tlc and the 
Lorclships of Clifford and Glasbury. Several 



1 98 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Knights, ancestors of tlie Whitneys of to-day, gave 
up their lives on the field of Agincourt in 1415. In 
1455. James I. sent Sir Eustace ^^'hitncy to Wales, 
as Royal Commissioner charged with the arrest of 
Griffith Ap Nicholas. 

The bard, (jlyn Cothi, about 1470, dedicate<l a 
poem to Robert Whitne}', on the occasiun of the 
latter's marriage to Alice \'aughn. 'i'his Robert 
was twice married, his second wife lieing Constance 
Touchett. granddaughter of the Earl nf Kent, and 
a descendant fr^m the Xiirman and I'lantagenet 
Kings. By this second marriage were born Robert's 
children. In 1540 a second royal line of descent was 
acciuired for future generatinns liy a marriage with 
the Baskervilles. 

The Whitneys continued to be jjrominent at 
court, and upon the occasion of the coronation of 
Anne Boleyn. llenrx \TIt noiuinaled cue of them 
Knight of the I'.ath. ( )nce again liefore the emigra- 
tion to America was the representative of this ro])le 
family, lauded in immortal verse : Jolui \\'hitney 
was an attendant upon Queen Elizabeth, and upon 
the occasion of his lamentable death Roger Ascham 
produced one of his best poems as a memorial. 

loir tw(.) hundred and sixty-five years the Whit- 
ney family, of which those now residing in New 
Haven constitute a part, has been identified with 
New England, and for more than one hundred years 
Eli Whitney, the inventor and manufacturer, of cot- 
ton-gin fame, his son and grandson, in turn, each 
bearing the Christian name nf the honored father 
and grandfather, together with the families with 
which thev have been allied by marriage, have been 
conspicuous in the annals of New Haven. 

John Wliitnev, the emigrant ancestor of the New 
Haven family under consideration was born in 1580. 
in England, and dwelt in the parisli of Isleworth- 
on-the-Thames from May, \U\<). to January, 1623-4, 
and came from London to ^^^atcrtown, Mass.. in 
1635. His first wife, Elinor, dic;d in \<'^^<) and he 
die(i in 1673, both in Watertown. 

From this John Whitnev, Eli Whitney, of New 
Haven, president of the New Haven Water Co., 
and a leading business man and citizen of that city, 
is a descendant in the ninth generation, his line of 
descent being through John (2). Nathaniel. Nathan- 
iel (2). Nathaniel (3), Edi, Eli (2), and Eli (3). 

(II) John Whitnev (2). sun of John, the emi- 
grant ancestor, born in 1620, in England, married in 
1642, Ruth, daughter of Rolierf Reynolds, of Water- 
town, Wcthersfield and I'lostdn, and resided in 
\\'atertown. He died in 1692. 

(III) Nalhaniel Whitney, son of John (2'), 
liorn in h'ebruary, iC^h. in Waterlmry, married in 
1673, .'^arah llager, who died in 174''). He resided 
in Weston, Mass., and died in 1732. 

(W) Nathaniel Whitney (2), son of Nalhaniel, 
born in 1675, in Watertown, married in ifiQ5, Mercy 
Robinson and lived in Watertown. She died in 
1740, and he died in T730. 

{\) Nathaniel Whitney (3), son of Nalhaniel 



(2), born in 1696, married in 1721, ?^Iary Child, 
and settled in Westboro. Both died in 1776. 

(\T) Eli Whitney, son of Nathaniel (3), bap- 
tized in 1740, married (first) in 1763. Elizabeth 
l"ay, who died in 1777. He was born and alwav> 
resided in Westboro, where he was a prominent man. 
1 le saw active service in the war of the Revolution 
as a menrber of Caj)t. Baker's company. He died in 
1807. 

(\'II) Eli Whitney (2), son of Eli, and the 
grandfather of Eli Whitney, president of the New 
Maven Water Company was born Dec. 8, 1765. in 
Wcstlioro, ]\Iass. During- the Revolutionary war, 
as a boy, he was engaged in making nails by hand. 
Subsequently, by his industry as an artisan and by 
teaching, he was able to defray his expenses at 
Yale, where he was graduated in 1792. In the 
same \ear he went to Georgia under an enga.gcmcnt 
as a private tutor, but on arriving there found that 
the ])lace had been filled. He then accepted the in- 
vitation of the widow of Gen. Nathaniel Greene to 
make her place at Mullierry Grove, on the Savannah 
river, his hrime while he studied law. Se\eral 
articles tliat he had devised for Mrs. (ireene's con- 
venience gave her great faith in his inventive power, 
and when some of her visitors regretted that there 
could be no profit in the cultivation of the green 
seed-cotton, wdiich was considered the best variety, 
owing to the great difficulty or separating it from 
the seed, she advised them to apply to Wliitney, 
"who," she said, "could make anything." A pound 
of green seed-cntton was all that a negro woman 
could, at that period, clean in a day. Mr. Whitney 
up to that time had seen neither the raw cotton nor 
the cotton seed, but he at once procured some cotton, 
from which the seeds had been removed, although 
with trouble, as it was not the season of the year for 
the cultivation of the plant, and began to work out 
his idea of the cotton-gin. He was occupied for 
some months in constructing his machine, during 
which he met with great difficulty, l)e;ng compelled 
to draw the necessarv ironwire himself, as he could 
obtain none in Savannah, and to manufacture his 
own iron tools. Near the end of 1792, he succeeded 
in making a gin, of which the principle and mechan- 
ism are exceedingh- simjde. Its main features .are a 
cylinder f(Hir feet long and five inches in diameter, 
u])on which is set a series of circular saws half an 
inch apart and projecting two inches above the sur- 
face of the revolvinsj- cvlinder. A mass of cotton in 
the seed, sejiarated from the cylinder by a steel grat- 
ing, is brous;ht in contact with the numerous teeth 
in the c\linder. Tliese teeth catch the cotton while 
])laying between llie bars, which allow the lint, but 
not the seed, to ])ass. Beneath the saws is a set of 
stiff brushes on another cvlinder, revolving in an 
op]iosite direction, which brush oft' from the saw 
teeth the lint that these have just pulled from the 
seed. There is also a revolving fan for ]jroducing a- 
current of air to throw the light and downy lint that 
[•■■ tluis lilieraled to a convenient distance from the 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



199 



revolving; saws and brushes. Sucli are the essential 
princi])les (if the cotton-tj'in as invented l)y Whitney, 
and as it is stil! used, liut in various details ami 
vv-orknianship it has been the snhjeet of many im- 
provenients, the object of which has been to pick the 
cotton more perfectly from the seed, to prevent the 
teeth from cuttin.q- the staple, and to s;ive ,i;rcater 
regfularity to the operation of the machine. Ry its 
use the planter was able to clean for market, by the 
labor of one man, one thousand ])ounds of cotton in 
place of five or si.x by hand. Mrs. (Ireene and 
Fhineas Miller were the onlv ones permitted to see 
the machine, iiut rumors of it had tijonc throujj;h the 
State, and before it was (|uite finished, the buildinn' 
in which it was placed was liroken into at night and 
the machine was carried off. I'efore he could com- 
plete his model and obtain ])atent, a nund)er of ma- 
chines, based on his invention, had been surrejiti- 
tiously made, and were in operation. Tn .May. 1793, 
he formed a ])arlnership with Mr. Miller, who had 
some ])roperty, and went to Connecticut to manu- 
facture the machines, but he became involved in 
continual trouble by infrinj;ement of his patent. Tn 
Ceorg-ia it was lioldlv asserted that he was not the 
inventor, but that somethino- like it had been pro- 
duced in Switzerland, and it was claimed that the 
sulistitution of teeth cut in an iron plate for wire 
prevented an infringement on his invention. He 
had sixtv law suits pending before he secured a 
verdict in his favor. In South Carolina the Le,gisla- 
ture .granted him $50,000, which was finally paid 
after vexatious delays and lawsuits. North Caro- 
lina allowed liiiu a i)ercentage for the use of each 
saw for five years, and collected and jxiid it over to 
the iiatentees in good faith, and Tennessee promised 
to do the same thing, but afterwards rescinded her 
contract. J"or years amid accmnulated misfortunes, 
law suits wrongfullv decided against him. the de- 
struction of his manufactory by fire, the industrious 
circulation of the report that his machine injured 
the fiber of the cotton, the refusal of Congress, on 
account of the Southern opposition, to allow the 
patent to lie renewed, and the death of his partner, 
Mr. \\'hitney struggled on until he was convince, 1 
that he should never receive a just compensation 
for his invention. At the time of his invention, 
cotton was exjiortcd to the amount of only 189,500 
pounds, while in 1803, owing to the use of his gin, 
it had risen to luore than 41.000,000 pounds. 

Despairing of ever gaining a competence, Mr. 
Whitney turned his attention in 179S to the manu- 
facture of fire arms near New Haven, from which 
he eventually gained a fortune. He was the first 
manufacturer of fire arms to effect the division of 
labor to the extent of making it the duty of each 
workman to make interchangeable the parts of the 
thousands of arms in ])rocess of manufacture at the 
same time. This interchangeable system has now 
extended to the manufacture of watches, sewin,g 
machines, etc. His first contract was with , the 
Unitefl States Govermnent for 10,000 stand of 



nuiskets, to be furnished in or about two years. For 
the execution of this order he took two \ears for 
|)reparation and eight more for com[)Ietion. He 
,gave Ixjnds for .'f^o.ooo, and was to receive Si 3.40 
for each musket, or ,Si.34.0(x) in all. Immediately 
he began to build an armory at the fool of F.asl Rock 
two miles from New Ilavi-n. in the village of Wliit- 
neyville, where, through the successive administra- 
tions, from that of John .\dams, re])eated contracts 
lor the stii.>i)l\- of arms were matle and fulfilled to 
the entire approbation of the government. The 
construction of his armory, and even of the com- 
monest tools which were devised by him for the 
]>roseeution of the business in a manner peculiar to 
Iiimself, evinced the fertility of his genius and the 
])recision of his mind. The buildings became the 
model by which the national armories were after- 
wards arranged, and many of his i'.uijrovements 
were taken to other establishments and have become 
common proper! v. < )\ving to his mijileasant exi)eri- 
ence_- with |)alent laws, he ne\er applied for patents 
on any of ihese invenliniis. His improvements in 
the manufacture of arms laid tliis comitry under per- 
u'auent obligations bv au.gmenting the means of na- 
tional ilefeiise. Several of his inventions have been 
ai)i)lie(l to other manufactures of iron and steel, and 
added to his reputation. lie established a fund of 
$500 at ^',-lle. the interest of which is exi)endeil in 
the ])urchase of IiMoks on mechanical and physical 
science. Robert Fulton said that ".\rkwright. Watt 
and Whitney were the three men that tlid the most 
for mankind of any of their contemiwraries," and 
Macaulav said: "What Peter the Creat did to make 
Russia dominant, Fli Whitney's invention of the 
cottiin-gin has morr than ei|ua]ed in its rel.'Uion to 
the i)ower and i)rogress of the Cnited .States." 

"In person Mr. Whitney was considerable above 
tlie ordinary size, of a dignified carria.ge, and of an 
open, manly, and a.greeable countenance. In New 
Haven he was universallv esteemed. Manv of 
the ])rominent citizens of the place suj)ix)rted him 
in his tmdertakings, and he inspired all whom lie 
met with a similar c mfiilence. Throughout the 
eommunit\- and in foreign lands, he was known and 
honored as a benefactor of the race. With all the 
Presidents of the l"nited .States, from the beginning' 
of the government, he enjoyed a jiersonal acquaint- 
ance, and his relations with the leading men of the 
country were unimpaired by political revolutions.'' 
His most remarkable trait of character was a .great 
[lower of mechanical invention, lie was reasonably 
jiatiein. His mind wrought with precision rather 
than with rajiidity. His aim was steady. He never 
abandoned a half-accomplished effort in order to 
make trial of a new and foreign idea. 

In January, 1817, .Mi-. Wbitne\- was luarried to 
Henrietta b'rances b'dwards, born in June, 1790, 
who lived luitil April, 1870. .She was the daughter 
of Hon. Pierpont Edwards, who gradtiated at 
Princeton College in 17C)8, was a lawyer in New 
Haven, Conn., soldier in the Revohuiou. member of 



200 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the Continental Consjress. an<l jiul,Qe of the United 
States Court lor Connecticut at the time of his 
death. ;\Ir. Edwanls was frequently a member of 
the Connecticut Lcg-islature. was the first grand- 
master of the Masonic fraternity in Connecticut. 
His father. Rev. Jonathan Edwards, was president 
of I'rinceton Colleta;e, Xew Jersey. \\r. Whitney's 
children were: Frances F... liMrn Xov. 23, 1S17. 
married in 1S42. Charles L. Chaplain. She died 
May 7, i84<j. (2) h:iizal)eth V. (31 Eli is referred 
to farther on. (4) Susan E. horn in January, 1821, 
died in 1823. The father of these died Jan. 8, 1825. 
Eli Whitney (3). sun of Eli (2), and the father 
of Eli Whitney (4). ])resident of the Xew Haven 
Water Co., was horn Xov. 24. 1820. in Xew Haven, 
where he attended a private school, and was pre- 
pared for Ciillese. He altuided Vale ime year, and 
was graduated from I'rincetun College in the class 
of 1841. and the f(jllowing year he tnok up his fa- 
ther's husiness, that of the manufacture of lire arms 
for the Cnited States go\ernment. In i85(.) lie 
ceased this branch of his manufacturing Ijusiness, 
'but resumed it again at the breaking nut of the 
Civil war in i8')[, and cmtinued it until i8f>6. The 
Whitney Arms Co., of which until recent years he 
was president, has manufactured thousands of 
muskets, rifles and revi)l\ers nf the must improved 
models. The companv has also made many thou- 
sands of military arms fur fdrcign g(jvcrnments, in- 
cluding muzzle-li lading, breech-loailiiig. magazine 
and repeating rilles. Jle was appointed one of the 
commissioners of the English Exposition of 1862. 
From 1859 to 1861 he constructed the Xew Flaven 
Water Works, and much of the work was done on 
liis own credit, though built on contract for the New 
Haven Water Co., which organization he created. 
Mr. Whitnev made nian\ improvements in fire- 
arms of all sorts and patented them, anil made 
improvements in machiner\- fur making arms. He 
was on the Republican electoral ticket in Connect- 
icut as Presidential eUciur at large in the Xovembcr 
election of 1892. In 18111) he received an honorary 
degree of M. A. from N'ale. 

On Tune 17, 1845. .Mr. \\ hitncy was married at 
Utica, X. v., to Sarah I'crkins Dalliba, and to the 
union were born children as fullrnvs: F.li is referred 
to at greater length farther uii: Susan Huntington, 
born .\ug. I, 1841;, married in 1873, Rev. Chauncey 
Ihmce lirewster. l;ite rectnr of ( n-ace Church, Brook- 
lyn Heights, now r.isho]) nf Ci mnecticut, her death 
occurring Mav 25, 1885; aiid Henrietta Edwards. 
The father, b^li (3), dii-d .\ug. H), 1S95. 

Im.i Wiiitxky (4). snu nf I'.li (3), the fourth 
of the name in succession, was born Jan. 22, 1847, 
in the citv nf .\t'w Haven, which has since been his 
home and the held nf his business (i])erations. He 
attended the i)rivate schools and later entered Vale 
Collce frnni which he was graduated in the class 
of i8r«). lie has held various public nffices and 
most creditablv and efficiently discharged the duties 
of each. He has been largely identified with various 



enterprises and is one of the city's prominent citizens 
and' leading business men. For years he has been 
president of the New Haven Water Co., which, as 
stated in the foregoing, his father created and built, 
and is also president of the West Haven Water Co. 
He is president of the board of education ; president 
of the General Hospital Society of Connecticut ; ex- 
president of the Xew Haven Horticultural Society; 
president of the Tontine Company, vice-president 
of Xew Haven Colony Historical Society; director 
in the City Bank of New Haven : trustee Connecti- 
cut Savings Bank, Xew Haven : trustee of the Ne\v 
Haven Trust Company, and also in a number of 
charitable organizations. He is a member of the 
Ouinnipiack, Union League and Graduates Clubs of 
Xew Haven; Centurv, University, Vale and Engin- 
eers Clubs of New York ; Society of Colonial Wars ; 
Sons of the American Revolution ; The Society of 
the War of 1812, and is also a member of the Vale 
Corporation. 

On Oct. 22, 1873, Mr. Whitney was married to 
Sarah Sheffield Farnam. born Sept. 27, 1850, and 
the union has been blessed with children as follows: 
Anne Farnam. born Sept. 29, 1874. married in 189B. 
Thomas ^L Debevoise, a lawyer of Xew York, and 
has two children, Eli Whitney (born in Decem- 
ber, i8ij<)) and Catherine (born in June, 1901) ; 
Henrietta Edwards, born Feb. 27, 1876; Sarah 
Tracv. bom Sept. 18, 1877, married April 26, 1900, 
Dr. Leonard C. Sanford, and died Feb. 19, 1901, 
leaving an infant daughter, Sally Whitney; Eliza- 
beth Fav, born April 3, 1879; Louise Huntington, 
born Feb. 20, 1881 ; Susan Brewster, born 'March 
if), 188^; and I'^anccs Pierpont, born Aug. 19, 
1891. 

CH.XRLF.S C. SAHTH. one of the most prom- 
inent business citizens of X"ew Haven, has by his 
own energy and industry gained a position of re- 
si>ect and ]>roniineiice. 

Mathew Smith, the father of our subject, was 
born Mav \(\ 1 811, in Derby, and there learned the 
tanner's trade; he was also a farmer. For a few 
years he conducted a tannery at Bethany. Conn., 
where be mai'rieil Julia Sperry. daughter of Chilcon 
Sperry. who was a native of that town, well and 
favorably known ; he served as a captain during the 
war of 181 2. After his marriage Mr. Smith de- 
cided to change his location, and about 1833 came 
to Xew Haven, engaging for some >ears as clerk in 
a grocery and meat store. FTe then entered the em- 
])lov nf Gnrb.-nn & Peck, the bakery firm, in York, 
street, with whom he continued one \ear. ITe next 
engaged in the bakery business with William A. 
Tvcs under the firm name of fves & Smith, and later 
a stock companv known as the Xew Haven Baking 
Co. was formed. This business was continued un- 
til Mr. Smith sold out. his son. our subject, conduct- 
ing the same business on State street. The family 
l)oni to Mathew Smith consisted of three children, 
of wdiom Charles is the only survivor. Davis C. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



201 



was a resident of Xew Haven. F.niily I", married 
I' rank Wilson and is now deceased ; lie is postmas- 
ter at Brooklyn, X. \'., a jnihlic man. jironiinent in 
Icyal circles. 

Charles C Smith, our .subject, was horn July 17, 
1842, in Xew Ilaven, and there spent his first thir- 
teen years. In the winters he attended school in 
Kcw Ilaven, and duriny; the sininuers worked on 
the farm in ISethaiiy, thus continuing.;' until he \v(.-iit 
into the bakery and thorouj,ddy learned the business. 
W'orkiufj hard he was \-ery successful and is now 
the mana,t;er of the Xew 1 la\en branch of the i^'reat 
National I'.iscuit Co. i-"k-ven \ears a<;o he sold 
■out to the trust and since then has had chari^e of 
this branch, having' aboiU fifty two men on his 
payroll and doin<j an immense amount I'f business. 

In 18'),^ Mr. Smith married .Mice D. Hayes, of 
New Haven, and two children have been born to 
this union, luiiily and Charles C, Jr. Cntil the 
last two national elections otir sul)iect was a Heni- 
ocrat. lint he now votes with the l\epul;)lican part\'. 
iMr. .Suiith has taken a ]>rominent ]r.\rt in the mili- 
tary organizations of Xew Ha\en : for twehe vears 
was a member of the militia, and was first lieutenant 
and captain of the Xew Ilaven Ligb.t Cuards while 
C(i\-. lUickin^liam was in the chair. .\ handsome 
swiird, which Mr. Sniilh hi^hlx' pr:zes, was i;iven 
him I)\- his conipany Sept. 27. l8f>7, as a token of 
the hi.i;h esieem in which he was held. 

Mr. Smith has for man\- years been tironiinently 
connected with fraternal orders, being a thirty-sec- 
ond degree Mason, member of \\'ooster I^odge. F. 
&• .\. M., of Xew Haven. Xew Haven Commandery, 
and the Shrine : he is also a member (of thirty years 
standing) of the T. ( ). ( ). I-"., and took a unifonne(l 
company to Philadel])hia in i87r); of the Knights 
Templar Clul); the Red Men: and the He])tasopbs. 
Religiously he and his family are connectc<l with 
tile I'.aptist Church. Mr. Smith is a fine represent- 
ative of the successful and poptdar l)usmess man 
of Xew Haven, ener,getic, ])i"ogressive and enter- 
prising. 

HOX. CRON'I-: Hb'.RRlCK WlLSdX. M. 1)., 
who for more than forty vears was a resident of 
iMeriden, and continuouslv and aclivelv engaged in 
the practice of his profession, was one of the sub- 
stantial men of the citv, and prol"essionall\- took a 
high rank both in Meriden, and throughout the 
State. 

Dr. Wilson was born in the town of Slockbridge, 
Mass., March 25, 1824. a son of Joseijh H. and 
Sally (Herrick) Wil.sou, and the grandson of Dr. 
Daniel Herrick, of Preston. Conn. On both sides 
he was descended from an historic ancestr\-. the 
Rev. \\'illiam Wilson, D. I)., being a paternal i)ro- 
geiiitor. This distinguished ancestor was a canon 
of his majesty's royal chapel, and was married to a 
daughter of the Puritan .\rchbishop (irindal. Their 
son. Rev. John Wilson, married I'.lizabeth, daughter 
■of .Sir John Mansfield, and as one of the compan\- 



with Gov. W'inthrop came to .Xew England in 1630, 
becoming the first pastor of the church at Boston, 
' .Massachusetts. 

Dr. Wilson numbered llenry Ibrrick among 
his m.aternal ancestors. That noted character wa's 
born in H)()4. at Bean Manor, Peicestershire, 
I'-ngland, .nid was a son of Sir William Herrick, 
who was the grandson of Rev. William Herrick, 
Chaplain of I'dward \'\. and minister to the Sub- 
Imie Porte under IClizabelh. This ancestral line 
runs back to 1-iric the b'orester, of the royal house 
of Denmark, whose long war with the .Angles re- 
sidted in the cession to him of the counties of War- 
wick and Leicester, luigland. Henry Herrick ])rob- 
ably first landed in \'ii-ginia, where his father had 
mercantile venttires. but soon made his wav to 
Massachusetts, where he settled on the Cape .\im 
side of the Bass river, the site of what is now Bever- 
ly, .Ma^s. He and his wife. I'.dith, the daughter of 
Hugh Lackin. were among the thirty who founded 
the first church in Salem in idji). His death oc- 
curred in 1(171. 

li)r. Wilson had the benefit of the public schools 
at Tyringham, and iif Pee .Academy, in Massachu- 
setts, w here he was fitted for the ])rofcssion of teach- 
ing, which he followed f<.ir a period in Massachu- 
setts and in Delaware. Deciding upon meilicine as 
his life Work, he studied with this object in view, 
and was graduated in 1841) from the ISerkshirc 
Medical Institute, an old and famous .Massachusetts 
school, locating in the jjractice of his jirofession at 
Xorth .Adams, Alass., where about two years later 
he adopted the system of honu-opathy, beginning its 
use in .Xorth .Adams and Conway. In 1857 he re- 
moved to .Meriden, where he followed his |)rofes- 
sional activities to the time of his death, Jan. 10. 
1902. In coming to .Meriden he came to a [pleasant 
country villa.ge of some 3.000 people, and lived to 
see it develo]) into a .great mantifacturing center of 
many thousand [people, being an active participant 
in all that contrilinted to make it tlie Meriden of 
to-day. The Doctor and his jirofessional skill were 
widely known, his jiractice e-\tending bevond the 
city and state limits. Xone were more successful in 
the ])ractice of medicine in Meriden than Dr. Wil- 
son, his practice at one time embracing more than 
two-thirds of the town's grand list. .\ frecpient 
contributor of ])apers to medical journals, which 
have been widely published and thoroughlv 
discussed, he was known as a man of rare attain- 
ments and .genuine skill. Dr. Wilson published a 
monogram in 1882, in which he established the epi- 
demic nature of intermittent fevers in Xew Eng- 
land. Through these papers he gained fame an<l 
distinction as a scientist. In addition to frequent 
lectures on natural science, he expoimded the ])rin- 
ciples of the telephone and phonograi)h two years 
prior to the production of these instruments bv Edi- 
■son. The ''.Aural Alas.scur" was invented by him, 
an instrument for treating deafness by actual vibra- 
tion of the internal ear. 



202 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Xotwithstandinq- tlie constant demands upon his 
time, ])r. Wilson s:jave much thought to the improve- i 
ment "f the educational system of the town. His | 
persistent advocacy of free schools resulted in the 
aboliiiiiH in iS<i3 of the rate bill, making the city 
schools absolutely free to every child in the town. 
The success of this beneficent plan induced the State 
Legislatm-e to extend the same privilege two years ! 
later to all children of the Commonwealth. A? sug- 
gested in the above, Dr. Wilson extended a gener- 
ous sui)p(jrt to all enterjirises that looked to the pub- j 
he welfare. He was a member of the State board 
of health for many years, and also served as coroner, 
or, as it is technically called, the medical examiner, i 
of the town of Aleridcn. In 1880 and 1882 he was j 
elected to represent his town in the General As- j 
sembly, and served both terms with honor to his \ 
constituency and credit to himself. Dr. Wilson was , 
a nienilier of the local board of education almost 
continuously since the founding of the high school, 
an institution largely due to his efforts. In 1892 he 
was elected mayor of Meriden on the Republican 
ticket, and wrote a good record of himself in the 
administration of the business of the city. 

Dr. Wilson was a life-long .Mason and enjoyed 
the distinction of having been the first Eminent 
Commander of St. Elmo Commandery, Knights 
Tem])lar. His elevation to the rank of Grand Com- 
mander of the Grandi Commandery quickly fol- 
lowed. He took the thirty-second degree, in La- 
favette Consistory, and was a member of Pyramid 
Temple. 

Altlmugh somewhat independent in regard to 
theological systems, he never failed to support the 
preaching of the gospel, and held to a rigid moral- 
ity in all the ways of life. His religious sentiments 
were exalted, and his thoughts upon such subjects 
profound and liberal. They often found expression 
in his social and professional life. Dr. Wilson 
served on the I'.uilding Comnlittee of the Eirst Con- 
gregational Church of Alcriden. which is one of 
theVmest in the State, and the building was greatly 
embellisheil liy his artistic taste and his effort to 
elevate its architecture. The finely ornamented caj)- 
itals. designed bv him. are examples of his love for 
this work. ;uid show bis knowledt:c of sacred sym- 
l)olism. exiinssing in carved and enduring stone 
the course of natural and revealed religion in the 
human heart. Dr. Wilson had a genial and benevo- 
lent nature, was a ready conversationalist, loving 
controversial discussions, but was withal conserva- 
tive in his s])eech and action. ;nid was justly held an 
inlluential and popular citi/en. 

Dr. Grove II. Wilson and Miss ^Margaret .\.. 
tlie daughter of |ohn .\dams. of I'encader Hundred. 
Del., wore married Nov. 30. 1848. They had one 
son, I'.dgar .\.. who graduated at the University of 
Peiinsvlvania in 1881. with the degree of .\1. D.. 
and after jiracticing his iirofession several years at 
Rockville. became associated with his father in 
IVIeriden. 



Dr. Edg.\r a. Wilsox is specially known as an 
oculist and aurist, and for so young a man has won 
a most enviable and creditable standing. His 
.schooling began in the city schools of Meriden, was 
continued at Phillips Academy, Exeter, X. H., from 
which school he was graduated in 1872. Entering 
Vale, he was making rapid progress, but this was 
interfered with by a severe illness, which compelled 
him to abandon study for a long period. On his 
restoration to health he entered the University of 
Pennsylvania, from which he was gradi:ated, as al- 
ready mentioned. At Rockville he was engaged in 
the practice of his profession until 1888. In that 
year he removed to Meriden, and practiced with his- 
father until 1893. The young Doctor took a special 
course, in the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, 
where he was four years special phvsician, becom- 
ing so interested in the work that he has devoted' 
himself since that time to the Eye and Ear. 

Dr. Ivdgar A. Wilson was married in 1883 to 
Ida M. Peach, a native of Meriden, and a daughter 
of George and Lydia (Redfield) Beach. To this 
union were born : t I ) George Herrick, who died 
in 1 89 1 ; (2) Leslie Adams, born in 1886; (3) Grove- 
Herbert, died in 1892. Dr. \\'ilson is a member of 
the I'.lue Lodge, A. F. & .\. Al.. at Meriden. and 
bel(jngs to the R. A., and the I. O. H. For ten- 
years past he has been the town health officer, and 
the city health officer for five }ears. He belongs 
to the hospital staiT of physicians, and is a member 
of the New Haven County Public Health Associa- 
tion, having been one of its founders, and secretary 
since its organization. 
I 

CHARLES F. SiVIITH was born in Orange,, 
June 6, 1S36, a son of Jesse Gould and .Susan (Fow- 
ler) Smith. The line of descent on his father's 
side is as follows : 

George Smith, one of the original settlers of 
New Haven, moved to West Haven (then called 
\\'est Farms) about 1633. He built a house near 
where now stands the brick house built by Isaac 
Hinc. on Water street. He was married in 1642, 
and was the father of ten children as follows: Sam- 
uel, libenezer, Joseph, Nathan, Thomas, John, 
Sarah. Hannah, ^rercv. lilizabeth. From the six 
sons nearly all of the Smiths in \\'est Haven have 
descended. 

Nathan Smith, son of George, was born in 1656, 
lived in the house built by his father, and died there 
in 1726. His children were: Amy. born in 1683; 
Mahitable. 1698; and .Andrew. 1701. 

.Vndrew Smith, son of Nathan, married Mercy 
Painter. Their children were: Eunice. Nathan,. 
Hannah. Mabel. .Andrew and Rebecca. He lived in 
the same house that his grandfather buih. and died 
there in 1789. 

Nathan Smith, son of .Andrew, born in 1733. died 
in 1807. lie marrieil Sarah, eldest daughter of 
Samuel Sherman, who lived on the s nuh side of 
the Alelov road, on the hill. Nathan Smith built his 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



20- 



liousc, which is still standing in the hollow, on the 
same road; it is of the lean-to style of architecture. 
He was a deacon in the Congregational Church in 
NV'est Haven for several years. In 1770 he jilanted 
a row of Elm trees on the West side of the Cjreen. 
only three of which arc now slaiidini;-- He had six 
children: Thomas, Gould, Xathan, Sarah, I'ersis 
and Lucv. 

Gould Smith, son of Deacon Smith, married 
Susanna, daughter of Oliver Smith. This Oliver 
Smith descended from Ehenezer. son of the tii'st 
settler, George. Gould Smith's father gave him a 
farm and built him a house on tlie hill, North side 
of Meloy's road. After his death the house was 
moved across the road, and is now occupied by Han- 
nah J\Ieloy. In 1799, Gould .Smith was commis- 
sioned Captain of the State militia. His children 
were: Oliver. Lyman, Jesse (lnuld, Katrina, Susan 
and Louisa. He died in 1800. 

Jesse (jould Smith, son of (.'apt. (iould. was 
born in 1795, and was five years old when his fa- 
ther died. He lived with (.'apt. (.'amlee, a farmer 
(whose house stood near the southwest corner of 
the \\'cst Haven Green), for eleven years, after 
which he spent six years in Xew Haven learning 
the saddler's trade. He then worked in a book- 
binders shop three years, was suiierintendeiit of a 
farm in W'oodhridge six years, and manager of his 
sister Susan's farm in Orange until his marriage. 
On .\pril 20, 1834, he married Susan Fowler, daugh- 
ter of William H. Fowler, of Milford. At that time 
he bought of Peter Prudden, the farm on the Wej^a- 
watig river, four miles north of the churches in ^^il- 
ford, wdiere he spent the remainder of his days, en- 
tering into rest Aug. 5, 1870. He was active in 
both Church and town affairs, holding positions of 
responsibilitv and trust in each. Flis children were: 
William Gould, bom March 4, 1835: and Charles 
Fowler, the 'subject of this sketch. 

William Gould Smith left the farm in early life 
to engage in mercantile business in Xew Haven, 
keeping a fruit and confectionery store on the south- 
east corner of Chapel and Church streets, for four 
years. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted 
in tlie 7th Conn. \". L and rose from the rank of 
sergeant to that of lieutenant. He served through- 
out the struggle and was honorablv discharged. 
After the close of the war he went West, and was 
engaged for several years in transporting goods b\' 
wagon from the then terminus of the I'acific rail- 
road to Denver, a distance of some six hundre(l 
miles. Later he ran a cattle ranch on the Marias 
river, near F'ort Benton, ]\Iont., where he diid in 
1892. 

Charles F. Smith's ancestors on his mother's 
side were as follows: NV'illiam Fowler, the magis- 
trate, one of the first settlers of Milford, came from 
F.ngland with Eaton, Davenjjort, I'rudden and other 
Puritans for the sake of religious liberty. He died 
in i6fx). advanced in years. 

William F'owler, Jr., son of the magistrate, mar- 



ried Mary, daughter of Edward Tajjp, and sister of 
tJov. Robert Treat's wife. He was ajipointed Cap- 
tain of militia in 1673, and was a memljer of the 
JLnise of De])uties from 1(^173 to i'i8o. His chil- 
dren were: Sarah, Hamiah. John, J<jnathaii, Marl:, 
Deborah, .\Iiagail, William and .Mercy. William 
b'owler, Jr.. died in 1684. 

John Fowler, third child of William. Jr., liorn in 
i'i49. married .'>arah Welch. 'J'hey had only one 
ch.ild, John called Capt. John or l".s(|uire l-'owler. 

Capt. John I'owler. son of John, born in i(k)0, 
married Susanna lUirwell, bv whom lie had four 
children, one son and three daughters, viz.: Susan- 
n-'. .Margartt, John and Sarah. He Ijegan public 
life at an early age, ami was active in it up to his 
death. He was town clerk of Milford from 1718 
to 175'). a member of the (iencral Assembly for 
twenty-three years, and clerk of the House with Intt 
two exceptions during that i;eri(.)il : in 1731) he was 
appointed, by the .Assembly, captain of the First 
, Company, ^Iilford 'J'rain r.;mil. He lived on the 
old homestead of the first William, dying there in 

175''- 

John Fowler, son of Capt. John, was born in 
1717, and died in 1781. In 174J he married Mary 
Xewton. and they had two children, -Susanna and 
John. He succeeded his father as town clerk in 
1756, and filled that office uiuil 1774. He was a 
de]nity to the (ieneral .Assembly from 1759 to 1773: 
commissioned captain of the .Second Compan_\', Mil- 
ford Train ]'>and. in the Secoml Regiment, and 
served his country by r.aising troops for the Con- 
tinential army. 

John Fowler, Jr., son of John .and Mary (Xew- 
ton) Fowler, born in 1748. married Mary Ann IrLar- 
pin, granddaughter of Dr. John Harpin. in 1768. 
Their children were: Jcibn, William IL and Mar'c. 
ITe was a captain in the Continental -Army in 177S 
and I78<j. 

William H. Fowder, son of the above, born in 
1775, was married in 171/) to Sally, daughter of 
j Capt. Charles Pond and sister of Gov. Charles H. 
Poiid. Their children were: ALary, Martha, Susan, 
Sally, John W., Charlotte and .Ann. He was ex- 
tcnsivelv engaged in commerce and ship-building, 
and was an enterjirising self-made man. At about 
fiftv vears of age he retired from commercial life to 
the more quiet pursuit of agriculture, and until late 
in life filled jieisitions of trust, such as member of 
the Legislature, and selectman of the town, also set- 
tling estates, etc. He ilied in 1863. 

Susan Fowler, third daughter of William H. 
Fowler, and mother of Charles V. Sntitb. was a 
school teacher for several vears. teaching iti Wheel- 
er's F'arms, Allingtown, and in the fourth school dis- 
trict in Orange until she marrietl Jesse Gould Smith, 
in 1834. She was born in 1802. and died in i8()4. 

(.'harles 1'. Smith jiassed his early years up.on 
his lather's farm, and his education was received in 
the common schools. He is a veteran of the Civil 
war, liaving served in the 27th Cotm. \'. L, which 



204 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



res,nment was attached to the Jd Corps, Army of 
the l'i)toniac. and partici]jated in many l)attles which 
ha\e hecome historic, among them those of Fred- 
erick^lmrg and Chancellorsville. lie was taken 
prisoner at Chancellorsville, and incarcerated in the 
famous Lihhy Prison, in Richmond, for a short time, 
was ])aroled and sent to parole camp near Alex- 
andria until his term of enlistment expired, when he 
was h(.)noral)ly discharged. After he returned from 
the war Air. .Sniith conducted the ulil lii.me farm for 
his father until the hitler's death, when he came 
into its ownership. There lie remained, carrying on 
general farming, hut making a specialty of seed- 
growing, until 1894, wdien he sold the ])lace and 
bought a fine residence on Center street, ^^''est Ha- 
ven, where he has since lived in retirement and ease. 

.Mr. Smith iias repeatedh- heen placed in jxisi- 
tions of trust and responsihilitv. While living in 
Orange parish he was for nine years general finan- 
cier of the Ecclesiastical Society, making all of the 
collections and paying all of the hills, liandling some 
$13,000, gratuitously. :He has served as constable, 
justice of the peace, member nf the hoard of edu- 
cation, registrar of voters, and for eleven years as 
selectman. In 1875 and i8-(> he represented his 
town in the Legislature. 

In 1866. Mr. Smith marrieil Alary, daughter of 
Nathan and Catherine Tomlinsi.in, of Alilford. They 
have two daughters : (i) Susie, born in iSr)7,married 
■Clifford E. Treat, of Orange, in 1891. and has had 
three children: Charles !•'., b uii in 181^5; Harold, 
born in 1896, died in i8t)7: and F.lbee J., born in 
1899. (2) Alinniehaha. boni in 1873, is a .graduate 
of the .State Normal School at Xew Britain, class of 
1890, and has been a teacher for ten years, six in 
/West Haven and four in .Xew Haven. 

FRAXCIS ATWWTER (a descendant of 
David, the pioneer, and son of Henry .\twater). 
author, publisher, piinier, organizer of street rail- 
roads, member of the .American Publishers' Asso- 
ciation and the Xati(Mial Typt thct;e, president of 
the Aleriden lloa'-d of Tr;ide, piiblislier of the first 
all-.\nierican dail\ newspaper in Cuba, author of 
tile lli>tory iif I 'lymoiitli. ('onii.. and Kent. Conn., 
and of the .\twater lii.'-torx and (iiiiealogw is the 
subject of this biographx . Ills lifelong friend and 
com]Kinion. Lew .Mien, says of him: 

"The sreJiter part of liis life has lieen I'assed 
as a resident of the cily of .Meriden, Conn., and as 
a news|)aper worlcer. Tlure is no branch of news- 
paiier work with which he is not thoroughlv fa- 
miliar, fr(_im ])rinter's de\il In editor and publisher. 
In his youth be learne<l the trade of a ])rinter, and 
so proficient did he become that while still .a boy 
of only sixteen years he had ch:irge of the me- 
chanical department of the h'ccnnirr, then the lead- 
ing ])ai)er of Meriden. and at the age of tw'enty he 
established the ]]"tiulcniicyc Weekly I-'onnii, in 
AX'allingford. Conn., which he published for one 
vear, until it was sold. .Sulise(|iientl\ . for a tiniiL'. 



he was assistant foreman of the composing-room of 
the Hartford Coitrant, one of the oldest and best- 
known journals of Xew England. 

"Later Air. .Atwater went ^\■est for his health. 
to Red Bluff", Cab. and there gained additional 
experience, as manager of the Red Bluff' ( Tehama 
Co., Cal.) Sentinel. Upon his return to Aleritlen 
he established a large job printing office. Then he 
embarked in journalism on his own account, pub- 
lisbing the Aleriden Sunday \'eu:<;. But a once-a- 
week newspaper did not aft'ord him an active enough 
field, and upon the demise of the Aleriden Evening 
Press Air. Atwater hastened to occupy the field, 
huuiching the Aleriden Dai!\< Journal in connection 
with severa.l friends, thev forming The Journal 
r'ublishing Co. aliout 188O. 

"Mr. .\iwater brought to bear uprm the journal 
all the ability and exi)erience he possessed, and the 
result was that the enter]M-isc proved one of the 
most successful in the history of Xew England 
daily journalism. From the start the paper was 
prosperous, and year by year it grew turtil to-day 
it is one of the best paying pro])erties in its line 
in the .State. It occupies its own fire-jiroof liuild- 
ing in the business center of Aleriden, and is com- 
])letely equipped, not onl\' as a newspaper, with fast 
presses, typesetting machines and stereotyping out- 
fit, but also as regards a book and job printing 
lilant, a book bindery and an electrotyping de- 
partment, second to none in Connecticut. Air. .At- 
water is the first and only |5resident of The Journal 
Publishing Co., and from its inception he has been 
the controlling manager. His special department 
has been the mechanical, lint in every branch his in- 
fluence has been felt, and every detail has come un- 
der his watchful, experienced eye. 

"All his life Air. .A.twater has devoted himself 
strictly to business. Except as a news])a])er man, 
he has taken no ])art in jiolitics, and he has sought 
no political office. B\- means of the Journal he 
hel]ied organize the Aleriden Board of Trade, and 
in due time iie was elected its president, a posi- 
tion he still holds. .Shortly after his election, in 
casting about for some enterjirise that would benefit 
.Meriden. ihe project of building an electric rail- 
I w;i\- in a \yesterly direction over the West moun- 
l:iin to the town of Southingti;n. a distance of 
eii;ht miles, occurred to him. I 'pon in\-estigation 
he foniid that a ch;irter for such ;i road had been 
secured only a few months before, but nothing more 
had been done, owing to the difficulty in securing 
the neces'^ary capital to Iniild the road — a sum in 
the neighborhood of $220,000. Air. .\lwater im- 
mediately ])roceede(l to organize the .Meriden, 
Southington & Comi)nunce Tramwa\- Company, be- 
stirred himself to interest caiiilalists in the enter- 
prise, and in an incredihlv shcn't time had the 
necessary money raised, and the construction of the 
road was be.gun. Air. .\twater gave personal su- 
jjervision to the work, and in sixty working days 
trolley cars were making regular tri|is between 






^ 



.■/ 






<rvc/t^^ 






COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



205. 



?outhin.y;to!i and >roride!i, g;reatly l<.) the satisfac- 
tion (if the residents of both places, and especially 
the merchants of Meriden. Later the road was ex- 
tended to Lake Com])onnce, one of the most beauti- 
ful summer resorts in the State, and now the thou- 
sands who go there daily for recreation durini;- the 
season have cause to bless the foresight and skill 
of the one who made possible sucli a pleasant trip. 
Financially the road has been equally successful, 
having jiaid dividends to its stockholders for years. 

■'r])on the end of the S])anish-Anierican war 
Mr. Alwater was requested by .Miss Clara Uarton. 
of Red Cress fame and honor, an old family friend 
who knew him from childhood, to accompany her to 
Cuba, where she went to establish asylums for the 
unfortunate reconcentrados, and act a;., her financial 
agent. Desiring to get away for a vacation, .\lr. 
Atwater went with her. While in Havana he saw 
an o])])ortunity to establish a ncwspa])er there, lie 
embraced it and the Havana Journal was started, 
the first ail-American daily journal in Cuba, lie 
retained control of the Joiinud until he received 
a handsome ofi'er for it. when he sold it to a syndi- 
cate which still ])ublishes it under the name of the 
Havana Post, .\nothcr news])aper venture of .Mr. 
Atwater was located near home ait Xew P>ritain, 
Conn. He bought the Ihiilx Sews of that city, 
until the time came to dispose of it to advantage, 
which he did. He ne.xt bought the W'aterbury 
Republican, the only morning paper in the Xauga- 
tuck \'alle_\v, an<l is still its owner. 

"I'roni the foregoing it will be seen thai Mr. 
.Vtwater's life has been a very busy one. He stands 
an admirable type of the hustling Connecticut ^'an- 
kee. In his undertakings he has always been very 
conservative. He works slowly in laying his jilans, 
but (jnce started his push and energy are irresist- 
ible. .\I1 his important undertakings have been 
marked by nuich success in conce])tion, execution 
and results. He is a man of the world, having 
traveled extensively, yet home never loses its attrac- 
tion for him. His residence is one of the finest ui 
location and construction in IMeriden, and is fur- 
nished with artistic elegance throughout. I lere his 
many friends are always siu'c of a hospitable wel- 
come and lavish entertainment. 

"In iSjg he married Helena J. Sellew, to whom 
was born May 10, 1880, a son, Dorence Keitli At- 
water, who died Aug. 23. njoo." 

SETH JACOB HALL, one of the leading busi- 
ness men of Meriden, is a worthy re])resentative of 
one of the old and honored New' England families, 
of which John Hall is the emigrant ancestor. 

John Hall was born in England in 1605, and 
died in Wallingford, Conn., in 1676. He came to 
Hartford, Conn., either just before or in company 
with Rev. Thomas Hooker, and was granted six 
acres by courtesy of the town. He married Jane 
WoUen in 1641, and she died Nov. 14, 1690. Nine 
children blessed the home of this pioneer couple : 



i", 1O48, and died Sept. 22. 1725), and died 
1721. (3) Sarah, twin to John, baptized 



(i) Richarti, born Jul\- 11, i'')45. married in lOgy, 
Llannah, daughter of jdhn and .Mary ( .\l>o]i) 
Miles, and tlied in New Haven in 172'), aged eighty- 
one years. (2) John, baptized .\u.g. g. 164C), mar- 
ried Dec. (), i6(iCi. .Mary, daughter of Edward and 
-Mrs. l-^lizabeth (rotter) I'arker ( wIid was baptizetl 
Aug. 
Sept. 

.\ug. I). 1646, married in Decenibv-r, I*i'i4, William, 
son of Thomas Johnson, of Xew Haven. (41 Dan- 
iel, Ixirn in 1^)47. married, in i(')7o. .M,-ir\-. daugh- 
ler 111 Henr\' Rutherfnnl. and died in liarbadoes, 
\\'e,-l Indies, in H173. (5I Sanuiel, born .May 21, 
U14S. married, in M;i\-. MiOii, llannah. daughter of 
j.ihn Walker, and died .March 5. 172(1. survived liy 
"his wife until Dec. 20. 1728. d) Thomas, bora 
.March 25. 1(141). married (irace W'atson, June 5, 
1O73, and died .Sept. 17, 17U, and she died Mav 1, 
'73'- '7' Jonathan, born .A])ril 5, i^j.SI, "ex- 
clianged accommodatii ns in Xew Haven in 1067 
f(ir those i^f John Stevens in Xew Londtin," where 
he was jimb.-ibK' a vessel owner and captain. (8) 
David, burn .March iS, 1(152. in;ii-ried, Dec. 24, 1676, 
.Sarah Rockwell ( \\li<i died X'ov. 3, 1732), and died 
Juh' 7, 1727. (o) Mary, born in 1653. is ])robably 
the .Mary Hall who testified as to John HalTs nun- 
cupative will in 1(176. .She married, in 1(177. Henry 
Cook, son of Henry and Jiulitli ( r.inlsall ) Cook, of 
Salciu, Mass., and died ( )ct. 31. 1718. Henry Cook 
was born Dec. 30. 1(152. an<I died in 171)3. 

Thomas Hall, fifth son of John and Jane 
( Wollen ) Hall, was burn in Xew Haven, March 25, 
1649, aiid on June 5, 1(173, married Grace W'atson, 
wdio was born in i()53, a daughter of Edward and 
drace (Walker) Wats<in. This is the first marriage 
in W'allingford records. Their children were: .Abi- 
gail, l.iorn Jan. 7. 1675, married John Tyler; Thomas, 
born July 17, i()7(), married Abigail .Atwater; Mary, 
born Nov. 22, 1(177; Jonathan, boi'u July 25, 1679, 
married Dinah .\ndrews on May 12, 1703; Joseph, 
b'lrn July 8, 1(181, married IVethiah Terrell; Esther, 
born Feb. 2_^. 1(183. married Leiioni .\tkins ; lien- 
jamin, born .\pril h;, 1(184, married AL'iry Ives; 
Peter, born Dec. 28, 1686, married Rebecca U>ar- 
tholomevv ; Daniel, born Jan. 20, 1(189. "I'lrried Mar- 
tha Doolittle ; Rebecca, born Jan. (>, iCx)i, married 
Daniel Holt; Israel, burn (Oct. 8. idcjd. married .\bi- 
gail Powel. 

Joseph Hall, son of Thomas and (jrace (Wat- 
son) Hall, was born Julv 8. 1681, and on Nov. 13, 
1706, married P.ethiah Terrell, wdio died Dec. 28, 
1753. He died Nov. 3. 1748. Their children were: 
Temperance, born Feb. 15. 1714, died Dec. 7. 1716; 
Joseph, born Sept. 23. 1718, died Sept. f>. 1737; and 
]'4)hraim, mentioned below. 

Ephraini Hall, son of Joseph, was born .\pril 
25, 1723. He made his home at North Farms, Wall- 
ingford, his house being on the cast side of the road 
in the present meadow, now opposite the houses 
built by Richard .Andrews and David Moss Hall. 
The old well is there yet. Epiiraim Hall was twice 



206 



COMMEMORATIJ'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



married. His first wife, Eunice, died May 9, 1763, 
tile mother of two children : Temperance, born Oct. 
II, 1748, died Oct. 28, 1750; and Thankful, who 
married John Darrow, Sept. 29, 1774. On Oct. i,^, 
1763, Ephraim Hall married Chloe JNIoss, daughter 
of David and M indwell (Ucxilittle) !Moss, who was 
born Dec. 6, 1739, and became the mother of nine 
.children: Temperance, lx)rn Aug-. 10, I7'>4, mar- 
ried Jesse Wetmore, of Middletown, on June 24, 
1784, and moved to Ashtabula, Ohio: Joseph, born 
;March 17, 1766, married Dorcas Wilson, and had 
^ight children ; Ephraim, born Oct. 5, 1768, died 
jNlarch 2, 1772; Chloe, born Nov. 13, 1770, married 
Sylvanus Wilson, of Camden, X. Y. : Comfort, born 
Feb. 25, 1773, mentioned below : Reuben, born May 
19, 1775, married (first) Sally Miller, and (second) 
Keziah Beach: David Moss, Ijorn Oct. 24, 1777, 
■married Mindwell Beach; Content, bi:>rn March 15, 
1780, married Samuel Beach, Jr., February, 1802, 
and died in Dover, N. H., in February, 1871, the 
mother of ten children ; and Bertha, born March 29, 
1782, married a Mr. Wetmore and lived in Camden, 
jS'ew York. 

Comfort Flail, son of E])hraim. was born Feb. 
25, 1773, lived in Wallingfurd until about 1/97. 
when he removed to Middletown, \\'estfield Society, 
and later boug'ht the farm where he lived the re- 
mainder of his life. "He owned a large tract of 
land with meadows and orchards. He was one of 
the early Methodists and one of the original trus- 
tees of the M. E. Church at Middlefield. He was 
of the old type of Methodism, earnest, zealous, a de- 
voted attendant at church, rnid his home always 
■open to entertain MetlnMlist preachers." [Atkins' 
History of Middlefield. | hi jjolitics he was a Dem- 
ocrat. His death occurred Xov. 20, 1855. On Feb. 
I, 1796, he manied Jemima ISacon, who was born 
Feb. 2, 1775, a daughter nf I'hineas and Sarah (At- 
kins) Bacon, and (lied I-'eii. 24, 1847. The children 
■of this union were: Sylvester, born Xov. 22. 1796; 
Harley, born March 21, 171)1); Miles, born March 5, 
1801, married ( first I .\nn I'elton, (second! Mrs. 
Louisa Miller, and (third) .Mrs. Irene Miller Abell ; 
Abiah, born Oct. 28. 1S02, died Xov. 24, 1802; 
Aaron, born .\pril 5, 1804, died Xov. 24. 1804: 
Amos, born Aug. 17. i8;.)7, died April i, 1825; Cor- 
nelius, bom Aug. 26, 1801), married, April 27, 1857, 
Julia Ann Hale, and died b'eb. 19, 1882 (she was 
Iwrn Aug. 13, 181 1, anil die(l Jan. 23, 1881) ; Seth, 
born Aug. 4, 1812, died h'eb. 15, 1826; Comfort 
Johnson, born June 2, 1818, died unmarried June 18, 
]888: and Winscl Bacon, born Dec. 21, 1811), died 
Dec. 5, 1822. 

Sylvester Hall was born Xov. 22, 1796, and 
was twice married. Mis first wife, .Vun Wilcox, 
whom he wedded Xov. 5. iSjo, died Julv 20. 1825. 
■On Xov. 30, 1825, he marrie<l Rusetta, daughter of 
Comfort and Sarah ( P.acon ) Johnson. .She was 
born Oct. 13, 1806, and died Oct. 30, 1869: Syl- 
vester Hall died Oct. 3, 1875. liy his first wife he 
became the father of Lois Wilcox, born Dec. =;. 1S21, 



married, Sept. 8, 1846, William 'Si. Booth, son of 
Abner and Lucy (Martin) Booth (he was born Jan. 
10, 1823, and died March 18, 1901) : Ann Wilcox, 
born Julv 18, 1823, married (first) Parsons JNIiller, 
son of Elisha and Rhoda (Parsons) iNIiller, and 
(second) Jesse jNIiller, born Aug. 5, 1825, a son of 
Almon and Sarah Aliller (he died April 22, 1885). 
By his second marriage Sylvester Hall became the 
father of Seth Jacob, born Sept. 4, 1829, mentioned 
below: Enos L., born Sept. i, 1839, married (first) 
Victorine A. Ives, (second) Emma Clark, and 
(third) Lottie Smith. Air. Hall was educated in the 
common schools and academy at Wallingford, and 
filled various offices in the town of Middletown, 
and on April 25, 1834, was appointed by Gov. 
Samuel A. Foot captain of ist Co., 4th Regiment 
of Cavalry, in the militia of the State. In politics 
he was a Democrat, and in religion a }iIethodist. 

Seth Jacob Hall, eldest son of Sylvester and Ro- 
setta (Johnson) Hall, was born Sept. 4, 1829. Hi.s 
education was acquired in the common schools and 
in McConegal's select school. He followed farm- 
ing until twenty-one years of age, and for nine 
successive winters taught district schools in the 
vicinity of Middletown, and in the summers he "bur- 
nished" for Jesse G. Baldwin, and later for the 
Charles Parker Co., of Meriden. In April, 1857, he 
entered the employ of Harrison W. Curtis, at that 
time engaged in the crockery and hardware busi- 
ness, and remained until the following winter, 
wdien. as business was very dull, he taught school, 
and in the spring returned to Air. Curtis' employ, 
remaining until the fall of 1861, when he started 
in the Hour and feed business, which he has followed 
until the present time, single handed, with the ex- 
ception of twenty-seven months, when he was in 
partnership with I. C. Lewis & Co. lie then retired 
from the firm, and has long conducted a successful 
grain, feed and coal business. 

Mr. Hall has been a life-long Democrat, and 
has held a numlier of offices with great credit to 
himself and to the entire satisfaction of the public. 
1 fe has served the city as aldemian and councilman, 
and the town as treasurer, selectman and as member 
of the board of relief. In i8(;)0-94 he was State Sen- 
ator from the (kh District. From the beginning he 
has been treasurer and trustee, as well as having 
been one of the incorporators, of Meriden Hospital ; 
lie was director in the Middletown Bank until he 
resigned ; director of the Meriden Xational Bank ; 
vice-president and member of the board of appraisal 
of the City Savings Bank since its organization in 
1S74: and for several years was trustee and treas- 
urer of the State School for Boys. For sixteen 
years he was deacon in the First Baptist Church, 
and has been trustee for some years, and has also 
served as trustee and treasurer of the Y. M. C. .'X. 

On Oct. 14, i8rx:i, Mr. Hall was united in mar- 
riage with Lois I'.lakeslee, who was Iwrn Jan. 24, 
1833, a daughter of Silas and Esther ( Buel) Blakes- 
lee, and this union has been blessed with the fol- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



207 



lowing children : John Blakcslec. Iiuni Sept. C). 
18O1. iiiarrii-d, Dec. 16, i8;)5. Jennie lidlenmli. 
<!aut,diter of Bertrand L. and Chloe (^llolconil)) N'ale 
( tliey have two chikh^en. Leane liolecinih, Imrn 
I''eh. 15, 1897, and Ehsabeth Yale, liorn July 6, 
1899): Judson Sylvester, born March 30, 1S66; 
Silas Blakeslee, born March 28. 1869: and Ksther 
Kosetta, born July 24. 1880. \\'lKn Mr. and Mrs. 
Hall were first married they went to housekeepin;:;' in 
the Meriden Bank Buildinfj. on Broad street, and in 
Seineniber. 1864. nicived to Xo. 481 East Main 
street. This home was rem<ive(l. and in its stead 
was erected a new and more ])ietentiiius dwellin<:;', 
where, since Au.c;ust, 1S91. the family have extended 
generous hospitality to friend and stranger. 

JOEL EORD GILBERT has been prominent in 
puljlic aftairs of the city of Xew Haven from early 
manhood, and the numerous positions of trust to 
which he has been elected are the best evidence of 
the esteem in which he is held. 

Mr. Gilbert was born Nov. 7, 1839, in Hamden, 
Xew Haven county, son of Griswold Ives Gilbert, 
also a native of that place. The father of our sub- 
ject was originally a farmer by occupation, engaging 
in agriculture and the milk business until his re- 
moval to Xew Haven in 1857. He bought a farm 
now comprised in Elm City Park, selling it after one 
_\ear"s ownership, for parly purposes, and remaining 
with the association three years, during which time 
he laid out the track and park. The ne.xt year he 
acted as town agent, and he held various offices, 
serving as selectman, and for eight years as member 
of the board of assessors, after which he retired. 
He lived a long life of usefulness, reaching the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-five years, and became well 
known in the city upon taking up his residence 
there. He had been equally active in Hamden while 
a member of that community, and though a Repub- 
lican in a Democratic town, held a number of local 
otfices. serving eleven years as first selectman. Mr. 
Gilbert married Marv Ford, also a native of Ham- 
den, and a daughter of Joel Ford, a farmer of that 
jilace. and the seven children born to them were as 
follows: Cleora, i\lrs. M. W. Filley, of New Ha- 
ven: Joel Ford, our subiect; John, of the firm of 
Gilbert & Thompson, of New Haven; Sercno L, a 
Iiainter of X'ew Haven; Fred A., formerly of Xew 
Haven, who was president of the B.oston Electric 
Light Co. (he died in Xew York) : Myron W'., de- 
ceased; and Mary, deceased. The mother passed 
away at the age of fiftv-eight years. Both ])arents 
attended the Congregational Church. 

Joel Ford Gilbert received his education in the 
))ublic schools of Hamden, where he passeil his earlv 
years. His life has been ;.n exceedingly busy one, 
devoted to various lines of trade. After coming to 
Xew Haven he was engaged in the photograph busi- 
ness from 1861 to 1866. Then for twelve years he 
was in the butcher business, two years of the tinxe 
with Todd & Gilbert and ten vears with S. E. Mer- 



win 6t .'^(.in. He has since been in the steam-heating 
and phnnbing business, first for al):)ut five _\ears 
I'll State street, and for the past fifteen years with 
what is now the h'oskett (!t Bishop Co. Mr. (iilbert's 
long connection with one firm testifies amply to his 
liusiness ability. His judgment and success as 'a 
manager were early lecognized by his fellow citi- 
zens, who have repeatedly honored him with elec- 
tion to public office, b'or seven years, beginning in 
1880, he was a member of the board of public works, 
and president of that board from b'ebruary, 18S5, to 
b'ebruary, 1888. He servi-d on the board <.)f select- 
men for four years, in i8c)i he was appointed on 
the board of sujiervisors of steam bnilers, and has 
served as a member of that board ever since, hav- 
ing been its president since i8ij2. He served as a 
member of the city council in icjoo. Like his father, 
Mr. (hlbcrt is a Republican in ])olitical sentiments, 
and he has long been a meml:)er of the ^'onng Men's 
Republican Club. He was formerly a member of 
the Union League Club and the Knights of Honor, 
being one of the earlv members of both organiza- 
tiijns, }ilr. Gilbert was for fourteen vears a mem- 
ber of the Horse Guard, in which for seven vears 
he served as sergeant and orderly-sergeant : during 
the next two years he was captain, and then major, 
which rank he held for five years. He is one of 
the best-known men in the city and has many friends 
in both political parties, being of a jovial dis]wsition 
and very democratic in his manners and ideas. 

Mr. Gilbert was united in marriage, in 1862, to 
Miss Lydia A. Todd, a native of .Xorthford, Conn., 
daughter of Alfred Todd, a butcher of that place. 
Mr. Todd and his wife are both deceased. They 
had a large family, namely : .\melia E., Alson B., 
Theron A., Lydia .\.. Augusta, Edward A., and 
I'rancis H., five of whom survive. Mr. ami Mrs. 
Gilbert attend divine worship at .St. Tliomas' 
Church. Their home, at Xo. 413 Whalley avenue, 
was bought by Mr. Gilbert in 1863, and he abo owns 
considerable other real estate in tliat locality. 

EDWARD ELD, a worthy representative of the 
agricultural interests of luist ilaven. is a native 
of this county, born on ^Leadow street, Xew Ilaven, 
Jan. 28, 1824, and he continued to live there and in 
the vicinity of Cedar Hill until eighteen years of 
age, when he went to Xew York City and accepted 
a clerkship in a counting house, where he remained 
five years. <Jn Jan. 10. 1849, he started for Cali- 
fornia on the ljan|ue "luigenie" anil landed at A'era 
Cruz, Mexico, wdiere he ])urcliase(l a horse and in 
company with others liroceeded on his way to the 
gold fields, biU his horse broke down and he sold 
it in Jalajja, Mexico, and went thence via .San Bias 
to San l-'rancisco, traveling 600 miles on fool, and 
arriving in San Francisco May 14, i84(). After 
spending a short time in the mines at Mormon Lsland 
he went to the north fork of the .American river 
prospecting. The winter was ])assed in Lahanaina, 
Island of Maui (.Sanilwich Islands), and on his 



2o8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



return tu San I'rancisco in the spring he again went 
to the mines, remaining two and a half years. He 
then returned to San Franciseo and .started fur 
home, making his return trip around Cape Horn. 
Soon aflerward. however, he went to Omaha, Neb., 
theiice to Xiobrara. the >aine State, and after 
some time tliere went to i'^jrt Laramie, and traveled 
with o.\ teams from there to Omaha, returning to 
I'ort Laramie Ijy way of Xiolirara, and then to 
Tike's I'eak, Colo., passing through Denver, to 
C)malia, all in one vear. He remained in Nebraska 
and Colorado four years, and in 1861 again returned 
to New Haven. Purchasing the farm in Last Ha- 
ven where he niiw resides, he has since successfully 
engaged in agricultural pursuits, and is now the 
owner of two places ag.gregating seventy-five acres. 
In ]cS75 .vir. Eld married Airs. Frances Sperry, 
widow of Chauncey E. Sperry, and daughter of 
Garrett Bradley. By her first marriage she had 
seven children. She is a member of the Congrega- 
tional Church and a most estin:able lady. Air. Eld 
gives his political support to the men and measures 
of the Repul)lican party, and as a citizen he is ever 
ready to discharge any duty that devolves upon him. 
A man of unliounded enterprise, his success in life is 
due entirelv to his own efforts, and he deserves 
prominent mention among the leading and repre- 
sentative citizens of East Haven. 

COL. WILLLAAI E. AIORC.VN, local agent 
of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- 
v,ay Co., and secretary of Fitch's "Home for the 
Soldiers" and the Soldiers' Flospital Board of Con- 
necticut, is also local agent for the New Haven 
Sleamjboat C(j., and one of the most prominent char- 
acters of the city of New H;iven. 

The nan-.e of Abirgan has inspired confidence in 
Inisiness circles and in the finances of the world 
for upward of half a century: and members of 
the family who were given' that confidence and 
achieved ,so great standing, in both this and the 
Old \^'orld, sprang from New England stick, were 
liorn and h.ad their boyhood and business homes in 
the Commonwealth of Connecticut, where now re- 
l)0se the dust of many of them. Gov. Morgan, 
famons as the war guvernor of New York, is a 
member of this family. Col. William E. Morgan, 
of New llaven, traces his line of ancestrv through 
seven generations of sturdy men to James Alor- 
.gan, who. in March. tO^fi, with two younger 
brothers, John and .Miles, sailed from Bristol, Eng- 
lancl, and arrived in lioston, Mass., in April fol- 
lowing. James .Morgan first settled in Ixoxbur}-, 
Mass. lie was born in \Valcs in 1607. His father, 
so says tradition, was William Morgan, of Llan- 
daff, Cdaniorganshire. Wales. The family ap])ear 
to have removed from Llandaff to Bristol, Eng-- 
land. a few years prior to ^<'>y■'■ John Morgan 
settled in \irginia. so says tra<lition, ;uid Miles, 
born in 1^15, on his arrival at Boston, or soon 
atter, ji lined a jiail)' of emigrants, mostlv from 



Ro.xbury, of whom Col. ^^"illiam Pyncheon was 
at the head, and founded the settlement of Spring- 
field, Alassachusetts. 

James Morgan, the emigrb...t ancestor of Col. 
William E. Alorgan. was born in Wales in 1607, 
and died in 1685. Tie was distinguished in public 
enterprises, and was nine times chosen a memlier 
of the Colonial Assemljly. In 1640 he married 
Afargaret Hill, of Rox-bui-w Alass. His children, 
all excejn I he youngest, born proljablv in Roxljurv, 
were: Hannah, James, John, Josejih, Abraham, 
and a daugliter who died unnamed. 

(II) Capt. John Alorgan, son of James, born 
in 1645, married (first), in 1665, Rachel Dymond, 
daughter of John, and (second) Widow Elizabeth 
Williams, (laughter of Lieut. Gov. \\'illiam Jones, 
of New Haven, and a granddaughter of Theo- 
philus Eaton. Capt. John Alorgan clied in Preston 
in 1712. He was a prominent public man, was In- 
dian commissioner and adviser, deputy to the Gen- 
eral Court in 1690 from New London, and in 1693- 
(J4 from Preston. His children by Rachel were: 
John, Samuel, Isaac, Hannah, Alercy, Sarah and 
Jamles. His children by Elizabeth were : Eliza- 
beth, William, Rachel, Andrea (who was married 
Nov. 10, 1719, to Benjamin Fowler, of Guilford), 
Alargery, Joseph, Theophilus and Alary. 

(III) \\'illiam Alorgan, son of Capt. John, born 
in 1693, niarried in 1716 Alary, dau.ghter of Capt. 
James Avery. Jr., of Groton. ^^'illiam died in 
1729, and his wife Alary died in 1780. Their chil- 
dren were: Mary. Elizabeth, Alargaret. ^Villial7l, 
Deborah and Truilence. 

(I\') Capt. William Alorgan, son of William, 
born in 1723, married in 1744 Temperance, daugh- 
ter of Col. Christopher Avery, and great-grand- 
daughter of Capt. James Avery ( O . of Groton, 
and died there in 1777. Temperance, his wife, died 
in 1801. Their children were: William, Chris- 
to|.)her. Temperance, William Avery, Israel, Alary, 
.Simeon, Prudence, Rebecca and Jacob. 

I \ I Capt. William Averv Alorgan, son of \\"\\\- 
iam, was born in 1754, and married (first) in 1776 
Lydia Smith, daughter of Samuel Smith, of Gro- 
ton. She died in 1804, and he married (second) 
Sarah Harris, d'aughter oi Capt. Nathaniel Harris, 
of Colchester. Capt. Alorgan was a sergeant in the 
Colonial army in the war of the Revolution, and 
was i)resent at the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 
'775- He settled in Groton, where eleven of his 
children were born, in 1796 moved to Colchester 
(now .Salem), and in 1814 to Lebanon, where he 
died Alarch 22, 1842. Sarah, his widow, a woman 
of rare mental endowmenls, died in Hartford in 
1855. There were born to Capt. Alorgan seventeen 
children, thirteen to the first and four to the second 
marriage, of whom all excejit two lived to mature 
age and became heads of families. Eleven were 
born in Groton, five in Colchester, and one, Harriet 
N., in Lebanon. The children by Lydia were: 
\\'illiam, Griswold, Avery, Jasjier, Lydia, Nathan,. 





'X 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



209 



LictscN, Dcnison. Xancy, PIkeIx-, Lucy. Relx-cca and 
Charlotte. Tliosc by Sarali wcix- : .Xarlianiel 1 lar- 
ris. Sarah M., (iriswold J'l and Harriet X. 

( \'I I Capt. Griswolil E. Moryan was burn in 
Colchester (now .Salem j, Jan. 30, 181 1, and died 
Jan. 18. 1902, aged ninety years, eleven months an<l 
eighteen days. Jle was reared in Leljanon. where 
he folUjwed farming, and for years was justice of 
the jjeace. The jxisitions of slieriff and of cotnity 
commissioner were very successfully filled 1)\' 
him, though it is said he never put a jiair of 
handcuffs on a man. .\t the time of his death he 
was living with a daughter in Xorwich. Tn politics 
he was a standi Re]nd)lican. Me married I'diza 
Saxton, who was born in Lebanon, a daughter of 
Nathaniel and Fanny (Chamberlain) Saxton. ()f 
the children born to this marriage (ieorge K. was a 
private in Company 1). 8tli Conn. \'. 1.. and saw 
much hard service; he died Jan. ij, 1802, a few 
weeks after his nineteenth birthday. Harriet K. 
married Capt. Sheldon J. (irant. of W'apping. 
Sarah E. died July 16, 1866. Xathaniel 11. was a 
fanner in Lebanon, later a railroafl agent. Fannie 
^L married Joseph Holmes, of Xorwich. Criswold 
H. was a farmer in Lebanon. Mary V.. is the 
widow of Dwight Foster, of W'apping. Col. Will- 
iam E. is mentioned below. The mother died in 
Jan. 1892, at the age of eighty years. Both parents 
were prominent mendiers of the Congregational 
Church, the father being the leader of the choir for 
forty years. Of the thirty grandchildren of Ciris- 
wold E. Morgan twenty-three are now living, and 
there are also twenty-three great-grandchildren liv- 
ing. 

(\II) Col. \\'illiam E. Morgan was born in 
Lebanon Oct. 23, 1835, and spent his early years on 
his father's farm, where he remained until he wa'^ 
nineteen. He received his education in the connnon 
schools and at Bacon Academy, in Colchester, hav- 
ing special instruction from a resident clergyman. 
^\ hen he was nineteen he went to Dorchester, 
Mass., to work on a truck farm, thence going to 
Newark, X. J., to take a ]x)silion in the prison 
there, becoming a dejnity warden before he was 
twenty-one. At the outbreak of the Civil war he 
was engaged \n trucking at Hartford, Conn. ' )n 
Aug. 25, 1862, he eidisted in Company K, 25th 
Conn. \'. I., and served in the Department of the 
Gulf. In the battle of Irish Bend. .April 14, 1863, 
he received a wound from a-minie ball which per- 
manently disabled him for service. \n honorable 
discharge was given him. and he returned to Con- 
necticut to spend some time with an inicle. X. H. 
iMorgan, then town agent. In October, 1865, hav- 
ing somewhat recovered his health. Col. Morgan 
entered the employ of the Hartford & Xew Haven 
Railway Co. in iSTx), becoming their agent in 
Hartford, a position lie has held continuously and 
under all the consolidations to the present time. 
At that time the road had only sixty-two miles of 
road. Col. Morgan remained at Ilartford imtil 

14 



1885, completing twenty years of active service, 
when he was transferred to Xew Haven, and he is 
still agent for the railroad, and in addition repre- 
sents the steamboat company doing business from 
the city. The railroad and steamboat companies 
enijdoy 250 men, doing a large business, and two 
niagiutk-enl Ixiats are operatecl. Col. M(jrgan 
started in Ilartford with twenty-five men, and 
there are few who have been on the road as long 
as he. 

( )n Jan. I, 1866. Col. Morgan was married to 
Miss C'harlotte I*-. Hutchinson, a native of Lebanon, 
and a daughter of .\ustin Hutchinson, who had a 
family of five children, only three now living. Her 
mother belonged to a family by the name of I'"ish. 
The two survivors of the family besides Mrs. Mor- 
gan are: Leroy T., in San I-'rancisco; and Xellie, 
the wife of George T. Cook, who lives in Wiscon- 
sin. C'ol. and Mrs. Morgan have had three chil- 
dren: (I) Edwin I lutchinson, born Xov. 19. 1871, 
who was educated in the city schools of ilartford 
and in the Xew Haven high school, now holds a 
position in the Claims Department of the Consoli- 
dated Railroad. (2) George .Austin, born Xov. 22, 
1873, who received his education in the schools of 
Hartford and the .\'ew Haven high school, is a 
stenograjdier in the civil engineering department 
of the Consolidated Railroail: he married Agnes 
Rose, by whom he has two children, Doris and 
iJonald. (3) William Edniun<l. born Oct. 2, 1876, 
received an education similar to that of his two 
bidthers. and in addition a fine musical education 
o;i account of his very su|.)erior voice, and is now S- 
successful vocal instructor in Xew' TIaven. 

Col. 'Morgan is a Re])id)lican. and was first 
elected councilman in 188C). serving in that capacity 
for the two years following, an<l fnr four ye;irs he 
was alderman. His mtndjef'hip <.>n the board of 
education lasted for fmn- years; (ju the board of fire 
commissioners three and one-half years. Col. Mor- 
gan dis])layed striking exectuive and business abil- 
ity, and he was president of the Ijoard two terms. 
-Since 1899 he has refused all official stations, 
though offered those of much higher rank. 

In the Masonic fraternity Col. Morgan has been 
very active, and is one of the leading members in 
the State. His affiliations are -with St. John's 
Lodge, Xo. 4, A. 1". & .A. .M.. of Hartford; Trum- 
bidl Council; Xew Haven Commandery. Xo. 2, K. 
T. : and Pyramid Temple, Mystic Shrine, at liridge- 
jiort. His as.sociations with the G. A. R. are very 
tenilerly cherished, and he was at first a mend)er of 
Rol)ert O. Tyler Tost, at Hartford, but is now in 
Admiral luxjte Post, at Xew Haven. In tliis organ- 
ization he has filled many important and responsible 
positions, and has been assistant ([uartermaster gen- 
eral of the Department of Connecticut since 1887. 
-As secretary of the .State Soldiers' Hospital Board 
he fills a most responsible position to the general 
satisfaction of all concerned. Col. Morgan belongs 
to the l^nion \'eterans L'nion, an association co:'n- 



2 lO 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Ijo.scmI of battle-field soldiers, and in this organiza- 
tion lias l)cen commander of the Department of 
Connecticut and Rhode Island. Col. Morgan has 
served as State president of the Patriotic Order 
Sons of America, and Uelongs to Washington 
Camp. Xo. 8. He is also a member of the I. O. 
R. M. 

\\' ALTER HUBBARD, president of the Brad- 
lev & Hubbard Mfg. Co., Meriden, whose recent 
.gift to the city of Meriden of the park bearing his 
name, has awakened a desire in many ])eople of the 
State and country who have visited Meriden and 
Hubl)ard Park, to know something more of the city's 
benefactor beyond the fact that he is a gentleman of 
culture and means, for nearly a half century has 
been one of its leading business men and mami- 
facturers. A modest gentleman, Mr. Hubbard has 
shunned notoriety, and not having heretofore ap- 
peared in any of the local publications and never 
held nor' sought political ot^ce. the public have had 
little or no opportunity to learn <:jf his career. It 
is with a knowledge of these facts and through the 
■desire of his many acquaintances, that the follow- 
ing ])r;ef record of him and of Hubbard Park is 
presented : 

Born Ajjril 23, iSjS. in Midilletown, Conn., Mr. 
Hubbard is a descendant <jf George Hubbard who 
■came from England in 1 1)33 and was one of the 
■original settlers of Aliddletown in i')50. His pro- 
geny have lived in this region for some 250 vears 
and the Hubbards furnished a remarkable record in 
the war of the Revolution. Upward of 500 Hub- 
bards served in that struggle from Massachusetts 
and Connecticut. Capt. Jeremiah Hubbard, grand- 
father of Walter Hulibard, was one of the number. 

Like the majority of the youth of his day, Wal- 
ter Hubbard was reared on a farm and was educated 
i 1 the schools of his vicinity. He also attended the 
Chase Preparatory School at Middletown. At the 
age of eighteen years he secured a position as 
clerk in a store in Meriden, where liy his thrift, en- 
ergy and his strict attention to the interests of his 
eni])loyer, he was enaliled to accumulate enough 
capital 1(1 embark in business fiir himself. This he 
tlid in 1852, opening a store in Meriden and con- 
tinuing therein until i860. In the same year (1852) 
he was married to Al.iby .\nn, daughter of Levi 
I'.radley, of Cheshire, Conn. ; she died a few months 
after tlieir marriage, and Mr. Hnlibard never mar- 
ried again. 

In 1 854, in com]iany with his brother-in-law, 
N. L. r.radley. Mr. Hubljard founded the Bradley 
•& Hubbard Mfg. Co., of Meriden (sec Bradley), 
and devoted himself entirely to its interests. For 
some twenty-five years he has been president of this 
■com])any, which has become the largest manufactur- 
ing institution of its line of goods in the world. 
Air. Ilnlibard is actively connected with many im- 
j'ortant concerns in Meriden, being president of 
the Meriden Gas Light Co., also of the Meriden 



Electric Light Co., and the Meriden Trust & Safe 
I^eposit Co. Besides these he is also interested in 
banks and other local companies. 

Mr. Hubbard built the Winthrop Hotel, of Aler- 
iden, which is one of the finest in New England. 
In this he was actuated to confer a benefit upon the 
city and not as an investment for himself personally. 
His .gifts to the various charities of the city have 
been frequent. In 1883-4 Mr. Hubbard' went 
around the world and he has frequently visited 
Europe and the principal portions of this country. 

In person Mr. Hubbard is of medium height and 
of good proportion and weight. His personality is 
frank and straightforward, and he gives the ob- 
server tne impression of a man who must be well 
liked by his associates. His pleasant and cordial 
manners win him friends wherever he goes. Time 
has dealt gently with him. His robust health, his 
alert and active mind, and his quick and almost 
youthful movements occasion much surprise to 
those who learn that he has reached more than 
three score and ten. He is a member of the Lhiion 
League Club, of New York City, the New Eng- 
land Society, of New York, and the American 
Geographical Society and a number of State and 
city organizations. 

The following beautiful description of Hub- 
bar<l Park is taken from a souvenir published in 
1901 by the Horton Printing Co.: 

A thousand acres of forest and stream, cliff and cas- 
cade, hill and dale, lake and island, meadow and mere — 
where the air is sweet and pure, and the birds sing, and the 
sun smiles on the softly-tinted, warm, f?ray trap, and the 
foliage of trees deciduous and evergreen; a thousand acres 
where the wine of life is freely poured — where the brain is 
rested, the body strengthened, the soul brought into near 
communion witfi Nature; made into a perfect pleasure- 
ground by tlie hand of man. This is Hubbard Park. It 
will continue to !>•' the pride of .Meriden after the city has 
far outgrown its present bounds. 

The park is distant from Meriden only a mile and a 
half to the westward. It can be quickly reached by electric 
cars of both the Meriden and Meriden S: Southington lines, 
which make frequent trips, passing the main entrance. 

Within bounds are the famous Hanging Hills, with 
their majestic peaks over a thousand feet in height. These 
have the Wild primeval beauty Thoreau loved. From Maine 
to Florida, witliin fifty miles of the coast, there is no other 
land so high. 

The park is not only the largest, but is pronounced by 
celebrated landscape architects the most diversified, inter- 
esting and striking of any in New England. 

Mete words would never convey an idea of * » ■* * 
tlie manifold beautiesof this wondpr-realm of Nature. The 
park must be visited. You must gaze upon the placid 
waters of the hill-protected Mirror Lake. \'ou must drive 
or walk along the old Notch road (reminiscent of the ilays 
of the toll-gate), and the other beautiful drive-ways. You 
must feel the sjiell of Lake Merimere, with its wooded island, 
also of Lake Hallmere. You must witness that impressive 
panorama from Castle Craig Tower, and the peaceful valley 
that stretches below Fair View. You must marvel at the 
"crags, knolls and peaks confusedly hurled." You must 
view the wild scenery, and have your souls uplifted by the 
prospect from West Peak. You must rest in the pavilion, 
listen to the plash of the fountains, and see the grounds, 
where every arrangement has been made for the delight of 
hapin' chililhood; you must become children yourselves for 
a few blissful hours in Ilubliard Park. \'ou will then real- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



21 I 



ize the full fiirce of the line which Wurdswurth applied to 
the fierfecl liiendinL; of Nature's iimods. and kimw that 
amid the woods and waters, the ferns and tlowers, and the 
eternal hills of Hubbard Park are to lie found, 

"The consecration, and the poet's dream." 

r^Fr. Ilubbarcrs gifts to Meriden do not stop 
with lJiil)bard Park. He contributes liberally to 
the churclies and all local benevolent tindertakini^s 
and public utilities, such as the ^Nleriden Hospital 
and public school library, and the town ahotuuls in 
evidences of his generous public spirit. 

EDWIX BROWNSOX E\'ERITT, one of the 
leading business men of Meriden, a man i>o]nilar 
■with all classes, was born in \\'atertown, Litchfield 
•Co., Conn., Oct. 6, 18.^5, son of Abraham anil Sarah 
C. (Stone) Everitt. The family is of English origin, 
but has been represented in New England for more 
than two centuries. The grandfather of our subject, 
Abner Everitt, was a soldier in the Revolution, and 
a pensioner under the Act of Congress of 1817. 

Abraham Everitt was born on a farm in War- 
ren, Litchfield Co., Conn. Though he attended the 
district schools for several terms, he was essentiallv 
a self-tnade and self-educated man. When a bov 
he learned the trade of cabinet-maker in Litchfield, 
Ijut later removed to Watertown and formed a pan- 
nershi]) with a Mr. Davis, under the firm name of 
Everitt & Davis, manufacturing several articles 
which met with ready sale. Later a stock company 
■was formed, known as the Watertown Manufactur- 
ing Co., of which Mr. Everitt was president, and 
•which continued business for several years, but 
finally the company met with financial reverses, and 
the stock -vvas purchased by Mr. Everitt and Mr. 
Davis, who carried on the concern. Increasing 
years and ill health cornpelled ^Ir. Everitt to retire 
in 1862, and he passed his last days with his son 
Edwin, in Meriden. He is buried in the beautiftil 
West Cemetery in Meriden. For many years he was 
a Mason in high standing, originally a member of 
Federal Lodge, Watertown, and for manv years its 
master. L'pon coming to Meriden he connected 
himself with Meridian Lodge, No. yy. A man of 
genial manner, broad views and keen foresight, he 
made many friends, and his death was deeply 
mourned. In politics he was a Republican, ami lu- 
represented the town of Watertown in the Hcmse of 
Representatives at Hartford. During slavery times 
he was a very prominent Abolitionist, ardently stip- 
ported Abraham Lincoln, and throughout his life 
was a strong tem]>erance man. His life from the 
time he was a child bore testimony to his ideas, and 
he was a man of deeds as well as words. Mr. F.ver- 
itt was married in Litchfield to Sarah C. Stone, a 
native of Litchfield county and a daughter of Josiah 
Stone. Mrs. Everitt was a most estimable lady. 
She and her husband were members of the Congre- 
gational Church. To them were born eight childrcii, 
four of whom died when young, the others being" 
Edwiii 15.; Frances, who married Nathan Ta\!nr. 



and with her husl)and died in Meri<len; Sarah, Mrs. 
Augustus Lane, of New llriiain, Conn.; and Cath- 
arine, wife of h'-dson A. Judd, a retired dry-goods 
merchant of Waterbury, Comiecticut. 

J^lwin Brownson Everitt attended the public 
schools of Watertown and completed his education 
at the Watertown Academy. At the age of twenty 
he went to Hartfortl and became a clerk in the 
jewelry house of Church & Batterson, rernaining 
however, but a short time. Returning home, he 
taught school in his native town and also in North- 
field for a few years, and then removed to Water- 
bury, Conn., where he formed a partnership with a 
^Ir. Burgess, under the firm name of Everitt & 
Burgess, to conduct a photography business, .\fter 
a few years Mr. Everitt removetl to Meriden, in the 
early 'sixties, and opened a studio, which he con- 
ducted very successfully. On account of ill health 
he was obliged to abandon that calling, and acceiJt 
a position as agent with the Continental Life Insur- 
ance Co., of Hartford. So successful was he in this 
line that he was soon made the company's general 
agent for Eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island. 
Some years later he accepted a clerical position with 
the iMeriden Britamiia Co., which he lias since re- 
tained. During the lifetime of Horace Wilcox he 
served that gentleman in a ])rivate capacity, and 
after his death assisted in the management of the 
large estate. I'or more than twenty years he was 
stockholder in. and president of, the North .Xmeri- 
can ^Mercantile .Vgency Co., with offices in The 
Evening Post building. New \'ork, the coni])anv be- 
ing the first to occujiy 'quarters in that structure. 
Later the offices were removed to the St. Paul build- 
ing. After a nuinlur of \ears Mr. Everitt sold his 
interest, and at the lime of the formation of the C. 
F. Monroe Co., of Meriden, he became its secretary, 
and still retains that office. 

iMr. Everitt was married in ()lis. Mass., to Miss 
?\Iary A. Thompson, of that place, who is descended 
on her mother's side from Peregrine White, the 
first white child born among Ihe Puritan settlers of 
Massachusetts. No children have lieen horn 1(7 Mr. 
and Mrs. Everitt. She is a lady of culture and re- 
finement. Mr. lu-eritt is a man of genial disposi- 
tion, a good citizen, very popul;ir. and keeps himself 
well posted in current events. PoliticalK- he is a 
Re])ublican, and has been chairman of the Republi- 
can town committee of Meriden. He and his wife 
are consistent members of the h'irst Congregational 
Church, in the work of which they take an active 
jjart, and he is deacon in that organization. I'"or 
a period of abotit twenty-five years he was organist 
or choir master in various churches, having ofiicia- 
ted for seventeen vears in the Main Street l'>aptist 
Church of Meriden. He plaved the organ ami di- 
rected the music at the laying of the corner stones of 
the following stritctures: ."^^t. .Vndrews' P. 1{. 
Church, I'irst i\L V.. Church, h'irst Congregational 
Church and 'S.'. M. C. .\. building. Mr. Everitt is a 
man of strict iniegriU' and high business princijiles, 



212 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



3. favorite among his associates and beloved at his 
own fireside. He was a charter member of the 
Home Chil), one of the leading social organizations 
of the citv. His seicial affiliations are numerous. 
Prior to coming to Ak-riden he was a member of 
Federal Lodge, 'A. F. & A. .\L. of Waterbury. He i^ 
a thirty-second-degree .Mason, affiliating with Merid- 
ian Lodge, Xo. --. A. 1". & A. AL, and is past com- 
mander of St. Elmo Commandery, Xo. y. K. T., in 
which organization he has held the office of Prelate 
since the resignation of Rev. J. I^". Pettee. For sev- 
eral vears he has been the committee on necrology 
of the Grand Commandery. At the celebration of 
the fiftieth anniversary of Meridian Lodge he was 
the poet of the occasion, and the lengthy production 
which he read was verv happily received. Short 
extracts from this valuable souvenir are herewith 
appended : 

Mekii)i.\n No. 77, 

Master divine! Our fathers' Gnd! We come with glad 

acclaim, 
To render homage unto Thee, and tiless thy Holy name. 
We thank Thee for " Meridian," named for the noontide 

sun; 
For all her glorious weahh of work; her service nobly done. 

We thank Thee for our fathers' faith, shming with steady 

rav, 
And, guided by Thine open word which on their altar lay. 
How many joys, how much of grief, what varied hopes and 

fears 
Cluster around " Meridian," and crown her hfty years! 

The number of Meridian, how worthy of her fame! 

Of all the rest the one the best adapited to her name. 

The sacred seven, the pi'rfect seven, these two to her are 

given 
The number worthy of herself. Meridian, ".Seventy-seven. ' 



M.\SciNIC HoMKS. 

When disappointment ends tlie work of unsuccessful years. 
The agony of hope deferred finds no relief in tears; 
When'pitiless adversitv obscures and clouds the life. 
And hope surrenders tci despair, tired of the fruitless strife, 

When all the world is unconcerned , averted every face. 
When even friends have vanished, as if to shun disgrace, 
"ris sweet to know of one retreat, shining with glory briglit, 
Where clouds and darkness disappear in heaven's own radi- 
ant light. 

Such are the blest Masonic Homes, in this and other lands! 
The ministry to needy ones of willing hearts and hands, 
The night of need turned into dav, thick darkness turned to 

light. 
The clouds that God's fair Temple hid, now with His glory 

bright. 

How blest the hand that firings relief, tliat binds up broken 

hearts. 
Kindles anew the liglit of hope, and life and joy im|:iarts: 
lust such a blessed heavenly work as the bright angels love. — 
A work that lifts the sad earth up nearer to heaven above. 



At Last. 

At last, when work is ended and every duty done, 
With faith in coming glory we meet life's setting sun; 
Awaiting resurrection, we bid the worlil adieu. 
And fall asleep rejoicing, the better life in view. 



The heavens that bend above the earth, by night and day 

proclaim 
The glorious Architect .Supreme, and praise His holy name. 
With them, and all created things, we gladly sing His 

praise, 
Who hath preserve<l and blest our craft, and guarded all 

our days. 

We bow before the heavenly throne, to worship Him with 

awe, 
The Sovereign .Master of us all. Whose slightest wish is 

Law. 
We ask His blessing on the Craft: " Give us to know Thy 

Love, 
And grant that each at last may reach The Sujireme Lodge 

above." 



LEA\'EX WORTH. For more than two cen- 
turies the family bearing this name has played an 
honorable part in the history of the State. The 
ancient town of Woodbury, in Litchfield county, was 
the home of its various generations until three chil- 
dren of the late Russell Leavenworth moved, be- 
fore 1850, from \\'oodbury, where they were reared, 
to Xew Haven, rising to honorable positions in the 
City of F.lms. Oscar B. Leavenworth was engaged 
in the drug Inisiness for many years, and Dr. 
Daniel C. Leavenworth was a physician of mcjre 
than local repute. Their widows are still living 
in Xew Haven. Lloardman H. was in the drug busi- 
ness with his brother Oscar, on Church street, for 
several years. These gentlemen were descendants 
in the seventh generatioti from Thomas Leaven- 
worth, who was born hi England, and came to 
Xew Haven alxiut 1664, soon after locating at 
Woodbury. There he rose to prominence, became 
an extensive land owner, and died in 1683, his 
widow surviving initil 171 5. From this emigrant 
ancestor Oscar li., Lloardman H. and Dr. Daniel 
C. Leavenworth traced their line of descent through 
Thomas {2). John, David, Gideon and Russell 
Leavenworth. 

(11) Thomas Leavenworth (2) was born in 
i'i73, aiul was married at Stratford about 1698 to 
Mary Jenkins. He was a physician, and lived in 
what is now the tnwn of Huntington, where he 
died in 1754, his widow surviving until 1768. Dr. 
Leaven wort li was a graduate of Yale College, and 
was a man of intluence in the community. He met 
with large sticcess in all his business ventures, and 
left a fine estate. Roth he and his wife were 'orig- 
inal members of the Congregational Church at 
1 hmtington. 

(Ili) bihn Leavtiiwnrth, son of Dr. Thomas, 
was burn in 1708, and was twice married, first to- 
Deborah Hurd. who became his wife about 1737; 
and stibsequently to Mary r)ronson, who became his 
wife Tan. 2(). 1747. Mr. Leavenworth died in 1784. 
(i\) Capt. David Leavenworth, son of John, 
was born in Woodlinry about 1738, and was married 
in 1759 to Olive Hunt. In 1776 he married, for 
his second wife, Mary Downs. Capt. Leavenworth 
commanded the Fourth Company of the Thirteenth 
Regiment of the Colony of Connecticut during the 




0r 6^ 




-^^-iri^lf/i^. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAE RECORD. 



21^ 



Kcvohitidii. and proved liiinself a l>rave and skill- 
ful tifficer. 

( \') (lideon Leavonworth. son of Capt. Daxid. 
was born ( 'ct. 26. 1759. in Roxbnry. Conn., and was 
married in 1773 to Louisa Hunt. lie was a lifelong 
farmer, and died in Roxliury ( )ct. 15, 1S27, of 
paralysis. In the Revohuionar\- war he served as 
a connnissary under Gen. Lal'"a\etle, and he was a 
member of the (General .\sscniblv from Koxbury in 
i8(/). His widow died the year following his death. 

(\'I) Russell Leavenworth, son of Gideon, and 
father of the late Oscar 1!. and l.)r. Daniel G. Leav- 
enworth, was born at Roxbury Uct. 16, 1781, and 
was married ^Lirch 27. 1816. to Eveline Stone, wlio 
was born in 1796. Their home was at Woodbury, and 
in their later years at Xorthampton. Conn., where 
]\Ir. Leavenworth died March 12. 1866. The widow- 
survived four years, and died in Xew Haven ALiy 
14, 1870. Their remains rest in the Grove Street 
cemetery, where their son Frederick also lies. Mr. 
and Mrs. Leavenworth had children, all born in 
Woodbury. 'as follows: (T ) Oscar B. is mentioned 
below. (2) Rebecca, born Dec. 9, 1820, was mar- 
ried Feb. I, 1843, to Jerome B. Jackson, who died in 
Woodbury alxjut i860, leaving a daughter, Ella 
Elizabeth, born in 185 1. The latter married Ben- 
jamin Day. a farmer of Springfield, Mass., and 
had one child. Am}' Leavenworth. The\' moved 
to Kansas City, Mo., where Mr. Dav died in Octo- 
ber, 1899. His widow and daughter (who is un- 
married ) still remain there, having ]5roperty. Thev 
s]>ent the summer in New Haven with Mrs. Dav's 
mother, Mrs. Jackson, who for years has resided 
with Dr. Leavenw'orth's wiflow at their fine resi- 
dence on Howe street. (3) Frederick, who came 
to Xew Haven as a clerk with his brother Oscar, 
was drowned in Mill river July f), 1836, at the age 
of thirteen, while bathing. (4) Boardman H., born 
Jan. 26. 1826, learned and carried on the tailor's 
trade for years in Bristol and Plainville. Conn. In 
1854 he made a change, going into the drug busi- 
ness, he and his brother Oscar having a drug 
store on L'hurch street, Xew- Haven. He was mar- 
ried three times, first to .Antoinette Merriman. of 
^\'aterbury, by whom he had one child, Xellie, wdio 
became the wife of Charles Rattery, of Chicago, and 
moved thence to St. Louis, \'ictoria, B. C. and Cal- 
ifornia: Mr. anfl Mrs. Rattery have two children. 
For his second wife r>oarrlman H. married a lady of 
Plainville, Conn.: they had no chililren. His third 
wife was ATiss Caroline J. Tod<l. a member of a fine 
old family, wdio was formerly a school teacher, and 
to this miion came two childi'en, I'rank and I'.tta. 
About 1865 the family moved from Xew lla\-en to 
Chicago, and lhe\' were burned oiU in the great fire, 
losing everything. I'loardman II. Leavenworth died 
in 1877, and is liuried in Chicago, where his family 
still prefer to reside, near Mrs. Leaven wfirth's 
brother. (5) Daniel C. is mentioned below. (6) 
Clinton X., born Xov. 6, 1830, was with his brotliers 
for a time. He enlisted in the navy at Brooklyn, .\'. 
Y., was there for a period, and received an honor- 



able discharge, .\fter visiting his ainit. .NTrs. Lucy 
I'lumb (a sister of his mother), in Xew \'ork. he 
returned to the na\y yard and bid his comrades 
good-bye. taking his traveling bag and saying he 
was going to purchase a new suit to go home. But 
so far as his family could leai'n, he was ne\-er again 
seen bv anv one who knew him. 

( iscAK Bkki;i-: Le.wkxw oim 11, son ipf Russell 
Lea\enworth, was born Xow jj. 181S, in W'ood- 
Inirw Conn. He was twice married, first to Sarah 
.Maria ( )sborn, of ( )xford, who died in 1848, and 
the only child of this marriage, Sarah I'.liza, died in 
infancy the same year, h'or his second wife he 
wedded Elizabeth .\. Dowd, of Xorlhford, (.'oim., 
and to this union came: Ida l-nizabeth, born Aj)ril 
18, 1852: Jose])hine, l)orn July 3, 1837: Jessie I.. 
born July 6, iHIk): Minnie, born May 30, 1863: and 
b'redcrick Osca., born Dec. 14. 18^)3. ( )f these, 
Josephine married F.dward B. Munson. a box man- 
ufacturer of Xew Haven, and is the mother of five 
children — Grace, Maude. Harvey. Ethel Ma\- and 
Thornton Sperry. Jessie 1., a graduate of Mrs. 
Cady's school married Albert H. Moulton, of Kit- 
tery, Maine, a graduate of \;i]e. 1881, wdio practiced 
law for several years in Xew Haven: they are the 
parents of three children. Jose])hine 1'".. .\elson 
Leavenworth and Albert'. Ida F.. died [an. 19, 
1897: Minnie died -Aug. 12, 1864: Frederick O. 
married Mrs. Jennie Hayden in Octolier. 1893, and 
has one son, Benjanjin b'rederick, born Julv 30, 
1S94. The family are Congregational in church 
association. Mr. Leavenworth studied medicine 
under Dr. Phelps, of Woodbury, three years, and 
then came to Xew Haven, in 1839, to take a place 
as a clerk with Allen Smith, the druggist, remain- 
ing until 1849, when he ojiened a drug store on his 
own account. For a number of years he continued 
in that business, until the store was destroyed by 
fire and he bought a clrug store in Brooklvn. wdiich 
he conducted about two years. Then he returned to 
Xew Haven and resumed the drug business. .About 
three \ears later lie sold out. and after a time 
f pened a very extensive store on liroadwaw which 
he was conducting at the time of his death, having 
become one of Hie liest-kirown men of the citv. 
Buying and selling houses and lols (|uite exten- 
sivel)', he also built several residences, anil was very 
successful in all his real-estate veiittires. He died 
from a stroke of ajjojjlexy June 28, 1871, and was 
laid to rest in the Grove street cemetery, wdiere his 
wife ."^ai'ali .Maria and their inf:uit daughier are also 
bnrii'd. .Mr. Leavenworth was a welLknown mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternit\. and was also for a 
lime an ( )d(l I'ellow. 

.Mrs. Elizabeth .A. (Dowd) Leavenworth was a 
daughter of Russell B. Dowd, a son of Russell 
Dowd, a farmer of Clinton, known as Cai)t. Dowd, 
wdio sailed from Xew Haven to Xew ^'ork, and sold 
fowls and country ))roducts; he liwd to be seventy 
years old. Russell 1!. Dowd, who was also a farmer 
in Clinton, lived to lie eighty-three. In 1833 he 
moved from Clinton to Xorlhford, locatimr on a 



2i4 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



farm which he iMUight from Henry Taintor. He 
was a fiiu' .s;ardcner, "having one of the best gardens 
in the localitv in his day. and fruit in abundance. 
He also raised cattle, sheep, etc. His family are 
buried in Xorthfonl. His sin lienjaniin Russell 
Dowd enli>te(l during the Civil war in the 15th 
Conn. \'. 1.. and died in Washington in December. 
iSd^ "f tvphoid fever; he was brought home and 
laid' to rc-t in the family burial plat. Russell B. 
Dowd married I'lliza H. 'Wright, who was Imrn .at 
Wright River, in Westbrook, June y. 1800, and died 
in New Haven in 1879. She was but seventeen at 
the time of her marriage. Benjamin Wright, her 
father, was verv friendly with the Indians, who were 
around the home all during Mrs. Dowd's child- 
hood, and who ha.l their last burial spnt in this re- 
gion near ihe home of the Wrights, who never had 
any cause to feel afraid 1 u" the Red men. 1 here 
we're twelve children in the family. Representa- 
tives nf the Wright familv came from England and 
were earlv settlers in the town of Aladisun, which 
beliinged at one time to two brothers of the W right 

famiK. 

Mrs. Leavenworth is a welbkiMwii lady m .New- 
Haven, and is nuich esteemed by a wide circle of 
friends and acquaintances. She came to New Ha- 
ven when about sixteen years old, and conducted a 
millinery business in companv with Mrs. Graves, 
and then with a Mrs. Langd.in, and then engaged 
in business for herself, building up a tine trade, and 
becoming verv ])rosperous. This business she dis- 
posed of'^at her marriage. In i86y she again opened 
her millinerv parlors, and in 1871 built a fine store 
for the jnirpose. in wdiich she carried on the busi- 
ness until, in 1885, she closed it out and rented the 
store, which she still owns. Mrs. Leavenworth is a 
lady of nuich abilitv, and belongs to the Women's 
Board of Mission and the Eastern Star Lodge. She 
is also associated with the W. R. C. In 1849 she 
went to New ^'ork on a Xew Year's trip, the jour- 
nev from Xew Haven t.i that e^ty requiring twelve 
hotirs. 

|)\X1F.L C.VKNOLL LkAVF.N WOF^TII , IM. D., SOU of 

Russell Leavenworth, was born Ai)ril 29, 1828, hi 
tb.e town of Woodburv. lie studied medicme m 
Yale College, from which he graduated in 18(13, 
and, making his home in Xew Haven, followed the 
practice of his ])rofessioii in that city all his life. 
In 1874 he came to the home in which his widow is 
now living, and resided there for a number i)f years 
retired fmm the active work of his jirofe.ssion. Eor 
a miniber of vears he had an extensive interest in 
tlie drug business, and during his last years had 
charge of the real estate in C'oniiecticut which be- 
longed to his father-in-law. His death occurred 
Dec. !<;. 1896. Dr. Leavenworth and Miss Julia 
Hill were married May 13, i8''9- She was born in 
Earmingtoii, and c,-mu- to Xew Ibneii when about 
six vears of age. Her father. A, S. Hill, a .Meth- 
odist clerg\nian. was born in Redding, Conn., and 
had extensive real-estate investments in Xew Ha- 
ven, to the management of which the last years of 



his life were largely given. He died July 15, 1893, 
at the age of ninety-three years. Her mother, Abiah 
A. Judson, was the daughter of Samuel A. Judson, 
of Cornwall, Conn., where he spent his active years 
in farming: he died in Brooklyn, N. Y., at the age 
of eightv-nine vears. Dr. Leavenworth and his 
wife iiad one child, Charles S., born July 17, 1874, 
now a jirofessor of history at Xanyang College, at 
Shanghai, China : he graduated from Wesleyan in 
1895, and from Yale in 1897, from which he re- 
ceived the degree of Master of Arts in i8<j9. 

BR.VDLEY. Among the distinguished families 
of the State of Connecticut is that of Bradley, the 
name having been an honored one for many gen- 
erations and represented at the i)rcseiit date by men 
of means and influence. 

William Bradley, the founder of the family in 
Xew England, came from England with Cov. 
Eaton, in conipiany \\\xh others who established 
families and also did nnich toward the early set- 
tlement of the Colonies. William Bradley was mar- 
ried Feb. 18, 1645, to Alice Pritchard. He died 
in i6gi. 

Joseph Iiradlev, son of William the settler, was 

■ - ' - - -57, 



On Oct. 



166 



born in 1646, and died in 1704. 
he marrietl Silence Brockett. 

Samuel Bradley, son of Joseph, was bom in 
16S1, and died in 1757. He married Abigail At- 
water, who was born Jan. 16, 1684, and died Jan. 
23, 1742. 

Samuel Bradley (2), son of Samuel, was born 
March 21. 1707, and was married Dec. 16, 1732. 



The 



ived in Xew Haven and 



to Eunice Munson. 
Wallingford. 

Titus Bradley, son of Samuel (2), was liorn in 
1746, ami died Feb. 9. 1811. In 1769 he married 
Lydia Yale Todd, and they lived in Xorth Haven. 

Titus B>radley, Jr., son of Titus, was born in 
1776, and died in 1822. In 1805 he was united in 
marriage witli Mary Munson, who tlied in 1861. 
She was a daughter of Stephen and Mary (Good- 
year) Munson, and traced her ancestry back 
through Jabez and Eunice (Atwater) ]\Iunson. and 
Stephen and Lydia ( Bassett ) Munson, to Samuel 
and Martha ( Bradley) ^lunson. 

.Sevmonr Bradley, son of Titus. Jr., was born 
Aug. 14. 1800, and died .April 25, 1890. On Sept. 
30. 1829. he married Delia Barnes, who was born 
June f), 1809. and died Jan. 4. 1880. She was a 
daughter of iM-ederick and Eunetia (Blakeslee) 
1 James, her line reaching back through Joshua and 
Alercy (Tuttle) Ilarnes, ("apt. Joshua and De- 
borah (Wooding) Barnes, and Thomas and I\Iary 
(Leek) Barnes, to Thomas and .\bigail (Frost) 
liarnes. Seymour ISradley conducted a store on 
(^'ha])el street. Xew Haven, for many years, estab- 
lishing it when he was a young man. 

Robert Barnes Bradley, son of Seymour, w'as 
born March 10, 1832, in North Haven, Conn., and 
died Jan. 22, 1S90, in Xew Haven. His early school 
da\s were sjient in Xew Haven, and he was a pupil 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



215 



in two well-known schools, the Lovell I.ancastcrian 
School and latir the select school conducted by Mr. 
Thomas. Until 1S58 lie remained assisting his fa- 
ther in the store, and at that date lie opened up a 
business of his own, embarking in the agricultural 
implement line on State street, at the corner of 
Court street. There he was known by the older 
residents for many years, continuing his business 
until his death, in 1890, when he was succeeded liy 
the firm of Bradley & Danii. On Dec. 30, 1858, 
Mr. Bradley was united in marriage with Cornelia 
I\Iinor. who was born July 13, 1835, ckiiighter of 
Truman and Eunice (Peet) Alinor, and a descend- 
ant — through Seth and Susannah (Frisbie) JNIinor, 
Israel and Anna (Lake) Minor, Josiah and Mary 
( Barnum-Shove) Minor, and Epliraim and Re- 
becca (Curtiss) Minor — of Capt. John and Eliza- 
beth (Booth) Minor. Capt. John Minor was born 
in 1O34. and his wife on Sept. 12, 1647; his death 
took place .Sept. 17. 1719, and liers on Oct. 24, 1732; 
their marriage was solemnized (Jet. 19, 1658. J^Ir. 
and Mrs. Roljert Barnes Bradley had two daugh- 
ters, Delia Barnes and Cornelia Minor. The tor- 
mer married Charles W. Whittlesey, and they have 
two children, Ethel and Robert B. b'or many years 
Robert Barnes Bradley was prominent in Center 
Church, and served as treasurer of the society, and 
on committees for a long period. 

Truman Minor, the father of Mrs. Robert 
Barnes Bradle}', was a member of the finn of Minor, 
Hortoii &• Co., manufacturers of plows, in Peeks- 
kill, X. v., and there Mrs. Bradley was reared. 
Mrs. Eunice ( Peet ) Minor, the mother of Mrs. 
Bradley, traced an unbroken line to her first Amer- 
ican ancestor. John Peet, through her parents, Jeliiel 
and Lois (Manville) Peet, Jehiel and Joanna 
(Walker) Peet, Richard and Sarah (Curtiss) Peet, 
Benjamin and Priscilla (Fairchild) Peet, and Ben- 
jamin and Phebe ( Butler) Peet, Benjamin being a 
.son of John. John Peet came from England in 
1635. a passenger in the "Hopewell," from England, 
and settled in Stratford, Connecticut. 

Fkedkkick T. Bradley, son of Robert Barnes 
Bradley, was born Xov. 28, i860. On June 15, 
1887. he marric(l Miss Sarah Emily Mersick, daugh- 
ter of Edwin V . .\ler>ick. and two children came to 
this union: Seymour Mersick, born April 25, 1888; 
and Mildred, born May i, 1890. Mr. Biradley's fa- 
ther earlv determined to sen<l him to ^'ale, and lie 
was graduated with honor from Hopkin's Crammar 
School, and, in June, 1883, from the \'ale Scientific 
School, immediately afterward going into business 
with his father, with whom he was associated until 
1890. In that year, in association with (jeorge \\. 
Dann, he succeeded to the business, but three years 
later he retired, and on Jan. i, 1894, became a mem- 
ber of the firm of English & IMersick, which on 
June 28, 1895, w<-\s incorporated as the English & 
Mersick Co., with Edwin F. Mersick as president 
and treasurer, I'". T. Bradley as secretary, and John 
B. Kennedy as vice-oresident. L'pon the death of 
Mr. Mersick Mr. Kennedy became president, b'red- 



erick T. Bradley, treasurer, and John ^^acl\ay, sec- 
retary, of the compan\-. .Mr. Bradley is a member 
of the Chamber of Coinnierce, and is treasurer of 
the .Stevens & Sackett Co.. manufacturers of coach 
lanijis. Socially he is cnnnected with the Xcw 
Colon}' Historical Society and the .Sons of the .Amer- 
ican Revolution, and is also a member of the Crad- 
uates Club, and tlie Yale Club. Xew York city. 

JCJSEPH \\. COE is a valued and noted citi- 
zen of Meriden, whose fame extends tliroughout 
many States in the I'nion as an unceasing worker 
in the cause of Christianity and educational en- 
lightenment. Mis 'birth occurred on a farm in the 
town of Middletield. Conn., June 16, 1827. an<l he 
is the youngest son of I'^li Coe. The genealogy of 
the family will be fnund in the biography nf Levi 
E. C"oe elsewhere. 

Jose])h E. Coe grew to young manhood in his 
native place, attending only the district schools, 
and for a number of years followed farming. .\1- 
though he had little capital to begin with a provi- 
dent liusbanding of his resources and judicious in- 
vestments in Chicago real estate placed means at 
his disposal, his business acumen assisting him in 
so managing the same as to bring him substantial 
returns. While still a young man his thoughts were 
turned into religious channels, and for many years 
past he has devoted himself largely to promotin,^ 
the religions thoughts of his fellow men. His ef- 
forts in this direction have been so successful and 
he has traveled so widely in jjursuing this work, 
that he has become extensively known, although his 
work may never be fully ajijjreciated. Mr. Coe was 
one of the promoters of the Meriden IIos])ital. A 
large part of the competency amassed has been 
benevolently donated to tiic cause in which he is 
profoundly interested. Many of the methods of 
Mr. Coe in his religious work are original with him, 
one of these being the distribution of leaves of the 
Bible, one leaf at a time, in every State in the Cnion, 
this entailing a large outlay. Mr. Coe also bought 
and disbursed about two thousand coi)ies of the re- 
vised version of the .Vew Testament, besides 4.000 
copies of the old version. The public schools have 
also benefited bv his liberality ;is he has given a 
large number of dictionaries to them, and he has 
always taken a great interest in educational matters. 
The native town of Mr. Coe has been remembered 
very generously by Fim, he having donated an ample 
sum to provide quarters in the Middlefield town hall 
for the ^^'. C. T. l\. Mr. Coe being a stanch ad- 
\ocate of tem])irance and a strong ally to the forces 
contending against the use of tobacco. In pur- 
suance of his commendable work in lem])erance aiid 
religion he has ])aid out many thousands of dollars 
of his own money, employing men to assist him. giv- 
ing his own time gratuitously, b'ew men in this lo- 
cality have been as prominent in the Y. M. C. .\., 
and he is also an active member of the .Vmei'ican 
l'>il)le Society of Xcw York city. 

The first marriage of Joseph E. Coe was to Miss 



2l6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Laura L. Milk-r, his second marriage being to Miss 
Orplia R. Hunt. l''or iwenty-five years Mr. Cue has 
stanchlv ii].)liel(l llie principles he l}elii\eil to l)e 
right, ami his declining years are cheert-d by the 
assurance that he has put his best mergies into 
this work, and that he deserves the connuendation 
of "well done, good and faithful servant." Al- 
though bodily ills afllict him, he bears all with the 
fortitu<le of a Christian, lieing an example in this 
as in other \\a\s. and meriting the esteem and af- 
fection with which he is universally regarded. 

()LI\'hd\ RICE was during hi- lifetime one of 
Meridin's leading agricidturists and ;i well-known 
citizen. His birth occurred .\'ov. 17. 1S19. on the 
old Rice homestead, in the Hanover District. Aleri- 
den, .and he was a scion of one of the oldest famil- 
ies of New Haven county. 

Samuel Rovce (as the name was then written) 
the ].)rogenitor of the famil\ in Xew 1 laven C(.iunty. 
was a son of Robert Royce. wIm d'wd in Xew Lon- 
don in 1^76. Robert Royce was made a I'"reeman in 
1634 in Boston. Before 1650 and until 1657 he is 
known to have Ijeen in Stratford, Conn. He re- 
moved to New London, where in i6()0 he was con- 
stable, a very important position at that time. Xone 
of his sons remained in Xew London. His son 
Samuel settled with his sons in Wallingford. and 
they were among the hrst families of what is known 
as the Xew Colony. < )n Jan. g, iC)r)7, Samuel Royce 
married Hannah Churchwood, and among their 
children was Samuel (2). born in 1673. Samuel 
Royce (i), died in 171 I. The tlrst marriage of 
Samuel Ro\ce (2) was to Sarah Baldwin, and to 
this union were born: Aliigail. i'riulence. Delilah, 
Isaac, Ebenezer. Xathaniel. John, Mary and Jacob; 
the last named married Thankful Beach. The 
second marriage of Samuel Royce (2) was cele- 
brated Dec. 12. i'";5. Hannah Benedict becoming 
his bride. She was born Jaiv S. 167^), and died 
Jan. 12. 1761. To this marriage were born: Han- 
nah, l{zekiel (direct .ancestor of ( )li\er Kicel. Sam- 
uel, Abel. Benjamin. Mehitable and I'.benezer. 

Ezekiel Ro\ce. son of Samurl (2). was born 
Feb. 10, iCkjq, was a farmer ami largi' land owner, 
and Ijccame active in the ]>nblic affairs of the com- 
munity, serving as justice of the peace for many 
years. Ide was a gallant soldier in the I'rench and 
Indian war. and the connnission which he re- 
ceived from King ( ieorge 11 as lieutenant in His 
Majest\'s service "in the train-b;uiil in the parrish 
of Mcrridan in the Town of W.-illingfnrd" is among 
the oldest documents in the State. He died Sept. 
4, I7f'>5. and lies at rest in the old Buckwheat Hill 
cemeterv. The first marriage of Lzekiel Royce. on 
April 25. 172.^. was tn Aima Mi'rwin. who died Dec. 
20, I ; 



The second marriage, on Xov. 30, 



1726, was to Abigail .\lling. win 



s born lune 28. 
and the children of both iniinns were: Sam- 
liel. l;orn in 1 724 : Barnabas. 1725: .\nna. T727: 
Ri'chel. 172S: I'.zra. 1730; Lucy. 1732: Deborah, 



1 70 1 



1734: Ezekiel, 1736 (died in infancy); Ezekiel, 
Oct. 15, 1739; and Abigad, 1751. 

Ezekiel J'ioyce (2), son of Ezekiel, was born 
on the old homestead Oct. 15. 1739. When the 
Revolutionary war broke oiU he joined a company 
commanded by Capt. John L'ouch. in Col. Wads- 
worth's regiment, was at the battles of Lexington, 
Bunker Hill and Long Island, and all through the 
struggle took an active part. He was well known 
to the people of his State. His landed possessions 
were large, and the present homestead, where the 
family of his name still resides, was built by him 
in 1779. .\fter a long and active life he died Sept. 
3, 1808. Ezekiel Royce (2) married, June 19, 1759, 
Lydia Hough, udio died Oct. 28, 1813. Their son, 
I'^zekiel (3), was born Oct. 18, 1777, on the home- 
stead, wdiere he spent his life following the peaceful 
pin\suits of agriculture, and died Sept. 14, 1849. 
His ])olitical sympathies were with the Whig party, 
and in religion he was a consistent member of the 
Congregational Church. On Dec. 10, 1798, he mar- 
ried M.ary Merriam, who died Feb. 17, 1816, and 
on Xo\'. 13. 1816. he married Bethiah, widow of 
Dr. Theophilus Hall, who was born July 4, 1784, 
and died Se].)t. 16, 1858. Seven children came to 
the first marriage: Lydia. born Feb. 5, 1800, mar- 
ried Jesse Garrison Baldwin, of Middlctown, April 
14, 1830, and died May 13, 1876; Erastus, born 
July 7, 1802, died Aug. 2, 1866; Alinerva, born 
Aug. 2, 1804, married Salmon Merriam, of Meri- 
den, Feb. 15, 1826. and died Nov. 19, 1866; Mary, 
born Sei)t. 24, 1806, married Albert JJoardman. of 
Cromwell, Oct. 3, 1827, and died Nov. 29, 1865; 
Ezekiel Allen, born Aug. 25, 1808, married Re- 
becca Bull, Nov. 29, 1836. and died Nov. 7, 1882; 
Hezekiah, born June 10, 1811, married Maria Brad- 
ley, and for his second wife married, in May, 1866, 
Fanny A. Thompson (he died in October, 1882) ; 
Irene, born Nov. 22, 1813. married Orrin Judd 
Dutton ( )ct. 30, 1833, and died July 5. 1883. The 
children of the second union were: Betsey, born 
in 1S17. married William M. Judd. of Kent. Conn.. 
Dec. 3, 1840; ( )liver was born Nov. 17, 1819; Will- 
iam 1'.. born Sept. 2, 1821, married Susan Collins 
.Xov. 7, 1841, and died Sept. 25, 1852; Sophia, 
born Aug. 23. 1823. married John S. Caldwell, of 
r.elfast, \Maine, Oct. 18, 1858. and died Jan. 26, 
i8</); Julia B.. born June 29, 1826. married Thomas 
B. Clark Jan. 11. 1848, and resides in San h'ran- 
cisco; Sarah, born Aug. 22, 1829. married Charles 
H. Parsons, of Washington, D. C Jan. 5, 1852. 

Oliver Rice, the subject proper of this biog- 
raphy, was born on the old family farm, and in 
his earlv years attended the local district school, 
later the Meriden .Academy. When his .school days 
were over he started out in life for himself, going 
to Ohio and entering a store in Elyria. as clerk. 
'There he spent the succeeding six years, but the 
old home drew him back, and he si)enit the remainder 
of his life there, busily and successfully engaged 
in farming and stock raising. His death occurred 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



:i7 



Feb. 26. 1S86, and his remains lie in the West 
•cemetery. 

On .\nix- -"• I'^-l-'^'. -^Ir. Kice marric<l Mai'v Ahhy 
Cahhvell. daughter of Capt. John Cakhveii, of ]ps- 
wicli, Mass. The family i.s of Welsh ancestry. The 
mother of .Mrs. Rice was Eunice, daughter nf Isaac 
and lumice (Hodsjkins) Staiiwood. both members 
of ol<l and prominent families of Massachusetts. 
^Irs. Rice still resides on the old homestead. She 
is a lady of rare culture and refinement ; in her 
earlier years was a teacher, and all her life has en- 
joN'ed intellectual pursuits, l-'ive children were born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Rice: .Arthur Woods uraduated 
as a civil ent^ineer at the Sheffiehl .Scientific School, 
and is now a jjrominent manufacturer of .\ew Ilrit- 
ain ; .\mia Caldwell attended school at .Meriden. and 
later the Young Ladies Seminary at Ijiswich, Mass., 
and taught several years in the public schools of 
Meriden : William Theophilus, educated in the dis- 
trict schools and at the Gmnicry, in ^^'asIlingto^, 
Conn., has been on the liomestead all his business 
life, operating it successful since the death of his 
father, and is a well-known and resjiected citizen : 
Helen li.. educated in Meriden and Ipswich, mar- 
ried Dr. E. W. Smith, of Meriden: Oliver died in 
infancy. 

In politics Oliver Rice was a Reiniblican, and 
lie was always known to be as consistent with his 
political principles as he was in his religion, for 
many years being a valued member of the Congre- 
gational Church, With a keen perce])tion of right 
and wrong, he was noted for his fairness toward 
■opponents. As a citizen Mr. Rice took a prominent 
part in every movement that promised good to his 
locality, served as selectman and held other local 
offices, and was especially zealous in the cause of 
temperance and education. The family is one of 
the most highly esteemed in Meriden. 

THEODORE FRELIXGHISEX R.MLEY, 
the well-known laundryman of Aleriden, was born 
in the town of Haddam, Middlesex Co., Conn., .Aug. 
25, 1828, and is a descendant of an old Xew Eng- 
land family. John Bailey was one of the twenty- 
eight persons who moved to Haddam in i6()2 and 
took up the body of land deeded by the Indians to 
Matthew .\llyn and Samuel Wyllys. These were 
generally young men, wdio married about the time 
of settlement, and several are known to have come 
immediately from Hartford. John I'.ailey lived in 
Haddam with his tw-o sons, Benjamin and John, and 
was constable there in 1656. 

Benjamin llailey, son of lohn of Hartford, had 
these sons: John, Benjamin and .Xathaniel, of 
whom John and I'lenjamin were deaf and dumb. 
They were well able to sui)port themselves, however, 
and both reared families. .Xathaniel. the other son, 
had two sons, Daniel and Ezekiel. 

John Bailey (2), son of John of Hartford, had 
four sons: John. Ephraim, Jonathan and David. 
John Baile-- (3), son of John (2), had five sons: 
Nathan, Jeremiah, Amos, James and William. 



E])hraim I'.ailey. s(jn of John (2), had nine chil- 
dren: Ephraim. Jacob, Stephen, Jabez, Caleb. .\bi- 
jah. William, Olive ami Ephraim (2). 

William Bailey, son of E])hraim, married B.etsy 
Horton. lie was a farmer and landowner in the 
town of Haddam and was a man well known and 
highly respected. He ])articipaled in the war of the 
Revolution, and was a jx'usioner in i8?2. 

I'.liakim Bailey, son of William and Betsy ( Hor- 
ton ) Bailew was a soldier in the Revolution and a 



pensioner in 1S32. 



le married 



Thankful Brainerd 



who was J)orn .Aug. 13, 1758, a (laughter of Samuel 
lirainerd. b'our children were born to him: Enos, 
who died at the age of ninety years: Jeremiah, who 
died in Durham at the age of ninety; Levi, the fa- 
ther of our subject : and Esther. 

Daniel Brainerd ( occurring in records also 
Brainard and Braynard, although the first S])elling 
is generally adopted by the Haddam family) was 
born in Braintrec, County of Essex, England, and 
v.-as brought when eight years of age to TTartford, 
where he lived in the Wyllys family until of age. 
He was one of the twentx-eight persons who movcvl 
to Haddam in ifi'i2 and took up the body of land 
deeded T)y the Indians to .Matthew AUyn and .Sam- 
uel Wyllys. Daniel became a deacon in the church, 
a justice of the peace and a ])rosperous. res])ectal;)le 
and influential citizen. He became the greatest land- 
owner in Haddam, owning, besides rights in other 
places about town, about a mile in the northeast part 
of what lies west of the Connecticut river, including 
wdiat is covered by the present village of Higganum. 
After his settlement in Ilaildam young Brainerd re- 
ceived a letter from his mother in which she s]>elle(l 
her name Brainwood, which renders it ijrol)able that 
such WMS the original name. In a few instances the 
name thus written has been found in old records in 
this countrv. Daniel, however, had called his name 
Brainerd, and this spelling prevailed. His first 
marriage was to Hannah Spencer, a daughter of 
Gerrard Six-iicer, of Lynn. .Mass.. but afterward of 
Haddam, Connecticut. 

William Brainerd, son of Daniel theemigrant. 
was born in 1(173. Jle married, in \(nj^. Sarah B.id- 
well, and had seven children. The family lived on 
1 laddain Xeck. 

Samuel Brainerd. son of William, was born 
Julv 4, i7<)'i, and married on Oct. 31. 1734,, to 
ICst'her, daughter of Elijah and and .Mary ( Bush- 
iiell ) i'-raiiK-rd. Thev settled in the northwestern 
districl of Haddam, called "Brainerd District." 
where he owned a large tract of land. His death 
occurred there, and his wife ])assed away Jan. 12, 
181^, aged ninetv-fivc years. 

Levi Bailey was bom on the home farm in Had- 
dam. and received a .good common school educa- 
tion " A wheelwright bv trade, he manufactured 
si)inning-wheels. li'ving in Long Hill, Middlet.nvn 
for three vears and then removing to Durham, 
where he became engaged in farming, and where he 
paseU awav at the age of sixty-seven years; he was 



2l8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



buried in Hiijjjaiuim cemetery. Levi Bailey was a 
life-long Democrat, liberal in his religious views, 
an excellent citizen and a good neighbor. In Had- 
dam he married Cynthia Harvey, a native of that 
town and a daughter of Elisha Harvey, who was a 
soldier in the Revolutionary war. The eight chil- 
dren of this union were: Cornelia, who married 
Loren Stevens and (second) Enos Stevens; Harvey, 
deceased; Dw.ight, who died in Haddam ; Theodore 
F. ; Oscar, who died while serving in the Civil war; 
Edwin, who died in Haddam; Jane, married to 
Frank Francis, of Durham ; and Xelson, a resident 
of San Diego, Cal., who married Mary Bailey, wid- 
ow of his brother Oscar. The beloved mother came 
to live with her son in ]\teridcn, and he tenderly 
cared for her in her old age. She lived to be eighty- 
nine, and is buried in the old grave^'ard at Hig- 
ganum, beside her husband. She was a good. Chris- 
tian woman, a de\-otrd mother and wife, and a con- 
sistent member of the Al. E. Church. 

Theodore F. Bailev. the immediate subject of 
this sketch, was reared in Haddam, where he first 
went to school, being twelve years old when the 
familv removed tn l)urliani. During the siunmers 
following he hirt-d out nn a farm by the month, and 
he attended schonl in the winters until the age of 
seventeen, at which time he came to Merideu and 
learned' the tinner's tra<le with Lorin Todd Mer- 
riam, working there for several years, at $25 for 
the first year, $30 for the ne.xt and $40 for the third. 
For a period of three years he was baggage master 
at the Meriden railroad station. On Aug. i, 1862, 
he became a member of Company F, 15th Conn. 
V. L, under Col. Dexter Wright, and participated 
in several engagements, serving uiUil he was 
wounded in the left eye by a percussion cap, when 
he was honorablv discharged and returned home. 
For some time after that he worked for the ]\Ieriden 
Britannia Co., in the turning department, and con- 
' tinned there until he started in the butter trade. He 
bought out the \'ermont Butter Store, and success- 
fully conducted this business for two years, when it 
was destro\-ed by fire. His next venture was the 
laundry business in which he has been so successful. 
Mr. Bailey was the pioneer in this line in ]Meriden, 
in which he has lieen enyagcd for over twenty-five 
years. In 1897 be retired from the active manage- 
ment of the business, which since their has been cnn- 
dtictcd by his daughter, Mrs. .Xubrc)-, who has 
branched out and now conducts a large laundrv 
business. 

In 1853 Mr. r.ailey married, in Meriden, Emil_\- 
J. Roberts, who was born in W'allingford, a daugh- 
ter of Epliraim and Sus;ni ( I'.Ilis) Roberts, and a 
granddaughter of David Koberts, who served with 
distinction in the Revalution;irv w;ir. having en- 
listed at the first call, on July 8, and served to Dec. 
^'^' ^77?- II"-' re-enlisted under Capt. Walker until 
July 9, 1778. his third re-enlistment being under 
Capt. \\'ells, of Wethersfield ; his last enlistment was 
from Jan. 18. 1781, to Dec. 31, 1781, in the 5th I'.at- 



talion, Wadsworth's Brigade, under Col. William 
Douglas, of Xorthford, Conn. Mrs. Bailey died in 
June, 1895, and was buried in Walnut Grove ceme- 
tery. She was long a member of the Congregational 
Church. Three children were given to Mr. and 
Mrs. Bailev : (i) Lucerne, wdio died at the age of 
fourteen months. (2 ) Hattie L., who married \\'ill- 
iam H. Aubrey and has had three children, Alfred 
B,, William R. (at home) and Clara L., of whom the 
last named died at the age of six years. Alfred B. 
graduated from the }>Ieriden high school in the class 
of 1897, and from the Yale Law School in 1901, 
vvith the degree of LL. B. : he was admitted to the 
bar the same year, and is a justice of the peace in 
Meriden. (3) Lucretia S. married Jesse E. Still- 
man, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere. 

Mr. Bailey is a member of Merriam Post, G. A. 
R., of Meriden, and a charter member of Pacific 
Lodge, No. 87, I. O. O. F. Formerly he supported 
the Republican partv, but is now a stanch Democrat. 
With his family he belongs to the Congregational 
Church. He is a good man, well known and popu- 
lar, honest anil upright, and is considered one of the 
substantial citizens of Meriden. 

HOTCHKISS (.Derby and Ansonia branch). 
This branch of the family from which came that 
of the old time hardware dealer Lockwood Hotch- 
kis.s — who is one of the oldest merchants of An- 
sonia and wdiose son, Hon. Lockwood Hotchkiss, 
Jr., has but recently retired from the mayoralty of 
that city — is. with its allied families, a conspicuous 
one in and about the old town of Derby, where its 
members have been proiuinent from the first settle- 
ment of that locality in the early Colonial period. 

In treating of the first of the name of Hotch- 
kiss in his "History of Derby," Rev. Orcutt men- 
tions Elijah and Deacon Eliphalet coming to Derbv 
about the time, adding that it had not been ascer- 
tained whose sons they were. Recent investiga- 
tion shows that Elijah Hotchkiss was in the fourth 
generation from Samuel Hotchkiss, through Joshua, 
Jacob and Elijah. Samuel Hotchkiss, the American 
ancestor of the family of which we write, came sup- 
posedly from Esse.x, England. He was in New 
Haven iti 1641, where in 1642 he married Eliza- 
beth Cleverly. Mr. Flotchkiss died Dec. 28. 1653, 
leaving a widow and six children, the widow dying 
in \(<Hi. The children were : John, Samuel, James, 
Joshua, Thomas and Daniel Hotchkiss. Of these 
Joshua Hotchkiss was one of the most prominent 
of the Xew blaven men of that day. He was high 
sheriff of the county, and a very active and useful 
citizen of \\'estville, then Hotchkiss town. 

Deacon Eliphalet Hotchkiss, who came early to 
Derbv and from whom the Ansonia fanfily under 
consideration (that of Lockwood Hotchkiss) is de- 
scended, was about of the same .^ge as Elijah, who 
was there with him, and he also descended from 
Samuel Hotchkiss, the emigrant settler, but the 
links belwccn them v.'e have been unable to get. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



219. 



Deacon Eliplialet Hotclikiss was born in 1727, and 
married, probably in Derby, Dec. 21, 1751, L'onifort, 
daughter of Jabez Harger, Jr., and settled in North 
End, and became one of the mo.st active and most 
j)rominent men of Derby. He was a deacon in the 
i'lrst Church of Christ, a justice of the peace and 
by occupation a carpenter an<,l builder. Deacon 
Hotclikiss died July 5, 1803, and his wife passed 
away 2^Iarch 11, 1802. Their children, all born be- 
tween 1753 and 1787, inclusive were: Susannah, 
Levi, Eliplialet, Moses, David and I'liilo. 

From Deacon Eliplialet Hotclikiss Lockwood 
Hotchkiss, Sr., of Ansonia, is in the fifth generation, 
his lineage being through Levi, Elijiha and Albert 
Hotchkiss. 

([[) Levi flotchkiss. son of Deacon l-",lii)halct. 
born ^lay 2, 1754, was four times married. His 
first wife, I'liebe, died April 3, 1789; his second, 
Betsey, died April 8, 1691 ; his third wife died Dec. 
I, 1801, and his fourth bore for her Christian name 
Susannah. His children were: Eli])ha. Lucy, ISel- 
sey, I'hebe, David, Levi and Abbe. 

(III) Elipha Hotchkiss, son of Levi and I'helie, 
born alx>ut 1777, married Xancy ImjIsoiii. Mr. 
Hotchkiss died September 21, 1851, advanced in 
years, and Xancy, his wife, passed away Nov. 15, 
1865, aged eighty-six. Their children were: Will- 
iam, Albert', Mary Ann, Burr, Harriet, Eli, John, 
Phebe, Jane. Hannah, Amelia, Harvey and Samuel. 

(IV) Albert Hotchkiss, son of Elipha, born 
in September, 1803, married Sally Minerva Curtiss, 
born Jan. 9, 1800, daughter of Morgan Curtiss. Mr. 
Hotchkiss was engaged in coopering and farming, 
and was a resident of Derby and Ansonia. He com- 
manded the esteem and held the confidence of his 
fellow townsmen, and died Nov. 29, 1864. His 
cliildren were: Lockwood, Sarah, Sidney, John, 
Hattie and Emorv. 

(V) Lockwood Hotchkiss. son of .\lhert, JKirn 
Aug. 4, 1826, married Augusta, daughter of Har- 
vey and Nancy (Riggs) Johnson. Mr. Hotchkiss 
received his ])rimary education in the common 
schools of his neighborhood and early became self- 
reliant and independent. ITe learned the trade of a 
mason, and followed it as an occupation in connec- 
tion with contracting and building through his early 
and middle manhood, and connected himself with 
the erection of many of the buildings of his town 
and county through that period. In 1S67 he, asso- 
ciated with Nathan S. Johnson, established the hard- 
ware business in Ansonia, with which he has since 
been continuously identified, and in which he has 
reared three of his sons. The style of the firm for 
vears was Johnson & Hotchkiss, then Mr. Hotch- 
kiss succeeded the firm as sole proprietor. Mr. 
Hotchkiss is now one of Ansonia's oldest merchants, 
and most estimable and highly respected citizens. 
He is doing business amid the scenes of his early 
bovhood — a jjeriod of sixty and more years ago, 
and where he has done business with several gen- 
erations of his lx>yhood friends and acquaintances. 



He is of a retiring disposition ami has never as- 
pired to political or public notoriety — never an of- 
fice holder or seeker. His jiolitical affiliations have 
always been with the Democratic party, and the re- 
ligious faith of the family with the denomination of 
ihe M. E. Church. Mr. Hotchkiss, though passed 
the allotted three-score and ten, is still active and 
useful in business and social life. lb- has the en- 
tire CDiitidence of the community. The children 
h'lrn to Mr. and Mrs. Hotchkiss are: 

( 1 ) Lottie A. married l-'red .\. Lines, of New 
Mil ford, Connecticut. 

(J) Albert E. married Xina- E. 
l'.rn(,klvn. Xew York. 



13) Xettit 



Jewcrson, of 
nirirried William Pope, of An- 



sonia. 

(4) LocKWoon Hotchkiss, Ju., born in An- 
sonia, March 18. 18^.6, married. J;ui. 12, 1892. Sus- 
anna Jackson, daughter of Joseph Jackson, of An- 
sonia. and their only child is Mildred Elizabeth, 
burn Se])t. A, 1894. ^Ir. Hotchkiss received his ele- 
mentary education in the ])ul)lic and high schools of 
.\nsonia, then began a Inisiness career with his fa- 
ther in the hardware store, and has since been identi- 
fied with it. He develojied cinalitics in business and 
social life that were considered liy his fellow citi- 
zens such as t<.) make him an available and efficient 
man to aid in the direction of municipal affairs, and 
in 1895 ''"' '^^"'1*' clcctt'd to the common council and 
served with credit in that and the following year, 
a term of two years, iluring the Webster admin- 
istration. In 1899 he was elected mayor of the 
city, and served for a term of two years efficiently 
and ably. Mr. Hotchkiss, like his father, is a Dem- 
ocrat in his political views, and otherwise sustains 
the father's reputation. He is a genial and pop- 
ular gentleman, enterjjrisin-g and jniblic spirited. 
Socially he is ])romiiient in both Masonry and Odd 
Fellowship, is a member of Xaugatuck Lodge, No. 
O3. I. ( ). (J. P.; (leorge Washington Lodge, Xo. 
S2, V. & A. M., .Ansonia; Mt. X'ernon Chapter, No. 
35, R. A. M. ; Union t'ouncil. No. 27, R. S. ; and 
New Haven Comniandery. No. 2, K. T. 

( 5) Fred 1). is yet single and a clerk in the store 
with his father. 

The Riggs family, allied by marriage with the 
I lotchkiss, is an early Colonial family, descendants 
of Edward, the American ancestor, who came from 
England in i(')33, locating in Roxbury, ^lass. A 
son, Edward (2), married (first) in 1635 Elizabeth 
Roosa, and settled in Milford, Conn., in 1646. In 
1654 he, with Edward \\"ooster, and pcrha()s others, 
settled in the town of Derby. 

The Johnsons, too, were early and prominent in 
the Colonial period in Derby, New Haven. Wood- 
bury, Seymour and this section of Connecticut. 
There were several different families of this name in 
the territory referred to. Harvey Johnson, tlie fa- 
ther of Mrs. Lockwood Hotclikiss, Sr., was a man 
of unusual enterprise in the line of his business, 
that of a mason and Imilder. He was born Feb. 14, 



120 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



i-ijS.. in till" town of .Monroe, Conn., but later lived 
in_ 1)<.t1)_v and .Vnsonia. He married Xancv Riggs, 
of Oxford, and tliey l)ecamc the parents o'f twelve 
'Children. This couple celelsrated their .golden wed- 
ding I'd). 14, i8C)(), and lived to a ripe old age. Few 
mm, if any. in the State had in his day erected so 
many ()uhlic and business Iniildings and dwclhngs 
as had Air. Johns(.)n. .Kniong these were the Insane 
Retreat at Hartford ; the .State prison at ^^'ethers- 
field: (lid Washington Cnllege, now Trinitv, at 
Hartfnrd; St. John's Church at Bridgeport'; St. 
James' church at IJirmingham: St. John's church at 
W'aterbury : and a stone church in Washington, 
Ciiuuecticut. 

PllILAXDO ,\RA[STR( ).\G. For many 
years the firm of H. P.. Armstrong & Co. rei^re- 
sented one of the nmst Milid Inisiness concerns of 
the State of Connecticut. This firm was estab- 
lished in 1876 hy Philando .Armstrong, consisting 
of himself and 11. P. .\rmstrong. 

Jiihn .Armstrong, the father of Philando. was 
born in Xew Prunswick, Xova Scotia, and was 
descended from the great and widespread Border 
famih- of .Armstrongs, which derives its name from 
the following circumstances: ".An ancient King of 
Scotland bad his horse killeil tnider him in battle, 
and was immeiliately remoiuited 1)\- Fairlienrn, his 
armnr-bearer. b'or this timely assistance the King 
aiuply rewarded him with lands on the Border, and 
to perpetuate the memory of so important a service 
as well as the manner in wdiich it was performed — 
■fur I'airbeorn took the King hv the thigh, and set 
him on his saddle" — his n>yal master gave him the 
appellation of .Armstrong, and assigned to him for 
a crest an armed hand and arm : in the left hand a 
leg and fnot in armor couped at the thigh, all 
proper." 

Our subject's father early chose the life of a 
sailor. At the age of sixtce'n he left home and 
shipped to the West Indies, and it was in one of 
the ports there thai he fortunatelv fell in with Capt. 
Ichabod .Snu'th. and returned with him to West Ha- 
ven, remaining nn bis farm for the succeeding two 
years. P.eing successful in this line. Air. .Armstrong 
remained nn ;i farm all his life. His marriage took 
place in West Haven to Polly, daughter rd" Jere- 
miah Smith, and the following children were born 
to them: l.drenzii died at the age of two vears ; 
Serenn died in iXi)S: Cvnthi.i married Robert Mills; 
Harriet marrieil iienrv ThiMni)--iin ; L(iren/(i (2) 
lived to the age of ei^dity; William D. lived to be 
sixty-six: I'.liza married ;i Mr. Richards; Philando 
is nienfioned lielmv. The father died in 1S40. but 
tlu' niiither sin-vi\ed luitil 186^. 

Philando Anustrong was born June 21. 182c;, 
and spent his early schnol da\s in West Haven. 
Until be was sixteen years old he worked on the 
home fanu. In 1837 Lorenzo and William, his 
older brothers, opened up a grocerv business on 
Long Wharf, and Philando worked for them and 
was so efficient that thev gave him a jilace in the 



firm before he was of age. The firm enlarged and 
became shipjjing merchants in the Xew Haven. 
\\'est In<lian and South .American trade, continuing 
i" business until 1875. The heirs of Lorenzo and 
William .Armstrong continue the business in Xew 
York City under the original name of L., W. & P. 
.Armstrong, of Wall street, Xew York city. 

For thirty-five \ears Philando Armstrong was 
in l)usiness with his brothers on Long Wharf, but 
in 1876 he established H. B. .Armstrong & Co., 
which for twenty-five years has been engaged in 
the furniture Inisiness. and is now being closed up, 
the property in Orange street being designed for a 
box factory. Since 1842 Mr. .Armstrong has re- 
sided in .\ew Haven, and here his first marriage, 
to Charlotte .Malloy, was celebrated. The second 
union was to Catherine Bradley. Mr. .Armstrong's 
children were: Wallace Townsend Burden, who 
died I'eb. 9, 1886; Henry Boklen ; LOelora. de- 
ceased ; Lillian, deceased ; Lillian Idlewild, wdio mar- 
ried I-". II. Benton, and has two children, Roger 
and Louis; Philando Sitiendio, born Oct. i, 1865; 
Ricardo I-'uertoes. born Dec. 6, 1867; and Maud S., 
born .Aug. 29, 1 871. All were educated in Xew 
Haven. H. Bolden .Armstrong was born in 
Xew Haven ( )ct. i. 1855, and married Lillian 
I. Clark, a daughter of Henry W. Clark, of Xew 
Haven. Children as follows have been born to 
them: Delora Ftta, Aug. 13, 1882: Id. B., Jr., 
June 26, 1893; and Lillian Clark, May i, 1895. 

ROBERT CATLIX PECK (decea.sed) was. 
during his lifetime, one of the most successful and 
prominent business men of Xew Haven, a leader in 
the wdiolesale grocerv trade and an estimable and 
highh- respected citizen. 

The Peck family is one of the old ones of Litch- 
field county. Conn., wdiere many of them still reside, 
and in- the town of Bethany, Sidney Peck, the fa- 
ther of our subject was born, and there married 
Catherine Catlin, a daughter of Dr. Catlin. a promi- 
nent physician of Litchfield county. To them were 
born si.x children : Joseph C. Robert C. Jay. Maria 
R-.. .Sidney and Catherine. Joseph C. and our sub- 
ject became merchants in Morris, Conn., for a few- 
years, and later thev came to Xew Haven ; Jay did 
in young manhood ; Maria R. and .Sidnex- have hath 
passed awav ; and Catherine married Darwin B. 
Randall, a merchant of Morris. 

Robert C. Peck was born in the tnwn of Bethle- 
hem, Conn., (\-t. 19. l8;2. and died .\ug. 20. 1869. 
His boyhood was si)ent on the farm until he w-as 
twenty-one, and then he went into the mercantile 
business with his brother, Joseiili C.. in jMorris. 
where he married Miss Mary Elizabeth Dewell. wdio 
was born in Xorfolk, sister of Hon. James D. Dewell. 
of Xew Haven. .A short time after marriage Mr. 
Robert C. Peck and wife moved to Xew Haven, and 
he there embarked in the business wdiich he so suc- 
cessfully conducted for such a long period. His 
first entrance into the business was as salesman for 
Ihishnell & Dewell; later he went into the tobacco 





z: C (^r^/ , 




? /?J/'>'^^^Q 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



^ -1 1 



business, and then became one of the firm of llenja- 
min, P'^'.-k & Kellam, wholesale grocers, so conlin- 
uinf^ Ui.cil his death, when he left behind him the 
record of an honest and industrious life, in whic'li 
he had s:ained and retained the respt-ci and cmiti- 



dcnce of a larj^e patronaj^e. 

A family of four children were born to our sub- 
ject and wife: James D., who died at the age of 
twenty: Robert C. and Frederick II., who died in in- 
fancy; and Minnie R., who married Sherlon 1). 
Smith, a native of Xew Haven and a resident of this 
city. In his political o])inions Mr. I'eck favored the 
Republican party, and the family have long been con- 
nected with tJie Congregational Church, where Air. 
Peck was known for his Christian character. 

CIIAMT'IOy. Few families coming to Xew 
England in its early settlement were of a higher 
order and character than the one bearing this name, 
and few were so conspicuous in the war of the 
Revolution and in ])ublic affairs before and after 
that period. Such names as those of Col. Henry 
Champion and his son, (len. }Ienrv Cham])ion, two 
of Connecticut's distinguished sons, are written 
upon its scroll of fame, while their posterity h;i\-e 
played well their parts in kee|)ing intact the country 
they assisted in saving. The late Henry Champion, 
of Xew Haven, whose promising career ;is a use- 
ful citizen and successful lawyer was brought to a 
close at the very threshold of manhood, on Jan. 30, 
1867, was a lineal descendant of (ien. Cham])ion, 
and gave every promise of a life that would have 
been an honor and credit to the name he hoi-e. 1 le 
was the last of his line. 

Henry Champion was Ijorn Xo\-. S, 1S3S, a'' 
Port HIizabeth, South Africa, son of Rev. (ieorge 
and Susanna ( Larned ) Champion, and a ilescendant 
in the eighth generation from IKnrx ('hamiMon, 
who emigrated from England to the .\merican Col- 
onies antl settled at Saybrook, Conn., where he is 
foimd as early as 1647. .After having assisted in 
developing Saybrook Mr. Champion removed with 
his family to the east side of the Connecticut river, 
and became one of the first and most active founders 
of the historic town of Lyme. Concerning his first 
wife little is known. His second wife, to whom he 
was married in March, i6(;8, was Deborah Jones. 
Mr. Cham]Mon died in I'ebruary, 1 709. 

From this emigrant ancestor the late Henry 
Cham].)ion's line is through Thomas, Henry (2), 
Col. Flenry (3), Gen. Henry (4), Maj. Henry (5), 
and Rev. (ieorge Champion. 

Thomas Champion, son of Henry the emigrant 
settler, was born in Saybrook, Conn., in .\])ril, 1656. 
married in Lyme, Aug. 27,. 1682, Hannah, born 
Sept. 14, 1664. in Lyme, daughter of W'oolston and 
Hannah (Piriggs) I'.rockway. .After Mr. Cham- 
pion's death, which occurre<l .\]iril 3, 1703. his 
widow .remarried, and died March 2, 1730. 

Henry Champion (2), son of Thomas, was born 
May 2, 1695, in Lyme, and married in East Had- 



dam. Conn., Jan. 10, 1717, Mehitable, baptizeil in 
Hecember, 1704, in Fa>l lladdam. a daughter of 
Moses and .Mary Rowley. The family home was in 
b'ast ihnldam, and there Henry <lied Nov. 26, 1779, 
Ins wife dying ( )cl. 3. 1775. 

Lol. Henry I liampion (3), son of Henr\- 12), 
was born Jan. 19. 1723, in l-'.ast liaddam. Conn., 
n;arried fir-!, Dec. 23, 174O, Deborah, Ixirn June 
Jo, 1724, a daughter of Capt. Joshua 1:. and Mehit- 
able I Dudley) ISrainard. She died March 17, 1789, 
in \\ estchester, and he married, second, in West- 
chester, Xov. 24, 1791, Mrs. Sarah ( Prainerd) 
Lewis, born April 30, 1744, a daughter of Stejihen 
and Su.sannah (Clates) Brainerd, and died Jan. 17, 
1818. Col. Champion jjassed away July 23, 1797, 
in what is now Colchester, Conn. .\t the age of 
eighteen years he was ajipoinled ensign of the East 
lladdam South Company, and was made lieutenant 
of the same in 1730, and became ca])tain of a com- 
])any for service in the iM-ench' and Indian war, 
joining tile main army at Lake (Jeorge. Later he 
was chosen capt;iin of the b'ifth Companv, 2d Regi- 
ment, tiiiin which he was transferred to the com- 
mand ol tile 12th or Winchester Companv, in 1760. 
In 1772 he was appointed major of the 12th Regi- 
ment Colonial Militia, and in A])ril, 1773, Major 
(/haniiiion, with tjliver W'olcott, Jeremiah Wads- 
worth and others, was ap]3ointed Iiy the General As- 
sembly, a coinniission to su])ply all necessary stores 
and ]irovisions for the troojis to be raised for the 
defense of the colonies. \Vlien (_!en. ^Vashillg■ton 
took command he reconuiiended that Major Cliani- 
pion, Joseph Trumbull and Jeremiah Wadsweirth be 
made commissioners: Congress accordingly ap- 
l)oiiUed them. In ( )ctober, 1773. Henry Champion 
was |)romoi(.-il fiDm the rank of lieutenant-colonel 
of the I2th Regiment of State TrooiJS, to that of 
colonel of tlu' 23tli Regiment, which was com- 
jiosed of ccpinpanies from Colchester and East Fhul- 
dain. When the ;irniy began to assemble at Xew 
\'ork. ill .\pril. 177'), L'ol. Champion was appointed 
commissary of the tro<ips, and the main army was 
su])plied alnio.-t wholly by him from that time, and 
he also provided for the troojis ordered to Rhode 
Island. In 1778 L'ol. Champion was appointed sole 
conmiissary-general of the Eastern department of 
the Continental army, by Col. Peter Colt, and was 
reappointed by the State in April, 1780. In the 
sjjring of 1780. in consequence of the distressed con- 
dition of the army, which had wintered at Morris- 
town, Gen. Washington ap])ealed to Gov. Trunvbull 
for assistance. Col. Champion was placed in com- 
mand of a train which was largely supplied from 
his own resources. It reached the Hudson in an 
astonishingly short time, was ferried over at Xew- 
burgh and delivered into Washington's hands. 
When the great general received these stores he 
remarked that "no other Slate than Connecticut 
could have furnished them." 

In May, 1780, Col. Champiini resigned his com- 
mission in the arni\- and returned to his home in 



COMMEMORATIJ-E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Westchester. In jiolitics he had been prominent 
]irior to his enhstment in the army, and iluring the 
])rogrcss of the Ivevolution lie had been regularly 
elected to oftice ; was deputy to the General As- 
•senibly from Colchester, in 1761, from 17(13 to j 779, 
in 1781. 1783. and from 1700 to 1792 Col. Cham- 
l)iMn was also deacnn in the Westchester Church 
from 1775 until his death. 

Gen. Henry Champion (4). son of Col. Hemw, 
was born iMarch Uk 1751, in Westchester, Conn., 
and in East Haddam. ( >ci. 10. 1781. married Abigail 
Tinker, who was Imrn .March -'4. 1758, in East 
Haddam, daughter of .sylvanus an<l Abigail (Olm- 
stead) Tinker. She died .\pril U), 1818. in West- 
chester, and Gen. Champion also died in that town, 
July 13, 1836. 

'.Mr. Champion entered the service of the Con- 
tinental army at the time of the Lexington Alarm, 
served first as an ensign, then as second lieutenant 
of the Eighth Company, 2d Regiment, and on May 
I, 1775, was made first lieutenant, and was one of 
the detachment of officers and men who were en- 
gaged at the battle of Bunker Hill. On June i, 
1776, he was promoted and ma<le adjutant on the 
stafif of Col. Samuel Wyllys. of the 22d Continent- 
als, and after the evacuation of Boston marched 
with the regiment by way of the shore towns to 
,\ew York." His regiment assisted in fortifying 
the citv. and on .\ug. 24 it was ordered to the 
Brooklyn fmnt, wlure it touk jiart in the retreat of 
Sept. i. He was also a memher of the army at 
White Plains, where the regiment remained until 
its term of si'r\ice expiri'd in the folkiwing De- 
«mber. On Jan. i, 1777. Lieut. Champion was pro- 
moted to becajitain of the ist Connecticut Line, 
with which he remained after the regiment was re- 
organized as the 3d. As an illustration of Gen. 
(.'hampion's originality, as well as the genuine pa- 
triotism that characterized the Champion family, he 
enlisted the services of his sister Deborah, then only 
seventeen vears old, to carry dispatches from New 
London to Gen. Washington at Boston. She also 
at one time carried the money which was to pay 
the trooiis. The jnurneys were made on horseback 
with but a trusted nld slave named .\ristarchus to 
accompany her, her sex enabling her to pass the 
British lines undetected. 

On julv 13, 1779. Capt. ClKimi)ion was detached 
from his old regiment and appointed acting major 
of the First Batalliou, Light Brigade, his commis- 
sion dating from Jan. i, 1779. This brigade had 
been organized by Gen. Washington to do duty at 
the front and esjiecially to attempt the capture of 
Stonv Point, on the Hudson, which the enemy had 
occupied since ?y[ay. The corjis was composed of 
])icked men from all the regiments under Wash- 
ington's immediate command, and was organized 
into four regiments of two b.atallions each. Con- 
necticut furnished one of these regiments, num- 
bering 400 officers and men. which in the assault 
formed part of Wyllys' right column. At mid- 



night on July 15 Gen. Wayne assaulted and carried 
Ston)- Point with such skill, dash and completeness 
as to elicit the praise of the enemy tnemselves. Re- 
maining with the army, Mr. Champion continued his 
brilliant career until the close of the Revolution. 
He was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. 

On lii.s return to Westchester Gen. Champion 
entered into politics, and was deputy from Colches- 
ter to the General .\ssembly in 1789, 1793 to 1798, 
and 1800 to 1805, and from 1806 to 1817 held the 
office of assistant. From 1813 to 1828 he was a 
deacon in the Church in Westchester. It was 
thrt)ugh the efforts of Gen. Champion that the 
charter for the Phoenix Bank of Hartford was se- 
cured. The State Bank had refused him the ac- 
commodation of $2,000, and the former bank came 
into existence ; he remarked at that time, "Well, if 
this bank cannot accommodate me, I'll have one 
that can." He was also largely interested in the 
Connecticut Land Company, to w'hich he subscribed 
over $83,000, and the towns of Champion, N. Y., 
and Champion, Ohio, were named in his honor. 
Gen. Chani[)iou was instrumental in securing the 
school fund for Connecticut, and was chairman of 
the C(.immittee of the State Legislature appointed 
to arrange for the holding of the famous Hartford 
convention of 1814. 

Major 1 lenry Champion (5), son of Gen. Henry, 
was born nn .\ug. 6. 1782, in Westchester, Conn., 
married there on May 3, 1803, Ruth (Kimberly) 
Ixobbins, I'lini ( )ct. 3. 1782, a daughter of Rev. 
]\o])ert and Jcrnsha (Eastabrook) Rolibins. She 
died Sept. 12, 1863, in Troy, N. Y., while Major 
C!ianipit)n died Dec. 28, 1823, in Westchester. Mr. 
Cliam]3ion enlisted in the 26lh Regiment Infantry, 
Regular army, Julv 2, 1814, and served until Feb. 
25, 181 3. Later he was appointed major of the 
Connecticut Militia, resided in Westchester and 
reiiresented Colchester in the State Assembly in 
1820. 

Rev. George Champion, son of Major Champion, 
was born June 3, 1810, in Westchester, Conn., mar- 
ried at Weltster. ^fass., Xov. 14, 1834, Susanna, 
born .March 30, 1808, in Oxford, Mass., a daughter 
of John and Susanna (Moore) Earned. She died 
lulv 8, 1846, in ISoston, Mass.. and ^^Ir. Champion 
"died Dec. 17, 184T, in St. Croix, West Indies. He 
was of a very religious turn of mind from his youth 
and earh- resolved to fit himself for the ministry 
and missionary service. At the age of fourteen 
vears he united with the Church in Westchester 
and was graduated from Yale in 1831, taking then 
a three-year course at the Andover Theological Sem- 
iiiarv, and was ordained at Colchester, Conn., Nov. 
10, 1834, as missionary to the Zulus, near Port 
Xatal.'in South .\frica. Of this grandson Gen. 
Chami)ion was very proud and fond, and being un- 
willing that he should go out to .Africa offered to 
]5ay the expenses of five missionaries to go as sub- 
stitutes, if he would consent to remain at home. 
George's replv was: "If I stay at home it will be 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



J23 



said that only the poor go. You may send the five, 
and 1 will go myself and that will make six mis- 
sionaries." When Gen. Champion loun<l tliat he 
could not prevail against him he generously gave 
him $60,000 for the expenses of himself and party. 
He was one of the first missionaries to South 
Africa, going in 1834, and labored there four years. 
He was one of the three men who reduced the Zulu 
language to writing and prejiared a mannseri])! copy 
of the ISible before the mission was broken up and 
the missionaries driven away on account of the war 
between the Boers and tlie Zulus. Upon his return 
to America he was settled over a small chinxh in 
Dover, Mass., entering upon his pastoral duties in 
1839. Two years later, owing to ill health, he sailed 
for the ^^"est Indies, anil died shortly after. 

Henrv Ch.\mpiox, late of Xew Haven, was a 
son of this devoted missionary. His preparation 
for college was obtained at Phillips Academy, at 
Andover, Mass., and he w^as graduated at Yale 
College in i860, passing the following year in the 
study of modern languages at Xew Haven. In 
September, 1861, he entered Yale Law^ School, and 
was admitted to the Bar of Connecticut ]\Iay 15, 
1863. and immediately established himself in the 
]:>ractice of law in Xew Haven. In January, 1866, 
his health, which had been for several months fail- 
ing, compelled him to seek a change of climate, and 
in company- with his. wife he removed to Mankato, 
Minn., where, after a year's residence, he died. 

In July, 1863, Mr. Champion compiled and pub- 
lished a '"catalogue of the Greek and Roman Coins 
I:)elonging to Yale College," of wdiich he had charge, 
and in the arrangement of which he had sjient a 
great deal of time. He subsequently gave to the 
college his large and valuable collection of between 
2,000 and 3,000 coins and valuable coin books. Mr. 
Champion also prepared a history of Gov. Robert 
Treat, which he read before the Xew Haven Colony 
Historical Society, and he also wrote and published 
several articles on X'umismatics. During his resi- 
dence in Mankato he contributed a weekly article 
of local and general interest to the paper published 
there. At the time of his death he was secretary of 
his college class. During his whole life he was a 
man of strong moral character, was a member of 
the City Tract Society, took an aclix'c part in re- 
ligious W'Ork, and was assistant superintendent of 
Old Xorth CIuutIi Sunday-school. 

On Aug. 4, 1863. Mr. Chami:)ion was married 
at Xew Haven to Sarah IClizabcth. daughter of 
Wilson and Sarah (Treat) Booth, who sur\-ived 
him and is yet a resident of Xew Haven. Their 
only child, Henry, died in infancy. Mrs. Chamjiion 
was a daughter of Wilson liooth. a son of Daniel 
Booth. Jr., and Betsey Booth, who was a daughter 
of James Booth, Jr. The family was of an old 
French Hugiienot line, the name being originally 
written DeBooth. \\'ilson Booth was born in Trum- 
bull, where he spent his youth, going to Xew 1 laven 
at the age of nineteen. There he learned the car- 



penter trade, with Ira Aiwater. and liecame one 
of the leailing contractors in Xew Haven. During 
a long and useful life he held many cit_\- and town 
ot^ces, was highlv esteemed and a member of the 
Old X(jrtli Church. 

Mrs. Champion (Sarah E. Booth) in her mater- 
nal line is a direct descendant of (.jo\ernor Robert 
Treat, deputy governor and governor of Connecti- 
cut, 1676-1708. She is much interested in historic 
research and pre[)ared a paper on the "liistory of 
Our Flag'' which was published with illustrations, 
and of which editorials have been ])rintcd. As 
regent of the Mary Clap Wooster (..'liapter, D. .\. 
R., for five _\ears, she gave much time to the his- 
toric work of tile organization. 

XORTH. The family bearing this name in Xew 
Haven.of which the late ( )liver Burnham Xorth, who 
was one of the city's leading liusiness men and sub- 
stantial citizens, and several of whose sons, his suc- 
cessors in business — notably William B., (jeorge P. 
and John H, Xorth, of the firm of O. B. Xorth & 
Co.. manufacturers of saddlery, hardware and mal- 
leable iron, at Xo. 67 Franklin street, is one of the 
oldest of the Farmington families, and one whose 
coming to Xew England dates back to within a 
decade and a half of the landing of the Pilgrim 
I'athers. 

(I) John Xorth, one of the jiroprietors and set- 
tlers of the town of Farmington, L'onn.. a colony 
which was the first offshoot from the clun-ch of Rev. 
Thomas Hooker, of Hartford, came to Xew Eng- 
land in the ship "Susan and Ellen" in 1635, landing 
at Boston. Air. Xorth was then twenty years of 
age. He married Hannah, daughter of Thomas 
iJird. Land was granted him in I'armington in 1635, 
and he and his sons. John and Samuel, were in- 
cluded in the eighty-four original land owners of 
I'armington, among whom were divided, in 1676, 
the unoccupied lands of Farmington. The senior 
Mr. North and his wife were members of the Farm- 
ington Clmrcli. uniting therewith in 1(156. Mr. 
Xorth died in 1691. aged seventy-six years. 

From this John .Xnrth, the settler, the late Oliver 
Burnham Xorth, of .\ew I laven. who was born in 
Xew Britain, Conn., .March 13, 1817, a son of Alvin 
and Clarissa (Burnham) Xorth, was de.-cended in 
the seventh generation, his line being through 
Thomas, Thomas (2). lames, lames (2), and Alvin 
Xorth. 

(II) Thomas Xorth, son of John .Xorth. was 
born in 1641;. He was a soldier in the Indian wars, 
and had a soldier's grant of land. In i6(>() he mar- 
ried Hannah Xewell, born in 1656, and they settled 
in the north part of Farmington, now the town of 
.\von. lie <lied in 1712, and she died in 1757. 

( lllj Thomas .Xorth (2), third chili! of Thom- 
as, born in 1673, married, in 1698, Martha, born in 
1679, daughter of Isaac and ElizalK'th (I.athrop) 
Rovs, or Rovce, of Wallingford, Conn., and a 
granddaugliter of Rev. John Lathro]), who came 



COMMEMORATU'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



from England to Sciuiate. Mass.. in 1634. Thomas 
\orth (2) settled in what is now the town of 
llerlin. Conn., then the eastern ])art of Farmington, 
and was one of the seven Immders of the Congre- 
gational L'hnreh there, uniting with it in 1707. He 
was a man of wealtii and intkience, and died in 1725. 
Uf his eight children, James North was the ancestor 
of the Xew I'.ritain .Vorths. [Air. John Hollister 
North's record says that Thomas (2) married first 
3.1 ar\- Rice or Roys, 1698, second (no date) her 
cousin Martha Roys or Royce. ( Xo parents names 
given). .\irs. E. Blakeslee's record says that Martha 
Royce, wife of Thomas, was daughter of Isaac and 
Elizabeth Lothrop, and granddaughter of Samuel 
Lothrop, of New London, Conn., and Elizabeth 
I'endder, who were married Xov. 2S, i''i4-J 

(IV) James North, son of Thomas Xorth (2), 
born 1709, died 1758. married Sarah Seymour (no 
date of marriage), who was born Dec. 2, 1712, and 
died Aug. 20, 1 78 1, and lived in the Great Swamps 
of Kensington, Connecticut. 

( \') Hon. James Xorth (2). son of James, born 
Jan. 18, 1748, married first Sept. 29. 1774, Rhoda 
"judd, who died March 15, 1824, and (second) Feb. 
'2(1. 1828, widow of Abi Francis. Mr. Xorth's father 
died when the son was but ten years of age, and 
the latter came t(j New Britain soon after the or- 
ganization of the fir^t church there, and lived with 
John Richards in Stanley Quarter. While with Mr. 
Richards he learned of him the blacksmith's trade. 
'Mr. Xorth was an industrious and energetic man, 
and pros|x'red, was successful in Ijusiness. He was 
a magistrate, clerk and treasurer of the Ecclesiast- 
ical and School Society, and school visitor, and for 
a time was captain of the military company of the 
town. He was a representative from the town of 
New ]'.ritain to the State Legislature, and was a 
man greatlv respected for his intelligence and good 
judgment. He commanded an intlnence in the town. 
He was appointed a mentber of the standing com- 
mittee of the church, in 1795, and was active in 
securing the new meeting house in 1822. Mrs. 
Xorth ilied May 14. 1833. 

(\'I) Alvin Xorth, son of Hon. James, born 
Se])t. 4, 1781. married (first) July 15, 1804, Anna, 
born Ian. 15, 1783, daughter of Col. Gad and ]Mary 
( ludd) Stanley, and granddaughter of Rev. Will- 
iam r.urnlram. the first pastor of the Cireat Swamp 
ChiUTh Society. Col. Stanley was a representative 
in the ( leneraj .\ssembly from the town of Berlin 
from 1785 to 1804. and was one of the wealthiest 
and most inflnential men of the town. Mrs. Anna 
North died June J\ 181 5, and .Mr. Xorth married 
(second) Alay 1. 1816, Clarrissa llurnham, a daugh- 
ter of judge ( )liver I5urnliani, of Cornwall. In 
18 1 2 Mr. Xorth, associated with Seth J. Xorth and 
Hezekiah Whipi)le, Jiegau the manufacture of sil- 
ver-i)lated buckles, cloak clasps and other similar 
articles. b"or a period of a half a century he was 
an active an<l energetic business man of Xi-w Brit- 
ain, engaged in manufacturing and associated at dif- 



ferent times with his brother, Seth J. Xorth, Heze- 
kiah Whipple, Henry Stanley, Horace Butler, sev- 
eral of his sons and perhaps others. He was in- 
terested in several corporations and was success- 
ful in his business affairs. He was a man of sterl- 
ing worth and integrity, was one of the original 
i members of the South Congregational Church and 
continued to be interested in its prosperity. He 
was one of the members appointed on the standing 
committee of the church in 1843, and was in ofifice 
at the time of his death, which occurred Sept. i, 
1865. 

(_)livi;k 1'.l-k.\ii.\m Xorth. son of the late Alvin 
Xorth, was born and reared in Xew Britain and 
early became identified with its industries. He was 
for a period of years associated in business with his 
father, who for many years had made silver-plated 
buckles, cloak clasps, rings and hooks for men's 
clothing, and hooks and eyes for women's clothing. 
Later on Air. Xorth purchased Judds' mills at Xew 
Britain and manufactured knobs, bits and other 
articles in that line. In 1852 he built a larger plant, 
but later this was burned down and he removed 
to Xew Haven, where he continued in the manufac- 
turing business throughout the remainder of his life, 
which closed Oct. 2^,, 1893. ^^'^- Xorth was one of 
the leading men and citizens of Xew Haven and was 
a man of influence and wealth. He commanded the 
respect and esteem of the community. 

(Jn May 10, 1843, Air. Xorth was married to 
Alartha E. Post, daughter of Jedidiah and Eliza 
(Hollister) Post, the former of whom was born in 
the town of Hebron, Tolland Co., Conn.. July, 17S8, 
and passed away in July, i86fi, while the latter was 
born in South Glastonbury, Conn., Dec. 8, 1797. and 
died July 8. 1838, a daughter of Roswell Hollister, 
also of South Glastonbury. To Mr. and Airs. Oliver 
B. Xorth were born children as follows: William 
Burnham, George Post, Edward Alills (who died 
at the age of nineteen), Lizzie (who died in in- 
f ancv ) , Ellen Augusta, John Hollister and Mary 
Russell. 

JOHX TAIT, AI. D., the period of whose 
identity with the great manufacturing center of 
Aleriden, as a practicing physician, lacks only a 
little of fift\' years, is one of the leading residents of 
the city and among the prominent men of the med- 
ical [irofession in the State. 

Dr. Tait was born Feb. K', 1828, in the town 
of Trumbull, Conn., son of the late Andrew and 
Bella (Ronaldson) Tait, and is of Scottish origin. 
Andrew Tait, the father of the Doctor and the 
founder of the Tait & Sons Paper Co., of BriMge- 
port. Conn., was born Jan. 27, 1799, near Edin- 
bnrgh. Scotland, and was descended from a long 
line of paper makers. He served his full lime 
(seven years) as an apprentice at that employment, 
and in 1820 came to this country, first locating in 
Alorris county, N. J. Here he worked about one 
year at his trade, and then came to Hartford, Conn., 





v^ ^ >^^ ^ 



/. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



•Tt'ter which wc tiiiil liim in \arii us jilaccs until his 
niarriai;c. in iSj_>. IJo then seltk-d in 'rrniuliull, 
Coini., wiicrc, as snix-'rintcndeiit tor D. & i'. X. l'"air- 
child. paper nianufaclurcrs, ho huih their mill and 
set it in u])eratiiin. With this tirm he remained hut 
a short time, however, and on leaving;' their employ 
lie commenced husiness in a small wny at Trum- 
hull Center, marhling paper for hooUhinders' use. 
Jn 185^) he erected in Trumhull what is kiKiwn as 
Tail's Mills, and emharked in the hox-hoard or 
straw-board mainifacturinj;- industry. Mr. 'Fait was 
married, June 14, 1822, to Miss llella Ronald'son 
who crossed the ocean alone from Scotland to wed 
her old sweetheart, the voya.tije occupying six weeks 
and four days. To tiiis union came children as fol- 
lows: Xancy, wife of I'hnn lloyt. of Xew York; 
William. |)resident of the 'i'ait & Sons Paper Co., 
of liridgeport, Cotm. ; Mary M., wife of J. M. 
I'riiulle, of Bridgeport; Dr. Ji'hn, nf Meritlen, a 
sketch iif whom follows; IJella, who died in 1851; 
and I'aimie. .\ndrew Tail, the father of these chil- 
dren, died Jan. 27. iSgi. the mother on May 22, 
1875. P'or many years they were memhers (jf the 
Congregational Church at Truml:>ull. In politics he 
was originally a Whig, later a Kepuhlican, and for 
several terms he served as town clerk. On the oc- 
casion of the celebration of the Ljoiden wedding of 
this honored pioneer con])le a large concourse of 
relatives and friends assembled at the Tait inansioti 
in Trumbull, bringing with them congratulations 
and kind wishes, as well as valuable and useful 
gifts. Mr. Tail's business career was marked by 
industry, frugality and the integrity of an upright 
Christian man. 

John Tait received a cnmmon-school education, 
obtained in the schools of the home neighborho(jd. 
and until eighteen years of age aided his father in 
his paper industry. When eighteen the son formed 
a partnership with an older brother to carry on the 
same business, but after a time they found that 
they were unable to compete successfully and satis- 
factorily with foreign manufacturers, owing to the 
cheap labor and the non-sufficient protecting care of 
the I'nited States government, and therefore ter- 
minated the partnership. The younger of the two 
brothers, our subject, then decided U) gratif}' his 
thirst for a more thorough education, and apjilied 
his share of the earnings to further this end. lie 
went to Thompson's Academy, at Woodbury, Comi., 
where he fitted himself for entrance to Yale Cnl- 
lege. Two years later he entered the arts course in 
Yale, in the class of 1854. but indoor life and hard 
study wore upon his physical strength, and he was 
obliged, after two years' residence at the college, 
to give up his purpose of graduating with the class. 
He felt that he nnist either hasten to his profes- 
sional course or give it u]), so in the fall of 1852 
he entered the Eclectic Medical School, of Xew 
York, and was graduated in 1854. .\t this time 
just such an opening as the young Doctor was look- 
ing for — one that would give him considerable out- 
door work — presented itself in Meriden, where Dr. 
15 



llem'y .\. .Archer needed an associate to attend to 
the oiudoor ])ari of the business. This associate 
business arrangement contiiuied for nearly four 
_\ears, or mUil the sjjring of 1859. In that yeai' 
Dr. Tait purchased the entire medical interest and 
real estate, Xo. 244 JCast Alain street, •and suc- 
ceeded to the patronage to which Imth hafl attended. 
'J'liis ])roved a fortunate venture for Dr. Tait, esi)e- 
ciallx' the buying of the real estate, inv it has in- 
creased in value several fold in the passing of the 
years, with the growth of the city, and the estate 
is now one of the most desirable and valuable in 
Aleriden. Dr. Tait has remained in this location 
ever since the original purcha.se. having his office 
in one division of his lunise, especially fitted up for 
professional uses. He has remodeled the dwelling 
part somewhat, has raised the entire walls, con- 
structed a new roof and decorated tlie house 
throughout. ( )ther new and fitie residences have 
been built near by. on what was vacant land in 
1854, and he finds himself now in the very heart 
of the desirable residence portion of the city of 
Aleriden. 

Dr. Tait is one of the valued citizens of .Meri- 
den, one whose good citizenship, sterling integrity 
and religious ])rinciples are in keei)ing with his 
.Scottish ancestry. l''or nearly fi ft v years he has 
been one of the leading physician.s of the |jlace. and 
as an enterprising and public-siiirited citizen he has 
watched and shared in tile great growth and de\el- 
ojjment that has taken place around him since he en- 
tered Aleriden — t*Iien but a village — and is ]ierniitted 
now- to .see it a bustling, busy manufactu-ing city 
of many thousands of people, sending tiie products- 
of its mills and factories ti; all parts of the civilized 
world. He has jjracticed in nearly all of the old 
families of the town, and in his practice has not been 
confined to one generation. His ac(|uaintance is ex- 
tended, and his knowledge of the history of the town 
and city for the last half century is coinjilete. .Xone 
are more beloved by the older citizens who have 
been intimately acquainted with him than Dr. Tait. 

Dr. Tait's religious connections are with Center 
Congregational Cliurch in Aleriden. his family shar- 
ing this membershij). His political affiliations are 
wit;h the Republican i)arty. of which he has been 
a suppcjrter from the days of John C. I'remont, 
for whom he cast a vole; but though often urged to 
allow himself to be brought out iirominentlv bv his 
party for distinguished party hoiKirs and sei'vic'e, he 
has steadily refused, preferring the (iniet life of his 
profession to the noisy strife of politics. Dr. Tait 
has been for many years a director of the l-'irst 
Xational Hank of AJeriden, also of the Aleriden I'ire 
Insurance Co. ami the City Savings Hank. He is 
al.so a Free and .Accepte<i Alasoii, affiliated with 
Aleridian Lodge, Xo. ~- : is a memlK-r of Aleriden 
Centre Lodge, Xo. 68, I. ( ). ( ). I".: and also of the 
local fiourishing lodge of the Royal .Arcanum. He 
belongs to the Connecticut ludectic Aledical Society. 

On ^'ov. 24. 1859. Dr. Tait was married to .Mrs. 
Catherine E. ( Cha])man ) Tibballs. daughter of 



126 



:OMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Julius (.'liapman, of East Haddaiii, Conn. To this 
union canu- (jiie daughter, Flora Chapman Tait, born 
April 14, iS(>3. Mrs. Tait died May 25, 1872. She 
was a pleasant woman, much esteemed for her many 
virtues anil amialjle iiualities, quiet, unassuming, of 
high character, and greatly beloved. Un Christmas 
J>ay, 1874, Dr. Tail was again married, this time 
to Laura A. Chapman, a sister of his first wife, 
who is still spared to share with him the high re- 
gard and esteem in which he is held. To this mar- 
riage came two daughters ; Nellie Chapman Tait, 
born June 26, 1876; and Fannie Robins Tait, born 
Oct. (), 1878, who died Dec. 17, of the same year. 

M.VJDK LVM.VX lUSSELL was throughout 
his long life more or less intimately identified with 
the public interests of the city of New Haven. The 
most striking and characteristic incidents in his ca- 
reer were of a martial nature, and it was as a mil- 
itary man that he was best known, for he was a 
snld'ier t.i the Cure, and he is described as, "in his 
[irime, an ideal martial h.ero of romance. His tow- 
ering height was offset by his bmad shoulders and 
great girth of chest. Fie weighed over two hun- 
(Ireil piiunds, all bone and muscle. The lower part 
uf hi? handsome, fresh-colored face was covereil 
by a curling brown bearu. He was a magnificent 
specimen of health and manly vigor." "With nerves 
of iron, he was as calm in moments of deadly peril 
as in a lime uf perfect safety." He had a Webster- 
like head, anil keen black eyes. It is said that his 
r.ose was the iimst ai|uiliiie in shape of any officer 
ever cunnected with the L'nited States Army, and 
this feature often attracted notice during his serv- 
ice, esiiecially the fact that it was a "fighting nose." 
Such is a brief description of one who for j-ears 
was aiiMiig the best known and most beloved resi- 
dents (if tile City of Flms, New Ha\-en, Conn., 
where his unexceptional life as a private citizen 
proved him wijrtli)' of the honored name he bore. 

b'or a period of tun hundrecT and sixty _\-ears the 
name uf llissell has been a familiar one in Con- 
necticut, where the various representatives of the 
famih' have led hoiiDralile and useful lives. I'or 
anany years it has lieen an honored name in the City 
uf F.lms. Major llissell was a descendant in the 
seventh generation frijui John llissell, of W'indsor, 
Conn. That worthy is supposed to have come from 
Soiiiersel>hire, Fngland. to riymouth, Mass., in 
iO_^8, and he is reinrded as living in Windsor, 
Conn., as early as i(i,VJ- 1 he line of descent to i\Ia- 
jor llissell is through Thomas, Lieut. Isaac, ilenja- 
niin, I'.;n;amin (2) and Lieut. Hiram. 

(11) Thomas llissell. son of* John, was born in 
F.ngiand, and was married in 1655 to Abigail, 
daughter of Deacon John .Moore. lie settled on the 
east side of the C'unnecticut ri\er, where he died 
in i^Si). 

( 111 ) l.ii'Ut. Isaac I'.issell. snii of Thomas, born 
in 1682, was married in 1706 to IClizabeth Osborn, 
removed to Lilchfiekl, Conn., about 1723," and bc- 
•came the founder of the Litchfield branch (;f the 



Bissell family. He died in 1744, and his widow 
in 1761. 

( l\'j Benjamin Liissell, son of Lieut. Isaac, was 
l)oni in 17 17, and died in 1747. He married Leah 
Feck. 

(V) Benjamin llissell (2j, Ijorn in 1743, was 
married to Alabel Griswold, and died in 1821. 

(\Ij Lieut. Hiram Bissell, son of Benjamin 
(2), was born in 1785, anil was an iron monger. 
He married Beata Wetmore, and died in 187O, at 
the age of ninety-one years. Of their children we 
have mention of Lyman, Rufus and Capt. William, 
of whom William was the last survivor. 

(\ llj Major Lyman Bissell, son of Hiram, and 
the father of Gen. Evelyn L. Bissell, AL D., was 
born Oct. 20, 1813, in the village of Milton, Conn., 
a few miles west of Litchfield. He w^as called Ly- 
man after Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher, who called at 
the house the morning after he was born. In his 
native place he attended the neighborhood schools 
(luring the winter, and worked on the farm during 
the summer, until he was fourteen years of age, 
when witli an older brother he went to Fough- 
keepsie to learn the trade of house-painting, but 
they returned home at the end of six months. For 
some years he followed this trade in Waterbury, 
and then in New Haven, where he had made his 
home in the sjjring of 1836. When the Mexican 
war broke out L\inan Bissell was captain of the 
National Flues, an artillery company of New Ha- 
ven. On .\pril (J, 1847, he was commissioned lieu- 
tenant in the (;th Ciiited States Infantry, a new 
regiment made up entirely of New England men, 
and commanded by Col. Truman G. Ransom. Soon 
after his arrival in Mexico Lieut. Bissell was as- 
signed t(_) dutv as quartermaster of the brigade of 
Gen. (afterward Fresident) Fierce. At La Fuebla 
lie Los Angeles he was one of a company of some 
3,000 men, sick with various disorders, left by (ien. 
Scott on his march through Alexico. This [ilace 
was besieged l>y Mexicans for twenty-eight days, 
during which time Lieut. Bissell, himself an in- 
valid, had command of a company of convales- 
cents, statioiieil on the flat roof of an old church, 
the walls of which, ])rojecting a few' feet above 
the roof, served as a parapet. Lieut. Bissell also 
])articipateil in the liomliardment of Vera Cruz, and 
the battles of Flan del Rio and National Bridge. 
( )n Sejit. 8, 1847, he was jiromotcd to a captaincy. 
.\t the close of the war his regiment disbanded and 
he rettinied to .\ew Haven, where he was ap])ointcd 
chief of the newly organized police force. In his 
discharge of the duties of this incumbency, which 
he belli from ic'^49 to 1853. he amply sustained 
the record for courage and bravery which he had 
won l)\- valiant service in the army. The following 
is taken from the "Histor_\- of the State House," 
published by Henry Feck, a former reporter and 
iiewsiia|)er man of .\ew lla\en; 

".\n incident in connection with holding the 
courts in the State House shows what good men 
will siimeliines ilo under the presence of tenipta- 





^S-^^^^^^^^.^^ 



^^^■^^P'^'y-^ Z^: S 



X 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



tion. Henry Li. Lewis was clerk of the coiiiUv 
court. His court records were kept in a vault in 
the basement. Mvery morniui;- the books needed lor 
the day were taken by the clerk to the court-room 
and at the close of business were returned to the 
vault. .\lr. Lewis, on openiui; a book of record 
one day, discovered to his surprise that there had 
been an erasure of some part of the record without 
his knowledge. As it appeared to have been the 
intention of whoever made the erasure to fill the 
vacant space with somethnig, the clerk thought of 
a plan to detect the forger. He consulted with 
Lyman Jiissell, then captain of the watch, and it 
was decided that the latter should enter ihe vault 
before its lx;ing locked for the day and remain there 
until something should be discovered or the vault 
should be regularly opened the forenoon following. 
It was a dark and lonely vigil kept that night by 
Capt. Bissell. Toward midnight, however, he heard 
footsteps. A key was put into the lock, the door 
of the vault swung open, and Capt. iJissell and 
the unknown confronted each other. The man was 
one of New Llaven's respected citizens. He con- 
fessed his intention of falsifying the record. By 
advice and after a full consideration of the matter 
the man was allowed to go free of punishment in 
State prison. '1\) the dav of his death Major Bis- 
sell would not tell the name of the man ; nor will 
e.\-Ma\or Lewis, as they and a judge of the court 
were the only persons cognizant of the facts. There 
is no foundation for a "scandal,' as is sometimes 
denominated an e.xpostire of crime." 

But the one brave deed which, above all others, 
made the Major famous then and has caused his 
name to be remembered since, was his prompt and 
efficient action at the time of the famous St. i'al- 
rick's night "town and gown" riot of 1S54. To 
the Major, and probably to him alone, was it due 
that the old South College in Xew Haven was not 
that night razed to the ground, and many lives lost 
instead of one. There had been considerable feel- 
ing between the town bovs and the college Ijovs 
for years, and on Thursday, March i6th, durnig a 
performance at Homan's Athenjeum, words were 
exchanged which led to a scrimmage after the cluse 
of the theater. The following night about fifty stu- 
dents attended the theater in a body, and, trouble 
being anticipated, a letter was circulated among them 
requesting them not to leave until the rest of the 
audience had retired. They agreed, but the town 
boys waited for them. On asking Major Bissell, who 
was then chief of police, for advice, they were told 
to cross the street and march quickly and quietly to 
the campus in a solid line. The crowd followed, 
jeering and hooting, and when the line of students 
reached b'ilch's book store (where the great dry- 
goods establishment of William Xeely & Co. is now 
located) they were assailed with a storm of bricks 
and stones, and a number were hurt. Several of 
the students fired pistols, and a man fell. At the 
moment it was thought he was shot. Capt. r>issell 
carried him to the watch-house, where he expired 



almost immediately, and on examination it was 
found he had been stabbed by a large dirk. After 
this incident the students hurried back to their cpiar- 
ters, but the mob had by this time been greatly aug- 
mented, and excitement was running high. A false 
alarm of fire had been given earlier in the evening, 
in order to draw people into the streets, and now 
several attempted to force their way into the 
churches to ring the bells. They succeeded in ring- 
ing the liells in two churches, which had the de- 
siretl effect of adding to their numbers. Deter- 
mined on revenge for the death of their leader, as 
the unfortunate man was recognized, they proceeded 
to the gun house and took out two pieces belonging 
to the Artillery Company, the National Blues. 
Loading these almost to the muzzle with ijowder, 
stones and brickbats, they dragged them into Chapel 
street, wdiere they halted and organized l)y choosing 
a captain. The Major, hearing the rattling of a 
caisson of a piece of artillery passing in the street, 
divined what the sound meant, and went along with 
the rioters. He leaped upon one of the guns and 
ordered the crowd to desist, but although they as- 
sured him they had every respect for him they re- 
fused to be advised, and proceeded along toward the 
college grountls, where the gun was leveled at the 
front of old South College. Meantime tlie Major 
had not been inactive. Seeing that the mob was 
too frenzied to be quieted, he had with a couple of 
rat-tail files succeeded in spiking the guns, and the 
rioters wereentirely ignorant of the fad until they 
were ready to fire. A howl of disai)])ointment arose 
when the strategy was discovered, but in this in- 
stance they were impotent. An attempt was made 
to storm the building, but the students had barri- 
caded the entrances well, and this plan ai.so failed. 
In their rage they broke windows and did what 
damage they could, Init the riot was over, and be- 
fore morning peace was eft'ectually restored. No 
such outbreak ever again disturbed the quiet of the 
city. 

C)n March 3, 1855, the regular army of the 
United States having been largely increased, Capt. 
Lyman Bissell was made first lieutenant in the new 
i;th Regiment, which in the following December was 
sent to Oregon on account of an Indian outbreak. 
'Inhere he was commissioned captain March 15, 1861, 
and during the Civil war was stationed with his 
company on the Island of San Juan, in Pugct 
Sound, living a lonely life for nearly four years, all 
the rest of the officers being in the east on recruit- 
ing service. C )n March 4. 1864. Capt. Piissell was 
commissioned Major, and ordered to join his regi- 
ment in Now ^'ork, but the order did not reach liim 
for over a vear. until the summer of tH^;. Owing 
to disabilities incurred in the line of his dut\-. Major 
Bissell was ]ilaced on the retired list Dec. 31, 
1870, while in Texas, and he returned to his home 
in New Haven, where he passed the remainder of 
his days. His death occurred Nov. 22. 1888. at his 
liomc. No. 308 Crown street. The disability men- 
tioned originated with his exi)eriences in Mexico, 



228 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and was very much aggravated b}- the hardships of 
a uiidwinter march, in 1860-61, with the thermom- 
eter lielow zerd, I'rmn l-'uri LVil\iile, on tlie Cnhim- 
l)ia ri\er. to l-nin \ anc^'uver. 480 miles awa_\-. Ma- 
jiir r.issell l)niku through the ice of a stream, and 
iddk ;i Cdld fn>ni which he never entirely recovered. 
The swnrd which lie carried "u this march was 
])laced on his ci't¥in, which was ch'aped with the 
American flag, and on which were also placed his 
hat. swnrd belt, gauntlets ami sash. He was in- 
terred in ihe family lot in Evergreen cemetery. 

Shortiv after Majnr UisselTs death the following 
article, under the heading. '".A Strange Coincidence," 
apjjeared in the New Haven llzmiiii::; Kci^istcr: 

TIk- recent (U:iili ni Major Lyni;ui Bissell. New Ha- 
ven's chiff officer in the Mexican war. wiio also served in 
the Civil war, recalls the very unique position he occupied 
in a great historical event, connected with the Reljellion, 
in which Dr. E. L. Bissell. his son. was also connected. 
Not until his last few house did Major Bissell tell Dr. 
Bissell. his son, all the facts in the story. 

Those people wliose memory, reaches back to the lat- 
ter days of the war remember the excitement attending the 
trial of Capt. Turner, who was the keeper of Libby prison, 
and. as alleged, indicted wrongs and tortures upon Union 
soldiers. Dr. Bissell was surgeon oi the 5th Connecticut 
\'olunteers. and participated in Gen. Banks' Shenandoah 
camiiaign. He was captured at the battle of Winchester, 
in 1862. and on account of his youth the Confederates 
doubted that he was a surgeon, but he was sent to operate 
on their wounded as a test, and soon convinced theni that 
he was a surgeon. He was released on parole and re|)orted 
to Cien. Banks, who, much to liis surprise, ordered him 
hack to his regiment for duty. Dr. Bissell protested on 
account of his parole, but Banks was inexorable and back 
the surgeon went. At the battle of Cedar Mountain, while 
attending wounded on the field, a few months l;iler. Dr. 
Bissell was captured again. The Rebels proposed to shoot 
him at once for violating the parole, but finally they sent 
him to Castle Thunder and afterward they sent liim to 
Libby prison, where he was tortured by Cajit. Turner. 
Once or twice they took him out to be .shot, liut for some 
reason or other the Rebels thought better of it and his 
life was spared. Once when Turner sneered in Dr. Bis- 
sell's face and tobi him his time 'was short, the Doctor 
replied: "Do what you waiU with me. but remendjer that 
there is a (lod in Israel." These remarks probably flashed 
through Turner's mind when he, in after years, received 
a se?itence of death from the lips of the father of the man 
he had persecuted. 

Here is the strange coincidence: Major Lyman Bis- 
sell was appointe<l president of the court martial wdiich 
tried Capt. Turner for his inhumanities. Dr. Bissell was 
very anxious to appear before the court martial and testify. 
Inn his father would not allow him to do so. He cotdd 
not understand why bis f.ather refused, and did not know 
unld recently. 

The court martial found Turner guilly. and IVtajor 
Bissell sentenced him to deatli. President Johnson after- 
ward pardoned him. Several days l)efore his death Major 
Bissell told his son that he would not allow him to testify 
liefore Ihe court martial, because it might be said that the 
verdict of the court was affected by the evidence of the 
son, and the old war horse was satisfied that 'I'urner would 
be con\'icted without his son's evidence. 

Majnr I'lissell was married, .'-^ei)t. IJ. iS^v t<^ 
Theresa Maria Skeele, of .\ew Dtirham, Cireene 
C o., .\. ^ ., and to tlum was Ixirn rnie child, ICvelvn 
I.., of whom mcntio:i is made rn another jiage. 



GEX. EX'ELYX L. lUSSELL, M. D., was 
born Sept. 10, 1836, in Litchfield, Conn. He de- 
veloped an early taste for military studies, and at- 
tended the military school at Xevv Haven taught 
by Gen. W. H. Russell, a school of celebrity in the 
old days. Later he gave up a cherished plan of 
going to West Point, and, taking up the study of 
medicine, was graduated from Yale Aledical School 
in i860. That year he served as surgeon on a Liver- 
pool jiacket-ship, lint the breaking out of the Civil 
war rekindled the niilitarv spirit in the youtig Doc- 
tor's heart, and en .May 8, 1862, he was mustered 
into the L'nited States service as assistant surgeon 
of the 5th Cotm. \'. L He participated in the 
active service of the campaign in the valley of the 
Shenandoah, and was taken prisoner at Winchester 
May 25, 1862. While confitied in that city he was 
entrusted with the duty of caring for the Rebel 
wounded, (ien. IJissell was one of seven surgeons 
to sign the first cartel by which medical officers w^ere 
recognized as non-combatatits. In July, 1862, he 
was released on parole, and, reporting to Gen. 
Banks, was ordercil back to his regiment. He went 
under protest, believing that if he should again, by 
any of the fortunes of war, fall into Rebel haiuls, he 
would be shot. At Cedar Mountain, wdiile attend- 
ing the wounded soldiers on the field of battle. Dr. 
liissell was again captured, was recognized by the 
Rebels, and sent to Richmond, wdiere he was placed 
in solitary confinement in a tobacco warehouse op- 
])osite Castle Thunder, under the risk of being shot 
for apparent violation of his parole. There, after 
his transfer to Libby, he saw seven prisoners shot 
by the Rebel government. He was finally released, 
his case and others similar having been made the 
matter of a special agreement between Washington 
and Richmond. Rejoining his regiment at Ered- 
erick City, he jiarticipated in several of the great 
battles of the war, amoiTg them Chancellorsville and 
Gctty.'flburg. On his last field of slaughter he dis- 
tinguished himself by his bravery in caring for the 
wounded, which became the subject of a di.stinct 
recognition in the report of the adjutant general. 
Dr. Ilissell was in the Army of the Cumberland, and 
had charge of the field ho.spital, in which there were 
about one thousand cots. He was in the various en- 
gagements at ^\'auhatchie, Resaca, Pumpkin \'ine 
Creek, Dallas, Cassville and Kenesaw Mountain. 
At the point last named he attracted the attention 
of (Jen. Hooker liy his brave conduct in removing 
two hundred wottnded soldiers in the face of a 
deadly fire from a masked Rebel battery. P'roni 
that time he was specially detailed to remain on the 
medical staff of Gen. Hooker, and he was also on 
the surgeon's staff of Gen. 'Idinmas, with whom he 
continued for eight months. Remaining at Xash- 
ville from fhe onward movement of (ien. Sherman 
south until the close of the war, he was mustered 
out July i(), 1865, after a most honorable, useful and 
higblv creditable career. 

.Since the close of the war the Doctor has prac- 
ticed medicine in Xew Haven, where he has made 




OyiMf 



oCj. /iLU^^c/^e^ /TvHy 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



229 



a brilliant success of his professional work. From 
1868 to 1872 he served as surgcx)n of the 2d Con- 
necticut Regiment, and again held that position 
from 1875 to 1883. In Jamiary. 1883, he was made 
surgeon general on the staff of Gov. Thomas i\I. 
Waller, serving in this capacity during 1883 and 
1884, after which he was again and for the third 
time made surgeon of the 2d Connecticut, and is 
still retained in that incumbency. From 1871 to 
1875 Dr. Bissell was absent from the country, hav- 
ing been called by the Peruvian government to care 
for the men engaged in the public works in the 
city of Lima. He wrote a history of Peru, illus- 
trated with maps and drawings. The Doctor was 
in that country during two revolutions, and was an 
eye witness to the killing of the Guitezras brothers, 
who were the brothers of the Dictator Thomas 
Guitezras. Their bodies were stripped of all cloth- 
ing, dragged through the dusty streets of Lima, and 
then hung from the steeple of the church on the 
main plaza, for two days, after which they were 
cut down and burned upon a pile of railroad ties. 
The bones were thrown into the river. Gen. Bissell 
has presented to the Art Gallery two large paint- 
ings, one showing them suspended from the steeple 
of the church, the other a picture of the burning. 
At this time all the foreigners in Peru were being 
put to death, but Gen. Bissell managed to escape 
through the friendship of an English Jew, who had 
been located there for several years, and who was 
on intimate temis with the governing officials. 

Dr. Bissell served as acting brigade surgeon in 
the Centennial Encampment of 1876, and since that 
time has held the same position at several State En- 
campments. For many years he was examining 
surgeon for the United States Pension Department. 
He 'has been registrar of vital statistics of the town 
of New Haven, has also served as police commis- 
sioner of the city of New Haven, and is still a 
member of the board of health. Socially he is a 
prominent member of the Military Order of the 
Loyal Legion, New York State Commandery ; the 
Grand Army of the Republic ; the Society of the 
Army of the Potomac ai.d the Army of the Cum- 
berland ; and the Masonic fraternity. He has all his 
life been an extremely busy and industrious man, 
and the qualities of patriotism, manliness and fidel- 
ity to friends and duty, which have made his life 
conspicuous, have w-on him a multitude of friends. 

Dr. Bissell was married Nov. 23, 1863, to Sarah 
M., daughter of Hezckiah Noyes, of Woodbury, 
Conn. She died July 19, 1883, leaving one daugh- 
ter, Beata Wetmorc, who is siill residing with her 
ifather. 



E. KNIGHT SPERRY. There are many per- 
sons in every community whn will show interest 
and express admiration for a favorite horse or an 
intelligent- dog, and will entirely agree in the pro- 
prietary rights of a State as to its game birds, but 



not all of these worthy people are willing to de- 
vote lime and means to the study of these, our 
daily companions of tlie brute creation, although an 
occasional enthusiast can tell why educated study 
in this line will yield the greatest of pleasure and 
unexpected tangible results. 

The subject of this short biography, \l. Knight 
Sperry, of New Haven, Conn., has been interested 
in nature, particularly animate nature, all his life, 
and has become well ktiown on account of his very 
remarkable control over the equine race, his most 
valuable studies of the dog, and also his efforts for 
the preservation of s'ame in his native State. Mr. 
Sperry was born in Woodbridgc, Comi., Dec. 11, 
1837, a son of Enoch Sperry, and his early days 
were spent on a farm in his native town, where, no 
doubt, was fostered the instinct which he developed 
later in life. During the summer time his days were 
spent in the usual empUjymcnls of lads of his age, 
and he very well remembers the seasons of "weed 
pulling," and he attended the winter sessions of 
school in the old district school, later walking three 
miles to pursue his studies in the village academy. 
In October, 1852, he removed to New Haven, and 
entered a grocery store as a clerk, remaining for 
the following four years, but in July, 1856, he cm- 
braced the opportunity of entering the Hertford 
Savings Bank and Building Association, at Hart- 
ford, this concern later being merged into the State 
Savings Bank, when Mr. Sperry became clerk and 
bookkeeper. He remained with this institution un- 
til the spring of i860, when he accepted a position 
as bookkeeper in the city Bank, of New Haven, 
where he remained until ill health forced him to 
resign. 

Lender President Lincoln Mr. Sperry entered 
then the New Haven post office, where for one year 
he held the important position of manager of the 
general delivery and the carriers. In the follow- 
ing fall was appointed as United States consul 
to the port of Barbadoes, West Indies, remaining 
in the office a year or two, but resigned the posi- 
ti6n while 'home on a furlough. The climate bene- 
fited him very much and he returned to New Ha- 
ven much improved in health. 

Mr. Sperry was of too active mind to rcinain 
idle, and for a time after his return engaged in the 
retail meat business, but later again entered in 
Hartford' the Slate Savings Bank, remaining until 
he commenced the manufacture of brushes, in con- 
nection with a combination holder, of which he was 
the inventor. For eighteen years he successfully 
operated and developed' this manufacturing busi- 
ness, but for the past ten years has l)een retired from 
active life, engaged principally in looking after 
large real-estate holdings. 

Aside from all these business cares and ])ublic 
duties, our subject found time to pursue iiis fa- 
vorite hobby, taking his recreation in the way of 
])atient investigation of the brute creation, as rep- 



230 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



resented by the hor?c and dog. His management 
of the former animals has been phenomenal, and 
his reputation has gone beyond the State, never, 
however, being connected in any way with low 
sporting contests. His studies of dogs, particularly 
of the hunting breeds, are acknowledged to be of 
the greatest scientific value, and are consulted con- 
tinually by those who are similarly interested. As 
an ornithologist, his knowledge is comprehensive 
and of the greatest value, his discoveries and in- 
vestigations being thorough and reliable. His ef- 
forts' to stock Connecticut with game birds, such as 
quail and partridge, have met with commendation, 
and his discoveries as to the habits and life of these 
Shy dwellers in field and covert are of the most in- 
teresting description. Mr. Sperry has now a bill 
before the State Legislature, which, if passed, will 
place in each town in the State a reserve for the 
propagation of these birds. Mr. Sperry has prob- 
ably done more for the preservation of game in 
his State than any other citizen. As a lover of and 
encourager of field sports and athletics he has con- 
sented to serve as president of the Connecticut 
Field Trial Club of New England, the object of 
which is to test the merits of diiTerent breeds and 
ages of dogs, its membership consisting of many \ 
of the prominent lovers of sport from all over the \ 
country. Fraternally he is connected with the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, while in politics he has always been 
a Republican, altiiough he reserves the right to vote 
independently, when his judgment urges him to 
do so. 

Mr. Sperry was married first Nov. lo, 1S63, to 
Miss Sarah A. Treat, a daughter of J. N. Treat, of 
New Haven, and she died April 8, 1877, leaving 
one daughter, Edith A., who married Walter H. 
Mitchell, of Boston, Mass., now connected with the 
National Security Rank. Mr. Sperry afterwaril 
married Miss Mary M. Webster, a daughter of 
Edward Webster, a ]3atentee and contractor of hot 
air furnaces, who became a substantial citizen of 
Hartf(jrd. The religious connection of our subject 
is with the Church of the Redeemer, of New Ha- 
ven, which place he has always considered his 
home. 

Mr. Sperry has an individual and characteristic 
way of writing of his discoveries and investiga- 
tions, and his articles are sure of a warm welcome 
from the sporting papers, in which they are widely 
read. His commendable efforts for the preserva- 
tion of game in his native State will long be re- 
membered not only by game lovers, but by others 
who are an.xious that no ik^irable species of nature's 
handiwork should be permitted to disappear. He 
has recently invented an arrangement \Vhereby he 
can keep feed (grain) before the birds in the wilds; 
however deep the snow may be the feed is always 
upon a level with the top of the snow and not dis- 
turbed or contaminated in any way by it. The birds 
can walk on the crust, or surface of the snow, and 
find their feed on a level with it, and always in 
good condition. 



LEWIS BEARDSLEY, one of the most re- 
spected of the retired business men of Waterbury, 
Conn., is a native of Roxbury. Litchfield county, 
born April 25, 1823, son of Ira Beardsley, a native 
of Roxbury. 

Ira Beardsley was a farmer by vocation. He 
wedded Aner Lewis, a native of Huntington, Fair- 
field Co., Conn., and became the father of six chil- 
dren, as follows: Lewis (whose name opens this 
biography), Henry, Alonzo, Mary, JMiles and Sarah, 
Of this family, Henry, now deceased, was a con- 
tractor, being largely engaged in dredging, and was 
the originator of the new water company in Bridge- 
port ; he also built the street railroad to Stratford. 
Alonzo, who formerly assisted Henry in business, 
now resides in Bridgeport. Mary is the wife of 
Orlando Bartram, of the same city. Miles is a 
contractor in Bridgeport. Sarah is the wife of 
Phineas Austin. All of the family are in good 
circumstances, and all are highlv esteemed in the 
communities in which they live. Both Ira Beardsley 
and his good wife have long since passed away. 

Lewis Beardsley was but a young boy when he 
first located in Huntington, Fairfield Co., Conn., and 
there he grew to manhood on a farm. His edu- 
cation was acquired in the district school and in 
Huntington Center, and after its completion he 
worked for a while in a factory, and also had some 
experience as clerk in a store in Birmingham. In 
1861 he located in Waterbury, which has since been 
his home. The first business to engage the attention 
of Mr. Beardsley in Waterbury was the running 
of a stage between that village and the city of New 
Haven, but shortl\- afterward he purchased the 
trucking business that had been conducted previous- 
h' by Chancey B. Webster. At the time of his pur- 
chase but nine horses were required to meet the de- 
mands of the business, but under Mr. Beardsley's 
able management the enterprise was so successful 
that when he sold out, in 1882, forty horses were 
kept constantly bus\-. That Mr. Beardsley indus- 
triously, skillfully and intelligently managed this 
immense concern is evidenced by the fact that, in 
the year last named, he was able to retire perma- 
' nently from the activities of life, and to pass his 
remaining days in ease and comfort. 

On Feb. 14, 1846, in the Methodist Church in 
Birmingham, Conn., Mr. Beardsley was united in 
marriage with Miss Mary Lacey, a daughter of 
Joseph and Martha (Scribner) Lacey, of Wilton, 
Conn. The only child of this union, Willie, died at 
the age of four years. Mrs. Beardsley died March 
5, 1 901, dearlv loved and sincerely mourned by all 
who knew her. 

The Laccv family came to America from Eng- 
land several generations ago. James Lacey, grand- 
)father of Mrs. Beardsley, died Nov. 28. 1828. His 
wife, Luraney, died Sept. 22, 1829. Their son Jo- 
seph was born .\pril 15. i8(X), on Jan. 16, 182 1, mar- 
ried Martha Scribner, and died Feb. 27, 1887. The 
children born to this union were four in number: 
( I ) Sylvester married a Miss Wells, of Stratford, 





''i'^^-1'S-t^ / ^ Xg-g:^t-<K^ ^ ^<^^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and moved to Marshalltown, Iowa, where he 1)0- 
canic president of a liank : he is now deceased. {2) 
Sara A. married llenry lienecHet (now deceased). 
who was -1 merchant in Marshalltown, Iowa. (3) 
Mar_\-. wlio hecame }drs. Beardslev, was Ixjrn May 
28, 1827, in Wilton. Conn. (4) David .\. went to 
Marshalltown, Jowa, and was proprietor of a hotel 
tliere until his death. 

In his fraternal relations Lewis Beardslev is a 
Kniylit ']"e;iip!ar Mason. T'olitically he is a stanch 
l-Jcpuhlicaii. and has served in the common council, 
and also as road commissioner, to the satisfaction 
of all concv-rned. He is a consistent mcmher of the 
First Congregational Church, as was also his wife, 
and socially is a man highly respected. 

HON. FEWER nUSII, deceased. The late 
]-"enner I'.ush, wliose death occurred at his home in 
Mcriden l-"eli. 19, 1882, where his long, active hnsi- 
ncss life and useful citizenship were mainly S])ent, 
liad a most remarkalile career, especially remarkahle 
in the numher of disadvantages surromiding his 
childhood, and in an almost continuous chain of 
obstacles and difficulties which characterized his 
later business career, and still more remarkable in 
a force of character that arose equal to each and 
every emergency, and, like Banquo's ghost, would 
not be downed; again remarkable for its final 
triumph. 

Mr. Bush came of good Xew England stock, 
although his parents were not blessed with means. 
His liirth occurred June 26, 1791, in the historic 
old town of East Lyme, Conn., a son of John and 
Bathsheba (Dodge) Bush. Deprived of his father 
when very young, the child at six years of age was 
in a manner thrown out in the world to do for him- 
self, licing put out to live with a family, where he 
was to assist in the chores and later in the farm 
work. At eleven years he was transferred tu the 
family of a ship-lniilder, and when old enough was 
to be taught the trade, but conditions and circum- 
stances threw him back to the ])revious family. 
Then he went to live with the family of a joiner, 
with the view of learning the trade, and when 
eighteen \ears of age his master furnished him 
with a suit of clothes and, for the first time, he at- 
tended church. His apprenticeship lasted nine 
years, during the last four of which lie was treated 
by liis master with less rigor, but his situation was 
far from being comfortable. 

.\t the age of twenty-one years our subject was 
without a home, and had no property, save an in- 
terest in a small piece of land that his father left, 
worth, j)erha[)s, $200. .After serving out his time 
he worked for his master three months at $14 ])er 
month, and at the close of this period he took his 
,'?42 and started on foot to a neighboring town to 
])urcliase sonic tools. On his way he lost his nuiney 
— all he had in the world — ^l)ut by good luck he 
found it again, and returned and engaged in busi- 
ness in opposition to his former master, wlio en- 



deavored to encourage him by telling him he was a 
fool, and would not make enough money with which 
to pay his board. But the young man was am- 
bitious and pushed on, ami soon had so much to do 
that his former master saw the drift of matters and 
later offered to sell out to him. Mr. Bush accepted 
the oft'er and hired help to meet his engagements. 

Mr. I'ush now found the necessity of some- 
thing which had been entirely neglected : for he 
C(juld neither read nor keep accounts. Therefore 
he gave u]) his business for a time, hired a room and 
for two \\inters devoted himself to study, three 
months of which time were given to learning to 
read. Then he recommenced business, and pursued 
his trade with considerable success. In 1816 he 
married Eunice Kirtland, of Saybrook. and com- 
menced keeping house, taking two apprentices to 
board, but about this linu' he was taken with typhus 
fever, and for a long time was very ill and for two 
vcars was unable to work. During this illness all 
of his accumulated means were spent, and he was 
obliged to go several liuiulred dollars into debt. As 
.'-oon as able, however, he applieil himself so closely 
to business that be not only ])aid oft' his indebted- 
ness but bought the house he lived in. 

In .Vpril, 1S24, Mr. B.ush removed from Say- 
brook to Meriden, and became interested in the 
comb Inisiness. in connection with Julius Pratt. 
Here he worked with untiring diligence, twelve 
hours a day, for $1.25 per day; after a few years 
the time was reduced to eleven hours and the wages 
were increased to $1.75 per day. For twenty years 
he labored here, and at the end of this period his 
shop was destroyed by fire, and twenty years' earn- 
ings were swept away. Cndismayed, he started to 
rebuild, and t'hrougli his energy new and imjiroved 
machinerv was soon housed in a new factory, and 
he bravelv forged on, being rewarded at last by the 
prosperity he so well earned. Mr. Bush continued 
interested in the manufacture of combs through the 
active years of his life, and achieved great success, 
became one of the largest stockholders of an ex- 
tensive and ])rospt'rous business, and made a name 
for himself in the business world and an honorable 
position in societv. His er.ergy and enterprise con- 
tributed in a large degree to the development of that 
branch of manufacturing which in a few years de- 
stroyed foreign competition and Iniilt uj) a business 
llie products of which were exported to almost all 
parts of the world. 1 le was one of the first directors 
of lb.' Home X.alional Bank (if Meriden. 

The storv of Mr. Bush's life serves as an il- 
Ir.stration of what courage, perseverance and in- 
dustrx' can accomplish, and should be to voung men 
a guide and an ins]iiration. Mr. lUisli was what is 
termed a wIiole-sonle<l. b'g-hearted man. liberal and 
generous, beloved and esteemed by all who knew 
iiim. He gave largeh' to worthy benevolent ob- 
jects, assisted liberally in the building of three 
churches and five school houses, and was a gen- 
erous contributor to the anti-slavery cause, and also 



2y. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



to llic cause of Christiaiiily. Mr. lUish was also a 
j)atriot, aiifl served as a soldier in ihe war of 1812, 
and in 1848 served witli eflicicncy and ability in 
the IStatc Senate from the Sixth district. 

Two daughters were linrn In .Mr. and Mrs. 
Bush: Tem[)erance Janet, who hecanie the wife of 
Kan.dolpli Linsley : an.d Eunice Kirtland, who mar- 
ried I'ai'trick J. Clark. 

The Kirtland fannly of ( )ld .Sayhrudk was one 
of the earliest families to con:e to that point, and 
contributed many of the distinnuished citizens of 
that historic oM imvn. Nathaniel Kirtland, the sup- 
posed progenitor rif many of the name in this coun- 
try, came early \n Lynn, Mass., and is reputed to 
have resided previous to his emigratii.m in Silver 
street, Londrjn, Englan<l. John Kirtland, son of 
Nathaniel, was one among the first thirty-six set- 
tlers of Sayhrook, Conn., in \U^^. Mis marriage 
there was to Lydia, the daughter of Lieut. William 
Pratt, and of their ten children. Rev. Daniel Kirt- 
land, a graduate of Yale, in the class of 1720, was 
for nearly thirty years ])astor of the Congrega- 
tional Church, at Xewcnt, Conn., and was the father 
of Rev. Sanuiel Kirtland. llie noted missionary. 

During the war of the Revolution a number of 
the name fiom Saylirofik served in the Continental 
army, k^rom the diary of S. 'fully it appears that 
early in the ^UInmer of 1775 a ciimpany was en- 
listed from Saybrook, jirobably commanded by Mar- 
tin Kirtlaufl, which marched to camp near Boston. 
Martin Kirtland was ajipointed in 1776 first lieu- 
tenant of the artillery comiiany stationed at New 
London, ami it appears that in July of the same 
year he was appointed captain (jf a com])any at 
New London, and Daniel Kirtland was made an 
ensign. 

The Clark family, of which the late k'atrick J. 
Clark, one of .Meriden's well known citizens, was 
a descendant, was an old one of Xew England. 
David Clark, the grandfather 'of I'artrick J., was 
born in .Middlesex county in 1730, and died in 
i8[_'. His fatiier was Joseph Clark, a gallant sol- 
dier during the l\e\olutionary struggle. He mar- 
ried Abigail, daughter of Charles llazelton. Pat- 
rick Clark, the son of David, was born in ]\Iid- 
dlesex comity, Itecame a soldier in tlu' war of the 
Revolution, married Lydia Taylor, of Middletown. 
and became a well known and successful manufac- 
turer of Meriden. 

I'artrick Jeremiah, son of Patrick CTark, was 
born Jan. 18, 1816, in Meriden, and was educated 
in the district schfJfds, and later gra<luated from 
the Episcopal .\cademy at Cheshire. Subsequently 
he engaged with his fatlu'r in the manufacture fif 
tinware, and then became connecleil with the Meri- 
den Malleable Iron Co., wliere he invented and 
patented several valuable articlrs. Mis later years 
were spent in retirement, and his death occurred in 
i8(/), liis burial being in West cemetery. Although 
interested in public affairs, and a lifelong Repub- 



lican, he was no office-seeker, but was one of }ileri- 
den"s most respected citizens. 

Partrick J. Clark married Eunice Kirtland, a 
daughter of Ecnner Bush, who has always been one 
of the ornaments of ^leriden society, and a con- 
sistent member of the Congregational Church. The 
two children of this marriage were Emma Bush, 
who married Wolcott A. Hull, of Xew York ; and 
John, who died in infancy. 

Perha])s no one in Meriden so thoroughly loved 
good Ixjoks as did ^Ir. Bush, and the youth who at 
twenty could not read a page at his death owned 
one of the finest libraries in this city, the volumes 
numbering 1,500. He set a high value on educa- 
tif)n, and proved in his own life that such a pos- 
session was possible to any one with sufficient de- 
termination to secure it. His whole life was an 
exani])le and a benediction — the highest type of a 
Christian gentleman. 

Rr)BERT r)UGHTOX (deceased) was for 
nearly a half-century a well-known builder and con- 
tractor in Meriden, and one of that city's most 
highly esteemed residents. 

Mr. ( )ughton was born on Harlem lane, now 
.^t. Xicholas avenue, Xew York City, Jan. i, 1822. 
His father, fJobert Oughton, was born near Lon- 
don, iMigland, where he learned the trade of car- 
penter and builder. He married Sarah Walton, who 
was born in Ciarstang, Lancashire, England, and 
about 1817 they emigrated from England, making 
the voyage on a sailing vessel. Eor many years 
the city of New York was their home, aird there 
Mr. Chighton became well known in his line of 
work, such contracts being given to and executed 
!i\- him as St. Mary's Episcopal Church, at Man- 
hattan, and manv similar handsome edifices. He 
died at the age of forty-eight years, and was buried 
in the ^L E. cemetery at Harlem, but later his re- 
mains were transferred to White Plains. X. Y. His 
widow, who died in Meriden in 1866, was tenderly 
cared for by her devoted son, the late Robert Ough- 
ton, of Meriden. One of the family of six chil- 
dren born to .Mr. and Mrs. Oughton died in in- 
fancv, the others being: ]"aith, who married Will- 
iam H. (lantz; Robert: Sarah Ann, who married 
I'eter P.. Sawyer, and since the death of her hus- 
band makes her home with Wrs. Yale: Walton, who 
died in Xew ^'ork, wdiere he was prominent in Ma- 
sonic circles : and William Edward, who died at 
Sacramento, Col., where he was connected with the 
.Slate printing department (he, also, was well 
known in IMasonry). 

Robert Oughton, the subject ijrojjer of this 
sketch, went to school in New York City, but as 
soon as of sutficient age learned the trade of ma- 
son, becoming proficient in every detail of same. 
.After following this trade for a short time in Xew 
^'ork he moved to Savbrook, Middlesex Co., Conn., 
where he remained until i8^o, working at his trade. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



At this time, when MtTidcn was Ijut a villai;c, he 
cast his lot with tlie otlicr citizens, and there l)uill 
up a business of hw^c proportions. For over forty 
years he was ideniitied prominently with llie l)uild- 
ing and contracting wiiich wenl on so rapidly in the 
city, many of the most tasteful and attractive dwell- 
ings erecte<I in those years being the result of his 
skill and knowledge, while the stately hirst Na- 
tional liank building, on West .Main street, stands 
as a testimonial to his ability. lie was so ab- 
sorbed in his work, and so carefully carried out his 
contracts, that his health finally gave way. and for 
several years he was obliged to give up his contract 
work and limit his activity. ]"or several years he 
was connected with the H. Wales Lines t'o.. in the 
capacity of superintendent of mason w(Trk. his last 
work being the su])erintending nf the laying of the 
first sewer system in Meriden. 'J'his im])oriant en- 
terprise absorbed nine months. Mr. (.)ughton took 
to his bed in T-'ebruary. 1803. and his death oc- 
curred July 22 following, lie was buried in the 
East cemetery, Aleriden, whert- there are so many 
memorials of his useful life. l\lr. ( )ughton was a 
member of the Jiajitist Church, and was a Christian 
in profession and conduct. His de\'otion to his fam- 
ily was one of his beautiful characteristics, and his 
interest in his city made him gener.ally resjiected in 
the community. He took an .active [lart in public 
affairs, as a member of the city council he en- 
couraged all enterprises looking tinvard Meriden's 
development, and was lilieral and public-s|)iriiu/l. 
In ]iolitics he was a stanch Re]iublican. 

.Mr. ( )nghton was i>nc of the first organizers of 
the volunteer fire de])artment in Meriden. and was 
'the first chief engineer, holding that office fur sev- 
eral years. In fraternrd circles he was known far 
beyond the limits of his own city, being a mem- 
Tier and past master of .Meridian Lodge, .\o. yj, A. 
F. & A. AL, of Meriden: a member of Keystone 
'Chapter, Xo. 2j. R. .\. .M.: Hamilton Council. Xo. 
22, R. & .S. AI. : St. Llmo Commandery, Xo. y, K. 
T. — in all of which Masonic bodies he took a deep 
and continued interest. FIc was also a member of 
]\Ieriden Center Lodge. .Xo. OS. 1. (> (1. V., and 
Atlantic Fncampmcnt, Xo. 28. and at one time was 
a menrber of the K. of P., the .X. ( ). L'. W., and 
the .Sons of Temi)erance. 

On Jan. y, 184,^. .Mr. ()ughtiin married Miss 
Sarah h'tncline Laihem. who was born M'arch C), 
1822, in Hebron, Conn., daughter of \\'illiam and 
Lydia | Knight) Laihem. Five children were born 
to this union, namely: (i) John Walton, who is 
a mason and builder, resides in (inilford. Conn. 
He married Mary I'.liza Skinner, of Savbrook. and 
they liad five children — Hertha. who married W- 
bert Dudley; Mimiie, who married Herbert .Mills, 
of :\Ieriden: Robert A.; Mattie, who died in Sav- 
brook; and William ICdward. (2) Marv (i. (de- 
ceased) married David Crosley, of F.ridgeport, and 
they had one son, Robert J., who resides in Cam- 
"bridgc, Mass. (3) Martha J. married Charles W. 
Yale, who for four _\ears was a member of Com- 



pany C. 7th Connecticut Regiment, iluring the Civil 
war. with the rank of corporal. Their three chil- 
dren — Lottie M., ]-"lnier I-"., and luta C. — are de- 
ceased. Mrs. Ougluon lives with them. (4) 
I'-inma C. married Willis J. h'uller, of Hartford. 
(5) J<obert W. resides in 1 Bridgeport. He married 
Jeimie .Morrison, who is now deceased, and their 
children were luia (.wife of Waldron ¥.. Shaw), 
Harry W., Earl Charles and Ruth. 

William ]-.\thi-;.m, father of Mrs. Ougluon, 
was a native of (josberton, Lincolnshire, En.gland, 
where he learned the trade of shoemaker, and was 
engaged in that occu])ation when the war of 1812 
broke out between the United States and England. 
He and several other young men were pressed on 
l)oard the English ship ".Xtacedonian," although 
they protested against becoming soldiers. They all 
made up their minds that they would desert as soon 
as they reached the shores of the L'nitd States. 
They were taken ]irisoners l>v Commodore Decatur 
.'iiid were placed in confinement at Xew London, 
Conn., where thev remained imtil they convinced the 
.•\merican authorities that they were soldiers against 
their wishes. .After his release Air. Lathem went 
to Hebron, Conn., and there engaged in the shoe 
business, remaining in that pl.ice until his death, 
in ( )ctc>ber, 1822: his remains rest in the Heliron 
cemetery. He married Lydia Knight, who was born 
at Waterford, Xew London Co., Conn., daughter of 
John and Lydia Knight, and their children, only 
one of whom is now living, were as follows: John, 
Mary .Ann, William, an.d .Sarah E. (who married 
Robert Oughton). .\fter the death of Mr. L.alhem 
Mrs. Lathem married Elias P.arrelle. who died at 
.Sa_\'brook. Three sons were burn to this union, 
James E.. Charles and John H., all of whom are de- 
ceased. Airs. IJarrelle died in Saybrook also, and 
was buried there, ."^he was a niem1)er of the llaptist 
Church. 

Mrs. ()nght()n is also a meniljer of the liaptist 
Church, and is a lady honored and beloved both in 
her family circle ami in the comnumity. .She pos- 
sesses a remarkable memory, and her reminiscences 
of early days in .Meriden are most interesting and 
instructive. 

Pj.ALDWLX. Connecticut has long been a -State 
of lofty traditions, and has long been also one which 
has Ijred families who can trace ancestry back to the 
first settlements made in Xew England. Promi- 
nent among these family names is that of l'>aldwin, 
worthy representatives of which are foinid in Meri- 
den in the persons of Xathan Snuth Paid win and 
his sons, Edgar .X. and \\'illiam H. 

Joseph Paldwin, the first of the name in Con- 
necticut, was born in England and came to Amer- 
ica with his two brothers, Xathaniel and Timotliy, 
all of whom in \('y) settled in Milford, Conn. Of 
the first wife of Josei^h we only know that her 
name was Hannah, but his second marriage was to 
Isabel Xortham. a daughter <if James Xortham. 
She came from Xew Jersey to lladley, Alass., and 






M 



23^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



she (lied there Dec. 8, ^C>yCh His third wife was 
Elizabeth (Hitchcock), the wiilow of William War- 
rener, of Sprinq-field. Alass., and she died April 25, 
Kx/). He died in Hadley. Afass.. Xov. 2. 1^)84. 
His children were: Joseph, liorn in 1640; Ben- 
jamin, born in 1642: Hannah, baptized June 23, 
1644, married May 6, 1658, Jeremiah, son of Rich- 
ard Hull, of New Haven ; Alary, baptized June 23, 
1644, married John Catlin ; Elizabeth, baptized in 
1643, married Alarcli 31, 1G64, James Warrener, 
a step-brother; Alartha, baptized in 1645, married 
Dec. 26, 1667, John Hawkins, and she died Jan. 
7, 1676; Jonathan, born Feb. 15, ifm); David, bom 
Oct. 19, 165 1 ; Sarah, born Xov. 6, 1654, married 
.Samuel Barllett, of Xorthampton, Alass., and died 
in 1717. 

Joseph Baldwin, son of Joseph and Hannah, 
was born in Milford about 1646, and Ijaptized Alarch 
23. i'''44- ^\'ith Iiis parents he removed to Hadley, 
Mass., where he became a prominent citizen, but 
died befnre his father, X(iv. i. I'iSi. He married 
Sarah Celey. of Milford, a daiij^hter of Benjamin 
Celey, and she was baptized in 1648, and died in 
1^)89. Their children were: Joseph, born Oct. i, 
i'')f)3: James: Mehitable, liorn in June, 1670, died 
July II, 1670; Hannah, I)orn A])ril 13, 1673: Mary, 
born Xov. 10, 1674, died Dec. 17, "1674 ; HannaJi, 
l-.orn March 9, 1676, died Oct. 31, 1676; Mary mar- 
ried Samuel Alien of .Xorthampton, Alass. : Samuel, 
born .\pril 7, i07(); and Hannah (3), born .Vpril 
27, 1681. 

James lialdwin, son of Joseph and Sarah, was 
born at .Xrahlen, Mass., about 1604, and was a weav- 
er Iiy occu])ation. He removed to Milford, Conn., 
where he united with the Church, in i()96, as did 
his wife Elizabeth, (ju July 18, 1703. C)n Jan. 2, 
1692, with Eleazer Rogers, he settled up his "j;Tand- 
father's estate, in Milfdrd. Hi.s children were: 
Elizabeth, born March 2, Unjy: Daviil, born Oct. 2, 
i(k)<): I'hebe, baptized Jime 17, 1701. died Jan. I, 
1702: Elizabeth (2), bnrn July 18. 1703: ".Moses 
and .\aron, twins, burn April 15, 1705 ; and Hannah, 
l;aptize(l in 1710. 

Moses I'laldvvin, son of James ;ind Elizabelli, 
was born in Milford, ('(nm., but later removed to 
S:i\briiiik, where he ended bis daxs. He married 
-Vbigail l\o\ce, a daughter of Deacon Roliert Ro\-ce, 
born in Meriden. later removed to Wallingford. 
Their children were: .\ar(in, burn Oct. 2(1. 1729, 
died l-'eb. 2(>. 1730: .Moses, born July 6, 1731 ; Han- 
nah, born Sept. 27,, 1733, married Mr. Cramer; 
James, born Xii\-. 2(^'\ 1733. died yotmg; Royce. 
.X<i\-. 2T,. 1737: l)a\'id. b(.i-n .M.-irch 8. 1740; James, 
born .M;i\ jn. 1742: .Xoah. born Ajiril 13, 1743: and 
Joseph, boi'M .\ug. 20. 1747. 

Moses I'.aldwin, son of .\loses, was born Jul\- f'l, 
1731. at Saybrook, Conn., ;nid, under Capt. Red- 
tield, was a participant in ihe l''reiich and Indian 
war. .\fier marriage be and his wife, Elizabeth, 
settled in the parish of what was then Cheshire, 
bm now is Wallingford, and there he died, leaving 



four children: James, born Jan. 29, 1760; Sarah' 
.A.; Alfred, who died in Meriden; and Lucretia, 
who also died in Meriden. 

James Baldwin, son of Moses (2), was born in 
Cheshire, but later settled in Meriden, where he 
bought a farm, and also engaged in the mill busi- 
ness, in the eastern part of the town, and died 
there March 3, 1839. James Baldwin was a soldier 
in the Revolutionary war, and served his country 
well. His first marriage was to Bethia Goodsel, in 
October, 1785, who died in 1798, at the age of thir- 
ty-four years. His second marriage occurred Dec. 
20, 1798, his bride being Mary Rice, who died June 
19, 1839, and all were buried in the Broad street 
cemetery. The children of James were: Alma, 
born July 18, 1786, died Feb. 19, 1803; Moses, born 
June 10, 1788: Asahel, born July 13, 171)1 ; Ransom, 
born Alarch I, 1793: James, born Dec. 4, 1793; and 
r.enona, born Alay 9, 1798. 

Aloses Bialdwin. father of Nathan Smith Bald- 
win, was born in Aleriden, June 10, 1788, and grew 
to manhood on the homestead, but as his inclinations 
did not lead him to farming, he began peddling 
Yankee notions, dry-goods etc., and made of this 
business quite a success, covering a large extent of 
country, and establishing a reputation for strict in- 
tegritv. Later, he settled on the Timothy Ives- 
fariu, in Aleriden, where he made much improve- 
ment, and also owned and operated a mill which is 
known now as the Baldwin mill. Air. Baldwin was 
aji honest, industrious man, well-known and highly 
respected and took a part in the civic affairs, being 
a selectman for some time. His political affiliation 
was with the Democratic party. During the war of 
t8i2, he saw service and was stationed at New 
London. All his life, he was a consistent member 
of the Baptist Church. 

Aloses Baldwin was married in Aleriden, to Eda 
Lyman, who was born in Aleriden, in 1793, a 
daughter of Phineas Lyman. Her death occurred 
Alay 29. 1864, at the age of seventv-one, and she 
was laid to rest in East cemetery. She had been a 
devoted member of the Baptist Church. Her hus- 
lianil had preceded her a few years, his death having 
occurred Alay 3. iSfKS. Tlieir children were: Alma, 
born Jime 2T, i8ir), married tirst a Mr. Knowles, 
and second, Jared Cotton; bVederick, born Aug. 13, 
1818, died July 11, 1863, at Aliddlelown, Conn.; 
So])bronia, born Oct. 22, 1819, died .Aug. 4, 1840, 
married Eraslus Wilcox : Henr\- L., born Jan. 10, 
1821, died ( )ct. 24, 18' 12, at Branford. Cemn. ; Linus, 
l)or)i .May }>). 1822, died .A]iril 27, 1880; Jra, born 
Jid\- 3, 1823, died Dec. 17, 1823 ; James and Jane, 
twins, born 1 )ec. 3, 1823; of these, James was a 
sol(h\'r in the Civil war, in an Iowa regiment, and 
ilied June 8, 18C14. in the army: Jane married John 
R. .\ndrus and ilii'd Alav 11, 1838; Ellen, born 
Dec. II, 1830, die<l March 23, 1831 ; Lyman, liorn 
Dec. 29, 1831, died Jan. 22. 1832: Alerritt, born 
Feb. S. 1833. died Ajiril 3, 1883: and Xathan S., 
born Xov. 3, 1833. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



235 



Nathan Smith Baldwix, a leading citizen of 
Meriden, was born on the old Baldwin homestead, 
and after attendance at the district schools received 
academic training in the Meriden Academy. Being 
the youngest of the family, he remained on the 
homestead with his parents, and after his father's 
death assumed the homestead farm and has been 
ever since engaged in general farming, stockraising, 
dairying and fruit culture. Adding to the original 
farm, he now operates over 150 acres of land, which 
he has much improved. The r.aldwin mill, for 
flour and feed, is also operated by him very suc- 
cessfully, and Mr. Baldwin is justly considered one 
of the substantial agriculturists of his section of the 
county. 

In i860, in Meriden, Mr. Baldwin was married 
to Maria Hayden, of Westbrook, a daughter of Elias 
and Maria (Smith) Hayden. and an adopted 
daughter of the late William II. and Maria (Hub- 
bard) Yale. Mrs. Baldwin is one of the superior 
ladies of this community, having been thoroughly 
educated, and for two years was engaged in teach- 
ing. For many years she has taken great interest 
in taxidermy, and owns some beautiful bird speci- 
mens which she has prepared herself. Of great 
artistic ability, her finished work displays exception- 
al talent. For several years Mr. Baldwin taught 
school, also, and an air of refinement and educa- 
tion pervades the beautiful home where the family 
resides. Sociallv he is connected with the Meriden 
Grange, and for three years was JNIaster, and he has 
filled nearly all the offices in Pomona Grange. Both 
he and his wife are members of the State and Na- 
tional Granges. Since he was seventeen years old 
Mr. Baldwin has been connected with the Baptist 
Church, in which his pious parents reared him. but 
in politics he prefers to be independent, tied to no 
party. He takes great interest in the Agricultural 
Society of Aleriden, and is a highly valued mem- 
ber. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin 
are : b^dgar N. and William H. The former, born 
Oct. 4, 1S61, was educated in the public schools, 
and also Meriden Academy, and is engaged with 
the Adams Express Company, at Wallingford ; he 
married ]\liss Alina Hull, a daughter of Charles 
Hull. 

William H. Baldwin was born Oct. 9, 1870, 
received his early education in the district school in 
Meriden, and then entered Yale Business College, 
in New Haven, from which he graduated in 1891. 
His youtli was spent on the homestead, where he re- 
mained until his majority. He then became a book- 
keeper for the Meriden Gravure Co., but after a 
short time he took charge of his father's mill, and 
also became engaged in the fertilizer business. Since 
then he has operated the Baldwin mill, and is ex- 
tensively engaged in farming. His farm consists 
of 155 acres adjoining the homestead. In public 
life Mr. Baldwin has been active in the Republican 
party, and in 1898 was elected a member of the 
board of relief, serving one year, and in i8()i) he 



was made a member i>f the board of assessors, being 
elected chairman, which office he fills with cf- 
ficienc}', entirely to the satisfaction of the public. 
His [icrsonality is pleasant, and he has the reputa- 
tion of ability in almost every line in which he is 
engaged. His interest in Sunday-school work has 
made him widely known among religious teachers, 
and he is superintendent of the Park Avenue Bap- 
tist Sundav-school, second assistant su[)crintendent 
of the Broad Street Baptist Sunday-school, and 
(jtu'te active in other church affairs. Frater- 
nally, he is comiecti-il with Centre Lodge, No. 
97, A. F. cS: A. -M.. and Keystone Chapter, No. 
2j. R. A. M.; Meriden Center Lodge, No. 68, 
I. O. O. F. : and is a member and secretary of the 
Meriden Grange. William H. Baldwin was united 
in marriage with Mary F.slhcr Yale, who was born 
in Meriden, a daughter of Julius Wilcox and Mary 
(Hobart) Yale. C)ne son. Nathan Yale, born Dec. 
22, 1900, has blesseil this union. i\Irs. Baldwin, 
a representative of one of the old and established 
families of Meriden, is a lady of charming disposi- 
tion and manner. She belongs to the Meriden 
Grange, and is a valued and consistent member of 
the Congregational Church. 

HIRAM H. TAINTOR was one of the highly 
respected citizens of New Haven and probably the 
best known representative of that family in New 
Haven county during his life-time. He was born in 
East Haven, Conn., March 2. 1818, only child of 
Nathaniel and Mary (Hemingway) Taintor, both 
natives of East Haven, of whom the former died 
Aug. 25, 1848, and the latter Feb. 22, 1878, at the 
age of seventy-nine years. 

Hiram H. Taintor was reared and educated in 
iiis native town, receiving such advantages as the 
common schools of his time afl'ordcd. He learned 
the carpenter's trade and for many years was con- 
nected with the firm of G. and T. Ailing & Co., the 
well-known mill men of New Haven, Iiis first iden- 
tification with the concern dating back to 1845, at 
which time the business was carried on by Leonard 
Pardee. The firm subsequently became Pardee & 
Morgan, and still later G. and T. Ailing & Co. Mr. 
Taintor's connection with this establishment lasted 
through a period of thirty-eight years, or until 1883, 
at which time he retired from business. For a num- 
ber of years preceding his retirement he was one 
of the proprietors. His death occurred March 25, 
1894, wdien he was aged seventy-six. In 1845 he 
married Ruth M. Hotchkiss, who passed away Aug. 
31, 1849, ^."ed twenty-seven. She was the mother 
of tw^o children, of whom onlv one is now living, 
Hiram C, a sketch of whom follows. In 1S53 he 
married Harriet 1. Ilazzard, who still survives at 
the age of eighty-four (1Q02). Hiram FI. Taintor 
was a self-made man, owing his success in life en- 
tirely to his own cft'orts. He was of a retiring 
nature and never held or sought public office. He 
and his wife attended the Chapel Street Congrc- 



236 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



gational Church, and both were highly esteemed 
members of the community. 

Hiram C. Taintor was born in Xew Haven 
March 25, 1849, ^""^ was educated in the common 
schools of that city. Early in life he became con- 
nected with the Mallory Wheeler Co. and was re- 
tained in their service some thirty years prior to 
1900. The company manufactured general house 
trimmings and their establishment was very ex- 
tensive, employment being given to some four hun- 
dred men. 

In 1876 Mr. Taintor married Miss Fanny A. 
Hpmingway, daughter of Leverett G. and Rachel 
(Bailey) Hemingway, a sketch of whom appears 
elsewhere. Mr. and Mrs. Taintor became the par- 
ents of two children, one of whom survives: Ruth 
Hotchkiss, born June 25, 1888; Hattie, born Sept. 
25. 1877, died March 23, 1892. Fraternally Mr. 
Taintor is a member of Wooster Lodge, No. 79, 
F. & A. M., of which he has been secretary two 
terms. 

JOHN EDWARD DURAND, deceased. 
Among the former citizens of Meriden who are most 
reverently remembered, none have more justly re- 
ceived regretful testimonials from both public and 
private friends than the late John Edward Durand. 

Mr. Durand was born April 9, 1833, in this 
State, which he so dearlv loved and ably defended, 
being a native of the town of Cheshire, New Haven 
county. He was one of a family of fourteen chil- 
dren born to George A. and Eunice (Clark) Du- 
rand, the former of whom was of French descent. 
George A. Durand was a stone mason by trade, and 
made his home principally in Cheshire, wdiere he 
died, a respected citizen and a member of the Con- 
gregational Church. 

John Edward Durand attended school only up 
to the age of eleven years, at which time he went to 
Meriden from his Cheshire home, entering the em- 
ploy of his brother, with whom he remained for six 
years, engaged at the carpenter's and joiner's trade. 
During tliis period he was constantly making plans 
by which he could become more thoroughly educat- 
ed, saving enough from his small wages to enable 
him to attend a select school in the Hanover Dis- 
trict for one year. At the age of seventeen he went 
to Waterbury, and there secured employment in a 
sash and blind factory, where he continued for sev- 
enteen years. It was while so occupied that the 
urgent call was made for troops to quell what 'was 
at first hoped would be only a small rebellion, and, 
with other brave and loyal men, Mr. Durand laid 
aside his tools to take u[) the nnisket. On July 16, 
1862, he enlisted as a soldier in Company C, I4ih 
Conn. \'. I., and went to the front under Capt. Sam- 
uel W. Carpenter, jjarticipating with his regiment 
in the battles of .South ^lountain, Sept. 14, 1862; 
Antietam, Sept. 19, 1862; Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 
1862; and I'clle T'lain Landing, where he was seri- 
ously injiu'ed. While he was on the deck of a 
transport taking out Government stores a heavv 



I sack fell from the top deck, crushing him. Al- 
though seriously crijipled, Mr. Durand bravely 
struggled along, marching sixteen mdes in his in- 
jured condition, and when exhaustion compelled 
him to give up he was carried three miles by his 
comrades. His ni juries made it necessary for him 
to go to the hospital, and he was sent to the Camp- 
bell hospital, in Washington, later being transferred 
to the Lincoln hospital ; he was finally discharged 
on account of disability, April 12, 1863. 

Mr. Durand never fully recovered from his in- 
juries, although soon after his return home he went 
back to his former business, remaining with his old 
firm until 1867. He spent one year in the clock fac- 
tory in Waterbury, and in 1868 came to Meriden. 
When the Steam Mill Lumber Co. was organized 
he was not only a stockholder, but also secretary 
and treasurer, with Alden Clark as president, and 
for three years he acted as superintendent of the 
mill. Later Mr. Durand started on the road as rep- 
resentative of C. P. Colt, selling drugs and medi- 
cines, and spent three years in that line, traveling 
all over the State. In 1874 he embarked in the real- 
estate business, and for twenty years was the capa- 
])lc and reliable agent of William Ratcliff Hicks, 
the well-known lawyer and real estate dealer of 
Meriden. Mr. Durand was the first pension agent 
in Meriden, and was long a notary public. Though 
naturally an active man, declining health, caused by 
his army life, made retirement a necessity, and he 
spent his last days without business responsibility. 
His death occurred July 29, 1899 ,and he was buried 
in the Brockett cemetery, at \\'aterbur}-, Connecti- 
cut. 

]\Ir. Dm-and was a member of the Baptist 
Church, having been converted and baptized by 
Rev. Harvey Miller, at the age of fifteen years. At 
that time he joined the Center Baptist Church. On 
his return from Waterbury he united with the Alain 
Street Church. Perhaps no man was ever more op- 
posed to the use of tobacco and strong liquors, and 
he never made use of either by precept and ex- 
ample constantly preaching temperance. His fra- 
ternal connections were with Meridian Lodge. Xo. 
77. A. F. & A. M. ; Mcrriam Post, No. 8, G. A. R., 
of Meriden ; and' the Knights of the Golden Eagle ; 
and he was also a member of Hawley's Division of 
the Sons of Temperance, in Hartford. Although 
identified with the Rc]niblican partv he never sought 
political honors, and was a man of quiet, domestic 
habits, who loved the privacy of his own home. 

On June 4, 1854, John Edward Durand was 
imited in marriage, by Rev. Harvey Miller, a well- 
known Baptist minister, to Miss Roxana Sophia 
Root, who was born in Waterbury, Conn., daughter 
of the late Mathew D. and Roxana ( Potter) Root, 
the former of whom was born in New Marlboro, 
Mass., coming- to Connecticut when still a young 
man. Locating in Waterbin\v, 'Mr. Root became a 
large land owner and farmer, and there passed the 
balance of his days, dying Sept. 11, 1884; he was 
buried in the Brockett cemetery, Waterbury. Mrs. 





I 




x^^^=«='^^' 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Koxana (I'otter) Root was a dauglitor of Rev. 
Samuel I'utU-r and his good wife Chloe I ilrockett I. 
both of whom came from old and honored families 
in the Xangaluck X'alley, extended mention of 
whom may he fouml elsewhere. Seven children 
were born i(j Mr. and Mrs. Root: Eliza E., who 
married James rier])ont Langdon. of New Bruns- 
wick, X. ].. both now deceased; Jane C. who died 
immarried Jan. 30, ujoi : Josejih S.. who died at the 
age of forty-two years: Roxana S., widow' of our 
subject: Miss Marietta E., wIkj resides with Mrs. 
Durand : I'.dniund Silvanus. who died Dec. 30. i8C)2, 
while in the service of his country: and Edwin M., 
who married Bessie Parsons, and resides in Meri- 
den. The beloved mother of this family passed 
away Dec. 27, ii*^<),v and she rests in the lirockelt 
cemetery in W'aterbury. 

Mrs. Durand is well known in Meriden and en- 
joys the esteem of all. Iler devotion to her invalid 
husband for years is known to all, and while it dis- 
played natural affection it also exemplified the high- 
est traits of Christian character. .\s a member of 
the Main Street Baptist Church, she is a hclijer in all 
its charitable and benevolent work, and is one of the 
charter members of the Woman's Relief Corps of 
this city. 

EMILY JOSEPHIXE LE()X.\RD. a ripe 
scholar and eminent botanist, whose death occurred 
at her home in Meriden on July 16, 1884. at the 
carl}' age of forty-seven years, was one of the dis- 
tiiiguislied characters of that city, and in her ac- 
complishments its citizens took a just pride. 

Miss Leonard was born Aug. 2t, 1837, in 
Stoughton, Mass.. daughter of Jonathan J. Leon- 
ard, a strong-minded Quaker who in the early fif- 
ties came to Meriden and engaged in business. .\s 
a school girl Miss Leonard was pre-eminent, no: 
only in her studies, but in the ease with which she 
mastered thein. In 1878 she took the higher of the 
Ilarvartl examinations for women. For several years 
she was engaged in teaching the higher branches 
in high schools and academies, and as a teacher she 
a,ttained marked success, but in 1877 abandoned 
teaching for the wider fields of literature and, with- 
out in the least neglecting Ikt severe studies, de- 
voted the rest of her life to writing, lecturing and 
translating. 

Finding the "History of Political Economy in 
Europe," by BIan(|ui, professor in the College of 
France, of great benefit to her in her researches, it 
occurred to her that an English translation of it 
might be of benefit to America:! and English stu- 
dents, and she subsequently translated the great 
work, which was issued from the press of the Put- 
nams in 1889. The same thought had occurred to 
that erninent ]K)litical economist. David .A. Wells, 
who in a letter to Dr. Davis, written .soon after Miss 
Leonard's death, thus compliments the gifted trans- 
lator : "The work, as it stands to-day. is a monu- 
ment to her memorv, and a most gratifving evi- 



dence of the abilitv of American women to grai>])le 
u ith a department of knowledge which most men 
confess is beyond their capability." The commen- 
dation of I'rof. Dnnbar, of Harvard Cniversitv, 
was no less complimentary: "I feel that vou are 
to be congratulated upon tliL- o]iportiniit\- to do a 
good ])icce of work, and n])on the success with 
which you have accomi>lishe(l it. I onlv wish that 
\iiu had gone further and worked U]) a chapter ( r 
two of your own to fill the gap lielween BIan(|ui"s 
t:me and your own, and to comiilete his meagre 
reference to several writers." Prof, b'oxwell, of 
Camliridge, does not hesitate to say that, in one 
respect the translation is better than the original, 
viz., "it is more terse." Miss Leonard excelled as 
a translator. .\t the time of her death she was en- 
gaged in translating for Lalor's Cvclo])aedia of Po- 
litical ICconomy : an<l I'rof. Lalor paid her the fol- 
lowing high coni])liment : "^'ou are the only person 
I can trust with a translation without the least hes- 
itation," and in saying to another, "The papers were 
the only ones that went to the jirinters untouched 
by me." But .Miss Leonard did not satisfv herself 
with translating. .She was a talented, original 
writer, and coidd all the ])a])ers which she wrote on 
economic (|nestions be collected they would form a 
volunte. She was also one of the ablest and stanch- 
est advocates of women's rights, and coulH all the 
articles she wrote and addresses delivered bv her 
upon the ].)olitical enfranchisement of women be 
collected the\- would form another large volume. 

Miss Leonard was eminent as a botanist, and 
was a correspondent with Professors Cray, Eaton 
and Ba'bb. all of whom acknowledged her great 
abilit\. She was an ori.ginal and independent ex- 
].)lorer in the botanical field. .As her biograi)her 
justly says of her: "With rare |)erseverance whole 
days were sometimes spent in searching for a single 
sjiecimen." \\'hen the .Meriden Scientific .Associa- 
tion was organized in 1880 she was selected as di- 
rector of the botanical section. Before the organiza- 
tion of this association she liad begun a "Catalogue 
of the Phaenoganious and V'asctilar Crvptogamous 
Plants l-'ound Crowing in Meriden." In 1885, 
though incomplete, .t was published liy the associa- 
tion in the first volume of its transactions. In it 
749 distinct species were enumerated, many of w hich 
art- not found in the wrirk of the Berzelius Societ\-. 
all classified in the most systematic and scientific 
manner, reflecting great honor ujion its learned 
author. 

The estimation in which .Miss Leonard was held 
l)y the association is attested by the resolutions [)re- 
sented by Mr. Pettee July 21, 188;, and by the ex- 
ercises of the memorial meeting Sept. 8, at which 
addresses were made on the character, scliolarshiii 
and literary labors of Miss Leonard. The life of 
Miss Emily J. Leonard has since lieen published, 
ably and tenderly written bv her riiece. Miss Ceorgia 
Louise Leonard, of Washington. D. C. — a biogra- 
phy which shoidd not only be read by all niembers 



23S 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of the Meriden Scientific Association, but by all 
Meriik'ii people who had a just pride in acquaint- 
ance with this remarkable winnan. Many of her 
own tiiwnsnien were not aware ln'w yreat a scholar 
they had among them. 

In the language of INIrs. J. D. Pettee, at the 
memorial meeting: "The hal)it of thought, and 
some of the views she entertained, led her into 
channels remote from ordinary individuals : and 
yet, it was not her fault, it was our own. if we lost 
sight of her as she strodt- on before us in the paths 
of investigatinn. And if she sometimes found her- 
self without companionshi]), what wonder I It has 
always been the case with those who search beyond 
the bounds of commonly received ideas. If while 
with us. she failerl to perceive as much d'ivinity in 
the commnnl\- received theories as some, who shall 
say that (iod did not reveal himself in the laws 
■which He ordained for the govennnent id" all things, 
material and immaterial?" 

JEREMIAH SMITH. Early in the year 1850 
an industrious and far-sighted man started in a 
small way, in the business of oyster culture, em- 
ploying for this purpose the waters surrounding a 
point of land belonging to an estate which had long 
been the. property of his fore-fathers. In Jeremiah 
Smith, the city of New Haven had a pioneer in this 
Ijusiness of nuich more than the average experi- 
ence, intelligence and ability. Although he pos- 
sessed neither the machinery nor the modern meth- 
ods of this business, it was nut long before the 
waves of Long Island sound in his vicinity covered 
vast beds of oyster seed, w Inch here fotnid congenial 
surroundings, and in time well repaiil the efforts 
of the patient and skilled farmer. From that be- 
ginning has been developed one of the largest oyster 
farming enterprises in the I'nited States, its vener- 
able founder still remaining at the head of the well- 
known firm of Jeremiah Smith & Sons, oyster 
farmers, ( )vster Point, Xew Haven. Connecticut. 

The Smith' family from which Jeremiah Smith 
of New Haven descended, came to Xew England 
from England about 1638. at the time of the found- 
ing of this city and was one of the original plant- 
ers — one of the Eaton colony. George Smith, the 
settler, received a grant of land from that colony, 
of all that tract which is known as City, or Oyster 
Point, this being located in the extreme southern 
l)art, washed by the waters of Long Island Sound. 
The line of descent of Jeremiah is through George 
(the settler), Xathan, Andrew. Andrew (2), Eli 
and Harry, all of these having been residents of 
\\"est Haven, where they died and are buried. 

Grandfather Eli .Smith was a f.armer in West 
Haven, who bravelv bore bis musket diuMng the 
Kevolutionary war. of which he was a ])ensioner. 
owned large tracts of land of Connt'Clicut, and lived 
until a good old age. a man of prominence and sub- 
stance. 

Ilarr\- .Smith, son of IlH. and the father of 



Jeremiah Smith of the Oyster Point industry, was 
l)orn also in West Haven, and became a sea-faring 
man. returniirg in his age to pass his last days in 
his \\'est Haven home. His marriage was to Grace, 
a daughter (jf Jeremiah Smith, of another branch 
of the family, in West Haven, and they had a fam- 
ily of nine children : Charlotte, Willis, Lydia, 
Elizabeth, Jeremiah, Harriet, Maria, Louisa and 
George H., and of this family the three sons, Jere- 
miah, Willis and George all became interested in the 
oyster business, as growers. 

Jeremiali Smith was born May 11, 1824, in the 
home of his ancestors in \\'est Haven. Early in life 
he followed the example of his father, and became 
a sea-faring man, engaging in the coasting trade and 
also .going with the trading vessels which carried 
freight to the West Indies. As early as the age of 
si.xteen, the sails and spars of the vessels were 
familiar to him, and he continued in this adventur- 
ous life, sailing to the West Indian ports and touch- 
ing at those in the (julf of Mexico, as well as along 
the Atlantic coast until he was twenty-five years old. 
In 1850, as mentioned above, Mr. Smith embarked 
in the oyster business, as a grower, purchasing 
southern seed oysters, and planting them along the 
beach, in shallow water, near New Haven. Few 
others had been veiitin-esomc enough to attempt this 
new business, and many of those who later engaged 
in it in this locality, totally failed, on account of a 
lack of those (|ualities which made the enterprise of 
Mr. .Smith succeed and prosper, b'or a half century 
Mr. Smith engaged in the business actively, but it 
now has been resigr.ed in favor of his two energetic 
and most capable sons. Elwood H. and William H. 
Smith, the firm style of Jeremiah Smith & Sons, still 
being retained. The business has grown to im- 
mense proportions, the demand for the delicious bi- 
valves raised at ( )yster Point being far beyond the 
supply, although Messrs. Smith employ from 150 to 
200 ha'.ids. have fi\'e steamers of their own and hire 
as many more, and occupy 5,000 acres of land. The 
business is contUictcd on the basis of excellence, and 
the firm name is a guarantv all over L'nited States. 
The venerable founder has reached his sevent}"^ 
eighth year, and although this pioneer in the oyster 
planting business no longer assumes responsibility 
in it. his intelligent interest remains, and he is justly 
proud of the progress made in what at one time re- 
quired his close and fostering care. 

On Jan. 18. 1S48, Jeremiah Smith was united 
in marriage with Miss Hainiah Sampson, who was 
a daughter of Clark and Mercy (Hamilton) Samp- 
son, both of whom were natives of Xew Salem, 
Mass.. the former being a son of Jacob .Sampson, 
of English extraction, a member of one of the very 
earlv families in Xew Englaf.d. A family of five 
children was born lo Air. and Mrs. Smith: El- 
wood H. : \\'illi,un 11.; Louisa, who died at the age 
of nineteen years; Mary, who married Rev. George 
E. Nichols: and .Vellie. who married Edward ]Man- 
ville, of New Haven. In his earlier years Mr. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



239 



Smith was a stanch Whig, and later became jnst 
as strong a snpporter of the Repuljlican party. 

Elwood H. Smith was born April (\ 1849, in 
^\'est Haven, and he was two years of age when 
his jiarents moved to New Haven, where he grew 
to maturity, being educated in the iniblic schools of 
this city, notably the Webster school, and later tak- 
ing a practical course in the L'nited States liusinoss 
College. In 1872, he engaged with his father in the 
ovster business, and has continued in that line ever 
since. He was married Oct. 18, 1875, to Miss b'.lla 
I'.onton, a daughter of Seth S. Douton. of .\ew 1 lav- 
en, and to them have been born four children: 
Daisy, who married W. K. Newport, of New 
Haven; Lula ; FJmer E., who is a bookkeeper for 
the firm; and M. Leon. Mr. Smith built the home 
on Howard avenue where he lives. Like his father 
he is an earnest Republican, as well as a capable 
man of business. 

Williani H. Smith was born April 21. 1855, in 
New Haven, where he received his schooling. He 
attended the public schools and Stiles French's pri- 
vate school. \\"hen but a young man he went to 
St. Louis, where he was bookkeeper for the Xono- 
tuck Silk Co. Subsequently returning F.ast, he be- 
came the European representative of the firm, of 
which he later became a member. He was retained 
for four seasons in that capacity, and in 1883 became 
a memljcr of the firm, and has since continued as 
such. On Xov. 10, 1881, he married, in New Haven, 
Miss Lizzie M. Hanson, daughter of C. 1>. Hanson. 
yir. Smith has two daughters, Jennie L. and Edna 
E. In political matters his sympathy is with llie 
Republican party. He resides in Howard avenue, 
where he built an excellent home. 

XATHAX PRATT, a son of Deacon Phineas 
Pratt, and a brother of the late Julius Pratt, of 
Meriden, Conn., was Ix^rn Feb. 4, 1772. in Saybrook, 
Conn., and was a goldsmith by occupation. His 
quiet, sober and virtuous life was spent in Essex, 
Conn., where he died in old age. His wife, whom 
he married Jan. 3, 1796, was Elizabeth Spencer, of 
Deep River, Connecticut. 

.Aaron Pratt, son of Nathan, was born in Essex, 
Feb. 23, 1806, and there grew to manhood and at- 
tended the district schools. In early manhood he 
came to Meriden, and became engaged in business 
with his uncle Julius, in comb-making, finally be- 
coming a member of the firm of Julius Pratt & Co., 
this being a leading concern for a number of years. 
The lialance of his life was sjxmU in Meriden, w here 
he died, in 1869, in the month of May, at the age 
of sixty-three, and liis remains lie in East cemetery. 
Although Mr. I'ratt was always interested in ci\-ic 
and public affairs and was an ardent Whig, he 
was no ofifice seeker, his political ambition only 
reaching as far as good citizenship. Tenqierate in 
all his liabits. full of domestic virtues, he was also 
a valued member of the F^irst Congregational 
Church. 



The first marriage of Mr. Pratt occurred Nov. 
2J. 1832, Elizalieth .\. ( Metsey ) Johnson becoming 
his wile. .Siie died in Meriden, and was buried also 
in I'.ast cemetery. The three children of this union 
were: Elizabeth A. (deceased) wlio was the wile 
of James Hinsdale; Rebecca Maria, who died 
young ; an<l .\aron Johnson, who died in the service 
of his country. 

On May 8. 18C/), Mr. Pratt was marrieil to Miss 
Lura Ward, of Middletown. a daughter of Ezra 
and .\nn ( Shaw j Ward. No children were born 
to tiiis union. 

Mrs. Pratt resides in Meriden, where she is well 
known and highl\- respected, a valueii member of 
the l*"irst Congregational Church, prominent in char- 
itable and benevolent work, and a refining factor in 
the cit}''s social life. __ 

LUCIL'S PERKINS SPERRV is one of the 
much esteemed and widely known citizens of the 
beautifid city of New Haven, where he has spent 
manv years of Iiis life, ami biult up a reputation for 
efficiency in his line of work seconil to none in the 
community. He conies from an old Connecticut 
family who for several general icnis have flourished 
in the town of Woodbridge. 

Roger Si)crry, his grandfather, was born in 
\\'oodbridge. and followed his trade of cooper. He 
married the estimable daughter of a neighboring 
farmer and reared two clfildren. liurton and Mar- 
vin, the former of whom was the father of our 
subject, the latter was, until his decease, a well- 
known shoemaker of Bethany. 

Burton Sperry, the father of subject, was born 
in the family homestead in Woodbridge, ^larch 26, 
1804, and after reaching the age of thirteen years, 
went to Bethany, where he began to learn the trade 
of shoemaker and also the tanning business, tlie 
two lines being often associated in those days. In 
Bethany he married Elizabeth Perkins, daughter of 
tanner Archibald Abner Perkins, who was a son of 
.Archibald Perkins, a liotel keeper of the village, his 
death occurring in ]8(p, and that of his wife on 
May 30, 1881. Mr. Sperry became a very promin- 
ent man in his locality, and represented his district 
in the Legislature in 1843, being sent there b\' the 
Democratic [jartv, of which he was an active mem- 
ber. In his religious faith, he was of I 'niversalist 
belief, and was one of the most worthy of men. 
To the ])arents of our subject were born four chil- 
dren : Lucius I'erkin>: I'.lizabeth : Sarah, who 
marrieil Burr Jay Davis, of ( )wego, N. Y. ; and 
Charles, who was drowned at the age of two years. 
I Lucius Perkins Sperry was liorn in Woodl)ridge, 

Conn., Dec. 18. 1827. and grew up in r.ethany, 
where he attended school, coming to New Haven 
in the spring of 1843. .As soon as located in this 
city, Mr. Sperrv learned the mason building trade 
and lias alwa\s found plenty- lo do in his line, grad- 
' uallv receiving larger and more im])ortant contracts 
i as he became better known, and the jniblic found 



240 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



that his wnrk was such as stood tlie test of time. 
Jn Xoveniher, ii<54. Air. Si^erry went to Daven- 
port, Iowa, and engaged in business for a year. In 
the winter of 1855-5O he retiirned to Connecticut, 
and in the spring located in I'lorence, Neh., wliere 
he Iniilt his first home, his wife joining him there 
in the fall. Aftei' son.e fnur yeai'> residence there, 
lie nun'ed lo Denver, later to Central City, where 
fur six years he was interested in mining. (Ju Jan. 
I. 1867, he returneil to Xew Haven, where he has 
since remained. He engaged in mason building 
with Lyman 1!. I'.unnell for about twenty-five years, 
then for a short time was alone, and later his son, 
Lucius 1j., was associated with him. Mr. Sperry is 
now graduall_\ retiring from the cares of liusiness. 

The marriage of our subject was on Jan. 29, 
1856, to Emilv Chatfield, who was born in Oxford, 
a daughter of Enos and Ro.xy Sperry Chatfield, also 
of ( )xford, and four children were liorn to this un- 
ion: ( I ) Delia F. is deceased. (2) Frederick A., 
engaged in the agricultural advertising business, 
resides in ( )ak I'ark, 111.; he married first branny 
Dra])er, wlm died leaving two children — Donald and 
Frederick. He married, second, Cirace Draper, and 
they have one child, Jennett Chatfield. (3) Julia. 
( 4 ) Lucius B., associated in business with his father, 
married Maude Davis, of New Haven, and has two 
children, Ruth and Everett. 

In his political belief our subject favors the 
FJemocratic party in national affairs, but in local 
matters reserves the right to be independent. So- 
ciallv he is connected with Trumbull Lodge, Xo. 
22. V . !k ,\. .M. In religious matters Air. Sperry 
and his chihlren are Cniversalists, while Mrs. 
Sperrv is a memlier of the Episcopal Church. 

FIARLEY HALL, grandfather of luigene A. 
Hall, of Meriden. and son (jf Comfort and Jemima 
(Bacon) Hall, was born in the town of Aiiddletown, 
Conn., Alarch 21, i/yi), and died in Aliddlefield, 
Conn., April 24, 1874, at the age of seventy-five 
years. ( )n June 8, 1828, he iliarried Martha Cone 
Hall, who was born in East Haddam, April 3, 1805, 
and died in Aleriden April 20, 1880. She was a 
daughter of William Htdl ( direct descendant of 
John Flail, of I'oston, 1^)33, and Hartford. 1635, 
and original proprietor of Aiiddletown, 1650) and 
Alartha Cone, a daughter of .Sylvanus Cone, of East 
Haddam, a Revolutionary soldier, and a direct de- 
scendant (if Daniel Cone, original pro])rietor of 
Haddam, 16(12. To Harley and Alartha Cone 
( I lall ) 1 lall were liorn : ( 1 ) l^ophia F'idelia, A])ril 6. 
i82(), is the wife of Judge Levi E. Coe, ])residen! 
of tli« Aleriden Savings Bank ;uid .Meriden .Xational 
Bank. (2) Xormaii Cone. F)ec. 31, 1832, married 
Nov. 13. 1853, Harriet F^lizabeth Redfield, a daugh- 
ter of Roswell and Harriet (.Stone) Redfield. and 
died ["eb. 24. 1892, at Aleriden. (3) lietsex- New- 
ton, ( )ct. 18, 1836, married Xov. 17. 1853, Leman 
W. Cook and died April 9, 1895, at New Haven. 



(4) Rufus, born at Aliddlefield Oct. 3, 1839, was 
the youngest of the familv. 

Rufus Hall was educated in the district schools 
and assisted his father on the farm. Leaving home 
when nineteen years of age he engaged in the meat 
business in Portland, Al iddlefield"and Wallingford. 
In i8()0 he moved to Aleriden, and the next year 
went into the grocery business with his brother, 
Norman C. Hall, under the firm name of Norman 
C. Hall & Co. In 1870 he sold out his interest to 
his brother and formed a partnership with Charles 
Grether in the market lousiness under the name of 
Grether & Hall; later buving out Air. Grether he 
continued the business for several years, but finally 
sold out to his former partner and returned to the 
grocery trade with his brother. In 1884 he again 
engaged in the meat business, continuing his market 
until his death from pneumonia at Aleriden, Feb. 3, 
190X. His remains rest in Indian Hill Cemeterv, 
Aiiddletown. 

C)n April 25, 1859, Rufus Hall wedded Esther 
Asenath Grover. of Aiiddletown. and their unitm 
was blessed with two children : Effie Alaria, born 
Alarch 13, i860, died Alarch i, 1862; and Eugene 
Ashley, born Aug. 7, 1865. Esther Asenath (Gro- 
ver) Hall was Ijorn at Aiiddletown. Conn.. Jan. 2. 
1837. and died in Aleridien Dec. 18, 1891. and is 
buried in Indian Hill Cemetery, at Aiiddletown. She 
was a daugditer of Arden and Sarah Alaria ( Clark ) 
Grover. the former a son of Oliver and Asenath 
(Eaton) Grover, and a grandson of John and Abi- 
gail (Flint) Grover, and the latter a daughter of 
Daniel Clark, a Revolutionary soldier, .\senath 
(Eaton) Grover was a descendant of \\'illiani 
Eaton, of Watertown, Alass., 1642: and Abigail 
(Flint) Grover traced her line to Thomas Fdin.', 
Salem, Mass., 1650. 

Eugene Ashley H.\ll, son of Rufus and Esther 
Asenath (Grover) Hall, was born Aug. 7, 1865, in 
Aleriden, Conn., where he has ever since resided. 
He entered the employ of the Aleriden Savings 
Bank in 1883 and remained until after the death 
of his father, when he resigned the position of tel- 
ler to devote his whole attention to the business es- 
tablished bv his father. He is a trustee and direc- 
tor of the Aleriden Savings Bank ; a member of the 
board of trustees of the Connecticut School for 
Boys, and secretary and' treasurer of said board 
since 1897: treasurer of the Connecticut State Ag- 
ricultural Society : treasurer of the Aleriden Agri- 
cultural .Society : treasurer of the town of Aleriden ; 
past master and ]iresent treasurer of Aleridian 
Lodge, No. -JJ. A. V. & A. AI. : past high priest of 
Keystone Chapter, No. 27, R. .\. Al. ; jiast T. I. mas- 
ter Hamilton Council, No. 22. R. & S. AL: eminent 
commander of St. Elmo Commandery, Xo. 9, 
Knights Templar; a thirty-second degree Alason 
and a member of Pyramid Temjile, Mystic Shrine, 
of Flridgejiort. 

On Dec. 15. 1897, luigene .Ashley Hall wedtled 





/' ^^^IMI^^^^H. 




^^Sh 


s^ 


M'^wlm 


^: 


^ §j 




m 


^ 





RUFUS HALL, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



241 



Edna Adele Mix, daughter of ex-Senator John Wal- 
ter Mix, of Valesvillc, and his wife. Kate L'rana 
Wallace. To Mr. and Airs. Hall have come 
two children : Fanny, born Nov. 15, 1898 ; and Edna, 
born Feb. 3, 1900. Ex-Senator John Walter Mix, 
present collector of the port of New Haven, is a 
direct descendant of Thomas Alix, of New Haven, 
1643, 3i'"l a son of John and Eliza (Merriman) 
Mix, of whom the latter is a daughter of Albert 
Merriman, a Revolutionary soldier. Kate Urana 
(Wallace) Mix is a daughter of Franklin and 
Fanny (Hall) Wallace, of Cheshire, the latter a 
daughter of Lyman and Milla Flail, both direct de- 
scendants of John Hall, of Wallingford. Benjamin 
Hall, father of Lyman, was a soldier in the Rev- 
olution. 

SAXTON BAILEY LITTLE, of Meriden, is of 
the seventh generation in descent from Thomas 
Little, who came to Plymouth, Mass., from Devon- 
shire, England, in 1630. In 1633 he married Ann 
Warren, a daughter of Richard \\'arren, who came 
over in the "Mayflower," followed, in 1623, by his 
wife and five children, who crossed in the "I'ort- 
tune." In 1650 Thomas Little purchased 1,000 acres 
of land in East ATarshfield, and built a house still 
occupied by his descendants. By profession he was 
a lawyer, and his death occurred in 1671. His chil- 
dren were: Thomas, Samuel, Ephraim, Isaac, 
Ruth, Mercy and Patience. Thomas Little, the emi- 
grant, possessed a coat of arms. 

(II) Ephraim Little, third son of Thomas, was 
born in 1650, and died in 1717, aged sixty-seven 
years. He married Mary Sturtevant in 1671, and 
they had children as follows: Ephraim, Ruth, 
David, John, Ann and Mary. 

(III) John Little, Esq., son of Ephraim, was 
born in 1681, and died in 1767, aged eighty-si.x 
years. He was a magistrate, and extensive land 
holder and owned several negro slaves. His wife 
was Constant Forbes, of Little Compton, R. I. His 
will distributes his property among his children as 
follows: To John, a farm in the north part of 
Lebanon, Conn., now called Columbia; to William. 
a fami in the south part of Lebanon ; to Ephraim, 
Thomas and Lemuell, each a farm in East 
Marshfield ; to Forbes, a farm in Little Compton, 
R. I., to each of his daughters, Ann White and 
Ruth Oakman, he gave with other personal proper- 
ty, a negro woman. 

(IV) John Little, son of John, Esq., was born 
in 1714, and died in 1798, aged eighty-four years. 
In 1740 he married Mary Simpson, who died Feb. 
22, 1810. Their tombstones are near the entrance 
of the old cemetery in Columbia. It was in 1740 
or 1 741 that John Little moved to Columbia, and 
there his children were born between 1741 and 1763. 
They were as follows : Gamalial, Otis, Consider, 
Mary, John, Elizabeth, Priscilla, Faith, Charles and 
Elvira. 

(V) Consider Little, son of John and grandfather 

16 



of Saxton B. Little, was born in 1746. and died Aug. 
3. '831, aged eighty-five years. He married Re- 
becca Buckingham, who was born May, 1751, and 
died Oct. 25, 1825. Their children were as fol- 
lows: Samuel, born Aug. 18, 1774, died Sept. 22, 
'853, aged seventy-nine; Alary, born Feb. 7, 1776, 
died Aug. 12, 1853, aged seventy-seven ; Sarah, born 
Dec. 29, 1777, died July 23, 1853, aged seventy-six; 
Rebecca, born June 17, 1779, married Eleazer 
Dewey: Fanny, born March 2, 1781, died Sept. 12, 
1794, aged thirteen; Levi, born Dec. i, 1783. died 
1854, aged seventy-one; George, born Alarch 26, 
1788, died April 5, 1864, aged seventy-six; Lydia, 
born March 26, 1797, died June 20, 1797, aged three 
months. 

\T) Samuel l.iulc. son of Consider, horn .Aug. 
iS, 1774, learned the hatter's trade. When he at- 
tained his majority, his whole property consisted of 
a colt, which he sold for $30. By industry and 
economy, he sent two of his five sons to Yale, and 
divided among them a farm of 350 acres. He mar- 
ried first in 1801, Levina Richardson, and their 
three children were: Levina, born May ir, 1802, 
died Alay 24, 1807, aged five years; Samuel, born 
Alarch 6, 1804, died Feb. 8, 1876, aged seventy-two ; 
and Anson, born June 20, 1806, died Sept. 15, 1895, 
aged eighty-nine. On June 2^^, 1808, Samuel Little 
married for his second wife, Jerusha Baile\-. daugh- 
ter of Saxton and Lois (Hunt) Bailey, liy this 
marriage there were four children: Eniih-. born 
April 27. 1809, died June 14, 1830, aged twenty-one ; 
Saxton Bailey, born April 19, 1S13; William Buck- 
ingham, born June 6, 1815, died Dec. 16, 1897, aged 
eiglity-two; and Charles, l)orn .Sept. 26, 1818, died 
in Lincoln, Neb., .Aug. 19. 1892, aged seventy-four. 
(ATI) Samuel Little, Jr., son of Samuel Little, 
and Levina Richardson, born Alarch G, 1804. mar- 
ried, first. Amy Pinneo, Dec. 29. 1829; she died Dec. 
20, 183 1. He married second Clarissa Pinneo, Alay, 
1840, who died Jan. 7, 1863. He died Feb. 8. 1876, 
aged seventy-two. His children were: James Pin- 
neo, born Alarch 2, 1831, died Oct. 12, 1833; Emily 
Jerusha, born Aug. 28, 1842, died Alarch 4. 1893. 
(VH) Anson Little, son of Samuel Little and 
Levina Richardson, born in Columbia, June 20. 1806, 
graduated from Yale in 1827. He stuthed law, and 
was clerk of the District Court in New York. In 
1833 he married Lucy Ann Wells, and he died in 
Hebron, Conn., Sept. 15, 1805, aged eighty-nine; 
she died in Hebron June 5, 1882, aged seventy-five. 
( )f their children John was born May 12. 1839: and 
George Anson, born April 2, 1845, died Feb. 2, 
1862, aged seventeen years. 

(ATI) William Buckingham Little, son of Sam- 
uel, born June 6, 1815. married Alay 19. 1841. Har- 
riet Palmer, who was born Feb. I, 1819. Their 
children were: fi) Alyron Winslow. born Oct. 
II, 1842, married Emily A. Wright, daughter of 
George W'right, Nov. 15, 1869, and their children 
w-ere: Louis, born April 29, ^S~^: Grace, born 
Alay 28. 1874, married Tressilian Tucker: Cora 



242 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Palmer, born Oct. i. 1876. married Henry Hutch- 
ins, May 14, 1901 : and William E., born Oct. 22, 
1879. (2) Elliott Palmer, 'born July 3, 1844, died 
June 3, 1855. (3j Hubert, born Nov. 14, 1848, 
married first Alice Brown, of Columbia. Nov. 14, 
1871 ; she died May 20, 1877; and Sept. 19, 1878, 
he married Martha E. Williams, of Meriden, who 
was born Jan. 24, 1856. His children were: Flora 
Edith, bnrn Xov. 18, 1872, in Meriden, died Jan. 14, 
1873 : L'layton Everett, born Dec. 19, 1874. died 
March zy. 1875 '• Clinton Egbert, horn May 8, 1877 ; 
Edna ^lay, born June 28, 1879, died April 9, 1883: 
Thomas Saxton, born \'ov. 2j, 1882. died May 12, 
1883; Harold Saxton, burn July 7, 1884: and Bur- 
ton Elbert, born ]\Iay 4. 1890, died Oct. 30, 1891. 
(4) Alonzo, born Aprd 17, 185 1, married Harriet 
Isham; they have no children. (5) Elbert Cornel- 
ius, born Oct. 24, 1853, married first Annie Dewey, 
who died in Norwich, Conn., Dec. 6, 1881, of con- 
sumption ; and second Luella Hale ; their child, Lyn- 
den, was born March 9, 1894. (6) Prescott Palmer, 
horn in Columl)ia. Sept. 15. 1856, married Eliza 
Ford Clark July 12, 1882. She was born in 1861, 
and died Jan. 4, i8c)5. Their chililren: Herman 
Clark, born Julv 15, 1884; Joseph Prescott, born 
Feb. 13, 1886; and Edith Lucy, born May 5, i8t>i. 
(7) Payson Elliott. liorn Aug. 31, 1859, married 
Emma Bascom, of Columhia, Sept. 24, 1882, and 
their one son. Homer, was born .^ug. 3, 1884. (8) 
Anna Alaria, born Jime 2t,, 1846, died Oct. 25. 1855, 
aged nine years. 

(VH) Charles Little, son of Samuel and Jerusha 
Bailey Little, born Sept. 26, 1818, was graduated 
from Yale in 1844. He studied theology at Au- 
burn, N. Y., and at New Haven, and was ordained 
in Columbia in 1847. He married first in 1847. 
Amelia Newton, and sailed for India the same year. 
Landing at ^Madras, they rode in a palanquin, 180 
miles to Madura, where his wife died in 1848, aged 
twetity-five years. He returned to America in 1852 
and married Susan Robins in 1853. They started 
for Madura in the fall of that year, but her health 
failed and tliey returned, reaching Xew York, Feb. 
4. i8f«. In 18^)8 he became Pastor of the First 
Congregational Church in Lincoln. Neb. No rail- 
road had reached Lii.coln at that time, and the lum- 
ber to build his house was carted fifty miles. The 
failure of his health caused him to give up preach- 
ing. September. 1888. He died at his son's home 
in Lincoln. .Aug. 19, 1892. He was a bright, pure- 
minded boy, and a noble, Christian man. His chil- 
ilren were: .Sanuiel Robhins, born in Madura. In- 
dia, Sept. 21, 1855, now deceased: .\melia Newton, 
born in India, March 21, 1857, died Dec. 10, 1857; 
Charles Newton, born in India May 14, 1858, is a 
fine scholar and has been professor in the State Uni- 
versity in Minneapolis, and in Leland Stanford L^ni- 
versity, California: Elizabeth, born in Cheshire, 
Conn., Jan. 12, 1863, married Mr. Adamson. has 
two children, and lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

(\11) Saxton Baile\' Little, son of Samuel 



Little and Jersuha Bailey, was born in Columbia, 
Conn., April 19, 1813, and on Aug. 21, 1836, mar- 
ried Sarah Maria Tracy, who was born Oct. 13, 
1813, daughter of Calvin and Sarah (Loomis) 
Tracy. She died Dec. 31, 1844, aged thirty-one 
years, having been a good wife, a faithful mother 
and a devoted member of the Congregational 
Church. Her remains rest in the cemetery at Col- 
umbia. The children born of this union are as fol- 
lows : (1 ) Charles L., born July 16, 1839, in Col- 
umbia, Conn., was married April 23, 1862, to Gene- 
vieve M. Stiles, of Sufifield, Conn., and they have 
had six children : Sarah Maria, born March 3, 
\^''il. married Robert Hubbard. June 24, 1896, and 
has one child, Genevieve; Frank Allen, born Aug. 

30, 1864, was a graduate of Yale Scientific school 
and died Dec. 26. 1895 : Arthur Edgerton, wdio re- 
sides in Los Angeles, Cal., is the father of two chil- 
tlren, Saxton Bailey and Mildred: Edward Baxter, 
born Oct. 26, 1867: Isabelle Annette, born March 
13, 1869, was married Jan. 17, 1893, to Fred Brown, 
of Springfield, Mass., and has two children, Dorcas 
and Kathleen : and Clara Elvira, born Alarch 19, 
1878. (2) Frank Eugene Little, born April 28, 
1844, was married Jan. 28, 1868, to Jennie Coan, 
and they have become the parents of five children : 
Myra, who died in infancy; Mabel Jennie, born 
Oct. 2, 1870, married George Baldwin, of Laurel, 
Md., and is the mother of one child, Elsie; Lena 
Coan, born Oct. 9, 1876; Charles Eugene, born July 

31. 1878, was in the Spanish-.\merican war; and 
Ernest Butler, born Jan. 30, 1880. Frank Eugene 
Little served four years in the Union army during 
the Civil war, first in the 15th Conn. V. I., and later 
in the 107th regiment of Colored Troops, in which 
he held the rank of Major. 

Saxton Bailey Little received his preliminary in- 
struction in the public schools and completed his 
studies in Tolland, East Hartford, and Bacon Acad- 
emies. When sixteen years of age he began teach- 
ing school. The first fifteen winters he "boarded 
round," as was the custom in those days. One year 
he taught in Bacon Academy, two years and a half 
in Willimantic, three years in Greenville, Norwich, 
Conn. In 1850 he went to Rockville. Conn., where 
he taught four years, and where he ended his ser- 
vices in the public schools. In March, 1854, he was 
appointed assistant superintendent and teacher in 
the Connecticut Reform School, and upon the death 
of the lamented Dr. E. \V. Hatch, Feb. 7, 1874, was 
made acting superintendent. After a continuous 
service of twenty-one years witli the institution, he 
severed his connection with it July 31, 1895. The 
trustees in their report to the General Assembly in 
1874 thus fittingly referred to Mr. Little; ''We 
should fail in our duty if we did not signify to you 
our high appreciation of the well-applied and faith- 
ful services of this officer : and to testify that his 
labors in the jjosition of superintendent and teacher 
have contributed largely to the success of the 
school." 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



243 



As niiglit I)e inferred of one so long associated 
with the educational interests of Connecticut, Mr. 
Little is a lover of books and has taken great interest 
in placing them within the reach of others. He has 
been an etificient helper in establishing a free public 
library in Columbia, his old home, and to it he has 
given $1,500 as a permanent fund, the interest of 
which only is to be used in purchasing books and 
in keeping the building in repairs. Mr. Little has 
also given to the library a lliousand volumes. He 
is an esteemed and highly-valued and nuich re- 
sjiected citizen of Meriden, having in many ways 
outside of the school room been useful to the city. 
His religious connections have l)een with the Con- 
gregational Church, and in Meriden he is a member 
•of the First Church. 

Mr. Little has filled most efficiently a number 
of public offices in the town, having been a member 
of the Common Council of Meriden. served on the 
high school committee, a trustee of the Y. M. C. A. 
and has been for many years on the school district 
committee, and a menrber of the Board of Educa- 
tion since school districts have been abolished. 
Since retiring from the school, he has made a tour 
of Europe, going as far as Naples and Pompeii. 
In this country he has travelled extensively, and 
has also made himself familiar with various parts of 
Canada by personal observation. The large cities 
in forty states have been visited by him, including 
I'lorida, southern California, the Yosemite, New 
Orleans Exposition, the Yellowstone Park, Luray 
and Mammoth Caves, and other points and places of 
interest. The political affiliations of Mr. Little are 
with the Republican party. L.i his personal habits 
he has been extremely regular, and b.as never used 
alcoholic drinks or tobacco. 

JULIL'S ELISHA MERRIMAN. who now 
lives retired from business activity, in his comfort- 
able home on Crown street, Meriden, Conn., was 
born in this town Oct. 10, 1820, and is a descendant 
of one of the oldest settlers of Wallingford, New 
Haven county. 

Capt. Nathaniel Alerriman was the first of the 
name found in America. He was born in England 
in 1 61 4, was in New Haven county as early as 
1639, and a signer of the Plantation Covenant in 
that year, and later he became one of the original 
settlers of Wallingford. in 1670. Capt. Merriman 
was sergeant of the train band, in New Haven, and 
lieutenant of it in Wallingford, becoming captain 
of the troop of dragoons raised in New Haven 
county. Several times he was a deputy to the Gen- 
eral Court, and his death occurred I-'eb. 13, 1O94, in 
Wallingford. 

Elisha Merriman. the grandfather of Julius E., 
c>f Meriden, was a native of the town of Walling- 
ford, was twice married, an<l made his home in Mer- 
iden, where he died. 

( )rrin Merriiuan, son of Elisha, was born in 
Meriden, and in his \(iuth learned the trade of shoe- 



maker. While still a \oung man, he moved to 
Southington and there engaged in the making of 
shoe and boot lasts, and there he died, while still 
in the prime of life, in 1X24. Mr. Merriman per- 
formed a soldier's duty during the war of 1812, 
and was one of the leading members of the Congre- 
gational Church, a man esteeme(l by all. He was 
married in Southington, to Susaimah Johnson, who 
was a native of Southington, but who died in the 
home of her son, Julius E., in Meriden, where her 
tleclining years were made comfortable. Her re- 
mains rest in West cemetery. Her children were: 
Julius E. : and Caroline, who is the widow of R. S. 
Dowd, and now makes her home in Meriden. 

Julius Elisha Merriman was but four years of 
age when death robbed him of a father's i)r'otection. 
His education was obtained in the district schools, 
but his schooling was shortened in order that he 
might become a wage earner, his mother having but 
small means. When but fourteen years of age, he 
started to work with Issabell, Curtis & Co., later 
going to New I'.ritain, where for a considerable 
period, he was eniployed in the brass works. Then 
he went to Hamden, Conn., and engaged in work 
for James Ives, at harness and carriage trimmings, 
remaining in this position alx>ut four years. Mr. 
Merriman then came to Meriden and foimd employ- 
ment with Julius Pratt & Co., in the manufacture 
of combs, remaining with this firm for fifteen years, 
during seven of these serving as superintendent of 
the factory, which was latterly devoted to the pro- 
duction of ivory piano keys. After leaving the em- 
ploy of Julius Pratt & Co., Mr. Merriman then ac- 
cepted a position with Foster, Alerriam & Co., and 
spent the succeeding fifteen years with this compaii}', 
in the furniture casting deijartment, where he was a 
contractor and later superintendent. 

In 1881, after such an active life for so many 
years, Mr. Merriman decided to retire from such 
exacting work, and for the past twenty \ears has 
been principally engaged in looking after his prop- 
erty interests. Like other men of substance he had 
invested in real estate with advantage, and is the 
owner of valuable property. One of his iX)ssessions 
is a brick block, on Perkins street, which he erected 
at a cost of $10,000. Mr. Merriman looks well af- 
ter his property himself, is still vigorous and hearty 
and (|uite capable of physical exertion. When in 
his eighty-second year, he noticed that one of the 
three-story buildings needed repaiiUing, and with 
surprising agility and capacity he reiuedied this 
matter himself. This, however, is nothing un- 
usual, as he is in the habit of painting his roof 
once in two years, as well as the interior of hi.-; 
liome. 

On Feb. 24, 1845, Mr. Merriman was married 
in Southington, Coiui., to Miss Minerva Clark, who 
was born in that town, a daughter of Allen and 
Sylvia (Barnes) Clark. To this union four chil- 
dren were born: Alice C, who died young; Har- 
riet ( Hattie) Lee, who married Edward F. Pierce, 



244 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and has four children, namely : Charles (deceased), 
Lloyd (deceased), Allen Clark and Emeline Daisy; 
George Edward, who died at the age of two years ; 
and Rufus C, who married Alice Castelow, and is a 
butter and egg dealer on Colony street, in Meriden. 
JMrs. Alerriman is a descendant of one of the old 
and most highly respected families of Southington, 
more extended mention of whom is found in an- 
other part of this history. She is a lady of retiring 
and gentle disposition, whose peaceful contentment 
is written upon her face, and whose Christian char- 
acter exerts its uplifting influence in the community. 
Her beautiful life of devotion to husband and chil- 
dren is known to them, and she is most tenderly 
beloved by every one. 

In his early political life, Mr. Alerriman was a 
Whig, but for many years has been an active sup- 
IK)rter of the Republican party, althoug'h never will- 
ing to accept any office in its gift. For a long per- 
iod he has been connected with the Alasonic fratern- 
ity, and is a member of Meridian Lodge, No. yj, 
of Meriden. From early boyhood he has been con- 
nected with the Congregational Church and is one 
of its most liberal supporters. Air. Alerriman be- 
gan his career as a poor boy, but with iletermination 
and perseverance he overcame all obstacles. For 
many years his capacity for work was enormous, 
and as time went on he accumulated means, through 
legitimate channels. One feature which Air. Merri- 
man considers of consequence in his career, was his 
stand on the subject of temperance, never in his life 
having taken a drop of liquor over a bar, the result 
being a surprisingly robust condition of physical 
health and a clear brain. 

Clark. Lemuel Clark was born at Aliddle- 
town. Conn., in 1748, and was married in Southing- 
ton, Conn., on Oct. 14, 1772, to Asenath Carter, 
who was a daughter of Abel and Alary (Coach) 
Carter and lived in that part of Southington, now 
called Plantsville, where he died on Jan. 14, 1786. 
His widow, Asenath, married, Alarch 20, 1808, Dr. 
Theodore Wadsworth, and died April 8, 1841, at 
the age of eighty-six years. Lemuel Clark's chil- 
dren were: Phebe, born Dec. 11, 1773; Allen, Nov. 
26, 1774; Solomon, Sept. 6, 1781 ; Polly, Oct. 16, 
1783, and Lemuel, Feb. 10, 1786. 

Allen Clark, son of Lemuel, was married on Jan. 
19, 1803, to Sylvia Barnes, a daughter of Thomas 
and Phebe (Langdon) Barnes, who was born June 
25, 1782, in Southington. Allen Clark was a 
clothier by trade and occupation, and a resident of 
Plantsville. His death occurred on June 30, 1861, 
at the age of eighty-six years, and his wife died 
Jan. 12, 1857. Their children were: Sophia, born 
Dec. I, i8<.)3, died Sept. 9, 1805; Salmon F., born 
Jan. 14, 1805; Henry A., born Aug. 26, 1806, mar- 
ried Sarah Curtis, Nov. 14, 1832; Sophia (2), born 
Oct. (), 1808, died April 10, 1840; George R., born 
Dec. 30, 1810, died June 19, 1834; Polly, born Feb. 
II, 1813, died Nov. 2, 1816; Phebe, born Jan. 12, 
1815, died Nov. 18, 1816; Polly A., born Feb. 9. 
1817; Phebe .-\., born April 12, 1819, married Levi 



P. Norton, and died April 30, 1868; Lemuel, born 
Alarch i, 1821, married Airs. Eunice R. Adams, 
Alay 16, i860; and Minerva, born Feb. 16, 1823, 
married Julius E. Alerriman Nov. 24, 1845. 

(Stephen Barnes, says tradition, was of the 
Branford family who came thither from Long Isl- 
and, settled in Southington, with his wife, Alary, 
was the progenitor of many of the name there.) 

AIICIiAEL SEIP, superintendent for Alanning, 
Bowman & Co., manufacturers of Meriden, is a 
well-known and highly respected resident of that 
city, and has held his present responsible position 
for the past twenty-two years. His birth occurred 
Jan. II, 1835, in Easton, Pa., and he belongs to one 
of the old families of that State, of German descent.- 
The family name was originally spelled Seib, and 
the family history is traced back to the beginning of 
the eighteenth century, to Jacob Seib, a native of 
Bucks county, Pa., who was born and reared on a 
farm. During early manhood he removed to Easton, 
Pa., located on a farm, and there spent the re- 
mainder of his life. His remains were interred in 
the cemetery at Easton. For many years he was a 
consistent member of the Lutheran Church. 

(II) Alichael Seip, son of Jacob, was born on 
the farm in Easton and there grew to manhood. He 
learned the trade of blacksmith, which he followed 
all his life, becoming one of the Dest blacksmiths and 
horseshoers in that section. His death occurred in 
Easton when he was eighty-two years of age, and 
he was buried in the cemetery there. In politics he 
was a Jeffersonian Democrat ; in religious matters 
he was a member of the Lutheran Church. During 
the war of 1812 he was in the campaign at New 
Orleans under Gen. Jackson, and in both civil and 
military afYairs was well known and highly re- 
spected. Michael Seip was married in Easton to 
Catharine Kreidler, who was a native of that city, 
although of German descent. Her parents were 
large land owners and farmers of that locality, and 
very prominent people. Airs. Seip died in Easton, 
and was there buried by the side of her husband. 
Like him she was an earnest member of the Luth- 
eran Church. Their children were as follows : Ed- 
ward, the father of Alichael and Henry W. ; Aaron, 
a blacksmith, who died in Easton ; Henry S., who- 
was a coach maker and blacksmith in Easton ; 
Tilghman, a blacksmith at Allentown, Pa., who died 
in Easton ; Reuben, a blacksmith at Bath, Pa., where 
he died; Amos, who was first a coach maker, but 
later studied medicine, and is now a physician in 
Easton ; and Catharine, who married George Heck- 
man, of Easton. 

(III) Edward Seip was born in Easton, Pa., in 
1805, and grew to manhood in his native place, 
learning the trade of blacksmith under his father. 
For several years he followed that trade, but being 
a man of enterprise and progressive ideas he em- 
barked in several ventures, for a time conducting a 
livery stable, and later a dairy business. The active 
years of his life were spent in Easton and neighbor- 




JJloc T^clc/ Jg;%^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



245 



ing towns, and when he retired from business he 
removed to Philadcli^hia, and there died Nov. 21, 
1885, at the age of eighty years. He was buried in 
the Knights of Pythias cemetery, he having been a 
member of that order, as well as of the I. O. O. F., 
at Easton, and the O. L'. A. M., also at Easton. In 
religious matters he affiliated with the Lutheran 
Church, and held the office of deacon in tliat body. 
Politically he was a Jackson Democrat, but never 
aspired for office. Edward Seij) married in I^aston 
Margaret Hemsing, daughter of William and .Mar- 
garet (Spinner) Hemsing, the former of whom was 
a composer and writer of music and a very fine 
musician. His wife was a relative of United States 
Treasurer Spinner, who was in office during the 
Civil war. Mrs. Seip died in Philadelphia Dec. 23, 
1879, aged seventy-tw'O years, and was burietl in the 
Kniglits of Pythias cemetery. She was a devoted 
wife and mother, a kind neighbor and good Chris- 
tian, greatlv beloved by all wdio knew her. Children 
were born to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Seip as follows: 
Henry William, born May 12, 1829. Henrietta, born 
Aug. 8. 1833. is now the widow of Jacob Houk, of 
Easton. ^iid^ael was born Jan. 11, 1833. Edward, 
born May 11, 1836, resides in Easton, Pa. Wilhel- 
mina. born May 11. 1838. married Charles Doch- 
aradt. of Easton. Sarah Ann, born Xov. 19, 1839. 
married George Davenport, a barber, of Easton. 
Richard Madison J., born April 17. 1841, is a manu- 
facturer of paper supplies in Germantown, Pa. 
Charles Lewis, born Oct. 11, 1842, graduated from 
the medical department of the University of Penn- 
sylvania, and is a physician of New Bedford, Alass. 
Emma M., born Jan. 24, 1845, is now the widow of 
Edwin D. Ulmer. of Philadelphia. Alice S. was 
born Sept. 30, 1846. There were three other daugh- 
ters, but they died young. 

Michael Seip attended the public school of his 
native town, and there remained until fifteen years 
of age. -At that time he started out to make his own 
w-av in life, and located in Philadelphia, wliere he 
obtained a position with Hall & Poardman, on .Arch 
street, wdio were engaged in the britannia business. 
For about six years he remained in that position, re- 
ceiving his lx)ard and twenty-five dollars for the 
first year, and board with an advance of five dollars 
each vear tor the remaining years of that period. 
Having attained his majority and learned his busi- 
ness thoroughly, Michael Seip accepted a position 
as superintendent with John Oliver Meade & .Sons, 
silver platers, wdiich he filled with general satisfac- 
tion for fourteen years. On l-'eb. i, 1868. lie came 
to Connecticut to accept a position with .Manning, 
Bowman & Co.. at Middletown, as foreman. Wlien 
that company removed the plant to Meriden, in July, 
1872, Mr. Seip came with them, and retained the 
posiiiou mentioned until 1880, when be was pro- 
moted to the superintendency of the entire factory, 
and since that time has most efficiently discharged 
its duties. Being a man of genial disposition, and 
taking a deep interest in the business and the men 
under him, he has won the respect and confidence 



of all with wdiom he is brought into contact, while 
his ability in his work is uncjuestioned. 

Michael Seip was married, Jan. 2, 1856, in Phil- 
adelphia, to Eliza Jane Huston, a native of Quaker- 
town, Pa., daughter of Jesse Huston. One child 
came to this union, Ida \'irginia, horn in October, 
1856, in Philadelphia, who was educated in Meri- 
den, Conn., and given many advaiuages. She mar- 
ried I'rank W. bVisbie, son of Thaddeus Frisbie, of 
New Haven, and they make their home with Mr. 
and Mrs. Seiji, in Meriden. Three children have 
been born to .Mr. and Mrs. Frisbie: \\'alter S., 
born May 11, 1881, graduated from "S'alc in the 
class of 1901, and is now a student in the me<lical 
department of Cornell University, X. A'. Ethel 
May was born Aug. 8, 1887. .Marguerite Huston 
was born Feb. 4, i88(), Mr. I-'risbie is a druggist. 
Both Air. and .Mrs. b'rishie are members of '.AH 
Saints' l^jjiscopal Cluircli, in which he is a vestry- 
man and secretary nf the Sunday school. Airs. 
Frisbie has devoted much time to music, having 
studied under .Mr. Parsons, of Meriden, and is a 
very accomplished nuisician. 

Air. Seip is a member of Aleridian Lodge, Xo. 
JJ. A. F. & .A. M. : Ke\stonc Chapter, Xo. 2j. R. .A. 
AL; Fraternal Lodge.'l. O. O. ]■.. of Philadelphia, 
of wdiich he is past grand : and .Ashland Encamp- 
ment. In political affiliations he is a Republican, 
but has never sought for or desired office. Both he 
and his wife are devout members of the First 
Alethodist Church, and Mr. Seip has been one of 
the trustees of that body for ten years. In their 
pleasant home a genial hos])itality is* dispensed, and 
the family enjoys in the liighest degree the con- 
fidence and respect of neighbors and friends. 

DEACOX HEXRV WILLIAAI SEIP, fore- 
man of the stock department of Manning, Bowman 
& Co., Aleriden. was born in Easton, Pa., Alay 12, 
1829. son of Edward Seip, and brother of Michael 
Seip. His education was obtained in the public 
schools, and he was taught the trade of blacksmith 
by his father. He worked at his trade in his native 
town until 1836. at which time he went to Philadel- 
phia and engaged in the britannia business in the 
factory of John O. Aleadc & Sons. From 1856 
until 1875 Mr. Seip continued with this one house, 
with the exception of six years spent in doing con- 
tract work at the Baldwin Locomotive \\"orks, and 
gave universal satisfaction. After having been a 
resident of Philadelphia for nineteen years he re- 
moved to Aleriden and entered the employ of Alan- 
ning, Bowman & Co., working at the drop press. 
While thus engaged he met with an accident wdiich 
resulted in the whole or jiartial loss of the fingers on 
his left hand. .As soon as he had recovered from 
this accident he was placed in the stock department 
as assistant to the foreman, and within a short time 
his ability demonstrated his fitness for the position 
of foreman, to wdiich he was accordingly promoted 
and wdiich he has since retained, discharging his 
numerous and responsible duties faithfully and with 



246 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



efficiency. Thousands of dollars worth of goods 
pass through his hands every year and much re- 
sponsibihty rests upon him, but he has always been 
found capable of meeting every emergency'. Like 
his brother, Michael Seip. he is genial and has many 
friends, not only among his business associates, but 
in social circles. 

Deacon Seip was twice married, his first wife 
having been .Miss Eliza Honk, a native of North- 
ampton county. Pa. They were married in Easton, 
Pa. Two children came to them, of whom Mary, 
the eldest, died young. Emma Miller resides in 
Philadelphia. Mrs. Seip died in Philadelphia. On 
May 10, 1868, Mr. Seip married Maria Adams, who 
was born in Burlington, X. J., one of the eight chil- 
dren of Abraham and Susan (Hawkins) Adams, of 
Burlington, \. J. .\o children were born of this 
marriage. Mrs. Seip is a charming lady, highly ed- 
ucated, cultured and devoted to her home. She is a 
most excellent Christian and a member of the Con- 
gregational Church, in whose work she takes an 
active part, being a member of the Christian En- 
deavor Society : president of the Guardian Society ; 
and a member of the Benevolent and Missiona'rv 
Societies of Meriden. Mr. Seip is deacon of the 
First Congregational Church, having been elected 
to that office in 1884, and retained it with honor 
and dignity ever since. For many years he has been 
an earnest memlier of and worker in the church, be- 
longing to the Christian Endeavor and other church 
societies : and is a teacher in the Sunday-school. He 
is one of the leading men of his denomination. Both 
he and his wife.occupy a very high place in the es- 
teem and affection of their fellow workers in the 
church, where their many e.xcellent qualities. Chris- 
tian characters and benevolence are recognized and 
thoroughly appreciated. Mr. Seip always gives his 
support to the candidates of the Republican party, 
but does not take an active part in political matters, 
his business and church duties claiming much of his 
time. ' 

Both Michael and Deacon Seip are men of whom 
Meriden may well be proud, for they are e.xcellent 
examples of God-fearing, industrious, prosperous 
men. Through their own industry and thrift they 
have risen to their present res]jonsiIile positions, and 
by their efficiency and faithfulness they have main- 
tained themselves in the confidence of their emjjloy- 
ers as well as gained the good- will and affectinn of 
those inider them. I'leaNaiit in manner, they win 
friends; generous lo a faull, they relieve distress; 
kind-hearted, their sympathy is alwa\-s extended to 
those less fortunate; whili in tluii' luinu's the\ are 
loved and honored. 

H()B.\RT r.FXFDlCT l\l".S. a rci)rcsentative 
American business man, was burn in Cheshire, New 
Haven county, June 23, 1843. Both his ]jarents were 
of sturdy Xew England stock. I lis mother, B)etsey 
Rice, a native of Readsboro. \'t., was a woman of 
solid character and vigorous mind ; his father, I'ar- 
tiin Ivts, came of a Innir line of .\ew r'nijland farm- 



ers, and, if he did not endow his son with worldly 
wealth and great social and educational advantages, 
at least gave him the high heritage of a respected 
name. 

The boyhood life of Mr. Ives was not bristling 
with opportunities for advancement in any direc- 
tion. His formal education was confined to a few 
winter terms in the district school, his practical ex- 
perience to the humdrum work upon the farm, 
varied by an occasional day"s work in his father's 
oyster keg shop, an industry carried on during the 
winter months to a considerable extent in Connecti- 
cut in those days, by the aid of which Barton Ives 
eked out a not too liberal income. Mr. Ives' father 
was an honored citizen, and, in his way, an am- 
bitious parent ; but his aspirations both for himself 
and his children were limited to the boundaries of 
his own farm. That any better destiny awaited his 
son Hobart than the cultivation of the ancestral 
acres, and that any higher position among his fel- 
low citizens was desirable for him than a chief place 
among the head men of the town or a possible dca- 
conshi]j in the village church, never for a moment 
entered his mind. Those New England farmers 
of the last generation served a useful purpose as an- 
cestors, for they transmitted splendid physical 
frames and safely balanced brains to their descend- 
ants, but they were not men of imagination. 

Thus when young Hobart Ives, in his formative 
years, began to exhibit an unpardonable indift'erence 
to farm life and to murmur against taking it up as 
a permanent vocation, he appealed strongly to his 
father and his sympathizing neighbors as a sad 
young chap who had gone wrong. It is true that 
on several occasions he had shown promising qual- 
ities. Thus, even when a youngster, he had dem- 
onstrated marked progressiveness as a salesman of 
farm products, his father himself admitting that 
the boy could take a load to New Haven and dis- 
pose of it to much better advantage than himself. 
This fact in itself should have furnished the key 
to the young man's future. The only part of farm- 
ing that young Ives was fond of was the selling of 
the finished jiroduct. That his aptitude for selling 
was general, and not special, was shown by the fact 
that he never brought the farm wagon back to Che- 
shire empty, but filled it with an assortment of sea 
food, which, on his arrival home, he at once pro- 
ceeded to convert into cash. This faculty for find- 
ing a ready market for his goods, whelher f;irni 
products, hardware, or stocks and bonds, has been 
Air. Ives' most available business asset through life; 
and, if one were asked to name the one pre-eminent 
reason for his business success, he wtiuld ]nit his 
finger on that feature of his make-up. The pos- 
session of this ciuality means nnicli ; it ini]jlies a 
])ersonality that connnands attention and inspires re- 
s])ect, as well as a ready wit for placing the best 
side of the case foremost. .Mr. Ives has other pre- 
eminent qualities than this, such as tireless energy, 
mivielding determination, courage and inventive 
skill; but his abilitv to interest men in himself and 




^ Y^ '^v^^O 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



247 



his enterprises, and to inspire their confidence in his 
spoken word, is his gift par excellence. Mr. Ives 
had shown this quality early. He had also shown 
a desire to get on in the world ; to win the re- 
spect of his compatriots : to make his mark. The 
one thing that was apjiarent to him alxive all was 
that this could not be done on his father's farm ; so 
one day he called his father aside and told him he 
was going to start out for himself. 

"Where are you going?" a>keil the astonished 
parent. 

"L'p in Massachusetts." 

"What arc \ou going to do when you get there?" 

"Start a store and make money." 

"How are you going to get there?" 

"You are going to buy my horse, wagon and 
wood lot, and give me a hundred dollars for them." 

The old gentleman was somewhat amazed at 
this proposition, though, from his point of view, 
it was not a had one. as the young man's property 
was worth two or three times the figures named. 
It was the first and last Ixid bargain Mr. Ives ever 
made: but then the circumstances were exceptional. 

"Well, go on," his father said in despair, "but 
you'll return penniless within a month and mighty 
glad to get back." 

Mr. Ives was twenty-three years of age when 
he left home with this left-handed ])arental bless- 
ing on his head. He did not return in a month ; in 
fact, in the condition his father described, he has 
not returned }et ; and it begins to look as though 
his valiant father would prove a false prophet. 
However, by the time he had paid his carfare to 
North Adams — the town he had selected as the 
first scene of his struggles — and made arrangements 
to start in business, he was not far from being in 
the unpleasant financial c()n<lition his father alluded 
to. He hired a small basement store, but his land- 
lord was so little impressed with his ability to ful- 
fill his modest engagements that he made him "put 
U]j" his watch as security for the rent's pa_\-iuent in 
advance. Mr. Ives' beginning was thus a modest 
one, but in two years his lousiness had .so mcreased 
that he had two larger stores and an established rep- 
utation as a ])romising young business man. He 
constantly added to this rei)ulation ftjr the ten years 
that he remained in Xorth .\dams, in the course of 
which period he married Caroline r)ennett, daugh- 
ter of Ira P. and Jane Landon liennett, leading peo- 
ple of that place. 

Mr. Ives' natural inclinations, however, were 
toward manufacturing rather than toward the 
trade, and movinf to New Haven, in 1876, he 
soon establislied the well-known firm of II. 1!. 
Ives & Co., manufacturers of hardware. Like 
all important undertakings, the early history of 
this firm was one of struggles against adverse 
fortune, unfair competition, constant discourage- 
ments and a])parent failure — all resulting final- 
ly in a splendid victory. The firm was Mr. 
Ives, and .Mr. Ives was the firm. He him- 
self invented the Jiardware specialties which 



brought success ; he secured the capital that made 
possible their development ; he su])erinten(ietl all the 
details of manufacturing; and, when the finished 
I)roduct was forthcoming from his modest factory, 
he himself took it on the road and found a market 
for it. When, therefore, in 1901. he liought his 
pre.sent extensive factory on .\rtizan street and in- 
corporated the business unik-r the name of 'l"hc 
H. B. Ives Company, himself becoming president 
and treasurer, it was in every sense a jiersonal 
triumph, it was a splendid evidence of what native 
energy and talent, unaided by favoring circum- 
stances, could accomplish, and. as such. Mr. Ives is 
pardonably proud uI it. This, IiDwevcr, was not 
all that he had done. His business obligations, in- 
deed, had by this time become numerous and mani- 
fold. He had been instrumental in the organiza- 
tion and manageiuent of several coiupanies, notably 
the New Haven Car Register Co.. nf which he was 
president for several years: had owned, in the 
course of twenty-five years, seven different stores, 
one of which. The City Hall Pharmacy, is to-day 
one of the most successful establishments of its 
kind in New Haven : had Iiecome largely interested 
in Western mines ; had sent out a party of young 
men to Alaska, the result of whose trip was the 
organization of the Kasaan Hay Company, of which 
Mr. Ives is the president and moving spirit, which 
founded the town of Kasaan, built school houses for 
the Indians and developed large mercantile, lumber 
and mining business, and is, at the present time, 
building one of the largest camieries on tlie Pacific 
coast. 

Mr. Ives is also the originator and treasurer of 
The Apollo Consolidated Cold Mining Co., owners 
of the famous California mine, in Republic, Wash.; 
and, in addition to all these, he established The Ives 
Investment Co., which, besides conducting an ex- 
tensive loan business, acts as fiscal agent for 
these several enterprises. 'I"he names of the di- 
rectors and stockholders of all these com])anies, 
which include many of the best-known names 
in New Haven and C<->nnecticut, are sutticient 
indication of the confidetice which Mr. ]\-es en- 
joys. But he is more than a successful man- 
ufacturer and business man. He knows not only 
how to make money, but, what many more money- 
makers never learn, he knows how to live. He has 
a beautiful home upon Whitney avenue, and this, 
with his children and his grandchildren, of whom 
he has two, is his greatest delight. He is an ex- 
tensive traveler, and passionately fond of the rod 
and gun and the sportsman's life in wcK)d and field. 
Both his nature and his physical frame are reiuark- 
ably well preserved, and his activities were never 
more marked than now. 

Mr. Ives' family is as follows: (' I ) Bertha Jane 
Ives, a graduate of Mt. llolyoke College, class of 
1890, Anderson Normal School of Gymnastics of 
New Haven, i8<j4, married Dec. 29. 1896, Burton J. 
Hendrick, Yale '95, M. .\. '97. They have two 
children — Ives, born March lo, 1898; and Ilobart, 



M8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



born Feb. 27, igo2. (2) Sue Bennett Ives has been 
a student for three years at Mt. Holyoke College. 
(3) Leila ]\Iae Ives was graduated from Boxwood 
Seminary, Old Lyme, Conn., in 1898. 

BURR S. PECK is one of the best known and 
oldest builders in the city of New Haven, and he 
belongs to an old Connecticut family. 

Benjamin Peck, the grandfather of our subject, 
was born in Hamden, Conn., March 31, 1776, and 
married Lucy Dickerman, who was born June 6, 
1776. He engaged in an agricultural life all his 
(lays, dying in the locality of his birth. A large 
family were born to him and his wife : Sophia, 
Lewis, Rebecca, Henry„ Francis, Frederick, Lois, 
Edson, Chloe, and Sylvia, all of whom grew to be 
respected citizens, many of them marrying and scat- 
tering the name over the whole of New England. 

Frederick Peck, the father of our subject, was 
born in Hamden, Conn., May 8, 1809, and died Dec. 
19, 1870, at the age of sixty-one. His occupation 
liad been that of a carpenter, which he learned in 
Bethany, Conn. He married Miss Sarah Sperry, in 
Derby, who was born in Bethany, a daughter of 
Alvin and Sally (Nettleton) Sperry, the former of 
whom was a carpenter in that village. When yet 
a young man, Frederick Peck came to New Haven, 
and after marriage located in this city permanently, 
and here he built up a flourishing business, con- 
tinuing until his decease. In politics, he was an ar- 
dent Republican, and both he and wife were con- 
sistent members of the MethocHst Church. 

r.urr S. Peck was the only child of his parents, 
and was born in Bethany, Conn., May 18, 1831. 
He attended the schools of his native place until 
he was eight years old, and after removal to New 
Haven finished his education in the city schools, 
and has made this his home ever since. His father 
taught him the trade of carpenter and huilder, and 
so well and faithfully did he master all details, that 
for many years he has held a leading position among 
the builders of the city. His work can be seen in 
many of the finest and best buildings in New Hav- 
en, among these being almost all of the Yale College 
buildings. 

On Sept. 2, 1855, Mr. Peck was united in mar- 
riage with Mary Jane Emery, a native of Hanover, 
N.'H., a daughter of Jonathan and Sally (Buntin) 
Emery, the latter of whom was born in Pembroke, 
New Hampshire, and was a cousin of Ex-Gov. 
Nathaniel Head, of that State. Benjamin Buntin, 
the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Peck, married 
Abigail Noyes. Her father, Jonathan Emery, was 
a carpenter, who lived and died in Hanover, at the 
age of sixtv-nine ; and his wife died May 3, 1868; 
thev were the parents of eight children : Ira, Abig- 
ail, John. Mary J., Henry and Charles, and twins 
that died in infancy. To our subject and wife was 
born one daughter, Minnie Estelle, Jan. 10, i860, 
who died Nov. 2, 1890, the wife of Charles Hunt, of 
Springfield, Mass., who died in 1888, aged thirty 



vears. In his political belief, Mr. Peck is a Repub- 
lican, and since 1853 has been fraternally connected 
with the I. O. O. F., City Lodge, No. 36. In re- 
ligious life, the family are consistent members of the 
M. E. Church, where they are esteemed for their 
Christian character, and to which Mr. Peck has been 
liberal and generous. As one of the city's oldest 
builders, it has been the privilege of our subject to 
assist very materially in the adornment of it, and 
among its residents no one is more highly respected. 

The Noyes Family originally came from Wilt- 
shire, England, where the Rev. William Noyes mar- 
ried Ann Parker, in 1620-22. He was rector of 
Choulderton, in Wiltshire. His son. Rev. James 
Noyes, born March 11, 1640, was the first minister 
at Stonington, Conn., having crossed in the "Mary 
and John," and he was one of the founders and first 
trustees of Yale College ; he was moderator of the 
Assembly that drew up the Saybrook Platform — 
or the first move for Yale. He was a graduate of 
Brasenose College, Oxford. His wife was Sarah, 
daughter of Joseph Brown, of Southampton. 

beacon Nicholas Noyes was born in Wiltshire, 
in 1616, and there married Mary Cutting. They 
came to America on the ship "Mary and John," set- 
tling in Newbury, Massachusetts. 

John Noyes, son of Deacon Nicholas, was born 
Jan. 20, .1646, and was married to Mary Poor, Nov. 
13, 1668. He died in 1691. 

Samuel Noyes, son of John, was born Feb. 5, 
1692, and was married on Dec. i, 1716, to Hannah 
Poor. They settled in Abington, Massachusetts. 

John Noyes, son of Samuel, was born April 20, 
1720, and came from England to Newbury, Mass., 
later locating at Pembroke, N. H., the records show- 
ing him to be there before 1765. On June i, 1741, 
he married Abigail Poor, and ched May 30, 1770. 

Benjamin Noves, son of John and father of 
Mrs. Abigail (Noyes) Buntin, was born April 29, 
1742. About 1763 he married Haimah Thompson, 
who was born Dec. 2, 1744. and died Nov. 8, 1828. 

It is shown by the records that one Benjamin 
Noyes served as a private in Capt. Sias' Company, 
Col. Moses Nichola's Regiment of New Hampshire 
Militia, in the Revolutionary war. His name ap- 
pears on a pay roll of that organization dated Nov. 
7, 1776, which shows that he served twenty-six 
days from Aug. 5, 1778, in the Expedition to Rhode 
Island. 

GEORGE MONTAIN CLARK, cashier of the 
Meriden National Bank, was born Oct. 5, 1844, in 
the city of Willimantic, Conn., and is descended 
from one of the oldest Colonial families. 

(I) Lieut. William Clark settled at Dorchester, 
Mass.. about 1636, and removed thence to North- 
ampton, same Colony, in 1659. He was a man of 
standing and influence, and was honored and trusted 
in military and civil afTairs. He was selectman in 
Dorchester in 1646 and 1647, and was representative 
to the General Court from Northampton in 1663, 



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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



249 



and for thirteen years besides. He was a soldier 
in King Philip's war. His first wife, Sarah, died 
Sept. 6, 1675, and he subsequently married Sarah, 
widow of Thomas Carpenter, of Springfield. She 
died May 8, 1688, and her husband passed away 
July 18, 1690, acfcd eighty-one years. His children, 
all born in Dorchester, were: Sarah, born June 21, 
1638 (died young) ; Jonathan, Oct. i, 1639: Na- 
thaniel, Jan. 27, 1642; I'.xpcrience, March 30, 1643; 
Increase, March i, 1646 (died aged si.xtecn) ; Re- 
becca, about 1648: John, 165 1 : Samuel, baptized 
Oct. 26, 1653; William, born July ^, 1656 (men- 
tioned below) : Sarah, March, 1659. 

(IT) Capl. William Clark married, July 15, 
1680, TTaimah, daughter of Elder John Strong, of 
Windsor, ancestor of a numerous family. Capt. 
\Mlliam Clark was associated with Jacob Dewey in 
the purchase from the Indians (May 2, 1700) of a 
large tract of land near Eehanon, which included 
much of the territory of the town of Columbia, 
which was set off from Lebanon in iSoo. He lo- 
cated in Lebanon about 1700. His first wife, whom 
he married in Northampton, died Jan. 31, 1694, and 
exactly one year later he married Mary Smith. The 
children of the first marriage were : Hannah, born 
May 5, 1682; William, Feb. 15, 1685; Abigail, Jan- 
uary," 1683-84; Jonathan, May 13, 1688; Thomas, 
April, 1690: Joseph, Dec. 31, 1691 : Bennie, Jan. 
31. 1604. The children of the second union were: 
Timothy, born Oct. 12, 1695 : Gershom, Nov. 18, 
1697: Mary, Nov. 22, 1699: David, Nov. 19, 1701 
(died June ig, 1703) : David, June 22, 1703. Capt. 
Clark "died May 9, 1723, an"d his widow passed 
awav April 23. 1748. in her eightv-scvcnth year. 

(TTI) Jonathan Clark, born !^Iay 13, 1688, mar- 
ried Hannah Smalle Jan. 6. 1714. He died Jan. 

12. 1743-44- 

(lY) Jonathan Clark, born Nov. i, 1714, mar- 
ried Mercy Dewey Jan, 16, 1735. Their children 
were born as follows: Hannah. Sept. 25, 1735; 
Jonathan. April 29. 1737; Lemuel, April 3, 1739 
(died March 6, 1749) : Dan., May 25, 1741 : Mary, 
Sept. 3. 1743 (died Aug. 15, 1744) : David, Aug. 
23, 1748: Jeremiah. April 28, 1751 : Lemuel, Aug. 
8, 1753: Gershom, Sept. 6, 1755. The father died 
in 1802, aged eighty-eight years. 

■ (V) David Clark, born Aug. 23, 1748, was next 
in the line cf descent. 

(VI) Jonathan Clark, son of David, was born 
June 15, 1784, in the town of Tolland, where he 
grew to manhood, and there engaged in farming, 
becoming a land owner. He married Pollv Hale, 
daughter of Jonathan and MoUcy Hale. Later he 
removed with his family to Columbia, Comi., there 
spent the remainder of his life, and was bm-ied in 
the Columbia cemeterv. He was a member of the 
Congregational Church. Tlie second wife of Jona- 
than Clark was Saxie (Wright) Clark, who died 
and was buried in Columbia. 

(VII) Silas Fuller Clark, son of Jonathan, was 
born in the town of Tolland, and removed with his 



parents to Columbia, where he attended the district 
schools. .\t the age of ten years he went to live with 
an uncle in Willington, and still later in Coventry. 
At the latter place he learned the trade of ma- 
cliinist, and worked at it first in Worcester, .Mass., 
and later in W'illimantic, Conn., remaining at the 
latter city until within five years of his demise, when 
he removed to Meriden and was tenderly cared for 
by his son. His death occurred in August, 1900, 
and he was buried in the Willimantic cemetery. He 
was a member of the Methodist Church, in the work 
of which congregation he took an active part. In 
politics he was a Republican, and lived honorably 
as a good citizen. Domestic in his habits, temper- 
ate in every respect, he set an excellent example. 
Fraternally he was a member of the I. O. O. F. 

Silas Fuller Clark was married in Willimantic 
to Elizabeth L. Woodworth, who was born in 
1 iebron, Conn.. (I;nightcr of .Asa Woodworth. Twin 
boys were born of this union, George ^L being one; 
the other died in childhooil. Mrs. Clark died, and 
Mr. Clailv married her sister, ]\Iaria Woodworth, 
who left no issue. L'i)on the death of the second 
Mrs. Clark Mr. Clark married .Vmelia Fitch. This 
lady is also deceased, and all three are buried in the 
Willimantic cemetery. 

(VIII) George M. Clark was educated in the 
public and private schools of ^^'illimantic, and was 
prepared for college, hut close application to his 
studies broke down his health, and he was obliged 
to abandon his ambitions in that direction. W'hen 
sixteen and one-half years old he was made one of 
the postofificc clerks at Willimantic, and a year later 
was made teller of the Windnam Bank, of Wind- 
ham, and there remained until 1865, when the presi- 
dent of the Meriden National Bank of Meriden of- 
fered him a similar position with that institution. 
This was accepted, and so faithfully was every duty 
discharged that in 1891 Mr. Clark was made cashier 
of the bank, and still holds that office of trust and 
responsibility. 

In 1865 Mr. Clark was married, in Mansfield, 
to Lovisa Maria Holly, daughter of Perry and Lois 
(Fenton) Holly. Two children were born of this 
union: (i) George S. is bookkeeper of the Meri- 
den National Bank. He married Carrie Capen, of 
Norwich, Conn., and they have one child, Rollin 
B. (2) Elizabeth Louise is assistant librarian of 
the Meriden Public Library. 

Mr. Clark is a man of highest principles, do- 
mestic in his tastes, and a most excellent father and 
devoted husband. He is a member and trustee of 
the First Methodist Church of Meriden. 

The history of the Holly family is very inter- 
esting, and dates back so far as known to Perry 
Holly, who was a native of Rhode Island and a 
blacksmith by trade. Late in life he removed to 
Mansfield, purchased a farm near that of his son- 
in-law, William E. Fenner, and retm-ned to Rl-.ode 
Ulnnd for his family, but died there. His widow, 
Celia (Rawson) Holly, removed to Mansfield with 



250 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



her family, and there died in October, 1859, at the 
age of eighty-three. The family of children were 
as follows: Lnrinda died in Willimantic. Perry 
is the father of Mrs. Clark. Betsey resided in 
Mansfield. Conn., upon a farm, where she died. 
Nancy died in Chaplin, Conn. Gilbert went South 
and died in New Orleans. 

Perry Holly, the father of Mrs. Clark, was born 
July 2, 1809, in Rhode Island, and came to Mans- 
field when a bow During his boyhood he worked 
upon a farm, and when still a young man learned the 
trade of forger, working in the manufacture of bits 
and augers in various localities where the goods 
were made. He was also one of the first operators 
of the trip-hammer, being very expert in the hand- 
ling of the clumsy machine, and consequently com- 
manded good wages. In company with Hiram Par- 
ker he operated a forge shop near his home for a 
few years. After working at his trade for many 
years he spent his declining years in Alansfield, 
engaged in farming, and died there in March, 
1885. He was a member of the Methodist Church 
at Gurleyville, and when a young man took a very 
active part in its affairs. 

The wife of Mr. Holly was Miss Lois Fenton, 
daughter of Elisha and P'hileta (Starrs) Fenton, a 
native uf .Mansfield, where her father was a black- 
smith. Mrs. Holly died April 18, 1892, aged 
eighty-four years, four months. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Holly were born the following children: (i) CeHa 
Ann died aged eight and one-half years. (2) 
Anstice, wife of William E. Fenner, of' Gurleyville, 
has one child, Frank E. (3) George G. resides' 
in Sturbridge, Mass.. and is an expert in mechanics. 
He married Mar}- Ann Scott, and had two cliildren 
— George Henry ( living in Springfield, who has 
three children) and Lida (who died when young). 
(4) Lurinda died in infancy. (5) Harriet Lurinda 
Phileta, widow of David Clapp, resides in Willi- 
mantic; she had one daughter, Harriet M., who 
was the first wife of W. D. Grant, of Willimantic, 
and had two children, Florence A. and Jav lulwin! 
(6) Mary Ellen first married Edmund Simons, by 
whom she had one child. Jennie R., wife of W. D. 
Grant, of Willimantic, who has three children, Ethel 
Y., Winnifred C. and May Ellen ; Mary Ellen mar- 
ried for her second husband Norman Dunham, a 
blacksmith, now deceased, and she resides in Willi- 
mantic. ( 7 ) Lovisa Maria is the wife of Mr. Clark. 

(8) Perry Earl, a professor of pemuanship, mar- 
ried Carrie Allen, and resides in Watorbury, Conn. 

(9) Sarah Jane died at the age of fourteen. (10) 
Dwight Storrs resides in Forestville, Conn. He 
married Harriet Smith, and lias two children, 
Everett (residing at Forestville, who has two chil- 
dren, Elma and Winnifred) and lulna. (11) Julian 
R. resides in Bristol, Conn., and is secretary and 
treasurer of the Bristol Brass and Clock Co. He 
married Calista Brockett, and their family consists 
of two children, Julian Lawrence and Margaret 
Storrs. 



BLAKE. In the death of Eli Whitney Blake, 
at his home in New Haven, Conn., Aug. 18, 1886, 
there passed away, as it were, a connecting link be- 
tween the two centuries — a man full of years, good 
works and honor. 

Eli Whitney Blake was born Jan. 27, 1795, in 
Westborough, Worcester Co., Mass., a son of Elihu 
and Elizabeth Fay Whitney Blake, and was a lineal 
descendant of William Blake, of England and Dor- 
chester, Mass., who was married in England, in 
161 7, to Widow Agnes Bland, and with wife and 
several children, came to New England among the 
emigrants who sailed thither along in the neigh- 
borhood of 1630 or 1635. Tlie early home of "the 
family was in Dorchester, Mass., but a branch later 
settled in Worcester county, Alass., and from that 
line our subject traces his descent. 

Eli Whitney Blake was graduated from Yale 
College, in 1816, and made preparation to enter the 
legal profession, studving law in the famous school 
of Judge Gould, in Litchfield, Conn., but gave up 
that purpose at the request of his uncle, Eli Whit- 
ney, who desired the assistance of himself and his 
brother, Philos, in erecting and organizing the gun 
factory works at W'hitneyville, Conn. After the 
death of Mr. Whitney, in 1825, Mr. Blake and his 
brother, the late Col. Philos Blake, carried on the 
business until 1836, when they joined their brother, 
John A. Blake, in forming the partnership firm of 
Blake Brothers, and established at Westville, a 
manufactory of door locks and latches, of their own 
invention. This business was afterward extended 
to include other articles of hardware, such as cast- 
ers, hinges, etc., the greater number being covered 
by patent. In this branch of manufacture, Blake 
Brothers were among the pioneers in this country 
and long held the front rank. It is not too much to 
say, that the ideas which they originated still char- 
acterize the forms of American locks, latches, cast- 
ers, hinges and other articles of house furnishing 
hardware wherever manufactured, and are the foun- 
dation of their acknowledged superiority. 

In the year 1852 Eli W. Blake was appointed 
on a committee to superintend the macaiiamizing 
of Whalley avenue, and his attention was thus di- 
lected to the great want of a machine for breaking 
stone into fragments of a nearly uniform size suit- 
able for road making. The problem was a very 
old one, but no successful solution had ever been 
effected. Mr. Blake devoted himself to its study 
for nearly five years and in 1857 produced and pat- 
ented the Blake Stone Breaker, which for original- 
itv, simplicity and eft'ectiveness, has justly been re- 
garded by experts as almost unique. It has come 
into general use in all parts of the world for road 
making and for mining purposes ; and has intro- 
duced a new era into both departments of industry. 
Its value, directly and indirectly, as a labor-saving 
and wealth-creating agency, can hardly be over es- 
timated. IThe occurrence of the Civil war. how- 
ever, which retardctl its introduction, and subse- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



251 



quent competition by infringers of the patent, 
greatlv interfered with the profits that the inventor 
should have reahzed, and the pecuniary reward 
which Mr. Blake reaped from this and his other in- 
ventions amounted in the end to only a moderate 
competence. 

,\lr. Blake's abilities and acquirements in the 
tield 111 mathematical and physical science were of 
a higii order, and he conlri'buted many valuable 
papers to scientific journals on various subjects. 
Several of the most important of these, which had 
been recently pubbshed in the Aiiicricaii Journal of 
S-ciciicc. together with some additions of a later 
date, were collected by him in 1882 and printed to- 
gether in a small volume entitled "Original Solu- 
tions of Several Problems in Aerodynamics." These 
papers which were the result of original research 
and experiment, treat of the laws which govern the 
flow of elastic fluids through an orifice ; the propa- 
gation of pulses in elastic media ; the mode of ex- 
pansion of elastic fluids ; and the velocity and trans- 
mission of sound. The final paper and perhaps 
the most elaborate of all, covering many printed 
pages of close scientific and mathematical discussion, 
was written by him when far advanced in his eighty- 
seventh year. The originality and value of Mr. 
Blake's investigations in this and other subjects, and 
also his abilitv and general merit as a jjhysicist, were 
recognized In- scientific authorities at home and 
abroad, and drew from his alma iiiatcr, Yale, in 
1879, the honorary degree of LL. D. Mr. Blake 
was one of the foun<lers and for several years the 
president, of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and 
Sciences. 

Mr. Blake's name is svnonymous with integrity. 
In 182 1, he united with the Center Church, in New 
Haven, and for over sixty-five years was identified 
with its growth and prosperity. His benevolence 
was like a fountain, active, spontaneous, and over- 
flowing, and the poor were alwavs in his thoughts. 
Considerate and liberal, he was always just in all 
his business transactions and took a deep interest 
in business aff'airs, and was ever the outspoken sup- 
porter of civil and social progress and virtue. The 
later years of his life were spent in peaceful retire- 
ment in the midst of hi.s family circle attended "by 
all that should accompany old age, as honor, love, 
obedience and troops of friends." In that c|uiet 
retreat, his mind in its strength and serenity diffused 
perpetual sunshine. Men of intellect and culture 
sought to enjoy the wit and wisdom of his conver- 
sation. Little children, whom he dearly loved, de- 
lighted to throng about him ; and none could enter 
that benignant presence without feeling how trulv 
"the hoary head is a crown of glory, when it is 
found in the way of righteousness.'' 

In 1822, Mr. Blake was married to Miss Eliza 
O'Brien, of New Haven, whose self-sacrificing fidel- 
ity and devotion in all the relations of wife and 
mother brought unljroken happiness to him and his 
household until her death, in 1876. Seven of their 



children survived the father. Few men have more 
worthily enjoyed the reverence and aft'ection of 
their families and friends, and to few have these 
been rendered in larger measure. The surviving chil- 
dren are, in order: Mrs. George Bushnell, of New 
Haven; Mrs. Alex McWhorter; Henrv Tavlor; 
and .Mrs. Eliza B. Rice. 

Henkv T.wi.or Bl.'\kk was born in New Haven, 
April 17, 1828, of old New England descent, on 
his mother's side from Rev. James Pierpont. of 
New Haven. He was graduated from Yale in 1848, 
after which he studied law, at the Yale Law School, 
and in the office of 'J'homas C. Perkins, and was ad- 
mitted to the Bar of Hartford county, in 1851. 
From 1855 to 1884 he served as assistant clerk, 
and as clerk of the Superior Court of Fairfield 
county, during all of which time he was also en- 
gaged in the active practice of his profession in 
nisi prills courts and before the Supreme Court and 
in the United States tribunals, where much of his 
attention was given to patent cases. His retire- 
ment from acli\-c ])arlici]);ition in trials in court was 
in 1888. 

Mr. Blake has been a frequent contributor to 
])eriodical literature, and has delivered some lectures 
on political and historical subjects, and is secre- 
tary of the New Haven Colony Historical Society. 
Mr. Blake is the author of "Chronicles of N. H. 
Green." Since 1888 almost his entire time has been 
occupied in the furtherance of public im])rovements 
in New Haven, especially in connection with the 
park system of that citv, and he is president of the 
park commissioners. In 1860, Henry T. Blake was 
married to Elizabeth Kingsley, a daughter of Prof. 
James L. Kingsley, of "i'ale College, and their .sons 
are : Henry \\'. Blake, a resident of New York 
and associate editor of the Street Railu'av Jour- 
nal ; and James Kingsley Blake, who was graduated 
from Yale in i8()i, and from the Yale Law School, 
in 1893, being admitted to the New Haven Bar. in 
the same year. 

The Blake brothers, Eli, Philos and John .\.. 
sons of Elihu and Elizabeth Fay (Whitney) Blake, 
and nephews of Eli Whitney, the inventor of the 
Cotton Gin, came to New Haven about 1817, from 
Wcstborough, Mass., at the solicitation of their 
uncle to assist him in the armory works which he 
had established in Whitneyvillc. in Hamden. 

Elihu Blake built tlie hou.se now standing on the 
old site in 1836. and named the place Cherrv Hill. 
In 1825 he married .\deline N. Mix. a daughter of 
Capt. Jonathan and Alary E. Mix, who was born 
April 18, 1805. Capt. Solomon Phipps, the mater- 
nal grandfather of Mrs. Blake was born in Ca.sco 
Bay, Maine, a descendant of a brother of Sir Will- 
iam Phipps. Governor of Massachusetts. In 1772. 
lie married Elizabeth, born .April 13, I74(;, a daugh- 
ter of Asa Todd, who was descended from Chris- 
topher Todd, a native of Pontefract. England, bap- 
tized in 1617, and was in New Haven in \(>y). occu- 
pied as a farmer and miller at the end of Mill rock, 



■^5- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



on Mill river. Christopher Todd married Grace 
Middlebrook, and died in April, 1686. 

Asa Todd was born Alarch 24, 1723, and April 
19, 1748, was married to Alary (Tuttle) Ailing-. 
At the time of the British invasion on July 5, 1779, 
he went to the defense of New Haven, and was 
killed in action in the upper part of the town in 
the street now known as Broadway. 

Capt. Jonathan Mix, a descendant of Thomas 
Mix, of the Colony of New Haven, was born in 
New Haven in 1753. In 1771 he married, first, 
Miss Anna Sears, a sister of Captain John 
Sears, of Revolutionary fame. Capt. Jonathan 
Mix was married Aug. 5, 1800, to Elizabeth Mary 
Phipps. who was long a resident of the old home- 
stead at Cherry Hill, a substantial, old fashioned 
Connecticut home, and took an active interest in the 
religious affairs of the town and was instrumental 
in the establishment of the Sabbath school of the 
East Plain Society. Capt. Mix had several sons 
and (IauL;lUers; three of the former were in the 
I'nite<l States Navy, while his only daughter by his 
second marriage married Elihu Blake. 

Capt. Mix was a member of the military coni- 
panv known as the New Haven Cadets, and was one 
of the men who marched from New Haven to Lex- 
ington in 1775, continuing to be active through the 
war, and he was one of the ten heroes who rode 
from New Haven to New York and destroyed Riv- 
ington's press. He was also with the first naval ex- 
peclition to the Bahamas, and assisted in the capture 
of New Providence, sailing as captain of marines, 
and was captured and imprisoned in the Jersey 
])risnn ship. At the close of the war. he invented 
the thorough-brace and elliptic carriage springs 
now in universal use, and may thus be regarded as 
the father of the carriage-spring industry. Also 
this talented man invented an improved cartridge 
box for troops, and a method for conveying away 
the smoke from the fuse of guns on sihipboard. In 
this eiTort he had the co-operation of Robert Ful- 
ton, and the fixture was added to some of the guns 
of Fulton's steam frigate. 

ANDREW H. S^^TH, a prominent manufac- 
turer of New Haven, is of the sixth generation from 
Jonathan .Smith, and his ancestors have lived in 
New Haven county for many generations. 

(TI) Jonathan Smith, of West Haven, son of 
(0 Jonathan, it is stated in the History of Water- 
burvliought of Thomas Brooks, of Boston, in 1740, 
sixty acres belonging originally to Philip Judd, in 
the Hop Brook section. He married Rebecca, 
daughter of Thomas Painter, who was born in 
1676. Jonathan Smith died in 1760. 

(Ill) Ephraim Smith, son of Jonathan and Re- 
becca, was born July n. 1733. He was a farmer 
by occupation. His wife, Thankful (Tyler), was 
born April t8, 1733, daughter of Nathan Tyler 
(fcorn .April 77. 1701, died in 1767), and grand- 
dautihtcr of John and .\bigail (Hall) Tyler, the lat- 



ter a daughter of Thomas and Grace Hall. Eph- 
raim Smith diefl Oct. 15, 1806, aged seventy-three 
years, and his widow died Sept. i, 1808, in her sev- 
enty-sixth year. Ephraim and Ira Smith were two 
of the original members organizing the Congrega- 
tional Church of Prospect on the 14th dav of May, 
179S. 

(IV) Ira Smith, son of Ephraim and Thankful, 
was born in Wallingford Sept. 11, 1757, and died 
in Prospect April 22, 1835. He was a farmer in 
Prospect (formerly a part of Waterbury and Chesh- 
ire, which was incorporated in May, 1827), in that 
part of the town originally included in Cheshire. 
He married July 9, 1779, Elizabeth, daughter of 
Isaac Judson, and reared a family of several chil- 
dren : Andrew, Nehemiah, Ira, Sally, Betsy and 
Sylvia. Ira enlisted May 26, 1777, in the Revolu- 
tionary army, as a private in Capt. Jesse Kimball's 
Company, commanded by Col. John Chandler, 
served about eight months, and was discharged 
Jan. I. 1778. 

(\') Andrew Smith, father of Andrew H., was 
horn in Prospect April 25, 1796, and remained a 
lifelong resident of that town, where he engaged in 
farming. He was a man of strong political and 
social convictions. A Whig in politics, he was the 
companion of Lloyd (jarrison, and with him made 
tours of the school houses and advocated the cause 
of anti-slavery at a time when that policy was un- 
popular in New England. He was also a strong ad- 
vocate of temperance, and was a member of the 
Congregational Church. On April 30, 1818, he 
married Rachel Tuttle, of Prospect, daughter of 
Obed Tuttle, a farmer of Prospect, and also a man- 
ufacturer of scythes, which were then made by 
hand. To Andrew and Rachel Smith were born 
seven children, namely: Harris, Lucretia, Jane, 
Ira, Julius, Andrew H. (our subject), and Jennie. 
Mr. Smith died June 7, 1878. 

The TiTTTu; family is one of the oldest and best 
known in Connecticut history. Andrew H. Smith, 
in his maternal line of ancestry, is of the eighth 
generation from the founder of the family in Amer- 
ica, his lineage being as follows : 
/-•'(I) William Tuttle, born in 1609, his wife Eliz- 
abeth, born in 1612, and family, among others sailed 
in the ship "Planter" from England in 1635, finally 
and as earlv as 1630 locating in New Haven, where 
both lived and died. They were equal socially to 
any of the colonists. Mr. Tuttle was a man of cour- 
age, enterprise, intelligence, probity and piety. 

(II) Jonathan Tuttle, son of William, the emi- 
grant settler, baptized in Charlestown, Mass., in 
1637, married in 1667 Rebecca, bom in 1643, daugh- 
ter of Lieut. Francis Bell, of Stamford, Conn. 
About 1670 Mr. Tuttle began a settlement near the 
Ouinnipiac river, in what is now the .southern part 
of the town of North Haven. Tie built a bridge 
over the river in that town, which was long known 
as "Tuttle's bridge." His deatli occurred in 1705. 

(III) William Tuttle. son of Jonathan, born in 





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-xy 




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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



253 



1G73, married Mary Abcrnath, who was born in 
1680, daughter of \\'illiani ,\bcrnath. Mr. Tuttle 
died in 1727. 

(I\"j Ezekiel Tiittie, son of W'iUiani, married 
(firstj in 1729 Susanna Merriman, who was born in 
1709, daii<jhter of John and Elizabeth (Peck) Mer- 
riman, lie being a son of Capt. Xathaniel Merriman, 
an early settler in W'alHngford and prominent in 
New Haven. 

{\ ) Reuben Tuttle, son of Ezekiel, born in 
1739, married in 1766 Hannah (or Joanna) Tyler, 
of Branford, Conn., and resided in North Haven. 
Mrs. Tuttle died in 1783. 

(\'I) O'bed Tuttle, son of Reuben, born June 
26, 1776, married Lucretia Clark, of West Haven. 
Mr. Tuttle removed from North Haven to I'ros- 
pect. Conn., where he was engaged in farming and 
as a blacksmith, making scythes and axes. His 
children were born in Prospect. Air. Tuttle died in 
Prospect Aug. 20, 1862, Mrs. Tuttle on Jan. 12, 
1863. 

(VH) Rachel Tuttle, daughter of Obed, born 
April 3, 1800, married Andrew Smith, and died 
Nov. 3, 1878. 

Andrew H. Smith, subject of this sketch, son of 
Andrew and Rachel (Tuttle) Smith, was born in 
Prospect, Conn., Feb. 23, 1840. He spent his boy- 
hood days on the farm, and attended the district 
schools until he was seventeen, when he went to the 
high school at Watertown, Conn., later attending a 
boarding school at Charlotteville, N. Y. He then 
taught school in Prospect, Cheshire and Bethany, 
Conn. At the age of twenty-one he entered the em- 
ployment of his brother, in the manufacture of 
needles, in Prospect, and in 1864, with his brothers 
Ira and Julius, formed a company for this branch 
of manufacture under the name of Smith Bros., at 
Hamden, Conn. Later the firm became Smith Bros. 
& Co., and still later Andrew H. sold out to his 
brother Ira and his son, early in the year 1881. 
From Hamden he removed to New Haven, where 
under the name of A. H. Smith & Co. he has ever 
since continued successfully the manufacture of 
iTiachine needles. He is a member of the New Ha- 
ven Chamber of Commerce, and one of the promi- 
nent and influential business men of the city. 

Mr. Smith for his first wife married, C)ct. 24. 
1867, Emma Payne, of Hamden, daughter of James 
M. Payne, who was born in North Haven. She 
died Oct. 13, 1888, leaving no children. For his 
second wife Mr. Smith married, Feb. 18, 1892, Nel- 
lie Brainard Phelps, daughter of John J. Phelps, of 
New Haven, and to them has been born, Feb. 18, 
1893, one son. Jay Phelps. 

In politics Mr. Smith is a Republican. He has 
been promment in church work and is a member of 
the United Congregational Church of New Haven, 
of which he has been for many years a deacon. He 
was formerly a deacon of the church at Mt. Carmel, 
Conn. He is a member of the New Haven Colony 
Historical Society and the .Sons of the .American 
Revolution. 



FREDERICK W. I\-ES. The Ives family is 

one of the old and honored ones of New England. 

The tirst of the name in the vicinity of Meriden, 

Conn., was John Ives, of Wallingford, a son of 

William Ives, who came hither from England. 

John Ives (2), son of John, was born in 1660, 
and in 1693 married Mary Gillette, in Meriden, and 
died in 1738. 

John Ives (3), son of John Ives (2), was born 
in 1694, and in 1719 married Hannah Royce. and 
died' in 1795; her death occurred in Meriden, in 
1770. 

John Ives (4), son of John Ives (3), was born 
in 1729, and married first Mary Hall, who died in 
1788, and his second v>-ife, Sarah, died in 1804; he 
died in 1816. 

Othniel Ives, son of John (4) and Mary Ives, 
was born Aug. 17, 1779, and married first Oct. 28. 
1800, Sarah, a daughter of Nathaniel Yale, and 
second, Oct. 26, 1815, Rosetta Yale. Othniel Ives 
resided in the eastern part of Meriden, Conn., where 
he was a farmer and large landowner, and where he 
died Nov. 22, 1829, his burial taking ])lace in liroad 
street cemetery. He was a consistent member of 
the Baptist Church. The children of his first mar- 
riage were: Eliza, born Jan. 17, 1804, married 
Edwin R. Yale, who was born Aug. 8, 1804 ; Elias 
I Yale, born Jan. 7, 1806, married Cornelia Pomeroy ; 
Eli, born Jan. 7, 1809, married Gelina Ann I'om- 
' eroy; Othniel, born Nov. 26, 1812, married first, 
Julia Cook and second, Mary Howard. The chil- 
dren of his second marriage were: Isaac, bum 
Jan. 27, 1817, married Eloise White; Sarah Rosetta, 
j born Nov. 23, 1818, married Rev. Harvey Miller, 
a prominent Baptist clergyman of Meriden : Juliette, 
born May 13, 1822, married Eli Butler; John, born 
Dec. 25, 1825, of the firm of Ives, Upham & Rand, 
of Meriden, Conn., first married Alina Birdsey. and 
second. Wealthy .S. Alerwin ; Frederick Wightman, 
born Jan. 27, 1828; and Rus.sell Jennings (a posthu- 
mous child, born July 30, 1830, eight months after 
the death of his father), who first married Flora 
Ann White, and second, ICliza Ann Yale. 

Frederick W. Ives, now one of Meriden's most 
respected citizens, has for more than fifty- four 
years been connected with The Edward Miller Man- 
ufacturing Company. He was born Jan. 27, 1828, 
a son of Othniel and Rosetta (Yale) Ives, and he 
was but one and one-half years of age when deatit 
claimed his estimable father. His mother died 
March 3, 1833, and he was reared by his uncle, Levi 
Yale. His educational opportmiities were very 
limited, being confined to irregular attendance at the 
district school, supplemented with the reading of all 
books which came within his reach. At the age of 
sixteen years, Mr. Ives started out to make his 
own way in tlie world. Hjis first work was with 
Ashbel Griswold, at $6 per month, during the sum- 
mer seasons, and here he remained two years, work- 
ing in' the spoon shop during one winter. Then 
he went to the farm of J<X'l Miller, working in tiio 



254 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



fields in summer and in the brass shop in winter. 
This was the start of the great company wliich has 
profited by his faithful service ever since. 

In 1847 the business now known as the Edward 
Miller Manufacturing Co., was conducted by its 
founder, Edward Miller, and during its rise, Mr. 
Ives has continued with it, in various departments, 
for fifty years being connected with the brass de- 
partment,' performing for thirty-five years the du- 
ties of foreman. No more skilled, faithful or es- 
teemed employe is connected with this establish- 
ment. Although the vigor of youth is no longer 
his, he is still active and quite capable of discharg- 
ing his duties. 

Not only in the field of his physical activity is 
Mr. Ives known and highly regarded, but his acts of 
charitv and deeds of benevolence have given him a 
warm' place in the hearts of those in the community 
who have known him these many years. He is a 
man of great intelligence, well read, and not only 
has strong convictions, but has the courage to live 
up to them. Although not connected^ with any 
special religious body, his life testifies to his Chris- 
tian principles. His modest home on Broad street 
is made one of tender aiifection, by his two devoted 
daughters. 

On June 17, 1862, Mr. Ives was married in 
Branford, Conn., to Frances M. Jones, who was 
born in Wallingford, a daughter of Erastus and 
Lucy (Elliott) Jones. The three daughters born 
to this union were: Rosa Juliet, who died young; 
Nettie Aline, who was educated, in the Meriden 
high school, is a lady of culture and refinement ; and 
Frances Rose, who is also a graduate of the Meri- 
den High school, and a most successful teacher in 
the Parker avenue school. Both are most estimable 
ladies, prominent in educational and church circles. 
The mother died Sept. 14, 1886. She and her 
daughters were connected with the Baptist Church, 
from youth. In politics, Mr. 'Ives was formerly a 
Democrat, but was one of the first Republican voters, 
in 1856, to cast a ballot for John C. Fremont. 

Eli Ives, deceased. In the death of Eli Ives, on 
May 13, 1886, the city of Meriden, Conn., lost one 
of her sterling citizens and active business men, 
who was through life deeply interested in whatever 
seemed to promise good to Meriden or her citizens. 

Eli Ives was born Jan. 7. 1809, in Meriden, a 
son of Othniel and Sarah (Yale) Ives. His early 
rearing was on a farm where he remained until his 
twenty-fourth year, when, in association with the 
late Noah Pomeroy, he began the manufacture of 
tinware. In 1837 young Ives went to Wetumpka, 
Ala., and began a business in which he retained an 
interest several years, although residing the greater 
part of the time in Meriden. In 1843. he bought 
the Tvler mills in Yalcsvillc, and here he carried on 
the milling business and also engaged in the manu- 
factm-e of Britaimia spoons. In 1849, in company 
with Bennett Jcralds, he commcncedi the manufac- 
ture of these spoons and other articles, in Prospect, 



Conn., this business prospering until 1854. In 1852 
Mr. Ives became interested in the business of Good- 
rich & Rutty, and upon being admitted to partner- 
ship, the firm became Goodrich, Ives & Rutty. Mr. 
Goodrich retired from the business in 1864, and Ed- 
win R. Crocker and Nelson Payne were achuitted, 
the firm becoming Ives, Rutty & Co. 

Mr. Ives was considered a man of excellent busi- 
ness judgment and financial reliability, and he was 
frequently called upon to settle estates and assume 
responsibilities of a like nature. In his political 
views he was a stanch Democrat. At the time of 
his death, he was a member of the board of Com- 
pensation of the city, and had served both as council- 
man and alderman, and he presided at the last 
Democratic town convention held before his death. 

Mr. Ives was a man of strict integrity and ever 
held the confidence of his fellow citizens, and was 
highly esteemed in everv walk of life. It was a 
source of pleasure to him that the exigencies of 
business had never made ihim enter a suit in the 
courts against anv one, nor to suffer in such a wav 
from others. Although he passed man's allotted 
years, he was active to the last, his vitality being 
wonderful. Up to within ten davs of his death, he 
had been driving about town, attending to business 
matters. Several times within twenty years prior 
to his death, he had been almost at its portals, but 
his iron constitution and unusual recuperative power 
had brought him safely through each ordeal. 

On Sept. 30, 1830, Mr. Ives was married to 
Gelina Ann Pomeroy, and these children were born 
♦o their union : Noah P. ; Sarah E., wife of Anthony 
R. Parshley ; Isaac O. : Charles P. ; Isadore, Mrs. 
Alfred Ives; and Eloise W., Mrs. Charles R. 
Fowler. 

SAMUEL MILROY was for almost forty 
years one of the respected citizens of Meriden, where 
as head of the shipping department of the Meri- 
den Britannia Co. he was well known to the busi- 
ness world. 

Mr. Milroy was a native of Dumfriesshire, Scot- 
land, born in 1818 in Kirkcudbright, son of James 
Milrqy, who was born in the same place. The fa- 
ther was manager of a farm for a country gentle- 
man. Both he and the mother died when their son 
.Samuel was quite young, and he was thus early 
thrown upon his own resources. The parents were 
devout members of the Presbyterian Church. Our 
subject was reared at his birthplace and trained to 
farming, remaining with the gentleman who had 
employed his father until he reached his majority. 
His education was such as the common schools of 
the day aft'orded. On leaving Kirkcudbright he 
went to Liverpool, England, where he joined the 
police force and served seven years as an 
officer. Having heard of the great opportuni- 
ties ofifered in the western world and desir- 
ing to better his condition, he decided to 
come to .\merica. and tcxik passage for New York 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



255 



oil a sailing vessel in 1849. His stay in New York 
City was brief, and he came thence to Middletown, 
Conn., where he also remained but a short time. 
His next move was to Meriden, where lie accepted 
a position with the Consolidated Railroad Co. as 
freight agent and baggagemaster. continuing thus 
four vears. On the formation of the Meriden 
]!ritannia Co., by Horace Wilco.x, 1. C. Lewis and 
others. Mr. Alilroy accepted a jjosition in the ship- 
ping tlepartment, of which he was the head for the 
long period of twenty-seven years. It is scarcely 
necessary to comment upon the quality of his work 
or his worth to the establishment, such a record 
of continuous service being the best evidence of 
efficiency and reliability. Suffice it to say that 
he was faithful to every trust, and retired from 
his tlutics with the res]>ect of those wlio had worked 
under him and the fullest confidence of his em- 
ployers. During the last five years of his life he 
devoted himself to looking after his property. He 
tlied suddenly, of heart failure, June 28, 1886, at 
the home now occupied by his widow and daugh- 
ter, at Xo. 52 South First street, Meriden, and 
was buried in the West cemetery. Mr. iMilroy at- 
tended the Congregational Church. He was a man 
of quiet habits and domestic tastes, devoted to 
his wife, home and family, and stood high in the 
regard of all who knew him, in any of the rela- 
tions of life. His political support was given to 
the Republican party, but he was no active partisan 
or office seeker, having no desire for public prefer- 
ment. However, he was chosen to represent the 
Third ward in the city council, and discharged his 
duties faithfully and well, his services being char- 
acterized by the same carefulness and rigid hon- 
esty which marked all his work. 

In 1850 Mr. Milroy was married, in Brooklyn, 
N. v., to Margaret Scott, also a native of Kirk- 
cudbright. Scotland, daughter of Thomas and Jes- 
sie (Thompson) Scott, who were horn in that 
place and died there. Two children blessed this 
union. John C. and Agnes Jessie, the latter resid- 
ing with her mother. Mrs. Margaret Milroy is a 
woman of fine character, possessed of a social, lov- 
ing disposition, and has been a devoted wife and 
mother, careful in the rearing of her children, and 
thrifty in the management of her householil af- 
fairs. She and her daughter are inem!:)ers of and 
workers in the l-'irst Congregational Church. 

ALBERT Z. DOWNS was born in Woodiiury, 
Conn., Dec. 31, 1838, a son of Albert '/.. Downs, 
Sr., who was born in Bethany, Conn., in 180'), and 
ilied June 19, 1884, in Wcstvillc. 

Zeri Downs, father of .\lbert Z.. .Sr.. was Iiorn 
in Bethany, in ij^k;. one of a large family of chil- 
dren born to Samuel Downs, of Woodhridge. and 
died .May 3. 1840. in riethU'luMii. where he was 
engaged in business as a tailor and fanner. He 
married Rachel Sanford. who was lx>rn in 1769. 
a daughter of Elezhu and Sybil (Dickerman) San- 
ford, of Woodbridge; she died May 22, :86i. To 



this union was born the following family : Wealthy, 
who married a Mr. Ci>wles, and lived in Bethlehem; 
Anna, who married, first, a Mr. Kinilieriy, and on 
his death, Shelton Brown, and lived in Bethle- 
hem: Willis, who was born in Woixlhridge in 1788, 
married .Milicent (uirnsey, and engaged in the 
grist and sawmill business in Woodl)ury until his 
death, June 2, iS/'w; Lucretia, who married Fred- 
erick Ludingtfjn. and lived in Bethlehem, where she 
died in 1843: l>ets_v. who was born in 1804, died 
unmarried Jan. 11, 1849; Louis, a mechanic, who 
married Louisa Buell, and lived in Derby; Albert 
Z. ; FVederick, who married I'hrelie Flawley, and 
engaged in fanning in Bethlehem ; Brintha, who 
married William Cash, a sea captain, and had her 
home in Groton, Conn. ; Henry, who was born in 
1817, married I-"annie (inbriel. in New Haven, and 
died in 1872. 

Albert Z. Downs was married, Oct. 12, 1830, 
to Sarah Pritchard, who was born May 22, 1811, 
a daughter of James and Sarah (Cook) Pritchard, 
of Waterbury, and died Dec. 21, 1895. For some 
time after their marriage they lived in Waterbury, 
where he was a cabinetmaker, and then moved to 
Woodbury, and there Mr. Downs engaged in mill- 
ing. From that point they moved to Bethlehem, 
and he engaged in a store in New Haven. Their 
home was brightened by eleven children : FVancis 
H., born May 12, 1832, is now living in Oklahoma; 
James L, born Dec. 16. 1833, became an engineer, 
and died Sept. 3, 1889; Frederick .A., born Nov. 
22, 1835, married Amanda Bales, engaged in farm- 
ing in Kansas, and died July 18, 1901 : Albert Z. ; 
Edward S., born Feb. 15, 1841, married Hattie 
L'mberfield, engaged in paper making, and died 
Sept. 10, 1880; Sarah L., born April 21, 1843, mar- 
ried Smith Abbott, and lives in Derby ; \\'illiam 
P., born Sept. 16, 1845. married Emma Boardman, 
and lives in Westville ; Maria E., born Oct. 31, 
1847, married Thomas B. Robertson, and lives in 
Westville: Ella C. born Oct. 18, 1850, is unmar- 
ried; Helen A., born April 21. 1853. married S. 
Hart Culver, and lives in Seymour : and Clara J., 
born May 12, 1855, died Feb. 5, i860. Five of 
these served their country faithfully and well dur- 
ing the Civil war: Francis H. served in an Indi- 
ana battery : Frederick A. in the loth Iowa \'. I. ; 
Edward S. in the 6th Conn. V. I. with his brother 
Albert Z. ; and William P. in the 27th Conn. V. I., 
and later spent two years in the navy. It is a re- 
markable fact that on the expiration of their first 
enlistment each one of these brothers re-enlisted. 

Albert Z. Downs lived in Woodbury until he 
was eleven years old, and attended the Miner Town 
district school. When he removed to Bethlehem 
he attended winter school for five years, being en- 
gaged on the farm in the summer season. In 1855 
he came to \\'estville. and has been here to the 
present time. He learned the blacksmith trade, 
spending four years in his api)rcnticeship. 

Mr. Downs enlisted in Company F, 6th Conn. 
\'. I., and was mustered into the L'nited States 



-56 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



service Sept. 7, 1861. In 1863 he was detailed to 
service as armorer, and on Dec. 4, 1863. he re- 
enlisted. He was mustered out Aug. 21, 1865, after 
having seen much active service. Returning to 
Westville, he began work for A. Beecher & Sons, 
match manufacturers, being employed by them as 
a machinist an^l blacksmith, and is still with that 
firm. 

On May i, 1867, Mr. Downs was married to 
Miss Emily A. Evarts, a daughter of James M. and 
Emily (Clark) Evarts, and to this union have been 
born four children : Linna E., lx)rn Oct. 26, 1868, 
married Walter I'ond, and lives in New Haven; 
James E., born Dec. 6, 1871, is a machinist; Edith 
A., born Oct. i, 1873, lives at home; Alberta M., 
born Oct. 2, 1875, lives at home. Mr. Downs is 
a Republicaui in politics. Since 1864 he has be- 
longed to Olive Branch Lodge, F. & A. M., and he 
also belongs to the American Mechanics, being a 
charter member of Garfield Council ; and Admiral 
Foote Post, G. A. R. In his religious belief he is 
a Congregationalist, and is the clerk and a deacon 
of the Westville Congregational Church, having 
been clerk for sixteen years. 

GEORGE ALBERT LEWIS. On the paternal 
side Mr. Lewis' family is of French extraction. The 
patronymic was originally Louis, and the first pro- 
genitor on American soil was Jean Louis, a French 
Huguenot, who was knighted on the field of battle 
by Henry of Navarre. He emigrated from his na- 
tive land to Sandwich, England, and thence in 1635 
to America, making the voyage in the ship "Her- 
cules." He adopted the English orthography of 
both Christian and surnames, and was known as 
John Lewis. He and his wife, Sarah, were the 
parents of Joseph Lewis, of Simsbury, who is the 
next ancestor in the line of George A. Lewis. 

(II) Joseph Lewis, of Simsbury, on April 30, 
1674, married Elizabeth Case, and was the father 
of Joseph (2). 

(III) Joseph Lewis (2) became a deacon in 
the church. He married Sarah Andrus, a daughter 
of Abraham, Andrus, their marriage taking place 
April 7, 1703. 

(IV) Samuel Lewis, son of Joseph (2), and 
the great-grandfather of George A. Lewis, was 
united in marriage May 19, 1743, to Hannah Pew, 
who died July 2, 1754. 

(YJ Milo Lewis, son of Samuel, married Susan, - 
daughter of Daniel Beecher, and became the father 
of four sons and three daughters : Thomas, Sam- 
uel J., George, William, Mary, Jane and Caroline, 
lliomas was a woolen manufacturer of Nauga- 
tuck, in which town he passed his life. George was 
a practicing physician in New York until failing 
health necessitated his retirement ; he died' in St. 
Paul, Minn. William was a farmer, and in addi- 
tion to agricultural pursuits conducted both a 
wheelwright's .shojn and a cotton mill, at Cotton 
Hollow, in the township of Naugatuck. Mary mar- 
ried Abram Beecher, who lived in the South, and 



is long since dead. Jane married James Aldridge, 
who died many years ago; she now lives in Den- 
ver. Caroline became the wife of Deacon John 
Alerriman, who was for many years connected with 
one of the banks of New Haven, in which city he 
was born and where he died. 

(VI) Samuel J. Lewis, son of Alilo, and fa- 
ther of George A., was born in Naugatuck in June, 
18 1 7. He married Mary E. Lewis, who was- born 
in New Haven June 3, 1818, daughter of Edwin E. 
Lewis. A brief genealogical history oi her family 
may be found in the succeeding paragraph. About 
1843, shortly after their marriage, Samuel J. Lewis 
and his wife came to live in Naugatuck, and in 
1845 ^Ir. Lewis organized the Goodyear's Metallic 
Rubber Shoe Co., of which he was made president, 
retaining that post until his death, which occurred 
in 1858, He was a Whig in politics, and a Con- 
gregationalist in religious faith, and was instru- 
mental in building the church of that creed in 
Naugatuck ; he was a liberal supporter of its vari- 
ous enterprises, and always took a prominent part 
in directing its affairs. J\Irs. Mary E. ( Lewis) 
Lewis died June 12, 1850. 

Rev. John Lewis, maternal great-grandfather of 
George A. Lewis, died April 9, 1792. He was a 
minister of the Presbyterian Church. He was twice 
married, and had issue by both unions, Edwin E., 
the maternal grandfather of our subject, being the 
only son by the second wife, Eunice (Williams). 
Edwin E. Lewis was born Nov. 9, 1790, in Rocky 
Hill township, Hartford Co., Conn. During the 
greater part of his life he was engaged as a mer- 
chant in North Carolina, and in his' later years he 
made his home in Oxford, Conn., where he died 
May 27, 1880. He married Maria Tomlinson, who 
was born Aug. i, 1789, in what is now Oxford, 
Conn., and died Jan. 10, 1868. She was the third 
child and eldest "daughter of David Tomlinson, an 
extensive farmer and merchant of Oxford, Conn., 
who died March 24, 1822, at the age of sixty-one; 
he married Lorena Bacon, daughter of Jabez Bacon, 
a merchant of Woodbury, and their family num- 
bered fourteen children, viz.: Charles, David (i), 
Maria, David (2), Lorena, Lydia A., Jane C, Ben- 
net B., George and Jeanette (twins), Mary Ann, 
Henrietta, Eliza and William. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Edwin E. Lewis were born five children: Maria 
A.. Mary E., Elizabeth S., Jane C. and Edwin A. 
Mis$/ Maria A. is the only survivor. Mary E. mar- 
ried Samuel J. Lewis, the father of George A. 
Lewis. 

George A. Lewis was born at Sharon, Conn., 
Feb. II, 1843, and at the early age of seven years 
sustained the well-nigh irreparable loss of a moth- 
er's tender care. He grew up in Naugatuck, re- 
ceiving his early education in the schools of New 
Haven and Middletown, and after leaving school 
spent three or four vears in the emplov of Messrs. 
M. & C. J. Camp & Co., of Winstcd. The hours 
were long, from five in the morning to eleven at 
night ; the pittance paid him was small ; and nuich 





e^ . i^ /w.<u^<A 



:OMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



257 



of tlie wurk was distasteful, liis first tasks bcini;- 
tliose of a i)n\- in the barn. lie was not, however. 
of the sort tiiat fakers nr gr. iws weary. 'J'o phys- 
ieal stamina lie joins mental and moral powers of a 
hi,i,di order, tirni resolve and an almost tmlimiled ca- 
pacity for hard work. During- the Civil war he 
obtained em])loynient for a few munths as a clerk 
in the comiiiissar}- department nf the army, and in 
18^4 he returne(l to Xaugatnck to become bouk- 
keper fur the Goodyear's Metallic Ruliber .'^hoe Co. 
There he displayed such natural aptitude for the 
manaf4X'ment of important affairs, such untirint^ cn- 
er^cv and such al)solule fidelity to every trust, that 
he rose to i)e secretary, and finally treasurer and 
general manager. He continued to discharge tlie 
arduous and responsible duties of this ])nsition with 



// 



to 



characteristic faithfulness and zeal frijiu iS 
iX(;8. In the year last mentioned he accepted th( 
presidency of the I'.eacnn Kails Rubber Shoe Co.. 
a concern whose growth and development he has 
materially aided in stimulating. Meanwhile, in 
1883. he had been made president of the Xangatuck 
National Bank, which incumbeney he still retains, 
and he is also conspicuously identified with nther 
li.ical cor[)orations, of a semi-])ublic nature. Mr. 
Lewis is recognized as one of .Vaugatuck's sul)- 
stantial. iniblic-spirited and inlluential citizens. He 
is a Knight Templar Mason, although not partic- 
ularly active in the councils of the fraternity. He 
has for many years been a consistent member of 
the Congregational Church, to the support of which 
he contriinites generously. His handsome resi- 
dence stands on an eminence overlooking the bor- 
ough, and his home is one of the most beautiful in 
that center of charming homes. 

On .May 16, 1867. Mr. Lewis married l"-mma F. 
Lewis, his first cousin, who was a daughter of 
Thomas Lewis, Esq. She died March 2. 1891^, in 
]-"lorida, whither she had gone in the vain hojie 
of restoring h.er healtfi. To this union was born 
one .son, Tracy .S., who is secretary and treasurer 
of the lieacon Falls Rubber Shoe Co., a position 
for which he had (pialified himself by the perform- 
ance of similar duties in the employ of the (iood- 
year's Metallic Rubber Shoe Co. On March 20, 
1900, George A. Lewis married Jlarriet V. I-Jossiter, 
daughter of S. F. Rossiter. of Claremnnt. Xew 
Ham]xshire. One son, Cjeorge Albert, Jr.. has been 
born (,f this marriage. 

BE^7A^HX LOTT LA.MIiFRT was born Dec. 
28. 1S25. in (Grange. Xew Haven Co., Conn., one of 
the family of si.x children of Benjamin Lott and 
F.unice (Hemingway) Lambert, and only brother of 
Denison I). Lambert, who is mentioned elsewhere in 
this volume. Mr. Lambert's father died before he 
was bom. At the age of seventeen he went to X'ew 
1 laven to learn the joiners trade at the same i)lacc 
as his brother, and after com])leting his a])i)rentice- 
ship went South, assisting his brother in building 
houses and selling mills. He went to Georgia to 

17 



help his brother at two other times. The year oi his 
brother's death — 1871 — he commenced the real- 
estate Inisiness, in wliich he has continued up to the 
jiresent time. By his upright life and sterling in- 
tegrity he has gained the resiject of his business as- 
sociates an<l the whole community. His residence 
has been for many years at Xo. 12 \i\t\ street. Xew 
I l;iven. 

In i85_> .\Ir. Lambert marrieil .'-^usan .\. 'I'reai, 
of ( )range. who is still living. Tlu-y have one 
daughter. .Vettie Louise, now the wife (jf Rev. Tlie- 
odore B. W'illson, and two grand-daugliters, (ier- 
trude and Marguerite. 

W'^ LIA'.S l'F(..'l\ was during a long and litisv 
life a priHiiinent factor in commercial circles in Xew 
Haven, (."omi. He was Ixjrn .Vug. 15. 1797, in .Mil- 
ford, Conn., and he died .\pril 9, 1869. 

The I'eck family is an old and honored one in 
Connecticut, and Xatlian Beck, father of W'vllvs, 
was until his death a very large land owner in tliis 
county. .\ native of .Milford, he moved to Xew 
Haven in 1799, and owneil much of the jiroperty 
which has been devoted to cemetery pur])oses in 
this vicinity, notably the land now c<)mprised in 
]''.vergreen cemetery, in this city. ;i> well as twentv- 
five acres just back of the .Xew Haven Hospital. 
.Xathan Peck married .Mehital)Ie 'fibbels. of .Mil- 
ford, and thtMr four children were: (ij Wvllvs, 
the subject of this sketch; (2) .Xathan. who was 
in business for a time with Lis two brothers, and 
later became a financier and the ])residenl of the 
Merchants' National Bank; (3) Henry F... whose 
])romising career was cut short by an early death ; 
(4) Caroline, who married Rev. John Churchill, 
of Woodbury. All of the family with the excep- 
tion of Wyllys, who was the eldest, were born in. 
Xew Llaven. , 

Wyllys Beck obtained his educati^jn in the .Xew 
Haven schools and then became a clerk in one of 
the city stores, .still later engaging in the tailoring 
business. His success, however, was obtained in 
the .shipping trade. .Associated with his two .broth- 
ers, lie bought great numbers of mules, which were 
shi]>ped to the West Indies and exchanged for 
molasses, sugar and other products of those isl- 
ands. 

( )n ( )ct. 27, 1S59, .Mr. I\'ck was married to Miss 
Sarah Gillette, a daughter of the distinguished 
Rev. .Mo.ses (jillette, of Rome. X. ■\'. The latter 
was Iwrn in Xew ILartford, Conn., .\pril n;, 1776, 
and married Harriet .Mills, of West Hartford, 
Conn., who was a daughter of Jedediah .Mills, a 
Revolutionary soldier and a son of Gideon .Mills. 
The Mills family came from Canton. Conn. Rev. 
Moses Gillette's father. Mathcw (jillette, was also 
a member of the patriot army. His father was also 
named Aliathew Gillette, and the Gillettes are one 
of the old, h(_>norable and loyal fair.lilies of Xew 
England. .Ml were Iwrn in .Xew Hartford. Eight 
children were born to Kev. .Moses (iillettc: Lucv ; 



258 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



•Catherine, wife of Rev. E. P. Iii,t;ersoll ; John M.; 
Jtdediah ]\lills; Annie; Harriet iM., who died Jan. 
2, Kjui. in New Haven, Conn.; Henry; and Sarah, 
Mrs. Peck, who was the youngest, and is the only 
survivor. As a testimonial of affection Mrs. Peck 
has had place in the First I'resbytcrian Church in 
Rome, N. Y., a beautiful brass tablet, 24x42 inches, 
inscribed as follows : 

1776 -In Memory of— 1«48 

Rev. Moses Gillette 

F"irst Pastor of this Church 

1W7— 1837. 

Born in New Hartford. Conn., .■\pr. 19, 177(i. 

Graduated from Vale College Class of 1l<U4. 

Died in this city June 4, 1S4S. 

They that turn many to Righteousness 

shall shine as the stars forever and ever. 

(Uaniel xii, 3.) 
This tablet is placed here by his daughter, 
Sarah Gillette Peck. 

This beautiful tablet has been justly admired 
and considered a fitting memorial to one who for so 
.manv years labored as the faithful pastor of this 
charge. 

Xo children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Peck, 
liorh were always connected with the United Con- 
^gregational Church, and prominent in social life. 
In his political sympathies Mr. Peck was an ardent 
Republican, and for many years an influential mem- 
■ber of that party. 

ELI W. r.L.-XKE, AI. D., was for many years a 
leading ph\sician in Xew Haven, widely known 
through the State for his skill and ability, and was 
iiuich interested in educational matti.rs. 

Dr. Blake was born in New Haven in 1820, son 
<jf Philas and Esther (Hotchkiss) I'.Iake. the former 
of whom was born in Westboro, Alass., and for a 
number of years was engaged, with his two brot'h- 
vrs, in business with Eli \Miitney. Later he estab- 
lished a shop in which work w*as done on inventions 
in hardware s]5ecialties, and' later a large factory 
was built for their manufacture in W'estville, to 
which his attention was given until the close of his 
life. His most worthy wife. Esther Hotchkiss, was 
born in Westville. They Ijecame the parents of 
seven children, all now deceased, she surviving Mr. 
Blake aiitl snme of her chiklreu. 

The early life of Dr. Eli W. I'.lake was passed 
in New Haven, where he received his preparatory 
education. Later he entered Yale College, gradu- 
ating in the class of 1839, and later in medicine 
from 'ILarvard College, m the class of 1842; he was 
a classmate of some of the most brilliant men of the 
time. Dr. lUnkc immediately engaged in the prac- 
tice of his noble ]>rofession, coming to New Haven 
in 1804. retiring from active work but a short time 
prior to his death, in 1873, ;it the age of fifty-three 
years. 

In October, 1842, Dr. 1 Slake was united in mar- 
riage to Miss h'annie T. llabcock, who was born in 
New Haven, a daughter of Siiliies- and .Snsan 
(Thomiison) I'.abcock, the former of whom was a 



bookseller and publisher in this city, a well-known 
and responsible man, and one who at that time was 
the leading exponent of the publishing business in 
New Haven. Mr. Babcock lived to the age of 
eighty }ears. He marriid Susan Thompson, who 
was a native of Stratford, and they reared a family 
of seven children, the two survivors being: Mrs. 
Blake, the widow of the late Dr. Eli W. Blake; 
and Cornelia, Mrs. Clark, of Pittsburg, Pa. ; Henry 
H., a resident of this city, and for many years col- 
lector of the port, died Dec. 2, 1901. The mother 
of this family died at the age of sixty-three years. 
The family were members of Trinity Church, of 
which for a long period Mr. Babcock was a vestry- 
man. 

To Dr. and Mrs. Blake were born four children, 
the only one growing to manhood being Frank 
Whitney, wdio was born in I'oston, Mass. After a 
thorough preparatory edaication he entered Yale 
College, from which he gradtvated in 1872. Later 
lie entered a Theological Seminary at Fairbault, 
.Mimi.. graduating there, and being ordained dea- 
con in 1875. His health had become very precari- 
ous, and, although the invigorating climate of Colo- 
rado was sought, this bright and brilliant life went 
out in the same year. His ambition had ever been 
to be in the very front rank of intellectual life, and 
he had attained his wish, although a failure of eye- 
sight compelkd him to acquire knowledge through 
the lips of others. Few young men have ever had 
seemingly brighter prospects, as he was gifted in 
both mmd and heart. Although the family relig- 
ious home was in Trinity Church, Dr. Blake alter- 
nated, sonietiu'.). s attending that place of worship, 
with his wife, and at other times joining in the 
services of the Congregational Church, b.ut in 
either ]>lace he was the devout listener to Divine 
truth, its influence dominating his life. 

HOX. CHARLES F. BROOKER. The pres- 
idency of a large manufacturing corporation like 
that of the Coe Brass Works, at .\nsonia, a position 
held by the gentleman whose name introduces this 
sketch, is (.me that can only be attained after years 
of a])plication and experience in business aft"airs. 
A man of tact and ability, earnest, energetic and 
faithftil through a period of a third of a century's 
service with the Coe Company, Mr. Brooker con- 
tributed largely to its success, and the position he is 
.so creditalily fllling is a recognition of his fitness 
for the high trust and of the confidence reposed in 
him. 

.Mr. r.rooker is deceiided from an old and hon- 
orable Xew England ancestry. He is in the sixth 
generation from John Brooker, the line of his de- 
scent being through Abraham, Abraham (2), Sam- 
uel and .Martin. 

(1) John Brooker was at (Inilford, Conn., in 
1695. I'A'idcnces ])()int to his having been previ- 
ously at Boston. ^Lass., and he bought land in Kil- 
lingworth (now Clinton) in 1708. By occupation 
he was a shipwright. He united with the old 




KLI W. BLAKE, M. D. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



259 



churcli in Killins^wurth in 171 1. and his wii'i-. .Mary, 
in 1 7 14. 

I 11 I Aljraliani lirooker, son of John liruokcr, 
I)orn in 1705, married ]>rior to 1735, in which year 
he settled in Chnton near his father. He was a 
merchant and accumulated considerable of an es- 
tate for so voung a man. His will was made in 

1739- 

(III) Al)raham Brooker (2), son of Abraham 

Brooker, born Aug. 17, I73t>, married in 1738, 
Taniar Mnrry, of Guilford. Conn. I lis father died 
wlicn he was three years of age, and his mother and 
live children, jjrobably remained in what is now 
Clinton some years. Some of the land left by his 
grandfather on Chestnut Hill fell to him, which he 
sold in 1759, when he was living in Dranford. His 
marriage is recorded in liranford. where he was 
probably living at the time, and there his wife died 
in Branford. He died in W'olcottville. 

(IV) Samuel Brooker, son of Abraham lirook- 
er (2), was born in 1774. He went to Torrington 
when a young man. and married Mary Cook, of 
Harwinton. He purchased a farm then located in 
Litchfield, a little south of Wolcott\'ille, where he 
lived and died. He was a successful farmer. He 
<lied in 1856. and his wife died in 1852. Their chil- 
dren were: Warren; Russell, born in 1802, located 
in Meilina county. Ohio; Ursula, born in 1804, mar- 
ried Salah Root: .Mar\-. born in 1807. died in 1812: 
Chester, born in 1810; Samuel, born in 1813; and 
Martin, born in 1816. 

(\") Martin Brooker, son of Samuel Brooker 
and the father of Hon. Charles F. Brooker. was 
born April 5, 1816. He was reared on a farm and 
followed agricultural pursuits. On 'Slay 3, 1838, 
he married. Sarah Maria, daughter of Sanuiel Sey- 
mour. He died Feb. 24. 1874. and his widow 
])assed away April 3. 1876. They were esteemed 
and respected by the community in which they lived, 
and were useful citizens. Their children were: Eliza 
Se\inour. torn May 10, 1840, married Joseph 
Travis; Emma Maria, born Aug. 17. 1842, married 
Stephen ( )viatt ; Charles F., born March 4. 1847: 
F,dward Martin, born Nov. 20, 1850. died in 1833; 
Mary Lura. born Oct. 22. 1833: and Sarah Maria, 
horn Aug. 9, 1836, died in 1872. 

Charles F. Brooker, son of Martin Brooker and 
the subject proi^er of this sketch, was educated in the 
common Schools of Litchfield county. He early be- 
came identified with the Coe Brass Manufacturing 
Co., in the interests of which he has given the best 
efforts of his life. He has risen, solely through 
merit, from the bottom round of the ladder to the 
top one. Mr. Brooker has made a dozen or more 
trips abroad in the interests of the company, travel- 
ing in Europe and tlic \\'est Indies. Jn 1873 he 
re])rcsentcd the town of Torrington in the (ieneral 
Assembly, among his colleagues from Litchfield 
county being Henry Gay, the Winsted banker, ami 
State.* Attorney James Himtington. of Wooilbury. 
Mr. lirooker is a prominent Republican, and has 



servedon tiie State Central C(jmmillee from his sec- 
tion of the State. In 189a he was selected, owing 
to his fitness for the place gained from extensive 
travel and business e.\i)erience, and appointed by 
(lov. Btdkeley, one of the alternate commissioners 
froni Connecticut to the World's Fair. Mr. Brook- 
er is one of the most active and bri.ghtest business 
men in western Connecticut, and he is a director in 
various lianks and manufacturing corporations. 
Socially lie is a member of the Cnion Lca.gue Club 
of Xew York, and of the Engineers' Club of that 
city. He is identified with the Congregational 
Church. 

The Coe Brass Company, which has a world 
wide reputation and with which Mr. Brooker has 
been so long identified, was organized in 18')^, 
when L. W. Coe bought all the stock of the Wo"l- 
cottviile Brass Co., which in 1841 was the successor 
of a business established in 1834, at which time 
Israel Coe. Anson G. I'helps and" John Hungerford 
began to make brass kettles. The comi)anv has 
gradually, but surely, gained a high position as one 
of the leading establishments of its kind in tlie 
I'nited States, and its products find a readv market 
on both sides of tile ocean. At the ])rc,s'ent time 
the manufacturing of the comi)any is carried on by 
half a dozen steam-engines with water-i>owcr iii 
addition, and it gives employment to hundreds of 
persons. The capital of the main conipanv has 
been increased from $100,000 to $323,0(50, and few 
establishments in the State have" advanced more 
rapidly and successfully. The mills at .\n.souia 
were formerly conducted by Wallace & Sons. The 
main office and mills of the Coe I'rass Comi)aiiy are 
located at Torrington, and they have an office at 
their branch plant at .\nsonia. employing fifteen 
hundred people. At the Ansonia mills are manufac- 
tured braziers, sheeting and bolt ci>pi)er. mirror- 
finished cold rolled copper, patent leveled cornice 
copper, and copper wire for all purposes. 

RIA . J()IL\ I'ARKI'.R. whose name is inti- 
mately associated with the early historv of Meri- 
den, was born Aug. 30, 1803, in Cheshire, Xew Ha- 
ven Co., Conn., son of Stephen and Rebecca (Ray) 
I'arker. His descent from William Parker, one of 
the proprietors of Hartford in i'13'i. through John. 
ICdward, Joel and Stephen, is shown, with a brief 
sketch of each, in the biography of Charles Parker, 
elsewhere. 

John Parker recei\ed the rudiments of an edu- 
cation in the public schools of his native town. His 
was a religious nature, and lie very early decided 
to fit himself for the Christian ministry. In accord- 
ance with this resolution he engaged in the study 
of theology at the Wesleyan l'niversit\-. in Middle- 
town. Conn., from which he was graduated at the 
age of twenty-six years, in 1831. Entering imme- 
diately upon his cherished task of prejiching the 
Gospel, he was stationed two years at Webster. 
Mass. In 1833-34 he preached at Xewton ; in 1835 



26o 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



at Hnllist'in: in 1836-.^ at Lowell; in 1838-39 at 
Lvnn: in 1840 he was ai,'ain at HuUiston, and be- 
fore the close of that year came to .Meriden, to join 
his brother, Charles Parker, in a business under- 
taking. This move was made on account of the 
failure of his voice, which prevented further work 
in the pulpit, a great di.sappointment to both him- 
self and wife. Jlnwever, he did not abandon relig- 
ious work, and |)reached occasionally, as he was 
able. In 1843 be was active in forming a society 
of Primitive Methodists, who held services in a 
Iniilding subsequently used by the Parker Brothers 
for a spectacle simp. I'liniugh the exertions of 
these brothers the Aletbddist Church in_ iNIeriden 
was greatlv prospered, as they were far from nig- 
gardfv in financial contributions. Their joint con- 
tributions toward the erection of the building at 
first occupied by the I'irst Methodist Churchy of 
IMeridcn exceetled thirty thousand dollars. This 
structure is now occui)ied by the curtain fixture 
shop. 

fhroughout the years of his long and useful 
life bihn Parker continued to-contribute, with voice, 
laljoV and money, t(.i the promotion of every work 
or cause devoted to the u])lifting and welfare of 
humanitv. Me was universally beloved and re- 
spected, and was called upon to fill many positions 
of resp'onsibilitv and trust. It was most natural 
that he should alihor the evils of slavery, and he 
was among the first partisans of the Republican 
party. As in everv tither duty which confronted 
him, he aWv served the comnuuiity as selectman, 
justice of the peace, judge of probate and repre- 
sentative in the .State Legislature, being elected to 
the latter bodv in 1870. Full of years and honors, 
he laid down his labors June 21, 1892, and loving 
friends gave his body sc]julture in the East ceme- 
terv, Meriden. Among the most sincere mourners 
at his death were his brethren of the Masonic fra- 
ternitw in which be bad lung b'een active and useful. 
He vvas made a .Master .Masi>n Dec. 11, 1848, in 
Harmony Lodge, Xo. 20, of New Britain. He was 
a charter member and the first Worshi|iful Master 
of Meridian Lodge, .\'o. 77, of Meriden, of which 
he also served as treasurer and chaplain : was made 
a Roval .Vrch Mason in Keystone Chapter, Xo. 2/ : 
and jjelonged to Hannlton Council, Xo. 22, Royal 
and Select Masters, and .St. Llmo Commandery, 
No. 9, Knights Templar, all of Meriden. He was 
among the first ( )dil b'ellows of Meriden. 

Mr. Parker was married, in March. 1832, to 
Mi.ss Emily Ward, of .\shfield. Mass, who died 
|une I. 1867. Her children were: Emil\-. ( leorge 
White, Mar\- and b'rauk .Miltnn. all of whom died 
without issue. < )n Jan. 22. i8(iS, Mr. Parker mar- 
ried Miss (irace .\. llelilen, of .Meriden, who sur- 
vives him. 

Mr. Parker was une filled tu le.ad. and was al- 
wavs read\- to ])articipate in every go;id work. He 
ever sought to find good in ])eo])K', rather than evil, 
and to aid those in need of instruction or material 



assistance. With advancing age he was obliged to 
abandon most of his activities, but his faith and 
kind heart reached out to the world tij the last. In 
his tiemise Meriden lost one of her most valuable 
citizens and the cause of humanity one of its most 
useful laborers. 

HEZEKIAH I'.ALDWTX BEARDSLEY, who 
l>assed away .April 21, 1901, was a leading con- 
tractor and builder of ^lilford. Mr. Beardsley was 
l.iorn .April 30, 1836, in Stratford, Conn., son of 
Charles and Sarah (Baldwin) Ljeardsley. His 
family is of the best pioneer stock, and his great- 
grandfather, Capt. \Villiam Beardsley, won dis- 
tinction during the Revolutionary war by his cour- 
age and leadership. 

William Beardslev, our subject's grandfather,, 
was born in Stratford, and' followed farming there. 
He married .Sara'h Beach, and their children were: 
Henry (deceased) was a tinsmith in Bridgeport; 
Charles is mentione'd more fully below ; Stephen 
and Wilson (both deceased) resided in Stratford; 
Lucretia married' a Mr. Crofut ; Sarah inarried 
Benjamin Califf, a farmer in Fairfield county; and 
Mirah died Oct. 11, 1839, at the age of twenty- 
four. 

Charles Beardsley, the father of our subject, 
was born in 1806 in Stratford, and died' in 1853. 
He was a shoemaker by trade. He took an active 
interest in local afifairs as a member of the \\ big 
party, and in religious faith was a Congrega- 
tionalist. His wife, Sarah (Baldwin), who died 
in 1889, was a daughter of Hezekiah Baldwin, and 
a granddaughter of Joshua Baldwin, prominent 
farmers of .Milford in their dav. lught children 
were born of the union of Mr. and Ah"s. Beardsley: 
Charles W., a farmer in Milford; Abigail, widow 
of Charles R. B'aldwin, formerly a farmer of the 
same town; Alvira, who resides in Milford; Heze- 
kiah ]'.., our subject; George, a carpenter in New 
Haven ; Theodore, a builder in Springfield, Mass. ;. 
Sarah ].. wife of Edward Clark, a farmer in Mil- 
ford; and h'rederick S., agnit at Xaugatuck Junc- 
tion for the Xew York, New Haven «& Hartford 
Railway Co. 

Hezekiah B. Beardsley was a boy of eight 
year^ when the family removed from Stratford to 
Milford, wherf he grew to manhoodi. He attended 
the local schools until he reached the age of six- 
teen, when he began to learn the carpenter's trade 
with Jirah Stow, of Milford. Fk completed his 
apprenticeship with Elijah Baldwin, of the same 
town, continuing until he attained his majority, 
and then went to Xew Haven as foreman for Jonah 
F. Clark. While there 'he studied advanced math- 
ematics, in order to gain more perfect knowledge 
and skill in the builder's art. Un entering upon 
inckjiendent business life he formed a co])artner- 
sliip with Cieorge G. Baldwin, under the firm name 
of Haldwin & P.'eard'sley. and they carried on the 
building trade successfulK- at Xew Haven and Mil- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



261 



ford for six wars, after wliicli Mr. I'.cardsk'y was 
alone in the work. He l)uilt many of the lar,L;e 
factories 'if .\ew Haven and simie of tlu tircst 
residences in the State, nichidini,^ those of Richard 
M. Evarts. of New Haven. W'inslow W'iUianis. of 
Yantic, and L'. H. Pond and ( ). .S. Hn])l)ell. of Mil- 
ford. .Mr. lleardsley was a tlirect(.>r and vice-jir. si- 
dent (.)f the .Milford Savings l!ank. and was often 
called npon to settle estates and' ajJiiraise pro])- 
erty, liis judginent hein^;- much esteemed in hiisi- 
Tiess circles. Jde was also interested in real estate 
at Brunswick, Cjeorgia. 

In Xovemher. i8i)i, Mr. lieardsl.v married 
Miss Mary Stow, daughter of Capt. Marcus Sl(jw. 
of Milford. Conn. She passed from earth .March 
22, iJSij'j. i heir only child. Helen Slow, married 
Frederick S. Picardslex'. of Stratford. Mr. Beards- 
ley was a niiinher of the I. ( ). ( ). I", ami the .Ma- 
sonic fraternity nf .Milfuril. and pcjlitically was a 
strong Republican, h'i<v five years lie held the of- 
fice of assessor. 

D( )\\'.\S. l'"or several generations the family 
bearing this name have been prominently identified 
with I'he social and business life of the towns of 
Huntington and Derby, notably through the mid- 
dle and latter [jart of the century just closed in the 
]iersons of the late Sidney .\. and Xelson H. Downs, 
.succeeded by their sons. Judge William Sidney 
Downs and Charles Xelson Downs, sons of Sidney 
A., the fonner at this tinle a leading lawyer of 
Derby, and the latter secretary and treasurer of 
the Home Trust Co.. are sustaining themselves in 
the rei)utation made in the community by the older 
generations of the family. 

The elder representatives of the Downs family 
w'ere agriculturists in the town of Huntington, 
I'airfield Co., Conn., and were of sturd}- Xew Eng- 
land stock who ]jla_ved well their part in the de- 
velopment of that section. Joseph Downs, the 
Pfreat-grandfather of Judge and Charles X. Downs, 
(jf Derby, was born Jan. 14, 1/(>H. and was married 
to Hamiah Patterson, born July 28, 1767. .Mr. 
Downs died March 17. 1823, and his widow sur- 
vived until Jime <■). 1857. Their children were: 
James, born July 13, 1786, died Aug. 27, 78()8; 
Philo, born Aug. i, 1788, died June 15. 1862; 
Lewis is referred to farther on: Ezekiel, born 
March 2. 1793. died .March 28, 1866: Hepsey, born 
Sept. 2, 1795, (Med Aug. 11, 1874: Beach, born 
Dec. 18. I7<;7, (lied July 28. 18^)5: Hannah, born 
Jan. 8. i8cx_). died P'eb. 13. [833:'\Vebl), born July 
25, 1802, died March (;, 1874; Eliza, born "julv 
2. 1804, died Oct. 24, 1846. 

Lewis Downs, son of Joseuli and the grandfa- 
ther of Judge and Charles X. Downs, was born 
Dec. 19. 1790. in the town of Huntington. Omn. 
When a young man he was married to Marv. 
daughter of I'lli dilbert, and became a thrifty fann- 
er and influential citizen of his native town, where 
he conmiand'ed tlie respect and esteem! of his fel- 



low tijwnsmen. He was honored by the citizens of 
Huntington with a seat in the (ieneral .\ssembly 
of the .'"'tate in 1834. and .-erx-ed them judiciously. 
Jn 1848. he was one of the founders of the old 
Manuiactiu-ers" Bank at Birmingham, whicli in 
i8')5 became the Bir;iiingham Xational Bank, and 
he was chosen one of its first b lard of directors. 
.Mr. Downs lived to be eight} -five years of age, 
dying .March 19. 1876. and his wife died at the age 
of eight) years. The latter's parents, too, were 
long-lived people, her father dying (Jet. 18, 1847, 
aged eighty-four years, and lier mother Sept. 2, 
1840. aged eighty-two. The children of Lewis 
Downs and his wife were: Sidney .A., jleiirv L., 
and Xelson H. Henry L., born I'"ebruary 7. 1820. 
(lied P\'bruary kj, 1872. An account of the other 
two follows. 

SII)^•l•:^• A. Dowxs was born .Aug. 13, 1817, 
on the home farm in the town of lluntington, 
where in boy'hood he was occupied as was then 
the custom of the sons of the general Xew luig- 
land farmer, alternating between work on the farm 
in season, and at school in tlie winters. In 1838 
he located in the village of Birmingham, then in 
its infancy, engaging first in mercairtile business, 
but later in the hanhvare trade in the old store 
which twenty years ago was occui)ied by V. Hal- 
lock & Co. He was a merchant for nearly forty 
years. Mr. Downs becimie interesttxl in the manu- 
facture of hoop skirts, which, for a decade follow- 
ing 1854. was a popular industry in Birmingham, 
and up to January, 1880. he was manager of the 
house of Downs & Bassett. manufacturers of cor- 
sets. Mr. Downs' early business career was con- 
temporaneous with such men as John I. Howe, 
Donald Judson. Thomas lUirlock. David W. Plumb, 
George \\'. Shelton. I'"itch Smith. David Bassett, 
(ieorge Kellogg. Thomas Wallace and many others, 
all prominent and active business men of 1846, and 
with those named and others, he was a corporator 
(jf the Derby Savings P.ank, under the Charter of 
May. that year. He was also one of the first board 
of directors in the old .Mamifacturers P>ank at 
Birmingham, chartered in 1848, and which in 18(15 
became the Birmingham Xational l'>aid<. .Mr. 
Downs held nimy offices of honor and trust, and 
was the administrator of many estates. He was 
selectman of the town in 1844. 184C). 1850. 1851, 
1875. and 187C). He also served as town clerk and 
assessor, and in i860 was judge of jirobate. He 
was held in the highest esteem bv the citizens of 
Derby, and in his business relations establislied a 
re].nitation for honesty and fidelity which few pub- 
lic men attain. His death (xcurred June 4. 1890. 

Mr. l)(iwns was married to ICliza .\. liassett, 
born March 12, 1818, and to them were born chil- 
dren as follows: Mary I'"liza^)ctb (now deceased), 
I-" ranees M.. William Sidne\- and L"harles Xelson. 
Mrs. Downs died June 5, i8h7. 

X'i:i.so\ H. Dow.NS. son of Lewis and brother 
of .Sidnev .\.. was liorn Xov. 18. 1821, in the town 



262 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of Huntington, Conn. At eighteen years of age he 
left the farm and went to the neighboring village of 
Birmingham to engage in mercantile business with 
his okler brother, Sidney A., who had preceded him 
thither a year or two. Some seven years later Nel- 
son H. engaged in the manufacturing business on 
his own account, at tirst making carriage joints, 
then matches and later tacks. He was among the 
tirst to engage in the manufacture of hoop skirts, 
and tile very tirst in llie village of liirmingham to 
make corsets. He jjussessed great business fore- 
sight, and early saw the advantages, and with char- 
acteristic ]>riimi)tness he anticipated all iithers in 
the erection nf the tirst factory on the west side of 
the Housatonic river, lie was also attracted Ijy the 
beautiftd eminence beyond, and quickly made pur- 
chases til Ihe right and to the left, and early erected 
on a |ioint commanding a charming view one of the 
grainiest and must complete residences in that 
whole section of c.iuntry. He was a niO--t sy>tem- 
atic and methodical business man. lie believed in 
and practiced a pay-as-you-go system, never execut- 
ing a mortgage, it is said, and not giving more than 
two or three notes in his business career. He was 
in the habit of paying his employes every fort- 
night, anil with his own hands, and in this faileil 
but once during the period of eighteen years of an 
active, l)usy life, and then owing to sickness. As 
may be inferred from the foregoing he was a care- 
ful and judicious business man and made a for- 
tune. He built four factories along the Housa- 
tonic and to his energy, enterprise and public s]iirit 
much of the growth and progress of Sheltnn and 
Birmingham were due. He was at the front in all 
measures which tended ti.i the advancement of that 
locality, ahvays aiiling work of pid)lic titility. He 
was a noble man, warm-hearted, kind and gener- 
ous; no ])onr man was ever turned awav from his 
door. 

In the anti-bellum days Mr. Downs was a Whig 
of the Bell and Evert stamp, and later identified 
himself with the Republican [jarty. He held vari- 
ous offices of pul)lic trust. 

Mr. Downs was married to Elizabeth B., l>orn 
Nov. 6, 1821, dangbler of Aibijah and I'auline 
(Wakeman) Wallace, and to the uni(5n came chil- 
dren as follows: ( I ) Sarah E., born July 30, 1845, 
died in infancy. (J) Hattie W'.. born Feb. 28, 
1841), marrieil June 14, i8(«), H. I*". Wanning, and 
among their ehildren are, (irace 1'^.. b'rank N. and 
Hattie D. .Mr. \\',-nniing fur years has been identi- 
fied with the Ihrmingham Iron b'oimdry, as its sec- 
retary and later as ]iresident and agent of the con- 
cern, a ])ositioti he nnw occupies. (3) Edward \\'., 
born ( )ct. 20, i83_>, married .May 4, 1874, Mar- 
garet r.aikel', burn in |83_'. She died in 1876, 
leaving one sidi, l'"r;ink W. Mr. Downs married 
(second) .April 30, 1879, Alice lietiedict, and died 
in 1886. Xelsiin II. Downs died April 2d, 1881, 
and his widow ])assed awav Dec. 2, i8</). 

Itiii;i-; W'lij.i.NM ."^iDXKv Downs, son of ."-^iilnev 



A., was born March 16, 1857, in the town of Derbv, 
Conn., and was educated in its public schools and 
also in private schools. Having decided upon the 
legal profession for a life work, he entered the 
Albany Law School at Albany, N. Y., from which 
he was graduated in 1879. He also furthered his 
legal studies under the direction of the late Samuel 
-vl. Gardner at Derby, Conn., and was admitted to> 
the Bar in New HaVen County in June, 1879, since 
which time he has maintained an office in Derby and 
practiced in the courts of the County and State, and 
by his straightforward course has gained the con- 
fidence (if the people and become established in a 
good practice. In his earlier career, in 1884 and 
1885, he served with efficiency as the assistant clerk 
of the House of Representatives, and of the State 
Senate in 1886. From 1883 to 1885 Mr. Downs 
was warden of the borough of Birmingham. He 
has served, too, as prosecuting attorney of the town 
court, anil has just retired from several years' serv- 
ice as judge of the cit\- court. The judge is one of 
the substantial men and citizens of Derby, and is 
among the leading lawyers of the New Haven 
County Bar. 

On July 7, 1892, Jinlge Downs was married to 
Ella M. Ilinman, of Uxford, Connecticut. 

Ch.\ki.ics Nelso.n Downs, son of Sidney A.,. 
was born June 24, 1859, in the town of Derby. He 
was graduated from the public schools of his na- 
tive town in 1877. Several years later he lx;came 
en.gaged in the manufacturing business, making 
corsets, and in this continued until 1890. Retiring 
from the manufacturing field in that year he opened 
an office in Derby for the transaction of a 'business 
the same in character as that of the Home Trust 
Co., which was incorporated in 1893, and of which 
Mr. Downs is now secretary and treasurer. Tliis 
institution acts as agent for a large nunrber of fire 
insurance companies, buys and sells real estate, 
takes charge of rents and properties in the locality, 
acts as trustee, executor, adtninistrator, receiver 
and guardian for trusts, etc. The company has a 
capital of $25,000, and a surjjlus of $5,000, and is 
a most commendable adjunct tn the business inter- 
ests of Derby. 

On l'"el). 8, 1892. Mr. Downs was a])pointed 
postmaster of Derh\- liv President Cleveland, and 
most efficietitly filled that important office during 
that administration. He was instrumental in brin.g- 
ing aliiiul im])nrtant im])rovements to the local mail 
service. .Mr. Dnwns was a member of the board of 
borough burgesses in 1887 and 1888. before the in- 
cor[)oratiiin of Derby as a city. He is popular as a 
man atid citizen, and stands high in business circles. 

EDWIX (,.\|)^' (deceased) wa- well km.wn 
to the citizens nl .Meriden as suijeriuiendent nf the 
-Meriden (."utlery Co., at South Meriden, and 
throughotu his long business career maintained the 
high standard of business nrethods that first won 
for liim reengnitii lU in the commercial and manu- 




Q) {;;^:/AAy>'!>t ,/w^^-^?A?^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



^65 



facturiii" world. He was horn in \\"oo(I slock, tin's 
State, (Jet. Ji. 1833, a son of Charles Edwin and 
Clementine ( Chaiev ) Cady. 

Charles i'.dwin Cady was horn June 3, 1804, in 
Killintjly, Conn., son of Jonathan Cady. who was 
killed in an aeeident at Norwich. Conn., when the 
sun was oidy seven years old. Charles J{. Cady 
grew to nianhiiod in his n;itive place, and learned 
tlu- trade of hlacksmitii. In 1837 he removed with 
his family to Southhrid.ne, .Mass.. there establish- 
in,<;- a machine shop in wliat is now called Saunders- : 
dale, where he commenced business, making- mill 
and machine work a specialty. In 1857 he sold 
liis pro])erty in Southliridge, ir.tending to go West, I 
and re-engage in l)usiness in a new field. On ac- 
count of the hard times, however, he did not carry 
out this |)ian. hut hought a new home and re- 
mained in .Southljridgc until his death. .\ug. 7, uSc^)^. 
In religious faith he was a r.a|)tist, and consistent 
in the practice of the doctrine he ])rofessed. lie 
married Clementine Chei;e\ , who was born in 
Southbridge. a daughter of Cajit. Joel Cheuiy, 
antl five cliildren blessed this union, as follows: 
Edwin, who is nicnti(jned Ijelow ; Eranklin. of 
Scuthbridge. who died Eeb. 10, 1901 ; Henry C, 
of Southbridge: Newton, who died in 1870: and 
(jcorge W'.. of .Southbridge. The mother died in 
1871. in the failh of the liaptist Clinicli. ;ind was 
laid to rest in the beautiful cemetery at South- 
bridge. 

Edwin Cad\- was educated in the public schools 
at Soiuhbridg. . and finished his education in Wil- 
bra'ham .AcHdemv. W'lun he left the schodl room, 
after some training in his fatlu-r's shop, he went to 
^\'orcester. where he remained six months, in one 
of the machine shops there, learning the trade. 
In June, 1856, he went to V'.uffalo. where he met 
(ieorge Parr and entered his facttjry as superin- 
tendent, remaining tln-re two y.ars. Mr. I'arr hav- 
ing failed in business, he wer.t into the fiictory of 
the I'itts brothers, manufactm-ers of threshing ma- 
chines, where he remained two years, and thence 
returned to Southbridge. In k^Cii he went to 
.Sjiringfield, .Mass., entering the govermnent 
armory to engage in gnnmaking. .\t the end of 
seven years he removed to South .\leridcn to take 
the position of assistant su])erintendent of the 
cutlery works there. A year later, on the death of 
the superintendent, he was ])romoted to that office 
in these works, and held it to the dav of his death — 
a period of over twenty-six years, during which 
time lu' faithfully performeil the duties comiected 
therewith, winning l)v bis faithfulness the respect 
and confidence of his tiuplovers, and the esteem f)f 
those under him. .Mr. Cadv was an expert me- 
chanic, and always ready in any emergencx'. llis 
genial manners won him man\' friends, and his 
death, which occurred at bi< home on L'ook avenue 
June 0, 1895, was most sincerely regretted. H-is 
remains were taken to Southbridge, Mass., for 
burial. In his political affiliations he was a Re- 



|)ublican. He re]jresented his war<l in the common 
council, but was in no sense an office seeker. I"ra- 
lernally .Mr. Cady belonged to Meridian Lodge, .\o. 
~J, A. V. ik \. -M. : Keystor.e Clia]>ter. .\o. 2j. \i. 
.\. M.; the Knights Templar. .St. |-'.lmo Comniand- 
ery. No. 9; Hancock Lodge. I. < ). O. E. : Monto- 
wese Trill.-, .\o. 6.. 1. ( ). K. .M.: and Columbus 
Council, .\'o. 5, C). \' . \. M. In his religious views 
he was a Congregationalist, was broad minded 
and liberal, and regarded the (iolden Rule as the 
onl\- motto of right living. .\ kind and considerate 
man, his memory will evi r be cherished by all who 
were privileged to ki;ow him. He commanded the 
res])ect of all with whom he came in contact, for 
he harbored no ill-will and believed no ill of any 
one. His kindi heart ever reached out toward the 
whole \\-orl<l. and evervbodv was his friend. 

On Dec. 25, 1856. 'in .\ibany, .X. \'.. .Mr. Cady 
wed'ded Koselia Marble Lathe, who was born in 
(jrafton, .Mass., May I, 1835, a daughter of Levi 
Linc-oln and Erances (.Marble) Lathe, of .South- 
bridge. The only child of this union was born 
July 22. i80j. antl died .\ug. 14, 1865. Mrs. Cady 
is on.; of those women "nolily planned'" who hud 
in their ho:iies their tnust happiness. In her de- 
votion to her husband she left rothing undone, and 
when the final parting came she met it with the sub- 
lime faith of tlu truj Christian who knows that 
those so truly joined in life cannot be separale<l in 
death. 

In I'ebrnary. 1902. Mrs. Cady was sorely be- 
reaved in the (leaths of her lirother-in-Iaw and sis- 
tir, T. E.lmer and I'anny (ionld, of West Lrook- 
field. In an explosion on Eeb. 14th, of acetylene 
.gas. with which their house was lighted, the home 
was wrecked and .Mrs. Could was killed, an<l .Mr. 
Could suffered such injuries that lie died a few 
days afterward, and w-as buried on the 25111 of 
I'VIiruary, just one week after the funeral of hi.s 
wife. They left an only dauglu.r. Miss Rose 
Could. 

WlLl'.CR EISK (ilLLETTE, the president of 
the Ci. .M. Grant Com])any, of New Haven, and one 
of the most prominent mason builders of that city, 
whose business is conducted from the office at Xo. 
133 Cnion street, was bcirn in Randolph. Portage 
Co., Ohio, h'eb. 9, 1837. a son of E.li Gillette, a na- 
tive of Derby, Connecticut. 

.\uson (iillette. the father of Eli, was also born 
in Derby, where he combined farming with tan- 
ning leather and making shoes. He married lletsy 
.Mansfield, who was born in Derby, and this union 
was blessed with fourteen children, all of whom 
are now dead. The mother died in i8C)4, at the age 
of eiglUy-fonr, strong in the failh of ihe .Methodist 
Church. 

Eli (lillette was reared in Deibx . where he was 
engaged in farming. Some ten years were spent 
by him in C)liio, but the remaining years of his life 
were sjient in Derby, where he died .'^ejit. 13, 1900, 



264 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



at the a.L;e nf (.i^htx-nine. In uarly life he was a 
Whiji", l)iU became a Kepiihlican em the formation 
of the [jarly. J^liza Ikisselt. his wife, was born in 
Oxford, a daughter .')f JCzra Inissett, who was a 
farmer, and one of the pioneer settlers in Ohio in 
1830, where he died at the age of ninety years, 
while his wife, who was one of a family of nine 
children, lived to be nne Inmdred years old. To 
ICli Cjillette and wife were burn fonr daughters and 
one son, of \\b(im three of the d:ui'_;"hters are living: 
^Irs. !■'. .M. Clemens, of .shelln'i, is a widow: Mrs. 
Sarah K. \\\ Clark, nf Derby: Mrs. Edward S. 
Davis, a widow, in b'air Haven. The mother, who 
died at the age of seventy-nine, was a devout mem- 
ber of the Methodist Church, and one of her daugh- 
ters also belongs to this church. The father be- 
longed to the church, in what was then Derby, but 
is now Seymour. 

Wilbur I'lsk Ciillette spent his early years in 
Derby, and when he v.as sixteen years of age went 
to \\'aterbur\- tn learn the mason trade with a friend 
in that city, at which he sjient five years: for two 
years while learning his trade he worked for one 
man, and spent nine years in all there. In 1859 he 
came to Xew Haven, and 1861 enlisted in Com- 
pany D, 1st Cimn. \ . I., going out in response to 
the call for three months' men. .\t the expiration 
of this term of enlistment he entered Company E, 
5th United States Cavalry, where he rendered faith- 
ful services for three years, two years of that time 
being orderly sergeant. His command was imder 
Gen. Merritt, and later under Gen. Sheridan, and 
Mr. Gillette served in many fierce and memorable 
engagements. He ])articipated in thirty-two re- 
corded battles, among them being the first ^battle at 
Btdl Run, Antietam. Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, 
the Wilderness, the Shenandoah battles. Winches- 
ter, Cedar Creek, Five Forks, before Petersburg, 
and in the engagements leading u]i to Ajjpomatto.x. 
With the coming of white-winged peace, his military- 
career was ended. 

'Sir. Gillette came to his present concern in Xo- 
vember, 1867. and w.as emplnyed for a >ear as a 
journeyman, 'when be w ,'is macle foreman, which 
position he held until i8()4. .\t the end of that long 
and creditable perioil of service, he was admitted 
to the firm, and held the position of vice-president 
of the company up tn the death of Mr. Grant, in 
February, lyoi, when he succeeded bini as prt'si- 
dcnt. This concern is the second largest in the city ; 
and among other iiuportant constructions they have 
built the Peabody Museum, the Railroad Uuilding, 
the Winchester lluilding, the Sheffield Scientific 
School, York .S(|uare .Schnnl, many jirivate resi- 
dences, and other large and enstly structures. 

In iSC/) Mr. Gillette wiis married to .Miss Amelia 
Rice, a native of .\'ew ll:i\'en, ;md a daughter of 
1in-l Rice, a well-kiinwn pnlitici.m id" .\'ew Haven, 
where he died when he was sixty-fi\-e. To this 
ru'.ion were born two children: Katherine, who 
married Randolph .\. ( )sbnrn, a traveling sales- 



man : and George W. Fisk, who married Bertha 
Curtis, and has one son, George Curtis. George W. 
]•". is a civil engineer, a graduate of the New^ Haven 
high school, and of the Sheffield Scientific School, 
and has already taken high position in the world. 
Mrs. Wilbur Fisk Gillette died Nov. 11, 1900. Mr. 
Gillette is a Republican, and is a Mason of high 
degree, having passed through the several subor- 
dinate organizations to receive the Thirty-second 
degree. In the Cnion League and Young Men's 
Republican Club his character and personality have 
been felt. He attends the First Baptist Church. 

D.WID i;. Wl-IEELER, late a prominent and 
po])ular citizen of West Haven, was at the time 
of his death, April 4, 1900, approaching his sev- 
enty-ninth birthday, his memory green, his mind 
unclouded, and 'his hope unruffled. His life drew 
toward its close in the same town with whose in- 
terests he had been long identified, and' from whose 
citizens he had long commanded universal respect. 
He was born Nov. 9, 1821, in Monroe, this State, 
as were his father and grandfather. Monroe sent 
a full comjMny of patriot soldiers to the anny of 
the Revolution, and Mr. Wheeler's grandfather did 
not hesitate to offer his fortune and his life to the 
Colonial cause. He was a farmer by occupation. 
He died at the home of his son Samuel ( '\lr. 
Wheeler's father). 

Sanuiil Wheeler was reared u])on the paternal 
farm, but learned the trade of a carpenter and 
joiner, which he followed through life, passing 
away at the age of eighty-six. He married Betsey 
Smith, who was born in Oxford, and died in her 
twenty-fourth year. Both Samuel Wheeler ami 
his wife were communicants of the Episcopal 
C'lhurch. ( )f the three children born to them David 
B. was the last survivor. 

David B. Wheeler assisted his father upon the 
farm and attended school during boyhood and early 
\i)Uth. .\t the age of seventeen he learned the 
trade of making spectacles, which he followed sev- 
eral }ears, and when he had reached his twenty- 
second year found employment in New Haven, re- 
maining with one firm for seventeen years. iCarly 
in life 'he began to display those habits of thrift 
au'd self-denial which have done much toward build- 
ing u]) his ])resent handsome fortune. Every day 
be walked to and' from work, la distance of two 
and one-half miles, and Ijy practicing other econ- 
omies gradually accumulated the nucleus of a com- 
petence. I'roiji New Haven he went to Whitney- 
ville, where he secured a position with the Whitney 
Arms Co. The story of 'his success there well ex- 
em])lifies those qualities which characterized him 
through life. He entered the factory at first for a 
probationary period of two weeks, and showed .such 
skill, good judgment and industry that his pro- 
motion was rapid, and he was soon employed to 
make the finest grade of tools us^ed in the works, 
gaining the well-deserved reputation of being one 



266 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



In the latter part of the seventeenth century, the 
name of Clowes tirst appears in America. Here, its 
starting point was in that old, historic and thriving 
town of Hempstead, L. I. Indeed the burying 
ground of St. George's Church, in Hempstead, is, 
in its epita])hs, a sufficient history of the family, 
since its first advent to this country. It is a surpris- 
ing fact, in looking over its records from the begin- 
ning, to find so many of the name in succeeding 
generations who have jtursued professional and 
scholar] V lives — doctnrs, lawyers, clergymen, almost 
exclusively — many nf them (|uite distinguished in 
their life work. I'erhaps. however, no one of the 
name ac(|uired sn hiu;h a ])osition in the world of 
letters and sclmlarshiii as the Rev. Timothy Clowes, 
LL. D., the father nf our present subject. This 
man, most eminent in his pr<.ifession, was born 
March 18, 1787, was graduated as Master of Arts 
at Columbia College in 1S08, was a clergyman, in 
i8oq, of the Established Church, with a parish at 
Jamaica. L. I., and later one in Jersey City, was 
rector of St. I'eter's Church, in .Mliany, from 1810 
to 1817: at the end nf which time he returned to 
Hempstead, and for three years taught with marked 
success one of the leading classical institutes of the 
countrv. Recognizing his vast and varied erudi- 
tion, he w;is honoreci in 182 1 with the degree of 
doctor of laws bv .Mligheny College, and the same 
year was aiiiininied the principal of Erasmus Hall, 
Flatbush, L. 1. In 18^3 Dr. Clowes received a call 
to the presidency nf \Vashington College, Mary- 
land, which he accepted. ( )ver this institution of 
learning he presided for six years. Durintj a part 
of this period he was also Rector of the Episcopal 
Church in Clusterti iwn, Md., and of St. Paul's, 
Kent County. Md. In 1829 Washington College 
was destroved by fire, and Dr. Clowes again opened 
his classical sclinol in Hempstead, L. I. This sem- 
inary in the succeeding nine years became widely 
celebrated as an institution of learning. The Clin- 
ton Liberal Institute, Oneida County, N. Y., called 
him in 1838 as princi]nil — a position wdiich he cred- 
itablv occiijiied for four years. Dr. Clowes died at 
Hempstead, Lung Island. June \q. 1847. 

-As a thinker, the mind of Rev. Dr. Clowes was 
of no ordinary ca>t. Whether viewed as a fellow- 
citizen, a neigbbur, a theologian, an acute scholar, 
or as a man, his contemporaries found in him every- 
thing to respect and ailmire. Full of life and en- 
ergv iiimself, with uncommon facility, he infused 
the same s])irit into others. Wherever he was 
found, there, too, was found ;i master spirit. He 
possessed mental qualities of intcommon activity, 
never wearying with the multiplicity of his labors. 
His mind was stored with such an unusual variety 
of knowledge as to extend far beyond the boun- 
daries of his professional jnirsuils. "When the ear 
heard him, it blessed him: ,'ntd when the eye saw 
him, it gave witness unto him." Mis fund of solid 
and general inf(_)rmation upon rvvvy variet\' of topic, 
his forcible ami hai)p\- m;umer of conimunication. 



joined with a social and cheerful disposition, ren- 
dered him uj)on all occasions a safe counselor and 
friend, an agreeable and interesting gentleman, the 
delight of every circle in which he moved. He 
lived, to borrow the words of a quaint writer, "by 
old ethics and classical rules of honor." His life 
was of so exact and even a type that it might 
almost be styled mathematical. The simple epitaph 
upon his tombstone at Hempstead tersely describes 
him : "Dr. Clowes was the most of his life devoted 
to the cause of education ; his reading was immense ; 
his learning extensive and various ; and, as a mathe- 
matician, he had few eqtials and no superiors." 

If the subject of this notice derives some of his 
best qualities to ensure success in life from his dis- 
tmguished father, he is no less indebted for many 
of his most manly characteristics to his mother. 
Her maiden name was JNIiss Mary Hewlett, and her 
mother's name was Alary Sands. She came from 
a long and noted ancestry. Her lineage is distinct- 
ly traced, step by step, to the middle of the nth 
century in England, and her family was exclusively 
of Sa.Kon origin. The name was originally Sandys 
in the olden times, but has since been spelled 
Sandes, Saudis and Sands. Dr. Benjamin Sandys 
was Archbishop of York in the time of Cromwell,, 
who Confiscated his vast estates just as he treated 
everything of value with which he came in con- 
tact. There is at present an association of the 
Sands family heirs, of which Mr. Clowes is a mem- 
ber, seeking for a restoration to them through the 
British Parliament of these estates, aggregating 
$ I oo,cxx),C)00. In America, the Sands family first 
appears in the person of Sir Edwin Sandys, who, 
in 1617, became governor and treasurer of the Vir- 
ginia Colony. Subsequently, in 1640, representa- 
tives of the jiarent stock in England settled in Bos- 
ton, Mass. A few years later. Block Island came 
into the possession of the Sands ; portions of the 
family twenty years later removed to Long Island 
and became extensive owners of property in the vi- 
cinity of Sands Point, which from them takes its 
name. The genealogy of the Sands family from 
this point to the present, covering nearly three cen- 
turies, is both interesting and instructive, but our 
narrow limits forbid its introduction here. Suffice 
it to say, that it comprised members of all of the 
three recognized professions, men prominent in 
business circles in' New York and elsewhere, of- 
ficers, soldiers and patriots of (nir wars of the Revo- 
lution and of 1812, liankers, members of Congress, 
judges, n;i\;d officers and scholars. It would be 
difficult to point out a family in this countrv with 
a mijre honorable record through each of its suc- 
cessive generations, or one which has been held in 
higher esteem by its contemporaries, .\lthough it 
is true that 

"Tlie glories of our birth and state 
-Are shadows, — not substantial things," 

yet is it equall}' true that one may take a just pride 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



267 



in having- descended from such worthv stock, and 
may fairly ascribe to its blood flowing- in his veins, 
many of those ennobhng quahties which go so far 
to ensure success in life. "Men do not gather grapes 
of thorns, nor figs from thistles." 

George Hewlett Clowes, the suliject of this 
sketch, was bom at Clinton. ( )neida Co.. X. \'., 
June 17. 1842, during the period of his father's 
presidency of the Clinton Liberal Institute. His 
father died when he was but five years of age. 
Upoi-i his widowed mother devolved tlie care, edu- 
cation and training of two children, both of tender 
years. Cntil he was eleven years of age, -Mr. 
Clowes attended the Henipstead Seminary and 
Jamaica Academy, and for the four following years, 
he w^as a student of the Thetford Academy, Thet- 
ford, \'ermont. .\t the age of fifteen, his lirother, 
then a banker in I)e I'erc. Wis., gave him a i>iisition 
in his banking-house, which he retained tuitil he 
entered St. Lawrence University, at Appleton, Wis. 
From his college davs, luitil 1875, he made his 
home with his n-iother, in Brooklyn, X. Y. Mr. 
Clowes lias also an honorable record, as a young 
and patriotic citizen, in our late Civil War. Un- 
der the competent instruction of Col. Toni])kins, 
who had Ijeen conmiissioned to educate oflicers for 
miiitarv jiosiiions, he passed a successful e.xan-iina- 
tion before the board of U. S. Examining (Officers, 
and was at once appointed adjutant of the Mc- 
Clelland infantry. Having aided in recruiting 600 
men for a new regiment, an order of consolidation 
with another and smaller body of recruits was is- 
sued by the War Department, and the entire regi- 
mental stafif of the latter body was placed in com- 
mand of the full regiment. This did not in the least 
diminish the patriotic ardor of Mr. Clowes. Init on 
a second call for troops, he at once re-enlisted, a i 
musket on his shoulder, with the 47th .\. \'. X. C. 
Soon he was appointed sergeant niajf^r of the regi- 
ment, wdiich position he held when mustered out. 
He had, likewise, during the War of the Rebellion, 
an e.xtensivc ex{)erience in the navy of the United 
States. For a year and a half he served un the 
U. S. gun!)oat "l-'lambeau." doing duty oft' the coast 
of Xorth and South Carolina. Ceorgia and Florida. 
Later he was transferred to the U. S. storeship 
"Home," and was faithful to duty aboard this sliip, 
until she was ordered home in the summer of 1864. 
His elder brother, Joseph Clowes, now retired, was 
also in the service of the Navy of the Union as Ad- 
miral's Secretary, and the loss of a leg at the fall of 
Fort Fisher sufticieiitly attests his love of country 
and his sacrifice for her in her hour of sore distress. 
This is all the more marked as he volunteered his 
services for shore dutv against the .Vdniiral's ad- 
vice not to go ashore with the marines. 

In 1882 Mr. Clowes was united in marriage 
to Miss Mamie T. Rlacknall. daughter of Dr. Geo. 
\¥. Blacknall. of Raleigh, X. C. and their home 
is a model of refinement, happiness and domestic 
fclicitv. 



The first experience of Mr. Clowes in a mer- 
cantile life began as book-keej)er, and afterwards 
as salesman, for the flourishing house of (iardeii 
& Co., Xew York. This was late in 18^)4. .\t the 
end of two years he received a llattering otYer from 
the Middlefield I'ire & I'.uilding Stone Co.. 1269 
r>roadwav, Xew York. \\ bile thus engaged he 
was appointed paymaster's clerk on the C S. .gun- 
biiat "Juniata," orderetl to a Furopean station, and 
sailed in July, i8Ck), and he was abroad till 1872. 
Returning to the I'nited States, he at once was en- 
gaged as liian and discount clerk for llie Xew York- 
Loan Indemnity Company. In this ])osition he won 
the respect and admiration of all who dealt with 
him. and, thruugh their confidence in him person- 
ally, he influenced to this company, during the two 
years of his connection wiili it. deposits of his 
friends of upwards nf a (|uarter of a million uf 
dollars. It was willi this banking house that the 
old firm of Drown & Rrothers, of Waterlniry, Conn., 
with a re])Utation world wide fur upwards of fort\' 
vears. then ke])t their Xew ^'ork account. Late 
in 1874. when the Xew York Loan Indeiiinitv Co. 
were arranging to iliscoiUinue business, Mr. I'hilo 
lirowii (the then president of ISrown & lirijs. ) asked 
its president, in the course of a business conversa- 
tion, if he could recommend mie of the employes of 
the bank to him — a man who would Iiave the re- 
(liiisite character, stamina and alnlity. if engaged, 
to grow up and become identified with his large 
business establishment in Waterhurv. Callinc; ui) 
Mr. Clowes, the president at once remarked to Mr. 
P.rown : "( )f all those employed in this bank, I 
speak in every res])ect most highly of this one." 
That recommendation was sufficient, an engagement 
of Mr. Clowes at once followed and as a result, 
on January i, 1875, Mr. Clowes came to Waterbury 
and entered upon his duties as head book-keei)er of 
Rrown & P.ros. During the entire period of his 
connection with Rrown & I'.ros.. covering about 
eleven years, it shoulil, however, be stated that Mr. 
C lowes had no part in the direction, policv or man- 
agement of the concern. Owing to financial diffi- 
culties and enil)arrassiiH'nts and other causes, entire- 
ly foreign to a discussion here, in January, 188C). 
it was deemed advisable for the once [lowerful and 
solid comjiany of Tlrown iS: llros. to make an as- 
signment. This e\-ent occurred uniler the ]iresi- 
dency of Franklin I'arrel, I'.sq., tlu' elder I'.rown 
having died some years before. The trustees of 
the company, how-ever, recognizing the ability and 
integrity of Mr. Clowes, retained him for his aid 
to them ill winding uj) its involved and intricate af- 
I'airs. His keen mercantile sagacity told him at 
once that the inirchase of the Seamless Tube. Rrazed 
'lube and Iloiler liusiness from \hv trustees might 
be made the nucleus of a great industrv. Tliis. 
however, was at that time but a small portion of 
the original |)lant of Rrown &• liros. To secure its 
conliTjl required an outlav of $,^7,500. Tlie pur- 
chase price of the kettle business of the late com- 



26S 



COMMEMORAril'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



panv was fixed at $5,000 ailditicnal. .\t imcc and 
without (klay Mr. Clowes apjilied to a friend of 
years siandin,:.;- — Mr. Edward 1*'. Randolph, a man 
of wealth and with large husiness interests in New 
York — for the capital necessary to make this pur- 
chase. After a conference, Mr. Randol])h at once 
agreed to furnish conditionally the requisite sum. 
The imposed condition was in substance tiial the 
entire responsibility of the dii'ection and manage- 
ment of the plant, when luught. should devolve 
upon Mr. Clowes. It was an inmiense undertaking 
for one man to assume, e«]iecially when a new com- 
panv, under new conditions and surroundings, must 
be ijuilt up on the wreck of the old. The entire 
purchase price of $42,500. was, however, at once 
furnished. Mr. Clowes assumed all personal rc- 
sponsihilitx' of management, and in April. iNSh, the 
sale was effected by a transfer of the portion indi- 
cated of the former Brown & Bros, jilant from the 
trustees to Randolph & Clowes. The partnership 
capital of the new firm was at that time fixed at 
$75,000 (though subsequently many times in- 
creased), and the partnersliij) of Randol]ih & 
Clowes was launched upon its business career. At 
that time (April, i88(_)) they employed fifty men 
and one clerk. Their office cj^iiarters consisted of a 
small room, about fourteen feet square, liy com- 
parison, they now employ eight under superintend- 
ents, and over five hundred hands. The main of- 
fice — a fine brick structure, beaiuiful in its archi- 
tectural tlesign and its convenience, where all books, 
records and accounts arc kept, gives employment to 
fifteen clerks. The firm also at present has its own 
offices in New York, lioston, Philadelphia and Cin- 
■cinnati, together with a large distrilntting depot in 
Chicago. After their first purchase, as before de- 
scribed, in 1886, for three xears Air. Clowes put 
forth all his energies toward' building up the little 
busines.-. so actpiired. l-'rom small beginnings, the 
volume of business transacted rapidly increased. 
]n three \ears only $105,000 in cash had been paid 
in, yet at the end of that time this thriving part- 
nership in its seamless tube, lirazed lube, boiler 
business, and kettle departments, was transacting-a 
business exceeding $600,000 per annum, a surpris- 
ing showing upon the original investment. At this 
juncture the energy, executive ability and business 
skill of Mr. Clowes stood him well in hand. Con- 
suming, as they did, large ([uantities of sheet brass 
and sheet copper, his business sagacity suggested 
the i)r(.)priety of his firm engaging likewise in its 
manufacture. Thiir incri'ased business also h:ul out- 
grown the (|u;irters which it then occu])ieil. Con- 
setiiiriith-. in .March. iSSg. the present jiartners [jur- 
chased of the trustet's, at a cost of $75,000, the old 
rolling mill of Ilrown & Bros. — the largest single 
rolling mill in the country — together v.dth the re- 
mainder of the i)roperty. It was a business venture 
at which nianv old and experienced manufacturers 
shook their heads. |)redicting onl\- imiieuding ruin 
and disaster to the Noung and thriving tinn. l)Ut, as 



we have seen, among his qualities Mr. Clowes does 
not number the cowardice of a faint heart. He 
was not to be satisfied until he could reach a. point 
where he could see his firm second to none, either 
in its capacity for volume of business, credit in its 
finances, or ability in its management. Whether 
or not he has succeeded the figures alone will show. 
Starting wdth about 200 customers on their books, 
this concern now has nearly 3,000. Up to the pres- 
ent time over $500,000 has been spent in improving 
the property, as originally purchased. The cost, 
therefore, of this plant, starting in such modest pro- 
portions but eight years ago, is to the partners over 
$650,000. The betterments to the property, taking 
into consideration the constantly increasing success 
of the enterprise, give it a value more than double 
their entire cost. In the ntanagement and develop- 
ment of this enormous industry Mr. Clowes has 
had no aid from any source, except the generous 
financial assistance of his partner, who, however, 
has given no time whatever to its conduct, policy 
or supervision. It must also be remembered that 
during these few years of the growth and maturity 
of this firm it has been compelled in the open mar- 
ket to face and combat the competition of old and 
established corporations, with limitless credit and 
recognized experience born of many years. Its suc- 
cess is, therefore, an added cause for congratula- 
tion to Mr. Clowes, as its manager. Perhaps one 
of the main causes for this rapid and enormous 
growth may. under the circumstances, be found in 
the rigid system of econoiny upon wdiich Mr. Clowes 
has insisted in every detail. Expenses of selling and 
marketing goods, as well as the general expenses of 
the management, all outside of the actual cost of 
production, have been reduced by him to a mini- 
mum. The cost to the company of this item has 
never exceeded three per cent, of their sales. The 
difference between this figure and the selling ex- 
penses of other Waterbury companies in the same 
line running from seven per cent, to twelve per cent, 
on their output, goes far toward explaining why 
Randolph & Clowes can make so good a financial 
exhiliit. and how carefully, judiciously and system- 
aticallv their business is managed. 

Air. Clowes is still the active, energetic, perse- 
vering manager and partner of this great and pros- 
perous firm. Their extensive and magnificent 
works, occuining a central ])ortion of the city of 
Waterbury, covering an area of nearly seven acres, 
fronting on the .New York, New Haven & Hart- 
forn Railroad on the one side and the New York 
& New England on the other: their unlimited and 
never-failing water su])i)ly from the .Naugatuck 
river, whicji is in close ])roximity ; the size, con- 
venience and neat condition of their buildings: the 
immense, powerful, modern and varied character of 
their machinery; all these go to make of Randolph 
& Clowes a grand and unsurpassed manufacturing 
establishment. This alone is an enduring monument 
to tieorge II. tdinves. l'\-w business men in the 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



269 



countrv can pciiiit to such stiipciidiius results, ac- 
complished in so few years, hv their own personal, 
individual, unaided eh'orts. Xo wonder that the 
c:t\- of W'aterlntry, with its immense nianufacturiuy 
interests, has heen i;lad to honor .\lr. Clowes with 
the presi(lei;c\- of its Hoard oi Trade, to which po- 
sition he was elected Jan. 8. 1894. Who. in view 
of all these facts, will not agree witli us, when we 
.say, as in the opening i)aragraphs of this sketch, that 
^Ir. Clowes is the liappy .possessor ul all the in- 
herited and inherer.t qualities of head, tirani and 
heart for which we there give him creiHt ? 

ALl'Rh:D XURTll. -M. D.. late nf Waterhury. 
where for a third of a century he had heen a suc- 
cessful physician and surgeon of high ortler, was 
descended from one of the oldest and most ener- 
getic families in Torrington. Coiui.. in hoth ])aiernal 
and maternal lines. His ancestors were among the 
earlv settlers of Connecticut. 

John North, the emigrant, came froiti luigland 
hetween 1640 and 1650. and is given in the .Memor- 
ial History of Hartford county among those who 
[jurchased land of the original ])ro|)rietors of h'arm- 
ington. He died tliere in 1692. 

Dr. Xorth was in the seventh generation from 
John North, the emigrant, the line of his descent 
heing through Thomas .Xnrth, Hhenezer .Xorth. .\sh- 
liel Xorth. I'hineas Xorth and Phineas Xnrth (2). 

(H) Thomas North, son of John Xorth, mar- 
ried Hannah Xewell, and hecame one of the original 
"settlers of .Xod, in the northeast part of Avon. He 
died in 1712. 

( HI ) Ehenczer Xorth, son of Thomas Xorth, 
married in 1730, Syhil Curtiss. In connection with 
Zehulon Curtiss, he hought two farms in Torring- 
ton, and moved to them in the spring of 1741. -Mr. 
Xorth died in 1789, in the eighty-fifth year of his 
age. and his wife died in 1794, in her ninety-first 
year. 

( R') Ashhel Xorth, son of Ehenezer Xorth, 
horn in 1731, married in 1757, Ruth, daughter of 
Ebenezer Lyman, Jr. lie was a fanner and enter- 
prising' man, and died in 1800, in his sixty-ninth 
year; his wife died in 1812, in her seventy-eighth 
year. 

(\') I'hineas Xorth. son of .Ashhel .Xorth, horn 
in 1762, married in 1787, Chloe Skinner. He was 
a farmer, and was a genius in mechanical lines. He 
made by hand .several brass clocks of the high case 
style, which would run nine or ten da\s, an<l keep 
the day of the month. 

Phineas North (2). .son of I'hineas North, and 
the father of the late Dr. Alfred Xorth, was born 
Feb. 9, 1803. He lived on the old homestead, where 
his death occurred. He had, however, built a new 
house in Wolcottville, which was about comjileted 
at the time of his death, and which was afterward 
the home of his widow. He was a vcrv energetic 
farmer and business man, antl his name occurs 
frequently in connection with industrial and business 



eiuerjjrises of that locality. ( )n Oct. 10. 1832. he 
married Louisa W'euuore, an<l to them were liorn 
children, as follows: Helen, born in 1833, married 
in i85(^), James W. Holmes, of Waterhury, and died 
in 1806: and .\lfred. is i_iur sttbject. I'hineas .Xorth 
dieil Ma\ 7. l8()7. 

The late Dr. .Alfred Xorth, son of I'hineas 
.Xorth. was born Oct. 5, i83(), in Torrington, Conn. 
He attended school at ( losheii and at East Windsor, 
Conn., and after graduating from the academy m 
Xorfolk. and while yet in his teens, he made \\\i his 
miml to become a physician. His father sent iiim 
to lirown L'niversity, from which he was graduated 
in 1859, after which for a few months he studied 
medicine under Dr. ISuell. of Litchfield, Coini.. and 
then entered the Xew \'ork College of Physicians 
and .Surgeons, studying at the same time under 13r. 
Ciurdon I luck. Surgeon to the .Xew York Hospital. 
Dr. North was graduated from the .Xew \'avk Col- 
lege of Physicians and Surgeons, in March. 1801, 
and on .May 7. 1861, was a])j)ointed a member of 
the home staff of the .Xew 'i'ork Hosjiital. Here 
he continued until Mav, 1862, when he went to the 
front to do army surgery with Dr. Robert F. Weir, 
of Xew A'ork cit\'. and Dr. George L. Porter, of 
Piridgeport. .\11 three were commissioned surgeons 
at Washington, D. C, and sent to Frederick City, 
Md., where a hospital was established at the time of 
the battles of South Mottntain and Antietam. .Af- 
ter some months of service Dr. .Xorth returned to 
the New York Hospital and finished his term there. 
In 1863 he located in W"aterbury, Conn., and speed- 
ily secured for himself a large and lucrative practice. 
He became widely known as a skillful and thorough- 
going physician and an ex])ert surgeon. In surgery 
he exhibited not only knowledge, but excejitiona! 
jiromptness and courage. A writer in the New 
York World spoke of him after his death as "a l)oId 
and versatile surgeon, enthusiastic in his profession, 
ceaseless in his toil, and possessed of business acu- 
men as well," and added, "Probably not a Doctor 
who has lived in Connectictit has condensed into 
thirty years so vast an amount of varied jirofession- 
al work." 

In 1881 Dr. North associated with him in the 
j)ractice Dr. Thomas L. .Axtelle. and the partnership 
continued until July. 1893, wlien owing to Dr. 
Xorth's failing health it was dissolved. For more 
than a decade prior to his death the Doctor had been 
the medical examiner for the town of Waterhury. 
He was also for vears the chief of staff of the 
board of consulting physicians of the Waterhury 
Hospital. He was surgeon for the New ^'ork & 
Xew England Railroad, and the Naugatnck rail- 
road, and al-so for the Aleriilen road during its ex- 
istence as a separate corporation. He was medical 
examiner of a dozen different life insurance com- 
panies, and one of the medical directors of tlic Con- 
necticut Indemnity .Association. He was vice presi- 
dent of tlie \Vaterbury Afedical Societv for a num- 
ber of years, and at the death of Dr. Piatt became 



270 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



its president. Dr. North was an honorary member 
of the New Haven County Medical Society and the 
State Society, lie was a stockholder in and a di- 
rector of the Apotliecarics Hall Co., and a member 
of the Waterbury Club. In religious connections he 
belonged to the First Congregational Church, of 
Waterbury. For years Dr. North stood at the head 
of the medical profession in Waterbury, and had the 
respect, regard and esteem of the other physicians 
and surgeons of the city. His reputation extended 
beyond the limits of his immediate practice. As a 
surgeon he possessed the natural ability possessed 
by few, and in this field he made the greater success 
of his life, making a name for himself, and acquiring 
a considerable prnpcrtx. lie traveled extensively, 
having crossed the .\ilantic three times, and was 
familiar with the country cast of the Mississippi. 
When he and his family removed from their Grand 
street home to the elegant new residence on North 
Main street they filled it with valuable souvenirs 
and relics of their travels, and made it one of the 
most attractive homes in Waterbury. 

On Sept. 24, 1863, Dr. North married Amelia 
Henrietta, daughter of Dr. Gurdon Buck, an emin- 
•ent surgeon in New York, and sister of Dr. Alfred 
Buck, a noted Otologist of New York. To this 
union were born Susie S., who, in 1894, married 
Herbert Rowland, of \Vaterburv; and Annie W. 



Three children di 



in childhood, and two in in- 



fancy. Mrs. North diud at her home in Waterbury, 
Dec. 18, 1899. Dr. North died Nov. 17, 1893. 

I 
JOHN T. TR( )TT, one of Waterbury's well 
and favorably known citizens for a period of nearly 
fifty years, was born in 1831, in Saxony, Ger- 
many, son of Frederick and Flizabeth Trott. He 
came to America when eighteen years of age, land- 
ing in New York. Later he went to Cleveland, 
Ohio, thence, to Danbur\. Cin.n., and in 1857 lo- 
cated in Waterbury, where he afterward resided. 
L'pon 'his arrival in W'aterlniry he entered' the em- 
ploy of C. A. & D. T. Meigs, and after some rime 
l>ecame a ]jartner. the firm engaging in the baking 
business, and so continuing until i8()0. when the 
personnel of the firm was changed and the firm 
name became Trott, I. anion & Co. In 1891 Mr. 
Trott liecame the sole head of the concern, which 
has since been doing a large and successful busi- 
ness under the head of the Trott Baking Co. Mr. 
Trott was one of the city's prominent business men, 
ever deeplv interested in its welfare, and in various 
ways aid'Ctl and sup|iorteil measures which tended 
to the citv's substantial growth. He was identified 
with the iMrst Baptist Church of Waterbury 
through a long period of years, and was church 
treasurer for thirty-seven \ears. In ])iilitics be 
w-as a Republican. His nitlueiice for good was 
felt in many ways, and as a man ami citizen he 
ccHnmaiufed the esteem and resjiect of the commu- 
nitv. His death occurred at his home May 31, 
1897. 



In 1857 Mr. Trott was united in marriage with 
M'artha Roberts, daughter of Simon and Esther 
( Nasi in ) Roberts, and to them were born five chil- 
dren, three of whom isurvive the father, namelv: 
C. h'rederick, Albert N. and Warren S. Mrs. 
Trott was born in \\'akefield, N. H., as was her fa- 
ther, Simon Rol;)erts. Tire re he married Esther 
Nason, and became the father of eight children, 
three of whom died voung. The others were: 
Sarah, now deceased; Mijry, who married Charles 
Bronson, of Waterbury: Martha, twin of Mary; 
John, who resides in Seymour, Conn.; and George, 
who makes his home in Waterbury. A few years 
after his marriage Air. Roberts moveil to Hunting- 
ton, Fairfield Co., Conn., and was engaged in farm- 
ing tliere, but later he moved to Waterbury, where 
he and his wife died, iioth were of English ex- 
traction. 

C. I'"Kiaii-;KicK Trott. son of Jo^hn T. Trott, was 
born in Waterljury July 19, 1859, a"<^l passed his 
boyhood davs in his native town. He attended 
the public schools until be was sixteen, and then 
went to work in his father's bakery, learning the 
trade from the be,ginning to the end, and continuing 
this up to the present time. When his father died 
in 1897 he assumed control eif the business, which 
he has greatly enlarged. He Iniilt a large brick 
building and is doing a mammoth business. They 
shi]i their goods near Waterbury for a radius of 
twelve miles. Mr. Trott is president of the Trott 
Baking Cn.. which is located on Fast ?ylain street, 
and where he runs seven teams, emjiloying twenty- 
four men. He is also resident manager of the Na- 
tional Biscuit Co., to whom on April 6, 1899, the 
Trull Baking Co. sold their cracker business. 

C;n March 6, 1881, Mr. Trott married Hattie 
M. Barlo)!, of Waterbury, who died July 14, 1886. 
On March 7, 1888, Mr. Trott was married' to Anna 
M. Parker, who was born in High Gate Springs, 
\'ermont, of English descent. Mr. Trott is a Re- 
publican in politics, and socially is a member of 
Nosahogan Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; Continental Lodge, 
F. & A.M.: Sphinx Temple, Order of the Mystic 
Shrine; and Tunxis Tribe e)f Red Men. h\ re- 
ligious ccjunection both he and his wife are attend- 
ants at the First Baptist Church. Public spirited 
and enterprising, Air. Trott is highly respected 
by all. 

ELISHA C. BISHOP. This prominent citizen 
of Guilford is the representative of one of the old- 
est New England families. He is the descendant of 
the eighth generation from John Bishop, who 
founded the t'amily in .\merica, becoming one of tlie 
earliest settlers of Guilford, Connecticut. 

(1) John Bishop was born in England, and after 
his emigration to America became a lifelong resi- 
dent of Guilford, where he died in February, 1661, 
and where he was buried. His wife Ann died in 
Guilford in 1676. To John and .Ann Bishop were 
born three children: lohn. who dieel in Oc- 




- / , / ^^/CC 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



tober, 1O83 ; Stciihen, who dicil in June, idi/j; and 
Betsey, who married James Sleel, Ksij. 

(11) John Bishop, son of John (1), married 
Dec. 13, 1650, Susanna Goldham, who died .\ov. 
I, 1703. Their chihiren were as follows: Mary, 
horn Sept. 28, 1652, married John liodgkin ; John, 
born in 1655, '^'''^^' Nov. 25, J731 ; Susanna, born 
in 1O57, married, and died October, 1729; EUy.ii- 
beth, born in 1660, married Julin Scranton, and 
died in August, 1727; Daniel, born in 16O5, mar- 
ried Hannali Bradley, and died A])ril 17, 1751 ; 
Nathaniel, born in iWjO, married Mary Hughes, and 
<Iied May i, 1714; Samuel, born Oct. 28, 1O70, mar- 
ried, and diet! Feb. 17, 1753; Sarah, born Jan. 22, 
1674, died May 12, 1712; Abigail, born Jan. 2O, 
1681, married Samuel Lee, and died June 5, 1751. 

(IIIj John Bishop, born in 1655, died Xov. 25^ 
173 1. He married July 3, io8y, Elizabeth Hitch- 
cock, who died Alarch 14, 1712, and for his sec- 
ond wife married May Johnson March 8, 17 13. 
His children were as follows: Elizabeth, born Oct. 
14, 1690, married Samuel Scranton ; John, born Aug. 
12, 1692, married Abigail Spinning, and dietl Jan. 
28, 1752; Ann, born Feb. 15, 1695. married David 
Field, and died in 1731 ; David, born Jan. 6, 1697, 
died Aug. 20, 1773: Jonathan, born Xov. 8, 1699, 
married Harriet Chittenden ; -May, born in Decem- 
ber, 1700, married Caleb Jones, and died June 23, 
1724; Deborah, born Feb. 19, 1702; Xathaniel, born 
May 6, 1704, married Alargaret Blinn, and died 
April II, 1778; Timothy, born 1708, married Han- 
nah Bliss, and died in 1794; William, born Oct. 18, 
1714; Enos, born May 27, 1717, married Abigail 
Burgis, and died .April, 1802; Esther, born Feb. 
24, 1719; Mercy, born May 7, 1722, married Abra- 
liam Donald, and died Dec. 3, 1793. 

(1\') David Bishop, born Jan. 0, 1697. died Aug. 
20, 1773. On May 17, 1724, he married Deborali 
Stanley. Their children were: Deborah, born Jan. 
17, 1725; Hulda, born Aug. 5, 1726; David, born 
Sept. 20, 1728, married Andrea Fowler, and died 
Jan. 25, 1792; Chloe, born July 15, 1733, married 
Handy Bushnell; Sarah, born Aug. 18, 1736, mar- 
ried iUh-s Hall, and died April 8, 1792. 

(\') David Bishop, bon: Sept. 20, 1728, died 
Jan. 25, 1792. lie married April 17, 1755, --\ndrea 
J'owder, who was born Sejjt. 12, 1724, and who died 
Jan. 24, 1815. Their children were: Andrea, Iiorn 
Feb. 28, 175'), died March 28, 1757: David, born 
July 29, 1757, married Deborah Fowler, and died 
April 19, 1833: Huldah, born March 4. 1759, died 
Oct. 19, 1838; Margaret, born Xov. 10, I7')(), died 
.'^ept. 21, 1764: Jonathan, born C)ct. 19, 17^12, mar- 
ried Huldah Chaijman, and died Sept. 23, 1826; 
Jared, born Oct. 22, I7'')4, married Mary .Mason, 
and died Xov. 26, 1839. 

(\T) Jonathan Bishop, born Oct. 19, 1762. died 
Sept. 23, 1820. He married Feb. 21, 1787, Huldah 
'Chapman, who was bom Dec. i, 1762, and who 
1828. Their two children were: 



died Sept. 
Jonathan, 



rn Dec. 19, 1787, died Dec. 22, 1787; 



J'-nathan (2,1, born .March 30, 1797. died March 
III, 1887. 

( \ 1 1 I Jonathan l'.ish(_)[) married June 18, 1821, 
I'olly Bishop, who was born Jan. 30, 179*), and who 
died in Jul\, 1839. For his second wife he married 
March i(), 1840, Fanny Maria Dennison, who was 
born March i, 1803, and died March 15, 1865. For 
his third wife he married March 15, 1806, Electa 
M. Stone, who was Ijorn tJct. 30, 1810. The chil- 
dren of Jonathan Bishop were: Ann Maria, born 
Jan. 22, 1822, died May 27, 1841 ; Elislia Chapman, 
born April 10, 1824: Richard S., born Dec. 29, 1825, 
married M;iry G. Hand, and died Sept. 7, 1889; 
Hulda J., ijorn .\pril 7, 1828, married (ieorge Hull, 
and died :\])r\\ 29, 1889; Sophia h'owler, born May 
'3' 1835, married Tliomas Criswold ; Allen died 
Jan. 13, i8()i ; an infant, born in July, 1839, died 
July 2(), 1839: .\lfred (iriswold. born Oct. 19, 1842; 
William h'dward, born Xov. 3, 1855, married Ellen 
A. Stone. 

(VHlj Elisha C. Bishop, our subject, was born 
April 10, 1824. On July 5, 184'). he married Char- 
lotte G. I'owler, wdio was born Dec. 15, 1820, and 
who died Oct. 6, 1885. Their children were as fol- 
lows : Frederick Chapman, born May 15, 1847. died 
July 27, 1847: Frederick C. (2), born Dec. 23, 1848; 
Rachel 1)., born June 14, 1850, died Aug. 15. 1850; 
Kobert Allen, born March 16, 1851: Edward Fow- 
ler, l)orn March 11. 1852. married .\\mii G. Spen- 
cer; Mary Cornelia, born Aug. 2~. 1853, married 
Miles G. White; Frank H., born .March 22, 1851, 
married .Soj)liia C. Silencer : Ida and Eva S. ( twins ) , 
horn April 19. 1859, of whom Ida married X. G. 
Canfield, and Eva, Edward .M. Sute; Richard 
}vlathew, born May 3. \S(n, died Sept. 22, 1861 ; 
Maretto Canfield, born Jan. 28. i8C)4, married P'red- 
erick Spencer: and lu-nest Shuti. l)orn Oct. 28, 
1866, married in 1889 Maggie llerlen. 

AXDREW H. I':MBLh:R, than whom, it is 
safe to say, no man can show a more honorable 
record of service in the army of his country, is a 
native of ?\Iontgomery, Orange Co.. X. Y., born 
June 29, 1834, a son of Adam Enrhler and his wife 
Hannah W'eller. 

Mr. limbler passed his boxhood days in his na- 
tive town, and received his education in the schools 
there, and in Xew \'ork City. He had ever a keen 
interest in military affairs, and in 1855 became a 
memljer of Co. H, 71st Regiment, Xew York State 
Militia. .\Iready the coiuitry was jireparing for the 
coming struggle, and when the flag was lowered 
at h'ort Sumter the fury of lioth sicles broke forth. 
Co. H, of the 71st X. Y., of which Mr, Embler was 
then sergeant, was enlisted into the United States 
.\rmy on Ai>ril n;, 1861. .\i the navy yard_ in 
Wasiiington the young sergeant was elected lirst 
lieutenant, and as sucli was mustered in for three 
months' service. ( )n July 21, i8(>i. he conmianded 
his company at the first battle of P.ull Kmi, and 
was there wounded. This occurred the day after 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



liis term of cnlistnicnt had expired. He was mus- 
tered out, and was elected cajjtain of Co. H. upon 
the resignation of its fnrmer captain. In the fall 
of i86i"hc joined the _'d .\. \'. .Slate .Militia, later 
known as the 82d \nl. Int.. at I'oulesvilie, Aid., as 
first lieutenant nf e'u. K. participating in the Penin- 
sular campaign. .\t Harrison's Landing, after 
the Seven Days Retreat, in iS'iJ, he was made cap- 
tain of Co. ii, same regiment. His company, un- 
der his command, ])articipated in the hattle of An- 
tietam, where the Captain was wuunded. In the 
spring of 1863 Cajit. Ivmhler was detailed by order 
of the War Department as mustering ofificer of the 
Second Division, Secuml Army Corps, and was act- 
ing assistant adjutant of the Second Division, Sec- 
ond Corps, for many nionths. He received his third 
wound in the hattle of the Wilderness, at which 
time he was on the Division staff. After the sec- 
ond assault on Cold Harbor he received his mail, 
and there sitting aromid a pine tree with other of- 
ficers read the news uf his appointment as senior 
aide to Gen. John (iibbon on the field of battle. 
This appointment took him out of the Commissary 
Muster Department. During the year 1S64 he was 
aide on Gen. (jibbon's stat^', as per that appoint- 
ment, but as the 82d was to be mustered out of 
service he was made captain of a company in the 
59th N. V. \'. I., to hold him in service. In Oc- 
tober, 1864, lie was brevetted. at Boydton Plank 
Road, major of volunteers, and received the Wash- 
ington Medal of Honor. When General Gibbon 
was assignedi to the 24th Army Corps, Army of 
the James, Hrevet Alajor I'jnbler became at once 
Major and ,\. D. C. of L'nite.l States Volunteers, 
and was recommended by (len. ( libbon as Inspector 
of the Corps, wdiich office he held for a time. When 
Gen. Grant made his final move Major Embler was 
sent with the Second Division to the Army of the 
Potomac at Peterslnirg. and from there followed 
Gen. Lee to .Appomattox. The' Army of the James 
made a forced march and placed themselves in front 
of Lee's arm\-. When the surrender was consum- 
mated Gen. Grant left Generals Gibbon, Merritt and 
Griffin to settle the terms of surrender. Alajor 
Embler went to Richmond with Gen. Gibbon, and 
he was one of those detailed to take the captured 
battle flags to ihc War Department, and Major 
Embler was brevetted lieutenant colonel of United 
States \olunteers by Secretary Stanton. On Dec. 
^^ 1865, he was honorablv discharged from service 
at Petersburg, \'irginia. 

When the war was over and the change from 
army life to pursuits of peace became a pleasing 
necessity, Col. Embler returned to Xew York and 
was there for a time engaged in l)usiness. In 1870 
he located in Hartford, Conn., and while there un- 
der the firm names of H. P. I'dair (.\: Emliler, and 
later Embler & Posworth, carried on ibe business 
of steam heating, plinnbing, gasfitting, etc. His in- 
terest in things military did not abate, and there 
was ever the secret longing to be again connected 



with a military organization. In 1877 he joined 
the First Company, Governor's Foot Guards, and in 

1879 was elected first lieutenant and captain, and in 

1880 became major commanding. In tSSj he lo- 
cated in .\'ew Haven as secretary and treasurer of 
the Southern Xew England 'Telephone Co., and 
that same year he was made captain of Co. D, 2d 

j Conn. N. G., and in 1890 was appointed bv Gov- 
ernor Hulkeley adjutant general of the State. In 
i8<j3 he joined as private the Second Company of 
the Governor's Foot Guards, and was made cor- 
poral, sergeant and ensign, but resigned, and in 
1894 was connnissioned captain of Co. D, 2'd Conn. 
N. G. That was his last official position in an 
active military company. Since 1894 he has de- 
voted his time exclusively to his business aft'airs. 

In 1865, while still in the army, Col. Embler 
was united in marriage, at Windsor, Conn., to Miss 
Elnora Dickerson, of Orange county, X. Y. Chil- 
<lren to the number of ten, four sons and si.x daugh- 
ters, blessed their union: Simms, of Hartford, 
Conn., is connected with the Southern Xew Eng- 
land Telephone Co. ; Howard, of the A\'arner Miller 
Co.: Ralph H., connected with L'pson & Grannis, 
coal dealers; Marshall, employed in the First Xa- 
tional Bank, Xew Haven; Alildred .A.., wife of 
William Loomis ; Harriet, wife of Horace Sanford, 
of Ottawa, Canada; Alice V.; Grace, wife of 
Ernest Thonipson. of the Yale National Bank ; 
Esther and Tennie. Col. Embler has been an active 
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and 
during the time he resided in Hartford, served a 
term as commander of Tyler Post, and when he 
located in Xew Haven he was transferred to Ad- 
miral Foote Post, of this city. 

AMOX P.R( )WX. In studying the lives and 
characters of prominent and prosperous men we 
are naturally led to inquire intO' the secret of their 
success, and the motives tliat have prompted their 
actions. Success is not a question of genius or of 
luck, as held by many, but rather a matter of ex- 
perience and >ound judgment, properly applied. 
When we trace the careers of those who stand high- 
est in public esteem we find in nearly every case 
that they are those who have risen gradually, fight- 
ing their own way in the face of all opposition. 
Self-reliance, conscientiousness, energy, honesty — 
these are the traits of character that insure the 
highest emoluments and greatest success, and to 
such characteristics may be attribuKd the succes.s 
that has crowned the efforts of .Amon Brown, a 
well-known business man of West Haven. 

Mr. Brown was born March 18, 1841, in the 
historic old town of Simsbury, Hertford Co.. Conn., 
son of .\saph and Sarah (Bacon) I'nnvn. the for- 
mer a lifelong resident and farmer of that place. 
.\mon Prown |)assed his boyhood days upon the 
home farm, attending the schools of Simsbury and 
Granby, most of the time walking to a school three 
miles from his home. .-\t the age of seventeen 





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'V 




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"^^ 




104^'^ Ji>j'V^/^^-Pi/y^^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



273 



years, liaviiig been given his time by his father, he 
left the old homestead, and the next five years en- 
sfagcd in farming at Southwick, Mass. At the 
age (jf t\veiit_\-t\vo years we find him c< inducting ;i 
wholesale fish market on I^'errx' street, in llartfurd, 
Conn. Subsequently he removed to Xew Haven, 
and for tltree years engiaged in the- yeast business; 
that con'tmodity was then sold in liquid form, l)eing 
a by-product of the distilleries. l-"nll(iwing this 
venture Mr. Brow'n engaged in the grocery and 
meat business in Xew liaven, being located, re- 
spectively, on the corner of York and tleorge 
streets, on (ieorge street between Wjrk and Park 
streets, and on the corner of Park and South streets. 

Mr. Brown began tiie baking business in a store 
at the corner of Easton street and Di.xwell avenue, 
Xew Haven, later removing his establishment to 
West Haven, where he continued the business untd 
Jan. I, i8y8, on that date selling the horsis, wagons, 
etc.. and leasing the plant and business for five 
years. He was ttntiring in his energy and devotion 
to rbe building up of his business, and fully ineritid 
his hard-earned success, no employe of his ever giv- 
ing more time and attention to its details than ilid 
Mr. Drown. The value of W'tst Haven real estate 
appealing to him as the best in which to invest his 
capital. Mr. P.rown has become known as one of 
the leading dealers in realty in that section. He 
has led a busy life, and though many times ottered 
nomination to town and borough offices has in- 
variably declined, never feeling that he would be 
justified in sacrificing his business interests as he 
would have to do to accejit the hon(jrs. 

Mr. Brown was married, Dec. p,. 1861, in .Snf- 
field. Conn., to }kliss Mary C. Stevens, a descend- 
ant of an old settled Massachusetts family, and 
to them have been born four children: ( i ) Willie 
A. died Aug. 14, 1864. (2) Burt 1). married Xet- 
tie M. Pialdwin. and both are now deceased; they 
had one child, Ehvood D. (31 (Jllie J. is the wife 
of William H. Brown, of Xew \'ork Cit\, and 
has two children, Willie A. and Charlotte. 14) 
Mary K. is now resi<ling with her jjarents. 

M.MMR K.AI.SIvR. prominent in insurance and 
in the steamship ticket business in Watcrbury, and 
one of the most popular residents of that city, is 
a native of Germany, born Dec. 23. 1835, in Ba- 
varia. 

Bernard Kaiser, his father, was of the same na- 
tivity. He was a dealer i:i real estate, merchandise. 
etc., in Bavaria, as was his father before him. He 
passed all his life in his native land, dying there at 
the age of eighty-seven years. He married Hannah 
Neuman, also a Bavarian by birth, and four chil- 
dren were born to them : Clara died in Germany ; 
Caroline was married to Jacob Johnson, and they 
make their home in Xew flaven; Maier is the sub- 
ject of this sketch; Solomon is a s])eculator in Ger- 
many. The mother died a year later than her hus- 
band at the age of seventv-six vears. 

18 



Maier Kaiser received a liberal education in 
Bavaria, and for three years clerked in a bank there. 
In 1853 he came to America, and shortly after land- 
ing wein to California, where he was engaged in the 
clothing business for twelve years ; he also visited 
various other ])laces. In Uecember, 18O5, he came 
to Waterlniry, and from 1866 to 1871 conducted a 
men's furnishing goods store, in 1871 forming a 
Ijartnership with J. Johnson, under the firm name of 
Johnson & Kaiser, the well-known pioneer clothiers 
of the city. In 1896, he took up his present in- 
siu'ance and steamship ticket business, in which he 
is meeting with excellent success. 

In 18G8 Mr. Kaiser married Babetta Silverman, 
who was born in Bavaria, and four children have 
come to bless this union ; Carrie married Henry 
Gottgetreu, a ])rominenl lawyer of Xew York city; 
Jacob is manager of the well-known firm of IJriggs 
& Smith, dealers in ])ianos, etc. ; Selma and Helen 
are single. In politics our subject is a Democrat, and 
lie has served the city in the common council, was 
fire commissioner twelve years, town treasurer ten 
years, and at the present time is a member of the 
bureau of assessments. .Socially he is affiliated with 
the F. & A. M., 1. O. O. I"., I.O. B. 1!. and Order 
of Red Men, the Concordia Singing Society and 
the Turnverein. 

IIKXR^' .\. RIDKR was for many years one of 
the oldest residents, as well as one of the most suc- 
cessful business men and infiuential citizens of the 
town of Seymour, in Xew Haven county. He was 
born T'eb. 28, 1832, in Danbury, Conn., son ot 
Ralph Rider, a native of the same town, wdio was 
by trade a carpenter, and followed that calling 
throughout life. He did considerable business as 
a contractor. Ralph Rider died in 1842, esteemed 
and mourned l)y the connmmity at large. He mar- 
ried Harriet Chapman, the only child of Daniel and 
Priscilla Chapman, of Redding, Fairfield county, 
where her father owned ;i farm, and where he died 
at the age of seventy-nine. .Mrs. Raljih Rider died 
at the age of forty-five. Henry A. was one of a 
family of nine children, four of whom are vet liv- 
ing. Mary, the eldest, is the widow of Joseph Sher- 
wood. Sheperd R. is a retired farmer of Seymour. 
Cornelius resides at Quaker Farms. O.xford. 

Henry .\. Rider was liut nine years old when 
he was left an orphan, and his steadfastness of 
purpose and indomitable pluck have won the pro- 
nounced success which has been his portion. .At 
the age of eleven he went from Danbury to Red- 
ding, where he remained until he was eighteen, at- 
tending the common schools and Watertown Acad- 
emy. When nineteen years old he staned out in 
life for himself, his first employment being as a 
clerk and bookkeeper for a real-estate dealer and 
livery projjrietor at Seymour, which town was his 
home until recently. He was industrious, tem- 
jierate and thrifty, and within four years he found 
himself able to become proprietor where he had 



^74 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



commenced as an em]jloye. lii 1855 he bought out 
his emploN'er, and continued the business alone; 
under his skillful management it grew steadily. Air. 
Kider removed to .Vnsonia, where he is now suc- 
cessfullv carrying on a real-estate Inisiness. 

( )n Jul\- 2Q. 1855, Mr. Killer married Aliss Ina 
J. Carter, wlio was burn at W'atertown, N. Y. 
Three children have been born to this marriage: 
Annie, deceased : George A. : and Mattie. George 
A. married Lottie Meader, of Hartford, and has 
two sons, Arthur F. and Terley B. ; he is engaged 
in the insurance business in New York City. Mat- 
tie was married July J. i8(/), to Carlos H. Storrs, 
a member cif the .Ansunia Bar. 

Air. Rider has greatly prospered in business, 
and has amassed a nandsome fortune through the 
exercise of sound judgment, correct methods and 
upright dealing. He is both respected for his abil- 
itv and beloved for his many admirable qualities 
of heart. He is a Congregationalist in faith, as were 
his ancestors, and for ten years has been a mem- 
ber of the society's coiumittec. He is a Repub- 
lican in politics, and has held many local offices 
through the suffrages of his fellow citizens of all 
parties. For several years he was constable, and 
ifor one vear collector of taxes. He served two 
years on the board of relief, and from 1889 until 
iiis removal to Ansonia held the office of town 
treasurer, being annually re-elected to fill this re- 
sjionsible position. For nine years he was chair- 
man of the town conunittce of his party, and has 
been sent as a delegate to many conventions. He 
has done much toward the improvement of Sey- 
mour, dealing extensively in real estate, and hav- 
ing built and sold many houses. He was a mem- 
ber of tb.e town Board of Trade, and a potent fac- 
tor in every jmblic undertaking, being regarded as 
a safe counsellor, at once conservative and public 
spirited. Mr. Rider is a Mason of high degree, be- 
ing a member of Morning Star Lodge, A. F. & A. 
M'. : Alt. Vernon Chapter. R. A. AI. ; and having 
held all the offices in the Blue Lodge, of which he 
is now past master. He is also, by initiation, a mem- 
ber of the I. n. O. F.. but takes no active part in 
the order, and also belongs to the I. O. R. AI., being 
a charter member of the local lodge. 

HART FAAIILY. Steiihen Hart, born about 
1605, in Braintree, County of Essex, England, came 
to Alassachusetts Bay about 1632, locating in Farm- 
ington among the first settlers. 

Thomas Hart, son of Deacon Stephen, was born 
in .April, 1644, and married Ruth Hawkins, daugh- 
ter of .Anthony Hawkins, of Farmington. 

Hawkins Hart, son of Thomas, born at Farm- 
ington, in 1677, married (first) Sept. 7, 1701, Sarah 
Rovcc, daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah (Lathrop) 
Royce), of' Wallingford. She died Jan. 31, 1733, 
aged firty-nine years. lie married (second) Jan. 
30, 1734, Mary Street. l"or nine sessions between 
1714 and 1732 Air. llart represented \\'allingford 



in the General Court. Flis death occurred at Wall- 
ingford May 24, 1735, when he was aged fifty-eight 
years. 

'i'he children of Hawkins and Sarah (Royce) 
Hart were as follows: Nathaniel Hart, born June 
13, 1702, married Alartha Lee; Ruth, born Aug. 13, 
1704, married William Alerriam ; one, born Sept. 
16, 1706, died unnamed Sept. 22, 1706; Hawkins, 
born Alarch i, 1708, married Susanna Alerriam; 
Sarah, born Alay 21, 1710, married Stephen Ives; 
Esther, born Aug. 12, 1712, married John Webb; 
Thomas, born Sept. 29, 1714, married Hannah Coe; 
Elizabeth, born 1716, married William Jeroms ; 
Mary, born June 21, 1719, married Ebenezer Haw- 
ley; and Benjamin, born Tan. 28. 1722, married 
I'hebe Rich. By his second marriage Hawkins 
Hart became the father of one child, Samuel, born 
July 18, 1735. who married Abridge Fowler. 

Hawkins Hart, born Alarch i, 1708, son of 
Hawkins and Sarah (Royce) Hart, married Nov. 

30, 1730, Susanna Alerriam. Soon after their mar- 
riage they removed to Southington, and located on 
East Street, at what has been known as Ezekiel 
Sloper place, on the west side of the highway. His 
wife died Feb. 23, 1736-37. He married (second) 
Esther Gridley, born Alarch 17, 1706. He died at 
Southington, April 17. 1756, in his forty-ninth year. 
The children of Hawkins and Susanna (Alerriam) 
Hart were: Hawkins Hart, born Alarch 8, 1732, 
died April 4, 1732: Sarah, born Alay I, 1733. died 
Dec. I, 1742, aged nine years; Susanna, born Dec. 

31, 1734, died Dec. 3, 1742, aged eight years; and 
Hawkins, born Jan. 3, 1736-7, married Huldah 
WoodrutY. By the second marriage were born: 
Luke, born Jan. 8, 1738, married Deborah Barnes; 
Josiah, born June 30, 1740, married Elizabeth AIoss ; 
Sarah, born Nov. 27, 1742, died Oct. 26. 1757, aged 
fifteen; David, born July 22, 1745. married Lucy 
Codner; Susanna, born Jan. 12. 1747. died Oct. 
26, 1757, in her tenth year: and Benjamin, born Jan. 
4, 1750-31, married Jerusha Rich. 

Benjamin Hart, born Jan. 4. 1750-51, at South- 
ington. son of Hawkins and Esther (Ciridley) Hart, 
married Fvh. 25. 1776, Jerusha Rich, at \\'alling- 
ford (now called Aleriden, near the junction of 
Broad and Curtiss Streets), where he located, and 
(bed. Oct. 7, 1836, aged eighty-five years; she died 
Aug. 26, 1832. During the Revolution he served, 
in 1776, in taptain John Couch's Company. The 
children of Benjamin and Jerusha (Rich) Hart 
were: F.sther Hart, born Nov. 8, 1776, married 
(first) Israel Hall, (second) Alarvel Andrews; 
Lucy, born Dec. 20, 1779, married Joel Ives; Susan- 
nah, born Jan. 15. 1782, married (first) C<5rnelius 
Hull, (second) John Butler; \\'ebb, born Feb. 21, 
1786. married Clarissa Peck ; Jerusha. born Sept. 11, 
178H, married Abel Clark; and Samuel Ives, born 
Nov. 22, 1792. 

Sanuiel Ives, born Nov. 22, 1792, son of r>cn- 
janiin and Jerusha (Rich) Hart, married Abigail 
Doolittle Hall, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



2/5 



(Hall) Hall. Tlu-ir children were: Daniel HalK 
burn June Kj, 1815: Edmund, born Aug. 12, 1817, 
died i'"eb. lO, 1818; Jerusha and Elizabeth, twins, 
born Aug. J2. 1822, the former of whom married 
Horace I'ratt, and the latter Edward i\. Miller. 

Daniel Hall Hart, born June 19, 1815, married 
May 14, 1840, Harriet Ciilbert Miller, daughter of 
Samuel and Mary (Gilbert) Miller, of Middle- 
town, born March 3, 1812, died Jan. 14, i8iji, in 
JMeriden. He died in ^NJeriden, Oct. 2, 1891. His 
Jife was spent in agricultural pursuits. Children of 
Daniel H. and Harriet Gilbert (Miller) Hart: (i) 
Ives William, born Oct. 4, 1841, married Nov. 4, 
1870, Elsie Tooley Lane, a widow and tlaughter of 
Russell Tooley. Of their children, Arthur Mill- 
er, born May 20, 1872, married Nov. 18, i8y6, 
Catherine Jane Owen, daughter of Robert Owen, 
and the one child horn to this last named marriage 
is Owen Stephen Hart, born Sept. 2t,, 1898. (2) 
Ellen Delia, born Nov. 23, 1842, resides on the 
Middletown road opposite Robert street, ;\Ieriden. 
( 3 ) Edmund Benjamin, born Dec. 31, 1845, married 
Sept. 2^, 1878, Harriet Beecher Denison, daughter 
of Ebenezer and Lydia S. (Xoyes) Denison, born 
Dec. 24, 1853, and died Jan. 26, 1889; their children 
were: Edmund Denison (born Oct. 2O, 1879. died 
July 28. 1882), Harriet Edith (born July 16, 1883), 
Aniia Eliza (born Jan. 20, 1889, died April 9, 1889), 
and Albert Denison (born Jan. 20, 1889). 

Hall E.\.milv. John Hall, the first settler, was 
known in Connecticut prior to 1669, and his sons, 
Juhn, Thomas and Samuel, were signers to the 
JPlantation Covenant, in W'allingford, in 166(^-70. 

Thomas Hall, son of John the settler, married 
Grace Watson, June 5, 1673, and she died May i, 
1731 ; his death occurred Sept. 17, 1731. They had 
eleven children. 

Jonathan, second son of Thomas and Grace 
hall, was born July 25, 1679, and married May 12, 
1703, Dinah Andrews, who died Jan. 15, 17O0. 

Dr. Isaac Hall, son of Jonathan and Dinah ( .\n- 
drews) Hall, born July 11, 1714. married Xov. 5, 
1739, Mary Morse; he died March 7, 1781. and she 
died Oct. 9, 1791. He was the first physician of 
Meriden. His surgical needle is still in the jio-ises- 
sion of his great-grandson, Abijah Hall, of liostim. 
Mass.. and his ledger is owned by the Hart family 
in East Meriden. The children of Dr. Isaac and 
Mary (Morse) Hall were as follows: Mar\, boni 
Oct. 6, 1742. married John Ives. Isaac, b. ini .May 
7, 1745. Joel. l)i>rn April 3, 1747. died ( )cl. 22. 
1748. Esther, born March 18, 1751. married Dr. 
Aaron Hosford. Elizabeth, born June 11, 1752, 
married Dr. Jehiel Iloadley. Jonathan born Dec. 
II. 1757, married May 14. 1777. Martha Collins, 
who died in May. 1841, aged eighty-three years; he 
died June 6. 1832, aged' seventy-four years. 

Isaac Hall, son of Dr. Isaac and Mary ( .Mnrse) 
Hall, resided in the eastern part of Meriden, in the 
house now owned by Rollin Ives on Patldock ave- 
nue. He was a lieutenant in the Third Company. 



1-irst Regiment, of Light H(_)rse. in litis .State. The 
troops were ordered In" an Act of 177O to the west- 
ern part of the State, to jdin the forces under Cjeii. 
Woiister. The captain of the comiiany being at the 
time sick', Lieut. Hall took comni:uid of the cr,m- 
pany from ( )ct. 2^. iJJ('. to IXx. 31. 177O, for which 
service neither he nor his coinpan_\- received an_\' pay. 
The -Assembly in October, 1783, ordereil the pay- 

i table to ailjust the pay roll of said troop of light 
horse, by the rule before allowed by Congress to the 
troops of light horse in this Slate while in service 
of the country; and "draw on the Treasurer, and 
charge the same to the Continent." [Davis His- 
lorv. Page ^(xj.] Isaac Hall was three times mar- 
ried. His first wife whom he married Sept. 6, I7''i4, 
was Phebe Ives, daughter of .Abijah and ^lary Ives; 
his second marriage was to Martha (Mix) I'^rancis, 
widow of Jacob Erancis ; and for his third wife he 
wedded Lois Buckley, widow of i'rescott Buckley. 
He died in Leyden. .\. \'., I'eb. 17, 1810. aged sixty- 
four years. The children of Isaac and Phebe (Ives) 
Hall were: Mary, born July 21, 1766, married 
William Topping, died September, 1813: John, born 

luly 3, 1768. married Mary ; Phebe, born 

Jan. 31, 1770, married Elihu Ives; Elizabeth, born 
Sept. 3, 1771, married Daniel Hall (3) ; Sarah, born 
Oct. 23, 1773; Isaac, born May 19, 1773. married 
Ruth Welmore, and died Se])t. 13. 1857, a.ged 
eighty-two years; Jonathan, born .\ug. 2^:,. 177'), 
married (first) VA'iza Hoadley, and died Eel). 22, 
1841 ; Clarissa, born Aug. 12, 1779, married Will- 
iam Cutler; Abijah, born Sept. 25, 1781, married 
Betsey Mix, died Aug. 9. 1857: Sally, born Jan. 19, 
1784, married William Cutler. ( )ne child was born 
to the third marriage of Isaac Hall, Joseph, lioni 
1803, married Dec. 31. 1826, Alary Ann Crofoot. 

IJaniel Hal! (2), horn June 1. 1727, son of Dan- 
iel and Martha ( Doolittle ) llall. and grandscn of 
Thomas Hall, married July 2j. 1750. Patience liald- 
win, daughter of Daniel Baldwin. She died July 
24, 1756, aged thirty years. He married (second) 
in Xovember, 1758, Zerviah Whitmore, dau.ghter of 
I-'rancis Whitmore, of Middletown, Conn. She was 
born Eeb. 27, 1735, and died Oct. 6, 1777, aged 
forty-two years. He married (third) Abigail Doo- 
little, daughter of Stephen. He died Oct. 26. 1805, 
aged seventv-eiglu \-ears. They lived on the old Mid- 
dleton road, now closed, a few rods north of his son 
Daniel Hall's house which he built in 1828, this ])lace 
being now( 1902 )owned by Ives W. Hnri. one of his 
descendants. The children of Daniel and Patience 
( I'.aldwin) Hall were: hlsther Hall, liorn Sept. 13, 
1 73 1, married Jonathan \'ale ; Lois, born XiiV. 21, 
1752, die<l Dec. ij. 1774: lutnice. born April 4. 1734, 
died Sept. 20, 1777. aged twenty-three years: Joel, 

; iiorn June l. 173^). died a soldier of the Revolution- 

I ary war, in January. 1777, of starvation on a prison 
slii]5 in Xew "\'ork harbor, at the age of twenty 
vears. Bv his second marria.ge, Daniel Hall became 

' the father of: Zerviah, born .March 2. 17^)0, mar- 
ried .-Miner Mitchel: Sarah, b'^-n March 3, I7''>2, 



276 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



married Rev. Caleb Douglass ; Patience, born Aug. 
20, 1764, married Amos Pligb}- ; Aaron, born Oct. 
2. iyi><j. married Lydia llall; Daniel, born 1770, 
married Elizabetb Hall ; and Lois Hall, born Sept. 
2(>. I J/7, married < )reliard Guy. 

Daniel Hall, Ijorn 1770, son nf Daniel and Zer- 
viah (W'hitmore) Hall, married June 14, 171J2, 
Elizaljeth Hall, horn .Sept. 3, 1771, daughter of 
Isaac and l']ie])e ( Ives) Hall. He died Jan. i, 1829. 
She died AJay 5, 1859, at East ]\Ieriden. They had 
one child, Aliigail Doolittle Hall, burn Aug. 25, 
1793, married Sept. 20, 1814, Sanuiel Ives Hart, 
who died Sept. 10, 1870; she dietl Dec. 12, 1S74. 

AXDREW liL'ECHLER (deceased), who for 
over twenty years was one of the best known Ger- 
man citizens of Meriden, and a thoroughly suc- 
cessful liusiness man, was born in the city of Hes- 
sen, Germany, in 1840, where he received a good 
education in the local schools, and learnetl the trade 
of fire-brick making, an occupation which he fol- 
lowed fur ten years. Wishing to improve his con- 
ditinn, he came to this country in 1868, landing 
in .\e\v York, where he S])ent the following year. 
He was then employed as a casemaker in a piano 
factory at Xew Haven, where he remained until 
1870. In April of tnat year he came to Aleriden, 
to begin a business of soap making, being the first 
to make that article on an extensive scale in Meri- 
den. In this line he was engaged for two years. 
In 1874 he (ipened a German delicatessen store, 
which he CdUtinued f(_)r eighteen years, making a 
succi'ssful business record by his close attention 
and strict honesty. He was known as one of the 
most successful Germans in the city. In 1889 he 
built a fine brick block on West Main street, and 
made exten>i\e improvements amounting to over 
$30,000. A pan of this Iniilding was destroyed by 
fire in 1895, and was rebuilt by his son John at a 
cost of $15,000, and is now regarded as one of the 
finest blocks on West Main sfreet. He also owned 
other property in the city. 

Andrew Uuechler died in .August, iS(j2, and his 
remains were interred in Walnut Grove cemetery. 
He belonged to the Lutheran Church, and was a 
good Christian man, highly re&pected by all who 
knew him. In politics he was a Democrat, and 
was agent of the town deposit funds for five years. 
He belonged to Teutonia Lodge, Xo. 95, I. O. O. 
F., tlie Deutschen Ordens Harugari, and took a lead- 
ing [)art in the Meriden Ritle Club. Domestic in his 
tastes, he was a kind father and a devoted husband. 

.Andrew Ibu'cliler was married in his native 
coinUry to Katharine Kippe. who died at her home 
in Meriden ( )ct, 4, i8i>8. Her ashe> rest in Wal- 
nut Grove cemetery, anil she, like her husband, be- 
longed to the Lutheran Church. She was a woman 
of liigh character and kind heart, and was beloved 
in her home, and anumg her friends, of whom she 
had many. Two children were born to this union, 
one died in infanc\-; and John was born in Xew 
York .\lav 8, 1866.' 



John Buechler came to Aleriden with his par- 
ents, and was educated in the public schools. From 
boyhood he was engaged with his father in busi- 
ness, and since the death of the latter has man- 
aged the estate left him with unusual ability and 
business sagacity. On March 2, 1892, John Buech- 
ler was married, in Aleriden, to Rose Y'etter, who 
was born at Shelburne Falls, Mass., a daughter of 
Casper and Margaret (Karl) Y'etter, both of whom 
were German born and bred, but who died in New 
Britain, Conn. Mrs. Buechler is a woman of good 
business ability, genial manners, and a devoted wife 
and mother. She and her husband belong to the 
Lutheran Church. To them have come three chil- 
dren : Alargaret and Catherine (twins), the first 
named dying young; and Edna. Politically Air. 
Buechler is a Democrat, but has no aspiration for 
official position. He belongs to the Turnverein and 
the Saengerbund of jNIeriden, and he is a highly 
respected and much esteemed citizen of the com- 
munity in which his long and useful life is passing. 

WILLIAM M. MER\VIX, of Milford, t'he real 
pioneer in the business of oyster growing in his 
locality, wias born April 24, 1827, near the site of 
his present residence. He has been one of the 
most successful men of his time in his town, a man 
whose life has had its ups and downs, finding suc- 
cess only after trying periods and conditions that 
would ha\-e defeated one less persistent. In his 
tenacity of purpose lies the secret of his prosperity. 
That salient characteristic has stood against the 
advice of all, and achieved success against the ])re- 
dictions of almost the entire community. Mr. Mer- 
win has surrounded himself and family with com- 
forts and luxuries such as in his early life would 
have seemed impossible, but all this has not served 
to change the man ; be is the same approachable, 
plain-going individual, whose manner is in no way 
suggestive of pride, or self-consciousness. Friends 
of former days who may have been less success- 
ful are the friends of to-day. 

The Merwin family is one of the oldest in the 
town and is descended from Miles Merwin. wdio 
came from England in 1646, and settled in Mil- 
ford, where ht died April 2t,. 1697, aged seventy- 
four. 

John Merwin, son of Aides, came from Eng- 
land in 1(40 and died in Milford in 1728. 

John Alerwin (2) was born in Alilford .\]M-iI 
16, If "83, and died in 1762. 

John Alerwin (3) was horn in Alilfcrd in Ajiril. 
1707. 

l)avid Alirwin, our subject s grandfather, a 
native of Alilford, was baptized in 1743. H(e 
owned and operated a tannery where the hat fac- 
tory is now located, and later he purchased a farm 
on the Sound, in the southern part of the town, and 
engaged in farming. He married Eunice Perry, a 
mativc of the town of Huntington. ]'"airfield Co., 
Conn., who was born in 1747. and died in 1S36. 
Thev had eleven children: Daviil, who succeeded 



1 








dOnijJycyC 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



•7 



his father in the tannery l)usiness: Isaac, who went 
to Pennsylvania: John, who died in l'iri(la;e[)ort. 
and the twins, Mark and Merritt. all I'i'ur of whom 
were farmers: Marw wlio married a Mr. llahUvin, 
a farmer: Susan, who married a .Mr. I'latt, a 
farmer: luir.ice. who died unmarried: Martha, who 
married a Mr, Davis, a 'miller of ilamden, Coim. : 
M.hitahle. who married a Mr. Putter, a carpenter 
in ( )rangc : and Xancy. who married a Mr. .'"'tone. 
Of these children, one attained the ai^^e of ninety- 
five, and two others more than ninety: fmn- lived 
to 1); over ei.sylity. and four over seventy. David 
Merwin. the fatlier, died in 1816, 

Merritt Merwin. our suhject's father, was horn 
in 1792, at the present site of the village of Mil- 
ford, on "Factory Lane." and (Hed Jan. 20, 1863, 
Throusfhout his life he followed farming', and he 
was the first man in the town to raise vegetable 
seeds for the iriarket. Politioallv he was first a 
Whig, and later a Republican, and for many years 
he and his wife were leading members of the Con- 
gregational Church at Milford. He married Cath- 
erine Peck, who was born in Milford. in Ajjril, 
ijtjfi. and who cWed Xov. 5. 1870. She was a 
daughter of Ephraim Peck, a merchant in .Milford. 
and his wife. Rachel Bennett, and traced her de- 
scent from Joseph Peck, an Englishman, who set- 
tled in Milford at an early ]>eriod. The line of 
descent is as follows: Jftsej)!!, the ])ionieT: J()se]:)h 
and his wife, Alice: Samuel, bcirn in if)53: Samuel 
(2), born July 13. 1690: Samuel (3). born in I7i''>, 
died in iSoi : Samuel (4), born in 173''), died in 
1822, and Ephraim Peck, Mrs, Merwin'r father. 
Two children were born to Merritt and Catherine 
(Peck) Merwin: William M. our suliject : and 
Charles D.. born in 1841. now a resident of 
lirooklyn. 

William M. Merwin was reared upon the old 
liomestead in Milford. and after his twelfth year 
attended school only in winter, his help being 
needed on the farm, .\t fifteen he left school al- 
together, and in early manhood he engaged in farm- 
ing on his own account, and later conducted a retail 
coal business for about ten years. He became in- 
terested in the oyster business in 1878, and al- 
though the product for three years was destroyed 
by winds he continued, losing thousands of dollars. 
Much to the astonishment of the comnumit}', he 
finally made a complete success of the enterprise, 
thus opening a new field of labor in the U)cality, 
and at present he alsi) has oyster beds in Providence. 
He was the first grower to employ a steamer of his 
own in the business, and his large tra<le now re- 
(|uires three. TIic interests of his town have al- 
ways called- forth loyal efifort. and he has been in- 
strumental in having factories built tlicre. and in 
the organization of tne Milford Savings liank. In 
politics he was once a Whi.g. and now a Repub- 
lican, and his influence as a man of brains, energy 
and honesty is felt in i)ublic alTairs. his advice being 
heeded bv everv one. from Congressman iknvn to 



the hnmlilest voter. He was the first resident com- 
missioner ap])ointed by the State to lay out oyster 
beds. He owns a beaiUiful home in Milford and 
I ne :n Florida, where he has spent his winters for 
a numlier of years. Mis present residence, while 
origirallx built in 1850, lias been greaily remodeled 
and improved, and is one of the comfortable homes 
of the town, and stands in the same xard with tlie 
old liomestead. in which our subject was IxM'ii. and 
in which yard our .sid)jeet played as a boy. It is 
(loul)tfnl if there is another instance of the kind 
in the town, where one man has resided for sev- 
enty-four years in the same yard, and now sees 
his great-grandchild. Charlotte .M. .Andrew (and 
grandchild of his son Merritt W.). play where 
lie, too, played as a child. In adjoining liouses live 
his two sons, forming a most ])leasant reighbor- 
•hood. Mr. Merwin has never sought ])ublic honor 
or notoriety. During his active life he was a busi- 
ness man in the fullest sense, and whatever jjosition 
lie attained m public alTairs was un.sought. and 
simply the result of his public-s])irite<I interest in 
the welfare of the town. 

On Jan. 10, 1850. he was married to Miss Sarah 
C. Peck, in Xew York, by Rev. Dr. .Vdams, of Hous- 
ton Street Congregatioral Church, and th.ey have 
two sons, Dumond J', and .Merritt W.. both of 
whom are members of the tirm. Mrs. .Merwin was 
born in Orange, Conn.. Jan, !o. 1828. the (laughter 
of Harve\- Peck, and a descendant of Jose])h I'eck, 
the pioneer. The line of descent is as follows : 
Joseph (O : Joseph (2) and .Mice, his wife; Sam- 
uel, born ill 1653: Samuel (2). born in iCnjo; 
Samttel (3,), ])orn in 1716, died in 1801. married 
Hannah Jennings, of I'airfield : .^amnel (4). born 
in .August, 173'!. died in 1822, married Mehitable 
Smith, of Milford, Ijorn in 1740: Hczekiah. l)orn 
in .Milford in December, I7')8, died in Jaimary, 
1846, married Sarah lUill, of .Milford, born in 17US, 
died in June. 1837: and Harvey (Mrs. Alerwin's 
father), wlio was born l-"eb. 18. 1799. and died 
.Mav 8, i860, Harvev Peck was a ])rominer:t agri- 
cnlnirist of Orange in liis day: he married .Susan 
I'enn, of the same town (who was born in 1810, 
and died in Warren, Ohio, in 1889). and had seven 
children: Susan, Marv, ISerjamin. Sarah, (ieorge, 
Hezekiah and Caroline, of whom but three are liv- 
ing. Mary, Airs. Merwin and Hezekiah. 

Airs. Aferwin has ])roven a hel])meet. indeed, 
and during over half a century of married life- has 
given her husband her constant hel]). and has loyal- 
Iv encouraged his efforts. Air. Alerwin's accumu- 
lation of property is not to him nor his good wife 
their greatest source of satisfaction — that rests in 
the fact that their efforts to rear their sons have 
been successful, and that to-day the s<ins are a 
credit to any parentage, and are numbered among 
the best business men of the town, successfully 
conducting a business the foundation of which was 
the most trying part in their father's life, and tiic 
corner-stone of his success. 



278 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



F"REDERICK ROBERT SEIDEXSTICKER. 
AiiKjiig the prominent citizens of Meriden is Fred- 
ericiv Robert Seidensticker, who for a period of 
some thirty-five ^-ears has reflected credit upon that 
city, through his artistic skill as a designer. He 
was born in . Philadelphia, I'a., Aug. 30, 1838, of 
German ancestry. 

Jerome Xapoleon Seidensticker, his father, was 
born in lloettingen. in the Kingdom of Hanover, 
Germany, and was named in honor of King Jerome 
Xa])oleon, wIkj was a brother of -the great Emperor 
of France. Jerome was King of Westphalia at the 
time of his birth, and Anton Johann Julius Seiden- 
sticker, father of Jerome Xapoleon Seidensticker, 
was clerk of the chancery at his court. Jerome Xa- 
poleon Seidensticker was educated in his native 
coinitr\-, and after learning the trade of bookbinder 
came to America to pursue it. Taking passage on , 
a sailing vessel, he reached Baltimore, Md., and 
there engaged in business on his own account, con- 
tinuing in the bookbinding business for several 
years. Later he went to I'hiladeljihia, and there 
also engaged in business, still later removing to 
Boston, Mass., where for a number of years he 
conducted a similar business, spending his last 
years in that city. There his death occurred in 
1883, and his remains lie in Forest Hill cemetery. 
The business career of Mr. Seidensticker was a 
fairly successful one, and his private life was be- 
yond reproach. For many years he was a leading 
member of the Lutheran Church, living up to his 
religious professions. Fraternally he was a mem- 
ber of the Odd Fellows, Ix-longing to a lodge of 
that order in Baltimore. In politics he supported 
the Republican party. 

The mother of Frederick R. Seidensticker, of 
Meriden, was also a native of Germanx-, and her 
maiden name was Maria Busch. She survived her 
husband until 1895, passing away in Boston, Mass., 
and rests beside him in Forest Hill cemetery. She 
was a most devout and consistent member of the 
Lutheran Church, and reared her children to lives 
of morality, setting them an example of Christian 
virtue. A fainil\- of eight children was born to 
her, .-ome of whom have passed away, others re- 
maining t(j l.n' useful and honorable members of 
society: James died in Chicago: Richard is also 
deceased: lunma is deceased: Clara is the widow 
of James Galvin : (!eorge is a steel engraver, in 
Boston, Mass.; Bertha resides in Boston: William 
is a well-known artist and resides at South I'~ram- 
ingham, Mass. .\s will be seen, the family is one 
of unn.->ual attaimnents. 

b'rederick R. Seidensticker was liberallv edu- 
cated, being afiforded evcrv advantage possible lioth 
in the Ouaker City and in Boston. From his earliest 
youth he had shown artistic talent, and this leaning 
was recognized by his parents, who. willing and 
anxious to foster and develop it, sent the talented 
youth to Germany, j)lacing him un(U-r tt'aehers who 
tlioroughly instructed him in the art of designing. 



in sculpture and in silversmithing, his studies being 
followed with all the advantages offered in the 
beautiful and artistic cities of Berlin (with David 
VoUgaldt & Son) and Vienna (with the Imperial 
silversmiths, Meyerhoiifer & Klinkosch), For 
three vears he was under instruction there, and then 
returned to Boston, prepared to teach designing, 
following this profession in that city until 1870, and 
becoming well and favorably known in artistic 
circles. In the vear last named Mr. Seidensticker 
accepted a position as deisigner \yith the well- 
known tirm of I!radlev & Hubbard, in Merideu, 
and remained with this house for seventeen years, 
becoming known all over the State for the beauty 
and titility of his designs. Following this con- 
nection, ]Mr. Seidensticker became connected with 
the Breckenridge ^lanufacturing Co., which con- 
ducte<l liusiness successfully for several vears but 
later failed. 

In 1880, Mr. Seidensticker Iniilt a fine residence 
on Lincoln street, this city, which is a repository 
of many valuable works of art. executed by himself 
and bv his son, RoViert. who inherits a high order 
of talent. Fnjm his earliest boyhood the latter has 
dis]ilaved wonderful ability, some work that he ex- 
ecuted when but five years of age showing remark- 
able artistic conception. His talent has been fos- 
tered, and there is everv reason to believe that the 
world will yet hear of this young man in the field 
of sculpture and design. 

In 1876 Frederick R. Seidensticker was mar- 
ried in ]\Ieriden. to Miss Harriet E. Beach, who 
was born in ^leriden, a daughter of George Beach. 
Children as follows have been born to this union : 
Georgia, who was educated in the Meriden schools, 
graduated from the high school, and is now one of 
tlie valued teachers in this city : ]\Iay, also a grad- 
uate of the high school: Robert, also well edu- 
cated and connected with H. K. Bush Brown, the 
well-known sculptor of Xewburgh, on the Hudson 
river: and Richard and Harold, who are yet stu- 
dents. 

I'raternalK' Mr. Seidensticker is coimected with 
Meridian Lodge, Xo. jy, A. F. & A. M.: Kevstone 
Chapter, X^o. 27, R. A. M.: Hamilton Council. X^o. 
22, R. & S. M. ; St. Elmo Commandery. No. 9. K. 
T. : LaFayette Consistory, of Xew Haven : and the 
Ahstic Shrine, of Bridgeport. In politics he votes 
with the Re])ublican party, but has little taste for 
])olitical life. The religious connection of the fam- 
ily is with the First Congregational Chmxh. 

Bk.\cii. 'idle Beach family, of which Mrs. 
Seidensticker is a menibcr, was established in Amer- 
ica b\' Samuel Beach, wdm came to Xew Haven 
from England. His first wife was a Mi>s Sanford. 
and his second a AFiss Potter. 

(II) Benjamin Beach, only son of Samuel, above 
mentioned, was a farmer in North Haven. He 
married a Aliss Blackley, and had three sons. One 
of these. 

(III) Benjamin Beach went from Xorth Haven 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



179 



to Chusetown (now Seymour), being the first set 
lied pastor of the Cons^Tet^-ational Church there. 
He moved into the parish house, thru just com 
pleted. in March, 1790. ! 

(1\") J-:iias Beach, son of Benjamin (2), died 
in North Haven Aug. 17, 1822, aged eighty-one 
years. His wife, Elizabeth, passed away Dec. 3, 
1821, at tiie age of sevcnty-si.x years. 

(\") Major John Beach, son of Elias, acquired 
his title because of his militia service. He was 
born July 4, 1786, in North Haven, and died Jan. | 
29, 1865. He taught many winter terms of school, 
while pursuing agriculture in summer. Trominent 
in town affairs he served several years as select- 
man, and was representative in the (jencral As- 
sembly. Jn jKilitics he was a W'liig. and joined the 
Keinililican jiarty upcm its organization. In early 
life he accepted the doctrines of the Methodist 
Church, but during his last years afililiated with the 
Congregational organization. His wife, Betsey 
(Blakeslee) was Ixjrn in North Haven May 12. 
1787, and died July 12, 1856. Their children were: 
Nelson John, born Nov. 12, 1814; Julius Vespasian, 
March 14, 1817; fieorge, Nov. 21, 1820: Roxana, 
Aug. 2. 1829. 

( \'I ) George Beach attended the district .schools 
of North Haven, where he grew to manhood on 
the home farm. He came to Meriden when a 
>oung man. and was employed by the Charles 
Parker Co. as foreman in one of the factories, a 
position he held at the time of his death, which oc- 
curred Ma\- (>. 185'). Like his father, he was a Whig 
and Reiniijlican. and made tli^ Golden 7\ule his 
standing through life. He was a memlier of 
Meridian Lodge. No. JJ, A. 1". &• A. M., of Meriden, 
and was held in high esteem by all who enjoyed the 
[jleasurc of his accpiaintance. 

On Aug. 7, 1845. -^Ir. JVach was married to 
Lydia Redfield. a native of Guilford, and sister of 
^Irs. Norman C. Hall, of Meriden, whose genea- 
logical line will be found in the biogra])liv of the 
late Mr. Hall. Mrs. Beach died Feb.' 18, 1897. and 
was buried in the East cemetery. She was the 
mother of four children, namely: Hattie Estelle, 
Mrs. Frederick R. Seidensticker ; George Arthur, a 
resident of W'allingford ; Frank Major, residing at 
Grand Rapids. ^Ticli. : and Ida May, wife of Dr. 
Edgar A. Wilson, of Meriden. 

CAPT. WILLLXM HENin' I.ARDl-lR. of 
New Plaven. is a retired sea ca])tain, and has a va- 
ried and eventful history. Many exciting ex])eri- 
ences have come to him, and he has jjassed through 
some thrilling and dangerous moments, lie has 
kejit himself in safety, and throughout his active 
vears was known as a capable, brave and trusty sea- 
man. 

Capt. Larder was born in Lincolnshire, F.ngland, 
May 20, 1837, and his father, William Larder, lived 
and died in England. The father was a farmer, 
and his name is preserved as that of an industrious 



and hard-working man. Mary .\nn \'ickers, his 
wife, was a native of England, where her life was 
spent, and where she died at an advanced age. Capt. 
Larder attended school but little, and earlv began 
working on his fatlier's farm. When he was twelve 
vears of age he came to this coimtry and maile his 
home in Harwinton, Conn., for a time, then moving 
to Hartford,, to learn the file-cutter's traile with 
James .Arthur, with whom the lad spent one year. 
He went to sea on the whaler '"Catherine." sailing 
from New London, to the Cai)e X'erde Islands, the 
River Plata, and from there si)ending a long time 
in the Indian Ocean, lie was absent from C'on- 
necticut some two years, and left the "Catherine" at 
-St. Helena, where Xapoleon was exiled, and where 
he wailed six weeks for an<ither ves>el, u|Hin which 
to sail. I'inallv he sailed to London on the "Kanga- 
roo," whicli lie left in that city, and sailed on the 
"Catherine" for the East Indies. With this shi]) he 
spent a vear, and at Bombay shii)ped on the 
"Granger" for Cape Go(id Hope, but on the way the 
vessel sprang a leak. an<l was compelled to seek the 
harbor at Isle of l-"rance, where she was condemned, 
and Mr. Larder, after a stay of about three months 
in that jjort, signed as a sailor on board the bark 
"Alvira," bouncl for .Amsterdam, where he spent 
some two months, and then went to Londoti. His 
next voyage was made on the "Lord Raglan," a 
merchant .shi]j, bound for the I'.ast Indies, but at 
Bombay Mr. Larder went on board the "Dashing 
Wave." of Boston, with which he went again to the 
Isle of France, and later to Boston. The young 
sailor lad engaged on "R. C. I)_\er," a coasting ves- 
sel, sailing from Belfast, Maine, to Wilmington, N. 
C, and to Marques. Porto Rico. Returning to this 
country, he became a sailor on the brig "Benjamin 
L. Swan." engaged in carrying mules to Santa Cruz, 
and rums on the return voyages, in which he was 
engaged for three years. With the ".Vewitus." he 
was engaged for about a year by the same firm, and 
was then emploved on the "Rainbow." engaged in 
the Porto Rico trade for eighteen months, carrying 
general cargo, and retm-ning with sugar and mo- 
lasses. On the "(leu. .\rmslrong" he was a sailor 
for a time, and was still in the I'orto Rico trade. On 
tlie "L. W. Armstrong." a full rigged brig, in the 
same line, he was mate for several months, and for 
two vears held the s;une ])')silion on the "b.llen 
Perkins," a coasting vessel, running to \'irginia. 
then became first mate on the ".Vathan Barrett," 
and spent a year on the "I'~mcline," in the coasting 
trade. .After this he was employed on a government 
cutter for one season of eight months, and was then 
made "buoy setter." After this period of govern- 
ment service he next engaged on the "T. C. Ly- 
man," a coasting schooner, serving both as mate 
and cajjtain at different times for some two years, 
when he became master of the coasting schooner 
"Signal" for one season. He then secured a part in- 
terest in the "Gloucester," becoming its master for 
a vear. He also had an interest in the "Daniel Mor- 



2 80 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD, 



ris," and sailed as its master for three years. Capt. 
Larder \va> three years master of the cuaster "JiiHa 
A. Berkle," and of the "Jlallimore," a schooner, for 
one year, l-'or anotlier year he was master and sole 
owner of the coaster "ll. V . W'oi il>e\-." ami 'als(j sole 
owner and master of the coaster "Sarah L. Thomp- 
son," another year. l-'or (jne season he was master 
and largest share owner of the schooner ".Sj)arkling- 
Sea," and for three years master and fourth owner 
of the "Ella II. Harnes." h'or seven years he was 
master of the "Henry II. (irant" (of which he was 
largest owner fi .r some years ) , engaged in a coast- 
ing and West Indies trad<\ and on the "Royal 
Arch" for a _\ear and a half. ( )f this last vessel he 
was a half owner, and later, in 181J5, this vessel sunk 
in the Xantncket Shoals under Capt. Wentworth, 
of Boston. 

Capt. Lanier has lived a retired life since that 
year, feeling that the vicissitudes and dangers 
through which lie has passed well entitle hiiu to such 
rest and comfort as he can command in the closing 
years of a career so richl}' varied, and so fraught 
with interesting mennries. In npo he hought his 
present home at Xo. 144 Dwight street, Xew Ha- 
ven, wdiich he has greatly remodeled and improved. 



In Wooster L 



\( 



"(J, I''. & .\. AL, of Xew 



Haven, he has long heen a familiar and welcome 
presence. In politics he is a Kepuhlican, but is not 
very actively interested in partisan affairs, and pre- 
fers to keep away from political discussions and 
issues, taking a keen and i)liilosophical interest 
rather than a partisan interest in the government of 
the country, and the welfare of the people. 

For his first wife Capt. Larder married Amelia 
Jane Ijovvho-,-, of .\llian\, li\ whom he had the fol- 
lowing children; William, who <lied at the age of 
one year ; and .Marietta .\melia, who married Charles 
A. Latuh, and has four children, Violet, Harry, Elsie 
(who clieil in infancy), and Evangeline \'ivian. 
(Thev resi<le on Sjjring street). Mrs, Amelia Jane 
Larder died in 1H89. I'or his second wife Capt. 
Larder wedded Ida II. \'ickers, of Farmington, 
Conn., and to this marriage came Raymond (who 
died at the age of four years) and Leslie. 

D\\i<;irr \\( h idwaud iialdwix, of 

Kew Haven, where at the corner of Lark and Crown 
streets he is engaged as a carriage manufacturer 
and a dealer in harness, wdii])s, blankets, robes, etc., 
is one of the leading business men of the city. 

ISorn March _>:. 1830, in the town of Washing- 
ton, Litchfield L'o., Comi., .Mr. li.aldwin is a s(jn 
of the late C.eorge K. V . aii.l Sarah .\. (Smith) 
Baldwin, of Washington and Waterbiu\\-. ;md is de- 
scended on l)otli sides from old .and |)rominent fam- 
ilies of ConuecticiU. .Xalhaniel l!al<lwin. the emi- 
grant ancestor of that branch of the .\merican Bald- 
wins to which our subject belongs, and one of the 
first planters of .Milford, where he was a free planter 
in i'i3g, was a son of John ll.aldwin, of Parish 
'Cholesburv, lUickinghamshire, England, who died 



in 1633, and a grandson of Richard Baldwin, wdio 
died in 1553. Xathaniel Baldwin was a cooper by 
trade. lie luoved to Fairfield, where in 16^1 he 
married .Abigail Camp, who united with the church 
in Milford in i')44, and died in 1648. He subse- 
quently married Joanna Westcoat. Xathaniel Bald- 
win died in 1658. From this emigrant ancestor 
Dwight W. Baldwin, of Xew Haven, is a descend- 
ant in the ninth generation, his line being through 
Daniel, Sergt. Daniel (2 ), John, Enos, Samuel, Her- 
man and (_ieorge R. T. Baldwin. 

(II) Daniel Baldwin, son of Xathaniel the emi- 
grant, horn and baptized in Milford in 1644, mar- 
ried in 1665 Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Bots- 
ford, one of the original settlers of Milford. This 
couple after their marriage continued to reside in 
Alilford. He died in 1711. 

(III) Sergt. Daniel Baldwin (2), son of Daniel, 
born in 166S, died in 1725. He made his home in 
.Milford, wdiere his wife, Sarah, died in 1710. 

( I\' ) j(jhn Baldwin, son of Daniel (2), baptized 
in Alilford in i')y3, married Mary ( wdiose surname 
was very likely Camp), and they made Milford 
their home. 

( \ ) Enos Baldwin, son of John, born in 1730, 
married Elizabeth Xorthrop. born in 1733. They 
resided on Churcli Hill, in Washington, (jonn. Enos 
.finally went to (lenesee, X. V., and died some time 
prior to 1818. 

(\"1) Samuel I'.aldwin, son of Enos, l)i>rn in 
17O8. married in 1792 Sarah Logan, born in 1775, 
an<l lived in the town of Washington, Connecticut. 

(\II) Herman Baldwin, son of Samuel, born 
in Wa.shington in 1800. married Anna Caroline, 
daughter of John Trowliridge, of Ro.vbury. Mr. 
Baldwin was a luanufacturer, and until sixty years 
of age resi<led in Washington, thence removing to 
\Vaterbiu:y ;md later to Xew Haven, where he 
passed the hr■^t sixteen years of his life with the 
firm of C. I'ierpont & Co. He was upright in busi- 
ness and pure in private life. A man of genius, 
he devised and invented a number of useful articles, 
among which were Baldwin's American Feed Cut- 
Wr and Baldwin's Safety Fly Wheel. Mr. Bald- 
win died .Se]jt. II, 1881, aged eighty-one years. 

( \ 111 I (ieorge R. T. lialdwin, son of Herman, 
;md the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
born in 1SJ3, i)i the town of Washington, and mar- 
ried in 1848 Sarah .A., daughter of Dennis and 
Sarah ( W'oodward ) Smith, of Watertown, Conn. 
To this union came two sons: Dwight Woodward 
and I lerm.-in T. : the latter, born May 6, 1853, died 
aged about nine }ears. The father was a manu- 
facturer by trade and occui)ation, and a man of high 
honor and integrity, and conmianded the esteem and 
respect of the communities in which his life was 
passed. He lived in Washington and Waterbury, 
dying in the latter city in 1S60. 

Dwight Woodward ISaldwin, son of Ceorge R. 
T., was reared in his native town an<l Waterbury, 
and in an atmosphere of mechanics and manufact- 





/ 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



281 



uring, and imljihed no doubt from his father and 
grandfather I;is tastes in these Hnes. He recei\ed 
quite a Hberal education in the Waterhury high 
school, front which institution he was graduated, 
and in the Xational Ihisiness College, at Xew Ha- 
ven. He commenced his business career in 1868. 
in Xew Haven, as bookkeeper for H. X. Whittlesey 
& Co., dealers in crockery ware, located in Chapel 
stree'.. His next business experience was with the 
manufacturing concern of C. I'ierpont & Co., whose 
place of business was at the corner of Park and 
Crown streets, and with this establishment he was 
identified for a period of more than twenty-five 
years, which sjjeaks loudly of the estimation in 
which he was held by his employers. He was su- 
perintendent and manager of their works, of which, 
in January. i8(j6, he Ix-came proprietor. Mr. Bald- 
win is a clean-cut. energetic, far-sighted business 
man, and one of Xew Haven's substantial citizens. 
He has served his ward (the second) in the com- 
mon council. 

On Sept. 30, 1872, Mr. I'.aldwin was married to 
Mary Ada, daughter of Mlislia Dickerman. of Xew 
Haven. The\' have had four children: Carrie 
Trowbridge, born in 1873: Hattie .A... born in 1877, 
who died in 1880: Ceorge H., born in 1879, who 
died in 1886; and Howard D., born in 188(1. 

HUX. T. ATWATER r.ARXF..^. The late 
Amos Foot I'ames and son, Hon. T. Atwater 
Barnes, now prominently identified with several 
financial institutions of Xew Haven, together and 
in turn have for nearly sixty years been among the 
leading business men of that city. 

T. -Atwater Barnes, son of .-Vinos I'oot and 
Nancy Rich.ards (Atv.-ater) Barnes, and grandson 
of Capt. Merritt Barnes, who through a long life- 
time was an honored citizen of Watertown, Conn., 
is on his mother's side a representative of one of the 
first families of the Colony of Xew, Haven. 

David Atwater was one of the first ])lanters of 
Xew Haven, and in the first division of lands of the 
town a farm was assigned him in the "Xeck" be- 
tween Mill and Ouinni])iac rivers, im which be lived, 
it is believed, until his death, in i6ij2. Im-oui this 
first American ancestor. T. .\twater Barnes is a 
descendant in the eighth generation, his line being 
through Jonathan, David (2). Jonathan (2). 
Thomas, Thomas (2) and Xancy R. (.\twater) 
B>arncs. 

(II) Jonathan Atwater, son of David, the 
planter, born in 1656, married in 1681 Ruth I'eck. 
He was a mercliant. and died in I72r). 

('HI) David Atwater (2). son of Jonathan, born 
in i''>83. married (second) in 1718 Tabitha Whit- 
head. 

(1\') Jonathan Atwater (2>. son of David (2), 
born in 1722. married in 1745 Sarah Pjeach, of Wal- 
lingford. 

( \' ) Thomas Atwater. son of Jonathan (2). 
bom in 1747, n .-ried in 1772 Margaret Macombcr. 



(X'l) Thomas Atwater (2), son of Thomas, 
born A])ril 13, 1785, ntarried Jan. 15, 1806, Sarah 
Beecher. 

(\'II) Xancy Richards Atwater, daughter iif 
Thomas, born Xnv. 9, 1816, married Amos I*". 
Barnes. 

Amos l'"(iot Barnes, his father, was born Aiiril i. 
1818, in Watertown, Litchfield Co., (,."onn., and in 
order to receive better school advantages was sent 
when eleven years of age lo Hartford, where for 
seven winters he attended the old Stone School 
House. Tluvnigh the summers he was occui)ied at 
work on his father's farm in Watertown. At the 
age of eighteen, in 1836, he began his business ca- 
reer as a clerk in the grocery of Harry Ives, in Xew 
Haven. In 1842 young Banies, then married only 
about a year, started in the grocery business on his 
own account, and at the location on State street 
where he did business as a member of the firm of 
I-'inch & Barnes, wholesale grocers, the rest of his 
life. The firm soon established a good trade, and 
were successful. In 1855 the partnershi]i was dis- 
solved, Mr. Barnes assuming sole charge and re- 
taining the old stand. He continued the business 
under his own name until 1869, at which time he 
associated with him his son, T. Atwater Barnes, 
the firm style becoming Amos I'". Barnes & Son, 
which continued until tlie death of the senior mem- 
ber, in 1890. This was one of the well and favor- 
ably known business houses of .\ew Haven, both its 
members having established a good reputation for 
integrity and fair dealing. The father was a sub- 
stantial man of the comnumily and a useful citizen, 
but had no aspirations ])olitically. having no taste for 
I)olitical honors. I'or two terms he was a member 
of the common council and for six vears was on the 
board of education. He was one of the organizers 
of the h'irst Xational Bank, ami a director in the 
same from its beginning until his ileath : and was 
also for years a trustee of the Connecticut Savings 
l>ank. His religious connections were with tlie 
Center Congregational Church, and lie was often 
chosen by that society to offices of lionor and trust. 

On May 6, 1841, Mr. Barnes was married to 
Xancy Richards Atwater, of Xew Haven, and seven 
children blessed the miion, all now deceased ex- 
celling T. Atwater Barnes. 

T. Atwater Barnes was born Jan. 13. 1848. in 
Xew Haven, attended the public schools of the city, 
and was one year at the famous military school of 
(ien. Russell, in Xew Haven, from which institution 
he was graduated when sixteen years of age. He 
then entered his father's store, as clerk, in which 
capacity he remained until of a.ge. in i8(')9, when he 
was admitted as a partner, and the two sustained 
such relations until separated by the father's death. 
I in 1890. Through his application to business, tact 
and ability young Barnes rose rapidly into prom- 
inence in both business and social life in X'ew Ha- 
ven, where his ability and worth as a citizen have 
been recognized. an(I be stands to-dav one of the 



282 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



city's most substantial and prominent mien. Formany 
years he has been closely identified with a num- 
ber of the city's large business interests and actively 
interested in its public affairs. He has been for a 
period of years a member of the New Haven Cham- 
ber of Commerce, and served two years as its presi- 
dent. He has also served as secretary of the State 
Board of Trade ; is at this time president of the New 
Haven Trust Co.; a director and vice-president of 
the F'irst National Bank : a trustee and member o-f 
the finance conmiittee of the Connecticut Savings 
Bank; and is also director in a number of other 
corporations in New Haven and elsewhere. 

Mr. Barnes has been prominently connected with 
the military affairs of both city and State, having 
served over seven years a^ a member of the New 
Haven Grays, a famous organization in the city's 
history, known as Company ¥ , 2d Regiment, Na- 
tional Guard of Connecticut. He first jo'ned this 
organization as a private, and was advanced through 
the various grades to first lieutenant, fri.m which 
grade he was appointed brigade inspector, with the 
rank of major, and served du the staff" of Gen. R. 
B. Cranford, performing the duties of such office 
with efficiency for some five years. He afterward 
served on the military examining board for a period 
of three years. Major Barnes is a member of the 
Sons of the American Revolution. His political 
affiliations are with the Republican party, l.iy which 
he has been honored as candidate for representa- 
tive in the General Assembly, to which body he was 
elected, and served in i8i>7 with ability and credit, 
and to the satisfaction df his constituents. 

On Oct. 15, 1873, Mr. Barnes was married to 
Phoibe B. Phipps, of i\ew Haven, and their chil- 
dren are : Amos F. and Frank G. P. Barnes. 

FRANCIS HOLDEX, cue of ?^Ieriden's re- 
spected citizens, now living retired in this city, was 
born in Rocky Hill, Hartfnnl ^Co., Conn., Nov. 12, 
1831. Ebenezer Mitchell Ibilden, grandfather of 
Francis, was a native of Hartford countv, a de- 
scendant of an (lid and honorable New England 
family of Scotch descent, and a soldier seven vears 
in the Revohiticjnary war. l-".l>enezer Holden mar- 
ried a Miss ( lo.iih'ich. who was ;i direct descendant 
of a Gocuh-ich who came in the .Ma\llower and after- 
wards returned to England but suhsequenth- settled 
in Connecticut. Had three sons and one daughter. 
Eber Holden. the father of b'rancis Holden. was 
born in Xcw I'erlin. .\'. ^'., wliere. for some vears, 
his occupalion was f;irniiiig. 1 le served in the War 
of 1812, after which he settled in Rocky Hill and 
purchased a small farm near by, upon which he 
spent the rcniaiuder of his life, his burial place being 
in Rocky Hill cemetery. ICber llolden married 
Durinda Morley, of Glastonburw Conn., and she 
also was buried at Rocky Hill, lught children were 
born to them, two of whom, Marilla anil Mar\- Ann, 
died in early life. The survivors were Nancv, liorn 
March 22, 1822. married Henrv Pelton, and died 



Jan. 5, 1901 ; Albert, born Feb. 25, 1826, who resided 
in New Haven; Henry, born Nov. 7, 1827, who 
went West; Humphrey, born Dec. 28, 1829, de- 
ceased; Francis, born Nov. 12, 1831, our subject; 
and William, liorn May 2, 1835, who resides at 
Rocky Hill in the old homestead on the banks of 
the Connecticut river. 

Francis Holden spent his boyhood days on the 
farm at Rocky Hill, and he attended the village 
school. In 1845 he came to 2\Ieriden, and for the 
past fifty-seven years has made this his liome. At 
first an employe in a lock-shop, he has since worked 
in various manufacturing concerns, and has tried 
and mastered several trades. The last eleven years- 
of his active life were spent with the Charles Parker 
Co., from which association he retired in the 
year 1897. Since then he has been enjoying the 
comforts and pleasures incident to a well merited 
relaxation from responsibility. 

Mr. Holden is a man of quiet tastes, and finds 
enjoyment in mingling with his many friends, and 
in recalling, at his pleasant home on North Colony 
street, the many events of his years of active life. 
He is a member of Main Street Baptist Church. In 
politics he has long been identified with the Republi- 
can party, but has never sought office. By a life of 
industry and upright living he has won the esteem of 
all who know him. The remembrance of his love 
for his invalid wife and fondness of their children 
will be long cherished by those who knew them in 
their happy home. 

In 1851) Mr. Holden was united in marriage 
with Luc\- Jane Parker, born in Augusta. Oneida 
Co., N. v., March 17, 1838, daughter of James I. 
and Maria (Ives) Parker. Mrs. Holden died in 
Meriden C)ct. 19, 1899, after twenty years of sick- 
ness, during which she was kindly and tenderly 
cared for by her loving and devoted husband and 
son. She is buried beside her children in the West 
cemetery, in Meriden, and is tenderly remembered 
as a good. Christian woman, devoted wife and 
mother, and faithful member of the Baptist Church. 
As her family loved her in life, so they mourn her 
in death, b'our children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Holden, namely : George Parker, born Dec. 5. iS6i^ 
died Oct. 21, 1868; Nettie Jane, born Feb. 22, 1866,, 
died Oct. 17. iSCi8: Frederick Arthur, liorn Tune 7, 
1876, died Julv 2S, 1878; and Parker Willi's, born 
in Meriden Jidv 10, 1870, a citizen of Brooklyn, N. 
\'., and whose business talent ]irompted his parents 
to give him a thorough training in a jircparatory 
school. The latter passed with credit through the 
common and high school, later graduating from the 
Yrdc Business College, in New Haven. His prelim- 
inary business experience was acquired while a 
clerk for two years in the furniture store of George 
Morse, after which he filled a similar position for 
his uncle, George T. Parker, a wholesale fruit dealer 
of New "N'ork city. His ability may lie recognized 
from the fact that before he had attained his major- 
ity he had purchased the business from his uncle. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



2S3 



and is now successfully engaged, with a partner, in 
a wholesale commission house on \\ ashington 
street, New York City, under the firm name ui 
Smith & Holden. He is possessed of inuisual finan- 
cial ability and great sagacity, and these traits, com- 
bined with unquestioned integrity, have won him a 
high place in the confidence of the public. 

Un Oct. 15, 1901, .Mr. Parker Willis Holden 
married Juliette Louise Jacobs, daughter of Mr. and 
!Mrs. Jacob Young Jacobs, of Brooklyn, X. \'. After 
a few short months of happiness in their home, (/ji 
Sterling Place, llrooklyn, X. Y., Mrs. Holden died, 
March 24, iyo2, and was laid to rest in Greenwood 
cemetery. 

J[ARED L]-:W1S (deceaseil). who during his 
lifetime was one of Meriden's well-known citizens, 
was born in that city, Jan. 28, 181 1, son of Isaac 
and Esther (Ijeaumontj Lewis, and brother of the 
late Hon. Isaac C. Lewis, of Meriden. 

Mr. Lewis was educated in the district schools 
of Meriden, and at Cheshire Military Academy. 
After the death of his father, he lived with an uncle, 
Patrick Lewis, who was engaged in the hotel busi- 
ness in W'allingford. and with whom he remained 
for a few years, prior to engaging with the late 
Charles Parker in the making of cofi^ee mills. Later 
Mr. Lewis became associated with others in the 
mining of iron ore at Colchester, Conn., and a few 
years afterv^-ard started South as a peddler of Yan- 
kee notions, but soon disposed of his stock and went 
to Texas, where he lived for several years. 

From Texas Mr. Lewis removed to Buffalo, X. 
Y., and embarked in the grocery business, continu- 
ing the same until his return to Meriden, in i860. 
In partnership with his brother, under the firm name 
of L C. Lewis & Co., he was for some years in- 
terested in a grocery business near Black Pond. 
Later, :\Ir. S. J. Hall bought the interest of L C. 
Lewis, and the firm of Lewis & Hall continued for 
three years on the corner of Colony and Main 
streets. Subse(|uently Mr. Lewis opened up a drv- 
goods business on Colony street, which he success- 
fully conducted for five years, and during that time 
became widely known iij trade, and was well patron- 
ized by a discriminating public. Mr. Lewis tlicn 
retired from business, and died in Meriden, in .\ug. 
1890, and was buried in the beautiful W'alnm ( irove 
cemetery, connected with this city. 

In Meriden Mr. Lewis married .Melutahle Pad- 
dock, born in Meriden, a daughter of the late Sam- 
uel I'addock. and sister of Deacon Sanuiel Pad- 
dock, of Meriden. Though having reached the age 
of eighty-nine years, Mrs. Lewis still retains her 
mental alertness, and is still a worthv and be- 
loved representative of one of the old and honored 
families of this locality. The children born to the 
late Jared Lewis and wife were as follows: Char- 
lotte Elizabeth, who married William Dudley, a 
soldier during the Civil war, in Co. K, 8th Reg., 
Conn., \'. L and now residing in Washington, D. 



C. ; Charles Henry, who was a soldier in Co. K, 8th 
Keg., was wounded in the arm at Petersburg, and 
died in the hos])ital ; Jared, who is a resident of 
Meriden; and \Villiam, who. belonged to the same 
regiment and company as his brother, and after 
faithful service, lost his life on the battle field of 
Antielam. 

Jared Lewis, Sr., was a stanch Democrat, and 
although he never sought ])olitical office, served his 
city as one of the first members of the council. He 
was an active member of Meridian Lodge. .\o. 77, 
A. E. & A. AL, of Meriden. His religious connec- 
tion was with the Congregational Cluu-ch. As a 
citizen, .Mr. Lewis was held in great regard, was 
known to be thoroughly honest, liberal and public- 
spirited, and he was a man whose life and infiu- 
ence were in the direction of temperance and moral- 
ity. Plis industry was notable, and his studious 
habits made him intellectually sui)erior to many of 
his associates. 

J.\RKi) Li:wis, son of the late Jared and Mehit- 
able (Paddock) Lewis, was born in Colchester, 
Aliddlesex Co., Conn., March 18, 1836. .\t the age 
of five years he went to live on the farm of his 
grandfather, Samuel Paddock, and later was em- 
l)loycd on the farm of Richard .-Xiidrews. in Wal- 
lingford. Here Mr. Lewis remained five years, 
going then to assist his grandfather, with whom 
he remained until he was sixteen years old. 

Although his early training was all in an agri- 
cultural line, and his education but incompletely ac- 
(|uired in the public schools, Mr. Lewis had tastes 
in another <lirection, and the years between sixteen 
and twenty-one were spent in the web, lock and rule 
shops of Middletown. At the expiration of this 
experience he had become skilled in tlie details of 
shop machinery, and accejrted an offer from the 
^M^eeler & Wilson Co., of Bridgeport, and worked 
in their sewing machine slio])s for five years. P>y 
this time the country had need of able-bodied men 
to supf)ress the Rebellion, and in August, of 1862, 
Mr. Lewis became a member of the 2nd Conn. Light 
P>attery. under Cajit. John Sterling, with whom he 
faithfully served for three years, or until his hon- 
orable discharge in Julv of 1865. During his ser- 
\ice Mr. Lewis participated hi a number of import- 
ant engagements including the liatlle of Gettysburg 
— where his battery was notably effective — the Red 
River exjiedition, Xew Orleans, Fort Gaines, the 
.Sieges of .Mobile and h'ort Morgan, the latter ter- 
minating with the capture of all concerned. Re- 
turning to Xew Orleans, the battery was sent into 
.\rkansas. where Mr. Lewis contracted a fever 
necessitating hospital attendance. When sufficient- 
ly convalescent he was sent home on a furlough, 
and saw no more of the grim and terrible side of 
warfare. 

More fortunate tiian many of his brave soldier 
brothers, Mr. Lewis returned to his home un- 
harmed, and upon resuming work, became an em- 
ploye of the lock shop of the Mallory & Wheeler 



284 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Co., at Xuw Haven, where lie remained about three 
year.s. The succeeding period of three and one- 
lialf years was spent in the lock shop of the Parker 
& \\'hi|)ple Co., in Cro.w Hollow, Meriden, and in 
JniH', 1S74, he became connected witli the Bradley 
& llubbanl Aianufacturino- Co. ( >ne year later he 
had advanced to the superiniendency of the pack- 
ing de|)artment, a responsibilitv maintained with 
efficiency liy .Mr. Lewis for the past twenty-seven 
years. 

Jn 1850, Mr. Lewis was married (first), at Dur- 
ham, Cniin., with Matilda Al. IJaileN'. who died, with 
her sun. l-'raiik llurr, in 1864. ln.ith being interred 
in l{a>t cemetery. Alenden. Mr. Lewis was mar- 
ried (second) Dec. 31, 1870, in New Haven, to 
Barbara Coggins, born in Lubec, Maine, daughter 
of joim and Lucinda Coggins, mentioned further 
in tile biography of Emory Coggins, of Meriden. 
Tw(.) children were born of this union, namely: 
Charles Edward, who is emjjloyed by the Bradley 
& Hubbard Manufacturing Co.; and Emory S., 
who is employed as traveling salesman liv the same 
concern. The sons have alread\- evinced pro- 
nounced business capacity, and ha\'e won the con- 
fidence of the company with which they are asso- 
ciated. 

Although Mr. Lewis is an interested member of 
the Republican party, he has never sought political 
preferment. His tastes are of a domestic character, 
and he finds his greatest pleasure in the comforts 
of his home, and association with his family. Re- 
ligious controversies do not disturb him, his life 
being jiatterned as nearly as ijossible after the Gold- 
en Rule. Thus he has gained the esteem of his em- 
ployers, ami the respect of those with whom he is 
brought into contact in whatsoever relations of life. 

EDWARb^ P.. MCXSOX. secretary and treas- 
urer t,f The .Munson & Co., of .\'ew Haven, is one 
of that city"s self-made men. que whose success in 
life can be directly attrihuted to his energy and abil- 
ity to successfully grapple with business sittiations 
where judgment and foresight are es'-'ential. 
His C(imicc(ioii with the folding ]xipcr box industry, 
in all i(s branches, dates back to a (inie when it 
was in i(s infancy, in fad he ;ind bis lirother, 
Harvey S., were the pioneer manufacturers in that 
line in Xew Haven, and have been so closelv identi- 
fied with (hat l>ranch of industry that thev ;ire 
probably (he best-known manufacturers of such 
products in America, The city of Xew lla\en is 
indebled to tliem and tln'ir untiring efl'orts for 
one of i(s largest employers of la])or, ;is well as for 
the reinitation of being one of the \'ery foremost 
cities in .America in that partictdar line of manu- 
facture. Xo longer ago than 1873 their industry 
was struggling along. The Munson brothers, then 
little more than boys, not only handicapped by youth 
but by lack of capital as well, were laying the 
foundation of a structure the building of which 
marked their lives and brought deserved success. 



These brothers are descendants of the old Mun- 
son family, whose history reaches' back to the early 
Colonial period of Connecticut. The progenitor of 
the family in America was Thomas Munson, who 
was born about 1612. and was first known as a 
resident of Hartford, where he performed military 
service in the Pecjuot war in 1637. He came early 
to the Xew Haven Colony, where he is spoken of 
in history as being a good and useful citizen, and 
where he died in 1685. I-'rom this Thomas Mun- 
son, I'.dward B. Munson is in the ninth generation, 
hjs line being through Samuel, Theophihis, Daniel, 
Kirk, Joseph, Kirk, Charles and Edward Beach 
Munson, and including a line of ancestors all of 
whom at some time or other lived in New Haven, 
and were proinineiit in their various callings, 
whether as manufacturers of that period, farmers 
or professional men. 

Charles Munson, the paternal grandfather of 
our subject, was born Eeb. 14, 1792, in New Ha- 
ven, and on April 11, 1815, was married to Mabel 
Beach, who was born .A.ug. 2, 1792, daughter of 
I'.enajah Beach. .She died b'eb. 16, 1878, and he 
died June 9, 1879. Mr. Munson resided in New- 
Haven, and was for a period engaged in the shoe 
business in Newbern, N. C. He also resided in the 
town of \\'oodbriiigc. Conn., where he was chosen 
highway surveyor in 1832, 1843 and 1856, and 
grand juror in 1835 and 1836. During the war of 
1812 he served in the militia under Capt. Joseph A. 
I'.ishop. Both he and his wife were members of 
the Congregational Church. 

Edward Beach Munson, son of Charles, and the 
father of the Munson brothers, Edward B. and 
Harvey S., of New Haven, was born Oct. 30, 1817. 
He became an elector in Woodbridge in 1840. He 
early became associated in business, as a luiilder, 
in i)artnership with his brother-in-law. Willis 
.^niilli, and Hon. N. D. .Spcrry, a connection that 
lasted some three years, b'or years he was largely 
identified with the building of railroads. He super- 
intended the masonry work and the purchase of 
materials for the New Haven, New London & 
.Stonington railroad, in 1857-59. President (iiles, 
in a letter on this work, said of him,' "He not only 
i'(|ualled our exjjectatioiis, but f;ir exceeded them 
in ability, energy and mechanical skill." Later Mr. 
Munson built the Derby railroad. He became su- 
perintendent of the Fair Haven & Westville horse 
railway. His place of residence was New Haven, 
:;nd in 1S60 he served in the common council. On 
(he breaking out of the I'ivil war he raised Com- 
pany K, loth Conn. \'. I., and was chosen its cap- 
tain, his commission dating from Se])t. 25, i86r. 
He was mustered into (he Cni(ed .States service 
Oct. 3, 1861, remaining therein until the 14th of 
the following Decenilier. when he tendei'ed his res- 
ignation. Capt. Munson was a man of imposing 
appearance. He commanded the respect and esteem 
of his fellow citizens, and all with whom he came 
in contact, and in his death, which occurred .Aug. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



28: 



15^ 1^79- ll'<-' '-"''y '""1 county lost a valued citi- 
zen. 

Dn June 3, 1841, Mr. ^linison was niarried to 
Amelia C. -Sperry. of W'oodbridye, Ijorn June 13. 
i8jj, daujrhter of \\'_\llis and Catherine (Rams- 
dell ) Sperry. Children came to this marriage a.s 
follows: (1) Alliert l.eroy, born in 1842, resides 
in New \'ork. lie was an officer in the 5th X. V. 
Heavy Artillery during the Civil war, anil rose to 
the rank of lieutenant colonel of United States \'ol- 
unteers. (2) Henry Theodore, born in 1844, was 
for a number of years a ]jrominent attorney of Xew 
York; he was for some years connected as an e.x.- 
aminer with the United States Patent Office; he took 
out a numjjer of jjatenls on his own inventions of 
useful and labor saving devices, and later practiced 
his profession of law in Xew ^'ork, where his 
death occurred in Aj-iril. 1897, on the day f(.)llowing 
his wife's death. He was married, in Washington, 
D. C, to Xellie S. Porter, of that city. (3) Mary 
Gertrude, born in 184'), married, in June, 1867, 
Richard Henry Greene, a lawyer of .Xew ^'ork. 
■ (4) Kate Amelia, born in 1849. married, in \Wn). 
Louis Hartman Todd, who was connected with the 
jewelry firm of Tiffiany & Co., Xew ^'ork. (5) 
Sarah .Augusta, born in 1852, married in 1882 .Al- 
bert Candee, a clerk in the .Xew Haven post of- 
fice. (6) Edward P)enjamin was born June 12, 
1854. (7) Harvey Sperry was Ijorn March 3, 
1857. (8j Miss Harriet Eliza, !)oni in 1851), lives 
in Xew Haven, (y) Emma M., born in i8f>4, died 
in 1888 unmarried. 

Edward Benjamin Alunson was born June 12, 
1854, in Xew liaven, on what is now the nortltcasl 
corner of Cieorge and West streets. In tliose days 
that was all a farming section, and the only road 
leading toward the city was Chajx-l street. He at- 
tended the old Webster school, and from there went 
to the old Hillhou.se high school, tlie old building 
of which during the period of his attendance was 
demolished ami the construction of the jjresent one 
begun. School w^as held in the old State House 
during the progress of this improvement, and there 
young Munson last attended school, as he left in 
his Sophomore year to enter upon a business career, 
which appealed to him not entirely as a matter of 
choice, but to no small extent because of circum- 
stances. As a boy he was industrious, eager to earn 
his own spending money, which he did. His asso- 
ciates were hoys of well-to-do families, and in order 
to have at his disposal i)in money to the extent that 
his comrades had he early developed those hustling 
proclivities that have been characteristic of the man. 
Mr. Munson acted as carrier boy for the Courier, 
then a morning paper, and also for the Palladiiiiii, 
then an evening jiaper. .\s carrier for the Courier 
he delivered a j^aper at tlie factory on the corner 
of Williams and Bradley streets, which [property 
later was bought- by himself and brother, Harvey 
S., and was the scene of no little of their success 
in later vears. It is doubtftd if there can be fomid 



in Xew Haven a ])arallel coincidence of this kind. 
.\mong Mr. Munson's boyhood as.sociaies was tlie 
late John .\ddison Porter, as well as a number of 
others who became noted and prominent men. A 
.suiivenir of that period of his life, and somethmg 
that Mr. .Munson prizes very highly, i> a photograph 
of a base-ball team of which he was a member, and 
which included several boys who rose to positions 
of prtjuiim lice in professional and financial circles. 
Soon alter leaving school, at about the age of 
tifteeii, .Mr. .Munson accejjted the position of erraiul 
buy in a hat ^tore then conducted by Bradley & 
Pratt, on tile southwest corner of State and Chapel 
streets. He remained there for some time, and later 
accepted the position of clerk with Kimberly & 
Candee, in the same line of business. The failure 
of this firm, .^(Jme time afterward, threw voung 



.Munson 



tnu oi a position, antl though in a siiori 



time he had an offer from another concern he did 
not accept it, being dissatisfied with the wages of- 
fer(-d. This dissatisfaction, arising from a matter 
of $3 [jer week, was instrumental in causing him to 
take up other line> of business, and incidentally the 
(-ne which he l:as carried on so successfully. It 
was about this time that his brother, Harvey S., 
severed hi-; connection as clerk for the dry goods 
firm of J. .X. .\(lams iS: Co., so that both were un- 
employed, riieir industry and eiicrgx' would not 
permit them to remain idle. They conceived the 
idea of selling a line of office stationery and sup- 
])Iies, which proved so much of a success that their 
first week's profit was all of $20 each. This busi- 
ness they carried on a few months, during which 
time they were on the lookout for something bet- 
ter. The elder IjrotlKT, Henry T.. was then an 
examiner in tlie L'nited .Slates Patent Office at 
Washington, and coming beneath his notice was a 
[jatent f(jl(hiig pasteboard 1)ox. The value of this 
invention and its future jiossibilities, as they ap- 
])eared to him, were made known to his younger 
brothers, who almost at once began to look into that 
line, intending, if possible, to get control of the in- 
vention. In this way they learned of a manu- 
facturer of Xewark, .X. J., J. B. Osborn, who was 
then [jrcxhicing a folding bo.x, the .Xew England 
agency for which they secufed. This was in the 
early part of 1874. .At once they began to push 
their new !ine, and the first order taken was from 
C. Cowles & Co., of Xew Haven, for 50,000 boxes. 
When this order was sent in the manufacturer could 
not fill it ! The fact that one customer in .Xew 
Haven could not be sujjplied showed how verv far 
were these young men from having an adeijuate 
siqjply, when the wdiole of Xew England was to 
be considered. They readily saw the great future 
for the business, and concluded to enter into the 
industry of manufacturing this article. Young as 
they were — one not yet twenty-one, and the other 
less than eighteen — they Itad implicit confidence in 
the future of the undertaking. Their means were 
(|uite limiteil, which dil'ficulty was but one of several 



286 



COMMEMORATIJ'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



necessary to be overcome before the enterprise was 
started. It was in 1875 tliat Arunscn & Co. was 
first established. The handicap of Hmited means 
had been temporarily overcome by financial assist- 
ance from their mi>ther, not nnly at the beginning, 
but later on, as it wa^ se\eral years before the 
business became self-supporting. Their first loca- 
tion was in the top floor of a building oft Artizan 
street, the room of 40x50 serving for oiifice, factory 
and all. The first three years was a constant strug- 
gle, and many times. Iiad those back of the business 
been less courageous and persistent, it would cer- 
tainly have been abaiuloned. It had grown, how- 
ever, so that in less than two years from its incep- 
tion larger quarters were necessary, and they occu- 
])ied the whole t(.)p flour of the building. Still later 
thev occupied, in addition, the floor directly under- 
neath. It was practically not until 1878 that the 
business began to show encouraging returns. The 
time previous had been largely spent in introducing 
their goods and l.)uying up patents that would per- 
fect or protect their business — all of which had not 
only e.N^hausted their means but much more as well. 
In 1879 this firm perfected a die for use in their 
business, the efficiency of which is attested by its al- 
most universal use, without improvements, to the 
present time. In 1 88 1 it had become necessary to 
again seek larger quarters, and they purchased the 
pioperty at the corner of liradlcy and \Mlliams 
streets, the old ])lant of the Xew Haven Organ 
Co. The early building thereon was the structure 
on the corner. 35x90 feet in dimensions, and five 
stories high, in 1888 another liuilding was erected, 
40x50, and five stories high, as well as a building 
of the same height which connected the two. 

Long before this their ])roduct had taken a front 
rank, and was being constantly improved by the 
most careful study of the details of production as 
well as the inventive genius of the proprietors, so 
that it was probably the best known in the coun- 
try. In iSyi the business was consolidated with 
others in the formation of tlie National Folding 
Box & Paper Co. The property, however, was re- 
tained l)y the Muiison & Co., and is yet owned by 
them, in b'ebruary, i8y(j, owing to internal dis- 
sension, the Munson*brothers severed their con- 
nection with The National I'olding Box & Paper 
Co., and at once made preparations to start up in 
business. The Alunson & Co. was incorporated in 
1897, with Harvey S. as president and Edward B. 
as secretary and treasitrer. Aiu)ther coincidence in 
their career may be here mentioned. The only 
available quarters fur their business were in the 
same building, on Artiztm street, where nearly a 
quarter of a century before had been the scene of 
their modest beginning. Conditions had been great- 
Iv changed. Instead of inexperienced youths with but 
little more than energy as their capital, they were 
men of e.x]:)erience, familiar with every detail of the 
business, and favorably known to the trade every- 
where. Competition was |ilenty and formidable, 



but to olfset this the field of consumijtion had been 
greatly enlarged, and the product had cotne to be 
used in thousands of different ways, so that the 
degree of their success was only to be measured by 
their ability to produce the goods — the character of 
which was thoroughly suggested by the name of 
Munson. In March, 1898, they bought their pres- 
ent quarters, on Clinton avenue, which they have 
transformed into one of the most modern and best 
equipped plants of the kind in New England, and 
certainly the best arranged and most accessible of 
its kind in New Haven. The success of this firm 
began with its inception. The peculiar fitness of 
its proprietors is such as to form a combination of 
mechanical skill and business acumen from which 
luit little else than success could come; each pos- 
sesses to an unusual extent one or the other of 
those faculties, and at the same time a valuable com- 
bination of both faculties is to be found in eitfier. 

Harvey S. Alunson's inventive genius has been 
a most valuable asset to the concern. He has obtained 
patents on almost a score of his own inventions. 
Edward B. Munson has taken out patents on sev- 
eral different inventions, and he has probably given 
mnre uf his time and energy to the business end of 
the concern, and has borne heavy resijonsibilities. 
His identification with business fife has always been 
with the paper box industry, and his success has 
certainly been well merited. 

bVaternally Edward Benjamin Munsoui is prom- 
inent in Masonic circles, being a thirty-second-de- 
gree Mason, ami affiliated with \\'ooster Lodge, F. 
& A. M.: I'Tanklin Chapter: Harmony Council; 
New Haven Commandery, Knights Templar; and 
Lafayette Consistory. Politically he is a stanch 
supporter of Republican principles, but, while tak- 
ing the interest of ^ public-spirited and enterprising 
citizen in political matters, he is far from being a 
politician. He served two terms in the New Ha- 
ven city council, from the Eighth ward, his service 
in the city government being from a sincere desire 
to promote the public welfare, and not from any 
enjoyment of the position. One very impressive 
characteristic of his service was his unswerving de- 
votion to what he believed to be right. The same 
can be said of him in his business dealings, w'liere 
he has always maintained a reputation for the 
strictest integrity. 

( In l'\'b. .24. 1879, in New Haven, Edward B. 
Mmisdii was married to Jose]}hine Etta Leaven- 
worth, daughter of Oscar B. Leavenworth, a sketch 
of whom appears elsewhere. They have had chil- 
dren as follows: Grace Amelia, born April 24, 

1880. is a graduate of Mrs. Cady's private school, 
in New Haven; Maude Josepbine, born Nov. 22, 

1881, is also a graduate of i\Irs. Cady's school; 
Harvey ]]enjamin, born Dec. 20. 1884 is a student 
at the Boardman school: Ethel May was born Aug. 
13. i8()2: antl Thornton Sjx'rry was born Jan. I, 
1897. Mr. and Mrs. Alunson arc members of the 
Church of the Redeemer. The records of both the 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



iS? 



JNIunson and Leavenworth families entitle their cle- 
scendants to membership in several of the Lolonial 
societies, amontj these the Maytlower, lo which Mr. 
.Munson is eligible. Neither .\lr. nor .Mrs. Munson 
has, however, sought to wnter any of these. Their 
tastes are c|uite too democratic to wish a social 
standing based upon anything but their own intrin- 
sic worth, and, like truly progressive, cultin-ed and 
useful peo])le, they are living lives worthy of emula- 
tion bv future generations instead of resting on the 
laurels of their honored ancestors. In ic^y4 .Mr. 
Munson comiiieted his elegant home at Xo. 389 
Whitney avenue, where the family reside. 

RICF.. Through the greater part of the pres- 
ent century the name of Rice has been one of prom- 
inence in the various lines of social, religious and 
business life of ^^'atcrbury, one of whose most use- 
ful and prominent citizens was the late Archibald 
E. Rice, who did much toward the development of 
the city in the line of contracting and building, a 
business in which his son Frederick B. Rice has 
been conspicuously prominent for many years. 

Archibald Elijah Rice was born Aug. 13, 1809, 
in Hamden, Conn., a son of Isaac and Mary ( Rob- 
erts) Rice, and grandson of Isaac Rice, of Ham- 
den, a patriot of the war of the Revolution. Arch- 
ibald's boyhood was passed in Hamden, V\'ood- 
bridge and Prospect. At the age of seventeen he 
came to Waterbury and entered the emjjloy of Mark 
Leavenworth & Co., manufacturers of wooden 
clocks. Later he learned the carpenter's trade, and 
entered into business as a carpenter and builder for 
himself. Between 1830 and 1842, he built a num- 
ber of more important edifices in Waterbury. In 
1843 he moved to Hudson, Ohio, and while there 
built the Western Reserve College, .\fter a resi- 
dence of several years there he returned to Water- 
bury, and was one of the founders of the City Lum- 
ber & Coal Co., which was later merged into the 
Waterbury Lumber & Coal Co., of which he later 
owned a controlling interest and became president. 
Some ten years later he and his son sold out their 
interests in the company, and at tliat time the father 
practically withdrew from business. For many years 
prior to this he had been president of the .-Apothe- 
caries' Hall Co., which position he retained until 
the time of his death. At one time he was also 
president of the American Ring Company. 

Mr. Rice although always greatly absorbed in 
business was ever interested in i)ublic affairs. He 
was a number of times honored hv his fellow-citi- 
zens by election to offices of trust and responsi- 
bility. In 1856 lie was a member of the common 
council, and in 1857 he served as chairman of the 
Finance committee of the Centre School district; 
and again as such from 1867 to 1875. In 1876 and 
1877 he was mayor of Waterbury, and for a period 
of seventeen years was one of the county commis- 
sioners for New Haven county. During this period 
he superintended the erection of the jail and the 



county court house in Xew Haven. He also super- 
iiiteiide<l, in 1874-75, the buiUling (>! the jjresent 
edifice of the I'irst Congregational Church of 
Waterbury. Mr. Rice was reared an l-Ipiscopalian, 
but in 1831 unitetl with the b'irsi Congregational 
Church, and for more than sixt\- years, with the 
excei)lion of his residence in Uhio, he was a com- 
municant and a regular attendant of that Church. 
■"His early advantages were limited, yet by the force 
of his character and industry he forged liis way 10 
a prominent place among the intelligent and pros- 
perous men of Waterbury. He was a diligent read- 
er of newspapers and books, and possessed a very 
accurate and vigorous gift of expression. He pos- 
sessed intellectual power antl was an independent 
thinker on the great c|uestions of the limes. In 
theological and ecclesiastical matters he exhibited 
tlie somewhat unusual combination of radical think- 
ing and conservatism of method, and the same was 
true of his fwlitical life. His attitude toward pub- 
lic men and parties was severely critical, and he 
held some advanced theories, yet in ])ractice he was 
unifonnlv cautious and reluctant to make great 
changes. He was unsparing in his condemnation of 
whatever seemed untrue or unmanly. The frauds 
of business, the tricks of politics, anil the shams of 
social life alike called forth his keen satire, and his 
hot condemnation. He did not measure his words, 
and therefore did not fail to arouse oi)]wsition and 
sometimes ill-will. But his conservation was never- 
theless very pronounced. es])ecially in local aft'airs, 
and his reputation was that of a careful manager 
and a strict economist." 

During the Civil war and for years thereafter 
Mr. Rice was a Rei)nblican. In 1884 he voted for 
Mr. Cleveland and from that time on affiliated with 
the Democratic party. In the Waterbury .liiwrican 
of ]March 15, 1893, appeared a hii)gra])hy of Mr. 
Rice over the initials of "]. A.", fnnu which much 
of the foregoing is taken, ami which is closed with 
the following: "In the large group of strong char- 
acters and useful citizens whose names adorn the 
annals of Waterbury, Mr. Rice must be assigned a 
promineitt place." 

In 1832 Mr. Rice was married, at rros])ect, to 
Susan Bronson, a descendant of John Bronson, 
who is .given in the Memorial History of Hartford 
County in the list of original ])roprietors of Hart- 
ford — those settling prior to 1640. Mr. ]]ronson re- 
moved to Tunxis ( {"armington ) about 1041, of 
whicli place he was one of the first settlers, and 
later in 1652, became one of the seven pillars of the 
original church there. His son John was one of the 
first settlers of Waterlntry.' Mr. Rice was marriecT. 
I second, to Mrs. Sarah H. Baker, who still survives, 
and is residing in Waterlntry. To the first ntarriage 
were born seven children, two of whom died in 
childhood; I£dward J., died in 1890; and Mrs. L. 
i M. Camp, died in 1877. Those living are: Mrs. 
L. J. Monson, Frederick B.. and .Mrs. S. P. Will- 
iam's. Archibald E. Rice died March 14. 1893. 



28S 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Fkkdickick C. Rice, son uf Archiliald E. Rice, 
and the present secretary of the \\ alerbnry Luni- 
her & Coal Co., and of the Apothecaries' Hall Co., 
was born Sept. 30, 1843. at Hudson, Uhio, where 
his parents resided for a time. He received his early 
education in the public schools oi \\ aterbury, and 
later attended Eastman's Business College, at 
Pou,u:hkeepsie, X. V. After this he became a clerk 
in the flour and feed liusiness ot" L._ D. Smith & Co., 
in which his father was interested, and still later he 
occupied a position in the Apothecaries" tiall 
Co. Earlv in the Civil war, in 1862, he entered the 
service of the Cnited States, enlisting for nine 
months, and ]ierformed honorable service throu.gh 
a period of thirteen, sharing the fortunes of his 
conmiand, which, the greater part of the time, was 
under (jen. Banks, in Louisiana. Returning to 
W'aterljurv after his military experience, young 
Rice again entered the Apothecaries" Hall Co., be- 
coming its secretary. Subsequently he entered the 
yard of the Waterburv Lumber & Coal Co., as a 
clerk, and as such was occupied for several years. 
For a brief jjeriod following this he was at Bangor, 
Me., returning to Waterbury he again entered the 
employ of the Lumber & Coal Co.. and of which he 
became secretary. While yet with that company 
company Mr. Rice began his present business — that 
of buihHng houses and selling them on the install- 
ment plan. He has erected upwards of four hun- 
dred houses, stores and business blocks, ranging in 
value from $800 to $1,200. Like his father, Mr. 
Rice has been placed in various public trusts, the 
duties of which he has efficiently discharged. He 
has served three terms in the citv council and five 
terms as assessor. He has also held other positions, 
serving on numerous committees of importance in 
city afi'airs, among them on the Water Supply com- 
mittee. New Charter and Finance committee and the 
committee of Center District. In some of these his 
expert knowledge of real estate has lent his judg- 
ment great weight and value. 

On May 25, 1866, Mr. Rice was nrarried to 
Helen McCollough Mintre, daughter of Alexander 
and Helen (Kenyon) [Mintre, and to them have been 
born two children, as follows: Helen S., who died 
in childhood ; and Archibald E. 

CHARLES STORRS HAMILTOX, one of 
the leading members of the Xew Flaven Bar, whose 
professional career covers a period of twenty-five 
years in that cily. is one of its substantial men and 
reliable citizens. lie was born Jan. 3, 1848, at 
(irand I're, in .X'nva .Scotia, second son of James 
E. and Anna M. ( Cesner) Hamilton. His ances- 
tors on his father's side were of Scotch-Irish de- 
scent, and the original ancestor in America came 
to Rhode Island in 1640, and thence to Norwich, 
(.'onn. His maternal ancestors were of Knicker- 
bocker and h'rench Huguenot descent, being amon.g 
the earliei>t settlers of Xew "S'ork, and his maternal 
.grandfather was a lineal descendant of Konrad Ces- 



ner, the Zurich scholar and philosopher. The 
Storrs family of Xew England was allied to his 
father"s line by marriage, hence his middle name. 
Mr. Hamilton"s ancestor in the Storrs line was a 
man of distinction in Connecticut. Samuel Storrs,, 
the progenitor (jf the Connecticut family, came 
f.om Nottingham^hire, England, to Barnstable, 
Mass., in 1663. and thirty-five years later to IMans- 
fielil. Conn. James E. Hamilton, father of Charles 
S., was a merchant in tlie \\"est India trade and to 
Xew York, and died at the age of eighty-four 
years. :\Irs. Anna M. (Gesner) Hamilton was born 
in Xew York, daughter of Henry Gesner, a farmer 
and trader in Xew York, who died at the age of 
ninety-four. She died at the a.ge of seventy-four 
years, a consistent memfcer of the Episcopal Church. 
Of their six children, four are yet living: Charles 
Storrs; James, living on the old homestead; Xicho- 
las L., a trader in the West Indies and the South 
American ports: and J. Henry, late professor in the 
I'olytechnical School, Brooklyn, New York. 

Charles Storrs Hamilton passed the early part 
of his life in study, and received a liberal coUe.giate 
education, graduating with honor from King"s'Col- 
le.ge in 1871. He is a lover of the classics, and, 
since leaving college, has not lost his grasp upon 
them, but still reads Greek and Latin as a pastime ; 
he speaks both French and German fluently. After 
his graduation Mr. Hamilton went to Boston to 
take up the study of law with Congressman Clark, 
and in 1874 entered the Yale Law School, from 
which he was graduated in one year by reason of 
advanced standing. He took a special course in 
Yale Medical School in order to fit himself for 
technical cases, in which he has since excelled. The 
winter following the completion of his work at 
\'ale, he traveled in the Southern States, and in 
Alay, 1875, opened an office for the practice of his 
profession in the Yale National Bank building,, 
where he is still located. Since that time Mr. Ham- 
ilton has greatly developed in the knowledge of the 
law and its practice, until he has reached a very 
hi.gh place in the active ranks of the profession, not 
only in the city, but throughout the country. As a 
hiwyer before the jury great success has crowned 
his work. an<l an inspection of the court docket 
shows that he appears in a very large percentage of 
the jury cases, generally in a majority of them. His 
preparation and management of his cases is re- 
markably fine, and he is never surprised by an ad- 
versary, and never fails to detect the weak point in 
the jiresentation of his opponent, at once taking 
advantage of any possible opening for successful 
assault. It is said that he frequentlv wmhs a trial 
before it goes to the jury, by his skill in prelimin- 
ary maneuvering. Mr. Hamilton is a master of 
English, and his jury addresses are fine specimens 
of wit, i>athos and sarcasm. The announcement 
that he is to speak on an important case never fails 
to crowd the courtroom with students and fellow 
members of the Bar. Mr. Hamilton has from one 





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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



289 



to four cases in every volume, from \'ol. 41 to \ ol. 
7j, Connecticut Reports. For the last four or five 
vears he has had an extensive business in damage 
cases in Rhode Island, New York and .Massachu- 
setts, which owing to the rule in Connecticut cannot 
be tried before a jury in that State. 

.Mr. Hamilton was a Republican until 1890, 
when he felt the party had gone too far in its ad- 
vocacy of the tariff and other issues, and since that 
vear he has been a Democrat. In 1888 he was 
elected a member of the council from the Second 
ward, and the following year was elected alderman. 
Ir 1890 he ran for State senator, and, though not 
elected, was many votes ahead of his ticket. In the 
same vear he was chairman of the commission to 
compile the charter and to revise the city ordinances 
of New Haven, and did his work thoroughly and 
well. Mr. Hamilton takes a deep interest in mat- 
ters of legislation, and has drafted many of the im- 
portant statutes which have been passed \n recent 
years. In local matters he has been prominent, and 
has filled a number of town offices. Air. Hamilton 
is a member of Hiram Lodge, Xo. i, .-X. F. & .\. .M.. 
and has risen to the thirty-second degree, Scottish 
Rite, in the fraternity. In religion he is connected 
with St. PauFs Episcopal Church, where he has 
served as vestryman for many years. 

( )n -\ug. 13. 1878, Mr. Hamilton was married 
to Mary E. Chipman, and to this union were born 
two children : Mary Grace, a graduate of Misses 
( »rton and Nichols School, in New Haven, and 
W'oodside Seminary, in Hartford : and William 
Storrs Hoyt, who is now at a private school. 

Mr. Hamilton has taken out three patents for 
marine inventions — a new adjustable center board, 
a rudder hinge, and a mooring line attachment. He 
is a member of the New Haven Yacht Club, of 
which he is a trustee and manager, and sails several 
boats. He is an enthusiastic sailor, and is capable 
of handling his boat well even under the most trying 
circumstances. In the summer of 1901 Mr. Ham- 
ilton carried the flag of the New Haven Yacht Club 
for the first time into the British provinces, flying 
It on the schooner yacht "Fearless."' In addition to 
being a yachtsman he is also a faithful disciple of 
I;:a<-ik Walton, and also handles a shotgun with 
skill. He has made quite a large collection of birds, 
some of which are rare specimens, and he has them 
finely mounted. 

THOM.AS P. GIBBONS, M. D., whose widow 
resides at No. 64 Trumbull street, in the city of 
New Haven, was in active practice there for some 
ten years prior to his death, and ranked high among 
the able physicians of this part of Connecticut. 

Dr. Gibbons was a native of Lancaster, Lan- 
caster Co., Pa., born in 1823, and was the third 
child of .Abraham and Mary (Penn) Gibbons, who 
are now deceased, the Doctor being quite young 
when his father passed away. Richard Gibbons, 
elder brother of Thomas P., is still living. Thomas 

19 



P. Gibbons received his general education in the 
Jeti'erson Sc1uk)1, and his prufes>iunal training at the 
Jefferson .Metlical College, Philadelphia. During 
the Civil war he served on the staff of General 
Schenck, and subsequently followed his profession 
in Philadelphia, remaining in his native State until 
his removal to .\ew Haven, in 1876. Dr. Gibbons 
was a rejjresentative of his profession in the broad- 
est and noblest sense of the word, and he enjoyed a 
large practice, the responsibilities of which were 
voluntarily increased by his interest in all charitable 
and benevolent enterjirises. He was widely be- 
loved, and his death, .April 3, 1886, when he was 
si.xty-three years of age, removed a fine, interesting, 
and humanitarian personality. He was a member of 
the City, County and State Medical Societies. Po- 
litically he was a Republican. 

Dr. (iibbons married, in 1SO7, Harriet Prime, of 
New York City, daughter of Frederick and Mary 
(F'ay) Prime, also of .\ew York. The family is 
one of the oldest antl most prominent in the great 
metropolis. 

GEORGE PHILLIPS LINES (deceased), a 
son of Augustus Lines and a brother of .\ugustus 
E. Lines, both of New Ilaven, Conn., was for many 
years a well-known and highly esteemed citizen of 
this community. He was born in New Haven 
Nov. 23, 1824. and died at his home on Lyon street, 
that city, June 10, 1874. 

.Mr. Lines was educated in tlie common schools 
of this city, receiving instruction also in the Lan- 
casterian school, under the noted John E. Lovell, 
continuing there until the age of fifteen years when 
he entered the larger school — the printing office. 
His latter ojjportunity was in the office of the Hart- 
ford Couraiit, and there he continued for a three- 
years apprenticeship. Upon his return to New 
Haven, he was employed in the office of the Courier, 
where he remained for several years, going then 
to New Y'ork city, and working at his trade on 
various journals. Some fifteen years of his life 
were spent in the jirinting business, but at length 
he gave it up to accept a position in the ship])ing 
department of Daveni)ort & Wheeler, of .New 
Haven. Flis last change was made after ten years 
with this firm, when he became bookkeeper for R. 
& J. M. Blair, undertakers, and here he continued 
until tlic time of his death. 

Mr. Lines was a man of great intelligence and 
wide reading. In manner he was quiet and unas- 
suming, and no attractions of clubs oT secret organi- 
zations could temi)t him from the ease and com- 
fort of his home. L'nusually devoted to the welfare 
of his family, he was much beloved by every mem- 
ber. It has been said of him that "his word was as 
gO(xl as his bond," and although the declaration is 
not new, it carries with it no uncertain meaning, 
.'Ks a citizen he took an interested part in every 
movement that made for the city's good, and he was 
especially zealous in promoting temperance and edu- 



290 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



cation. While still in early manhood, he became a 
member of the Congregational Church, in Hartford, 
and his life bore testimony to his religious con- 
victions. Although he believed in and voted for the 
support of the Republican party, he was no politi- 
cian, being always, however, a strong anti-slavery 
man. 

George P. Lines was first married on Nov. 22, 
1848, his bride being Almira Augur, of New Ha- 
ven, a daughter of James Augur, and she died May 
24. i860, at the age of thirty-three years. The chil- 
dren of this union were: Ella Almira, who died 
on Feb. 27, 1852, at the age of fifteen months; and 
Frederick George, who died on May 20, i860. On 
May 7, 1862, Mr. Lines was married to Mrs. Ann 
Eliza (Holtj Hibbard, who was a daughter of Ryal 
and Lovina (Lamb) Holt, of Coventry, Conn. Mrs. 
Lines is a descendant of Nicholas Holt, who was 
one of the first settlers in New England, and the 
founder of the old and honorable family which is 
known all over the United States, many of its mem- 
bers having become prominent in many walks of 
life. 

GEORGE H. SAHTH. the senior member of 
the well-known firm of Smith & Twiss, and one of 
the substantial representatives of the commercial 
life of New Haven, was born in Watertown, N. Y., 
Feb. 23, 1840, a son of George and Jane (White) 
Smith. 

William Smith, the internal grandfather, was 
born in Litchfield county. Conn. During a long 
and useful life he was a merchant and machinist, 
and was the first to estaljlish a mercantile establish- 
ment in Watertown, X. Y. He was buried in that 
city. 

George Smith, son of William and father of 
George H. Smith, was born in Watertown, N. Y., 
and died in 1897 at the advanced' age of eighty-four. 
During this long life, Mr. Smith resided in the city 
of his birth, and for a number of years was conduc- 
tor on the F<ome & Watertown Railroad. During 
the war, he was honored with the position of treas- 
urer of that organization, and at the time of his 
death was treasurer of the Jefferson Co. Savings 
Dank. .Mr. ."-imith married Jane White, who was 
born in Sehoharie. X. Y., and died in Watertown, 
N. Y., about thirty-eight years ago. To these two 
good peoiile were born: William, George, Henry, 
Eugenia and .-\llen. Of these, William died in the 
Civil war: Henry is a printer in the West; Eugenia 
died at the age of fifteen: and Allen is a merchant 
of Chicago. 

George H. Smith grew to manhood in Water- 
town, attending the district school. \Yhile still a 
boy he evinced a taste for machinery, and in order 
to learn the trade of a machinist he entered the em- 
ploy of Golden, Bagley & Sewell, with which firm 
he mastered the details of the calling he adopted. 
So rapid was his progress that at the age of twenty 
he left Watertown and worked at his trade in vari- 



ous cities, finally, in 1881, locating in New Haven. 
Soon after his arrival he was engaged to superin- 
tend the construction of a horseshoe factory Mr. C. 
S. Mersick was erecting; later for eight years he 
was superintendent of the McLagon Foundry of 
New Haven, and in the fall of 1897, he, with Gus- 
tavus Twiss, formed the partnership of Smith & 
Twiss, and they now conduct one of the best 
equipped and most successful enterprises in their 
line, in this portion of the State. Special attention 
is given to engines and pumps, to reboring cylinders 
and to planing valve seats without removing cylin- 
ders. The building of special machinery and gen- 
eral jobbing comes within the scope of their opera- 
tions. Steamboat work is also an important feature 
of the business, as well as the repairing of machin- 
esy in various establishments in New Haven and the 
vicinity. An adequate force of skilled mechanics 
is regularly employed, and unnecessary delay in ex- 
ecuting contracts is always avoided. This progres- 
sive concern has invented and built special machin- 
ery for planing valve seats without removing the 
cylinder, one of the most efficient and reliable ever 
used, the market for this invention being widespread. 
The extensive plant is fully equipped with the latest 
improved appliances and machinery, including a gas 
power engine, and the success which has attended 
the efforts of the partners is the result of good work, 
prompt service and strictly honorable business 
methods. 

On May 24. 1862, Mr. Smith was married to 
Anna Gill, who was born in England, but came to 
America when five years old. Mrs. Smith is a 
daughter of William Gill, a very successful nte- 
chinist. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith one child has 
been born, Eugenia. 

Coming of a line of Whigs and Republicans, 
Mr. Smith earnestly supports the platform and can- 
didates of that party, while he and his family are 
consistent members of the Baptist Church. A man 
of energy, successful in his business enterprises, 
pujjlic-spirited, Mr. Smith is an influential and es- 
teemed citizen. 

RUFUS WARREN BLAKE, manufacturer at 
Birmingham in the town of Derby, where for nearly 
thirty years as manager and president, respectively, 
of the Sterling Company, he has been a most potent 
force in the development of that concern, and' also 
in the growth and advancement of Birmingham and 
vicinity as a busy manufacturing centre, is one of 
the town's leading business men and foremost citi- 
zens. 

President Blake was born May 3, 1841, in the 
town of Norfolk, Norfolk Co., Mass.. a son of farm- 
ing people of that community, whose ancestors were 
among the sturdy New Englanders of the Colonial 
period. As a boy our subject did not take kindly 
to farming, his tastes being in another direction, and 
he sought other lines of employment, beginning his 
career as a "bobbin"' boy in a woolen mill, working 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



291 



through the summer season and attending the neigh- 
boring district schools during the winters. At the 
age of fifteen he began learning the painter's 
trade, and at twenty, in 1861, he took up the trade 
of a cabinet-maker. This was reallv the beginning 
of his identit\' with the business of which he lias 
made a life work, and in which his energies and cap- 
abilities have been so successfully rewarded. In 
1863 he became engaged with the firm of Taylor 
& Farley, of Worcester, Mass., manufacturers of 
melodcons. Their business was small and the few 
men engaged in the work were afforded opportuni- 
ties of learning the building of reed instruments in 
all of its points. This opportunity was taken ad- 
vantage of by Air. Blake, during his term of sev- 
eral years in such employment, and he thoroughly 
learned the art. Following this experience, along 
about 1867, he formed a partnership with Mr. J. W. 
Loring. under the firm name of Loring & Blake, 
which later became the Loring & Blake Organ Co., 
for the manufacture of organs. This new concern 
did a prosperous business, but in 1873 there was 
an opportunity open to Mr. Blake to identify him- 
self with the Sterling Organ Co., of Derby, Conn., 
which he embraced, accepting in that year the posi- 
tion L>f manager of The Sterling Co. The corpora- 
tion at that time was not on a very strong founda- 
tion, and the times which followed — the days of the 
])anic of 1873 including the ever to be remembered 
'"Black I'^riday" — were of the most trying to this 
concern, as in the case of hundreds of industries 
throughout the country, yet by the ability of the new 
manager and his indefatigable energy, the afTairs of 
the corporation were kept intact, not only weather- 
ing the storm, but gaining in the volume of its busi- 
ness and catching an impetus that soon brought 
great prosperity. This, however, was checked by 
the burning of the entire plant in 1875. Thus 
again was the recuperative energy of the concern 
sorely tried, but the mental and physical resources 
of the management seemed equal to the occasion, 
and the plant was rebuilt and for the next decade 
and more the business was large and successful, 
and brought prosperity to all interested. A second 
great disaster followed in 1887, in which year the 
failure of a large musical house in New York threat- 
ened a loss to The Sterling Co. of $75,000. Here 
again the manager's tact and ability were put to 
test, and again he proved himself equal to the occa- 
sion, devising and working methods by which the 
house's indebtedness to his company was paid. 
I'rom that time on to the present The Sterling Co. 
has enjoyed great [)rosperity and with the passing 
years its business has grown to great proportions, 
until now it is the largest manufacturing plant of 
the many at Birmingham. In 1885 piano making 
was added to the industry, and of necessity an en- 
largement of the factory occurred, giving it a tlocir 
s])ace of more than 150,000 feet, and making it one 
of the largest establishments of its kind in this 
country. As an indication of the company's growth. 



statistics show an output in the new factory, fol- 
lowing the fire of 1875, of 100 organs per month, 
but in 1878, 1,200 per month. And from the piano 
department were sold upwards of 12,000 pianos 
from 1885 to 1892. In i8()0 the capital stock of 
the company was increased to $210,000. Its of- 
ficers are : R. W. Blake, president ; James R. Ma- 
son, secretary and treasurer; and Charles II. Ilub- 
bell, superintendent. Mr. Blake held tiic oftke of 
secretary and treasurer from 1874 until 1887, when 
he was advanced to the presidency. 

.\ new company, known as the Huntington 
Piano Co., was organized some years ago by The 
Sterling Co., in order to make a piano that could 
be sold for a lower jirice than the Sterling instru- 
ment. This company's capital stock is $30,000, and 
of the company Mr. R. W. Blake is treasurer. The 
business of the new company is carried on in a new 
building recently erected in Shelton by Mr. Blake. 

A recent writer referring to the president of 
The Sterling Company says : 

That an analysis of Mr. Blake's habits as a business 
man. places his success in life in three particulars: 

First, a thrifty management of the factory he con- 
trols. He is the personal supervisor of the factory. Know- 
ing by wide and long experience in organ building how 
every part can be most economically and rapidly made, he 
also knows at a glance when the workmen are best serv- 
ing the factory's output. .Vnd trained himself, he can 
select trained men, and, but them, only in every depart- 
ment. There is no concealment under his eye, and the 
employes strive for the best resuhs. .Skilled in designing 
as well as construction, Mr. Blake exhibits an elegance 
in his organs and pianos which attracts public notice, and 
makes his instruments popular. 

Second, thrift in the outside management of the com- 
pany's purchases and sales. The materials to be worked 
up into organs and pianos arc purchased with keen fore- 
sight of the best interests of the company's treasury; 
while the completed goods arc laid, by wide, judicious ad- 
vertising, in sight, if possible, of the people of all lands. 

Third, conscientiousness, or high quality in manu- 
facture and the scrupulous keeping of all business engage- 
ments and contracts. The instruments offered to the pub- 
lic are found to have character in them, and to be void 
of disappointment, while the money centres wdiere the 
company's financial transactions are done are inspired 
with perfect confidence in the pledges of the factory. The 
inner history of saving to the company the impending 
loss occasioned by the New York failure already referred 
to. is a striking proof how fully the word and character 
of the company's president can be relied upon in business 
circles. 

On Christmas Day, 1865, Mr. Blake was mar- 
ried to Miss Hannah Marsh, of VVooster. Mass. 
Their elegant home on Elizabeth street is open to 
their many friends, to whom is dispensed a gener- 
ous hospitaHty. 

SAMUEL ELMER DIBBLE, President' of the 
State Association of Master Plumbers, of New Hav- 
en, Conn., was born in Newtown. Conn., Jan. 16, 
1842, son of Frederick P.. and .Sarah Ann (Bots- 
ford) Dibble. 

John Dibble, the paternal grandfather of Samuel 
E. Dibble, was a life-long resident of Bethel, Conn., 



292 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and lived to the age of ninety years. He was a son 
of Samuel E. Dibble, who descended from Capt. 
John Dibble, who came to America from England, in 
1630. On the maternal side, our subject is de- 
scended from one of the early families which settled 
in Newtown, Conn. 

Samuel E. Dibble, of New Haven, received his 
education in the public schools of Newton, and 
through private tuition. Until he was sixteen years 
of age he lived upon the farm in Newtown, and 
then went to Woodbury, Conn., where he learned 
the tinning and plumbing business with George B. 
Lewis. After a five-year service, he went to New 
Haven with his uncle, Everett B. Dibble, and there 
completed his trade. Owing to the death of his 
uncle, Samuel E. concluded to enter into business 
for himself which he did, at No. loi, now No. 639, 
Grand avenue, April 14. 1865, the day upon which 
occurred the assassination oi President Lincoln. 
This business has been at the same location under 
the name of Dibble, since 1852. For a period of 
thirty-six years, Mr. Dibble has successfully carried 
on his business, which includes tinning, steam, hot 
air and hot water heating, and every branch of 
plumbing. Mr. Dibble is a strong believer in sani- 
tary science, and makes use of every modern ap- 
pliance and invention in his line of work. 

Mr. Dibble has been identified with all of the 
prominent organizations in his branch of industry, 
is ex-president of the State Association of Master 
Plumbers, has been president of the Builders Ex- 
change, of New Haven, and is now its treasurer, 
has been four times the president of the New Haven 
Masters Plumbers Association, and an officer several 
times in the National Association of Plumbers, and 
has also served as Commissioner of the board of 
Health for seven years. Fraternally he is a prom- 
inent member of the Masonic order, being a mem- 
ber of Hiram Lodge, No. i, and for a third of a cen- 
tury has been a member of .Harmony Lodge, Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and has been made 
treasurer of the Business Men's Association of New 
Haven. Li addition to this, Mr. Dibble was one of 
the pioneers in the summer colony at Pine Orchard, 
and was largely instrumental in the success of the 
Pine Orchard L^nion Chapel Association, of which 
he is treasurer, and he is secretary of the Pine 
Orchard Association. Politically he is a Republi- 
can, but no politician. Mr. Dibble was for seven- 
teen years prominently connected with St. Thomas" 
Episcopal Church on Elm street, and in 1876, when 
he took up his residence on Orange street, corner 
of Edward, he became associated with St. John's 
parish, with which he has since been identified, being 
one of the vestrymen and chairman of committee 
on church building and grounds. He was a mem- 
ber of building committee, and took out the first 
shovel of earth when the present edifice was erected 
in 1895. 

On Sept. 16, 1874, Mr. Dibble was married to 
Miss Elizabeth Davis, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and a 



family of twelve children has been born to this 
union : Clarence Elmer, Ethel . Gould, Eleanor 
Elizabeth, Samuel Edward, Lewis Acker, Albert 
Baldwin, ^Marguerite, Ruthe, Donald Alvin, John 
Mansfield, Benjamin Frederick and Elizabeth, all 
of whom are living. The family of Mr. Dibble is 
held in high esteem in New Haven, and he is one of 
the most prominent factors in the business life of 
this city, a strong, thorough, progressive man, pub- 
lic-spirited and of the highest type of citizenship. 

The BoTSFORD Family with which Mr. Dibble 
is connected on the maternal side, is also one of 
the old and leading families of New England. Henry 
Botsford, of Milford, Conn., in 1639, was one of the 
early settlers of that town. His name is among the 
first list of freemen as a pioneer planter, which in- 
cluded forty-four others, the greater number of 
whom came from Essex, Hereford and York coun- 
ties, in England, and rendezvoused in New Haven, 
preparatory to taking up their abode in the Wepa- 
waug country, in the wilderness, in 1638 and 1639. 
After the purchase of these lands in the spring of 
1639, active preparations were made to occupy and 
improve them, and thither their household goods 
were taken, in the following fall. The names of 
Henry Botsford and his wife, Elizabeth, are among 
those perpetuated in one of the stones in the Memor- 
ial Bridge at Milford, Conn., which was erected to 
the first settlers of this town, and was dedicated, in 
1889, on the 250th anniversary of that event. Henry 
Botsford had one son and five daughters, and 
through the son, Elnathan, who was born in 1641, 
by his second wife, Hannah, who was a daughter of 
Timothy Baldwin, the honorable name is perpetu- 
ated. Some of Elnathan Botsford's grandchildren 
settled in Newtown Conn., and the names of John, 
Moses, Joseph and Henry Botsford appear on the 
Newtown records soon after the first settlement of 
the town. 

FREDERICK MARTIN HOTCHKISS is one 
of the older settlers of Meriden, and his name has 
been familiar to every one acquainted with the busi- 
ness personnel of that city for many years. He was 
born in Prospect, New Haven county, Dec. 31, 1846, 
a son of Hervey Dwight and Eliza (Smith) Hotch- 
kiss. both of whom were natives of Prospect. 

Mr. Hotchkiss traces his lineage from Sanniel 
Hotchkiss (who was in New Haven about 1641) 
through Joshua, Stephen, Gideon, David, Freder- 
ick, David M. and Hervey D. A full account of the 
first six of these generations is given in the gene- 
alogy of Gilbert B. Hotchkiss, of Waterbury, else- 
where. 

David Miles Hotchkiss, son of Frederick, was 
liorn Nov. 27, 1797. in Waterbury. In 1797 this 
section, with a portion of Cheshire, was set ofT as 
an ecclesiastical society with the name of Columbia. 
In 1827 it was incoq>orated as a town. As a mem- 
ber of the committee he secured the adoption of the 
Tiamc of Prospect. It being nine hundred feet alwve 





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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



293 



the level of the sea. and the highest pouit for miles 
around, it well merits the name. Mr. Hotchkiss 
was early appointed captain of the militia of W'ater- 
hury and Salem (now Xangatuck), and was ever 
afterwards called by his title. Prominent also in 
civil affairs, he often served his town as selectman, 
representative and in other positions of trust. He 
was tlie first man to advocate the formation of the 
J''ree-Soil party in this State, at a convention in 
Hartford. William Lloyd (iarrison, who was jires- 
ent, op|X)sed the motion, Mr. Hotchkiss alone voting 
in tlie affirmative. Tlie next year it was carried by 
a large majority. .An advocate oi both total ab- 
stinence and abolition, Mr. Hotchkiss voted the 
l-"ree-Soil ticket alone in his town for several years, 
when it cost much to go against public opinion. 
Those who were opposed to his views went so far as 
to cut down his fruit trees, girdle shade trees, de- 
stroy liis fences, tools and farming implemeiUs. The 
well on Mr. Hotchkiss' farm was dug in the autunui 
of i8i<), and lias never been dry. In the following 
spring his house was erected, with timljers and lum- 
ber prepared in the preceding winter. 

On Xov. 30, 1819, David M. Hotchkiss was 
married to Zeruah, daughter of Martin Stevens, of 
i'rospect. She died Aug. 28, 1849, and on May i. 
1850. he married Hannah, widow of Henry liristol, 
of Cheshire. She was born Dec. 25, i8ij, and died 
Dec. 25, 1893. Mrs. Hannah Hotchkiss was a 
daughter of Joseph Ives and Abigail Treat ( I'.ryan) 
Doolittle. the latter a daughter of John I'.ryan, of 
Hartford, later of W'atertown, Conn. David M. 
Hotchkiss died April 15. 1878. Children as follows 
were born to his first marriage: F.niil\- 11., born 
Jan. 21. 1821, married 11. B. Brown, of Windsor, K. 
"v., and died April i, 1887. Laura, born Feb. 15, 
1822, married Algernon S. Plumb, of Wolcott, and 
died (_)ct. 26, i8(:X). Hervey Dwight and Henry 
Kirkc, twins, were Iwrn May 7, 1823 ; the latter died 
March 28, 1894. I'rederick, born June 2, 1824, died 
at Preble's Mills, near Parkersburg, \'a., Jan. 2(), 
1849. Berkley was born Sept. i, 1826. Ldward, 
born Aug. 24, 1829, is now living in Binghamptcjn, 
X. \. Richard Xoyes, Ixirn June 15, 1833, died in 
Atlantic City, X. J., 1896. To the second marriage 
came: Julia Elizabeth, born Dec. 26, 1851, wife of 
Fred A. Sanford, of Westfield, Mass.; and David 
Bryant, born June 28, 1853, now residing on the 
parental homesteafl in I'rospect. 

Lyman Smith, the maternal grandfather of 
Frederick ^L Hotchkiss, was born in ( )range. 
Conn., April 28, 1800. At the age of eighteen he 
went to Columbia (now Prospect), living with Mer- 
rit Clark, who married his sister. While in the eni- 
I)loy of his brother-in-law he met Rebecca Wooster, 
of Salem (now Xaugatuck). daughter of Walter 
Wooster, whom he married Dec. 17, 1 821. 'I'hey 
immediately settled on a farm adjoining that of his 
employer, where he lived an honorable and useful 
life. Rebecca, his wife, was born Jan. 21, I7f)9, and 
died in 1862. ■"L'ncle Lvman." as he was called bv 



everybody, died in 1862 at Middletown. Comi. He 
was afflicted more or less during the latter part of 
his life with a malady called then "Lo Po," or bor- 
rowing troubje. Hallucinations of various kinds 
increased, and seemeil to haunt him to such an ex- 
tent as to cause uneasiness on the jjart of his chil- 
dren as to the safet_\- of himself and those around 
him, and after a long consultation it was decided to 
commit him to the asylum, where he died. He and 
his wife had children as follows: Eliza, born March 
II. 1823; Eli, Feb. 20, 1825; Sidney, Aug. 22, 1828. 
( )f these, the eldest, ( I ) Eliza, married H. Dwight 
Hotchkiss, son of David, and was the mother of the 
subject of this sketch. ( 2 ) Eli, the second, lived at 
home on the farm until sixteen years of age, when 
he went to work for Hopkins & Wheeler, button 
! manufacturers at Xaugatuck, Conn. He s]X'nt two 
i years witli them, then going with Warner & Lsbell, 
later known as the .Xaugatuck Machine Co., to 
j learn the machinist's trade. Here he advanced step 
' by ste]) until he was admitted to a partnership in 
the company and was elected secretary and general 
superintendent of the factory, which position he 
held for thirty years. During this time he held \to- 
sitions and offices of trust un<ler the town govern- 
ment, represeting the town in the State Legislature. 
On F"eb. 25, 1849. he married Mary J. ^Lallory. of 
Xew Preston, Conn. Tlie\- had two children — Ed- 
son }L, born I"eb. 5, 185?, and Leila E., born Feb. 
3, 1859. Fdson H. married Callie .\. Wilcox, daugh- 
ter of (Jen. John Wilcox, of Middletown, Conn., 
June 3, 1885. and settled in Xew Haven, Conn. He 
is now living in Crand RajMils, Mich., having one 
son, and his father and mother with him. Leila E. 
died .'~^ept. 25, 1894, unmarried. (3) Sidney, the 
second son of Cncle Lyman, lived at home on the 
farm until i8'i4. In 1850 he married Polly Mor- 
gan, of Warren, (^"onn. An incident of Sidney's 
earlv married life will remind many of the older 
residents of Prospect of the time of his return home 
with his bride. The "Boys on the Hill." many of 
whom were singers in the same church choir with 
Sidne\', thought they would serenade him. So old 
Hint-lock muskets, cannon, shotguns, bells, and 
everything and anything that would make a noise 
were enlisted into service by scores of liis former 
mates. Sidney was importuned, implored and 
teased to show his bride, but from the second-story 
window he flatly refused. Such a noise caused by 
the bombardment of old cans, stones, kettles, etc., 
at that south spare guests' chamber was seldom 
heard in that usually peaceful home. The old cider 
barrel was tai)ped, and the cifler with cake, etc., 
passed. The over-enthusiastic party withdrew, but 
not till the house had been more or less defaced 
and some shots fired at the risk of lives. Such ac- 
tions in the earlier days were common as the rice 
and slii)per act at the present writing. Sidney (and 
his little wife, Polly) settled down with his father 
at the paternal home for a number of years, but in 
1864, as stated liefore, he purchased what was 



294 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



known as tlie Hoppin farm, about one mile south of 
the Uncle Lyman residence. He afterwards pur- 
chased a farm in W'atertown, Conn., where he now 
lives, about midway between JMorris .and Bethle- 
hem, a quiet, well to do farmer, who has a reputa- 
tion second to none for raising and marketing the 
best of everything in his line. He has also served 
faithfully, in an unassuming way, in different trusts 
imposed on him by the town. He and his wife had 
two children: Xellie M.. born in 1855, and Lin- 
coln, born in i8()i. The daughter married Edward 
Hungerford, son of a near neighbor in Watertown, 
and one child was born to this union, Leila. Lin- 
coln has never married. He enjoys the reputation 
of being the best steer trainer in the State, and has 
exhibited many pairs of matched and fancy matched 
at fairs for years withdut a peer, always taking first 
prize in the steer world. He assists his father in 
his farm work, and will probably continue his labors 
in this direction unless a volcano should swallow 
up the farm, as both think there is no other farm 
like it and the compiler of this would not for a 
moment think of disputing it. 

Hervey D. Hotchkiss, the father of Frederick 
Martin, \vas born May 7, 1823, and was reared to 
manhood in Prospect, engaged in the manufacture 
of spoons near his home, as a member of the firm of 
Hotchkiss & Wallace. After a time they sold out 
their patent, which was a device for strengthening 
britannia spoons with a wire in the center, and the 
plant was removed to Yalesville, where for a time 
Mr. Hotchkiss was superintendent of the factory. 
He subsequently moved to Meriden, and traveled 
on the road for Charles Parker during a number of 
years. He died Dec. 5, 1886. He was the father of 
three children. Frederick Martin is mentioned be- 
low. Effie, born Jan. 21, 1850, died at the age of 
seventeen years. Bertha, born Jan. 20, 1855, mar- 
ried Charles J. Wallace, of Ansonia, and is now de- 
ceased. ' 

Frederick Martin Hotchkiss was reared in Mer- 
iden from the age of four years, and there obtained 
his education in the common schools and Meriden 
Academy. His business career was begun as clerk 
in a grocery store, and he continued at this occupa- 
tion up to 1863, when he went to New Haven, where 
he was engaged as bookkeeper for Yale & Bryan, 
wholesale grocers, some three years. At the end of 
that time he went on the road' as salesman for the 
firm, being in their employ a number of years. After 
leaving them Mr. Hotchkiss was in a commission 
and brokerage house in New Haven for six months, 
and for two years was bookkee])er for ]\. Henry 
Barnes (now Sperry & Barnes), acting as traveling 
salesman a portion of the linir. .Mr. ! jdtclikiss' next 
move was to buy a grocery store at Waterbury, 
which he carried on five years. During the ensuing 
two years he was engaged in settling the estate of 
his grandfather, David M. Hotchkiss. and when that 
was acconii)lished went on the road for J. 1). Dewell 
& Co., wholesale grocers of Xew lla\-en, remaining 



with them twelve years. During the last three years 
of that period he carried on a carriage repository in 
Meriden, at his present location, being still engaged 
in that line of business. In 1889 Mr. Hotchkiss em- 
barked in the wholesale grocery business, for which 
his long and thorough training on the road and in 
the office had given him a peculiar fitness. This 
business under his hands became almost immedi- 
ately a pronounced success, and in it he has become 
noted as a thoroughly reliable and enterprising 
dealer in the best and most standard goods of the 
day. 

Mr. Hotchkiss was married, Oct. 24, 1871, to 
Nellie A., daughter of Henry L. and Olive (Brown) 
Spencer, of Meriden. They have one daughter, 
Effie Spencer, who is now Mrs. I. Burton Miller. 

Mr. Hotchkiss is a member of Meridian Lodge, 
No. 7/, A. F. & A, M.; Keystone Chapter, 
No. 2/, R. A. j\L; Hamilton Council, No. 22, K. & 
S. M.; Meriden Lodge, No. 35, B. P. O. E. ; the 
veteran organization. New Haven Grays ; and the 
Thirteen Club of New York. He is a member of 
the Meriden board of fire commissioners, and is 
president of the Connecticut Division of the Travel- 
ers' Protective Association, in which position he is 
now serving his twelfth term. Mr. Hotchkiss is a 
Democrat in political views, and is a thoroughly en- 
terprising and reliable citizen, modern and pro- 
gressive in his ideas, and up-to-date in every respect. 

CHARLES CARROLL FOSKETT (deceas- 
ed). During life no citizen of Meriden, Conn., was 
more highly esteemed than was the late Charles C. 
Foskett, for a number of years the valued book- 
keeper of the Meriden Britannia Company. 

The Foskett family is an old and honored one 
of Massachusetts where William A. Foskett, the 
father, was born in the town of New Marlborough, 
and where he lived until young manhood. Upon his 
removal to Connecticut, he located at New Hart- 
ford, where he lived until 1844, coming then to 
Meriden. Here he entered the employ of the Charles 
Parker Company in the capacity of foreman, spend- 
ing a number of years with this great concern. Later 
he removed to New Haven, and there became the 
head of the firm of Foskett & Bishop, ]>lumbers and 
steam fitters. His death occurred in that city, Nov. 
28, 1 901, his remains being brought to Meriden for 
interment in the East cemetery. In politics he had 
always voted the Democratic ticket, while in re- 
ligion, he was a consistent member of the Methodist 
Church. 

William A. Foskett was married in Colchester, 
Conn., to Lucina Foote Kellogg, a lady of beautiful 
Christian life and character, a devoted member of 
the Methodist Church, who died in Meriden, in 
1854, and was buried in East cemetery. The only 
child of this marriage was Charles C, who was 
born in New Hartford, Litchfield Co., Conn., Sept. 
7, 1841. For his second wife Mr. Foskett married 
Jane Hall, a native of Great Barrington, who died 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



295 



Dec. 15, 1901, at her home in New Haven. The 
children of the second union were : Clara, who mar- 
ried Charles Brown, a professor in Vandcrbilt Col- 
lege in Nashville, Tenn. ; William A., a resident of 
Xew Haven; and N'iolet A., wife of Frederick 
Xettlcton, who resides in New Haven. 

Charles C. Foskett attended the public schools 
of Meridcn and also a private school which was 
taught by William Charles Kellogg. At the age of 
fifteen he became a clerk in the Meriden postotifice, 
under Mr. B. L. Yale, leaving this position to be- 
come bookkeeper for Edward Miller & Co., with 
whom he remained for three years. Then Mr. Fos- 
kett accepted a position w-ith the Meriden Britannia 
Co., which at that time had at its head some of 
-Meridcn'.s best-known citizens, notably Horace C. 
Wilcox and George R. Curtis. Mr. Foskett en- 
tered their service as bookkeeper, and by his talents 
and reliability, became the assistant treasurer of this 
company. While still in the prime of a useful life, 
he w-as called from earth, Oct. 4, 1876, the immediate 
cause of his decease having been diphtheria. 

Seldom has any citizen been more truly lamented 
than was Mr. Foskett, his amiable qualities having 
made him beloved in the family and social circles, 
while his ability and reliability had made him equally 
esteemed in his business relations. He was a Re- 
publican in political faith, and a ]Methodist in re- 
ligious belief; and was a man of broad mind, able 
to see good in everything. Through life his in- 
fluence had always been directed to further the cause 
of temperance, and he cordially supported every edu- 
cational enterprise. 

The bereft widow of Charles Foskett, had form- 
erly been Mary Elizabeth Phelps, to whom he was 
united in marriage Nov. 11, 1862. She was born in 
Hebron, Tolland countv, a daughter of George G. 
and Mary (Page) Phelps, the latter of whom was 
a daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Root) Page, 
a sister of the distinguished Judge Jonathan G. 
Page, of Hebron, Conn. Mrs. Phelps resides with 
her devoted daughter, Mrs. Foskett. Left a widow 
with three small children, Mrs. Foskett devoted her 
life to their advancement, giving them every educa- 
tional opportunity within her power and surround- 
ing them with an atmosphere of culture and refine- 
ment. These children grew into educated, charm- 
ing women and are widely known in educational and 
exclusive social circles. Mary Page, the eldest, re- 
ceived her primary education in the Meriden schools, 
graduated from the Hartford High school, and later 
from Smith College, at Northampton, Mass.. and 
prior to her marriage, was a teacher in the State 
Normal School, at New Britain, Conn. On May 3, 
1892, she was united in marriage to Rev. George 
Copeland Boswcll, a clergyman of the Methodist 
Church, and she has one daughter, Elizabeth Phelps. 
Emma Kellogg, the second daughter of Mrs. Fos- 
kett, was also educated in Meriden and Plartford. 
later studying at Smith College, and is now one of 
the valued educators in the Meriden High school, 



a leading member of the ^Methodist Church and one 
of the intellectual ladies who compose the Thursday 
Morning Club, of this city. The third daughter is 
Annie Phelps, who is a graduate of the Meriden 
High school and attended the Woman's College, at 
Baltimore, Aid., and now ably fills the position of 
assistant principal of the Parker Avenue school : like 
her sisters, she is a lady not onlv. of intellectual 
attainments, but also of social graces, and the home 
life of this family is typical of the very best and 
most refined circles of Afcriden. The Phelps fam- 
ily traces clearly an honorable ancestry far back 
into the past, reaching even Ix^vond the date of 

1599- 

William Phelps, a son of William and Dorothy 
Phelps, of England, was baptized in Tewkesbury 
Abbey Church, on Aug. 19, 1599. With his wife 
and six children and with his brother George, un- 
married, he came to America in the ship "Mars- and 
John," in 1630. As history records, the company 
of this ship founded Dorchester, Mass., and in the 
organization of its government and public affairs, 
William Phelps took a leading part, and was made 
a freeman six months after his arrival. His wife 
died in 1635, and in October of that year, or in the 
spring following. Mr. Phelps joined the company 
which settled Windsor, Conn., and figured promin- 
ently in the foundation of its early government. 
For a long period of years he was a magistrate and 
he was also deputy to the General Court, in 1651. 
In 1638, he married (second) Mary Dover, who 
was a passenger on the "Mary & John." His death 
occurred Julv 14, 1672, his wile surviving until 
Nov. 27, 1675. 

Lieut. Timothy Phelps, son of William the settler, 
was born Sept. i, 1639, in Windsor, Conn., and was 
married March 19, 1661, to Mary Griswold, of Kill- 
ingworth, Conn., who was baptized Oct. 13, 1644, 
in Windsor. Lieut. Phelps performed service in 
Queen Anne's war as a member of Capt. Mathew 
Allyn's company and was later, in 1709. commis- 
sioned a lieutenant bv the General Court and died in 
1719. 

Joseph Phelps, son of Lieut. Timothy, was 
born Sept. 27, 1666, and was married Nov. 18, 1686, 
to Sarah, born Sept. 27, 1666 (her husband's birth- 
day also), in Windsor, and there Mr. and Mrs. 
Phelps settled, the former owning much land in 
Hebron, and it is probable that Lite in life he re- 
moved there, where .-^ome of his children were liv- 
ing. His (loath occurred Aug. 30, 1716. 

John Phelps, son of Joseph, was born in Sep- 
tember, 1703, in W^indsor, and was first married in 
February, 1725 to Ann, born Feb. 2]^. 1705, in 
Windsor, a daughter of Obediah and Mindwell 
(Phelps) Hosford, and settled in Hebron. Conn., 
where Mrs. Phelps died in 1740; he flied in the 
same town Feb. 10, 1769. 

Amos Phelps, son of John, was born May 30, 
1736, and was fiiarried Alay 5, 1757, to Anna, born 
Dec. 28, 1736, in Hebron, a daughter of Samuel and 



296 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Anna (Burnham) Filer. Mr. Phelps was a farmer 
and a resident of Hebron, and was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war, enlistin.s^ in August, 1778, and 
was discharged in September, 1780. He died in 
Hebron in 1800, his wife surviving until 1818. 

Erastus Phelps, son of Amos, was born Jan. 15, 
1763, in Hebron, and was married in April 1801, to 
Polly Yeomans, who was born in Stonington, Conn., 
in 1776. She died in Hebron Aug. 25, 1850. Mr. 
Phelps served in the war of the Revolution, for 
which service he was rewarded with a pension, be- 
ing on the rolls in 1832 as a resident of Tolland. 
His children, who were all born in Hebron, were: 
Charles C, born in 1802 ; Mary Ann, born in 1804, 
died in 1805; Erastus R., born Jan. 31, 1806; Henry 
A., born in 1808, married Harriet Dodge; George 
G., born Dec. 15, 1809, married Mary Page; Sarah 
Ann, born April 19, 1815, married Samuel H. Har- 
ris; and Alfred W., born July 12, 1818, married 
Mary A. Bunnell. 

George Gurden Phelps, son of Erastus, was born 
Dec. 15, 1809, and was married Nov. 13, 1836, to 
Mary Page, and settled in Hebron, Conn., where he 
resided until 1854, when he removed to Meriden, 
and died there Sept. 23, 1862. Their children were: 
Mary Elizabeth, who was born May 10, 1840, and 
married Charles C. Foskett; and Harriet C, born 
Nov. 8, 1842, who married Rev. William H. 
Warden. 

Mrs. Fo.skett is most highly esteemed in Meriden, 
is an active and interested member of the Methodist 
Churcli. Socially she belongs to Ruth Hart Chapter 
of the Daughters of the Revolution. 

HON. FREDERICK A. BETTS. of New Ha- 
ven, who has been actively in public life in this State 
during the past ten years, is one of Connecticut's 
most widely known representatives. He was ap- 
pointed insurance commissioner by Gov. O. Vin- 
cent Coffin and confirmed by the Senate during 
the session of the General Assembly in 1895, and 
entered upon the duties of the office July ist of that 
year. The insurance commissionership is the most 
important one in the gift of the governor. The of- 
fice is for four years. The occupant nuist of neces- 
sity be a man of great administrative ability. From 
the outset Commissioner Betts showed' himself to 
be the possessor of the requisite qualifications for 
the position. He mastered the details of insurance 
management and was the originator of important 
changes in the general statutes relating to diflferent 
fields of underwriting. During the sessions of the 
General Assembly, while he was in office, he made 
himself thoroughly familiar with every bill that 
was presented for the consideration of the commit- 
tee on Insurance, and, without exception, his views 
were received! by the committee with the utmost 
deference. The annual reports of Commissioner 
Betts. relating to fire and life underwriting, were 
models of actuarial and literary work. He showed 
in them sound judgment and intellectual capacity 



of a high order. Commissioner Betts was a rec- 
ognized authority in the National Convention of 
Insurance Commissioners, which is composed of the 
Supervisors of Insurance in the different States of 
the Union. It was through his instrumentality that 
this important body of insurance officials held its 
annual meeting in Hartford in 1900. Mr. Betts 
concluded his term of office as Insurance Commis- 
sioner Julv I, 1899. His administration during the 
four years was one which reflected credit on the 
State of Connecticut, not less than on 'himself. 
After the expiration of his term he was appointed 
receiver of the National Life Association of Hart- 
ford; the adjudication of the affairs of that com- 
pany is still in progress. Mr. Betts received a high 
recognition from President McKinley, at the begin- 
ning of his' second administration as President of 
the United States. Under an Act of Congress, ap- 
propriating $5,000,000 for the Louisiana Purchase 
Exposition to be held at St. Louis in 1903, nine 
commissioners were to be appointed throughout the 
country by the President. On April i, 1901, Mr. 
Betts was appointed by President McKinley as one 
of these commissioners. The distinction was the 
more important as only one of the nine commis- 
sioners was selected from New England. The ap- 
pointment expressed 'the President's confidence in 
the ability and attainments of Mr. Betts. The com- 
missioners are supervisors for the government in 
carrying out the plans for the exposition and in 
expending the sum appropriated by Congress. 
Commissioner Betts has engaged in the duties of 
the position with his customary intelligence and 
cnthtisiasm. 

Mr. Betts has been identified with the Repub- 
lican party in Connecticut from the beginning of 
his public career. He was one of tbe organizers 
of the Young Men's Republican Clubs in the State 
and was highly honored by these organizations. He 
is a member of the Republican State Central Com- 
mittee from the New Haven District. Mr. Betts 
is also a prominent member of the Baptist Social 
Union of Connecticut, the membership of which 
comprises the foremost business men of the Baptist 
denomination in the State. 

Frederick A. Betts is a native of New Haven, 
born Aug. 8, i85<S. son of Sanuiel Betts, an influ- 
ential business manager and carriage manufacturer. 
He was educated in the public schools of New Ha- 
ven, and spent the early years of has life in a New 
Haven newspaper counting room, laying there the 
foundation for the extended acquaintance which he 
now has with the public men of the State. After 
his newspaper life he engaged in the wholesale trade 
in New Haven, conducting an extensive business. 
This lasted for ten years, during which period he 
took a deep interest in the educational life of the 
city. In 1893 he was elected a manber of the New 
Haven board of education, receiving one of the 
largest majorities ever given in that city to a candi- 
date at a school election. In ]8<j6 he was re-elected 




CI^k^i>^yU 



. / 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



297 



for a term of three years. When the new cliarier 
of the city went into etifect, in 1897, Mr. Hells was 
appointed a member of the hoard for fi>ur years. 
His services on the board were invahiable. 1 le has 
been governed through life by a high sense of honor 
and is a man of tlie strictest personal integrity. 

-Mr. Belts was married in uS8j to -Miss l'"annie 
E. i'.lakesley, of New Haven, and has one daugh- 
ter. His home life has been of the most delight- 
ful character. He is a gentleman of su|)erior so- 
cial instincts and is the soul of courtesv ar.d per- 
sonal refinement. 

URIGGS. Since early in the seventeenth cen- 
turv the Driggs family have been residents of Con- 
necticut, and through the greater part of eighteenth 
century of Cheshire and \Vaterbury. in the former 
of which towns figureil the late Dr. Asa Johnson 
Driggs, a physician of State rejnilation, and at 
Waterbury, for forty-five years, there were few men 
more prominent than the late Theodore Ives Driggs, 
son of Dr. Driggs, and there are yet in Waterbury a 
number of the Doctor's ])Osterity, among them 
George Asa Driggs, secretary and treasurer of the 
American Pin Co., and a leading citizen of the city. 

The ancestors of the Driggs family came from 
England to Saybrook, Conn., in 1721. The father 
of Dr. Asa J. Driggs was a sailor in command of a 
ship at Lisbon, Portugal, and married, the daughter 
of the British consul at that point. Dr. Driggs was 
born at Middletown, Conn., in about 1803, and when 
about sixteen years of age became a pupil of the 
Episcopal academy of Connecticut, and of which he 
was afterward a trustee. He was graduated from 
the Medical Department of Yale College, in 1826, 
and commenced the practice of medicine at Cheshire, 
Conn. In 1828 he married a daughter of Rev. 
Reuben Ives, then rector of St. Peter's Church. She 
died in 1829, leaving one son, Theodore Ives Driggs. 
On the death of his wife, Dr. Driggs went to Cuba, 
where he practiced his profession and had charge 
of several plantations. After a few years residence 
in Cuba, he returned to Cheshire, and there lived 
with little exception until his death on March 16, 
1878. He was an able and successful practitioner, 
a man of marked characteristics, alifable in manner, 
of a humorous disposition, and he was possessed 
of a large fund of amusing anecdotes. 

Theodore Ives Driggs, son of Dr. Asa J. Driggs, 
was born Oct. 25, 1829, in Cheshire, Conn., anil in 
1848, at the age of nineteen, was graduated from 
Trinity College. That same year he came to Water- 
bury as assistant to Charles Fabrique, principal of 
the academy and afterward an associate of Gen. 
Russell in his famous New Haven school. Young 
Driggs devoted himself to teaching with character- 
tic enthusiasm, and maintained to the last an active 
and intelligent interest in all educational matters. 
He was prominent in the organization of the Centre 
School district, which led to the establishment of 
the high school in i8m, of which he was for a year 



or more the assistant princi])al, when throat trouble 
compelled him to give up the profession of teaching. 
He served for many years as a member of the board 
of education, and for several terms as chairman and 
treasurer. To his energy and thorough work, es- 
pecially as school visitor, are to be credited many 
of tlie reforms which have given the district so ef- 
ficient a system of public schools. From the organ- 
ization of St. Margaret's school up to the time of 
his death, he was one of the trustees, serving as 
secretary. I le was greatly interested in the Cheshire 
Academy while it was in charge of Dr. Horton, 
which he attended as a l>oy. Mr. Driggs was one of 
the citizens appointed by the common council to re- 
ceive the donation of the Bronson Library fund in 
1868. From that time on he was secretary ot the 
board of agents of that institution. In 1853, when 
obliged to give up teacliing, Mr. Drigg.s b'^came 
bookkeeper for Abbott & W'ardell, manufacturers of 
Waterbury. In September, 1855, he took charge of 
thi books of the American Pin Company, in whose 
management he ever afterward held an important 
olace. He was elected secretary in 1865, to suc- 
ceed Deacon Hall, and subsequently was chosen 
president. His interest in music led him to estab- 
lish the Driggs & Smith Company, which since 1850 
has been the leading house in Waterbury, dealing in 
pianos and musical goods. On first coming to 
Waterbury hi October, 1848, Mr. Driggs became 
the organist of St. John's Church, serving contin- 
uously until blaster Sunday. 1873. when rheuma- 
tism compelled him to give up this work of love 
for years. He resumed his place again in 1876, and 
served until his illness before his death compelled 
him to retire permanently. His inestimable services 
to tiic church as organist and choir master \vere fit- 
tingly remembered in the presentation of a silver 
fruit dish, a beautiful piece of work which he greatly 
cherished. This gift was, in fact, supplementary to 
a service of testimonial resolutions, suitably engraved 
and framed, presented to him at the time of his 
former disability. As a church organist Mr. Driggs 
was in a nuxst congenial place, one that he filled 
with exceptional ability. He always insisted on 
ecclesiastical music, and his accompaniments, keep- 
ing the organ in its proper place, and never allow- 
ing it to dominate the choir. Its members he in- 
spired with his own enthusiasm, and his training 
was most thorough and cft'ective. He kept up his 
active interest in all its affairs to the last. Mr. 
Driggs was one of the founders and for eight years 
director of the Mendelssohn society, which, until 
1 87 1, was the principal musical association of this 
vicinity. He was elected president of the Harmonie 
Society at its organization in 1889, an office which 
he continued to hold until his death. Mr. Driggs 
was an active and inlluential man in bnh church 
and public afi'airs, and a liberal contributor to good 
causes. He was a vestryman of St. John's Episcopal 
Church of Waterbury for many years, and agent of 
the parish until .April 18. 1892. In ]>olitics he was a 



>98 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



strong Republican, but despite unwavering loyalty 
to bis party was readv to see and approve worthy 
politics or acts in his opponents. He represented 
the Second ward in both branches of the common 
council. He was a member of Nosan.ogan Lodge, 
I. O. O. F. I 

Mr. Driggs was married (first) in 1854 to Sarah \ 
E. Shepard, who died in 1857. On April 9, i860, 
he married (second) Margaret S., daughter of the 
late George Pritchard, of Waterbury. His children 
are: George Asa, Martha R., Henrv P. and 
Helen P. 

MAJOR JOH.N ADAMS MUNSON (de- 
ceased) was a veteran of the Civil war. long an of- 
ficer of the Governor's Foot Guard, of New Haven, 
a business man of many years' experience in New 
Haven, and a citizen of high standing in the com- 
munity; he was also a representative in both pa- 
ternal and maternal lines, of old Colonial families 
that have been identified with the afifairs of New 
Haven for more than 260 years. 

In the sketch of Amos Munson, which may be 
found on another page, the ancestral history of the 
Munson family is very fully traced. Its founder 
in America was Thomas Munson, who is on record 
in Hartford as early as 1637, performed military 
service in the Pequot War, and lived and died in 
New Haven. Back to him the ancestry of John 
Adams Munson was traced through Amos, Joseph 
(2), Joseph (i), Israel, Theophilus and Samuel 
Munson, all men of more or less prominence in the 
community, and well sustaining an unblemished 
family name. 

Amos Munson, father of John Adams, was a 
man of far more than the usual' business abilitv and 
push, and became the founder of the pie-making in- 
dustry that has now grown to sucli vast proportions. 
His career is exceedingly interesting, and will well 
repav thoughtful perusaj. ' 

The maternal ancestry of Major ^lunson has a 
history which begins with the arrival of Thomas 
Dickeiman, in Dorchesier, Mass., in 1635, the line 
of descent to the subject of this writing being 
through, Abraham, who made his home in New 
Jersey, Isaac, Stephen, Isaac (2) and Rebecca 
(Dickerman) Munson. 

Major Munson was born July 8, 1829, a son 
of the late Amos and Rebecca (Dickerman) Mun- 
son, both noted for their kindly hearts and genuine 
interest in humane endeavors of every kind. The 
boyhood and youth of Major Munson were passed 
in New Haven, as were also, in the main, the years 
of his long life, during which he has served the 
city most efficiently in the various public trusts re- 
posed in him by his fellow citizens. He was iden- 
tified with the great pie industry established by his 
father, successfully conducted by father and son 
for more than sixty years. He was also engaged 
in other lines of business, and served the city on 
its police force for a time. Having a pronounced 



taste for military life, in his young manhood he 
became a member of the Governor's Foot Guard, 
and on April 24, 1861, became Major of the organ- 
ization. 

Major Munson enlisted Sept. 9, 1862, in Com- 
pany L3, 27th Conn. V. I., and shared the fortunes 
of that organization from start to finish, returning 
home with an honorable military record. The regi- 
ment was mustered into active service40ct. 22, 1862, 
with Gen. Abercrombie as its first commander, but 
later it passed into the Third Brigade, under the 
command of Gen. Hancock, who included it in the 
Twentieth Army Corps, where it was under Gen. 
Sumner, who had command of the Right Grand 
Division of the Army of the Potomac. ' One-third 
of the regiment engaged at Fredericksburg lay dead 
or wounded in the field, or in the hospital at night- 
fall. After this bloody struggle the 27th came un- 
der the command of Col. John N. Brooke, after- 
wards a most distinguished officer. The regiment 
was engaged at Chancellorsville. where the most 
of its men were captured by the Rebels. Com- 
panies D and F, however, escaped the fate of the 
balance of the regiment, having been detached for 
other duty. The 27th participated in the battle of 
Gettysburg, reaching the battle-line July 2, and be- 
ing stationed a mile and a half from Cemetery Hill, 
sharing the line of the Second Army Corps. It 
was presently hurried forward to the support of 
the Third Corps, disastrously engaged on the Em- 
mitsburg Road. The broken and disordered col- 
umns of the Third Corps were slowly retiring, 
when their supports, part of which was the 27th 
Regiment, came to their assistance. The enemy 
were crowding forward, and as the supporting 
forces of the Union army forced their way into the 
wheatfield, met them with a galling fire, and here 
fell Lieut. Col. Merwin mortally wounded, while 
leading his men with his accustomed bravery. The 
Union forces pressed forward and forced the en- 
emy out of the wheat field into the woods beyond. 
The 27th went into action with seventy-five men, 
all that could be mustered for duty after an active 
service of not quite nine months, and at dark eleven 
were dead and twenty-seven wounded. The day 
following the 27th was stationed in the main line of 
battle, and a few yards to the left of the point at- 
tacked by the Rebels in their last charge in that 
great battle. 

From Gettysburg the regiment moved to Falling 
Waters, a short distance from Williamsport, arriv- 
ing in time to participate in the closing scenes of 
that engagement. From there it moved to Harper's 
Ferry, from which point it was sent home July 23, 
1864, being mustered out of active service. In the 
battle of Fredericksburg Major Munson was wound- 
ed in the left thigh. 

On Sept. 13, 1850, Major Alunson was married 
to Miss Martha J. Wooding, of Bethany, Conn., 
who died June 19, 1873. On April 28, 1874. he was 
married to Margaret A. Olmstead. To the first 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



299 



marriage were born: John H., born Aug. 9, 1851, is 
now deceased ; Charles H., born Nov. 10, 1853, died 
Aug. 9, 1870; EHzabeth A., born Nov. 20, 1855, 
died Dec. 10, 1858; James B., born Sept. 22, 1857, 
married, first, June i, 1876, Anna C. Blake, and 
second, June 2, 1892, Fannie Wilbur; and llaltie 
H., born in New Haven, March 6, 1865, is married 
and lives in Kansas. Major Munson died May 17, 
1898. He was engaged in the pie business in Balti- 
more for a few months. He was a veteran fireman, 
and held all positions in that organization from pri- 
vate to board of engineers. In the Masonic fratern- 
ity he was very conspicuous, and held many im- 
portant positions. When he died New Haven lost 
a good citizen, a loyal and straightforward friend 
and business man, a knightly character, and a lead- 
ing spirit in all forward and humane movements. 

HENRY GREAVES DAVIS, late a venerable 
citizen of Meriden, where he lived retired, and one 
of its leading mechanics of English birth, was born 
Oct. 6, 1818, in the city of Birmingham, England. 

John Davis, his father, was a gunsmith by oc- 
cupation. He was reared in Birmingham, and there 
spent his entire life, dying at the age of eighty-four 
years; his remains repose in St. Aston's churchyard, 
Birmingham. He w-as a faithful adherent of the 
Church of England. Mr. Davis was widely 
mourned as an honest and worthy man. He was 
married in his native city to Miss Catherine Greaves, 
who was also born there, and who died in Birming- 
ham at the age of seventy-four years ; she was buried 
in St. Philip's churchyard. She w^as a consistent 
Episcopalian, a devoted wife and mother, and a true 
Christian. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were the parents 
of three children. John, the eldest, came to America 
in 1853, locating at Hartford, Conn., where he died 
the following year and is buried there. Thomas, the 
second, died at the age of seventy years in his na- 
tive place. 

The subject of this sketch was educated at 
-St. Philips' Church School, known as the "lUuecoat 
School." At the age of fourteen years he entered 
upon an apprenticeship to the Britannia business, 
and continued as a journeyman until the year i845_, 
receiving a sovereign per week as wages. From 
Birmingham he went to London, where he continued 
at his trade, working seven hours per day at two 
guineas per week, and was thus employed until 1852. 
Hoping to better his condition in the Western world, 
he embarked at London, and arrived in Albany, N. 
Y., in April, 1852. There he found employment at 
his trade and remained one year, when he came to 
Connecticut. He at once found a situation in the 
service of I. C. Lewis, at Meriden. After a short 
time he went to Taunton, Mass., and worked two 
years at two dollars per day. .^fter working a 
short period at Providence, R. I., not finding his 
hopes realized in America, he revisited his native 
land. Inu remained onlv a brief time abroad, visiting 
Birmingham and London. He became convinced 



that America offered a broader field for the ad- 
vancement of himself and family, and he rejoined 
his family in this country, again taking up Britannia 
work in Taunton, Mass. He was subsequently em- 
ployed, for varying periods, at Dorchester, Mass., 
and Hartford, Conn., spending three years at the 
latter point in the worjcs of Rogers, Smith & Co. 
In 1862 he removed to Newark, N. J., where he re- 
mained four \ears, still jjursuing the same vocation. 
.After a year in the emi>loy of Manning. Bowman & 
Co., at Middletown, he settled at Meriden, and was 
for a quarter of a century connected with the buffing 
department of the Meriden Britannia Co. In 1893 
he retired from active labor, and passed the remain- 
der of his peaceful life in well-earned repose, dying 
Feb. 28, 1902. 

In 1892 Mr. Davis built a handsome home in 
Britannia street, which is the abode of contentment 
and cheerful hospitality. He was married in Birm- 
ingham, England, Oct. 4, 1836, to Miss Mary 
Thompson, a native of the same place, and daughter 
of William and Mary Thompson. For nearly sixty- 
three years she was his helpful companion and 
friend, and reared a family which w-as a credit to 
them. Her Christian virtues made the home a 
haven of delight, and her departure for the better 
home left a void which cannot be filled. Her death 
occurred Jan. 13, i8t)9, and her remains were loving- 
ly interred in Walnut Grove Cemetery. She was a 
faithful member of St. Andrew's P. E. Church, with 
which the father also affiliated, as well as the chil- 
dren. The family included five children, four of 
whom are now living: Mary .Ann, the eldest, is 
the widow of Edward Furniss, and resides in Brit- 
annia street ; Emily is the widow of Alpheus S. 
Graham, who died at his home in Linsley avenue; 
Sarah is unmarried, and cared for her father's house- 
hold ; John Henry is a solderer in the shops of 
Manning, Bowman & Co., Meriden ; Stephen, the 
fifth, died in childhood. 

Mr. Davis was a stanch supporter of the Demo- 
cratic party, but not a politician, and never desired 
official honors. The Golden Rule was his motto 
through life, and he enjoyed the deserved esteem of 
all who were privileged to know him. 

LYNDE HUNTINGTON FOOTE, a prosper- 
ous farmer and influential citizen of North Bran- 
ford, New Haven county, was born Oct. 15, 1834. in 
the house where he still resides, and is a descendant 
of Nathaniel Footc, one of the first settlers of Weth- 
ersfield. Conn. His grandfather, Elihu Foote. was 
born in North Branford and married Lucy Williams, 
a daughter of Rev. Warham W^illiams, the first min- 
ister in tile parisii where our sul)ject now lives. 
One of Elihu Foote's ancestors, probably his father, 
was captured by the Indians. Elihu died in North 
Branford at the advanced age of ninety-two years, 
his wife at the age of seventy-five. In their family 
w-ere five children, namely: Edwin, who married 
Salina Maltbv, and lived in North Branford ; Delia, 



.^oo 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



wife of Eleazer Linsley, of Branford; Warham W.. 
who married Lucinda Harrison ; Annie, wife of Al- 
bert Harrison, of North Branford; and Williams. 

Williams Foote was a native of North Branford, 
where he grew to manhood and married Lucinda, 
daughter of Amos Harrison, and his wife, whose 
maiilcn name was HutT. He was a Republican 
in politics, held several town offices, and also repre- 
sented North Branford in the State Legislature in 
1861. His children were Alexander, who married 
Sarah Kelsey and is now deceased ; Henrietta, widow 
of Leander Harrison ; Elihu Davis, who married 
Janette Ransom, and is now deceased ; Jerome, who 
married Ann Foote, and is also deceased ; Janette, 
deceased wife of Douglass Williams; Lynde H. ; 
Lozellc, who first married Isadore Russell; Henry 
Franklin, who died in childhood; Delia, who died 
in infancy; Philo, who was a member of Company 
K, 15th Conn. V. L, during the Civil war, and died 
from disease while in the service; Eugenie, de- 
ceased, the second wife of Douglass Williams ; and 
Walter, who wedded Mary Hull and lives in New 
Haven. 

Lynde H. Foote was reared on the home farm 
and in early life assisted his father in its operation, 
his opportunities for obtaining an education being 
confined to the district schools. In connection with 
farming he engaged in the meat business in New 
Haven for some years, having a regular route, and 
selling meats both at wholesale and retail, but he now 
devotes his entire time and attention to agricultural 
pursuits. He owns the old homestead, comprising 
100 acres of valuable land, which he has placed under 
a high state of cultivation, and in its operation has- 
met with a fair degree of success. 

On April 12, 1871, Mr. Foote married Juliette 
Smith Gidney, and they have one child, Florence 
Gertrude, who was born Dec. q, 1874. and married 
Arthur RIakeslee. of Clintonville,' Conn. The Gid- 
ney family is of English origin, and included pioneer 
settlers on the banks of the Hudson river, in New 
York. Mrs. Foote's grandfather. Daniel Gidney, 
married a member of the Ward family, and many 
of their descendants still reside at Newburgh, N. Y., 
and in that vicinity. Her parents were George W. 
and Caroline (Tyler) Gidney, who were married 
Jan. 23, 1838. The father was born Sept. 10, 1808, 
and ilied .\ug. 23, 1879, and the mother was l)orn 
Oct. 15, T8ig, and died Nov. 20, 1897. In their 
family were the following children : Mary, born 
Oct. 30, 1838, died Nov. i, 1838; Mary Ann, born 
Feb. 28. 1840, died Dec. 7, 1840; Lucy Ann, born 
Oct. 23, 1841, died April 28, 18 — ; Juliette S.. born 
June 24, 1844, is the wife of our subject; Tyler, 
born Oct. 5, 1846, married Emma Foote, of Fair 
Flaven, and is now engaged in business in Walling- 
ford. Conn. : George Henry, born April 23, 1849, 
married Sibyl La Beasler. and is a dentist of New 
Haven ; Nancy, commonly called Minnie, born April 
22, 1851, first married Alphonso E. Strong, and sec- 
ond Craig A. Tuthill, of New Britain, Conn.; 



Charles, born Feb. 5, 1853, married Hannah Cooper 
and resides in Northford;„and Peter, born Jan. g, 
1856, is a physician of Monticello, Orange Co., N. 
Y. Mrs. Foote has been three times married, her 
first husband being Benjamin Dowd, and her second 
Charles Ferguson, by whom she had one son, 
Charles, who was born Jan. 13, 1868, and is now a 
resident of Northford. She is a member of the Con- 
gregational Church and a most estimable lady. 

Politically Mr. Foote is a stanch Republican, and 
has served as tax collector several ternis, and also 
as a grand juror. As a citizen he ever stands 
ready to discharge every duty devolving upon him, 
and gives a liberal support to all enterprises calcu- 
lated to prove of public benefit. Wherever known 
he is held in high regard. 

THE TRACY BROS. C(J. George and Cor- 
nelius Tracy constitute this widely-known extensive 
firm of contractors, builders and lumber dealers,, 
whose place of business is at No. 52 Benedict street, 
W'aterbury. They are descendants in the seventh 
generation from Lieut. Thomas Tracy, the line of 
their descent being through Jonathan, David, David 
(2), Capt. Silas, Francis and Abel C. ["Tracy 
Genealogy" (1898), by Evert E. Tracy, M. D., Chi- 
cago.] 

( 1 ) Lieut. Thomas Tracy was born in 1610 in 
Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England, a grandson 
of Richard Tracv, of Stanwav [authoritv — the work 
(1895) of Lieut. Charles S. Ripley, 'U. S. A.] 
Tiiomas Tracy, in his early manhood, crossed the 
sea to the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. He stayed 
at Salem until February, 1637, then removed to 
Wethersfield, Conn. In 1652 and 1653 he was at 
Savbrook, and 1666 he and his family removed to 
Norwich, of which town he was one of the pro- 
prietors. In 1666 he was appointed ensign at Nor- 
wich. He was in the Legislature from Norwich 
most of the time from 1667 to 1678, and in 1682-83- 
85 from Preston. He sat as a member of the Co- 
lonial Assembly for more than twenty sessions. He 
was well educated, and a man of consequence in 
the community, a thorough business man, and of 
the best personal character. He was married three 
times, and had seven children. He died at Nor- 
wich, Conn., in 1685. 

(II) Jonathan Tracy, son of Thomas (the emi- 
grant) and Mary (Mason) Tracy, born in 1646 
at Savbrook, married, in 1672, Mary Griswold; 
she died in 1711, and he married Mary Richards. 
Jonathan Tracy died in about 171 1, and his re- 
luains arc buried in a graveyard at Preston, Con- 
necticut. 

(III) David Tracy, son of Jonathan and Mary 
(Griswold) Tracy, Ixjrn in 1687, married in 1709 
Sarah Parish, who died in 1729. 

(IV) David Tracy (2). son of David and. Sarah 
(Parish) Tracy, born in 1721. at Preston, Conn., 
married, in 1744. Eunice Elliott. 

(V) Capt. Silas Tracy, son of David and Eunice 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



301 



(Elliott) Tracy, and great-grandfather of our sub- 
ject, born March 27, 1745, married and settled in 
New Preston, Conn., where he kept a hotel. 1 le 
died about 1825. He was three times married, and 
by his tirst wife had three children, Susan, Luther 
and P'rancis. Bv the second union there were two 
children, William and Lusina. There were no chil- 
dren by the last wife. 

(V'i) Francis Tracy, grandfather of the I'racN' 
brothers, was born aboiU 1793 in New I'resion. 
Conn., and died there in 1823. He married Clarissa 
Clemmons, who was born about 1793. in Litch- 
field, a daughter of Abel C. Clemmons, a large 
dairy farmer of Litchfield. They had five children: 
Mary, wife of David Meeker, a farmer of New 
Preston (both now deceased) ; Llniira, wife of Will- 
iam Calhoun, a farmer of Morris, Conn.; Silas, who 
settled in Montrose, Pa., and died there in 1875; 
Francis, who went to Wisconsin, where he carried 
on farming, and was a local minister; and Abel C., 
mentioned below. 

(\TI) Abel C. Tracy, father of our subject, was 
born Jan. 14, 1820, in Washington, Conn., where 
he was reared and educated. He chose farming for 
his life vocation, and located in Morris, Conn. He 
married Caroline Bowns, who was born in Torring- 
ton. Conn., daughter of Jeremiah Bowns, a farmer, 
and six children were born of tliis union : Morton, 
a roller in the Benedict & Bundiam Mills, at 
Waterbury ; George, sketch of whom follows ; Cor- 
nelia, wife of Andrew Palmer, a farmer of Goshen, 
Conn. ; Cornelius, sketch of whom follows ; Edward, 
who died at the age of twelve years ; and Frances, 
who married William Johnson, a farmer of the town 
of Waterbury. The mother of this family died 
June 2, 1858; the father is yet living, and attends 
the Methodist Church, as did also his wife. He is 
a Republican in politics, was first selectman of his 
town (the first Republican ever elected to that of- 
fice there), served as assessor of his town (Morris), 
although it is strongly Democratic, and has other- 
wise taken a lively interest in its aft'airs — in fact 
he was instrumental in having it set otf from the 
town of Litchfield. He has settled many estates in 
^Morris. 

George Tracy, one of the wealthiest and most 
prominent citizens of W'aterbury, and senior mem- 
ber of The Tracy Bros. Co., was born in Goslien, 
Conn., Jan. 6, 1847, ^"^1 passed his boyhood days 
on the home farm in the towns of W'ashington and 
Morris, attending during the winter months the old 
district school of the neighborhood until he was 
twelve years of age. He then took a course at the 
■'Gunnery," in Washington, Conn., a school that 
has turned out many men of prominence, among 
whom may be mentioned United States Senator 
Piatt, and Henry Ward Beecher's two sons were 
schoolmates of Air. Tracy. On laying aside his 
books our subject commenced an ai)prenticeshii) 
with Deacon Hotchkis6, carpenter and builder at 
Torrington, Conn., which concluded, he in 1869 



came to Waterbury, and here for two years worked 
for John IJiUlon, also a carpenter and builder. He 
then entered into a parlnershi]^ with B. H. Eld- 
redge. under the firm name of Tracy & Eldredge, 
contractors and builders, wliich copartnership was 
dissolved at tiie end of four \ears, Mr. Tracv con- 
tiiniing the business alone during the subsequent 
ten years. Jn 1886 he associated with him his 
brother Cornelius, the style of the firm since its 
incorporati( n in 1895 Ijeing "The Tracy Bros. Co., 
contractors, builders, hnnber tlealers, etc." They 
do a large amount of contracting all over the coun- 
try, their business amounting to from $300,000 to 
.^500,000 ;)er annum, and in this connection it mav 
be mentioned tliat they erected the State building 
at the World's Fair held in Chicago, 1893. Thev 
are now building in Hartford, Norwalk and Dan- 
iniry. Conn., in the latter city putting up the county 
court house. They own extensive steam mills, and 
can store a nnllion feet of lumber, and they have 
that amount on liand all the time. Un Dec. 2, 1891. 
their lumber yards were destroyed by fire — loss, 
$20,000. 

In .April, 1869, Mr. Tracy married Miss Sarah 
Dady, who was born in .\shford. Conn., and twelve 
children have graced this union: Edith, Minnie, 
George, Jr., Frank, Viola, Mabel, Harry, Morton, 
Robert, Benjamin, Milton and Edna. Of these. 
Edith married (ieorge Up.son, of \\'aterbury, and 
is now deceased; Minnie is the wife of Frank Chat- 
field; George, Jr., married Grace Crossley ; Frank 
married Bertha Scabrick — all being of Waterbury ; 
and Edna died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Tracy 
live in a beautiful residence at No. 126 W'aterville 
street, Waterbury, and enjoy the regard and esteem 
of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, in 
politics he is a Republican, and has served as se- 
lectiuan one year; on the board of councilmcn two 
years ; and was president of same one year. So- 
cially he is a member of the L O. O. F. at Water- 
bury. In religious relations the family attend the 
Mrst Baptist Church. 

CoRXEi.it'.s Tk.\cv, junior member of The Tracy 
Bros. Co., was born .April 21, 1853. and passed his 
boyhood on the farm in Litchfield, attending during 
winters the local schools. .\t the age of fifteen he 
went to Milford, Conn., where for two years he 
worked in the straw factory, and so diligent, useful 
and ])rogressive did he prove himself that at the 
time of his leaving he was receiving two dollars 
j)er day, although he entered the place a mere bov. 
In 1870 he came to Waterbury, where he com- 
menced to learn the carpenter's trade witii his 
l)rother George, who had preceded him to that city. 
On Aug. 20, 1875, Cornelius Tracy luarried 
Lucy B. Doolittle, of Bethlehem, Conn., daughter 
of David E. Doolittle. also a native of that lo- 
cality, where he carried on farming. This wife died 
in 1884, and two children survive her: Clara L., 
wife of Elgia Bronson, of Waterbury: and Nellie 
j M. In January, 1887, Mr. Tracy wedded Edith 



3o: 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



M. Bronson, of Wolcott, Conn., daughter of Still- 
man Bronson, a farmer by occupation, and four chil- 
dren were born of this union, two of whom are 
now living: Howard F. and Edward B. 

In 1875, after his first marriage, Mr. Tracy lo- 
cated in Thomaston, Litchfield Co., Conn., and for 
eight years conducted a contracting and building 
business on his own account; then returned to 
Waterburv, where from 1884 to 1886 he was en- 
gaged in 'the lumber trade. In the latter year he 
became associated in business with his brother 
George, as set forth in the sketch of George Tracy 
immediately preceding. In his political preferences 
Mr. Tracy' is a Republican, but has never aspired 
to political preferment. Socially he is a member 
of the F. & A. M., Union Lodge, iSIo. 96, at Thomas- 
ton, and in matters of religion he attends the serv- 
ices of the Second Congregational Church. From 
a History of Waterbnry we glean the following, 
which speaks for itself: 

•■Cornelius Tracy. — It was through his efiforts 
that the citv, at the close of the World's Fair, in 
1894, came into the possession of the carefully se- 
lected and valuable collection of minerals and fos- 
sils now at the rooms of the Bronson Library. He 
was also active, in co-operation with his brother and 
a few New Haven gentlemen, in transporting the 
Connecticut building from the Fair grounds at Chi- 
cago to Connecticut, and re-erecting it for public 
uses, on the shore of the Sound, at a point between 
Savin Rock and Woodmont." 

JOEL ANDREW SPERRY, senior member of 
the firm of Sperry & Barnes, wholesale provision 
dealers and pork packers. New Haven, is in every 
sense one of the city's representative business men 
and substantial and useful citizens. 

Aner Sperry, his grandfather, was born about 
1767, and died June 30, 1807. He married Sally, 
daughter of Asa and Esther (Tuttle) Sperry, born 
April 5, 1770, and died April,' 1847. 

Noves Sperrv, son of Aner, died in early man- 
hood. He married Emeline Beecher, a daughter of 
Jesse Beecher, a grandson of the pioneer of that 
family, who settled in Woodbridge. She attained 
an advanced age, surviving until upwards of ninety- 
three. 

Joel A. Sperry, son of Noyes and Emeline, was 
born July 8, 1827, in Watertown. The father's early 
death made it necessary for the son as a lad to be 
self-supporting, and to aid in the support of his wid- 
owed mother. After the father's death, Joel resided 
in the town of Bethany, and imtil sixteen was em- 
ployed on a farm, having only limited school ad- 
vantages. As a boy of sixteen years of age, he 
came to New Haven to seek his fortune, and time 
has proven that he made no mistake, not only find- 
ing the object of his mission, but that usefulness as 
a citizen that has made his life an example worthy 
of imitation by the young men of today, who are be- 
ginning a career under as unfortunate circumstances 



as surrounded him in the morning of life. The 
early hardships in boyhood and young manhood 
only served to discipline and develop body^ mind and 
character. 

Young Sperry's business career in New Haven 
was begun in 1843 as a clerk in a retail provision 
store. Some ten years later, in 185?. associated 
with William Hull, he began business for himself as 
a wholesale provision dealer. This partnership con- 
tinued for a decade, and so attentive were these 
young men to business, and so careful in the man- 
agement that they developed a large trade, which 
proved renumerative and brought them success, 
Mr. Sperry's great energy and force of character 
being conspicuous in that success. In 1863, Mr. 
Sperry withdrew from the firm and went to New 
York City, where he engaged in the same line of 
business, and there also were his efforts attended 
with success, but in 1868, he made up his mind he 
would retire from active business. Carrying out his 
intention, he sold his business and returned to New 
Haven. After an interval of a couple of years, he 
found that it was difficult, after a life of such great 
activity as his had been, to remain inactive, and in 
1870, in connection with Mr. E. Henry Barnes and 
i Mr. Joseph Porter, under the firm name of Sperry 
& Barnes, he established the business which from 
that day to this, has been conducted by the same con- 
cern. Much credit is due the senior member of 
the firm for the development and successful conduct 
of the affairs of the house, he being from the start, 
the principal worker, his long experience giving him 
an insight into this line of business and enabling him 
to place the concern upon a firm basis, and to main- 
tain its standing in the commercial world. 

In 1870 it was thought a wild and impracticable 
idea to think of exporting meat to Europe, but owing 
to the experience he had gained during his business 
career in New York, Mr. Sperry from the first was 
a firm advocate of the enterprise, and as a result, 
the firm of Sperry & Barnes was among the first 
to branch out in this direction in New England and 
the first in Connecticut, thereby reaping the abun- 
dant harvest that resulted from the exercise of fore- 
sight and energy. Ever since these three gentle- 
men have been sending to England and the Con- 
tinent, the products of their establishments. The 
firm is the oldest and most extensive pork packing 
house in western Connecticut, the plant being a very 
large one, fitted with every modern appliance and 
convenience and labor-saving machinery. The busi- 
ness gives employment to 300 people and at the 
plant are slaughtered annually upward of 200,000 
hogs. The products not only go abroad, but are 
marketed all over New England and the Middle 
States. In later years, was added to the old firm 
the person of Frank H. Sperry, son of the senior 
member. The uniform success which has attended 
the efforts of Mr. Joel Andrew Sperry, is to be 
credited not only to his remarkable executive ability 
and business sagacity, but also to his endeavor to 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



303 



always put into practice the strictest principles of 
integrity and honor. The business men, the patrons 
of his house, have ever had confidence in him as 
a man. 

Mr. Sperry has been in no sense an office seeker 
or politician, but has always been interested in public 
affairs, and as a citizen has exercised his prerosative 
as an American citizen, in the advancement of what 
appeared in his judgment would conduce to the best 
interests of the city, county and State. His integrity 
and singlemindedness being so generally recognized, 
Mr. Sperry was called upon fo serve for two terms, 
from i860 to 1861, as a member of the board of 
Aldemien of New Haven, and was especially instru- 
mental in the reorganization of the Police and Fire 
Departments, his ideas with regard to improvements 
in these particular branches of public service being 
very effective, and resulting in greatly enhancing 
the efficiency of the members of both departments. 
Later, .Mr. Sperry served most efficiently as Fire 
Commissioner. He is a member of Hiram Lodge, 
A. F. & A. M. 

On June 24, 1856, Mr. Sperry was married to 
Miss Anna Jane Fowler, a daughter of David S. 
Fowler, of New Haven. To this union were born: 
Frank H., who married Mary Beecher Wells, and 
has had two children, Elenor (born in 1889. died in 
1897), and Joel A. (born 1886) ; and Effie H. and 
Annie, both unmarried. 

PROUTY. It is learned from Draper's History 
of Spencer, Mass., that the Prouty family, years 
ago, was the most numerous of any in that town. 
The records speak of them as men and women of a 
sturdy New England type, and many of them left 
their impress for good upon Church and societ\-. 
A number of them took part in the wars of the early 
day. always worthily performing public and private 
duties. (I) Richard Prouty was a resident of 
Scituate. Mass.. as earlv as 1667. 

(H) Isaac Prouty, son of Richard, was born in 
Scituate, Mass. In 1710 he married Elizabeth 
Merritt, and they reared a numerous family, of 
whom si.x were sons, namely: Jacob. David, John, 
Adam, James and Isaac ; there was one daughter, 
Elizabeth. The family later removed to Spencer, 
Massachusetts. 

(Ill) Jacob Prout\;. son of Isaac, was born 
March 14, 1715, and was married to Ann Capen, 
Dec. 8, 1 741. In 1740 he purchased the northeastern 
part of Lot 23, and built on it a family home. His 
children were: Deborah, born Oct. 19. 1742; 
Phoebe, Ixirn July 23, 1744; Lydia, born June 4, 
1747; Anna, born Nov. 11. 1752; Hannah, born 
Aug. 15, 1754; Caleb, born Sept. 7, 1756: Joshua, 
born May 18, 1759 (married Mollic Muzzy, Nov. 
18, 1781): Nathan, born Oct. 22. 1761, married 
Sept. 30, 1784. Patience Converse: and Mercy, born 
Sept. 14, 1763. 

(Ill) David Prouty, born in 1716, married in 
1739 Elizabeth Smith, and in the same year pur- 
chased a part of Lot 23. His children were : David, 



born Nov. 27, 1739; Elizabeth, born Aug. 27, 1741J 
Ruth, born Sept. 12, 1743; Mary, born May 21, 
1745; Sarah, born Alarch 10, 1747; Jesse, born 
March 14, 1749; Asa, born in February, 1751, who 
married Lydia Livermore, and (second) on Sept. 
29, 1785, married Tabitha Ormeo; Lucy, born Feb. 
20, 1753; Beulah, burn March 17, 1755; Olive, or 
(.Oliver, Dorn .May 27, 1757; Khoda, born May 17, 
1759; and Lucretia, born in 1761. 

(,1V) David Prouty, son of David, married Nov. 
27, 17O1, Fiannah, daughter of Deacon Eleazer Ball, 
and settled on the east end of Lot 30, where his son 
Daviil afterward lived. He was a soldier in the war 
with France, was a captain in the Revolutionary 
war, and was a major of militia. In civil life he 
served as one uf the selectmen, and as assessor of 
the town. 

(Ill) John Prouty, sun of Isaac, born in 1718, 
married in October, 1745, Abigail Johnson, daughter 
of Capt. Benjamin Johnson, and settled on Lot 21, 
where he built a saw and grist mill, on Seven Mile 
river, which was later owned by Muzzy & Nichols. 
His children were: Benjamin, born Oct. i, 1746, 
married Jan. 10, 1774, Sarah Green; John, born Jan. 
4, 1749, married Oct. 13, 1771, Lucy Gleason; Isaac, 
born Dec. 22, 1750, married Jan. 20 1772, Anna 
Dunnel; Johnson, born Jan. 8, 1754, married April 
7, 1774, Anna Livermore; jVbigail was born Nov. 
27, 1756; Eli, born Sept. 8, 1757, married May 28, 
1782, Rebecca Bemis; Daniel, born July 15, 1759, 
married June 7, 1781, Catherine Palmer; Rebecca 
and Esther, twins, were born April 19, 1768. 

(HI) Adam Prouty, son of Isaac, born in 1721, 
married early, and lived in Scituate and Hanover 
several years, his wife dying after he removed to 

j Spencer, Mass. There he contracted a second mar- 
riage, on Jan. 15, 1751, to Dorothy Howe, of Rut- 
land. In 1763 he purchased part of Lot 64, where 
he died. His children were numerous, but there 

j can be found no record of any except Seth' who was 
born Nov. 12, 1761. By his tirst wife he had Grace, 
Sarah, Luther, Isaac and others ; and by his second 
wife Seth, Rhoda, Eunice, Patty, Desire, Dolly, 

' Adam, Lucy and others. 

(Ill) James Prouty son of Isaac, born 1730, 
married June 25, 1765, Mary Dinsmore, and finally 
settled on a part of Lot 40, where his son Reuben 
afterward lived. Here he died. His children were : 
Amos, born March 8, 1766; Reuben, born Dec. 18, 
1771, married Sallie Bartlett, of X'ermont : Sarah 
was born Dec. 10, 1777; Susannah, March 8, 1782; 
Lydia, Oct. 17, 1783; James, Jan. 30, 1786; and 
Polly, Dec. 9, 1788. 

(Ill) Isaac Prouty (2), son of Isaac, born in 
1732. married I'riscilla Ramsdell. and moved to 
Spencer, Mass., in 1757, settling in the west end of 
Lot 16, where his grandson, John N. Prouty, after- 
ward lived. His children were: Priscilla was born 
Oct. I, 1756. ]\lijah and Elisha, twins, were born 
Jan. 27, 1759; Elijah married. Jtme 19, 1788. .Anna 
Munroe; Elisha married Elizabeth Demond. of Rut- 
land. Sage, born Nov. 2. 1762, married March 18, 



30^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1784, Alexander Dean, of Oakland. Joseph, born 
March jO, 1767, married May ly, 1791. i'>ets_\- 
Draper. Thomas, born June 13, 1709, married Sept. 
19, 1793, Lois Wood. Jesse, born Aug. 6, 1771, 
married April 22 1798, Abigail Burden. Avis was 
born April 27, 1775. Betsey was born Jan. 24, 
1780. 

(IV) Joseph Prouty, son of Isaac (2), born 
]\larch 2O, 1707, when a young man married May 
19, 1791, Betsy Draper. His children were: Phelin- 
da, born Sept. 29, 1792; Calvin, Nov. 5, 1793; Eme- 
lia, Jan. 7, 179O; Horace, April, 1798; Charles, May 
7, 1800; Cyrus. Sejit. 14. 1802; Elmira, Aug. 2, 
1804; Luther. Jul> 11, uSoO; Calvin Luther, Alarch 
16, 1808; Aklcn, .\(jv. ID, 1810; Mary Draper, 
Feb. 2, 1813; Betsy, Aug. 9, 1816; Joseph Horace, 
Aug. 13, 1818. 

(V) Charles Prouty, son of Joseph, born May 
7, 1800, married Eunice Watson. Their children 
w'ere (dates of birth unknown) : Elizabeth, Charles, 
Elmira, Henrv J., Marv Ann and Calvin Luther. 

(VI) Henry J. Prouty, son of Charles, born Oct. 
16, 1838, is also a native of Spencer, where he was 
educated and has spent his life. For many years 
he was connected with the shoe trade in one of the 
factories in that line, in Spencer, and he is a nian 
of high morality and excellent business qualifica- 
tions. He was married in June, 1864, to Miss 
Parmelia Roberts, of Waltham, Mass., who still sur- 
vives, the family home in Spencer being one of do- 
mestic comfort and Christian living. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Prouty are consistent members of the Uiii- 
versalist Church. 

(VII) Willis James Prouty, A. M., son of 
Henrv J., was born in Spencer May 22, 1865, and 
was rea'red in his native town, receiving excellent 
educational advantages. After finishing an ele- 
mentary course in the public schools he graduated 
from the Spencer high school, in 1883. Shortly after 
he entered Tufts College, at Medford, Mass., where 
he pursued a regular academ'ic course, graduating 
in 1887 with high honors, a specialty having been 
made in Latin. In 1896 his Alma Mater conferred 
on him the degree o'f A. M. In the fall of 1887 
Prof. Prouty located in Meriden, Conn., accepting 
at that time a position as teacher in the high school, 
as instructor in mathematics and bookkeeping. Dur- 
ing 1887-8 he also had charge of the evening school. 

In 1889 Prof. Prouty 's ability as an educator was 
so universally acknowledged that it was a matter of 
congratulation with the school board when he ac- 
cepted the position of assistant principal. Through 
a number of years he constantly grew in the confi- 
dence and esteem of the community, until, in 1899, 
he succeeded Prof. S. T. Frost as principal of the 
Meriden high school. This position carries with it 
responsibilities of no mean order, requiring scholar- 
ship, business ability and social attributes, not often 
combined in one person so fully as they are found in 
Prof. Prouty. It is generally conceded that there 
has never been a better quaUfied, more conscientious 
or tactful teacher connected with the Meriden high 



school. His standard is high, and his constant aim 
is to bring his pupils up to it. 

Fraternally Prof. Prouty is connected with Zeta 
Psi, of Tufts College; is treasurer of the Home 
Club ; has served on the executive committee of the 
Meriden Tennis Club; is a past regent and collector 
of Alfred H. Hall Council, Royal Arcanum ; and 
past councilor and collector of Invincible Council, 
Loyal Additional Benefit Association. He is also 
librarian of Meriden Scientific Association. 

In 1890 Prof. Prouty was married, in Meriden, 
Conn., to Aliss Jennie W. Smith, a lady of educa- 
tion, culture and refinement. She is a daughter of 
Henry G. Smith, of this city. One child, Alarilla, 
was born to this union. Both Prof, and Mrs. 
Prouty are prominent in social circles, and in all 
educational and progressive movements are among 
the leading spirits. Prof. Prouty has been especially 
interested in the Y. M. C. A., and has been a 
teacher and lecturer in this association. In politics 
he is a Re]Hiblican, but his busy life leaves him no 
time to accept office, although he is so well qualified 
to fill many positions where there is a need of 
trained minds and honest service. 

S.MiTii. The Smith family of which Mrs. 
Prouty is a representative, is one of the old and 
prominent ones in Massachusetts. Alanson Smith, 
the grandfather of Mrs. Prouty, was born in Worth- 
ingtun, Mass.. and was a carpenter and joiner by 
occupation. He spent the greater part of his life 
in his native town, coming only in advanced years 
to Meriden, where he died, his remains being taken 
back to his old home. He married Judith Graves, 
and their family of nine children were: James; 
Justus ; Henry G. ; Asa, of New Haven ; Augustine, 
deceased ; Abbie, who married E. D. Castelow, of 
Meriden; Eldridge; Albert, deceased; and Myron, 
deceased. 

Henry G. Smith, the father of Mrs. Prouty, was 
also born in Worthington, ^[ass., where lie was ed- 
ucated. In young manhood he located in New Hart- 
ford, working at the machinist's trade, anil later 
came to Meriden and entered the employ of the 
Meriden Britannia Company. Mr. Smith now lives 
retired from activity, and makes his home with 
Prof, and Mrs. Prouty, on Hanover street. Mr. 
Smith was married, in 1862, to Miss Anne Whit- 
ney, who was a daughter of Theodore W'hitney, 
of Agawam, and their only child was Jennie W., 
the wife of Prof. Willis Prouty. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Smith are consistent members of the Congre- 
gational Cliurch. In political sentiment Mr. Smith 
IS a Republican, and he is one of tlie most highly 
esteemed older residents of Meriden. 

NICHOLAS W. HUBINGER. While the 
disposition to do honor to those who have served 
well their race or their nation is prevalent among 
all enlightened people, and is of great value every- 
where and under all forms of government, it is 
particularly appropriate and to be fostered in Amer- 
ica, where no man is born to public Iionor or comes 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



305 



to it by inheritance, but where all men are equal 
before the law; where the race for distinction in 
either public or industrial life is over the roatl of 
definite usefulness and is open to everyone who 
chooses to enter, however humble and obscure he 
ntay chance to be ; and where the adventitious cir- 
cumstances of family and wealth count, in the vast 
majority of cases, for but little or nothing. Ac- 
cording to true democratic doctrine they should 
never be taken into account. Under our system, 
whose very existence depends upon the virtue of 
the people thanselves, who are not only the source 
of all political power, but upon whom also depends 
the very existence of our free institutions, those 
who have distinguished themselves in any sphere of 
usefulness should not fail of recognition. In hon- 
oring those who have deserved well their prestige 
or success the people do credit to themselves and 
thus also sup[)]y a powerful stinnilus to honorable 
ambition. 

As in America is to be found the true and noble 
type of the self-made man to a greater extent than 
in any other nation, so here is to be found a 
greater ])opular appreciation of the intrinsic ele- 
ments of individual character which have made 
great accomplishment possible. In any work 
touching those who have won precedence and honor 
in connection with the industrial activities of the 
city of New Haven, it is imperative that a tribute of 
respect and appreciation be accorded to the Hub- 
iiiger brothers who, with that city as their head- 
quarters, have attained a hi.gh re])Utation in the in- 
dustrial world, wimiing exalted success through 
their own cfi'orts and abilities and standing for the 
most inflexible integrity in all the relations of life. 
The wise system of industrial economics which they 
have brought to bear has challenged unequivocal 
athtiiration, and none can regard with aught save 
satisfaction the magnificent results which they have 
attained through the exercise of determinate pur- 
pose, indefatigable industry, consecutive applica- 
tion and honorable methods. In fact, it may be 
said that in the field of legitimate and straightfor- 
ward business enterprise their degree of success has 
seldom been equaled in so brief an interval of time, 
while the products of their great factories are found 
in every quarter of the Union and command a large 
export trade. 

In the year 1880 the three Ilubinger brothers, 
John C, Nicholas W. and Joseph E., founded the 
Elastic Starch Co. in New Haven, under the firm 
name of J. C Hubinger & Brothers, under which 
title the enterprise was conducted for some years, 
then becoming the J. C. Hubinger Brothers Co., 
v.ith Nicholas W. as president of the concern and 
Josepli I'", as secretary and treaisiirer. In this reor- 
ganization was included the business at Keokuk, 
Iowa, lall becoming the sole proix-rty of the J. C. 
1 lubinger Brothers Co. The original firm were the 
pioneers in the manufacture of elastic starch and 
the product bearing the name of Hubinger has con- 
20 



tmued to have a field of its own, in contradistinc- 
tion to all similar and imitative preparations, its 
superiority over all others being unmistakable. The 
business, while now the foremost of the sort in the 
Union, had its inception in a modest way and in 
pushing it forward to the goal of so great success 
many obstacles were to be overcome and the strug- 
gle for supremacy was long and arduous, so that 
the victory is but the just recompense for the rare 
business acumen, detemiination and excellent exec- 
utive ability which have been from the start shown 
by the interested principals. To win such a success 
to-day implies the interposition of men of strong 
mental and moral fibre, and those whose tenacitv of 
purpose is sufficient to endure the maximum tension, 
for modern business life can not but be strenuous 
in the extreme. Men of average ability and spirit 
would have turned aside or been deflected from 
their course by the exigencies which seemed sim- 
ply to augment and intensify the powers through 
which the Hubinger brothers have pressed forward 
to the success implied not only in large wealth, ab- 
solute financial stability and a national reputation, 
but also in their foremost rank among New England 
manufacturers, and this is no equivocal or uncer- 
tain distinction. 

The Hubinger brothers arc sons of John l". and 
Catharine (Girard) Hubinger, natives, respectively, 
of the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, and the town 
I if .Met/., France. This venerable coujjle now re- 
side in Keokuk, Iowa, where, in December. 1900, 
they celebrated the fiftieth anniversarv of their mar- 
riage. That city is likewise the residence of their 
son, John C. who is one of its leading capitalists 
and most ])romiiient and influential business men. 
John 1". Hubinger is one of that type of sturdv. up- 
right, wholesome, honest and self-respecting Ger- 
mans who have contributed so valuable an element 
Id the composite make-up of our national fabric of 
social life. For many years after coming to .\mer- 
ica he followed mercantile pursuits, and at one time 
successfully conducted a brewery at Ripley, Ohio. 
I'lusiness reverses came to him. however, through 
circumstances lieyond his control. an<l this depriva- 
tion may not be held as altogether an ungrateful 
contingency as affecting tlie lives of his sons, who 
were thus impelled to ilepend upon their own re- 
sources and to develop those inherent and intrinsic 
attributes of character which have jnade for strong 
manhood and definite accomplishment — attributes 
that under circumstances superficially more favor- 
able might have lain perpetually donnant. The 
reader can well imagine with how great pride and 
satisfaction the aged parents must view the posi- 
tions attained by their worthy sons, by whom is 
rendered to them the deepest veneration and filial 
solicitude. .As the shadows of their earnest and 
devoted lives lengthen with the declining sun their 
.sons delight to surround them with all the con- 
veniences and tangible evidences of affection and 
tender care that grateful and loving hearts can sug- 



3o6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



gest and, true to the conditions under which they 
were reared and frugality born of necessity, the old 
folk are sometimes constrained to chide their sons 
for the lavish expenditures made in their behalf. 
They have been sober, God-fearing people, without 
pretension and without undue humility, never look- 
ing down on any of their fellow beings, and never 
feeling it possible that they could be looked down 
upon. Their home has ever been the home of prob- 
ity, piety and patriotism, and in the evening of their 
•da_\'s their sons honor in their lives and characters 
the noble parents who liore them and taught them 
by both precept and example. 

Nicholas W. Hubinger. the immediate suljject 
of this sketch, was born in the town of JMadison, 
Ind., May 20, 1856, and was a mere lad when his 
parents removed thence to Falmouth. Ky., in whose 
public schools he received a good English education, 
passing the major portion of his youth in that fine 
old Southern commonwealth. When he was six- 
teen years of age his parents removed to Ripley, 
Ohio, where his father was successfully engaged 
in business for some time. The family removed 
from that place to Quincy, 111., where our subject 
was associated with his father in the bakery and 
confectionery business, and later he engaged in 
the same line of enterprise in Keokuk, Iowa. The 
year 1880 witnessed the advent of Nicholas William 
Hubinger in the beautiful city of New Haven, 
Conn., where his elder brother, John C, had preced- 
ed him. In view of the position which he to-day 
occupies in the financial world, it is interesting to 
note the fact that at that time his available resources 
were summed up in an exchequer of less than fifty 
dollars capital. That, however, was not his only 
asset, for he was equipped with the endowment of 
€nergv, determination, alert nuentality and mature 
judgment as to the springs of human thought and 
action, knowing men as they are, and having the 
powers of initiative and executive ability already 
waiting for a proper sphere of action. 

The full and complete history of the founding 
and subsequent expansion of the now immense bus- 
iness of the J. C. Hubinger & Brothers Co. would 
fill a volume in itself, and lies outside the province 
of a work of this nature. Still it is incumbent that 
an epitomized review be here entered. No con- 
cern in New Haven has had, perhaps, such a modest 
beginning or such a struggle for existence and 
finally attained so pronounced a success. No other 
such demonstration of pluck and determination, no 
other such rise from a scarcely appreciable begin- 
nmg to such a height of conmiercial precedence 
lias been seen by the present generation in New 
Haven. The idea of an elastic starch was suggested 
to them while acting as salesmen of the old style 
of product. They were often assailed in those days 
with the housewife's complaint that the starch 
would "stick to the irons," and in seeking a remedy 
for this difficulty came to them the i<lea of an elas- 
tic starch. Lack of ca])ital and the superadded diffi- 



culty to be experienced in the introduction of an 
entirely new article, a distinct innovation, were 
the elements which brought about serious obstacles 
and such trials as seldom fall to the lot of those who 
have gained an equal measure of success in later 
years and through the medium to which they clung 
with tenacious confidence. The brothers were prac- 
tically strangers in New Haven, without recourse 
to fortuitous aid from any source. Their credit 
had not been established and among the incidents 
of their early difficulties and herculean struggles 
vi-as that involved in their being refused credit for 
a barrel of starch valued at less than four dollars, 
v> hich amount was later made up only by extraord- 
inary effort, and they also had to pay for the paste- 
board containers in which their manufactured prod- 
uct was placed at the time the same were delivered 
them. Dealers refused to handle what was consid- 
ered an experimental product and the Hubinger 
brothers secured their first customers by a house 
to house canvass, in which they personally took part, 
and often stopped to demonstrate in a practical way 
the method of using and the superior value of the 
elastic starch of which they were the originators. 
One secret of their success lies in the fact that they 
have never been afflicted with false pride, and that 
they have never been afraid of work, having an 
abiding respect for the dignity of honest toil, in 
whatever line. No detail pf their manufacture has 
ever been too unpleasant or too difficult for them 
to personally attend to when occasion has required. 
Of the many who witnessed their early struggles 
few probably felt that success might evmtually 
crown their efforts, while it is doubtful if anyone, 
not excepting themselves, ever conceived that the 
future had in store a success of so magnificent 
scope and importance. The business began to ex- 
pand consecutively almost from the time of its in- 
choation, for their product fell into the hands of the 
best judges of the value of a household commodity, 
the housewives themselves, and they pronounced un- 
equivocally upon its superiority over all other man- 
ufactured articles in its class. Notwithstanding this 
fact, to attain more than a circumscribed field and 
more than a modest business, executive and admin- 
istrative ability were demanded. This the brothers 
were able to supply in a high and potent degree, 
and in the supervision and direction of their present 
business, .with its manifold details and great magni- 
tude, they still find no time when they are not equal 
to the handling of the work and the solving of all 
problems that present themselves. 

Nicholas W. Hubinger has made this business 
the vocation of his life, giving his energies and 
abiHties to its development. Several years after 
the founding of the business in New Haven the 
firm established another factory, at Keokuk, Iowa, 
which now fonns a part of the business, as previ- 
ously stated. From what may be most consistently 
designated as an "infant industry" the business of 
the Hubinger brothers has grown to immense pro- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



307 



portions, in both the East and West, the firm dis- 
])Osing of an average of more than twenty-live 
niiUion packages of their product annually, and 
their operations in this and other lines of enterprise 
involve transactions aggregating several millions of 
dollars each year. The men to whom this great 
success lias come have a high sense of their stew- 
ardship and their characteristics have suffered no 
change as prosperity has crowned their etYorts. 
Their unostentatious manners and democratic spirit 
are vet in constant evidence, and they have no pride 
of wealth, jio sycophantic regard for the pomp and 
majesty of superficial show. They are mindful of 
the simple and worthy lives of their parents and of 
the struggles which they themselves have made, and 
thus lias been deepened their appreciation of true 
character, and they value the man, not his rank, 
wealth or position. In short, it may be said that if 
our Republic has as yet developed a distinct type, 
then are they typically American, for they represent 
the truest element which enters into our national 
life. The subject of this sketch is ever fair and 
honorable in his business relations of every order, 
and this fact has never failed of objective realiza- 
tion ; in his social life he is generous, outspoken and 
without dissimulation. Of strong convictions and 
distinct individuality he hates tricken.- and decep- 
tion of every sort, and his friendship is given with- 
out reservation to those whose characters are 
worthy, while he is an equally stanch enemy to 
those who merit this attitude on his part. 

As an a\vner and admirer of fine horses Mr. 
1 lubinger is well known on the trotting turf, where 
to him is applied the familiar title of "Nick," an 
abbreviation of his name, which bespeaks good fel- 
lowship and admiration. He has owned a number 
of the celebrated turf campaigners of recent years, 
and in his stables are always to be found some of 
the speediest of standard-bred stock, the number 
varying according to sales and purchases, for he 
takes a deep interest in his horses and in maintain- 
ing the noble sport of track racing at its highest 
standard. His connection with the turf has been 
purely from the standpoint of a gentleman and an 
enthusiastic admirer of the horse, and the pecuniary 
interest has been of subordinate character, though 
his judgment in regard to racing matters has con- 
sistently been backed by his money, and his win- 
nings are taken modestly, his losses met with the 
spirit of the true .sportsman. Horses and the breed- 
ing of fine stock in that line constitute his recrea- 
tion and a source of much pleasure, and his means 
enable him to indulge his taste to whatever extent 
he desires. As a backer of horses Mr. Hubinger 
i- one of the heaviest betters on the American turf 
to-day, and his judgment in this line is such that it 
has won him a fortune in a single day. While he 
is unassuming in his personality, Mr. Hubinger 
shows his jjood taste by living in harmony with his 
ample fortune. In the days when he was less pros- 
perous his judgment led him to then follow the 



same plan, and he is generous of his own, even as 
he was provident when necessity or business exi- 
gencies demanded. His beautiful mansion, in 
W halley avenue, was erected by him in 1895, is 
surrounded by spacious grounds, and is one of the 
finest homes in the city. Mr. Hubinger has spent 
no little time in travel, having visited nearly every 
section of the L'nion and nearly every place of <lef- 
inite interest, his idea being that a man should be- 
come familiar with the beauties and attractions of 
his own country before seeking those of foreign 
shc)res. He is an enthusiastic devotee of rod and 
gun anil when his manifold business interests ]>er- 
mit his temporary absence he enjoys nothing better 
than an excursion into the wilds in search of fish 
or game. That the refined elegancies of life appeal 
to liim is shown in the support which he gives as a 
l)atron of art. the interior of his elegant home bear- 
ing evidence of his discriminating taste in selection 
and appreciation. Though for a considerable 
period in each vear our subject follows the princi- 
pal turf events in the Union and has a personal ac- 
quaintance .with a large number of sporting men, 
he has never fallen into habits of intemperance, so 
common among many of that class, and ever main- 
tains the dignity becoming a gentleman and a true 
sportsman. 

It is true in the case of the average man who 
accumulates a competence that he is ever anxious to 
increase his fortune and to seek new methods of 
compassing the end. It is not thus with Mr. Hubin- 
ger, for he is satisfied with what he has and with 
the business in w-hich he is now concerned, and 
though he is still a young man, with many years 
of business life before him, he realizes that all is 
not summed up in the accumulation of mere wealth, 
and that it is a duty to himself and to the world 
to make use of his means in the expenditure of a 
I due portion of his income and in the enjoyment of 
j the many legitimate pleasures which his position 
renders possible. Thus his life is well balanced, 
and through his personal use of his fortune for the 
gratification of himself and his family and his 
friends he does a genuine good by placing his 
n^oney in circulation and permitting others to profit 
I through his expenditures. It is now with him a 
1 matter of comfort and enjoyment rather than the 
I accumulation of more. True to the duties and re- 
sponsibilities of citizenship, he exercises his fran- 
chise in support of the Republican party, but has 
never had taste nor inclination for active participa- 
tion in political affairs. 

On Nov. 20, 18S4, Mr. Hubinger was united 
in marriage with Miss Jennie Eldert, of Madison, 
Conn., where she was born, daughter of James El- 
dert. Mr. and Mrs. Hubinger are the parents of 
six children, all of whom are living, except one. 
their names in order of birth, being as follows: 
Lillian R., Nicholas \\'., Jr., Paul (who died in 
childhood), Frederick, Mary P. and Jennie. The 
beautiful faniilv home is a center of gracious and 



308 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



refined hospitality, and here is extended a generous 
welcome to the best social element in the city, while 
all the graces and advantages of wealth are enjoyed 
by our subject, his wife and their children, whose 
home life is of ideal character. 

J(JH\' HEXRY GAMIER (deceased) was for 
almost a quarter century an active factor in the busi- 
ness life of Meriden and a very successful business 
man. He was born Oct. jo. 1840, of English par- 
entage and French descent, near London, England, 
where he received a good education in his native 
language, and where he grew to manhood. Being 
possessed of energy and pluck he resolved, while 
a voung man, to try his fortune in the new world, 
and set sail for America. He landed at Boston and 
verv soon found a position as shipping clerk with 
a wholesale gentleman's furnishings house, acquir- 
ing a thorough acquaintance with the goods and 
the demands of the trade. In 1878 he became a 
resident of Meriden and established himself as a 
retail dealer in clothing and furnishings. He made 
a success of this venture from the start, and in 1879 
admitted Almon J. Fletcher to partnership. The 
business was subsequently conducted under the title 
of the Boston & Meriden Clothing Co., and con- 
tinued to flourish, through the industry and atten- 
tion to the wants of customers practiced by the pro- 
prietors. In 1883 they established a branch house 
in ]\Iiddletown, which was quite as prosperous as 
the original establishment, and was conducted, in 
charge of R. W. Camp, under the title of the Bos- 
ton One-Price Clothing Co. 

Mr. Camier was a sufferer for several years from 
a complication of disorders, which ultimately caused 
his death, and he passed away at his home on West 
Main street, Nov. 2, 1901. In speaking of him, one 
of the local papers said : "Personally, he was a man 
of sunny and genial disposition, ever ready to lend 
a helping hand to those in need. He was patient in 
suffering, steadfast in faith, and died in the sure 
hope of the life eternal which is promised to all 
those who love Hiiu." Air. Camier's remains re- 
pose in Walnut Grove cemetery. In his native home 
he was attached to the Established Church. In 
Meriden he became a member and trustee of the 
Main Street Baptist Church. He was a member of 
Center Lodge, No. 97, A. F. & A. M. ; Keystone 
Chapter, No. 27, R. A. M.; Hamilton Council, No. 
22, R. & S. M. ; and St. Elmo Commandery, No. 
9, K. T. ; and was also identified with Myrtle Lodge, 
No. 4, Knights of Pythias. While supporting the 
principles of Republicanism, he asked no political 
favors, and spent the little leisure he had in the en- 
joyment of domestic retirement. He left a name 
which is a synonym for honesty, sobriety and true 
worth. 

( )n Oct. 14, 1878, in Boston, Mr. Camier was 
married to Miss Nellie J. Warner, who was born in 
Winchendon, Worcester Co., Mass., elder daughter 
of the late Edwin T. and Tamma (DaNis) Warner. 



Mrs. Warner was a great-granddaughter, in the 
paternal line, of a Revolutionary soldier. She was 
descended, in the maternal line, 'from the Blue fam- 
ily, which located soon after 1620 at Rehoboth, 
Alass. The Davis family was also located at that 
place. Edwin T. Warner was a soldier of the Civil 
war, serving in the Sixty-first ]\Iassachusetts Regi- 
ment. Mrs. Camier is a member of the Second 
Baptist Church, a lady of many domestic virtues, 
who cared for her husband with great devotion 
through his years of infirm health. 

ALMON JOHN FLETCHER, of the Boston 
& Aleriden Clothing Co., Meriden, was born Aug. 
15, 1842, in Acworth, Sullivan Co., N. H. His 
father, John Fletcher, was also a native of that 
State, where he learned the trade of carpenter and 
joiner, and this pursuit occupied his most active 
years. With advancing age he removed to Litch- 
field, Meeker Co., Minn., where he passed the bal- 
ance of his days, giving some attention to farming, 
and died April 29, 1896. He was a member of the 
AI. E. Church, and a Republican in politics. John 
Fletcher married Almina Tandy, a native of New 
Hampshire, where she died before the removal of 
her husband to the West. She was also a member 
of the Methodist Church. 

Almon J. Fletcher grew up on a farm in East 
Lempster, Sullivan Co., N. H., and attended the 
district schools of the locality. Being somewhat 
ambitious, he has supplemented the ordinary train- 
ing afforded the youth of the neighborhood b\- ob- 
servation and business experience. Before he at- 
tained his majority the Civil war began, and he en- 
listed as a soldier in Company G, 9th N. H. \\ I., 
under Col. Fellows and Capt. S. A. Whitfield, for 
three years. He went to the front with his regi- 
ment and stood the shock of battle at South Moun- 
tain and Antietam, two of the most sanguinary en- 
gagements of the Civil war. At the latter place he 
received a shell wound in the right shoulder, which 
caused his discharge for disability. He returned 
home to recuperate, and when strong enough to 
labor went to Winchendon, Alass., and was em- 
ployed there three years in a machine shop. He 
was subsequently employed in Boston as a ma- 
chinist, and later as clerk in a store. In 1879 he 
came to Aleriden and purchased an interest ni the 
store then recently established by John H. Camier, 
which was thereafter known as the Boston & Meri- 
den Clothing Co. This esta:blishment has enjoyed 
a flourishing trade for twenty-three years, as has 
also a branch establishment at Middletown in 1883, 
under the title of the Boston One-Price Clothing 
Co. These stores are conducted by Mr. Fletcher 
and the widow of Mr. Camier, under the sui)ervision 
of the former. He is well known in Aleriden an(' 
vicinity as a reliable and capable business man, re- 
spected for his probity and industry. He is active 
in church work, being steward and teacher in the 
Sunilav-school of Trinitv M. E. Church. Frater- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



309 



nallv he is a nienilier of Pacific Lodge, No. 87, I. 
O. O. F., and Mcrriain Post, No. 8. G. A. R. In 
political affairs he acts with the Repuhhcan parly, 
l)ut is in no sense a pohtician. 

On June 7, 1883, Mr. Fletcher was married in 
Mcriden to .Mrs. Tannna (Davis) Warner, widow 
of Fdwin T. Warner and mother of Mrs. Camier. 
She was a very capable business woman, and care- 
fully conserved the estate inherited from her father. 
She died Jan. I, i8y2, and was buried in Walnut 
Grove cemetery. Mrs. Fletcher was a member of 
Trinitv M. E. Church, a kind and devoted wife and 
mother, a true Christian. 

HFXRY H. RICIi.\RDS. The earliest Amer- 
ican ancestor of that branch of the Richards family, 
to which this prominent and influential citizen of 
West Haven belongs, was Paul Richards, who 
landed at Xew York Dec. 3, 1667, and took his 
holdings by virtue of a patent granted by Governor- 
General Richard Nicolls. Tracing down the de- 
scent from that early settler we find in direct and 
succeeding line the baptismal names of Stephen ; 
John (I), died m .March, 17^5; John {2), born 
1737; John (3). 1768; and WHliam, the last named 
being the father of Henry H. For the purpose of 
the present narrative, however, it is unnecessary to 
enter into detail as to the family history prior to the 
time of John, the third of that name, who was the 
grandfather of the gentleman whose career is un- 
der consideration. This John Richards was a sea 
captain, and lost his life upon the element which 
he so dearly loved, at the early age of thirty-one 
years. His vessel laden with lumber and bound for 
Bermuda was lost. .\ lad of seventeen years was 
taken from the floating wreck to tell the sad tale 
of long and terrific storm, and final loss of all but 
himself clinging to the bowsprit. Capt. Richards 
was swept from the helm by a huge wave, having 
refused to leave until swept from it. That wave 
t(K)k all but the bov and one man, who was later 
washed oft" the bowsprit. John Richards (3) mar- 
ried Amariila Smith, by whom he had four children. 
His eldest son, William, born June 19, 1794, was 
the father of Henry H. His widow survived him 
until she reached the age of seventy-four years. 

l"or William Richards the sea possessed the same 
fascination as for his father, and he, too, com- 
manded a vessel sailing to jiorts in the West Indies. 
At length, however, he began to grow weary of 
adventure with its attendant perils, and bouglit a 
farm in West Haven, where he made his home, 
and where he died in 1861, in his si.xty-seventh 
year. His wife, Mehitable Reynolds, was the 
daughter of another weather-lieaten mariner, Capt. 
FVetlerick Reynolds, of West Haven. Of their 
children five reached maturity: (i) Frederick R., ', 
of Sidney, Ohio, was cajytain of two or three West 
Indies vessels from Xew Haven, afterward circum- ! 
navigating the globe, and is now retired. (2) 
Henry H. (3) John .\I. lives in WcnI Haven; 



(4) Elieabeth K., widow of W. Ed^on Doolittle. 
of Cheshire, Conn., has two children, .\della May 
and Jennie E. Her eldest child, (iertrude, died 
young. (5) Laura .\., tleceased, married Charles 
Wocxiward, of East Haven, and had two children, 
Edmund B. and Lulu, the latter now deceased. The 
other four chililren were named John W., Edward 
.•\., Emily E. and Martha .K. The mother of Mr. 
Richards passed away at the age of eighty. Both 
she and her husband were conununicants of the 
Protestant ICjjiscopal Church. 

Henry H. Richards was born in West Haven 
.May 22, 1826. His education was acciuired at the 
best i)ublic schools and academy of the town, and 
by his i)erseverance and application he acquired an 
education much above the average of that day. He 
was later employed as a teacher in East Haven, 
Southington and West Haven, and afterward with 
his two brothers embarked in the coal business at 
New Haven, under the finn name of Richards 
Brothers. This firm by their own vessel, the "Sam- 
uel Griscum," received the first cargo of coal shipped 
from New York jjorts to Xew Haven, that came 
to Xew \'ork from the coal fields by rail. The 
eldest brother was the first to withdraw from the 
firm, and subscqucntl\' Henry H. disposed of his 
interest to the yoimgest, himself removing his busi- 
ness interests to West Haven. There in 1861 he 
opened a coal and wood yard, and later Ije engaged 
in the sale of lumber, his place of business being 
on Water street. After some years of active, suc- 
cessful, cominercial life he disposed of his business 
to his sons, although still aiding them by wise coun- 
sel, the fruit of sound judgment and ripe experi- 
ence. .'\fter some time a joint stock company was 
formed, the name of the concern being The H. II. 
Richards Lumber Co. Personallv, however, Mr. 
Richards does not take an especially active part 
in the control of the company's affairs, his attention 
being chiefly devoted to the management of his own 
private business, and particularly of his extensive 
real estate interests. Despite his seventy-five years 
he is of sturdy physique and undimmed intellect. 
He has hewn out his own path to .success, his na- 
tive sagacity suggesting means, and his indomit- 
able resolutiim overcoming every obstacle. 

Mr. Richards was one of the founders of the 
Republican party in the town of his residence, hut 
since 1884 has acted with the Prohibitioni.sts. While 
averse to hi>lding office, he has consented to serve 
his fellow townsmen as assessor. He is an active 
worker in the church, having acted as both trustee 
and steward, and was for many years a teacher in 
the Sunday-school. 

On Oct. 24, 1849, Mr. Richards was married to 
Miss Esther C". Ward, of East Haven, a grand- 
daughter of Samuel, and a daughter of Josiah J. 
Ward both farmers of Middlctown, Conn., although 
Josiah J. Ward spent some years in the South. He 
died at the age of eighty-four. Mrs. Richards' 
mother's maiden name was Abiah L. Roberts, and 



3IO 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



she was one of six children bom to ColHns, Roberts, 
of Middletown, who donated the site for the asylum 
in that city. Mrs. Richards herself is one of a 
family of eight children, six of whom lived to ma- 
turity, while three are yet living: Ruth, the widow 
of Edward Thompson, of East Haven ; Alaria H., 
widow of James McLeve, of Portland, Conn., and 
a resident of New Haven ; and Mrs. Richards, 
Among those deceased were Samuel, Josiah, Will- 
iam and George. ?^Irs. Ward entered into rest in 
.her seventy-fifth year. 

Mr. and Mrs. Richards have been blessed with 
ten children, of wh(jm five died young. The living 
are (i) Fannie M. married John J. Carman, a 
merchant of Bay Shore, Long Island. (2) Edward 
A. married Harriet E. Haswell, of Hardinsburg, 
Ky., and has two children, Florence O. and Hobart 
H. ; and he is engaged at the old wharf and lumber 
yard in the lumber business. (3) George O. en- 
gaged in the lumber trade ; he married Mary S. 
Hvd'e, of West Haven, and they have four chil- 
dren, Eleanor B.. Esther A., Durell S. and Char- 
lotte M. (4) Benjamin F., president and director 
of the H. H. Richards Lumber Co., retired, and 
is now engaged in the real estate and insurance 
business; he married Dora B. Seiter, of Monroe, N. 
Y., and has one son Earl 1-". ( 3 ) Etta Belle is an 
artist, a graduate of the Yale Art School of Yale 
L'niversity, and lives with her parents. Of the 
five children who are deceased, Henry Ward died 
at eleven, Sidnev P. at nine and the other three, 
William, Ruebin and Bertha, in early infancy. 

AHXOTTE ESTES CHATFIELD, president 
and treasurer and principal owner of the Lhatfield 
Paper Co., of New Haven, and prominent in busi- 
ness circles not only in that city, but throughout the 
State, is a representative of one of the old Colonial 
families of Connecticut. 

Mr. Chatfield was born Alarch 13, 1859. in Cen- 
terville, near New Haven, a son of George W. and 
Cornelia (Ford) Chatfield, and a descendant in the 
eighth generation from George Chatfield, who came 
from England in 163Q, accompanied by his two 
brothers, Francis and Thomas, in the party led by 
Rev. Air. Whitfield, to Guilford. Conn. George 
Chatfield married (first) Sarah, daughter of John 
Bishop. She died in 1657, and on ^March 19, 1659, 
he married (second) Isabel, daughter of Saniuel 
Nettleton. In i''i''i3 he removed to Killingworth, 
Conn., where his death occurred June <), i')/!. 
From tliis first American ])aternal ancestor our 
subject's line is through John, Ebenezer, Elnathan, 
Joel, Oliver Stoddard and George W. Chatfield, all 
of whom, as well as the eighth and ninth genera- 
tions, have resided wiiliin a radius of twentv-five 
miles. 

(II) John Chatfield, son nf George (the emi- 
grant) and Lsabel, born A])ril 8. i(V)i, in Guilford. 
Conn., located in Derby (a single man), receiving 
his first grant of land and jireparing to occupy it in 



1684. In that year he married Anna, daughter of 
Jabez Harger. He died in 1737. 

(Ill) Ebenezer Chatfield, son of John, born in 
Derby July 4, 1703, married in 1728 Abigail, daugh- 
ter of John Prindle. 

(R') Elnathan Chatfield, son of Ebenezer, born 
in 1733, married Hannah Northrup, and resided on 
the north side of Bladen's brook, in that part of 
the town of Milford which subsequently became 
Woodbridge, and still later Bethany. 

(V) Joel Chatfield, son of Elnathan, born in 
1756, married Nov. 13,. 1785. Ruth Stoddard, of 
Woodbury. He built and lived in a house on the 
south bank of the stream, near his father's resi- 
dence. Joel was one of the first Society Committee 
of the Episcopal Church (now Trinity) of Sey- 
mour, Conn., in 1797. He died June 14, 1836, at 
the age of seventy-nine years, being killed by a 
spring lever while loading hmiber. His wife passed 
away Nov. 21, 1831. 

( \T ) CJliver Stoddard Chatfield, son of Joel, 
was born Nov. 19, 1793, and in 1822 married Abi- 
gail Tuttle, who was torn March 28, 1804, daugh- 
ter of Amasa and Sybil (Wooster) Tuttle, of 
Middlebury. They lived in a house on the south 
side of the road from Seymour to New Haven, 
which house is still standing, on the boundary line 
between Woodbridge and Seymour ; across the road 
a corner of the town of Bethany joins the other 
towns. Mr.. Chatfield was one of the wealthiest 
men of his day, and was a genial and hospitable 
host. He owned five farms, and worked them for 
years, and operated the old family mill, furnish- 
ing heavy timber for the construction of the old 
State House, some of the older Yale College build- 
ings, the First Methodist Church (which used to 
stand on the corner of the New Haven Green), 
and other buildings of a public nature. His death 
occurred ]\Iarch 16, 1877, and that of his widow 
April 14, 1887; she was then the oldest member 
of the Methodist Church in Seymour, with which 
she had been connected for sixty-seven years. Fra- 
ternally Mr. Chatfield was a Free Mason, joining 
King Hiram Lodge, Derby, in 1814. He was cap- 
tain of a military company in Bethany. 

(\TI) George W. Chatfield, son of Oliver S., 
and the father of the subject of this biography, was 
born Oct. 14, 1829, at the old homestead, on the 
line between Woodbridge and Seymour. At the age 
of twenty-four years he went to Centerville, where 
he conducted a general store, and in i8C)5 moved 
to New Haven and ojiened up a grocery business in 
Dixwell avenue, continuing same until 1875, when 
he engaged in the wholesale notion business, travel- 
ing about the State. He still resides in New Haven. 
C)n Nov. 23, 1853, he married Mrs. Cornelia 
(Ford) Andrews, who was born .\ug. 6. 1830, 
ilaughter of Elias Ford, of Hamden. ( Elias Ford 
died March 14, 1899, aged ninety-six years, one 
month, twelve days. He was a direct descendant of 
Timothy Ford, one of the original settlers of New 




/kiii^'^L 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



3" 



Haven.) Mr. Chatfield is a Free Mason and Odd 
Fellow. 

The eig-hth generation of the Chatfield family 
has these representatives (children of George W.) : 
Andrew Oliver, of Xew Haven ; Frank H., of Chi- 
cago ; and Minotte K. The ninth g:eneration is 
represented by Alfred Burton and Gertrude Yates, 
children of Andrew Oliver Chattield ; Lena, daugh- 
ter of Frank H. ; and the children of our subject : 
Russell Estes, born June ii. 1884; Sterling Rus- 
sell, born Sept. i.:], 1891 : and Helen Russell, born 
Aug. 27, iS<)3. 

Minotte Estes Chatfield recei\'ed his preliminary 
education in the Hopkins Grammar School and the 
public schools of his native city, and at sixteen 
years of age entered the Xew Haven post office, 
as clerk under the veteran postmaster. Hon. X. D. 
Sperry, now a member of Congress from the Xew 
Haven District. He was thus engaged until 1882, 
when he entered a large paper and hardware es- 
tablishment of the same city, continuing his serv- 
ices with same for seven years. On July i, 1889, 
he purchased the paper and twine departments of 
that business house, the branches to which he had 
given his time and eft'orts, and for the following 
six years, as proprietor of the Chatfield I'aper Co., 
carried on an extensive and successful paper and 
twine business. In 1895 was incorporated the Chat- 
field Paper Co., of which he was made and has 
since been president and treasurer, and of which 
he is the principal stockholder. He is also con- 
nected with the Xew Haven Pulp Board Co., of 
which he is president and a leading stockholder; 
this company has built and is now operating a large 
plant at the foot of Green street, on Mill river. 
Mr. Chatfield is also a stockholder and director in 
the Evening Leader Co., publishers of the Ez'cning 
Leader, a daily Republican newspaper of Xew Ha- 
ven, and one of the leading papers of the State ; 
he is also a director in other enterprises. He is a 
man of recognized business ability, energetic and 
industrious, and has been noted wherever placed as 
a faithful and conscientious worker. He has been 
especially active as a member of the Xew Haven 
Young Glen's Republican Club, in which since its 
organization he has held several offices, and he is 
regarded as one of its faithful members and friends. 
He has most eft'ectively served his fellow citizens 
as an alderman and also in the common council ; 
is a trustee of the Old Town Farm, and a director 
and treasurer of the Xew Haven Free Public Li- 
brarv. Fraternallv he is a member of Hiram Lodge, 
Xo.i, A. F. & A. M. 

On Sept. 29, 1880, Mr. Chatfield was married 
to Miss Stella Stowe Russell, a daughter of Edwin 
Russell, of Xew Haven, formerly of Prospect. 
Conn., and three children have been born of this 
union. Mrs. Chatfield is a direct descendant of 
Capt. Stephen and I'Veelovc ( lialdwin ) Stowe, of 
Milford, Conn., the former of whom lost his life in 
caring for released Revolutionarv soldiers from 



Xew York prisons. These soldiers were abandoned 
on Milford Point on account uf having the ])Iague, 
then epidemic in the prisons. Capt. Stowe took 
pity on them, and was the only one to house and 
care for them, his reward being his death from 
the disease. 

^L-\RCUS P. S^^TH, a well-known citizen of 
Xew Haven and a member of the enterprising firm 
of Smith Bros., of Oyster Point, was born in West 
Haven, Conn., Dec. 31, 1846, a son of Willis and 
Sarah L. (Hmman) Smith, antl a grandson of 
Harry Smith. 

Willis Smith was born in West Haven, where 
the family was one of the oldest and best known 
and died in Xew Haven at the age of seventy years. 
With his brother, Jeremiah Smith, he was among 
the earliest men to see the advantages to be gained 
by embarking in the business of oyster farming 
along this coast, the required conditions here being 
excellent. Later in life, with his sons, he became in- 
terested in the firm known to the trade as Smith 
Bros. From his marriage into the Hinman family, 
one of the old and esteemed ones of Middlebury, 
was bom a family of nine children, seven of these 
still surviving, as well as the most estimable and 
beloved mother. 

Marcus P. Smith was four years of age when 
his parents moved to City or Oyster Point, receiv- 
ing his education in the schools of that locality and 
in the Washington school, in Xew Haven. For 
some time prior to his own active entrance into the 
oyster farming business he managed for his father, 
but later formed a partnership with his brother, 
Riley T., and for twenty-five years this firm has 
stood for reliability and excellence of product. The 
business has increased to immense proportions, the 
sales being entirely wholesale, 20,000 bushels to one 
party not being an unusual transaction. 

On June 15, 1869, Mr. Smitii was united in 
marriage to Fannie A. Thomas, who was bom in 
Xew Haven, although her parents were natives of 
West Haven. The two sons of this union are : 
George T. and Leslie P. Smith. The beautiful fam- 
ily home, which Mr. Smith built in 1890, is located 
at Xo. 194 Howard avenue, where a generous hos- 
pitality is dispensed by its courteous and genial 
owner, his intimate friends being numbered among 
the most prominent social figures of the city. 
Mrs. Smith is a member of the Howard Avenue 
j ^L E. Church. 

In political life Mr. Smith has been particularly 
noted, a leading member of the Republican party, 
at one time [)olice commissioner, declining all other 
honors, even the mayoralty. Fraternally he is con- 
nected with the order of A. O. L'. W., was a charter 
member of Sterling Lodge, Xo. 43, and for a period 
served as one of the trustees. For eiglvt years he 
has been connected with the l^nion League Club, 
and has been a member of the board of governors 
and chairman of the supply committee, also serving 



312 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



this clulj one year as a director. For seven years 
he has been a member of the Chainber of Com- 
merce. In social circles Mr. Smith is popular and 
active, possessing a pleasing personality, a gift of 
oratory and the ease and poise of manner that 
wealth and culture gives. At a late elaborate dinner 
given by his club to Congressman Sperry. Mr. Smith 
was the orator of the occasion, acquitting himself 
in his usual happy manner. 

GEORGE HOXIE BEEBE, M. D., the oldest 
medical practitioner in the town of Guilford, is a 
natlive of Rhode Island, born Feb. i, 1855, in 
Westerly. 

Dr. Beebe is the only son of Rev. D. F. and 
Sarah E. ( Witter ) Beebe, the former of whom was 
a native of Litchfield county, Conn., andl was an 
ordained minister of the Baptist Church, spending 
his life in that service. His latter years were passed 
at Rocky HUl, Hartford Co., Conn., and he died 
May-' 16, 1897, at Colebrook, Conn., while on a 
visit, his remains being interred there temporarily. 
He was well known in connection with his life 
work. Mrs. Beebe. who was born at Westerly, still 
makes her home at Rocky Hill : she is a lady of 
culture and refinement. 

George H. Beebe attended the common and high 
schools of his birthplace, and later Hopkinton (R. 
I.) Academy, from which he was graduated. After 
teaching school for a year he entered the Medical 
School of Yale, where he studied a short time, com- 
pleting his professional preparation at the Univer- 
sity of New York, where he graduated, receiving 
his diploma in the spring of 1878. His first loca- 
tion for practice was at Pontiac, III., as he con- 
sidered the West the best field for a young practi- 
tioner, and 'he remained there three years. The 
next four years he practiced at Charlestown, in liliis 
native State, and in 1885 came to his present loca- 
tion, where he has been continuously engaged in 
active practice to the present time. He succeeded 
to the practice of the late Dr. Hamilton, and has, 
by skill and devotion to the wants of Ms patients, 
built up a large and lucrative clientele, his duties 
taking him from Guilford to Madison, North Guil- 
ford, North Branford. and other places iin the neigh- 
borhood. Personally the Doctor is geriial andi so- 
ciable, and though his professional success is quite 
sufficient evidence in itself of his popularity he is 
no less esteemed in other lines. A stancfh Repub- 
I'iican in politics, he is an earnest supporter of the 
principles of his party, but he is not a politician in 
the sense of office seeking. However, the people of 
the town have chosen him to serve as health officer 
and on the school board, of which he is secretary, 
and on which he has done efficient work. Socially 
he lis a member of the New England Order of Pro- 
tection, the Royal Arcanum (in both of which he is 
medical examiner), St. Alban Lodge, F. & A. M., 
of Guilford, and the Chapter. His religious con- 
nection is with the Congregational Church, to which 
h(is wife also belongs. 



Dr. Beebe was married in Westerly, April 29, 
1879, to Miss ]\Iay E. Lewis, a native of North 
Stonington, Conn., and daughter of Henry Lewis. 
Three children have blessed this union : Grace, 
born Sept. 15, 1884; Florence, born Dec. 7, 1886; 
and Albert Lewis, born May 6, 1889; the daughters 
are now attending high school. Mrs. Beebe is an 
intelligent, cultured woman, and a leader in social 
circles in Guilford, where she shares fully the es- 
teem and jiopularity enjoyed by her husband. 

KENDRICK. For three quarters of a century, 
through three generations, the fan:iiily bearing this 
name have been prominent in the annals of Water- 
bury, among those conspicuously prominent and 
useful being Hon. Greene Kendrick, Hon. John 
Kendrick and Hon. Greene Kendrick (2), father, 
son and grandson. 

John Kendrick, the grandfather of Hon. Greene 
Kendrick, and a descendant of an ancestor who came 
to Massachusetts, was a Virginian, born about 1735, 
and in hisi native State was occupied in growing 
tobacco. Of his four sons, John, William, James 
and Benjamin, and several daughters, John Kend- 
rick, the eldest son, was born in 1764, removed to 
North Carolina about 1786, and was occupied as a 
cotton planter. His wife Martha, born in 1763, was 
a daughter of a wealthy planter, believed to be of 
Welsh descent. John Kendrick wasi a man of 
marked ability, religious character, and of eminent 
usefulness in the affairs of the Church, State and 
society. He was a deacon in the Baptist Church. 
His wife was a woman of great force of char- 
acter, and at their home was dispensed a generous 
hospitality. He died in 1823, and his wife passed 
away in 1825. They were the parents of eleven 
children, eight sons and three daughters, nine of 
whom became heads of families. 

Greene Kendrick, son of John Kendrick, was 
born April 1, 1798, the seventh in a faniiily of eleven 
children, at the homestead near Charlotte, N. C, 
and in that locality attended school, later assisting 
in the management of the plantation. At about 
twenty he engaged in the mercantile business at 
Charlotte, and in 1829 he located in Waterbury, and 
from that time on until his death figured pre-emi- 
nently in its industrial life and in all of its affairs, 
public and social. He had married, June 12, 1823, 
at Augusta, Ga., Anna AL, daughter of Mark Leav- 
enworth, and a native of Waterbury, with whom 
he lived happily for forty-seven years. It was 
through the influence of Air. Leavenworth that he 
came North and located in Waterbury, where he 
became a member of the firm of Mark Leavenworth 
& Co., manufacturers of clocks, the firm later be- 
ing styled Leavenworth & Kendrick. They were 
among the first to engage in the manufacture of gilt 
buttons, out of which industry grew the manufacture 
of brass. Mr. Kendrick subsequently engaged in the 
manufacture of pocket cutlery, and organized the 
Waterbury Manufacturing Co., which under his 
direction procured skilled labor from abroad and 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



313 



proved the practicability of competing successfully 
with Europe in this useful art. He atso later or- 
ganized and successfully established under peculiar 
difficulties the Oakville Tin Co. He was interested 
in the American Suspender Co., and many other 
manufacturing corporations. In the latter years of 
his life he '".btained the controlling interest in the 
mnnufacture o*' .'^ilver-p'ated ware, then recently cs- 
t. blished in \*/arerbuiy bv Rogers & lirother. \VhiIe 
r.ctive in ihe 'n-lustries of Waterburv at home, he 
served the town abroad yet more efficiently in the 
combining of capital in co-operative work. The 
passage of the measure gave a stimulus to all man- 
ufacturing in Connecticut, especially in Waterburv. 

In the days of the old Whig party Mr. Kendrick 
was an able exponent of its doctrines in town, .State 
and national affairs — loyal to it as long as it ex- 
isted, and then stood aside, acting with the Demo- 
cratic party so far as he acted at all. He was ever 
loyal to his convictions of right, following them 
without regard to party lines. By native manliness 
and justice, he outgrew party bondage, and in his 
later years sought to conciliate and harmonize the 
diiifcring elements of strife, always preferring prin- 
ciple to party. Rorn in the South, he deeply re- 
gretted the necessity of war. but when it came he 
was loyal to his adopted section. 

Mr. Kendrick was many times honored by his 
fellow citizens by election to public trusts. He was 
a representative from the town eight times in the 
Legislature, and three times from the district in the 
State Senate. He was honored with the office of 
lieutenant-governor of the State in 185 1, and sub- 
sequently in an eiectioti by the Legislature he came 
within one vote of being chosen governor. He was 
Speaker of the House in 1854 and 1856, and in the 
latter year was the candidate of his party in the 
Legislature for United .States Senator, and by only 
two votes was defeated bv L. S. Foster. 

Mr. Kendrick took an active interest in every- 
thing that looked to the prosperity of Waterburv. 
For many years he was chairman of the board of 
education and also president of the board of agent? 
of the F)ronson Library. "His convictions of re- 
ligious truth were profound, but he was not a 
Church member, for he could not adopt a creed as 
a whole unless he was willing to accept it in detail. 
Here, if anywhere, he believed, was the place for 
frankness and honesty; if he could not enter the 
Church without mental reservations, he would not 
enter at all. Vet his interest in the Church was 
deep and permanent, and in all that concerned its 
material prosperity he served it faithfidly." ?Ie was 
active in the supijort of the First Congregational 
Church, and was chairman of the Society building 
committee in 1840. In the midst of a busy life he 
was ever ready to lead in all movements to improve 
and beautify the town, and was a leading spirit in 
making Center Square Park, and was one of the 
pioneers in the movement to open Riverside Cem- 
etery, devoting himself to complete the organiza- 
tion of the plan ; he was also chairman of the Board 



of Trustees, and delivered the address at its dedica- 
tion. He was a promoter of the Xaugatuck rail- 
road. .Mr. Kendrick was an orator of exceptional 
power, and had he devoted himself to public life 
he would have been a leader in legislative bodies. 
Mr. Kendrick died Aug. 26, 1873. his wife having 
preceded him three years, dying .\Iay 6, 1870. Their 
children were: John. Katherine (Mrs. PVederick 
G. Wheeler) and Martha. 

Ho.\. Joiix Kkxdrick, son of Cjreene and Anna 
M. (Leavenworth) Kendrick, was l)orn May 27, 
1825, near Charlotte, X. C, but was brought by his 
parents when four years of age to VVatcrbury, 
Conn. Prepared for college at the school of Stiles 
French, in New Haven, he entered Yale College, 
from which he was graduated in 1843. Returning 
to Waterbury, he was for a time assistant teacher 
in the academy there, later for a time being en- 
gaged in mercantile business in Xew York. He be- 
gan the study of law at Waterbury in 1845, in the 
office of N. J. Bull, and later attended the Yale 
Law School. He was admitted to the Bar in 1847 
at the age of twenty-two, and opened an office in 
Waterbury. Like many another gifted son of 
genius, he found the law a dry study, and the neces- 
sary confinement to his office was peculiarly irksome 
to one of his active temperament ; moreover, the 
road to income and fortune was much easier and 
shorter in those early days of manufacturing in 
Waterbury outside of a law office than in it. and 
so after a year or so he became a manufacturer. 
Here he made a nuistake of which he was con- 
scious in later years, and so some two years be- 
fore his death he returned to the Bar in company 
with his son (Jreene. in whom chieflv he had gar- 
nered up his heart. Had he been faithful to the 
law from the outset, endowed with that genial 
sunny disposition, that lively wit and jjlayful fancy, 
that brilliant intentive and comprehensive itUellect, 
and that remarkable faculty of influencing and 
gaining over his fellow men. none that knew him 
well ever doubted that greatness, as the world es- 
teems greatness, would have been easily achieved 
by him. 

.Mr. Kendrick was repeatedly honored with the 
votes of his fellow citizens. In 1848 he was elected 
town clerk. He was first chief judge of the city 
court upon its organization of the city government. 
He was three times inavor of Waterbury — 1864, 
1865 and 1868. He was in the Legislature in 18*19, 
and in 1871 was the candidate of his [)arty for Con- 
gress, but was unsuccessful in the election that fol- 
lowed, and at the time of his death he was serving 
as city attorney. From 1857 to 1859 he was as- 
sistant editor of the New Haven Register, and was 
once a defeated candidate for probate judge. Both 
of his defeats referred to were owing to strife in 
the ranks of his own party. Mr. Kendrick at the 
time of his death was one of the agents of the 
Bronson Library Fund, and a member of the Dem- 
ocratic State Commdttee, a iX)sition he had filled 
for several years. For upwards of thirty years Mr. 



3i4 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Kendrick had exercised a powerful influence in the 
politics of Connecticut. He was first a Whig and 
afterward a Democrat. Mr. Kendrick was a mem- 
ber of the famous Peace Convention at Philadel- 
phia in 1866. In 1869 lie received an appointment 
from Gen. Grant as special bearer of the treaties 
which had been made with the Belgian government, 
and spent some time in European travel. He was 
a classical scholar with a natural capacity for lan- 
guages. 

Mr. Kendrick married Marion Marr, and their 
children were: (i ) John Kendrick, born ]May 31, 
1.850, became a lawyer by profession but pursued 
a business career ; he became a successful inventor 
and died at Dayton. Ohio, April 27, 1895. (2) 
Greene Kendrick is mentioned farther on. 

With a thorough and intimate knowledge from 
his youth of the greater doctrines of our religion, 
and an intellectual belief in their truth, it was not 
until the beginning of his last illness that he ad- 
dressed himself in earnest to the work of prepara- 
tion for the great change which he thought could 
not be far distant. Few men ever more readily de- 
tected hypocrisy, few more utterly scorned pharisa- 
ism. and so, honest with himself and with humanity, 
he approached his God. He left with his friends a 
most gratifying and consoling evidence that he died 
with the faith and hope of a Christian. His death 
occurred ]May 27, 1877. 

"In a city as large as Waterbury when a man 
dies the wave soon passes over him and he is 
seldom in men's thoughts, less frequently upon 
their tongues : but for many years to come John 
Kendrick will be spoken of with many a kindly 
reminiscence. The poor will long remember that 
large heart, that open hand. Few men ever lived 
in this community whose virtues men so kindly ap- 
preciated, and to whose failings men were so will- 
ingly a little blind." 

Hon. Greene Kendrick^ son of' John and 
Marion (Marr) Kendrick, was born Alay 31, 1851, 
in Waterbury, Conn. He attended school at Water- 
bury, and was prepared for college at Round Hill 
school in Northampton, Mass. He was graduated 
from Yale College in the class of 1872, having been 
the Berkley scholar for three years. After his grad- 
uation he took one year of post-graduate work, then 
entered the Yale Law School, from which he was 
graduated in 1875. having taken the Jewell, Ed- 
wards and Roman Law prizes, which were all that 
were offered that year. He was admitted to the 
Bar June 8, 1875, and began practice with his fa- 
ther, and on the death of the father in 1877 he was 
appointed city attorney to fill out the father's un- 
expired term. From 1874 to 1879 Mr. Kendrick 
was city clerk, and auditor of State from 1875 to 
1881. He was a member of the board of educa- 
tion from 1875 to 1883; represented Waterbury in 
the State Legislature in 1876, 1877 and 1878; and 
was mayor of the city in 1882 and 1883. In 1888 
Mr. Kendrick moved to New York, where he was 



admitted to the Bar of that city and became a 
member of the law firm of Finley & Kendrick. He 
was associate counsel with the late Col. Robert G. 
Ingersoll in the celebrated contest over the Hart 
will. He returned to Waterbury in 1892. 

SAMUEL HENRY WOODRUFF YALE, late 
secretary and treasurer of the Meriden Saving? 
Bank, was a member of the well-known family 
which gave its name to New Haven's famous col- 
lege. The first of the name in this country was 
Capt. Thomas Yale, whose history is fully given in 
the genealogy of Horace Yale elsewhere. (II) 
Capt. Thomas Yale, of the second generation, is 
also described in the same article. His' brother, 
Elihu Yale, made a contribution to the funds of the 
Connecticut Institute, which thereupon adopted his 
name and became Yale College. 

(III) Capt. Theophilus Yale, son of Capt. 
Thomas (II), was born Nov. 13, 1675, in Walling- 
ford, and married Sarah, daughter of Rev. Samuel 
and Anna Street, of the same town. He was a 
magistrate from 1724 until his death, Sept. 13, 1760, 
and held many offices, civil and military. His 
widow died at the home of their son-in-law, Joseph 
Hough, Nov. 28, 1784, aged ninety-four years. 
Their children were: Elihu, Ann, Samuel, Theo- 
philus, Sarah, Catherine and Mary. 

(IV) Samuel Yale, son of Capt. Theophilus, 
was born Jan. 28, 171 1, in Wallingford, and was a 
fanner in the northern part of the town, the present 
site of Yalesville. He died Oct. 6, 1754, leaving a 
large estate. On Alarch 11, 1736, he married Sus- 
annah Abernethy, of Wallingford, who ilied May 
30, 1770, at the age of fifty-nine years. Their 
children were: Samuel, Street, Susannah (who mar- 
ried first a Parker, second a Hamilton, and lived 
at Egremont, Mass.), Charles, Waitstill and Amasa. 

(V) Of the life of Street Yale, son of Samuel, 
of Wallingford, little is known. The dates of his 
birth and death cannot be found. The maiden name 
of his wife, Mary, is also unknown. She sur- 
vived him, and passed away at Ballston. N. Y. 
Their children, all Oorn in Wallingford. were: 
Samuel, Reuben, Ruth, Charles (died in infancy),' 
Charles and Mary. 

(VI) Samuel Yale, eldest child of Street, was 
Ixirn Aug. 18, 1763, in Wallingford. He married 
(first) Eunice Paine, of Meriden, and (second) 
Mehetable Rice, of Wallingford. He was the first 
manufacturer in Meriden, commiencing the produc- 
tion of cut nails in 1791. His shop was a small 
building on the hill, near the present site of the 
Center Congregational Church, and there he and 
his son operated a nail machine by hand, heading 
each nail separately. In 1794 he commenced the 
manufacture of pewter buttons, and employed sev- 
eral hands. He accumulated a handsome estate. 
To his first marriage came children as follows: 
William was born March 17, 1784; Roxana, born in 
1786, married Jonathan Y. Clark, and died Sept. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



315 



26, 1828; Samuel was born April 4, 1787; Charles, | 
April 20, 1790; Iva, March 31, 1792; Selden, Feb. 
-9' 1795: Hiram, born March 27, 1799. married ' 
Kosetta Robinson April 6, 1821, and died July 21, 
183 1. His widow married William Carter, of 
Wallingford. The children of the second wife 
were: Maria, born Nov. 30, 1804, married E. X. 
Howard: and Mehetable, born in October, 1808; 
married Thomas Tyler — all of Meriden. 

(\ II) Samuel Yale, second son and third child 
of Samuel, was born April 4, 1787, in Wallingford, 
and married Laminta, daughter of Jehiel Clark, of 
Meriden. At an early age he began to assist his 
father in the manufacture of cut nails and, later, 
pewter buttons. After the death of the father 
the sons Samuel and Hiram continued the business 
which he had founded. They spent several years 
at Richmond, \"a., in the tin business. Returning 
to Meriden. they were joined by their brothers Will- 
iam and Charles in the production of tin and 
Britannia ware. Their goods were distributed 
cliiefly by peddlers. Being progressive and enter- 
prising, the brothers brought skilled artisans from 
England and were soon foremost in the Britannia 
trade, furnishing the finest tea and church services 
and similar goods. Charles and Hiram Yale re- 
moved to Wallingford, and Samuel remained in 
Meriden and continued the tin and Britannia busi- 
ness, liaving a shoj) for some time on Liberty 
street, later at the corner of Broad and East: Main 
streets. He retired in 1858. In early life Mr. 
Yale was a deputy sheriff several years. He was 
made a director of the Meriden Bank on its or- 
ganization, and held that position until his death. 
During the existence of the Meriden Academical 
Association he was its president and a trustee. It 
was through his influence that the first Abolition 
meeting in Meriden was permitted to Ik; held in 
the school house near his hon'Je on Broad street. In 
1850 he built what was known as the Odd Fellows' 
building, on the site of the present Broad Street 
Hall, owned by Meriden Center Lodge, I. O. O. F., 
and in 1856 he erected the brick block at the north- 
east corner of East Main and Broad streets. Mr. 
Yale diatl March 12, 1864, aged seventy-seven 
years, and his widow passed away one year later, 
in her seventy-ninth year. Their children were: 
Caroline, born July 3, 1813, died June 25, 1814; 
Henry Clark, born Oct. 29, 1815, died April 15, 
1817; Jane Ann, born Dec. 20, 1820, died Nov. 20, 
1842; Sanuiel H. was born July 30, 1822; and 
Hiram A. was born Nov. 5, 1824. 

(XTIl) Samuel H. Yale, son of Samuel, was 
born July 30, 1822, and reared in Meriden, and 
was early associated with his father and brother in 
manufacturing tin and Britannia ware. He died 
April 18, 1846, eighteen years previous to the death 
of his father. In 1843 he married Miss Susan 
Woodruff, daughter of Daniel and Eliza (Bristol) 
Woodruff, of Southington, Conn. His widow sur- 
vived him only one year, passing away in 1847. 



The subject of these lines was the only child of 
this union. 

Samuel Henry Woodruff Yale was born April 
18, 1844. in Meriden. By the untimely death of his 
parents he was left an orphan at the age of two 
years, and was reared by his grandparents. He 
acquired his education in the public schools and 
academy of Meriden, studied Greek, French and 
German, and was prepared for college. Determin- 
ing upon a business career, while still a youth he 
entered the Meriden Savings Bank as clerk, grad- 
uallv winning promotion until he became secretary 
and treasurer, which position he filled thirteen years 
or until his death, which occurred Nov. 2, 1890. 
His remains repose in the beautiful East cemetery. 

From early youth Samuel H. W. Yale was a 
reader and close student of men and affairs. He 
rarely played like other boys, but made companions 
of books.' Being well read, he was an excellent 
conversationalist, and his large library afforded au- 
thorities upon every subject of human interest. His 
gentle and modest character endeared him to all 
with whom he came in contact. In political prin- 
ciple he was a Democrat, but he was not in any 
sense a politician. Of domestic tastes, he lived a 
strictly temperate life, and his death was a source 
of regret to many citizens of Meriden beside his 
immediate relatives. 

On July 26, 1876, in Meriden, Mr. Yale married 
Cecelia Ida Saleski, a lady of great business ability. 
Three children came to this union, viz.: Samuel 
S., a very intellectual and promising youth, who 
died in 1895, and was interred in East cemetery; 
Cecelia Maria; and Ethel Laminta. The daughters 
are graduates of Kenwood Sacred Heart Convent, 
Albany, N. Y., and are popular in Meriden social 
circles. Mrs. Yale has carefully conserved and 
improved the estate left by her husband, and has 
built several houses in the city. Her beautiful 
home, at the corner of Broad and Wall streets, has 
been remodeled after plans of her own and is one of 
the most desirable residences in Meriden. 

BENJAMIN PAGE, one of Meriden's leading 
citizens and successful men of affairs, is the senior 
member of the old established insurance and real- 
estate firm of Page & Pardee. He was born in the 
town of North Branford, Conn., Sept. 4, 1840, a 
son of Benjamin and Sarah E. (Merriam) Page, 
and a brother of Rev. Charles Page, of North Bran- 
ford, and of John M. Page, a well-known merchant 
of Naugatuck, in whose biographies will be found 
the family genealogy. 

From earlv life Benjamin Page showed an in- 
tellectual leaning, his anxiety to obtain an educa- 
tion making that the chief business of his life until 
the age of seventeen, when he was first engaged as 
a teacher. Full preparation had been made for this 
profession, Mr. Page having been educated in the 
public schools, supplemented by a short course at 
the New Britain State Normal School. A general 



3i6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



course of reading further stimulated a naturally 
quick understanding. 

Finishing his first school term in Wallingford 
with success, he followed the profession in East 
Haven and North Branford, and for a tenu of four 
years was the efficient principal of the South Meri- 
den school. While still engaged in his professional 
duties he established an insurance business, this be- 
ing the same which has been so well known through 
the county and State for the past thirty-six years. 
From a small beginning, in 1865, it has grown in 
importance until now it covers a large field and 
ranks with the best in this part of Connecticut. 
Since 1802 the firm has had added strength through 
the admission of Mr. L. C. Pardee as a partner, 
a young man of push and energ\-, who is fullv in 
acconl with Mr. Page in business methods. Mr. 
Page has done an extensive business in the settling 
uj) of estates in and around Meriden. his unques- 
tionable honesty, experience and excellent judgment 
making him a very reliable and prominent man in 
this line of business. 

Mr. Page is a man of excellent business ability, 
possessing a strong grasp of afifairs, while at the 
same time employing only those methods which 
.gain the confidence of the public. No .small amount 
of his success has resulted from his known personal 
integrity. He came to Meriden without capital or 
influential friends to aid him, and attained success 
through energy, industry and good business meth- 
ods. 

.\t about the age of twenty-five Mr. Page be- 
came identified with the Republican party, and has 
since been a stanch supporter of its principles. His 
services were recognized in 1883 bv an election to a 
seat in the city council as alderman from the Third 
ward, which office he held by re-election for a period 
of four years, the last two of which he was presi- 
dent pro tem. The strict performance of official 
duty, without fear or favor, made him a most desir- 
able candidate for the hoivirable position of mavor, 
and to that office he was elected, in 1889. His ad- 
ministration was characterized with so much wis- 
dom and such a general improvement along munici- 
I)al lines, that his fellow-citizens again so honored 
him, in i8go, and after serving with dignity, useful- 
ness and ability for two years, he was tendered a 
third nomination, but this be declined. His party, 
however, did not i)ermit his etirement to private 
life, but elected him to represent his town in the State 
Legislature, it: 1894, this duty being performed with 
the sanle scrupulous honesty which has character- 
ized all his official life. During his legislative term 
he was made clerk of the committee on Insurance, 
his knowledge of the subject making this a pe- 
culiarly wise selection. For a period of ten years, 
Mr. Page filled the offices of city and town collector, 
during which time millions of the public funds 
])assed through his hands. In January, 1902, he 
was appointed fire commissioner by Mayor Seeley. 
In all public afifairs and at citv functions, Mr. Paee 



is in great demand as a presiding officer, the 
ease and dignity with which he performs the duty 
reflecting credit both on him an'd his city. How- 
ever, although forced by circumstances into public 
life, Mr. Page is domestic in his tastes, and finds 
his greatest pleasure in his own home, which is pre- 
sided over by his most estimable wife. 

In 1864 Benjamin Page was married in North 
Branford, to Miss Margaret A. Cook, who was 
born in Wallingford. a daughter of Leverett and 
Thankful ( Stevens ) Cook. Airs. Page is a worthy 
descendant of an old Wallingford famiiv of prom- 
inence. The only child born to this marria.ge is Jen- 
nie .A., who is tlie wife of Frederick W. Kilhourne, 
of Springfield, Massachusetts. Fraternally Mr. 
Pa.ge has long been an active member of Meridian 
Lodge, No. yy, A. F. & A. M., and Pacific Lodge, 
No. 87, I. O. O. F. Both he and his wife are de- 
voted members of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 
where for a number of years he has been warden and 
vestryman, devoting time and means to the support 
and extension of the influences of this church. Very 
charitable, he has always taken a deep interest in 
the benevolent enterprises of the city, materially as- 
sisting when it has been within his power. Mr. 
Page is a director in the Meriden Savings Bank, 
president of the Curtis Home, and a dfrector in the 
Middlesex Mutual Assurance Companv of Middle- 
town. It is not too much to say of Benjamin Page 
that, as he has been shown wise in counsel, few men 
have been proved more scrupulously faithful in at- 
tending to the duties of public office. 

JAMES TOLLES, teller of the ,New Haven 
County National Bank, New Haven, is a repre- 
sentative of one of the oldest families of West 
Haven, and was bom there July 8, 1848, in a house 
near his present residence. The house was built 
before 1800 by his grandfather, Capt. Dann Tolles, 
a sea captain, who was a native of West Haven, 
and passed his time there when on shore. This 
worthy citizen died in 1833, aged fifty-eight years. 
His (second) wife, Lucy (Smith), was a daughter 
of Jerem'iah Smith, also a native of West Haven. 
She was the mother of ten children, and lived to 
the age of sixty-seven years, dying in 1844. 

James Tolles, our subject's father, w'as bom in 
1810, in the house mentioned above, and was reared 
upon a fami, the property belonging to his father. 
He learned the shoemaker's trade, in all its details, 
of Newton Stevens, and, the order trade being a 
profitable one, followed same for some years in West 
Haven, and for one winter in the South. Later he 
retired to the old homestead, where he died in 1868, 
aged fifty-eight. In politics he was a Republican, 
and he and his estimable wife were devout mentbers 
of the Congregational Church. James Tolles mar- 
ried Miss Julia A. Stevetis, a member of an old fam- 
ily of this section, daughter of Newton and Polly 
Stevens ; the latter belonged to the well-known Rey- 
nolds famiiv of this county. Our subject's mother 





t:^-u<A.^€^ 



«yi^^. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



317 



died aged eiglily-two. Of three children, our sub- 
ject James, who was the youngest, is now the only 
one living; Arabella married Joseph Ridley; Jessie 
died in infancy. 

James Tolles spent much of his early life at the 
homestead, and after completing a district-school 
course attendetl the Smith School, at New Haven, 
ISrown's Boarding School, in West Haven, and the 
Stevens & Wells Business College, in Xew Haven. 
Jn 1866, on leaving the last named institution, he 
entered the Xew Haven County National Bank as 
clerk, and was soon promoted to the post of book- 
keeper, which he held twenty years. In 1888 he be- 
came teller. At present he is the second oldest offi- 
cial in the bank. Jn 1871 Air. Tolles built his present 
residence, at No. 22y Elm street. West Haven, and 
he and his family are prominent in the best social 
circles of the place. He is a deacon in the Congre- 
gational Church, and has been very active in reli- 
gious affairs, while his children are equally zealous 
in the work of the Sunday-school and the Christian 
Endeavor Society. Politically he is a Keiniblican, 
and his interest in the cause of education has l)een 
shown by many years of service on the board of ed- 
ucation, part of the time as clerk and treasurer; 
he is now treasurer of the West Haven school. 
Having passed his entire life at West Haven, he 
has seen much of the development of the place, the 
bridge and the horse railroad being among the 
notable improvements. 

On Sept. 27, 1871, Mr. Tolles married Miss Ida 
Louise Pardee, and of their seven children six are 
living, as follows: Katherine, wife of (jeorge Leetc 
Peck; Harry C, a graduate of the West Haven 
schools, now in the employ of Stoddard, Gilbert & 
Co. ; Jessie L., wife of Edward G. W. Gilbert, owner 
of the Imperial Laundry, New Haven ; James M., 
with Stoddard, Gilbert & Co. ; Isabelle S. : an<l Ray- 
mond Pardee. Mrs. Tolles was born in Allingtovvn, 
daughter of Silas Pardee, a joiner and farmer by 
occupation, and for many years a prominent citizen 
of that locality. He died in March, 1901, and his 
wife, Catherine (Beardslcy), died aged fifty-nine 
years. Mrs. Tolles is the younger of two children ; 
her sister Isabelle is now the wife of John V.. War- 
ner, of Hamden. 

WILLIAM M. KLXC;. Among the business 
lines which have continued to prosper through a 
long period in the city of New Haven is the mak- 
ing of sails, and one of the well-known manufact- 
urers in this business is William M. King, located 
at No. 205 Long Wliarf, New Haven. For old 
residents of this city, a removal of this business 
house would be regretted — so long has it been a 
feature of the wharf — and no one could fill the 
place of its founder, William M. King. 

Mr. King was born in the city of New York, 
Jan. 27, 1836, a son of James Madison and Mary 
King, of that city. Father King was a sailmaker, 
and he established himself in business at a con- 



venient \K>nn at Grecnport, L. I., moving later to 
I'^air Haven and then to Xew Haven, where he 
died. His two children were both boys, William 
M. and John, the latter dying at the age of nine 
years. 

William .M. King was reared at Greenport. L. 
I., and there learned the sailmaking trade of his 
father, and he accompanied him when he came to 
Connecticut. In 1859 Mr. King associated with him 
Cornelius J. \'aii Name, and they embarked in the 
business of manufacturing sails, awnings, tents and 
flags, keeping a supply of tents and canopies to rent, 
paying liberal prices for old sails which had out- 
lived their usefulness in battles with wind and water 
and for thirty-one years these friends carried on a 
successful and lucrative business. In 189 1 this' part- 
nership was dissolved by the death of Mr. \'an 
Name, and since that date it has been continued 
by Mr. King, at the old stand on Long Wharf. Em- 
ployment is given to about eight men, and it con- 
tinues one of the leaders in its line an this city. 

On March 11, 1856, Mr. King was married 
to Miss Lydia A. Benedict, of Xew Haven, Conn., 
a daughter of William J. and Abigail R. Benedict, of 
Xew Haven, and the two childreii of this marriage 
were : Xellie and George. The family religious 
connection is with the East ■ Pearl street M. E. 
Church, in which they are highly esteemed. In 
politics Mr. King calls himself an Independent Re- 
publican, using his ow-n judgment in some cam- 
paigns, irrespective of party tics. Fraternally he is 
a blaster Mason, belonging to Adelphi Lodge, No. 
63, A. F. & A. M., and New Haven Commandcry. 
No. 2, Knights Templar, and he also is connected 
with the Xew Haven Chamber of Commerce. 

SAMUEL BLAKESLEE, the founder of one 
branch of the family, came with his brother John 
from England to Boston about 1636. He removed 
to Guilford, Conn., and later to Xew Haven. His 
name first a])j)ears in Xew Haven in 1646, and there 
he married Hannah Potter, Dec. 3, 1650. He died 
in 1672. The following "notes of Col. Sanniel 
Blakeslee" appear: "In the early settlement of 
America there was two men and brothers by the 
name of Samuel and John Blakeslee. both black- 
smiths by occupation, left England with their anvil, 
vise, hammers, tongs and other necessary tiwls 
fitted to their occupation, and landed at Boston in 
Massachusetts, and ])urchascd what was and is since 
called P.oston Xeck — a poor barren strip of land 
wdiich joins the peninsula of the town of Boston to 
the main land : here they lived a few years with 
their families and labored at blacksmithing for their 
supiiort. But the then village of Boston was poor 
and the narrow neck which they had purchased was 
incapable of affording nuich for the subsistence of 
their families. These two brothers, being stout, 
robust, enterprising men, agreed to seek an inher- 
itance. They rose with their families, left Boston 
and proceeded by the sea shore to Xew Haven in 



318 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Connecticut. They did not dispose of their land ; 
time passed and they died, and it was never dis- 
posed of. Samuel bought land in New Haven and 
settled with his family, but his brother John went 
to the western part of the State to what is now 
Woodbury or Roxbury." This account he had from 
his father and other older men ; one was Tillerson 
Blakeslee, a descendant of John, who settled at 
Woodbury or Roxbury. He removed to New Ha- 
ven, and was for several years the sheriff of the 
county. He had been a lieutenant in the army. He 
lived to be a very old man, but retained a firm 
constitution and a strong mind. The children of 
Samuel and Hannah (Potter) Blakeslee were as 
follows: John, born at Guilford in 1651 ; Mary, at 
New Haven, Nov. 2, 1659: Ebenezer, at New Ha- 
ven, July 17, 1664; Hannah, May 22, 1666; Jona- 
than, March 3, 1668, died young; Jonathan, April 
1672, died in infancy. The line of descent from 
this ancestor is through Ebenezer, as follows : 

(H) Ebenezer Blakeslee, son of Samuel and 
Hannah (Potter) Blakeslee, was born at New Ha- 
ven July 17, 1664, and was one of the earlier set- 
tlers of North Haven. In his house the Presby- 
terians held their religious services until a church 
was established, and later on the Episcopalians held 
their services at his house. Tradition says that 
"the early Blakeslees were Episcopalians." His 
children were Ebenezer and Hannah, bom Feb. 4, 
1685; Susannah, born May 21, 1689; Grace, born 
Jan. I, 1693-94, who married Ebenezer Humaston, 
Oct. 13, 1718; Abraham, born Dec. 15, 1695, who 
married Elizabeth Cooper, March 15, 1721-22; Sam- 
uel, born about 1697; Thomas, born in 1700, who 
removed to Plymouth in 1721, and married Mary 
Scott, of Sunderland, Mass. ; and Isaac, born July 
21, 1703, who married Mary Frost May 31, 1733. 

(Ill) Samuel Blakeslee, son of Ebenezer, born 
about 1697, niarried Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel 
and Hannah (Cornwall) Doolittle, bom Oct. 15, 
1700. He was buried Sept. 5. 1761, aged sixty-four. 
His wife died April i, 1772. In 1720 he bought 
land in Wallingford, at North Farms, which has 
since been held in the Blakeslee name. Walling- 
ford land records show a deed from Ebenezer 
Blakeslee lo his son Samuel "for loving affection 
and good will." 

(1V> Joseph Blakeslee, son of Samuel and Eliz- 
abeth (boolittle) Blakeslee, bom in Walliaigford 
April I, 1732, married April i, 1756. Lois Ives, 
daughter of Stephen and Sarah ( Hart) Ives, born 
Jan. 9, 1737. He lived and died in Wallingford, on 
his father's homestead, passing awav aged seventy- 
two years; Mrs. Blakeslee died May 16, 1795. He 
was a farmer and mason, a Congregationalist in re- 
ligion, and a h'ederalist in politics. He was a non- 
commissioned officer in the French and Indian war, 
and he and Charles Ives hired Benajah Hall to 
.*erve in the Revolutionary war three years, under 
an act passed by the Legislature that any two men 
hiring one Tnan for the service were exempt during 



the time of service. Joseph Blakeslee was at this 
time about forty-five years old. He had a large 
family and one son in the service. Children: (i) 
Samuel, born Nov. 23, 1.759, married Dec. 20, 1780, 
Phebe Curtis, daughter of Joseph and ^Martha Hart 
Curtis. He served in the Revolutionary war, enlist- 
ing in his seventeenth year, in July, 1776, and served 
until his time expired, in 1780; he also served in 
the war of 18 12, as colonel of a volunteer regi- 
ment. (2) Lois, born Jan. 9, 1762, married May 

7, 1780, Nathaniel Andrews. (3) Joseph, born 
March 11, 1767 married Mary Andrews, sister of 
Nathaniel, and lived and died in Wallingford. (4) 
John Webb, born March 11, 1769, married Nov. 12, 
1792, Ruth Ives, daughter of Charles and Sarah 
(Butler) Ives. (5) Thankful, born May 16, 1771, 
married (first) Nov. 4, 1790, Jonathan Moss, and 
(second) Nathaniel Andrews. She lived and died 
in Wallingford. (6) Yincy, born July 29, 1775, 
married April 7, 1796, Rev. Samuel ^liller. He 
died Nov. 14, 1829. She lived and died in Walling- 
ford. (7) Asahel, horn July 8, 1778, married July 

8, 1800, Hannah Maltoon, daughter of Caleb: they 
removed to Atwater, Ohio. (8) Asenath, born 
Aug. 17, 1 78 1, died in her eighteenth year. 

(\') John W. Blakeslee, born March 11, 1769, 
married Nov. 12, 1792, Ruth Ives, bom Jan. 26, 
1772, daughter of Charles and Sarah ( Butler) Ives. 
He died Nov. 5, 1S25, his wife Nov. 25, 1838. They 
lived and died in \Vallingford, near the Blakeslee 
homestead. Both were Baptists, lived worthy Chris- 
tian lives, and their children call them blessed. They 
were a family of singers, the father a leader of the 
church choir, and had a good choir in their nine 
children who grew to maturity, namely: (i) Idu- 
mea, bom in June, 1793, died on the eighth day. 
(2) Lovicy, born June 27, 1794, married March 8, 
1813 Aaron Chatterton, and lived in Hamden, Conn., 
until his death, in June, 1842. She died in Wall- 
ingford, Feb. 8, 1849. (3) Rachel, b<:irn June 24, 
1796, married Elihu Ives, son of Charles and Mary 
(Francis) Ives, born Oct. 8, 1787, died Sept. 15, 
1864. She died Dec. 24, 1885. Their children were 
all born in Wallingford. They removed to Illi- 
nois in 1838, and in 1840 to Marion. Iowa, where 
they lived and died. (4) Laura, bom June 27, 
1798, married William Hill. She died March 23, 
1838, in Wallingford. (5) Obed, born March 10, 
1800, married Sarah Moss, daughter of Lyman and 
Sarah (Francis) Moss, and removed to Marion, 
Iowa, about 1840. He died Oct. 8, 1845, she in 
1899, in Iowa. (6) Lois, born Feb. 17^^1802, mar- 
ried Harley Francis, son of Jacob and Content 
(Hall) Francis, and removed to York, Livingston 
Co., N. Y., where they lived and she died April 
24, 1862. He died while on a visit in Walling- 
ford, Aug. 8, 1880. (7) Emily, born Jan. 21, 1806, 
married March 30, 183T, William, son of Jacob and 
Content (Hall) Francis. She died in Wallingford 
.Aug. 28, 1839, and he died there April 14, 1879. 
(8) Silas, born Sept. 13. 1808, married Jan. 17, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



319 



1832, Esther, daug-hter of Robert and Betsey ( Peck) 
Bucl. (g) Ann, born Sept. 24, 1810, married Nor- 
ris Cone, born Dec. 22, 1808, died .-Xug. 18, 1885. 
She died Nov. 18, 1883. In 1840 they removed to 
Marion, Iowa, where they hved and died. (10) 
OUver, bom July 22, 1815, married Harriet, daugh- 
ter of John and Betsey (Hall) Warner, born March 
15, 1822. He died JDec. 15, 1895. she in Marcli, 
IQOO. They lived most of their lives in Meriden 
and Xcw Haven, but died in Durham, Conn. They 
had one son, Oliver, who died a young lad. 

(\T) Silas Blakeslee, son of John Webb and 
Ruth (Ives) Blakeslee, born in Walling ford Sept. 
13, 1808, married Jan. 17, 1832, Esther, daughter 
of Robert and Betsey (Peck) Buel, born Nov. 20, 
1808. They lived and died in Wallingford, on the 
Blakeslee homestead. He passed away June 6, 1893, 
she on April 17, 1889, and they are buried in In 
Memoriam cemetery. Children: (i) Lois, born Jan. I 
24, 1833,, married Oct. 14, i860, Seth J. Hall, son 
of Sylvester and Rosetta (Johnson) Hall, born Sept. 
4, 1829, in Middletown, Westfield Society. Lois 
was baptized by Rev. Chas. Keyser Dec. 21, 1851, 
and united with the Baptist Church in Wallingford. 
They removed to Meriden, Conn., in January, 1861. 
i.2) Ruth Ann, bom Oct. 31, 1836, ntarried Oct. 
4, 1856, Elijah James Hough, soil of James and 
Mary Tyler (Rice) Hough, bom July 28, 1829, in 
Wallingford. (3) John Webb, born Oct. 22, 1840, 
married Oct. 22, 1861, Emerett Atwater, of Chesh- 
ire, born Dec. 5, 1840. They resided on the 
Blakeslee homestead until the fall of 1900, when 
tiiey removed to the borough of Wallingford. (4) 
James Ellis, born Feb. 13, 1843, died July 17, 1847. 

WILLIAM E. WELD, Jr., a leading citizen of 
New Haven, Conn., and the secretary and treasurer 
of The Boston Buckboard & Carriage Co., of this 
city, is a native son of the State, born in Guilford, 
Aug. 23. 1843. The early records of the family tell 
of two brothers who came in early days to New 
England from the old England, and settled in Bos- 
ton, Alass., but as far back as Grandfather George 
Weld, all the family life has centered in historic 
Guilford, a little town which has been the mother 
of many noted and successful men. 

William E. Weld, the father of William E., of 
New Haven, was bom in Guilford in 1814, and still 
resides there. He was a prominent carpenter and 
builder in Guilford, helping to build the hamlet 
into a large village through his business efforts. All 
his life a Democrat, he has upheld those principles, 
and for a long period was a selectman. He is a 
consistent member of the Episcopal Church. His 
wife was in her maidenhood. Myrtie Holcomb, of 
Guilford, Conn., a daughter of Modad Holcomb, who 
was a native of Guilford also of French extraction. 
Mrs. Weld still survives; she has had a family of 
three children : Jennie C. who is now a widow', re- 
siding in Guilford; Julia, who died in childhood; 
and William E., Jr. " 



XVilliam E. Weld, Jr., passed his youth in 
Guilford and in preparation for Vale College, at- 
tended Guilford Institute. In 1863. he came to New 
Haven, becoming bookkeeper for the linn of Wilcox 
& Flail, dry goods merchants, and remained with 
this house for four years, ,"oing then into the Trades- 
man's National Bank, where his health broke down. 
The succeeding year was spent in St. Paul, Minn., 
in rest, and upon his return to this city, he entered 
the lirni of E. G. Stoddard & Co., wholesale gro- 
cers, as bookkee[)cr, remaining with them in this 
capacity liirougii the following four years. 

On Feb. 15 1871, Mr. Weld was married to Imo- 
gene A. Dorman, of New Haven, a daughter of 
Royal O. Dorman, of this city who for a number of 
years was a large and succes'sful carriage manufac- 
turer. After his marriage Mr. Wold became asso- 
ciated with Mr. Dorman in the carriage business, 
remaining thus connected for five vears. In 1879 
he became office man of The Boston' Buckboard Co., 
and settled in a most satisfactory manner the affairs 
of that company, when it went out of business in 
1885. When a new companv was formed the pres- 
ent style was adopted, The Boston Buckboard & 
Carriage Co., and Mr. Weld was made secretarv and 
treasurer and also general manager of the commo- 
dious offices located at Nos. 153 to 163 East street. 
New Haven. 

In politics, Mr. Weld is a Republican, while so- 
cially he is connected with the Royal Arcanum, the 
Chamber of Commerce, and he was' formerly a mem- 
ber of the New Haven Grays. He is an attendant 
and consistent member of Dwight Place Church, and 
has always been a contributor toward its charities 
and missions. 

Since taking such a prominent part in the busi- 
ness world, Mr. Weld has demonstrated his ability, 
and has surprised even his friends bv the intelligent 
grasp of affairs, his excellent judgment and far- 
sighted plans. Mr. Weld has always taken a deep 
interest in fostering and developing trade conditions 
in his city and the personal attention which he gives 
to his own line shows that he means to keep it a 
leading one. 

JOHN X. il.\WKIXS (deceased) was a prom- 
inent representative of the agricultural interests of 
Oxford, New Haven county, in which town he was 
born May 4. 1836. He acquired his education in its 
common schools. On leaving home, at the age of 
nineteen years, he engaged in railroading for one 
sunmier. and then went to Newtown. Conn., where 
he was eni|)Ioycd in the rubber works a few months 
prior to opening of the Civil war. 

Mr. Hawkins enlisted Sept. 7. 1861, for three 
years, becoming a private in Company G. 7lh Conn. 
\'. I., and was mustered into the Cnited States ser- 
vice at New Haven. After drilling for some time 
at Washington. 1). C. the regiment was sent to 
.•\nna])olis. Md.. and later joined Sherman's army, 
their first engagement being at Hilton Head, 



320 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



which was followed by the battles of James Island 
and Drury's Bluff. They were all throug-h the siege 
of Petersburg, and wnile there our subject's term of 
enlistment expired, and he was honorably dis- 
charged, Sept. 17, 1864. Returning to Oxford he 
continued to engage in farming there with marked 
success until his death, which occurred June I, 1901, 
when he was sixty-five years of age. In 1869 he 
removed to the farm which he ever after occupied, 
consisting of 120 acres of well improved and valu- 
able land, under a nigh state of cultivation. He 
also owned forty acres elsewhere, and carried on 
general farming and the dairy business. 

Mr. Hawkins was married, Aug. 28, 1866. to 
Miss Harriet Worster, of Oxford. Our subject was 
an honored member of Upson Post, Xo. 40, G. A. 
R., of Sevmour. In his political affiliations he was 
an ardent Republican. He was well known and 
highly respected, and his widow is equally esteemed 
among their neighbors and many friends. Mr. 
Hawkins left no children of his own, but an adopted 
daughter, Bessie L., bears his name. 

BURTON G. BRYAN was born in Watertown, 
Conn., Sept. 27, 1846, a son of Edward Bryan, and 
traces his ancestry for generations through an hon- 
orable line on both eastern and western shores of 
the Atlantic. As far back as 1277 lands were held 
in the parish of Bukhamough by William and Rob- 
ert Brian. Roger Bryan was a Knight of the 
Shire, in Hertfordshire, at the 23d and 25th Parlia- 
ment in the time of Edward I. The line in which 
we are more directly interested is traced unbroken 
to Thomas Bryan, of the parish of Aylesbury, Buck- 
inghamshire, England. He was born about 1575 
and had a son, Alexander, born in 1602. Alexander 
had a son, Richard, born in England, whom he 
brought with him to America in 1639. They settled 
in 'Milford, Conn., and in the patent of Milford 
from the General Court, dated May 25, 1685, Rich- 
ard Brvan was named second of seven persons. Gov. 
Robert Treat being the first named. They were 
both prominently identified with the early settle- 
ment of the town and both were wealthy men. 
Alexander Bryan, the father of Richard, left Mil- 
ford and moved to Meriden, finally locating in Wat- 
ertown. 

Roderick Bryan, grandfather of Burton G., was 
born in Watertown in the same house in which his 
son and grandson have lived. He married Orril 
Blakeslee, of Thomaston, Conn., and settled on the 
farm in Watertown, where they reared two chil- 
dren, Edward, the father of Burton G. ; and Eme- 
lir.e, who married Henry .Sn\ith, of Watertown, 
and is now deceased. 

Edward Bryan was born in Watertown Feb. 24, 
1819, and still resides there on a farm. He married 
]\lary Turney, who was born in Newtown, a daugh- 
ter of David' Turney. of an old Connecticut family 
of English extraction. .Mrs. .Mary Bryan is still liv- 
ing in Watertown at the age of seventy-nine years. 



Mr. Bryan is a Republican, but in early life was 
a Whig, as was his father before him. In religion 
they are Methodists. 

Burton G. liryan spent the earlier part of his 
life on the farm in Watertown and grew to man- 
hood under his parents' roof. When he was eight- 
een years of age he w^ent to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., 
to attend Bryant & Stratton's Business College, and 
when he was nineteen he began teaching school, 
having charge of the American Missionary Associa- 
tion School at Norfolk, \'a. He taught the writing 
classes and had the general management of the 
institution. On Feb. 19, 1867, Mr. Bryan came 
to Waterbury and began bookkeeping for A. F. Ab- 
bott, the real-estate, insurance and investment 
dealer of this city. With the exception of five years 
he was with that house until 1880, when he assisted 
in the organization of the Manufacturers" National 
Bank, of which he served as teller for seven years. 
In June, 1887, Air. Bryan organized the Fourth 
National Bank, w'hich began business in August, 
1887. As cashier of that bank he has rendered a 
valuable service to the commercial classes of this 
city in building up a first class institution for their 
accommodation. In November, 1899, he was made 
president of the bank. In addition to his position 
in the National Bank he is also secretary and treas- 
urer of the West Side Savings Bank. 

On. April 14, 1868, Mr. Bryan married Fannie 
K. Peck, at Watertown, Conn. Mrs. Bryan is the 
daughter of Leman O. Peck, who was born in the 
neighborhood of Watertown. One child, Wilbur 
P., has been born of this union; he is cashier of 
the Fourth National Bank and lives at home. Mr. 
Bryan has always been a Republican and was town 
treasurer for two terms, and, although this is re- 
garded as a Democratic town, clerk of the council 
two years. Air. Bryan belongs to Continental 
Lodge, No. 75, F. & A. AI., and in Masonry has 
reached the thirty-second degree, and is also a 
member of Townsend Lodge, I. O. O. F., and the 
Royal Arcanum, and has been the (jrand Treasurer 
of the Grand Council of this State since its organi- 
zation. He and his family 'belong to the Second 
Congregational Church. 

AIORSE. For two hundred and fifty and more 
vears the posterity of John Alorse, or AIoss, have 
dwelt in Connecticut. Of those of whom we ])ar- 
ticularly write are- the family of the late Joseph 
Alorse, a former prominent and wealthy citizen of 
Meriden. 

The late Joseph Alorse, whose death occurred 
at his home in Aleriden, Oct. 16, 1897, was in the 
seventh generation from John AIoss, or Alorse, one 
of the founders of New Haven and Wallingford, 
Conn., the line of his descent being through John 
(2), John (3) and Levi, Benajah and Harley. 

(I) John AIoss, born in England about 1619, 
came early to New England, was at New Haven, 
Conn., in 1639, and was one of its founders. He was 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



32 i 



one of the foremost to undertake the settienient of 
WaUingford, Conn., in March, I'jOy, but resided at 
New Haven until 1670, when he joined the new 
colony. His name was associated with nearly all 
the leading measures of that village and settlement 
for a series of years. He was a godly Puritan. 

{11) John Moss (2), son of John iloss, born in 
1650, married in 1677, Martha Lathrop, and re- 
sided at Xew Haven and WaUingford. He died 
March 31, 1717. 

(HI) John Moss (3), son of John Moss (2), 
born Nov. 10, 1682, married in 1708 Elizabeth Hall. 
He resided in WaUingford, and died May 14, 1755. 

(IV) Levi Moss, son of John Moss (3), born 
in 1722, married Jan. 19, 1743, Martha Fenn. He 
resided in WaUingford. 

(V) Capt. Eenajah Moss, son of Levi Moss, 
born Jan. 11, 1763, married Lois Hall, daughter of 
David Hall, and his children were : Olive, Elkanah, 
Harley, Hermon, Benajah, Delila, James, Benajah 
(2), Ira, Emery, William, Eldridge and Franklin. 
\\'hen he was sixteen years old he was drafted into 
the army of the Revolution, but his father hired 
as a substitute for $300 a man by the name of 
Fenn. When the war of 1812 opened, however, 
Benajah Morse offered his services, and held the 
rank of captain. He served along the Connecticut 
coast. His home was at WaUingford, where his 
death occurred July 12, 1841. 

(VI) Harley Moss, son of Benajah Moss, born 
March 29, 1792, married May 9, 1821, Harriet 
Moss, and died Oct. 5, 1848. He resided in WaU- 
ingford. His children were: David H., Lois H., 
Louisa A., Joseph, Harley, Emery and Andrew. 
Harriet (Moss) Moss was a daughter of Philo and 
Rachel (Webster) AIoss, and was born July i, 1803. 

Philo Moss was born April 8, 1770, a son of 
Amos Moss and his second wife, Esther Andrews, 
of Litchfield. He left an estate valued at $40,000, 
and was the first man to sell a yoke of oxen for 
$100 in that county. His marriage to Rachel Web- 
ster occurred .April 24, 1794. 

Amos Moss, father of Philo, was a son of Levi 
Moss (IV) and his wife, Martha Fenn. He was 
born Nov. 17, 1744, and died in December, 1819. 

(VII) Joseph Morse, son of Harley and Har- 
riet (Moss) Moss, was born Nov. 12, 1827, in 
Yalesville, town of WaUingford, Conn. Early in 
the forties he located in Meriden and engaged in 
the butchering business. Later he began dealing 
in real estate, and soon gave his entire attention to 
this business. He bought largely and made many 
improvements, and, as the years passed, his busi- 
ness became large and his holdings of property 
great, all of which he managed well and wisely 
alone. He opened up many streets in the city, among 
them W'illow, X'eteran, Columbia, Merriam an<l 
Walnut. As stated, he was a good manager, and 
possessed an excellent judgment, was energetic and 
industrious, and made money rapidly, becoming one 
of the largest holders of propertv in Meriden. He 

21 



owned a portion of the State school property and 
the section of the town known as .Morsetown, also 
owning large tracts on Reservoir avenue, Broad 
street and Curtis street. In 1896 he owned tliirty- 
two dwellings, seven acres of land and five busi- 
ness blocks, being either sole or part owner in the 
latter. It was then estimated that he had about 
two hundred tenement houses. Mr. Morse was 
also a large owner of Western lands, holding con- 
siderable property in Wichita, Kans. For some 
years he was in the insurance business, associated 
with his son, George N. 

Mr. Morse was a self-made man, beginning life 
without a dollar, yet possessed of good health and 
started out in life with a determination to succeed. 
He was willing, possessing natural tact and ability, 
which, together with his energv and close a{)plica- 
tion to business, brought remarkable success, he be- 
ing worth at one time, probably, a half-million 
dollars. In all of his business transactions he was 
regarded as thoroughly honest and most reliable. 
1 lis integrity and honesty were of the highest or- 
der. He possessed ability, was shrewd, and in mat- 
ters pertaining to real-estate transactions his judg- 
ment was considered very superior. Mr. Morse held 
the office of town assessor and was also a member 
of the common council at one time. He was a ves- 
tryman of St. Andrew's Church, and was the last 
surviving member of the vestry that directed the 
parish when the church was on Broad street. 

In 1852 Mr. Morse was married to Lucy Hall, a 
daughter of Casper Hall, and died Oct. 16, 1899. 
The union was blessed with children as follows : 
(i) George N., born Oct. 16, 1833, was educated 
in the common schools and Suffield Institute. He 
was formerly in the emnloy of the- Whiting Man- 
ufacturing Co., but is now in the insurance busi- 
ness. A protninent Democrat, he represented the 
Meriden District in the State Senate in 1888- 1889. 
On Jan. 31, 1877, he wedded Marv A., daughter 
of John C. and Anna M. (Ellis) Byxbee, of Meri- 
den, and has two children : John B., born in Jan- 
uary, 1880; and Ida L., in March, 1882. (2) Lilla 
Eva, born Aug. i, 1857, married (first) Clarence 
Curtis, and became the mother of two children, 
.■\rthur M. and Carlos M. She then married John 
F. Townley. (3) Josephine M. married H. T. King, 
of Meriden. (4) Lucy M. is now Mrs. Dr. F. L. 
Lawton, of Hartford. Joseph Morse, the father, 
entered into rest in 1897. 

Mrs. Lucy (Hall) Morse is a descendant of 
John Hall, who was born in England in 1605, be- 
came an original proprietor of W'allingford in 1669, 
and died in 1676, aged seventy-one. He probably 
came from Coventry, Warwickshire. England, in 
the ship "Griffin" in companv with Rev. Cotton, in 
1633. He married Jeanne Wollen, born in England 
about 1620, and died in WaUingford in 1678. 

(II) Samuel Hall, son of John, was born in 
New Haven, Conn., in 1648. and died at W'alling- 
ford in 1725. He was captain of the train band in 



322 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1704. In Alay. 1668, lie married Hannah Walker, 
who was born Sept. 27, 1646, daughter of John and 
Grace Walker. 

(III) John Hall, son of Samuel, was born Dec. 
23, 1670, was assistant in the Upper House, 1722- 
1730. and died April 29. 1730. He was married in 
i^Kji to Alary Lyman, who was born in 1667, and 
died in 1740, a daughter of John and Dorcas 
(Plumb) Lyman. 

(IV) Rev. Samuel Hall, son of John and Alary 
(Lyman) Hall, was born at Wallingford in 1695; 
■was graduated from Yale in 1716, and was the first 
minister at Cheshire, Conn. He attained the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-one. In 1727 he married Anna 
Law, who was born at Alilford, Conn., in 1702, a 
daughter of Gov. Jonathan Law and his wife, Anna 
Eliot, the latter a daughter of Rev. Joseph and 
Sarah (Brentoi^) Eliot, and granddaughter of Rev. 
John Eliot and Gov. William Brenton^ of Rhode 
Island. 

(V) Brenton Hall, son of Rev. Samuel, was born 
at Cheshire in 1738, and died in 1820 at Aleriden, 
of which town he was one of the founders in 1803, 
previousi to which time he had been a planter in 
Wallingford. He was a representative from the 
latter town from 1787 to 1802, and from Meriden in 
1806. His first wife was Lamont Collins, his sec- 
ond Abigail Baldwin, daughter of Noah and Re- 
becca ( Frisbie ) Baldwin, of Branford, Connecticut. 

(VI) Casper Hall, son of Brenton, was born in 
1790, and died in iSOfj. In 1813 he married La- 
vinia Booth, daughter of John Booth, a Revolu- 
tionary soldier and descendant of Sergt. Richard 
Booth', who was an ancestor of U. S. Grant. Lucy 
Ann Hall, daughter of Casper, wedded Joseph 
Morse. 

Gov. Jonathan Law. was born in Alilford, Aug. 
■6, 1674, was graduated from Harvard in 1695; 
studied law and practiced at Alilford. Was a mag- 
istrate for more than thirty -years, and chief justice 
of the State from 1725-1741. and governor at the 
lime of his death in May, 1751- 

Gov. William Brentnn emigrated to Boston from 
Hammersmith, England. He lield important offices 
dn Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where he was 
several times lieutenant-governor. He was presi- 
dent of Rhode Island, 1660-61, and governor, 1666- 
1669. He died at Newport in 1674. 

Abigail Baldwin, second wife of Brenton Hall 
'(V), was descended from John Baldwin, who came 
over in the ship "Martin" in 1638, and later settled 
in Alilford. He <lied June 21, 1681. His son, 
George, was born in Alilford in 1662, married De- 
borah Rose, and died Oct. 26, 1728. Noah Bald- 
win, son of George and Deborah (Rose), was bom 
in Branford, Alarch 20, 1710. married Rebecca Fris- 
bie on Alarch 21, 1734. :uid died Nov. 24. 1790. 

BROWN. Francis P.rown, of the New Haven 
Colony in the year 1638, with his descendants and 
collateral relatives : 



Francis Brown was born in the town of Rad- 
clif?e, Yorkshire, England, about the year 1610. 
When religious fervor forced the settlement of col- 
onists in the new world, he and his wife. Alary 
Edwards, whom he had married in 1636, sailed the 
succeeding year for Boston in the ship "Hector." 
Among their fellow voyagers were Theophilus 
Eaton, an opulent merchant of London, and his 
wife, with her adult children by a former husband, 
David Yale. Chancellor to her father. Bishop George 
Lloyd, of Chester, England, whose Episcopal palace 
still stands on the main street of that ancient town. 
David Yale, the eldest of these children, and the 
father of Elihu Yale, from whom the University is 
named, returned in a few years to England. Ann 
Yale, the wife of Edward Hopkins, an early gov- 
ernor of the Colony of Connecticut, who also 
founded the Hopkins Grammar Schools, of New 
Haven, Hartford and Hadley, soon followed in 
company with her husband, who became a commis- 
sioner of the English Admiralty, and a member of 
one of Cromwell's Parliaments. Thomas Yale, the 
younger son, thus became the only representative of 
the Yale family in New Haven, and from him are 
descended, so far as is known, all who bear the 
name of Yale in America. 

The New Haven colonists were at first much 
in doubt whether to remove from or to remain in 
Alassachusetts, but as the company was the wealth- 
iest that had come to America, many of them being 
merchants and traders in the old country, they 
sought some place for a commercial settlement not 
included within any charter or patent granted by 
the English Crown. The war with the Pequots 
soon brought their hesitancy to an end. In the pur- 
suit of this flying tribe of warlike Indians the Eng- 
lish forces passed through Quinnipiac, afterward 
named New Haven. Though the soil of the place 
was poor, its position between Boston and New 
York seemed to the New England soldiers — among 
whom was Captain Nathaniel Turner, afterward 
the military leader of New Haven^ — as eniinently 
fitted for their "Trans Atlantic" home. The favor- 
able opinion of Gov. Baton and of Rev. John Daven- 
port, the two leaders of the company, proved de- 
cisive. Nine of the first settlers, among whom was 
Francis Brown, passed the winter of 1637-1638 at 
Quinnipiac, in making the necessary provision for 
shelter and for other urgent needs of the coming 
Colonists, who arrived April 16. 1638. Entering 
the harbor on Friday, Saturday was devoted to 
landing their household goods, and conveying theni 
to the temporary huts provided for them by the few 
Colonists who had precLded them. Their first official 
act was by uniting the next day in divine worship, 
held under a huge oak standing near the corner 
of what is now George and College streets, and 
listening to a sermon by Rev. John Davenport on 
"The Temptations of the Wilderness." 

Francis Brown was one of the earliest free- 
holders of New Haven. .-At a time when there were 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



323 



no bridjJies in Xew Haven, and all access to Massa- 
chusetts, Eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island was 
dependent upon a ferry kept at Red Rock, Mr. 
Brown was appointed Ferry Master. That he was 
held in hig^h repute is evident from the various im- 
])ortant positions wich which he was intrusted. His 
children were Eleazer. Samuel and Lydia. 

( H) Eleazer Brown was baptized Oct. if), 1642, 
and died Oct. 23. 1714. He married .Sarah Bulkley, 
dau.q;hter of Thomas Bulkley. Their children were: 
F.leazer, Gershome, Daniel. Thomas and Elizabeth. 

(HI) Gershome Brown, son of Eleazer and 
Sarah (Bulkley) Brown, was born Oct. 9, 1665, and 
married Hannah Mansfield in 1695. He was a mer- 
chant, and owned several vessels which traded with 
foreipi ports. He was jirominent as a Christian, 
as well as in business. \\'hen one of his ships was 
lost at sea. and the loss was considerable, his neigh- 
bors and friends, including the minister met at his 
house to hold prayers and to sympathize with him. 
When he died he left about five hundred acres of 
land in different parts of the city. Several slaves 
belonged to the estate, some of whose names were 
Mingo, Jack, Phillip. Harry. Robin and Job. The 
children of Gershome and Hannah (Mansfield) 
Brown were: Eleazer, born i()9(); Hannah, born 
Jan. II, 1702: and Olive, born Feb. 22, 1706. 

(IV) Eleazer Browii, son of Gershome and 
Hannah (Mansfield) Brown, bom in 1690. died 
Sept. 21, 1768. On Jan. 25, 1725, he married Sarah 
Rowe, daughter of Matthew Rowe. wdio bore him 
three sons and six daughters. 

(V) Daniel Brown, son of Eleazer and Sarah 
(Rowe) Brown, was born Nov. 3. 1743, and died 
Oct. 9. 1788. On April 24, 1770, he marriecl Hannah 
English, who was born Nov. 29, 1749. daughter of 
Benjamin and Sarah (Dayton) English. Benja- 
min English w'as killed by the British July 5. 1779, 
in his own house in New Haven. Daniel Brown 
was a soldier in the Revolutionary army. On May 
8. 1770. he and his wife moved to East Haven from 
New Haven. They had ten children: Isaac, horn 
Feb. 27. 1771. died April 13. 1850. Hannah, born 
Nov. 18. 1772, died May 15. 1797. Daniel, bom 
Sept. II. 1774. died April 19. 1782. Sarah. lx)rn 
April 23, 1776. died Oct. 27. 1852. Roswell, born 
Oct. 6, 1778. Phila, born Aug. 30, 1780, died Jan. 
4. 1849. Clarissa born June 14. 1783. died Feb. 14, 
1839. Daniel (2). born Dec. 20. 1784. .\ner. born 
Oct. 13, 1786, died Oct. 3. 1838. Mary, born Dec. 
21. 1788, married Nov. 16. i8ck). Wyllis Heming- 
way. 

(\T) Isaac Brown, eldest son of Daniel and 
Flannah (English) Brown, married Sarah Heming- 
way, born Sept. 17, 1780 (sister of Wyllis Heming- 
way, who had married Mary Brown'), daughter of 
Enos and Sarah (Hemingway) Hemingway. Enos 
was a soldier in the Revolutionary army and a rc])- 
resentative in the Legislature from the town of 
East Haven for over twenty terms in succession. 
Mrs. Sarah ( Hemingwa\- ) Brown died July 5. 181 3. 



the mother of four children, all now deceased : 
Merritt, who married Maranda Bradley, and had 
four children, Sarah, Jane, Adeline and George; 
.■\nson, mentioned below; Samuel, who dietl in in- 
fancy: and Daniel Hemingway Brown, born July 
4, 1813, died Oct. 8, 1892. After the death of 
his first wife. Isaac Brown married a widow whose 
maiden name was Zervinah Turtle. The children 
of this union were : Almira, who married Ezekial 
Bradley; and Samuel Miles, who is mentioned 
farther on. Isaac Brown served in the war of 181 2. 
He was a captain in the local militia, and was a 
man of much prominence. 1 le was the eldest son 
of his parents, and according to the custom in those 
days inherited the largest share of the family prop- 
erty, thus becoming a very large land owner. He 
donated the ground for St. James Episcopal Church, 
as well as the stone used in building the edifice, 
also the roadway, known as Church Hill, an ex- 
tension of Grand avenue. There were only nine 
members of the church at that time, and the family 
were all very efficient workers for its success. 

(\II) Anson Brown, son of Isaac and Sarah 
(Hemingway) Brown, was a sea captain, sailing 
from New York and Perth Amboy. He resided in 
New Jersey in 1832, but later came to New Ha- 
ven and engaged in the oyster business, which he 
continued until the time of his death. He was 
drowned from his boat July 5. i86(). Anson Brown 
married April 27, 1832, Rosetta Sheppard, daughter 
of Stephen Sheppard, and became the father of : 
Honora Melissa, born Oct. 16, 1833, married George 
Brown, of Chicago: Sarah .Annette, born Nov. 2. 
1835, now deceased: Maria Salina. born April 24, 
1837, deceased; Isaac Enos, born March 10, 1840, 
deceased; Stephen Freeman, born Sept. 6, 1842, 
died Sept. 17, 1842: Anson Kearney, bom Nov. 
23. 1843, deceased : William Sheppard. born Sept. 
29, 1846, lives in Ilartford ; Merritt R., born June 
10, 1849, deceased; Rosetta Althea, born June 6, 
185 1, deceased; Frederick Freeman, born March 
26, 1853. 

(\TII) William Sheppard lirown. son of .An- 
son, married Lilla Wrisley. and has two children, 
Charles .Alonzo and Hazel Wrisley. 

(Vni) Fredkkick Freem.xx Browx, son of 
.\nson. was born in Fair Haven. Conn., March 26, 
1853, and Nov. 27, 1879, married Dora A. Jones, of 
Branford. They h.ave had the following children : 
Herbert Isaac, born .March 21, 1880: Florence Jones, 
who died aged five and a half years: and Frederick 
iM-eeman. Jr., born Dec. 30, 1885. Mr. Brown has 
been engaged in the oyster business, and has been 
inspector of the State dumping ground, to see that 
oyster shells were dumped in jjroper places. For 
sixteen years he served in the Horse Guards, on the 
staff of Major Horace H. Stron.g. 

(VIII) Isaac Enos Brown, son of Anson, was 
born at Perth .Amboy, .\. J.. March 10, 1840. and 
in 1848 came with his parents to I-"air Haven, where 
his early school days were spent. He early engaged 



3^4 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



in the oyster business, and tventually became cap- 
tain of oyster boats. By h\s first marriage, to Nancy 
Ennis, he had one daughter, Alyrtie, now deceased. 
He married for his second wife Emogene Hotch- 
kiss, daughter of John Hotcl'.kiss, and the children 
of this marriage were : Allie Edward, of Xew 
Haven, who married Mamie Liebcrman ; Erank 
Enos, born June 12, 1875; -^J'l'jrf Lois, born in 1877, 
who married Homer Cluett, of New Haven ; and 
Henry Lewis, born in New Haven in July, 1881. 
The mother died Jan. 18, 1882. .Mr. Brown was a 
member of Adelphi Lodge, No. G5 ; Pulaski Chap- 
ter ; Crawford Council, !■". «& A. ^I.; and the R. A. 
M. Capl. Brown was on the board of selectmen for 
four years, and was always interested in public af- 
fairs. He was a Democrat in national politics. 
Professionally he was a member of the American 
Pilots Association. He died June 24, 1901, while 
on a business trip to Stratford, Conn. In religious 
coimcction he belonged to the Second Congrega- 
tional Church, of New Haven. 

(IX) b'rank E. Brown, son of Isaac Enos, spent 
his early school days in New Haven. For the past 
seven years he has taken an active part in the oyster 
business, and is a member of the American Pilots 
Association. Fraternally he belongs to Adelphi 
Lodge, No. 65 ; Pulaski Chapter ; Crawford Coun- 
cil ; New Haven Commandery, No. 2; and Pyramid 
Temple, Alystic Shrine. 

fVTI) Samuel Miles Brown, son of Isaac and 
Zervinah (Tuttle) Brown, was born in Fair Ha- 
ven, Conn., March 7. 1820, and died April 2, 1901. 
He was married at Bath, N. Y., Dec. 22, 1861, to 
Jilary J. Warner, daughter of Horatio Warner, and 
became the father of three children : Grace, wife 
of Thurber Salisbury, of Salisbury B)ros., druggists 
in I'air Haven : Samuel Miles, who died in in- 
fancy ; and F'rcderick .Miles. Sanuiel Miles Brown 
was prepared for college in East Haven, and was 
graduated from Yale in 1844, with the degree of 
B. A. The degree of AL A. was conferred upon 
him by Trinity College. He 4 taught school near 
Fort Edward, N. Y., and in Fair Haven, Conn. 
F'or forty years he was engaged in mercantile busi- 
ness, for years being located in a building at the 
corner of Grand and Quinnipiac avenues. In pol- 
itics he was a Democrat, and served as postmaster 
of Fair Haven under President Taylor; was notary 
public under Gov. Waller; and was assessor in the 
town of East Haven. He was active in church work, 
and was a lifelong menrber of St. James Episcojjal 
Church, but during his latter years united with 
Grace Church. He retired from active work in 
1891. Mrs. Brown died Nov. 15, lyoo, and his 
tleath soon followed. 

(\TII) Frederick Miles Brown, son of Samuel 
Miles, was born at his present home Sept. 26, 1868. 
His early school days were passed in New Haven. 
]^"or si.x years he was connected with Cowles & Co., 
and for a like period he has been connected with 
a New York house. For a time he was employed 



in the office of the New York, New Haven & Hart- 
ford Railway Co. He married Annie Spittler, of 
New Haven. 

(VH) Daniel Hemingway Brown, fourth son of 
Isaac and Sarah (Hemingway) Brown, whose 
death occurred in New Haven Oct. 8. 1892, was 
long a subsitantial resident and citizen of that com- 
munity. He was born July 4, 1813, and on April 
16, 1837, married Grace Amoret Thompson, who 
w-as born Dec. 28, 1817, a daughter of James and 
Sarah (Dayton) Thompson, and a lineal descend- 
ant of Thomas Yale, brother of David Yale (w-ho 
was the father of Elihu Yale), both original set- 
tlers of New Haven Colony, also of Aim Yale, 
who was the wife of Gov. Eaton and daughter of 
George Lloyd, Bishop of Chester, England. Daniel 
Brown and his wife lived together over fifty years, 
and his widow is now (1902) living in New Haven. 
She is a woman of many virtues and much beloved. 
They were both members of St. James Episcopal 
Church of Fair Haven. Mr. Brown was engaged 
for years in quarrying stone. From the stone-quar- 
rying business he engaged in the oyster trade and 
from 1865 until the time of his death he was a 
member of the committee whose business it was to 
stake out oyster grounds. ]\Ir. Brown was a man 
of good judgment. He was much beloved for his 
generosity and kindly nature. He held the con- 
fidence and esteem of his fellow citizens, and served 
them in many public official capacities. He served 
as constable in both New Haven and East Haven. 
In 1869 and 1890 he served as assessor in the town 
of New Haven, and in 1885 was councilman from 
the Twelfth ward of New Haven. Mr. Brown was 
active in a number of fraternal organizations. He 
was a member of Adelphi Lodge, F. & A. M. ; 
Pulaski Chapter, R. A. i\I. ; and New Haven Com- 
mandery. At the time of his death he was the 
oldest Knight Templar in the State. He was also 
a member of the Grand Lodge, Knights of Pythias, 
and became a member of the I. O. O. F. in 1869. 

On April 16, 1837, '" ^he old original M. E. 
Church in Fair Haven, Mr. Brown was married, by 
the Rev. John Pease, to Grace Amoret Thompson, 
and on April 16, 1887, this couple celebrated their 
golden wedding, Rev. William E. \'ibbert of- 
ficiating, the event taking place in the same hotise 
in which the bride lived with her parents when 
she was married. Many were the congratulations 
and "God Speeds" given to them on that day. The 
children born to this union were : Harriet Newell, 
born Nov. 3, 1840, and died June i, 1841 ; Grace 
Imogene, born ^March 10, 1842; Charles Phelps, 
born Feb. 16, 1844; .\m\ Elizabeth, born Nov. 16, 
1848, died Jan. 12, 1852; and Frank Daniel Brown, 
born Oct. 13, 1859. 

(\TH) Charles Phelps Brown, son of Daniel 
Hemingway and Grace Amoret (Thompson) 
Brown, married, Dec. 29, 1870, Frances Barton, 
daughter of Robert and Jane (Spink) Barton, <yi 
Taberg, N. Y. They have had three children : 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



325 



Clarence, who tlied in infancy: Roscoe Phelps, bom 
Oct. 28, 1878; and Imogene Elizabeth Brown, born 
April I, 1884. 

(VIII) Frank Daniel Brown, son of Daniel 
Hemingway and Grace Amoret (Thompson) 
Brown, married, Uct. 13, 1885, Florence M. Smith, 
of New Haven, Conn. They had one child, Ruth 
May, born ^lay 2. i8yi, died tlic same day. 

(VHI) Grace Imogene Brown, daughter of 
Daniel Hemingway and Grace Amoret (Thompson) 
Brown, married, Oct. 3, 1861, Philo Sherman Bct- 
nett, of Newtown, Conn. One child blessed Uiis 
union, Blanche Imogene, born May 15, 1867, died 
June 6, 1887, beloved by all her acquaintances. She 
was educated at St. Margarets School, W'aterbury, 
Conn., and became an accomplished musician and 
an artist of great promise. To her memory is 
erected in the Chapel of the Union cemetery, Fair 
Haven, a beautiful memorial window, representing 
St. Cecelia seated at an organ, while two angels 
with glistening robes, and wings which have 
caught the hues of a brilliant rainbow, stand ap- 
parently entranced with the music to which they 
are listening. St. Cecilia's face is a likeness of the 
features of her in whose memory this memorial is 
given. 

Philo Sherm.\x Bexnett, born in Xewtown, 
Conn,, Jan. 15. 1842, descended from Caleb Ben- 
nett, who was among the most conspicuous settlers 
in that section. When it became a town he was 
one of the most influential of its citizens. He was 
one of the committee who petitioned the General 
Assembly for an incorporation as a town. He be- 
came a magistrate and held several municipal of- 
fices, and was very prominent both in Church and 
State. He married Esther Beers (born May i, 
1761, died 1796), daughter of Daniel and Mabel 
(Booth) Beers, and a descendant of Anthony Beers, 
who founded that family in America. Their chil- 
dren were Abel, James and Sarah. 

(II) James Bennett, son of Caleb, married 
Lucretia Gage, of Vermont, and made their home 
in Newtown, Conn. Their children were Delia, who 
died Feb. 18, 1840. aged twenty-five years: Austin, 
father of Philo S. Bennett: Sarah Ann. who mar- 
ried Philo Sherman, and lived in Bristol, Conn. ; 
and Vail Bennett. 

(III) Austin Bennett, son of James, was born 
Jan. I, 1S14, and died .A.ug. 10. 1844. He married 
Nancy Maria Jones, who was born in New Haven 
June 5, 1816, and died in Waterville, N. Y.. Nov. 
9, 1897. They were the parents of the following 
children: (i) Julia Elizabeth, horn April 4, 1837, 
died Jan. i. 1862: she married John Bussing, and 
had one child, Carlton, who died in infancy. (2) 
Delia Ann, born Jan. 15, 1830, married for her 
first husband. Franklin Porter Cook, of New Ha- 
ven : thev had one child, Blanche Clayton Cook, who 
wedded De Witt Con.ger, of Waterville, N. Y. They 
have one child. Daniel Bennett Conger, bom June 
15, 1896. Delia Ann (Bennett) Cook married for 



her second husband Melancthon Worthington Big- 
elow, of Waterville, N. Y. (3) Philo Sherman 
Bennett is mentioned below. (4) .Mary Augusta, 
bom Oct. 17, 1844, died May 27, 1882; she mar- 
ried Charles B. Mason, of Danbury, Conn. Their 
children are: Charles Edward; John Holmes, born 
October, 1867, died Feb. 26, 1892; Bennett Hawley, 
who died at the age of eighteen years, and was 
buried in Danbury, Connecticut. 

From the settler, Caleb Bennett. Philo Sherman 
Bennett was descended in the fourth generation. 
Losing his father at the age of two years, he ei.ght 
vcars later went to Sharon. Conn., and lived for 
si.K years on the fann of Lemuel Peck. .\l the age 
of sixteen he came to New Haven and was em- 
ployed by Porter Cook, a merchant of Fair Haven ; 
subsequently he returned to New Haven, where he 
represented the firm of .\. H. Kellam & Co. In a 
short time he and his partner. Alfred P. Sloan, 
bought out that firm and carried on a wholesale 
groccrv business for a number of years under the 
name of Bennett & Sloan. Seeing a broader open- 
ing for business in the city of New York, they re- 
moved there and now have business representatives 
in every State of the Union. The firm is now one 
of the largest and most successful in the country 
in their line of business. Mr. Bennett was a mem- 
ber of the New Haven board of education for sev- 
eral years, and was also a leading member of the 
committee appointed by the Legislature to investi- 
gate State expenses in Connecticut. For the presi- 
dential elections in 1896 and in 1900 he ran as an 
elector-at-large on the Democratic ticket. 

The Hemixgw.w Family, in the line that has 
intermarried with the Brown family, is descended 
from Ralph Hemingway, of Roxbury, Mass., 1634, 
who married Elizabeth Hewes, July 5. 1634. Ralph 
was active in town affairs, and was a member of 
Roxbury Church. He brought a large property 
with him, and in 1638 he was one of the largest 
tax payers and land owners in the town. His wife 
,was also wealthy. A daughter of Joshua Hewes, 
she was born in 1603, and died in 1684 or 1685. 
Ralph died in 1678. His eldest son, Samuel Heni- 
ing\vay, born in June, 1636, settled in New Haven, 
and later moved to East Haven. He was a man of 
education and refinement. The records at the town 
clerk's ofifice which he kept for a lon.g time show 
this, the writing being almost as le.gible as printing. 
In 1662 he married Sarah Cooper, a daughter of 
John Cooper, a magistrate and early Colonist. Their 
children were: John, born May 29, 1675. married 
Mary Morris in 1703; Abraham, born Dec. 3. 1677, 
married Sarah Talmadge. Nov. 11, 1713. Of the 
children of John and Mary (Morris) Hemingway, 
Samuel, born March 12, 1713, married IMehitable 
Dennison. and died Oct. 25, 1779. and their daugh- 
ter, Sarah Hemingway, born ^lay 18. 1738. mar- 
ried Enos Hemingway April 24. 1777. 

Abraham Hemingway, bom Dec. 3. 1677. mar- 
ried Sarah Talmadge. Xuv. 11. 1713. Of their chil- 



326 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(Iren, Abraham, Jr., born April i, 1727, married 
-Mercy Tuttle April 14, 1746. She was born April 
17. 1730, and died Jan. 20, 1812. Abraham, Jr., 
died at Plymouth, Conn., Aujj. 25, 1779. He was 
a deacon of long standing in the church. They had 
a son, Enos iieniingway, born .Sept. 17, 1755' who 
served between 1797 and 1809 inclusive, twenty-one 
sessions, as representative from East Haven, the 
longcsit record in its history. He was a Revolution- 
ary soldier. Enos Hennngway married Sarah Hem- 
mgway, daughter of Samuel and Mehitable (Den- 
nison/ Hemingway, April 23, 1777. Their daugh- 
ter Sarah, born .Sept. 17, 1780, married Isaac Brown, 
born Feb. 27, 1771. Their son, Wyllis Hemingway, 
married Mary Brown Nov. 16, 1809; she was born 
Dec. 21. 1788, and Wyllis (a twin) was born Jan. 
29, 1 791. Isaac Brown and Mary Brown were chil- 
dren of Daniel and Hannah (English) Brown. 

M.VXSFIELD. The families bearing the name 
of .Manstield m this section are among the oldest 
of Xew Haven and vicinity, and among the posterity 
of Richard Mansfield, tiie progenitor of many 
bearing the name in Xew England and throughout 
the country, liave been men of achievement and dis- 
tinction. It is the purpose of this article to treat 
I)articularlv of the line of Benjamin Franklin Mans- 
field, who has long been prominent as a citizen and 
business man of Xew Haven, more recently in the 
real-estate line. 

P.orn March 14, iSjo, in Xew Haven, son of 
\\'illiam and Lucy I'eck (Culver) Mansfield, Mr. 
Mansfield is a descendant in the sixth generation 
from Richard Mansfield, who came from Exeter, 
Devonshire, England, to the American colonies, 
and settled in Ouinnipiac (now New Haven) in 
1639. He owned land in w^hat is now the city. A 
schedule of the list of the first j)lanters, 1641. in- 
cludes his name, and ascribes to him £400, thirty 
acres of land in the First Division, si.\ in tlie "neck." 
and eighty-eight in the Second Division. .\t about 
this time, it is supposed, he' built his dwelling 
house in the ."Second Division, East Farms, now 
about the corner of Church and Elm streets, and 
there lived the remainder of his days, his death oc- 
curring Jan. 10, 1655. His wife's Christian name 
was (jillian, and after his death she married, in 
1657, .Mexander Field, and removed into town. 
Losing her second husband in 1666, she thereafter 
made her home with her son, Moses Mansfield. 
She died in 1669. From this emigrant settler ]:!en- 
jamin F. Mansfield's lineage is thmugh Major 
Moses, Deacon Jonathan, Lieut. Xathan and Will- 
iam. 

(H) Major Moses Mansfield, son of Richard the 
settler, born in i6.-?g, took the freeman's oath in 
Xew Haven in 1660. He married. Mav 5, 1664, 
Mercy, daughter of Henry Cdover. an earlv settler 
and prominent man, and l)v her had all Jiis chil- 
dren. His second wi'e, .\bigail. was born Mav 5, 
1660, daughter of Thomas and .Mary Yale. Major 



Mansfield received his title, the highest in the 
town at the time, for defeating a body of Indians 
in King Philip's war, about where the town of 
Mansfield now is, the town having been named in 
his honor and granted him for his services. Major 
Mansfield lived in Xew Haven, and was for forty- 
eight sessions a member of the General Court. He 
also served as judge of probate and county court. 
He resided on the corner of Church and Elm 
streets, which was the home of his father, Richard, 
before him. 

(HI) Deacon Jonathan Mansfield, son of Major 
Moses, born Feb. 16, 1686, married (first) June 
I, 1708, Susan (Coe) Ailing. She died May 4, 
1765, and in 1766 he married (second) Abigail 
Dorman, daughter of James Bishop. She lived to 
be ninety, dying Jan. 25, 1798. Deacon Mansfield 
united with the church Aug. 28, 1709. under Rev. 
James Pierpont, and his first wife was likewise a 
prominent church worker and devout Christian. 
The Deacon was a prominent public man, was se- 
lectman, an ensign, lister, grand juror, moderator 
of meetings, etc. He was a farmer by occupation. 

(I\') Lieut. Xathan Mansfield, son of Deacon 
Jonathan, born Nov. 15, 1718, mfirried in 1745 De- 
borah Dayton, who was born Aug. 8, 1724, in New 
Haven. He was a farmer, and resided in New 
Haven. Lieut. Mansfield died March 13, 1783, and 
Deborah, his wife, died May 2j, 1817. aged ninety- 
three years. She was quite a remarkable and lively 
woman, of strong force of character, and especially 
distinguished for her piety. She lived to see her 
great-great-grandchild. She could remember the 
tiine when there was but one house of worship in 
New Haven, and the settlement did not contain a 
painted house, one pane of sash glass, or one riding 
chair; and when all the foreign trade of the city 
was handled by two vessels. When she was born 
Connecticut contained 17,000 people, and Litchfield 
county was still that remote West to which the 
more adventurous looked for a future home. 

(V) William Mansfield, son of Lieut. Xathan, 
was born April i, 1750, in a house which stood on 
the present site of Sheffield Xorth College, the old 
homestead in Xew Haven. He married Dec. 25, 
1776, Elizabetli Lyon, daughter of William and 
Elizabeth (Maltby) Lyon. She died Oct. 17, 1817, 
and he married (second^) Dec. i, 1818, Lucy (Peck) 
Culver, daughter of Abner E. and Sarah Peck, of 
Wallingford. She died April 29, 1842. Mr. Mans- 
field resided in Xew Haven. In boyhood he was 
eni])loyed on the farm of his brother, the greater 
])art of which was in the town of Hamden. On 
reaching manhood he became a mariner, and was 
mate and part owner of a vessel trading in the 
West Indies, his store and residence Ijeing on 
Chapel street, in Xew Haven. Mr. Mansfield was 
an ardent patriot, and entered heartily into the 
cause of the .\merican Colonies during the Revo- 
lution. He served in that war as a lieutenant, go- 
ing with Gen. Wooster in 1777 to the vicinity of 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



327 



Norwalk, on receipt of intelligence that the British 
were landing- there in force. He acted as aid, and 
in charge of a small scouting parly followed the 
enemy to near Danbury, and it was upon his report 
to Gen. W'ooster that such disposition was made 
of the militia under Gens. Sullivan and Arnold as 
to endeavor to cut off the retreat of the enemy 
on their return to the coast, and which brought 
on the engagement in which Gen. Wooster met his 
death. At the invasion of Xew Haven by the 
British, in 1779, Mr. ^Mansfield was early on the 
scene of action, and he like others suffered for his 
patriotism. His house and store were sacked, and 
he also lost a vessel which was loaded and ready 
for sea. After the war Mr. Mansfield was in busi- 
ness and engaged in farming in New Haven, resid- 
ing in the northern part of the town until about 
1800, at which time he moved to the "neck," and 
established a fruit and vegetable farm. This farm 
he sold in 1824, to his son-in-law, Capt. Richard 
Everit, and removed to Fair Haven, where he died 
May 28, 1842, in the ninety-third year of his age. 
A man of many vicissitudes, through an unusually 
long and busy life, he sustained through it all the 
strictest integrity. 

(\T) Benjamin Franklin Mansfield, son of 
William, is still a resident of Xew Haven, in which 
city he has passed a long and busy life. On April 
16, 1843, he married Harriet Janet Clark, a daugh- 
ter of Elisha and Jane (Baldwin) Clark, of Shef- 
field, Mass., formerly of ]\lilford, Conn. Mr. Mans- 
field in the latter years of his active business life 
was engaged in the real-estate line. He had been 
promlinent in the commercial circles of Xew Ha- 
ven in various ways, being engaged for some years 
in the oyster business. He is a practical carriage 
manufacturer, and for a number of years dealt in 
carriages, also manufacturing to some extent; he 
shipped extensively to the Southern States. Mr. 
Mansfield has also been interested in the improve- 
ment of the city as a builder, having put up a 
number of houses, for which he drew all the plans, 
and he drew the plan for the home he himself oc- 
cupies. He remembers almost every house built in 
Xw Haven since 1828. He was the town agent 
for years, and has filled a number of public offices 
of trust and responsibility. In 1864 he was ap- 
pointed a conmiissioner of the Republican party 
from Connecticut, to record the votes of the United 
States soldiers then doing service in the Civil war. 
For many years he was the leading and active mem- 
ber of the Xew Haven City Board of Compensa- 
tion. 

Before the war Mr. Mansfield was interested in 
the militia, was brigade inspector of the 2d Brig- 
ade, holding that office for a number of years, and 
was also instructor ; he ranked as major of Con- 
necticut militia, and was generally known by that 
title. Active in preparing men for the war of the 
Rebellion, he fitted out a number of regiments in 
his connection with the commissary department. 



He was a personal friend of Gov. Piuckingham, the 
war governor of Connecticut. 

Tile following is a brief record of Mr. Mans- 
field's children: ( i ) Harriet Elizabeth, born Jan. 
13, 1844, married Jan. i, 1867, Thomas J. Beers, 
and to them have come children as follows : Kate 
M., born Xov. 28, 1867, married Frank A. Bun- 
nell, teller of the First Xational Bank of Xew Ha- 
ven, and they have had three children — Mariam B., 
born July 17, 1892; Lyman B., Feb. 16, i8y6; and 
Katherine, May 24, 1897. Hallie M., born July 31, 
1871, married Abel W. Walker, who is connected 
with C. S. .Mersick & Co., and they have one 
child, Wilmarth Bradford, born Xov. 30, 1895. 
Burton M. was born Feb. 24. 1874. Mr. Beers is 
a carriage manufacturer by trade. 

(2) Emma Augusta, born July 22, 1846, mar- 
ried Sept. 15, i8'i(). Charles E. Doty, of Xew 
\ ork City and to them have come children as fol- 
lows: ^iay M. bom (")ct. 13, 1870, married Frank 
B. Long, b. D. S., of Xew York, and they have 
one child, Frank B., Jr.. born April 27, 1901. Cas- 
sie ^L w-as born Feb. 22, 1872. Mansfield M. was 
born Aug. 18, 1879. 

(3) Edward Franklin is mentioned below. 

(4) Mary Louise, born Oct. 6, 1855, married 
Feb. 23, 1876, Frank B. Walker, a business man 
of New Haven. To their union came children as 
follows : Elizabeth M., born Sept. 23, 1877 ; Ed- 
ward M., born Feb. 26, 1879, now an engineer in 
the bridge department of the Michigan Central 
Railway Co. ; Minnie INlansfield, born iMarch 29, 
1883 ; and Marguerite, born Aug. 8, 1885. 

Edw.\rd Fr.anklin Mansfield was born Oct. 
15, 1848, on Wooster street, Xew Haven, and re- 
ceived a good education there, attending Thomas' 
private school, Russell's Military Academy, and 
Stiles French's private school. When a young man 
he entered the employ of the Xew Haven & Xorth- 
ampton Steamboat Co., as purser, and remained 
with them two years. For the next three years 
he was in the produce commission business in Xew 
York City, with his brother-in-law, Mr. Doty, and 
in 1874 he came back to New Haven, taking a 
position in the mercantile establishment of Strong, 
Barnes, Hart & Co., with which he has been since 
connected. Since May i, 18S3, he has been a 
member of the firm. He is a member of the New 
Haven Chamber of Commerce, and a man of high 
standing and character in the city, being in the 
strictest sense a worthy rci)rcsentative of a time- 
honored family. 

Fraternally Mr. Mansfield is a Mason of high 
stan<ling, belonging to FTiram Lodge, Xo. i. A. F. 
& A. M., in which he has held all the offices; 
Franklin Chapter : Harmony Council : and Xew 
Haven Connnandery. He also holds membership in 
the Ouinnipiac Club and the Union League Club, 
was formerly a member of the Pequot and Yacht 
Clubs, and was one of the first members of the 
Ansantawac Club. The familv attend Trinity 



?28 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Church. Mr. Mansfield's political allegiance is 
given to the Republican party. 

On Sept. 14, 1871, Mr. Mansfield married Kate 
Coale Goodnow, whose father, Jot ham Goodnow, 
was for manv years connected with the Aetna Fire 
Insurance Co., of Hartford, and for some years was 
its president. Two children have blessed this union : 
Benjamin F., born June 21, 1872, is an oil broker 
in California. Henrietta Goodnow, born May 30, 
1874, married Charles Elliott Picket, assistant clerk 
in the United States Court at New Haven, and has 
one child, Dorothy Mansfield, born in December, 
1901. 

Jotham Goodnow died Nov. i, 1892. In 1856. 
wht'n he was twenty-one, he came from Fall River, 
Mass.. to Hartford, and was bookkeeper in a Hart- 
ford bank until 1864. when he went to Rockville 
to take a jxisition as cashier of the First National 
Bank. Soon after this he accepted a position as 
cashier in the Citv Bank of New Haven. In 1866 
he was elected secretary of the Aetna Fire Insur- 
ance Co., at Hartford. 'On Sept. 26, 1888, he was 
elected president of the Aetna Fire Insurance Co.. 
and was serving as such at the time of his dea,th. 
Mr. Goodnow's most impressive characteristic was 
his unswerving devotion to what he believed to be 
right. In the city council of Hartford he served 
conscientiously from a desire to promote the public 
welfare, and not from any enjoyment of the po- 
sition. 

GEORGE B. CLARK, a prominent and success- 
ful business man of Derby and Ansonia, and a citi- 
zen of New Haven county held in high and univer- 
sal esteem, comes of English stock, the first of his 
family to emigrate from Great Britain to New Eng- 
land having settled in Alilford in 1640. Nehemiah 
Clark, his grandfather, was born in Orange and 
died there. His wife was also named Clark, and to 
thieir marriage were horn four children, Nehemiah, 
Elias, Mcrritt and Sarah. Nehemiah passed his 
life in his native town and died unmarried. Elias 
studied theology, was ordained a Congregational 
minister and preached at various places in Con- 
necticut and the West; he died in Wisconsin. Sarah 
married Ezra Candee, a fanner of Orange. 

Merritt Clark, the father of George B., was 
born in Orange Dec. 10, 1816, and removed to 
Derljy in 1839. A carpenter and builder, he con- 
tinued to follow that occupation until 1861, at which 
time he bought the business of David Bassett, the 
pioneer coal dealer in the Valley and conducted the 
coal yard successfully until 1880. when he retired. 
In religious faith he was an Episcopalian, in poli- 
tics originally a Whig and later a Republican. He 
held the office of town assessor. Mr. Clark died 
Dec. 24, 1896. He married Mary Ann Hodge, who 
preceded him to the grave in November, 1891. Her 
father. Benjamin Hodge, was a resident of Derbv, 
and by trade a cooper. His love for adventure, 
however, prompted him to become a sailor on a 



whaling vessel. He died in Derby. Six children 
were born to ]Merritt Clark and his wife, of whom 
George B. was the third in order of birth, and the 
eldest son. The others were Emily, Mary, Charles 
E., Julia V. and William J. The last named (who 
married Mary Terry, of Ansonia) is general mana- 
ger of the motor department of the General Elec- 
tric Co., of New York. Charles E. married Lillie _ 
Hawkins, of New Haven ; he is now cashier of the " 
Birmingham National Bank, of Derby. Of the 
daughters, Emily has remained single. Mary mar- 
ried Edson L. Bryant, of Ansonia. Julia V. be- 
came Mrs. William R. Steele, of the same place. 

George B. Clark was born Oct. 25. 1846, was 
educated in the public schools of Derby and at 
Eastman's Business College, graduating from the 
latter institution in 1863. He then began his busi- 
ness career as assistant to his father in the coal 
business, and has continued in that line of trade 
ever since, at present owning yards in both An- 
sonia and Derby. His career has been marked by 
great success, both as a merchant and as a citizen. 
For nearly twenty years he has been a director in 
the Derby Savings Bank, is a stockholder in sev- 
eral manufactories in Derby and Shelton, and is 
a member of the Derby and Shelton Board of Trade, 
and his commercial standing is high. He has al- 
ways taken an active interest in the municipal wel- 
fare as well as in trade progress and, while he has 
never sought office, his fellow citizens, knowing 
his keen business sagacity and unimpeachable hon- 
esty, have honored both him and themselves by re- 
peatedly electing him to positions of high respon- 
sibility and trust. For five consecutive terms he 
has been selectman of the town ; for two years 
street commissioner of Derby : and has also served 
as judge of the city court, a post which he has filled 
with rare ability and unswerving integrity for four 
years, and to which he was elected for a third term 
in February, 1901. In social and domestic life his 
relations are pleasant, his genial, generotis dispo- 
sition winning him many friends. For twenty years 
he has been a member of Housatonic Lodge, No. 
6, I. O. O. F., and he is also a member of Conclave 
No. 317, of the Independent Order of Heptasophs 
of America. In politics he is a Republican. ]\Ir. 
Clark is a keen sportsman and although, when about 
twenty-two years of age, he lost his right arm by an 
accident while out hunting, he is still able to find 
much enjoyment with his rod and gun. 

On Oct. 17, 1882. Mr. Clark married Miss Car- 
oline J. Birdseye, a daughter of Joseph Birdseyc, of 
Huntington. Fairfield cnuntv. Mr. and Mrs. Clark 
have two daughters, Ethel B. and Mildred R. 

DA\"in L. FRISBIE. an honored veteran of the 
Civil war and a leading citizen of Wolcott, has 
through his own exertions attained an honorable 
position and marked prestige among the representa- 
tive agriculturists of the town, and witli signal con- 
sistencv it mav be said that he is the architect of his 




V ^v %i\^\ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



329 



own fortunes, and one whose success amply justifies 
the apphcation of the somewhat hackncyetl but most 
expressive title, "a self-made man.'" 

The Frisbie family was founded in America by 
John and Ahi£,'-ail (Culpepper) Frisbie, natives of 
Wales, who located in Branford. Conn. Their son, 
Elijah Frisbie, was a land owner and farmer in 
Wolcott, living on the road from Waterbury to 
Bristol, where 1ie died Feb. 15, 1800. lie first mar- 
ried Abigail Culver, who died April irj, 1771, and 
for his second wife married Elizabeth Ives, who 
died Oct. 11, I77f>. His third wife was Lydia Red- 
field. It was in 1759 that he removed from Bran- 
ford to Wolcott. In his family were eight children, 
namely: Esther, who was born in 174.^ and died in 
1795 ; Judah. who is mentioned below : Reuben, born 
in 1746; Abigail, wife of Daniel Tuttle: Charles, 
born in 1752: Hannah, wife of Elnathan Thrasher, 
of Woodtick, Wolcott: Sarah, wife of Ichabod Mer- 
rill : and John, born in 1762. 

Judah Frisbie was born Sept. 13. 1744, and spent 
his. entire life as a farmer in Wolcott, where he 
owned property. On Aug. 12, 1779, he married 
Hannah Baldwin, who was born on Buck's Hill, 
\\'aterbury, a daughter of Israel Baldwin. They 
had four children: Mary, who was born in 1780, 
and married Abner Hotchkiss : David, grandfather 
of our subject: Hannah, who was born Nov. 10, 
1783, and married Orrin Jackson : and Judah, who 
died in 1829. 

David Frisbie, the grandfather of our subject, 
was lx)rn Jan. 12, 1782, in Wolcott, where he grew 
to manhood and continued to make his home 
throughout life, his time and attention being devot- 
ed to agricultural pursuits. His remains were in- 
terred in the Woodtick cemetery. In February, 
1805, he married Leva Hall, and to them were born 
the following children : Samira, born Aug. lo, 1806, 
was married, Aug. 11. 1825, to Joel Johnson, and 
later moved to California: Hannah \'., born Nov. 
15, 1810, was married. Oct. 10, 1829, to Carlos R. 
Byington, of Southington, Conn., and died Nov. 10, 
1870: Almira. born Nov. 17, 1812, was married, 
Oct. 16, 1830. to David Somers: David Berkley, 
father of our subject, completes the family. 

David B. Frisbie was born July 19, 1814, and 
after receiving a good district school education, he 
engaged in teaching when a young man. but later 
in life followed fanning. In politics he was a Re- 
publican, and he held several local ofifices, including 
that of justice of the peace. He continued to make 
his home in \\'oodtick throughout life, dying ujjon 
his farm .\ug. 12, 1850, and his remains were in- 
terred in Woodtick cemetery. He married Char- 
lotte Ha!!, of Clicsliire. who after his dcatli wedded 
Augustus Rose, bv wliom she liad one son. Edwin 
Rose, of Watcrburv. She died Jan. 17, 1855, and 
was also buried in Woodtick cemetery. 

David Lyman Frisliic, our subject, was tlie only 
child of the first marriage. He was born on tlie 
Frisbie homestead in Wolcott. March 15, 1841. and 



was only nine years old at the time of his father's 
death. He attended the district schools of Cheshire 
and Waterbury, and at the age of fourteen years 
began earning his own livelihood by working as a 
farm hand, being thus employed until after the 
Civil war broke out. In August. iSGi. he responded 
to his country's call for aid by enlisting at Water- 
bury in Com[)anv C, 14th Conn. \'. I., under Ca])t. 
Carpenter and Col. Ellis, and participated in tiie 
siege of b'redericksburg from Sept. 17 to Dec. 13. 
1862; the i)att!es of CliancellorsviUe, May 2 to 12, 
1863: Cettyslnirg. July 2 and 3. 18^13; b'alling 
Water, July 13, 1863; Auburn. \'a.. Oct. 14, 1863: 
Boston Station, \'a., Oct. 15, 1863; Centreville, Oct. 
15, 1863: Mine Run, Dec. i, 1863; Morton Ford, 
Feb. 6, 1864; and several other engagements, lie 
also took ].)art in the Cirand Review at Wasliington, 
D. C, and was mustered out at Hartford, Conn., 
with the rank of acting corporal. 

After the war Mr. b'risbie lived both in Cheshire 
and Waterbury for a time. In 1868 he married Miss 
Anna C. Downs, of Northfield, Litchfield county. 
Conn., where she was born, a daughter of John and 
Martha (Bristol) Downs, representatives of two of 
the best families of the State. She had two liroth- 
ers wlio were soldiers of the Civil war. Mr. and 
Mrs. Frisbie have two children: Frank David, 
who was t>orn Dec. 30, 1870, and is now in Water- 
bury ; and Berkley Levi, who was born March 8, 
1874, and assists in the operation of the home farm. 
They are voung men of exemplary habits, and are 
quite popular with tlieir associates and many friends. 

After his marriage. Air. Frisbie located on the 
old homestead in Woodtick, upon which he has 
since engaged in general farming with good success, 
and at the same time has followed teaming. He has 
made many improvements upon his place, and has 
one of the most desirable farms of its size in the 
town. Politically he has always been a stanch sup- 
porter of the Republican party, and he has filled 
various local offices. He is numbered among the 
valued citizens of Wolcott who have been devoted 
to the public welfare, has manifested the same loy- 
alty in days of peace as in time of war, and all who 
know him have for him the highest regard. His 
wife is an active and consistent member of the Con- 
gregational Church, and shares with her husband 
tlie friendship of a large circle of acquaintances. 

CAPT. WILLIAM O'KEEFE has been a mem- 
ber of the police force of New Haven for almost 
twenty years and commencing at the foot, has earned 
promotion by meritorious conduct. He bas ranked 
as captain since 1892 and since 1897 has been in 
charge of Station No. 4. The Captain has lived in 
the city from boyhood, and his record, both as a citi- 
zen and as an official, is without reproach. 

Our subject is a native of County Cork, Ire- 
land, born May 22, 1839, son of James and Mary 
(Ambrose) O'Kcefe, who reared a family of nine 
children: Ann. Ellen. William. Julia, Catherine, 



330 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Xora, Martin, John and Bridget. Four survive, El- 
len, Catherine, Nora and William. The father 
passed all his life in Ireland. He was a man of 
good education, and was engaged as steward or 
overseer of a large estate. All his ancestors were 
farmers. Our subject's mother was born in London, 
of Irish extraction, and died in New Haven. 

William O'Keefe spent the earlier part of his life 
in his native land, receiving his education in the 
National schools. When fourteen years of age, in 
1853, he was brought to the United States by an 
aunt, and his home has since been in New Haven. 
For a time he attended the Dudley school, in Wallace 
street, but he early commenced work with the New 
Haven Clock Company, with which he remained two 
years. He then went to sea on a coaster, continuing 
that life for one year, and he was also in the employ 
of the Mallory Wheeler Company for a time before 
serving his apjirenticeship to the carriagemaker's 
trade. While thus cngagetl the Civil war brokie out, 
and in September, 1861, he enlisted, becoming a 
member of Company B, 9th Conn. V. I. They were 
sent to the Gulf and New (Jrleans, and thence up to 
X'icksburg, our subject meantime receiving promo- 
tion to a second lieutenancy for meritorious con- 
duct. He came home on furlough and re-enlisted, 
during his second term seeing service in the Shenan- 
doah Valley with (Jen. Shcriden with whom he re- 
mained throughout that campaign. He received an 
honorable discharge in October, 1864, and, return- 
ing to New Haven, resumed work at carriagemaking. 
In September, 1865, during the I'enian excitement, 
he went to Ireland with Capt. Lawrence O'Brien. 
After his return he continued to engage at his trade 
until 1872, in wliicli year he was elected city registrar, 
and in December, i'872, he was appointed a patrol- 
man, serving as such nine years. The next year Mr. 
O'Keefe was a roundsman, was then promoted to 
lieutenant in charge of the Grand Avenue Precinct, 
and in 1892 became captain. He had charge of Sta- 
tion No. 3 until 1897, when^ he was transferred 
to Station No. 4. His efficiency and fidelity to duty 
have won him the confidence of his superiors and the 
respect of his fellow officers, and he is held in uni- 
versal esteem by all who know him, whether in an 
official or private capacity. 

On May 20, i&C*j. Capt. O'Keefe was married to 
Miss Mary O'Brien, a sister of Capt. Lawrence 
O'Brien, Father Hart performing the ceremony. Of 
the children born to this union six are living, ]Mary, 
^^'ilIiam, Ellen, Thomas, Catherine and John. The 
family attend St. Joseph's Catholic Church. The 
Captain is a Democrat in political faith. Socially he 
holds membership in the Ancient Order of Lliiited 
Workmen, Royal Arcanum, Union \'eteran Union 
and Admiral Foote Post, G. A. R. 

GAILEY. The Gailey I'amily is of Scot- 
tish origin. They belonged to the Highland 
clan, of whom the chieftain was Buchannan. 
The Buchannans w-ere at feud with a neigh- 



boring clan and their decisive battles were 
fcught on a lea field between two hills. A 
cry was raised by each clan for the decision of 
the long-existing strife by mortal combat between 
the chieftains. Buchannan faced his opponent and 
won the day. In commemoration of the event he 
ordered the lea to be decorated with gold, silver and 
flowers and named the spot Gay-Lea, because of the 
victorv. From that day the chieftain of the clan 
called himself Buchannan of Gay-Lea, which in the 
course of time was changed to Gaylea and remained 
so until about eighty years ago, wdien it was changed 
to Gailev. The coat of arms of the family, which 
was discovered in the Island of Bute (their original 
home), consists of a highlander in full costume; 
plumes in his hat, w^earing kilt and tartan ; under 
his foot a serpent whose head writhes from under 
right foot ; in his right hand a sword, partly behind 
his back, on which he is resting; his left hand in 
attitude of repose, resting on left thigh ; underneath 
is the motto, "Vcre Fortis." 

When the house of Hanover ascended the throne 
cf England the adherents of the house of Stuart 
were still numerous and influential in Scotland. 
When the rebellion of 1715, w-hich had for its ob- 
ject the placing of Prince James, son of James II, 
on the Scottish throne, broke out, the ancestors of 
Ihe Gailevs were living in the Island of Bute. Be- 
ing stanch Presbyterians, and in politics Whigs, they 
supported the house of Hanover and the protestant 
sticcession and opposed the claims of the Stuarts 
and the schemes of the Jacobites. About the be- 
srinnine of the reign of George II, three brothers 
—perhaps owing to the disturbed state of Scotland 
at the time — removed from the Island of Bute to 
Ireland. One settled near Lctterkcnny and the 
two others in Tyrone — one at Killenure, near 
Cmagh, the other in the parish of Ardstraw. The 
last named married the daughter of Mr. Brown, of 
Crecvy, and with her received the lands of Cavna- 
bun. The house in which he lived still stands, 
slightly modified, and with part of the lands is still 
in the possession of the family. The estates of 
the family were confiscated after the rebellion of 
1745 and bestowed upon the Duke of Argyll, the 
fiayleas having supported Prince Charles Edward. 
At this time Scotland was in such a disturbed state 
they abandoned their homes and possessions and 
sought refuge in the North of Ireland, in the Prov- 
ince of I'lster, where members of the family have 
since lived and prospered. Many of them emigrated 
back to Scotland, some to England and many to 
America, and some of them are Presbyterian mis- 
sionaries in China. 

James Smiley Gailey descends from one of the 
three brothers who went from the Island of Bute, 
Scotland, and settled in the North of Ireland the 
early part of the eighteenth century. His grand- 
father was born in the Province of Ulster, County 
Donegal or Tyrone, Ireland, in 1766, came to this 
country alx)ut 1775. and with his brothers, Joseph, 





^4^^^Lyi'-''T^C'-(Ly 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



331 



Andrew and John, settled in Orange county, N. 
Y. In 1801 the names of Joseph and WilHam, and 
in 1812 those of Andrew and Margaret (Hadden) 
Gailey, appeared on the church roll of the old Cov- 
enanter Church, of Coldenham. William Gailey 
married Margaret Hadden. of Ortrano county, N. 
Y., in 1805. They had five children horn in Orange 
county — Mary A., Andrew. Robert. Isabel anrl 
Eliza — and three born in Sterling. N. Y. — John. 
William and Margaret — all of whom are dead. 
\\'illiam Gailey was a fanner all his life, living on 
a farm in Orange county with his family until 1814 
when he moved with his wnfe and children to Sterl- 
ing. N. Y.. then styled the backwoods, and there 
set about making for himself a home in the wilder- 
ness. The last ten or twelve years of his life he 
spent with his son, Andrew, dying Oct. 18, 1848. 

Mrs. Margaret (Hadden) Gailey was born in 
the Province of Ulster. County IMonaghan. Ireland, 
in 1777. and came to this country in 1791 with her 
parents. John and Mary (Johnston) Hadden. and 
four brothers and sisters. William. Robert. Eliza- 
beth and Mary. John Hadden was born May 8, 
1744. and died Oct. 24. 1842. Mrs. Mary (John- 
ston) Hadden was born in 1743 and died Jan. 20, 
1830: the remains of both are buried in the Colden- 
ham churchyard. Orange county. They were linen 
workers and brought several spinning wheels to 
this country. Their ancestors were of the Presby- 
terian faith. English, and of Puritan stock, and 
went into Ireland with Oliver Cromwell, w-ho landed 
in Dublin Aug. 18. 1640. The earliest record found 
of the Haddens was of one De Hadden. who came 
to England with William the Conqueror as one of 
his staff. 

.Andrew Gailey. father of James S.. was born 
in Orange county. N. Y.. in April, i8og, and died 
in Southfield, Oakland Co., Mich., March 12, 1871. 
He lived with his parents. William and Margaret 
(Hadden) Gailey, on a farm in Orange county, 
X. Y.. until 1814, w-hen he accompanied them to 
Sterling, where he remained, except for a few 
years spent in Coldenham. N. Y., until his marriage, 
May 28, 183c;, to Margaret Jane Smiley. They 
had four children, all born in Sterling. N. Y. : 
\Iary A., born Aug. 12, 1840; Elizabeth, born Dec. 
6. 1842, who died in 1847: James S., born Jan. 15, 
1845: and Margaret Jane, born Nov. 11, 1846, who 
died in 1848. After his first wife's death Andrew 
Gailey was married. Jan. 10. 1850. to Margaret 
Burns, by whom he had two children: John Knox, 
born in Sterling, N. Y.. Oct. 28, 1850; and Agnes 
.Xnnette, born in same place Feb. 12, 1854, who died 
Jan. 15, 1898. Andrew Gailey lived on his farm 
until 1865, when he removed to Southfield, Mich., 
there settling on a farm near the church he so loved 
and in which for many years he had been deacon. 
Ihere he lived until his death. All of the family 
were members of the Covenanter Church. Air. 
Gailey never entered politics but was a strong advo- 
cate of temperance, even in his youth, when it was 



not popular. When a boy he visited his mother's 
old home in Orange county where, after attending 
the old Coldenham Covenanter Church, his uncle 
asked him to walk out to the tavern to get a drink, 
as all the other men were doing. This he refused to 
do. telling his uncle that when he left home his 
mother told him that as he was going to Coldenham, 
she hoped he would profit by the good example set 
before him. but if this was the kind of example he 
v.-as to have set he was going back to the woods. 
The old church still stands, and is open for w'or- 
ship. but the tavern, while still there, is closed. He 
had a kind heart for all who were in want or suiYer- 
ing and his word was as good as his note. 

Mrs. Margaret Jane (.Smiley) (iailey was born 
in Ireland March 4, 1818, and died in Sterling, N. 
Y., March 7, 1847. Her father. James Smiley, was 
born Jan. 3, 1786, and died Jan. 3, 1878. 
Her mother, Mary (Brown) .Smiley, was born 
Jan. 5, 1785, and died in 1877. Mrs. Gailey was 
b'-ought to this country by her parents w-hen six 
months old, from Strabane. parish of Cams, County 
Tyrone, Ireland. They first settled near Goshen, 
in Orange county, but soon moved to Sterling, 
where they lived and died. They had four daugh- 
ters and one son: Margaret, born March 4, 1818, 
died March 7, 1847; Lattishia, born Oct. 29, 1820, 
IK still living: Mary A., born Oct. 29, 1822, died 
some time ago: Robert, born April 3, 1825, is still 
living: and Elizabeth, born Nov. 20, 1828, is de- 
ceased. Two years after Mr. and Mrs. Smilev came 
to America her parents, William and Lattishia (Al- 
len) Brown followed their daughter to this coun- 
try and died the same year. They were buried in 
Orange county, near Goshev*, but their remains have 
since been removed to Tarrvtown, New York. 

r^Irs. Margaret (Burns) Gailey was born in 
Hamilton, Scotland. Jan. 8. 181 2. died in Michigan 
in 1895. 

Mary A. Gailey, daughter of Andrew, was born 
in Sterling, N. Y.. Aug. 12, 1840. and moved to 
Michigan with her father. On March 10, 1868, 
she married Sanniel Greer and has become the 
mother of four children : Clement Arthur, Ixirn 
Jan. 30, 1869: Joseph Andrew. Jan. 12, 1871 ; May 
Margaret, Oct. 7, 1872: and Isabel Torrens, May 
2, 1875. Airs. Greer and all the children now live 
in Connecticut. 

John Knox Gailey. son of Andrew, went to 
Michigan with his father. He spent a few years 
on a farm, but not wishing to be a farmer entered 
the Agricultural College at Lansing, Mich., where 
he graduated. He taught school during the win- 
ters and studied during the summers. Then he 
studied medicine and entered the University of 
Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he spent one year, 
thence .going to the New York University, where 
he graduated. After practicing two years among 
the copper mines in Isle Royal. Mich., he went to 
Germany and spent one year at \'ienna. On his 
return he went to Detroit, Mich., and entered Har- 



332 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



per's Hospital, where he remained five years, since 
wliich time he has practiced medicine in Detroit 
and stands high in his profession. He is surgeon at 
Harper's Hospital and the Children's Free Hospital, 
and is also physician to the Home of the Friendless 
and the Old Ladies Home, all of Detroit. On June 
6, 1893, Dr. Gailey married Florence Louese Bul- 
lock, daughter of Silas W. and Henrietta S. 
(Sprague) Bullock, natives of Michigan and Ver- 
mont, respectively. They have one son, John Knox 
Gailey, Jr., born March 3, 1895. 

J.v.MK.s S.MiLEv Ci.MLEV livcd with his parents on 
a fann in Sterling, X. Y., until he was nineteen 
years old, worked on same, and attended the com- 
mon school until he was sixteen. He then spent 
two years at Red Creek Academy, in Wayne county, 
X. v., and taught school two winters, after which 
he left home, going to Poughkeepsie. to H. G. 
Eastman's Business College. After taking a busi- 
ness course he started out to do what he could in 
busina«s life in New York. He secured a place as 
bookkeeper and clerked in Brooklyn, where he re- 
mained nearly two years, w^hen the sickness of his 
father called him home. After moving with his 
father to Southfield, Mich., he settled once more on 
a farm. There, on May 2, 1866, he married Sarah 
E. Barrett. He and his wife tired of the farm after 
a year and started for the city, going to Detroit, 
Mich., where Mr. Gailey was soon established as 
n>ceiving clerk of Farrend, Sheeley & Co., whole- 
sale druggists. While living in Detroit there was 
born, Aug. 24, 1869, their only child, a daughter, 
who died Sept. 7, i86<). After spending five years 
in Detroit Mr. Gailey and his wife moved to the 
pine woods north of Bay City, ^lich., to a place af- 
terward called Standish, where he took charge of 
the lumbering operations of J. D. Standish, of De- 
troit. After spending about four years there Mr. 
Standish disposed of his interest, and with Mr. 
Gailey, under the name of Standish & Co., opened 
a wholesale and retail lumber y^rd in Michigan, but 
after two years they .sold out and Mr. Gailey then 
started out to sell lum])cr on the road for Henry 
Stephens, a large lumljerman in central Michigan. 
After being on the road two years he again longed 
for home and bought a farm at Grass Lake, Mich., 
where he and his wife set up farming. After a 
six months' trial of farm life his health gave out 
and he was induced to return to the road as lum- 
ber salesman for Mr. Stephens. After spending in 
all alx)ut five years traveling in the Eastern and 
^^'estern States he finally. July t, 1881. settled down 
in Waterbury as secretary of the Waterbury Lum- 
ber & Coal Co., which office he held until January, 
1898, when he was elected president of the same 
company, and he is still serving as such. He was 
never active in politics, and to some extent inde- 
pendent, yet he calls himself a Republican and usu- 
ally votes with that party. 

Brought up and nurtured in the faith of his 
forefathers, Mr. Gailey joined the Covenanter, or 



Reformed Presljyterian, Church, of Sterling. N. 
\'.. when seventeen years old, transferring his mem- 
bership to the same church when he went to Brook- 
lyn and again on his removal to Southfield, Mich. 
.\fter their removal to Detroit, however, he and 
his wife joined the First Presbyterian Church of 
that city, from there transferring to the Congre- 
gational Church, of Grass Lake, and again to the 
Second Congregational Church, of Waterbury, 
where they are still members. LTntil the last four 
or five years Mr. Gailey has been active in church 
and Sunday-school work, and also a great supporter 
of the work of the Y. ^^L C. A. 

Mr. Gailey is a member of the Waterbury Club. 
He joined Mattatuck Council, No. 713, Royal Ar- 
canum, of Waterbury, March 9, 1885 ; the Improved 
Order of Heptasophs, Dec. i, 1894; Nosahogan 
Lodge, No. 21, L O. O. F., of Waterbury, Nov. 3, 
1885 : Ansantawae Encampment, Xo. 20, L O. O. 
F., of Waterbury, in 1886; Winona Rebekah Lodge, 
L O. O. F., of Waterbury, Sept. 25. 1895: was 
made a Mason Jan. 11, 1888; initiated into Conti- 
nental Lodge, No. 76, A. F. &. A. M., May 14, 
1888: exalted ruler in Eureka Chapter, No. 22, 
Waterbury, Nov. 25, 1891 : Clark Commandery, 
Xo. 7. Knights Templar. Jan. i, 1892; Naomi Chap- 
ter, X'o. 23, Eastern Star, Waterbury, April 13, 
iQoo. He was made a thirty-second degree Mason 
April, 1901. 

Mrs. Sarah E. (Barrett") Gailey, wife of J. S. 
Gailey, was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., June r, 
1840. daughter of Abraham Barrett, who was bom 
in L'lster, N. Y., and died in same place in 1862. 
Her mother, Catherine Rose, daughter of William 
Rose, also born in Ulster county, X''. Y., died Jan. 
21. 1855. Her ancestors are of Holland-Dutch de- 
scent, and at one time were large land owners on 
the Hudson. Mrs. Gailey has inherited their sterl- 
ing character. Those who know her well know her 
to be the truest of friends. She has made it a 
life rule, when unable to speak well of anyone, to 
hold her peace. 

JOSEPH E. HUBINGER. The record of a 
busy life, a successful life, must ever prove fecund 
in interest and profit as scanned by the student who 
would learn of the intrinsic essence of individu- 
ality : who would attempt an analysis of character, 
and trace back to the fountain head the widely 
diverging channels which mark the onward flow of 
such individuality. All human achievement, all hu- 
man weal or woe, in short, all things within the 
mental ken, are but mirrored back from the com- 
posite individuality of those who have lived. "The 
proper study of mankind is man," says Pope, and 
aside from this, in its broader sense, what basis 
of study or information have we? The rapid de- 
velopment of all material resources during the 
years leading up to the advent of the glorious 
twentieth century has brought business enterprises 
up from the days of small things to gigantic pro- 




-i^e- 




C'^-'Z^'e^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



333 



portions, where millions of dollars take the place 
of hundreds, and where men are required to handle 
such millions as coolly and carefully and as success- 
fully as their grandfathers handled the hundreds. 
The entire history of the world shows that to grap- 
ple with all new- conditions, to till breaches in all 
great crises, men have been developed and have 
stood ready to assume new and great responsibil- 
ities, and have discharged the duties involved with 
ability and profit. It is ever the enterprise and 
character of the citizen that enrich and ennoble the 
commonwealth. From individual enterprise has 
been evolved all the splendor and importance of 
our great industrial communities. America is a 
self-made country, and here is found the highest 
type of the self-made man. No influence of birth 
or fortune has favored the architects of her glory. 
Among those who have achieved prominence as 
men of marked ability and substantial w'orth are 
the Hubinger brothers, of New Haven, who now 
control an industry of magnificent scope and im- 
portance, which they have developed from the most 
modest inception, gaining standing among the in- 
fluential men of the industrial world. For all they 
have accomplished in the face of seemingly in- 
superable obstacles and against odds that would 
have baffled the courage and determination of the 
average man, they merit the inaximum of credit 
and praise, while their course in all the relations of 
life has been such as to retain for them the utmost 
confidence and esteem. They have wrought along 
the lines of the greatest good, have observed the 
most strenuous ethics of business life, and have 
gained an unassailable reputation in the great field 
of manufacturing enterprise, their products and 
name being familiarly known in all sections of the 
Union. The history of mankind is replete with il- 
lustrations of the fact that it is only under the 
pressure of adversity and the stimulus of opposi- 
tion that the best and strongest potentials of the 
individual are brought out, making the life prolific 
in fullest measure. It is a far cry from peddling 
the product of a modest little factory about the 
streets of a city from a handcart to the manipulation 
of an enterprise involving the transaction of mil- 
lions of dollars' worth of business annually, and 
yet this is what the course of a few years, com- 
paratively, has brought about in the careers of the 
Hubinger brothers. If anything can inspire the 
youth of our country to persistent, honest and laud- 
able effort it should be such life records as the one 
which we are now permitted to touch. 

For a generation the name of Hubinger has 
been one of distinct prominence in New Haven, 
where the brothers have achieved an almost phe- 
nomenal success in the industrial world, the time 
element being considered. Theirs has been a 
straightforward and legitimate business undertak- 
ing, and the name which thc\- bear has ever stood 
for the highest honor and integrity, while the prod- 
uct of their great factories has become probably 



as well known as any other household commodity 
which has ever been placed on the market in the 
United States. Elsewhere in this work individual 
mention is made of the senior member of the firm, 
Nicholas W. Hubinger, and to the same it will 
be proper to refer in this connection, as the Iw-o 
narratives will be found to be closely interwoven, 
the one conijjlemcining the other. 

In the year 1880 the three Hubinger brothers, 
John C, Nicholas \V. and Joseph E., founded the 
Elastic Starch Co. in New- Haven, under the firm 
name of J. C. Hubinger & Brothers, and this as- 
sociation remained thus until June, 1899, w-hen J. 
C. Huhinger's interests were accumulated by his 
two brothers and the business was reorganized and 
incorporated, under the title of the J. C. Hubinger 
Brothers Co., of which Nicholas W. is president 
and Joseph E. secretary and treasurer. It niay be 
said without fear of contradiction that the Hubin- 
ger brothers were the originators and first manu- 
facturers of elastic starch, and the product bear-, 
ing their name has always maintained its precedence 
over others of imitative order, and has always main- 
tained its priority in a class by itself, its superiority 
being unmistakable, and the demand for the same 
being steady and cumulative in character. This 
firm, w-hile now the foremost of its kind in Amer- 
ica, Fiad its inception under circumstances that of- 
fered very slight earnest of the magnificent future 
of the industry involved. The enterprise was born 
in all modesty and the early difficulties and strug- 
gles encountered seem almost like a romance w-hen 
we take cognizance of the financial position of the 
brothers to-day and the magnificent scope of their 
business. While the promoters had implicit con- 
fidence in the value of their product, they wrought 
out their success through energy, consecutive ap- 
plication and direction of every available means 
to the securing of the desired ends. That they have 
reaped nothing more than a just rew-ard for their 
earnest and indefatigable efforts is the verdict pro- 
nounced by all who have been familiar w-ith the 
history of their enterprise. Had the brothers been 
men of but the average persistency and determina- 
tion, or of but average business acurruen, they would 
have abandoned the business which has brought 
them not only great wealth but also a national rep- 
utation, placing them in the very foremost ranks 
of the successful manufacturers of New England. 
The Hubinger brothers are sons of John F. and 
Catharine (Girard) Hubinger, the former of whom 
was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Germany, 
and the latter in Metz, I-'rance. They were reared 
to lives of frugality, and that in their characters 
abide those deejj attributes of integrity and inflex- 
ible honesty of purpose that make for strong man- 
hood and noble w-omanhood cannot be doubted by 
anyone who has known them at any period in their 
lives. Thev are of the stern slufi^ which stands 
for true values in life, and it is fitting that their 
sons, deeply appreciative of tlieir sterling worth 



334 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and of all the fostering influences which emanated 
from them during their childhood days, should 
yield to them so deep a solicitude and veneration 
as they begin to pass onward to where the sunset 
gates of life open wide in the crimson west. The 
venerable and devoted couple now maintain their 
home at Keokuk. Iowa, where, in December, 1900, 
thev celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, 
surrounded by their children and by a goodly coni- 
panv of warm and cherished friends. That city is 
likewise the home of their son, John C. Hubinger, 
formerly a member of the firm in New Haven, who 
is known as one of Keokuk's most prominent citi- 
zens and influential business men. John F. Hubin- 
ger is a worthy type of the thrifty, intelligent, in- 
dustrious German element which has ever repre- 
sented a most valuable constituent in the civic life 
of our great American republic, for it cannot be 
doubted that the nation has gained much and lost 
nothing through the incorporation of this virile 
and strength-giving element, standing for profound 
judgment'^ inflexible integrity and the truest man- 
hood and womanhood. Mr. Hubinger was for a 
number of years identified with mercantile pursuits, 
and at one time successfully conducted a brewing 
business in Ripley. Ohio. Through exigencies 
which were beyond his guidance or control he met 
with financial reverses, the result being that his 
sons were constrained to assume personal respon- 
sibilities early in life, and to become reliant upon 
their own resources. Theirs was the legacy of that 
liberal endow-ment of pluck and persistency without 
which no definite and worthy success in life is pos- 
sible of attainment, and in view of the develop- 
ments of the years past it can scarcely be doubted 
that the reverses of the father proved the making 
of the sons, since necessity prompted them to 
the fullest exercise of their powers and abilities 
and lifted them high above the plane of mediocrity, 
revealing the resplendent virtues of self-respecting, 
iwtent and e.xalted manhood, .-jud resulting in lives 
of most prolific and beneficent order, the public 
good l>eing enhanced tnrough their private enter- 
prise. The venerable parents share the comforts 
and luxuries which wealth grants, and their sons 
find particular satisfaction in providing them with 
every possible accessory which will brighten their 
declining days with the evidences of love and ap- 
preciation, though, mindful of the frugality of their 
early days, they sometimes are led to gentlv pro- 
test against what seems to them a prodigality shown 
by their sons in thus providing for their welfare. 
The attitude is one which is most grateful to note 
in this connection, and offers assurance that the 
sons have ne\er been unmindful of the teachings 
and worthy examj^le of their venerable parents, 
and that they ai:)i)reciate the true values in life and 
the resi^onsibilities which wealth involves, while 
they have an intrinsic loyalty to self that holds them 
aside from ostentatious personal exhibitions and to 
show a detestatio" of the pretentious show affected 



bv many who have acquired great wealth in so 
brief an interval of time. 

To render in detail the history of the inchoation 
and rise of the now immense industrial enterprise 
conducted by the J. C. Hubinger Brothers Co. 
would far transcend the prescribed limitations of 
a publication of this nature, and still consistency 
demands that an epitome of this history be in- 
corjxjrated, for it bears both lesson and incentive 
as involving strenuous insistency of purpose and 
consecutive application of great energies and abil- 
ities until the mark of so high a success has been at- 
tained. Starting in so modest and unpretentious a 
way, no concern in New Haven has had a more 
herculean struggle in the securing of a definite foot- 
iiold ; no such demonstration of pluck and deter- 
minate efifort ; and no such rapid rise from the point 
of the most meagre facilities and accessories to a 
position at the forefront of the ranks of commercial 
enterprise. The present generation has witnessed 
the wonderful transition, and who can doubt that 
there has been a lesson in the great prosperity wdiich 
it represents ? To one thinking of the concern to- 
day and realizing that the transactions now involve 
millions of dollars annually, the thought must come 
that here has been brought to bear a wonderful 
energy, a transcendent executive and administrative 
ability, and a singleness of purpose which had no 
cognizance of the word failure. 

The idea of an elastic starch was suggested to 
the Hubinger brothers while they were acting as 
salesmen for the old-fashioned kind of starch. The 
housewives, ever the best judges of dotmestic econ- 
omies, entered frequent complaints to the effect 
tliat the starch would stick to the irons, and with a 
view of remedying this difficulty the idea of an 
elastic starch was conceived. After careful and 
well directed experimentation an article was pro- 
duced which effectually obviated the trouble thus 
made the subject of complaint. Lack of capital, 
and the difficulties to be encountered in the intro- 
duction of a distinctive innovation, constituted a 
problem and a handicap wdiich would have dis- 
couraged men of less determination and persistency, 
and the early difficulties experienced by the broth- 
ers in the establishing of their business upon a 
profitable basis can scarcely be imagined by those 
not familiar with the inception of the business. 
They were practicallv strangers in New Haven, 
therefore their credit had not yet been established, 
and among the incidents of their early struggle, 
amusing in a retrospective way, was that involved 
in their being refused credit for a barrel of starch, 
worth less than four dollars, this small sum being 
later raised only by strenuous effort, while they 
were also obliged to pay on delivery for the paste- 
board containers in which was placed their manu- 
factured product. Their difficulties but served to 
increase their determination and augment their en- 
ergies, and the eventual reward was not denied 
them in the controllin"- of a business which is of 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



335 



great importance as bearing upon the industrial 
life of the city of New Haven, where they are 
known and honored for their sterling worth of 
character and their high standing in the commercial 
world. In the early days dealers refused to handle 
their gootls while tliey were still in the experimental 
stage, and their first customers were secured by a 
house to house canvass, in which they personally 
took part,- and in which connection they were fre- 
quently called upon to demonstrate the efficacy and 
superiority of their starch. One secret of their suc- 
cess has been that they have never been afraid to 
work, and that they have always maintained the I 
same deep appreciation of the dignity of honest 
labor in whatever form, lacking in their composi- 
tion any element of snobbishness or false pride. Xo 
part of the details of their business was too un- 
pleasant or too difficult for them to personally un- 
dertake, and through all the years of magnificent 
growth they have thus retained the confidence and 
respect of their large corps of employes, who re- 
alize that the mark of appreciation is placed on 
character and faithful service, which command the 
respect, in turn, of the generous employers. 

Many who watched the early struggles of the 
Hubinger brothers predicted failure, but few prob- 
ably felt that any distinctive success would crown 
their efforts, and it is doubtful whether anyone, 
not even excepting the brothers themselves, ever 
thought the future had in store the magnificent 
prosperity which it records. The reward, however, 
is on every hand considered not the less in justice 
due. The business soon began to expand in scope 
and importance, the products of the little factory 
falling into the hands of the best judges of a 
household utility, the housewives themselves, as has 
been previously noted, and the merits of the elastic 
starch, did not long fail of recognition. Notwith- 
standing the unmistakable superiority of the prod- 
uct, its introduction and the expansion of the en- 
terprise to the point of definite success called for 
the exercise of rare business acumen, and in the 
administration (if a business of so great magnitude 
there have been demanded individual powers of 
transcendent quality, as is evident from even a 
cur.sory glance. That the brothers have been equal 
to every problem presented in a technical or ex- 
ecutive way bespeaks the possession of the powers 
demanded, and places them in the ranks of those 
great spirits who have made tlie nation famous 
for its magnificent industrial accomplishments. 
The ITubinger brothers have made the starch busi- 
ness their vocation in life, devoting their energies ; 
to the developnjent of a great enterprise, and some i 
years after the establishment of the original factory 1 
in New Haven they also erected a large factory at 
Keokuk, for the better accommodation of their ever | 
increasing business throiigh the West, and this por- ' 
tion of the ])ro])erty was likewise retained by the 
J. C. Plubinger Brothers Co. upon the reorganiza- 
tion of the business, in Jimc. i8(><> The business 



assuredly, at its inception, came under the categor- 
ical list of "infant industries," but it soon leaped 
forward from its iswaddling clothes to the vigor and 
pretentiousness of sturdy manhood and has grown 
to immense proportions, both in the East and the 
West, in\olving the ilisi)osition of more than twen- 
ty-five million packages of the elastic starch an- 
nually, while their transactions in this and other 
lines reach an annual aggregate of several millions 
of dollars. Success of this magnitude lias nut 
seemed to change those to whom it has fallen. The 
sanx democratic attitude is in evidence in their in- 
tercourse with all sorts and conditions of men, and 
they never seem to wish to give any ]>ersonal man- 
ifestation of the p<jssession of great wealth save 
through normal lines of unostentatious expenditure 
and the providing of their families with those ele- 
gant and refined surroundings which aftluence ever 
justifies. 

We shall now enter somewhat into detail con- 
cerning the personal career of Joseph E. Hubin- 
ger, whose name initiates this review. He is a 
native of Madison, Ind., born Feb. i, 1858. When 
he was still a boy his parents removed thence to 
Ohio, and his educational advantages, while not 
of collegiate order, were of excellent character, and 
through them he laid a proper foundation for the 
superstructure of wide information which has come 
to him through association with men and aft'airs, 
through reading, and through the refined condi- 
tions and accessories which are comipassed by 
wealth. His inheritance of a sturdy physical con- 
stitution, definite energy and power of application 
has likewise been an element conserving his success 
in connection with the active duties of life, and he 
early displayed that marked pragmatic and execu- 
tive ability which has been characteristic of those 
bearing the name of Hubinger. He entered upon 
an active business career in his youth, and in the 
year 1880 came to New Haven, where his two elder 
brothers, John C. and Nicholas W., had preceded 
him. He was associated with them in the founding 
of the elastic starch business, and his identification 
with the enteri)rise has thus been consecutive froin 
the time of its inception. He has contributed a 
due quota to the magnificent success of the great en- 
terprise, while in his general make-up and char- 
acteristics lie is not unlike his brothers, the hon- 
ored name being honored the more by their lives 
and services. He is wide-awake, progressive, and 
([uick to grasp and pass judgment on a business 
l)ro|KJsition, and in every line of thought and action 
lie has shown himself to be animated by a spirit of 
fairness and unequivocal integrity, being strong in 
his convictions, but not intolerant; always firm in 
defense of right, but having no room in his heart 
for revenge : while flattery is impotent to cajole 
him into compromise, or power to awe him into 
silence, his motto being i^ractically "to live and let 
live." Much to his credit as a public-spirited citi- 
zen, it ma\' 1)0 said that be erected and owns the 



336 



r~ 



OMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



fine Hubingcr block in Chapel street, New Haven, 
one of the most attractive modern business and 
office structures in the city, its erection having done 
much to stimulate modern practices in the method 
of constructing local blocks for such purposes, thus 
adding greatly to the attractions of the city and 
to safety and the use of the best facilities. Though 
always true to the duties of citizenship, .Mr. llubin- 
ger is not in any sense a seeker for official pre- 
ferment, but rather avows a distinct aversion to all 
that smacks of public notoriety. He has been re- 
peatedly urged to accept office of trust and re- 
sponsibility, but has uniformly declined. For one 
term he made an exception to his rule in this re- 
gard and served on the police board, with much 
credit to himself and to the uniform .satisfaction 
of the city. His political allegiance is given to the 
Republican party, and fraternally he is identified 
with the ancient craft, capitular, cryptic and chivalric 
bodies of Freemasonry, being a member of Wor- 
cester Lodge, F. & A. M. ; Franklin Chapter, R. 
A. ]M. ; Harmony Council, R. & S. M. ; and New 
Haven Commandery, K. T. ; while he is also a mem- 
ber of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks in 
his home city. Mr. Hubinger is one of the stock- 
holders in the New Haven County Bank and a 
member of its directorate. 

Like his brother, Nicholas \V., Mr. Hubinger 
is a great fancier of high-bred horses and is one 
of the prominent gentlemen horse-owners on the 
trotting turf to-day. His stables are extensive, and 
m them have been found at various times some 
of the fleetest and best-bred individuals on the 
trotting turf. From this noble sport he derives 
a great amount of pleasure and satisfaction, his 
means enabling him to indulge the propensity to 
the fullest limit. He is also fond of the sports 
afield, and makes many interesting excursions with 
rod and gun, his home containing a large number 
of fine trophies brought down with his rifle and 
proi:)erly given over to the taxidermist. His steam 
yacht, the "Sea Bird," is one of the finest of the 
palatial water crafts of this type owned in New 
Haven. His purely democratic ways, his liberality 
to any worthy cause, his genial disposition, and 
his sterling manhood, have gained Mr. Hubinger 
a host of friends, and he would be called to serve 
in positions of official nature were not his tastes 
averse to acceptance, tixiugh his interposition could 
not fail to be of definite value. 

Mr. Hubinger's beautiful home is maintained 
in harmony with his financial f>osition and is one 
of the most spacious and attractive in New Haven, 
widely known as a city of beautiful homes. The 
residence contains features which place it in a class 
by itself, so far as being unic|ue and original is 
concerned. Here may be found specimens of the 
best lines of art production, both of the old mas- 
ters and the modern schools, while the graceful 
attractions of music and beautiful surroundings 
make the home one of ideal character ; the house 



has for the most part been arranged with marked 
taste and skill, under the direction of Mrs. Hubin- 
ger. Included in the scheme is a most attractive 
"den" provided for Mr. Hubinger's individual use, 
which with its wealth of mteresting objets d'art, 
paintings, bric-a-brac, trophies of the chase, etc., is 
well worth a visit and careful and appreciative 
inspection, the equipment of this one room involv- 
ing the expenditure of many thousands of dollars. 
In his every-day life our subject is easily approach- 
able and ever courteous, and, notwithstanding the 
insistent demands made on his time and attention 
by his great business interests and his various meth- 
ods of proper recreation, he never fails to have a 
cheerful word for his many friends, and is w-illing 
to grasp the hand of any honest man in whatever 
position he is placed. The Hubinger brothers are 
of the true American type, and more than this need 
scarcely be said. 

On June 8, 1887, Mr. Hubinger was united in 
marriage with Miss Mamie F. Morrell, a daughter 
of Edwin and Amanda Morrell, of Portland, 
Maine, and they have two children, Rene G. and 
Joseph E., Jr. Mrs. hubinger presides with 
gracious manner over the beautiful home, where the 
refined amenities of true social life are ever in 
distinct evidence. 

DUMOND P. MERWIN, a member of the well- 
known firm of William M. Merwin & Sons, of Mil- 
ford, was born in that town Aug. 9, 1853, and has 
always resided there, his business interests being 
among the most important in the place. 

The family has been identified with this section 
for several generations, and William M. Merwin, 
father of our subject, was born and reared in Mil- 
ford, and has been actively engaged in business 
there as a grower and wholesale dealer in oysters. 
The firm owns several steamboats and makes a 
specialty of Long Island Sound and Narragansett 
Bay oysters. William M. Merwin married Miss 
Sarah C. Peck, of Orange. Conn., and has two sons, 
Dumond P. and Merritt W.. both members of the 
firm. 

Dumond P. Merwin was educated in the schools 
of Milford and at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. 
On Oct. I. 1874, he married Miss A. Bathena Bris- 
tol, of Milford, daughter of David and Elizabeth 
Bristol, and they have had two children : Albert 
Dumond and William Harvey. Mt. Merwin owns 
a beautiful home on the Sound, with extensive and 
artistically arranged grounds, and commanding a 
charming view. He has always taken keen interest 
in the various enterprises begun in Milford, and 
is now a director in the Savings Bank, and a mem- 
ber of the library committee. Politically he is a 
Republican, and he was presiclent of the Republican 
Club of Milford in 1888, and served as representa- 
tive in the Legislature in 1897. He belongs to num- 
erous fraternal orders, including the Union League 
Club of New Haven ; Ansautawae Lodge, No. 89, F. 





{/yCAXA. 




tX/^-z^^^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



337 



& A. ;\I. ; Franklin Chapter, R. A. M.. Xo. 2 : Union 
Council, Xo. 27, R. S. M.; Xcw Haven Coniniand- 
cry, Xo. I ; Pyramid Temple. A. A. ( ). .\. 'Si. S. ; 
Wopowage Lodge, Xo. 14, 1. O. U. F. : Isabelle 
Lodge, Xo. 23, D. R. ; Sassacus Encampment, Xo. 
I ; Grand Canton Sassacus, Xo. i, P. M. lie has 
been through all the chairs in both local branches 
of the J. O. O. F., and has been grand patriarch of 
the (jrand Encampment, and was representative in 
the Sovereign Grand Lodge in iSyj-ijS. 

ALOXZO B. HALL, who with two exceptions 
is the oldest druggist in the city of Xew Haven, was 
born Sept. 9, 1843, in Xew Haven, son of Denison 
and Jane (Clark) Hall. 

The first settler of the Hall iamil\- in America, 
John Hall, was born in 1605, came to Boston, Mass., 
and died in 1676. His family was Xo. 84 of those 
who first landed in Boston. He married Jane 
Woolen, who probably came to America with \Vill- 
iam Wilks. and located in Boston. Three or four of 
John Hall's sons joined a colony and settled in W'ai- 
lingford in 1670. Few residents of Connecticut 
have been more respected than the descendants of 
John and Jane (Woolen) Hall, and there are still 
some representatives in Wallingford. The great- 
grandfather of our subject, John, was born there, 
and his son, also named John, was born in Walling- 
ford July 13, 1770. The latter was married April 
S. 1800. to Grace Denison Hall, daughter of Benja- 
min Hall. Mrs. Grace D. (Hall) Hall died Jan. 4. 
1840, at the age of sixty-nine years, the mother of 
ten children, namely: Thankful, born in 1801 ; 
Lowly, April 4, 1804; Jeremiah A., 1806; John. 
Oct. 8, 1808; Phoebe, Dec. 18, 1810; Grace D., July 
18, 1813; Denison, Dec. 9, 1815; Elisha, March 15, 
1818; Jeanette, May 31, 1820; and Polly, who died 
young. All but Polly lived to be over seventy, and 
all are now deceased. The father died at the age of 
sixtv-five vears, having spent his life on the original 
Hall homestead in Wallingford, now owned by 
Henry D. Hall. He was a farmer by occupation. 

Denison Hall, father of Alonzo B., was born in 
Wallingford and w-as there reared, but after the age 
of fifteen years his home was in Xew Haven, where 
he died at the age of seventy-nine. He followed 
the trade of carpenter and joiner, with the Lewis & 
Beecher Co., and put up the first house on City 
Point. Denison Hall first married Jane Clark, of 
West Haven, wdio was a daughter of Bryan and 
Betsy (Prindle) Clark, both of West Haven, the 
former of whom died at a comparatively early age, 
the latter at the age of eighty-six. Mr. and' Mrs. 
Clark's children were Joseph, Linus, Alpheus, Char- 
lotte, Mary. Jane (Mrs. Hall). Louis. Lucinia and 
Lucretia. all now deceased but Louis, who lives in 
Brooklyn. This entire family was identified with 
the Episcopal Churcli. Mrs. Jane (Clark) Hall 
died at the age of thirty, the mother of three chil- 
dren, two of whom survive: Alonzo P.., whose 
name introduces this sketch ; and Jane, in Brooklvn. 
22 



For his second wife .Mr. Mall wedded Lucretia 
Clark, by whom he had two children : Charlotte, 
who is married and resides in I'.rociklyn : and Eil- 
ward P., also a resident of that city. Mrs. Lucretia 
Hall died at the age of thirty-eight, in the faith of 
the Episcopal Church. 

Alonzo B. Hall has spent the greater part of his 
life in Xew FLaven. He received his education in 
the ])ublic schools, attending the Welister school 
until fifteen years of age, when he commenced the 
drug business as clerk with James Olmstead. witii 
whom he remained two years. He then went to 
Xew York City, where he was in the employ of 
Casswell S: Mack until 1870, in which year he re- 
turned to Xew Haven and started in business on his 
own account, his first location being in State street 
where he continued for five years. Since 1875 he 
has conductetl the business at his present stand, Xo. 
1225 Chapel street, which is one of the best known 
in the city. Mr. Hall has met with gratifying suc- 
cess in his chosen calling, and he has established 
himself among the solid business men of Xew Ha- 
ven by honorable methods and uprightness in all his 
dealings. 

On Xov. 19, 1866, Mr. Hall married Miss Mary 
S. Lambert, a native of Danbury, this State, and 
they had one child. May G., wdio is now the wife of 
C. F. Haviland, and has one child, Donald A.: .Mr. 
Haviland is a tailor in Boston, Mass. Mrs. Mary 
S. Hall died at the age of thirty-eight, and Mr. Hall 
subsequently married Aliss Amelia Emerich, a na- 
tive of Xew Haven, by whom he had one son. .-Mon- 
zo B.. Jr.. who is now with a photographer in this 
city. Mrs. Amelia Hall passed away in 1884. at the 
early age of twenty-eight. For his third wife our 
subject married Miss Julia M. Stevens, who was 
born in New Haven, daughter of Robert AL Stev- 
ens, formerly a prominent merchant of the city, and 
died in December. 1900. at the age of fifty-four. 
Mrs. Julia AL Hall was, on her motlier's side, lineal- 
ly descended from ex-Gov. Treat, Colonial Governor 
of Connecticut, and from Miles Merwin. one of the 
early proprietors of Mil ford. Mr. Hall is a com- 
municant of the Episcopal Church, belonging to 
Christ Church parish. I'raternally he is a I'Vee- 
niason. holding membership in Hiram Lodge. Xo. 
I. A. F. & A. \\. : I'"ranklvn Ciiapter ; and Harmony 
Council. His political su])port is given to the Dem- 
ocratic party, though he reserves the right to vote 
indeijendently in local elections. 

HOVT. The Hoyt family of Connecticut, a 
branch of which settled in Danbury and to which 
belonged the late Edwin S. Hoyt. who for twenty- 
five years or more was one of Waterbury's leading 
furriers and hatters, is an old one. prominent in both 
the Colonial and State periods. 

Simon Hoyt. the first American ancestor of the 
Hoyts of whom we write, was born in 151)5. proli- 
ably at Curry Rival. Somersetshire. England, and 
w^as one of a company under the leadership of Gov. 



338 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



John Endicott, in the ship "Abigail," which arrived 
at Salem, Mass., Sept. 6, 1628. Me was one of the 
first settlers of Dorchester in 1630. was made a free- 
man in 1631, one of the first in Massachusetts. He 
went to Scituate, frimi which place he came to 
Windsor, Conn., about 1639. and finally went to 
Stamford, where he died in 1657. 

Walter Hoyt, son of Simon Hoyt, born about 
1618. was living with wife and three children in 
Windsor in 1640. He became one of the proprietors 
of Xorwalk. and later was removed to Fairfield, 
Conn. He died in 1698. 

John Hoyt, son of Walter Hoyt, horn in Wind- 
sor, married! first ) in ifiOO, .Mary Lindcll, daughter 
of Henry Lindcll, a deacon in the Church at New 
Haven. He died in \-22. His children were : John, 
horn in 1669, married Mary Drake, of Simsbury, 
and lived in Danbury, where he died in 1746: Sam- 
uel, born in \C:i~o, lived in Danbury and there died 
in 1749-50; Thomas, born in 1674, lived in Dan- 
bury, and there died in 1749; Mary: Deborah: and 
Joshua and Nathaniel, both of whom lived in Dan- 
bury. The births of five of the children were re- 
corded at Norwalk. 

From a sermon preached in Danbury in 1801, by 
Rev. Thomas Robbins, it is learned that the first 
permanent settlement of that town was made in the 
spring of 1695 by eight families, among them was 
John Hoyt, and seven of the eight came from Nor- 
walk. Conn. They jnirchased their lands from the 
Indians. F'rom the sons of this John Hoyt descend- 
ed many of the numerous families of the name who 
have since lived in Danbury. A number of the 
Danbury Iloyts were prominent in the hat and fur 
trade, among those so occupied was the old firm of 
R. & E. F. Hoyt (Russell and Eli F.), which was 
doing business in iSiT). John R., a son of Russell 
Hoyt and brother of Linus P., and T. Granville, 
succeeded the old firm, which was eventually con- 
solidated with the Tweedy family and became Hoyt, 
Tweedy & Company. 

The late Edwin S. Hoyt o'f Waterbury, referred 
to above, was born July 12, 1824. in Danbury, Conn., 
a son of Zar and Esther (Smith) Hoyt, of Brook- 
field, and early in the fifties removed from there to 
\\'insted, where for three years until coming to Wa- 
terbury in 1854, he was engaged in the hat and fur- 
rier trade, a business he was engaged in in Water- 
bury for more than a quarter of a century. After 
retiring from the hat business, he was for several 
vears associated with the real estate business. Sev- 
eral years prior to his death, owing to failing health, 
he was not active in business. Mr. Hoyt. as a busi- 
ness man, was shrewd and enterprising, but always 
upright, and a man whose word could ever be de- 
pended upon. He was a man of good judgment 
and held a number of positions of trust and honor. 
He had been a member of the district committee, 
and served as town treasurer, giving the best of sat- 
isfaction in both relations. He was a prominent 
member of St. John's Episcopal Church, of Water- 



bury, and for some time was a member of the vestry. 
On May 14, 1851, Mr. Hoyt was married to 
Aliss Sophia, daughter of Alonzo and Flora (Glov- 
er) Beers, of Brookfield, Conn. Aionzo Beers, 
father of Mrs. Hoyt, was bom in Newtown, Conn., 
Aug. 19, 1793, and died July 15, 1873. I'"lora 
(Glover) Beers was born in Newtown, Conn., Oct. 
18, 1795, and died Aug. 2, 1875. They had a family 
of seven children, namely : Daniel, born April 6, 
1815, was a merchant in Brookfield, Conn., and died 
Oct. 30, 1870: Rebecca, born May 11, 1817, married 
Benjamin Jones, of Brookfield, Conn., and died 
March 27, 1884; Sarah M., born Alay 21, 1820, 
married l-'hilo Clarke, of Xewtown, Conn. ; Eli S., 
born June 6, 1822, was a merchant and died in In- 
diana Sept. II, 1846: Joseph T., born March 15, 
1825, is a farmer in Brookfield, Conn.; Sophia H., 
born June 15, 1827; George A., born May 22, 1830, 
died in Danbury, d'onn., Dec. i, 1868. James Glover, 
father of Mrs. Flora (Glover)^ Beers, was born in 
Newtown, and married Mary Ann Glover, who was 
also born in Newtown, and who lived to be 102 
years of age. They were the parents of twelve chil- 
dren, all of whom grew to maturity. James Glover 
was a son of Capt. Samuel Glover, a Universalist 
minister. 

WILBUR TREAT SMITH, founder and treas- 
urer of The W. T. Smith Co., manufacturers of 
door and window screens, tool chests, cabinets, etc.. 
New Haven, is a successful business man, who 
from a small be'ginning has builded up a fine trade. 
He is a native of Woodbridge, Conn., born Dec. 15, 
1850, a son of Isaac Treat Smith, and a grandson 
of Daniel Treat Smith. 

Woodbridge was named in honor of Rev. Ben- 
jamin Woodbridge, and in his home in after years 
dwelt Daniel Treat Smith, a farmer and blacksmith 
by occupation. Mr. Smith was a very prominent 
man in the town, and most active in church work, 
holding the otifice of deacon. He married Rebecca 
S])erry, and became the father of a numerous fam- 
ily: Eliza, Benjamin, Amos, Nancy, Sally, Isaac 
Treat, Mary, Willis, Lewis and Emily. Of these 
Benjamin, Amos and Lewis became blacksmiths : 
while Lewis also engaged in manufacturing, as did 
Isaac. 

Isaac Treat Smith was born in Woodbridge, and 
entered into his last rest March 8, 1900. He be- 
came a manufacturer of carriage bolts, springs, etc., 
and engaged to some extent in the sawmill business. 
Jn 1872 he moved to New Haven, where he lived 
practically retired, until his death. He married Lu- 
cretia Ann S]>erry, who was born in Hamden, 
Conn., Nov. 19. 1821, and died Dec. 30, 1897, a 
daughter of Elihu and Anna (Lines) Sperr)', of 
Woodbridge, natives of Woodbridge, who later 
moved to New Haven, and there died. Two chil- 
dren were born of this uniow: Wilbur T., and 
Adella May, the latter the wife of John M. Marvin, 
a son of Rev. S. B. Marvin, and a silk manufacturer 





^>v / ..^e^p7^^-*-t^A_- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



339 



of Xew Haven. Mr. Smith was first a \\'hig. and 
later a Republican. The entire family were con- 
nected with the Congregationalists. 

Wilbur T. Smith remained in his native town 
until he had attained his sixteenth year. He at- 
tended the district school of that place, and passed 
one year in the "Gunnery" in Washington. He 
then served an apprenticeship at the carpenter trade, 
under I'eck & Skilton, and remained with them fur 
five years, becoming a master workman. At the age 
of twenty-one he came to Xew Haven, and found 
employment with A. X. Clark, contract )r and build- 
er, lie remained in this place ab(jut five years, and 
then, after a short time in the carriage building busi- 
ness, he and his brother-in-law bought and conduc- 
ted a silk factory. Ill health ci)iu])elled his retire- 
ment from active work for about five years, but in 
1887, in company with Joseph G. Xewcomb, he en- 
gaged in the manufacture of window and door 
screens, under the firm name of Xewcomb & Smith. 
This continued for about one and one-half years, 
when Mr. Xewcomb retired, and Mr. Smith as- 
sumed charge of the entire business. This was be- 
gun in a very small way in a shed in the rear of his 
home at Xo. 321 W'inthrop avenue, and he himself 
was the only workman. Xow, however, he does an 
extensive business, and employs about thirty skilled 
workmen. In the beginning, too, hand power per- 
formed the work, where now steam power is util- 
ized. In connection with the manufacture of 
screens, he had added tool chests, cabinets of vari- 
ous descriptions, pool tables, chamberlain metal 
weather strips, and articles of fancy wood work. 
He was so very successful in his enterprise that on 
April I, 1898, he formed a stock company, under 
the name of The W. T. Smith Co., of which ]\Ir. J. 
L. Jennings is the president. They have enlarged 
the plant, and are finding that even in larger quar- 
ters, they are still unable to fill all orders, but must 
increase their force still more. They have new plans 
just completed for largely extending their present 
plant. 

On May 4, 1873, Mr. Smith was united in mar- 
riage with Emily Maria Perkins, who was born in 
W'oodbridge Alay 3, 1848, a daughter of Samuel F. 
and Mehitable (Stowe) Perkins. They have but 
one child, Edna Louise, born Jan. 31, 1886. In his 
political affiliations Mr. Smith is a Republican, and 
socially he belongs to City Lodge, Xo. 36, I. O. O. 
F. He and his family attend Dwight Place Church. 

Samuel F. Perkins, father of }klrs. Smith, was 
born in Woodbridge May 10. 181 1, and died Oct. 
23, 1886. He was a blacksmith by trade. The 
Perkins family have been represented in Cotniecticut 
for many years, the first of whom there is record 
being Peter, who was of English extraction, and 
lived in 1690. He had a son, David, whose son, Dan- 
iel, was the father of Amos, the grandfather of 
Sanuiel F., son of Amos (2), and father of Mrs. 
Smith. Mrs. Mehitable (Stowe) Perkins was born 
in Milford, Comi., July 4. 181 1, and died March 26, 



1880. She was a daughter of Isaac and .Mehitable 
(Smith) Stowe. the former a sea-faring man. To 
Samuel F. Perkins and iiis wife. Mehitable (Stowe) 
Perkins, were born two children: X. Jane, who 
married James I'. Xichols, and died June 20. 1897; 
and Emily M,, who became .Mrs. Wilbur T. Smith. 

RICHARD ALLFX. who has had charge of the 
rolling mills of the Edward Miller Co., of .Vieridcn, 
for a period of more than thirty years, is one of tiie 
"Silver City's" most respected citizens, and the sec- 
ond oldest b'ree Mason in the Stale. He was i)orn 
Dec. 27, 1827, in Xorthfield, in the town of Thom- 
aston, Litchfield Co., Conn. His father. -Megs .Mun- 
son Allen, was a native of Litchfield Co., and was a 
weaver by occupation. He learned this business 
with Gen. Humjjhrey, the first importer of Merino 
sheep in this country. Mr. .-Xllen became an ex])ert 
weaver, and was the first weaver of woolen blankets 
and cloth on a power loom in liis section. He en- 
gaged in business with a man named Mark Hotch- 
kiss, through whose dishonesty Mr. .Allen lost 
everything he had, even his household goods going 
with the rest. In the eftort to restore his lost estate, 
.Mr. Allen became a peddler of clocks for Mr. Seth 
Thomas, of Thomaston, and traveled through Mas- 
sachusetts, being a pioneer in his line in that section. 
In the year 1829, having traded a load of clocks for 
a stock of boots and shoes, he wrote 'his wife that he 
was about to start out to dispose of his goods, and 
this was the last his family ever heard of him. It is 
supposed that he was murdered for his team and 
wares, as no trace could be discovered of either. He 
was noted for his quiet disposition and upright deal- 
ings, and was universally respected where known. 
His wife, Maria Harrison, was a native of Xew Ha- 
ven, and daughter of IMichael Harrison. The sub- 
ject of this sketch was the youngest, and is the only 
survivor, of their four children ; Edward, the eld- 
est, died in Prospect, Conn. ; .•\lonzo died in Water- 
bury; and ]\Ielissa, wife of E. W. Webster, died 
.■\ug. 13. 1901, in Meriden, and was buried in Wa- 
terbury. The mother of these continued to cherish 
the memory of her husband to the last, refusing to 
take another mate, and reached the age of seventy- 
five years, dying with her family at Waterbury, 
where she was buried. She was a member of the 
Episcopal Church, and a good Christian, who, fill- 
ing the place of both father and mother, reared her 
children to be good citizens. Devoting her life to 
them, she found comfort in their happiness and 
prosperity. 

Richard .-Xllen has no recollection of his father, 
as he was but two years old when left an orphan. 
Reared under the fostering care of a good mother, 
he was early forced by circmnstances to earn his 
own living and Sad only limited oppertunities for 
schooling. He was only seven years old when he 
began work in the button factory of Benedict & 
Burnham, in Waterbury, where he received fifty 
cents per week as salary, and remained one year. 



34° 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



He then found a home on the farm of Josepli Wel- 
ton, near Waterville, where he received his board 
and clotiiin-^, with an oi)])ortunity to attend school 
for short periods, and continued seven years. At 
the age of sixteen years he began working in the 
wire factory of Henedict & IJin-nhani, in Water- 
bury, and tiicrc spent two years. Wishing to see 
sdUK'thing of hi> native C(nintr_\', he drifted South 
and West, Ijeconiing a deck liand on a .Mississippi 
river steanii)oat. I'.y his energy, inihistry and good 
behavior, he worked his way to the ])osition of sec- 
ond engineer, and spent two years on the ri\er. Re- 
tiuniug to Waterbury, i;e again look ein[)loynient 
in tile wire mill, but soon entered tlie rolling mill of 
Brown & l''lt(jn and, in time, l.)ecame an e.xpert roller. 
When the firm changed to llrown Urdthers. he w-as 
placed in charge of the rolling mills, and continued 
iii this capacity for a perind of ten years. From 
tliere he removed to Ansonia and installed a small 
rolling mill for Osboru & Cheeseman, manufactur- 
er;; of hoop skirts, continuing two years in charge 
cl it. Having been tendered a position as super- 
intendent of the United States Clock & Brass Co., 
vi Chicago, he resigned and went to the western city, 
but the business did not prove to be wdiat be expec- 
ted, and he returned to the East, accepting the po- 
sition of assistant superintendent of the rolling mill 
of Holmes, Booth & Haydcns, at Waterbury, where 
he remained until 1869. In that year he became a 
resident of Meriden, and took charge of the rolling 
mill of the Edward Miller Co., which he installed, 
and for thirty-three years has held the same posi- 
tion. This long period of service in the same 
cai)acity, under one employer, testifies amply to the 
ability and integrity of .Mr. Allen. He built a fine 
home on Cottage street, where he and his wife may 
(ntertain tlieir many friends and enjoy the evening 
of life in serene contentment. He is still active, and 
gees as regularly to his labors as in days of yore. 

Mr. Allen was married, in 1851, to Lucinda 
Dayton, who was born in Torrington, Conn., and for 
o\er fifty years they have Continued happily to- 
gether along the pathway of life. Both are members 
ot the -M. E. Church, and since 1S48 Mr. Allen has 
leen affiliated with Harmony Lodge, No. 42, A. F. 
'K: A. M.. of Waterbury. The State holds only one 
M?son with a longer period of membership. For 
twelve years he was chairman of the school commit- 
tee of the Center District, and superintended the 
construction of two school buildings during that 
time. He has adopted two children. The first, 
Harry D. Allen, is now a resident of Rochester, N. 
Y. The other, Maria Lovinia, married Arthur Tv- 
ler, of Meriden. 

From the most humble beginning, ^[r. Allen has 
made his way to a position of trust and responsibil- 
ity, and enjoys the good will and respect of tlie com- 
munity in which he has spent a third of a century of 
active, industrious life. He can look back on those 
years wMth few regrets, and the rising generation 
may take inspiration from his success and profit by 
liis example. 



FREDERIC PECK NEWTON (deceased) 
was born in Woodbridge, New Haven countv, Feb. 
13, 1845, a son of John P. Newton, who was a 
farmer, and lived and died in Woodbridge. 

John P. Newton was born June 28, 1816, and 
died Sept. 10, 1850. Jonah Newton, the grandfather 
of Frederic P., was also a resident of Woodbridge, 
as were also his great-grandfather and great-great- 
grandfather, although at that time it was in the 
town of Milford. They, like Jonah, had good old 
Bible names, Enoch and Samuel respectively. 
John P. Newton married Betsy R. Peck, who was 
born Oct. 17, 1814, and died Alarch 16, 1871, the 
mother of two children, both of whom are now de- 
ceased: Ann E., born in 1841, who married Harr\ 
W. Blanchard, and lived in New Haven; and Fred- 
eric P., whose name appears at the introduction of 
this article. 

Frederic P. Newton was reared in Wood- 
bridge, where he attended school. He also studied 
in the New Haven schools, completing his educa- 
tion at Gen. W. H. Russell's Collegiate & Commer- 
cial Institute, wdiich was also a military school. In 
his early life he devoted himself to farming, but 
became a manufacturer of matches in the latter part 
of his active career, having bought out Frank E. 
Clark in 1872. He lived retired for a period pre- 
ceding his death, whicYi occurred in New Haven 
Dec. 27, 1805. After his marriage he settled in 
Woodbridge, but he disposed of his factory to the 
Diamond Match Co. about 1882 — continuing in the 
business, as manager, however, for two or three 
years, and thereafter made his home in New Haven. 

Mr. Newton was married Alay 20, 1873, to Jes- 
sie A. Clark, w'ho was born in Bethany, now a part 
of the town of Woodbridge, daughter of William 
A. and Emily (Dibble) Clark. One diild was born 
to them, Annie Emilie, wdio is unmarried. Mr. 
Newton was a Republican, and belonged to Sey- 
mour Lodge, F. & A. M. With his family he at- 
tended the Congregational Church, of New Haven. 

William A. Clark was born in Seymour Dec. 25, 
1810, and died Jan. 15, 1879. He was endowed 
with inventive genius of a high order, which was 
most noticeable in the valuable and complicated 
match-making machinery which he invented ; and 
his justly celebrated expansive bit, which he in- 
vented and manufactured, is one of the most valu- 
al)le inventions in the tool line that has ever been 
perfected in this country. His large factory in 
Westville, which was built in 1870, was a model of 
its kind. He conducted this establishment until his 
death, turning out small 'hardware, bits, hollow 
augers, etc. Mr. Clark also turned out friction 
matches in 1840, and previous to his location in 
Westville manufactured them in Woodbridge, 
finally turning that business over to his son, Frank 
E. He employed alx)ut seventy-five hands in the 
factory, and turned out twenty thousand gross per 
year, using sixty thousand feet of the very best se- 
lected lumber. The work was done mostlv bv hand. 




7^^yr<5^c^A^^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



141 



However, Mr. Clark's skill was not confined wholly 
to invention and manufactnring. He was an up- 
to-date farmer, his skill in husbandry being unsur- 
passed in his locality, and he received a preinium 
for constructing- a "model barn" which was indeed 
worthy the name. 

On Jun<; lo. 1S41, .Mr. Clark married Emily 
Dibble, a native of Wotxlbridge. and daughter of 
John Dibble, who was born in W'oodbridge, where 
he followed farming all his life. He married Betsy 
Hine, who was born in \\'oo<lbridge, a daughter of 
Moses Hine and granddaughter of Stephen Hine. 
I'liilo !•-. Dibble, tlie father of John, was born in 
W'oodbridge. and his lather. Jolm Dibble, who 
graduated from Yale, came from Danlniry, Conn. 
After their marriage \\'illiam .\. and luuily (Dib- 
ble) Clark settled in W'oodbridge, where Mrs. 
Newton was born. They were the ]jarents of four 
children : William Eugene, Theodore Dibble, 
Erank Emerson and Jessie .-\. (.Mrs. Newton). 
William E. died when he was twenty-six years old, 
in New Orleans : Theodore Dibble died at sea when 
about thirty _\ears old: Frank E. lives in California. 
Mrs. Clark, the mother, is still li\ing. Jonathan 
Clark, the father of William A., was a farmer in 
Woodljridge. He married Amelia C)sborn. and had 
two sons, Elizur and William A. (Jeorge Clark, 
the father of Jonathan, was the fifth in descent from 
George Clark, the settler, who located in Milford 
in 1639. 

(:HARLES E. HEWITT. :^L D., one of the 
leading professional and highly respected citizens of 
Meriden, was born in the town of Stonington, New 
London Co., Conn., Aug. 17, 1855 and is a descend- 
ant on both paternal ancl maternal sides from one of 
the oldest and best families in New England. 

Thomas Hewitt, a sea-faring man, was in com- 
mand of a vessel, in the iMystic river as early as 
1656, where he was receiving the surplus products 
of the early planters here in exchange for Boston 
goods. In his business transactions, he made the 
acquaintance of Walter Palmer, whose daughter, 
Hannah Palmer, he married, on .\pril 26. 1651;;. 
Purchasing a tract of land on the east side of the 
Mystic river, he built upon it, and continued extend- 
ing his coasting trade, going to the West Indies, 
but like so many other sailors, he lost his life at sea 
in 1662. 

Benjamin Hewitt, son of Thomas of Stoning- 
ton, was born in 1662, and in 16S3. married Marie, 
daughter of Edmund and Ellen Fanning. 

Israel Hewitt, son of Benjanu'n, ba[)ti^cd in 1692, 
married in 1714, Anna Breed, born in 1693, a daugh- 
ter of John Breed. 

Charles Hewitt, son of Israel, born in 1730. mar- 
ried in 1756. Hannah Stanton, born in 173^. daugh- 
ter of Lieut. Joseph Stanton. 

Eli Hewitt, son of Charles, born in 1764. mar- 
ried in 1796. Betsey, born in 1772, daughter of 
Benadam Williams, of Stonington. 



Hewitt, 
1S25. a 
Hewitt. 



Charles (irandison Hewitt, son of Eli, burn Dec. 
20, i8oi, married first. Dec. 25, 1823. Lucv. dau;di- 
ter of Dudley Randall, who "dieil April '19, i8''^9. 
His 'second marriage occurred Jan. 18. 184:5. wlien 
Mary Wheeler, born March 27. 1814, daughter of 
Richard Wheeler, became his bride. The children 
born to the first marriage were: Dudlev R.. born 
April 28. 1825: and Lucv .\mi. born (')n Ian ? 
1831. ■ - ■ -v 

Dudley R. Hewitt, the father of Dr. 
was born in Stonington. Conn.. .April 28. 
son of Charles (.;. and Lucy (Randall) 
Reared on the farm, he attended the district schools 
of his locality, and ihen entered into the business of 
farming and stock raising, which was his occu])ation 
through life. Mr. Hewitt is still one of the hon(.)red 
and respectefl citizens of .Stonington. prominent in 
the Congregational Church, and consistent in his ad- 
herence to the [irinciples of the Rejiublican ])arty. 
His upright character and exemplary life, have won 
for him the esteem of the communitv. He was 
married Oct. 11. 1854. to Martha Gallup, born I'eb. 
16, 1830. a daughter of Jabez Gallup, of Ston- 
ington, the latter a representative of one of the old 
and distinguished families of New England. 

John Gallup, the ancestor of most of the families 
of that name, in this country, came to .America from 
the Parish of Mosterne, County Dorset, England, in 
1630, in the ship, "Mary and John," landing at what 
was then called Nantasket, later changed' to Hull. 
Mr. Gallup weiii first to Dorchester, but soon there- 
after became a resident of lioston, where the family 
were members of the Old South Church. He owned 
Monumental Island, was a skillful mariner, and 
won^ distinction in piloting in the ship "Grififin," 

i a ship of 300 tons, in Sept., 1663, through a newly 
found channel, when she had on board the Rev. John 
Cotton,_ Rev. Thomas Hooker, Rev. Air. Stone and 
other fathers of New England, among her pas- 
sengers. On one occasion, he had a successful en- 
counter with a boat loail of Indians, whom he cai)- 
turcd and destroyed off Block Island. Thev had 
murdered John Oldham, a man of ability, and' were 
having a hilarious time in bis boat, when thev were 
overtaken by Capt. Gallup, and after a bri'ef en- 
counter were captured, and this battle made him 

: famous, as the incident, revealing the purpose of th.> 
Indians, was the real beginning of the Pequot wai. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Gallup died in Boston, he in 
1649, and she in 1655. 

John Gallup (2), son of John of Boston, was 
born in England, in 1615, and came with his mother 
and the other children, to New England, in the 
ship "Griffin," in 1633. He married, in 1634. Han- 
nah, daughter of John Lake. In 1640, he left Bos- 
ton and went to Taunton, remaining until 1051, 
when he went to Xew London, and in iC)34 to Ston- 
ington, Conn. He represented the town severa' 
times in the General Assembly, and participated in 
both the Pequot and King Philip's wars, and also 
was engaged in the fearful Swamp fight at .Xarra- 



34^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



gansett, Dec. 19, 1676, where in storming the fort, 
he led his men bravely forward and was one of the 
six captains who fell, and was buried with his fallen 
comrades in one grave, near the battle ground. 

John Gallup (3), son of John (2), was born in 
1646, in Boston, married in 1675, Elizabeth Harris, 
daughter of Thomas and Martha (Lake) Harris, 
and lived in Stonington. Mr. Gallup represented his 
town a number of times, in the General Court, and 
served with his father in King Philip's war. and 
was prol)abI\- with him at Xarragansctt. His death 
was in 1735. 

Nathaniel Gallup, son of John (3), was born in 
1692. married in 171", ^largaret, born in 1698, 
daughter of Bcnadam Gallup, and lived in Stoning- 
ton. dying in 1730. his widow in 1761. 

Nathaniel Ciallup (2), son of Nathaniel, was 
born in i7icS, married in 1742, Airs. Hannah (Gore) 
Burrows, born in 1720. daughter of Samuel Gore. 
Mr. Gallup died in 1786, his widow in 1810. 

Amos Gallup, son of Nathaniel (2), born in 
1755. married in 1787, Welthy .^nn, born in 1737. 
daughter of John Dean, of Stonington. 

jabez Gallup, son of Amos, born in 1791. mar- 
ried" in 1829. Eunice, born in 1797, daughter of 
Isaac Williams, of Stonington. 

Martha, daughter of Jabez, married Dudley R. I 
Hewitt. ' " I 

Three children were born to Mr. and Airs. 
Dudley Hewitt: Charles E., of this biography; 
Amos G.. a resident of Stonington ; and Fannie D., 
who married Charles E. Williams, of Stonington. 
The lamented death of Airs. Hewitt occurred Oct. 
24, 188S, and she will long be remembered for her 
beautiful Christian character, both in the confines of 
home, and in the Congregational Church, of which 
she was a devoted member. 

Dr. Hewitt received his early education in Ston- 
ington. and being a close student, prepared himself 
for college, and engaged in the profession of teach- 
ing. .Although for fourteen years he was one of the 
leading educators in New London countv, this was 
not the end and aim of his ambition. From earlv 
youth he had cherished thoughts of being a physi- 
cian, and during the long years of teaching, he kept 
this end in view, and, while he supported his fam- 
ily in comfort, he also gained sufficient to pay his 
way through college. 

Air. Hewitt entered upon his medical studies in 
Haluiemann College in Philadelphia, in September. 
1889. and after a three-years course graduated with 
honors, receiving the degree of Al. D., and H. AI. 
in the spring class of 1892. He subsequently took 
a hospital course. His first practice was in Aleri- 
den, where he located in the spring of 1893, and al- 
most immediately winning friends, he entered upon 
a lucrative practice. During the past six vears he 
has attended closely to the demands of his pro- 
fession and now his practice is second to none in 
tliis city. Of pleasing personality, his unassuming 



manner displays little of the arrogance which marks 
many of the leading disciples of the healing art of 
to-day, but he is ever ready to respond to the call 
of duty, and his kindness and charity are known 
only to' those who constantly profit by his skill. 

On Sept. 4, 1878, Dr. Hewitt was married in 
Alilwaukee, Wis., to Grace, daughter of Chester 
and Elizabeth (Chesebrough) Dean. The Chese- 
brough family is one of the old families, whose rec- 
ord in America reaches back to 1630. 

William Chesebrough, born in 1594, in Boston, 
Lincolnshire, England, there married Ann Steven- 
son, in 1620, and they came with John Winthrop 
and party to America, in 1630. Air. Chesebrough 
located first in Boston, Alass., and there took an act- 
ive part in the public affairs of the Colony, but re- 
moved to Braintree, previous to 1640, and in that 
year was elected deputy to the General Court. He 
finally located in what is now Stonington, Conn., 
being the first white man who made that localitv his 
permanent abode, and was active, promment and 
influential in public affairs, holding many offices, and 
being repeatedly sent to the General Court. He 
died in 1667. 

Elisha Chesebrough, sor of William, was bap- 
tized in Boston, Alass., in 1637, married in 1665, 
Rebecca, daughter of Walter Palmer, of Stoning- 
ton, who came from England to New England, as 
early as 1628. Elisha died in 1670. 

Elihu Chesebrough, son of Elisha, was born in 
1668, married in 1698, Hannah, born in 1676, daugh- 
ter of Alanassah Aliner, of Stonington. 

Elihu Chesebrough (2), son of Elihu. born in 
1704. married in 1740, Esther, daughter of Ebenezer 
and Sarah Dennis, both of Stonington. Air. Chese- 
brough died in 1769, and his wife in 1768. 

William Chesebrough, son of Elihu (2), born 
in 1745, married Esther, born in 1743, daughter of 
William and Alartha (Wheeler) Williams, both of 
Stonington. William died in 1840 and his wife in 
1814. 

Henry Chesebrough, son of William, born Alay 
13. 1784, married first, Alartha Potter, born Aug. 18, 
1787, daughter of Isaac Williams, of Stonington, 
and married second, Sarah Williams, also a daurrhter 
of Isaac Williams. 

The children born to Dr. and Airs. Hewitt, were: 
Evelyn E., Aug. 31, 1879, a student at Wellesley 
College; Fredrick, Dec. 24, 1880; Alartha Gallup^ 
July "19, 1883, deceased; Chester D., July 5, 1887; 
Edward AL, in Philadelphia. June 4, 1892 ; Theodore, 
in Aleriden, Dec. 15, 1894; Amos, Alay 6, 1897; and 
Grace Frances, Sept. 30, 1898. All of these chil- 
dren are unusually intelligent and attractive, are 
lovers of their beautiful home and are examples of 
filial obedience and aft'ection. Airs. Hewitt is a lady 
of many graces of mind and character, a fit helpmate 
for her husband. Dr. Hewitt is a member of the 
State Homeopathic Societv, and is socially connected 
with Pacific Lodge, No. 87, I. O. O. F., of Aleriden. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



343 



SAMUEL W. HURLBURT is a descendant in 
the seventh generation from Thomas Hurlburt, who, 
it is thought, was one of the eleven passengers who, 
on Aug. II, 1635, sailed from England with Lion 
Gardiner, in the "Bachelor." 

Thomas Hurlburt was probably born in Scotland 
as early as 1610. After coming to America Lion 
Gardiner built and commanded the fort at Say- 
brook, Conn., and under him Thomas Hurlburt 
served in the Pequot war in 1637, and was wounded 
by an arrow. By trade he was a blacksmith, and ; 
after the war settled in W'etherslield, Conn., being 
one of the early settlers of that town. He served in 
different public capacities, was clerk of the train 
band in 1640, constable in 1644, deputy to the Gen- 
eral Court and grand juror. It appears on record 
(1647) ihat he received various tracts of land in the 
several divisions of the town. For his services in 
the Indian war the Assembly voted him 120 acres 
of land Oct. 12, 1671, and it is supposed that he 
died soon after that date. His wife's Christian name 
was Sarah. 

Samuel W. Hurlburt's lineage from Thomas 
Hurlburt the settler, is through Joseph, Cornelius, 
David, jMajor and George Hurlburt. 

(II) Joseph Hurlburt, son of Thomas Hurl- 
burt the settler, born probably in Wethersfield about 
1646, removed to the town of Woodbury as early as 
1681. His wife, Rebecca, died in Woodbury, Feb. 
2, 1712, and he died probably July 13, 1732. 

(III) Cornelius Hurlburt, son of Joseph Hurl- 
burt, born probably about 1682, married Sarah (sur- 
name not known). He was a farmer, and settled in 
Woodburv, hut died in Roxburv, probably Aug. 9, 

1751- 

(IV) David Hurlburt. son of Cornelius Hurl- 
burt, born May 10, 1721, in Woodbury, married in 
Roxbury, June 27, 1749, Hannah Sanford. She 
died Dec. 23, 1760, in Roxburv. and he married 
(second) Sarah Petit, daughter of Jonathan, of New 
Milford, Conn. In his old age David resided with 
his son Cornelius at Hinesburg, Vt., and there died. 
His wife died in Roxbury at the home of her son, 
Alajor Hurlburt. 

(V) Major Hurlburt, son of David Hurlburt, 
born in 1768, probably in Roxbury, married Phoebe 
Jackson, of that town. He died tliere Dec. 16, 1813, 
and his widow passed away on Aue. 30, 1856. 

(VI) George Hurlburt, son of Major Hurlburt 
and the father of Samuel W. Hurlburt, of New Ha- 
ven, born Oct. 9, 1809, in Roxbury, in youth learned 
the hatter's trade under Col. William Odell, of 
Washington, Conn. He settled in Roxbury, and was 
actively engaged in hatting until i860, when he en- 
tered the mercantile world, and was prominently 
identified with that line until he retired and engaged 
in farming. He was appointed postmaster by Presi- 
dent Lincoln, and was honored by his fellow towns- 
men to a seat in the State Legislature. Although 
ninety-two years old, his health is excellent. 



On Jan. 7, 1833, Mr. Hurlburt was married to 
Miss Thalia A. Merwin, of Brookfield, a descend- 
ant of the family of that name who settled early in 
Milford, Conn. The children born to this mar- 
riage were: Caroline S., born Oct. 22, 1833; Thalia 
M., born Feb. 9, 1836; Emily E., born May 7, 1839, 
married John C. Hawlcy; George W., born March 
10, 1S41 ; Samuel \V., born Dec. 29, 1843; ^^ iHiam 
Henry, born March 11, 1846; Charles W., born June 
8, 1849; Adelaide, born June 12, 1851 ; Frank W., 
born Sept. 20, 1853. 

Sanniel W. Hurlburt was born Dec. 29, 1843, in 
Roxbury, Conn. During the war time at the age 
of eighteen he worked in Xewark, X. J., Alatteawan, 
N. Y., and Danbury, Conn., following the trade of 
hat finishing until he was twenty-one years old, 
when on account of ill health he gave up the trade. 
In the fall of 1866, he engaged in mercantile busi- 
ness in Bridgewater, Conn. On ^larch 2, 1869, he 
came to New Haven and bought out David W. 
Buckingham, corner of Chapel and High streets, 
and with William T. Northrop, for six years carried 
of the old store ; this building is occupied by stores 
as a partner his brother, Frank Hurlburt. In the 
spring of 1889 he built the "Roxbury" on the site 
of the old store ; this building is occupied by stores 
on the ground floor, the other three stories being 
used as students' apartments. Mr. Hurlburt con- 
ducts the finest retail provision store in the city of ■ 
New Haven, and, it is safe to say, that there is none 
finer in Connecticut. On March 2, 1902, he finished 
his thirty-third year in the same location. 

Samuel W. Hurlburt was united in marriage with 
Ali&s Frances I., daughter of Daniel and Minerva 
(Peck) Keeler, whose death occurred Sept. 22, 1901, 
at Portland, Alaine. Their union was blessed with 
one child, Frederick S., born Alay 15, 1876, mar- 
ried June 22, 1898, Belle Nolten Manviller. 

Mrs. Frances I. (Keeler) Hurlburt, on her moth- 
er's side was the seventh generation from Joseph 
Peck, of Milford, Conn., although first of New Ha- 
ven, Conn., of record there in 1643. Joseph Peck is 
supposed to have been a brother of Henry Peck, who 
was in New Haven in 1638, and probably came with 
him to New England. Joseph Peck probabW re- 
moved to Alilford, about 1649. He married (first) 
Mrs. Alice Burwell and (second) Miss Richards. 
Airs. Hurlburt's lineage from Joseph Peck is through 
Joseph (2), Ephraim, Henry, Andrew and Minerva 
(Peck) Keeler. 

(II) Joseph Peck (2), son of Joseph Peck (i), 
the settler, baptized in 1653, settled in Milford, 
Conn., and there died. He married Jan. 27, 1678-9, 
Mary Camp. 

(III) Ephraim Peck, son of Joseph Peck (2), 
baptized in 1692, settled in Milford, and from there 
he removed to Newtown. He married Nov. 7, 1716, 
Sarah Ford, of Milford, Conn. His death occurred 
in Newtown, July 23, 1760. 

(IV) Henry Peck, son of Ephraim Peck, born 



344 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



April 14, 1719, resided in Newtown. He married 
(first) Dec. 23, 1755, Ann Smith, and second Aug. 
6, 1765, Hannah Leavenworth. 

(V) Andrew Peck, son of Henry Peck, born 
May 21, 1773, settled first in Newtown, and later, 
in 1813, removed to .\ew Milford. He married Lu- 
cinda Terrell, and died Aiig. 25, 1826, and his wid- 
ow died Sept. 5, 1848. 

(VT) Minerva Peck, daughter of Andrew Peck, 
born June 16, 1810. married Daniel Keeler. 

ROBERT WILLI. AM H.\LLAM, superin- 
tendent of alie .Mcrideii Cutlery Co.'s plant at 
South Meridcn. is one of Connecticut's self-made 
sons. He was born .-\ug. 12. 1840, in the city of 
W'alerbury, New Haven county, son of John C. 
Hallam, a' native of SlRTiield, England, and grand- i 
son of Robert llallani, a manufacturer of pocket 
cutlery in his native iilace. 

John C. llallam received a good education in 
Sheffield, and obtained a thorough knowledge of 
cutlery manufacturing under his father's instruc- 
tion. .-\t the age of eighteen years he came to 
America, as salesman for his father, and was lo- 
cated several years in New York City. Being 
pleased with the country and its people, and per- 
ceiving its advantages lor young men, he decided 
to remain here. I'or about two years he engaged 
in the study of theology, as propounded by the 
I'nitarian Church, with a view to entering its min- 
istry. Having, at length, decided upon a business 
career, he went to W'aterbury, Conn., and began 
the i>roduction of pocket cutlery, being the first 
to engage in that line in the United States. He 
continued this undertaking at Hopewell for some 
time, and sold out to Hoaclley & Co., of Salisbury. 
Lie was subsec|uently active in organizing the 
Northfield Cutlery Co,, and for several years was 
one of its stockholders and directors. Going to 
W'aterville. Conn., he was employed in the cutlerv 
shops there until his death, in 18^0, and was buried 
in the cemetery at that place. John C. Hallam was 
a man of sterling character and nnich literary abil- 
ity, and contributed to many of the Boston and 
New England periodicals. His family has been 
known in the world of letters for generations, and 
one of its members, Henry Hallam, was the author 
of the "'History of the Middle Ages." The latter's 
son, Arthur IL Hallam. essayist and poet, has 
been made specially famous through his intimacy 
with the i)oet Tennyson, whose celebrated poem, 
"In Alcmoriam," was written upon the death of 
his friend Arthur. John C. llallam was firm in the 
faith of Cnitarianism. and com[)iled a work on 
I'nitarian tbeology, but did not live to see it pub- 
lished. In politics he was a l\cpul)lican. His mar- 
riage to Elizabeth Bowles, at Boston, brought him 
into close relations witli a noted literarv familv, 
his wife being a sister of Samuel Bowles, editor 
of the Springfield Rc/^iiblicaii. Mrs. Hiallam was a 
woman of bright mind and high attainments, a fit 
com])anion for such a man as ner husband, and 



was a devoted wife and mother. She was a con- 
sistent member of the Episcopal Church. Her 
death occurred in 1862. at W'aterbury, and her re- 
mains repose beside those of her husband, in 
W'aterville. They were the parents of five chil- 
dren, namely : Gertrude Bowles, Victoria, Robert 
W'., Mary J. and Albert C. The last named was a 
successful physician in Brooklyn, N. Y., where he 
d'ied, and where his sister Victoria resides with 
her luisband, Eranklin Summers. Mary J. is the 
wife of Albert Beman, of Derby, Connecticut. 

Gertrude Bowles Hallam, who became the wife 
of Charles G. Downs, of Bridgeport, Conn., in- 
herited a talent for letters from both her parents, 
and is not unknown to literary fame. She died a.t 
Los Angeles, Cal, March 18, 1891, and was in- 
terred in Mountain Grove cemetery, BridgefXDrt. 
Like her father she was a frequent conti^ibutor to 
current literature, beginning at the age of four- 
teen years to write verse. Many gems from her 
pen appeared in the \\'insted Herald, Meriden Lit- 
erary Recorder and Bridgeport Standard. "Mrs. 
Downs was a sufferer for several years from ill 
health, but her cheerful spirit made her a cherished 
friend to the last, and she penned a number of her 
compositions in her sick chamber." With her pen 
she canned the beautiful home, "Maple Terrace," 
which she caused to be erected at Seaside Park, 
near Bridgeport. The following lines serve to show 
the kind and aft'ectionate, pure nature of her who 
has gone to "show the way:" 

LITTLE CHILDREN. 

OhI children fair. 

With beauty rare, 
How drear this earth withdut them; 

Their tender eyes, 

So bright and wise, 
Bear mucli of heaven about Ihem. 

Their voices sweet, 

■And ways;)'/.^. 
Their little sayings witty; 

Their fa;es tiright, 

With love's own light, 
Naught, so sweet in all the cityl 

Their dainty feet. 

Like zephyrs fleet, 
.Skii)ping lightly n'er the ground; 

With dunpled face, 

And form of grace. 
What sweeter sight in nature found? 

Oh, treasurers rare, 
Bcyon'.i compare. 
Little ones, the Saviour l)lest, 
We pray no harm 
Shall ever come, 
To these — His arms caressed. 

— Gertkude B. Downs. 
April 2o, 1887. 

Robert W. Hallam was four years old wdien 
he went with his parents to l>ridgeport, wdiere 
his boyhood days were passed, receiving such edu- 
cational training as the district school aft'orded. 
Before he had attained his majority he accompanied 




£^/d( ,i/ -/^a//^ 




<Z^t-Z_ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



345 



the family to Waterville. and was tliere enwas'cil 
under his father's instruction in learninij the an of 
making cutlery. At the age of twenty years he 
started ont to make his own wa\-. armed with a 
sound mind in a sound hody and the determination 
to attain something for himself. Such sturdy am- 
bition madv.' him alert and industrious, and his 
progress was certain. Coming to Meriden. yoimg 
Hallam found an engagement as ordinary hand in 
the shops of the Meriden Cutlery Co., where he 
rece'ived ore dollar [>cr day. For the jiast forty- 
two years he has continued in the service of this 
establishment, and the length of his service is ample 
guaranty of his industry, ability and integrity, lie 
advanced gradually, through several (lei)artments. 
mastering all the detads of the Inisiness, and Ujwn 
the death of the sui)erintenident — ICdwin Cady — in 
1895, took his place. In this appointment the man- 
agers made no mistake, and he has continued the 
same coun^e of patient and ]3ersistent endeavor 
which has characterizetl his whole life. 

Air, Hallam's genial nature and universal fair- 
ness have made him justly popular with the di- 
rectors of the company, as well as with those who 
are subject to his orders, and he is welcome in 
every circle of business or social life. The Amer- 
ican youth, who seeks too often for some short 
road to wealth, may well profit by Mr. Hallam's 
example. It was bv patient endeavor, and satis- 
faction with steady, though slow, rewards, that he 
worked his way up from a humble laborer to his 
present station, in charge of over two hundred 
work-men, whose respect and esteem he enjoys and 
deserves. In the course of his arduous labors Mr. 
Hallam did not overlook the value of mental train- 
ing, and continued to study, so that he largely made 
up for his lack of earh' education, and he is fitted 
to mingle with the great current of social and lit- 
erary life in the world. Beiing of a studious mind, 
he finds recreation in his own library and 'home, 
and has never sought political honors or emolu- 
ments, though he seeks to perforni his duty as a 
citizen and acts with the Republican party. He an<l 
his wife are members of the Congregational Church, 
and he is also identified with the Order of United 
American Mechanics. 

Air. H.aUam was married, June 14. 1863. in 
South Meriden. to Miss Betsey Marilla Ives, a 
native of Meriden, daughter of Jotham and Mary 
R. (Way! Ives. She is a fit helimieet for her 
husband, a lady of graceful cliaracter and person, 
an active worker in her cluirch, and a useful factor 
in the social life of the community. 

Mrs. Hallam traces her arcestry to John Ives, 
the first of the family of this name to locate in 
Wallingford- and foiuid the family in New P-ii.g- 
land, who was a farmer there, and the old records 
tell that his son Gideon was a resident of Walling- 
ford prior to 1700. Cideon Ives, son of John, mar- 
ried Alary Royce, and their son, Jotham Ives, mar- 
ried Abigail I'lurroughs, and died Sept. 2, 175,^. at 
the age of forty-three years, Zachariah Ives, son 



of Jotham, was l)orn Jan. },\ . 1737, aiid settled 
near Honey I'ot brook, in Clu-bire. where he died 
.March g, 1815: he and his wiii-. Low, are buried 
in the E])isco]>al churchyard in Cheshire. Jesse 
Ives, the ]:)aternal grandfather of .Mrs. Hallam, of 
Aleriden. a son of Zachariah anil Lois Ives, was 
born in Cheshire and settled on a farm in Meriden, 
where he died: he married Aiarilla Johnson. 

Jotham Ives, son of Jesse, was a native of Aleri- 
den, and spent his life as an agriculturist there. 
He married Mary R.. daughter of John and Betsey 
fl'restonl Way, anfl children as follows were born 
to this union: Edward, deceased: Amos: Betsey 
Aiarilla, who married Robert \\'. Hallam; Julius 
I. : and Aimc'u J. 

WILLL\AI HALL AIcKENZIE, a store keep- 
er of Tracy, and a selectman of the town of Walling- 
ford, was born in Yalesville, Dec. 2, 1839, a son of 
the late William AIcKenzie, and his wife. Alary 
Hall. Interesting data concerning this family may 
be found in connection with the sketch of John Mc- 
Kcnzie, an engineer of Yalesville. 

William H. AIcKenzie accjuired his education in 
the district school at Yalesville, and at Westfield, 
Mass., finishing in the ATeriden high school. He 
also attended a private school at Southford, taught 
by Deacon R. B. Curtis. Young AIcKenzie worked 
on the farm at an early age, and remained at home 
until he was seventeen years old. when he began to 
learn the trade of carpenter and joiner with Lauren 
Tuttle, a very successful contractor and builder. 
He remained with that gentleman three years, and 
then started in life for himself with a most honora- 
ble trade very completely mastered. 

Air. AIcKenzie worked as a carpenter and build- 
er until 1889, when ill-health compelled a change 
of occupation. During that time he took contracts 
and built many of the more pretentious structures of 
Yalesville, among them being the Alethodist church, 
and a school hou.se. In Wallingford he built the resi- 
dence in which Air. Hough lives, and the Old Rec- 
tory that was attached to Catholic church. After 
giving up his trade he was clerk for one year at 
Tracy with Almon J. Ives, merchant and postmaster. 
Since 1891 he has been a merchant and postmaster 
at Tracy. He opened a ?tore in that village, and 
during the past ten years has succeeded in building 
up a very fine business. 

Air. AIcKenzie was married in i8r)3 to.AIiss Sa- 
rah C. Tuttle, of Meriden, a daughter of Lauren 
and Harriet D. (Todrl") Tuttle. To this union were 
born three children, of whom one died in infancy; 
W'illiam L. is at home; and Hattit Elizabeth died 
voung. Air. AIcKenzie is a Democrat, but in a'! 
local matters seeks the best men for the office, re- 
gardless of party questions, and he has been con- 
stable, grand and special juror, and was elected se- 
lectman in T900. He commands the respect of the 
community, and is much esteemed for his business- 
like i^ropensities. 

Andrews Hall, grandfather of William H. Mc- 



346 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Kenzie, is supposed to have been born in Walling- 
ford, Aug. 15, 1753, a son of Benjamin and Phebe 
Hall, and a brother of Adnah Hall, who was the fa- 
ther of Mrs. Temperance McKcnzie, step-mother of 
William Hall McKenzie. Andrews Hall married, 
Dec. 3, 1800, Miss .Sylvia Blakeslee, and became the 
father of the following children: William, born 
June 8, 1803; Sylvia, born April 18, 1S05; Abigail, | 
born June 14, 1807; and Mary, born April 24, 1810, 
married William McKenzie, and became the mother 
of William Hall McKenzie. 

WILL.AKD H. ])1I!1;LE. a representative citi- 
zen, farme- and dairyman, of the town of Middle- 
bury, is a native oi Connecticut, born June 2, 1845, 
in the town of Danhury, Fairfield county, and is a 
worthy member of aii old family of the State. 

Thomas Dil)blf. the first of the name in New 
England, was a native of England, whence he came 
to America, first located in Dorchester, Mass., from 
there moving to Windsor, Conn., where he passed 
the remainder of his days, dying Oct. 17, 1700. In 
1676 he contributed one shilling and three pence to 
the Connecticut fund for the relief of the poor in 
the other colonies. l"or his second wife he married 
Elizabeth Hayden. of Hadley, Mass., who died Sept. 
25. 1685. The names and dates of birth, etc., of his 
children are as follows: Israel, Aug. 2j. 1637; 
Ebenezer, baptized Sept. 26, 1641 ; Ilepzibah, bap- 
tized Dec. 25, 1642; Samuel, baptized March 24, 
1643; Miriam, baptized h"eb. 19. 1645: Thomas, 
Sept. 3, i*')47: and Joanna, l'\b. i, 1650, died 1651. 
(The family, of whom the subject of this sketch is a 
member, removed from Hartford to Fairfield coun- 
ty, where they are still located.) 

Xathan Dibble, commonly known as Col. Na- 
than, and the father of Willard Dibble, was born 
June 14, 1803, in the town of Danbury, Fairfield 
Co., Conn., a son of .Xathan Dibble, an old settler 
of Fairfield county. Col. Xathan was by occupa- 
tion a carpenter and farmer, ;uid spent his entire 
life in his native town, where he was a well-known 
and highly respected citizen. Politically he was an 
old time Democrat, lie represented his town in the 
Legislature, ancl served in the old State house; was 
also a selectman, and filled other local offices with 
credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. 

Col. Nathan Dibble married Hannah Wood, 
who was born in Danbury May 31, 1807, a daughter 
of Moses and Hannah (Cunn) Wood, and children 
as follows were born to them : Sarah died single ; 
Nathan M. lives in Shelton, Conn.: Samantha w^as 
the wife of W. C. Benedict, of Bridgeport, Conn.; 
Leonard W. lives in Wilton : Willartl is ne.xt in 
order of birth; and Hannah Elizabeth is the wife of 
William McArthur, of Danl)ury. The father died 
Sept. 30, 1891, a Universalis! in religion, well liked 
and respected; the mother passed awav Feb. 22, 

'^74-.. 

Willard Dibble, the subject proper of these lines, 
attended the Beaver Brook District schools, also 



Danbury high school, and remained on the home- 
stead with his parents until he was twenty-four years 
old, at which time he rented a farm in Brookfield. 
There he remained a couple of years, then for two 
years fanned on the homestead at Danbury, after 
which he made his home in New Fairfield, for thir- 
teen years engaging in general farming, including 
stock raising, dairying, etc. In 1887 he came to New 
Haven county, locating at Middlebury, where he 
bought the Munson farm of 140 acres, on which he 
has made many improvements, building a commo- 
dious barn, silo, etc., and has now one of the finest 
stock and dairy farms in Middlebury. 

On Nov. I, 1866, Willard Dibble was married in 
New Fairfield, to Lucy Ann Kellogg, of that locality, 
a cultured, accomplished and refined lady, who 
taught school for nine terms in Bethel, New Fair- 
field and New York State. She is a daughter of 
Medad R. Kellogg, and is descended from Daniel 
Kellogg, an original settler of Norwalk, Conn., who, 
in 1655, married Bridget Bouton, daughter of John 
Bouton. Samuel, their son, born Feb. 17, 1673, mar- 
ried Sept. 6, 1704, Sarah Piatt, daughter of John 
Piatt. Martin Kellogg, great-grandfather of Mrs. 
Dibble, came from Norwalk, and bought of the In- 
dians in New Fairfield, a square mile of land, for 
which he gave a barrel of pork and a blanket. Ira 
Kellogg, son of Martin, married and became the fa- 
ther of Medad R. Kellogg, mentioned above. One 
child has been born to I\Ir. and Islrs. Dibble, Anna 
Belle, who, in 1899, graduated from the Waterbury 
high school, with high honors, and is a very popular 
young lady. 

In politics Mr. Dibble is a stanch Democrat, 
standing among the foremost ranks of his party, and 
in 1887 he represented the town of New Fairfield 
in the State Legislature; also in 1891, the town of 
Middlebury, serving on the Agricultural committee. 
For two terms he was selectman, and was a member 
of the board of Relief, assessor of the town, etc. In 
religious faith he is identified with the Second Con- 
gregational Church, of Waterbury. He is domestic 
in his tastes and habits, temperate and genial, and 
is popular with all classes. 

ALBERT FITZROY HALL, of Meriden. a 
veteran of the Civil war and for more than twenty 
years a member of the office force of Manning, 
Bowman & Co., of that city, is a representative of 
one of Connecticut's substantial families of the Co- 
loniial period. ' 

Born Sept. 25, 1841, in the town of Chatham, 
Conn., Mr. Hall is a son of Lewis Lawrence and 
Lucy Ann (Bush) Hall, and is descended in the 
ninth generation from John Hall, the progenitor of 
the ^iiddletown Halls, the branch to wdiich the 
Chatham family in question belongs. John Hall 
was born ui 1584, in County Kent, England, and 
:in 1633 came to New England, being of record in 
Roxbury, Mass., in 1634, and his family then con- 
sisting of four members. He with others visited 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



347 



the Connecticut River country in 1633, and on their 
return to the Massachusetts Colony made the re- 
port, which, it is said, led to the migration soon 
made there from Dorchester to Wcthersfiekl and 
\\'indsor. and from Cambridge to Hjartford in 
1635-6. Mr. Hall probably joined the Hooker and 
Stone party and went to Hartford soon thereafter, 
but it seems that he did not move his family there 
until in 1639. He was by trade a carpenter; and 
served as surveyor of highways in 1640. His home 
lot was what afterward became the Sigourney and 
Cather home site. In 1650 he removed to Middle- 
town, and there died May 26, 1673. The Christian 
name of his wife was Esther. Mr! Hall held a 
number of public trusts. 

From this John Hall Albert F. Hall's line is 
through Richard, John (2), Giles, John Hamlin, 
Calvin. Giles Cowdrey, and Lewis Lawrence Hall. 

(H) Richard Hall son of the emigrant settler. 
was born in England in 1620. He settled in Middle- 
town in the fall of 1650. He was a weaver by 
trade and was a large landholder. His death oc- 
curred March 27, 1691, and that of his wife, Mary, 
-March 30, of the same year. 

(TH"') John Hall (2), son of Richard, born Sept. 
20. T64S. "in Hartford, married Elizabeth, daughter 
of William Cornwell, of Roxlniry, Mass. Mr. Hall 
died Xnv. 2^. 1711. 

(I\') Giles Hall, son' of John (2), born Oct. 
3, 1680, married Feb. 26, 1714, Esther, born Jan. 
7. 1695, (laughter of Hon. John Hamlin. She died 
Oct. 8, 1 73 1, and Mr. Hall passed awav Feb. 16, 

1750- 

(\') John Hamlm Hall, son of Giles, born 

Sept. lo, 1720, was a resident of that part of the 

town that became the town of Chatham, and died 

there. 

{\'T) Calvin Hall, son of John Handin, born 
in 1766. married Huldah Cowdrey. 

( \'II ) Giles Cowdrev Hall, son of Calvin, born 
in 1793, married Dolly Stephens Parmelee. He re- 
sided in Chatham, Conn., where he was engaged in 
fanning and manufacturing. He was a man of 
very large stature. 

(\'ni) Lewis Lawrence Hall, son of Giles C, 
lx)rn Aug. 30, 1818, in Easthampton, Conn., was 
engaged in manufacturing. He married, Nov. 27, 
1840, Lucy Ann Bush, who was born Feb. 24, 1819, 
daughter of Henry and Lydia (Strong) Bush, Lydia 
Strong being a lineal descendant of Elder John 
Strong, of Connecticut history. Henry Bush was 
an active participant in the war of 1812, and was 
stationed at New London, Conn. Their children 
were: .Albert F., born Sept. 25, 1841 ; Robert 
Htenry, born Sept. 30, 1845; Marion Lydia, born 
Feb. 18, 1848, married ]\Iay 30, 1870, E. Dwight 
Barton, a mainufacturer of Easthampton ; and John 
Smith, born May 6, 1858. 

Albert F. Hall in youth attended both the public 
an<l ]:rivate schools of the town of his birth, and 
completed his school education at Fall River, Mass. 



Subsequently he was interested in the manufacture 
of horseshoe nails in New London, Conn., and from 
that town on Aug. 14. 1862, enlisted in Co. H, 14th 
Conn. V. L, and was mustered into the United 
States service on the 23d of the same month and 
year. The 14th was recruited from the State at 
large, and was rendezvoused at "Camp Foote," 
Hartford. Its colonel was then Dwight Morris. 
The regiment was assigned to the Third Division, 
Second Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, and 
later to the Third Brigade of Second Division and 
Corps. Its services were exceptional among Con- 
necticut regiments, and' of them it was in the great- 
est number O'f battles, and, in proportion to its num- 
bers and length of service, lost much the largest 
percentage of men in killed, and by death through 
disease. The regiment participated in thirty-four 
battles and skirmishes, among them Antietam, Md., 
Sept. 17, 1862: Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862; 
Chancellorsville, Va.. May i to 3. 1863: Gettys- 
burg. Penn., July 2 and 3. 1863: the Wilderness, 
\'a., Mav 3 and 6, 1864; Spottsvlvamia, Va., ATay 
12. 13. T4, 18. 22, 1864; Cold Harbor, Va., June 
3 and 6, 1864: Petersburg, Va., June 11 to July 
6. 1864. Mr. Hall, on Inly 20. 1863, was trans- 
ferred to Co. F. 3d Regiment. V. R. C. and to the 
ranks Sept. 22, of that vear. and was finally dis- 
charged from the service Julv 6. 1863. His army 
record was an honorable one and while in the service 
he shared the fortimcs of his regiment. 

Since the war Mr. Hall has been variously oc- 
cupied, mainlv identified with manufacturing. In 
1869 he went to Canton, Ohio, and there organized 
a stock companv for the manufacture of steam en- 
gines and machinery. He had earlier been for a 
period engaged in manufacturing in Xew Haven. 
At Canton he was identified with the business, was 
a director in the company, and in charge of the 
office. Later he went to Montreal amd there as- 
sumed charge of the agency for the Mutual Life 
Insurance Company of Boston, sustaining such re- 
lations with that company for six or seven years. 
Since 1880 Mr. ?Ial! has been located in Meriden, 
and in the employ of Manning. Bowinan & Co., as 
cashier, accountant and paymaster. In 1888 he was 
elected as a member of the common council of the 
city and served with distinction for two years. Sub- 
sequently he was elected and served as town auditor 
six vears. He was then elected as city auditor and 
served 'in that capacity, and as city paymaster for 
five years. Mr. Hall has also been a i»pular and 
active member of Merriam Post. No. 8, G. A. R., 
of Meriden, since March i, 1881, and has ably 
filled all the offices within the gift of the Post, 
being its commander in 1887, and was last elected 
a trustee for three years. He was also chief mus- 
tering officer of the' Department of Connecticut in 
1890, member of the Council of Administration in 
I 1895, and aide-de-camp in the staff of the com- 
i mander in chief in 1891. He also holds a commis- 
sion as notary public for the county. He is an 



348 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



authorizoil pension attorne\- tor the town of Meri- 
(Icn. and has been instrnnienlal in obtai/ning- many 
])cnsii)ns for soldiers or soldiers' widows. He is a 
man of nnusual intellitrence. and is well-infonned 
on the leadinjr current events. In his domestic re- 
lations he is a devoted husband and father. Mr. 
Hall attends the Methodist F.piscopal Church, of 
which Mrs. flail is a member. 

Mr. Hall was married .\us-. (^ i-'^'''^ to Martha 
Helen, daughter of I'.yron W. and Mary Josephine 
f Olds I Xichols. (if Xew Ikiven. and to them were 
born three children, as follows: \Mllie. who died 
in infancv; Robert, born .\ug. 24. i86q: and Edwin 
\\'.. boni .\u--. 1;. iS-t. Mrs. Hall is a lady of 
talent and many accom])lishments. She acquired a 
pood literarv and musical education in Xew Ha- 
ven, and was a singer of ])rominence. She was a 
member of the Center Church choir for several 
vears. ar.d sang also in the Xorth and other churches 
in Xew Haven, also in Montreal, Canada: St. 
John's, Xew I'.rtmswick : Canton, Ohio: and in 
Merideii, Conn. She was one of the organizers, 
and has served as president of the Woman's Re- 
lief Corps. .She is prominent in church work and 
is an earnest worker of the Ladies .Aid Society in 
the I'irst Methodist Church, being now its secre- 
tar\-. Zealous in the cause of religion and charity, 
her character has that sweetness and modesty which 
find ex|)ressii'n in her ilevotion to home and hus- 
band. 

Robert Hall, the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. 
Hall, was born in Easthamjnon, Corm.. and edu- 
cated in the district and high schools of Meriden. 
He ac(|uired the trade of engraver in the works of 
the Meriden Silver Plate Co., Mcriden, but inherit- 
ing vocal talent he developed his vdice under the 
instruction of Prof. P.arington, and later with Prof. 
Albin R. Keed, of lloston. 'He is novv tenor in 
"The Meeting House Hill" Presbyterian Church at 
Boston, and also in a Hebrew church in that city. 
His musical work includes leading parts in con- 
certs, entertainments and 0])era. He married Ella 
Thompson, of Mimieai)oIis, Minn., daughter of one 
of the oldest and first families. He is widely 
known and has hosts of fritMids and well-wishers, 
who hold him in highest esteem. 

Edwin W. Hall, the yoimger son of .Albert F. 
and Martha 11. Hall, was educated in Meriden, and 
there learned the trade of die sinker. He is now 
em])loyed by the R. Wallace & Sons Manufacturing 
Co., of Wallingford, is skillful in his business, and 
highly respected. Hf owns his home in that citv. 
He married Emma Dryhurst, sister of H. Dryhurst. 
])ostmaster, and has one child, I'lleanor M., Ixirn 
March 8, iSy;. 

These two sons are not only a credit to their 
family, but to the town of Meriden as well. Thcv 
are prospering in their respective vocations and 
possess that inherent strongth of character which 
alone is a s])Iendid equiimient in life. 



Bvron W. Xichols, father of Airs. Hall, was a 
son of Rev. James and Elsie (Hayden) Nichols, of 
Haydenville,' Mass. The Hayden family included 
several prominent citizens of Alassachusetts, among 
them a goverr.or of that cotnmonwealth. 

HOX. LUZERXE ITHIEL AIUNSOX, whose 
memorv will ever be honored in Waterbury, was a 
native of Wallingford, New Haven county, born 
March i, 1838, son of Titus Alunson, and grandson 
of Ithiel Alunson, both also natives of Wallingford. 

Titus Alunson was born in the year 1799, and 
passed away May 2, 1842. He married Anna Har- 
rison, who was born June 22, 1801. and they settled 
on a farm near Wallingford, where they reared a 
familv of five children: Sarah AI. married Enoch 
Cam]), and lives at Durham. Alary L. married Levi 
Fowler, and lives in Waterbury. Caroline A., who 
married Henry Foote, lives in Warren, Conn. 
Eliza H, died when twenty years old. Luzerne 
Ithiel is the subject proper of these lines. 

Luzerne L Alunson spent his boyhood days at 
Wallingford, where he received a district-school 
education. This was supplemented by a course at 
Durham Academy. In 1854, when he was sixteen 
years old, he came to Waterbury, entering the em- 
ploy of the Apothecaries Hall Co., which had been 
organized five years previously. In 1861 he left 
the Apothecaries Hall Co., and became shipping 
clerk and bookkeeper for the City Manufacturing 
Co. After spending a year with them he moved to 
Meriden, becoming secretary for Julius Pratt & Co., 
for whom he was also treasurer, and he filled the 
same positions for Pratt, Read & Co. In 1863 
Mr. Munson returned to the Apothecaries Hall Co., 
and on the removal of Dr. Fish to New York became 
his successor as general manager of that concern, 
at once assuming the duties of secretary and treas- 
urer. In later years he was president and treasurer, 
and at the time of his death was president, with John 
Blair as secretary and Frederick W'ilcox as treasurer. 
By close application he succeeded in increasing the 
business of the concern to large proportions, and a 
large share of credit for the success of the enterprise 
was due to him. 

Air. Alunson was one of the original members 
of the Pharmaceutical Association of Connecticut, 
which he served one year as president, and for sev- 
eral years as chairman of its executive committee. 
He was also a member of the American Pharma- 
ceutical Association. 

Air. Alunson was a Republican politically, and 
had much to do with the management of that party, 
in whose councils his influence was great. It was 
not that of a dictator or a schemer, Init that of a 
level-headed and honorable man, one able to dis- 
cern the effect of things and measure with remark- 
able accuracy the strength of popular feeling. Air. 
Alunson w-as comptroller of the State in 1885 and 
1886, and was twice candidate for mayor of Water- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



349 



bury, sulifering the fate of his party. He served 
several terms as alderman, and at different times 
was fire commissioner, assessor and sewer commis- 
sioner. Mr. ^lunson never sought to have anything 
done which he did not feel was a necessity to the 
health and prosperity of the city, and his fellow citi- 
zens, recognizing the fact, valued his services ac- 
cordingly. 

In religion our subject and his family were con- 
nected with the First Congregational Church, and 
for many years he was usher in that church. Fra- 
ternally "he was an Odd Fellow, much devoted to that 
order, belonging to Nosahogan Lodge, Canton T. R. 
Martin and Ansantawae Encampment, lie was 
grand master in 1882, was grantl repr^s<:ntativc for 
two years, and was a past grand patriarch of the 
grand encampment. ^^Ir. Munson was also a Alason, 
holding membership in Continental Lodge and Eu- 
reka Chapter. He was also a member of the Water- 
bury Club, the Republican League and the Society 
of the American Revolution. 

In 1861 j\Ir. Alunson was united in marriage with 
Alary Bronson, daughter of the late Archibald E. 
Rice, and besides his w^idow is survived by two 
daughters, Mary Edna and Sara Rice. Susie R. 
died in 1864, in infancy. 

Archibald Elij.\h Rice, father of Mrs. Luzerne 
L Munson, was born in Hamden Aug. 13, 1809, and 
died AL-irch 14, 1893. He was a son of Isaac and 
.>lary (Roberts) Rice, of Hamden, and grandson 
of Isaac Rice, who was a pensioner of the Revolu- j 
tionary war. His early life was spent in Hamden, \ 
Woodbridge and Prospect, and coming to Water- 
bury at the age of seventeen, he entered the em- 
ploy of Mark Leavenworth & Co., manufacturers of 
clocks. Learning the carpenter's trade, he became 
a carpenter and builder, following that occupation 
between 1830 and 1842, and having charge of the 
erection of many of the important buildings of that 
time. In 1843 Air. Rice moved to Hudson, Ohio, 
and while there had charge of the erection of the 
Western Reserve College buildings, coming back to 
Waterbury after four years. Here he engaged in 
the lumber business until 1883, when he gave up 
active pursuits, although he remained president of 
the Apothecaries Hall Co. He was at one time 
president of the American Ring Co. Mr. Rice held 
many public offices ; he was a member of the com- 
mon council in 1856; in 1876 and 1877 he was mayor 
of Waterbury ; and for seventeen years he served 
as county commissioner of New Haven county, 
during this time superintending the erection of the 
courthouse and jail at New Haven. 

In 1832 Air. Rice married Aliss Susan Bronson, 
a descendant of John Bronson, one of the original 1 
settlers of Farmington, and to them were born 
seven children: Edward J., who died in 1890; one 
that died in infancy; Alary Bronson, widow of 
Luzerne I. Alunson ; Frederick B. ; Airs. L. AI. 
Camp, who died in 1877; another that died in in- 
fancv ; and Airs. S. P. Williams. 



LEAIUEL HENRY BOARDMAN, contractor 
at the Parker Brothers' gun shop, and an ex-soldier 
of the Civil war, is one of Aleriden's well known 
and representative citizens. He was born Sept. 18, 
1837, ni the town of New Hartford, Litchlield Co., 
this State, and is a descendant of one of the oldest 
and best families of the conunonweallh. His father. 
Jason Boardman, was born in the town of Rocky 
Hill, Hartford Co., a son of Jas(jn Boardman, Sr., 
a sea captain who was engaged many years in the 
East India trade. 

Jason Boardman grew to manhood on a farm 
in Rocky Hill, where he attended school. When a 
young man he removed to Litchfield comity and 
located at New Hartford, remaining there sunie 
time. He married Aliss Alaria Bradley, wdiose par- 
ents were natives of the town of Burlington, Hart- 
ford county. After a time, he returned to his 
birth-place, with his family, and subsequently 
worked in various places at clock-making, and was 
also employed by John Porter in the manufacture 
of pianos at Aliddletown, Conn. Air. Boardman 
w-as possessed of much mechanical genius, and was 
one of the first in the country to make all i)arts of 
a piano by hand, including even the keys. An ex- 
pert mechanic, an industrious workman, he. died 
regretted as a good citizen, and was . buried near 
his former home in Rocky Hill. Of quiet tastes 
and domestic habits, he mingled little in the strife 
of public affairs. He attended the Episcopal 
Church and sought to regulate his life by the Golden 
Rule. Like most of his contemporaries, he was a 
Democrat in early life, but joined the Republican 
party on the outbreak of the Civil war and ever after 
sustained its principles. His wife was a member 
of the AI. E. Church, an exemplary. Christian wo- 
man. She died at her home in Rocky Hill, and was 
buried there. They were the parents of ten chil- 
dren, namely : Eliza, wdio married Truman Gris- 
wold, of Palmer, Alass. ; Andrew J., who was a sol- 
dier of the Civil war, and is now deceased ; Lemuel 
H. ; James, an ex-soldier of the Civil war, now- re- 
siding in Hartford ; Julia, wife of Frederick Was- 
sum, of Palmer, Alass. ; Frederick, who served in 
the Union army, resides in East Haddam, Conn. ; 
Lydia, unmarried; John, a citizen of Providence. 
R. I.; Anna, married Walter Ganiwell, of Spring- 
field, Alass.; and Susan, wife of Hubbard Church, 
of East Haddam. Mrs. Boardman's father, Selah 
Bradley, was a farmer in Burlin.gton. 

Lemuel H. Boardman went with his parents 
when a small lioy, to Rocky Hill, where he attended 
school and grew up on a farm, remaining there until 
seventeen years old. He then went to Hartford, 
where he learned the blacksmith's trade with the 
firm of Hayden & Keeiiey. later working as jouniey- 
man with C. S. Blair. He was thus engaged when 
the Civil war began, and was among the first to re- 
spond to the call for troops. He became a mem- 
ber of Co. H, 2nd Conn. V. I., under Col. Terry and 
Capt. Gore, and was in the battle of Bull Run. 



350 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



At the completion of his term of service, he returned 
to Hartford and again enhsted for nine months, 
being assigned to Co. I, 22nd Conn. V. I., under Col. 
Burnham and Capt. Whittlesey. He went out as 
second lieutenant, and was promoted in Virginia 
to first lieutenant. At the end of his term of ser- 
vice, he was mustered out at Hartford. 

After spending one year as blacksmith in Colt's 
armory, he went to Springfield and spent a like 
period in the employ of the American Machine Co. 
In 1865 he became a resident of Meriden, and for 
a period of one and one-half years was employed 
by Snow, Brooks & Co., at South Meriden. The 
next vear was spent in New York and Pennsylvania, 
and he again took up his residence in Meriden, en- 
tering the employ of the Meriden Cutlery Co., with 
which concern he continued until 1874. During 
the last twenty-eight years, he has been connected 
with the Parker gun shops, where he began in the 
forging department. Pie is now one of the leading 
contractors of the establishment, where his skill as 
a workman, and his industry and upright character 
have won for him the respect and esteem of pro- 
prietors and employes. 

On Jan. 9, 1882, Mr. Boardman was married 
at Clinton, Conn., to Miss Nettie Stevens, a native 
of Killingworth, Conn., and daughter of Carlos and 
Janet (Hull) Stevens, residents of Killingworth 
and members of old and respected Connecticut fam- 
ilies. One child, Clyde, born Oct. 8, 1887, has 
blessed this union ; he is now a student at the public 
schools of Meriden. Mr. Boardman is a member 
of Merriam Post, No. 8, G. A. R. He is fond of 
home- and its quiet pleasures, and does not seek to 
mingle in the direction of public affairs, though he 
performs the duty of a good citizen in expressing 
his choice at the polls, acting with the Republican 
party because he believes in its principles. A 
straightforward and reliable citizen, he is esteemed 
by those who know him for his manly worth. 

GEORGE B. FOOTE, in his long and respon- 
sible connection with the Meriden Britannia Co., 
of Meriden, has placed himself on a substantial 
footing among the useful and respected residents 
of that city. In his career he has sustained the 
reputation long borne by members of his family 
for honor, industry and other characteristic traits 
of the sturdy New Englander. 

(I) Nathaniel Foote, the first of this family in 
America, is of record in the Colony of Massachu- 
setts Bay as early as 1633, in which year he took 
oath as freeman. He was first of Wa'tertown, and 
was among the first settlers of Wethersfield, Conn., 
receiving a distribution of land in the latter town 
in 1640. In 1644 he was deputy to the General 
Court. He was an intelligent, pious and industrious 
man. He was married in England in 1615, to Eliza- 
beth Deming, and died in Wethersfield in 1644. 
His widow married Thomas Welles, later governor 
of the Colony; she died July 28, 1683. 



(II) Robert Foote, son of Nathaniel, the settler, 
born about 1627, married in 1659. He was of 
Wethersfield and later of what is now Wallingford, 
Conn., and in 1668 and thereafter until his death, 
in 1681, of Branford, Conn. In 1686 his widow, 
Sarah, married Aaron Blachley, of Branford, and 
subsequently of Guilford, Connecticut. 

(IIIj Joseph Foote, son of Robert, born ]\Iarch 
6, 1665, married (first) in 1690 Abigail, daughter 
of John Johnson, of New Haven, and lived in 
Northford Society, Branford. He died March 6, 

1751- 

(I\') Daniel Foote, son of Joseph, born Aug. 

16, 1701, married in 1726 Sarah Thompson, of East 
Haven, Conn., and lived in Northford Society, 
Branford. INIr. Foote died in November, 1742, and 
his widow married May 9, 1745, John Taintor, of 
Branford. She died Sept. 6, 1774. 

{V ) Daniel Foote (2), son of Daniel, born June 
5, 1734, married Feb. 13, 1755, Mary, daughter of 
Isaac and Hannah Ingraham, of Saybrook, Conn., 
and lived in Northford Society, Branford. Mr. 
Foote died March 6, 1797, and his widow June 23, 
1822. 

(\T) Benjamin Foote, son of Daniel (2), born 
Aug. I, 1778, married April 24, 1803, Sally Parmele 
Hall, daughter of Joel Hall, of Wallingford. She 
died July 24, 1804, and on June 2, 1805, he married 
Betsey Hall, daughter of Andrew Hall, of Walling- 
ford. Mrs. Betsey Foote passed away Sept. 30, 
183 1, and on May 3, 1832, for his third wife, he 
wedded Mrs. Harriet Homiston, widow of Willis 
Homiston, of Wallingford, and daughter of New- 
berry Button, of North Haven, Conn. Mr. Foote 
was a resident of Wallingford. 

(VII) Benjamin Foote (2), son of Benjamin, 
was born Oct. 8, 1817, in Wallingford, and there 
learned the trade of tinner, which he always fol- 
lowed, engaging in manufacturing. However, he 
I departed this life at the comparatively early age of 
I thirty-three years, and he was laid to rest in the 
Wallingford cemetery. On Nov. 19, 1840, Jie mar- 
ried Sarah A. Hall, who was born in Wallingford, 
daughter of Hiel Hall, of that place, and a descend- 
ant of John Hall, one of the first settlers of Walling- 
ford. Mrs. Foote died at the age of thirty-seven 
years and was buried beside her husband. Both 
were members of the Episcopal Church. Three 
children were born to them, viz. : Charles C., who 
is with the International Silver Co., at Hamilton, 
(jntario, Canada ; George B. ; and Sarah, who died 
in infancy. 

George B. Foote was reared in Wallingford, 
where he was born April 23, 1844, and where his 
parents resided. His education was received in the 
district schools. He was but fourteen years old 
when his mother died, and he was thus left to 
battle with the world alone at an early age, a fact 
which puts his subsequent success in a still more 
[ favorable light. In 1858 he came to Meriden to live 
I with his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Marshall 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



35> 



L. Forbes, and immediately commenced work in the 
plating room of the Meriden Britannia Co., under 
his uncle. His trade learned, he continued to work 
there, as a journeyman, in 1876 was promoted to 
the position of foreman, and later to that of super- 
intendent of the flat ware department, which in- 
cumbency he continues to fill at the present day. 
A quarter of a century in so responsible a position 
argues well for his efficiency, truitworthincss and | 
skill, and he has never failed to meet the require- 
ments of his incumbency, giving eminent satisfac- 
tion. Mr. Foote has the unqualified respect of the 
men who are employed in his department, both for 
his personal w'orth as well as for his ability and 
knowledge of his work. He is familiar with every 
detail pertaining to the conduct of his department. 
On Jan. 8, 186S, Mr. Foote was united in mar 
riage, in South Hadley, IMass., with Cornelia Ingra- 
ham, daughter of Warren Ingraham, and they .liad 
one child, Lillian, who married Lewis Leismann, 
an employe of the Aleriden Britannia Co., and has 
one child, Warren. Mrs. Foote died in 1883, and 
was buried in Walnut Grove cemetery. She at- 
tended the Episcopal Church. On Jan. 5. 1885, 
Mr. Foote married, for his second wife. Miss Hattie 
Pomeroy, the ceremony taking place in Meriden. 
Mrs. Hattie (Pomeroy) Foote is the youngestt 
daughter of Noah Pomeroy, one of Meriden's 
"grand old men." She is a woman of character 
and marked intelligence, unusually well read, and 
especially devoted to her home, from which a cordial 
hospitality is extended to the many friends of the 
family. The residence is one of the finest on 
Chestnut street. Air. Foote is also domestic in his 
tastes and fond of his home. He is genial and 
sympathetic in disposition, and is much esteemed 
by all who come in contact with him, whether in 
business or social life. Fraternally he unites with 
Center Lodge, Xo. 68, L O. O. F., of Meriden, and 
Mrs. Foote is a member of Ruth Hart Chapter, D. 

A. R.. of that i)lace. They attend the U^niversalist 
Church, but Mr. Foote considers the Golden Rule 
the simplest and best guide of action. He is a Re- 
publican in political sentiment, but beyond voting 
takes little interest in ])arty affairs. 

Haix. The Hall family, of whom Mr. George 

B. Foote is a descendant on the maternal side, is 
an old and highly respected one in New England, 
complete record of which may be found elsewhere 
in this volume. 

Thomas Hall, son of John Hall, the emigrant, 
was one of three brothers who settled in Walling- 
ford, and was one of the signers of the Plantation 
Covenant, 1669-70. He made his home in Walling- 
ford, wdiere he followed agricultural pursuits and 
where he died Sept. 17. 1731. at the age of sixty- 
two years. He married Grace Watson, and she died 
in May, 1731. They were the parents of ten chil- 
dren. 

Peter Hall, fifth son of Thomas, was bisrn in 
Wallingford, Dec. 28, 1686, and married Rebecca 



Bartholomew, Oct. 19, 1732. She died Oct. 31, 
1776, at the age of eighty-seven years, and he died 
Sept. 25, 1776, one month before his wife, at the 
ripe age of ninety \ears. They were the parents 
of eleven children. 

Hiel Hall, the elder son of Peter, was born 
iVLiy 6, 1735, and married, it is supposed, Catherine 
Whittlesey, who died June 4, 1788. He died Sept. 
7, 1807, aged seventy-two years, the father of eight 
children. 

Hiel Hall, son of Hiel, and grandfather of Mr. 
Foote, was born in Wallingford, Feb. 7, 1782, and 
was engaged in farming in Wallingford, wdiere he 
spent his life, and where he died. He was buried 
in Wallingford cemetery. His wife, Sarah Kirt- 
land, was a daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Ives) 
Kirtland, and granddaughter of Constant and 
Martha (Brockett) Kirtland. The children born 
to Hiel and Sarah Hall were as follows : Sarah 
A., who married Benjamin Foote, and became the 
mother of George B. Foote ; Susan C, who mar- 
ried Marshall L. Forbes, who was born in East 
Hartford, Conn., a son of Orrin Forbes ; Harriet, 
who married a Mr. Thomas ; Catharine, who mar- 
ried Henry C. Foote ; and Constant Kirtland, who 
died in Texas. 

Marshall L. Forbes was born in East Hart- 
ford and attended the schools of his native home, 
growing up on a fami where he remained until sev- 
enteen years old, wdien he came to Meriden and 
began work in the Meriden Britannia Co.'s factory. 
He remained with the company the remainder of 
his days, having charge of the silver plating de- 
partment for a number of years. He died in April, 
1 891, and was buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery. 
An Episcopalian in religion, he was affiliated with 
St. Andrews parish, Meriden. In politics he was 
a Republican, and served in the city council. Fra- 
ternally he belonged to the A. F. & A. AL, also the 
Council and the Chapter, and St. Elmo Commandery 
K. T. In 1849, he married Susan C. Hall, who is 
still living, and makes her home in Meriden. One 
child was bom to them, Henry, who died in 1881 ; 
he married Mary Ward, of Wallingford, Conn., 
and had one child, Susan M., who died at the age 
of twenty years. 

HENRY W. AIORSE, who for fifty years has 
been connected with the Candee Rubber Co., of 
New Haven, is a well-known and highly esteemed 
citizen of this city. He was born in Wallingford, 
Conn., March 14, 1838, a son of Truman L. and 
Electa (Moulthrop) Morse. 

Truman L. Morse was born in Meriden in 1812. 
a son of Jonathan Morse, who died prior to the 
birth of Henry W. Morse, of this sketch. Truman 
Morse married Electa Moulthrop, who was born in 
North Haven, a daughter of Martin Moulthrop, a 
farmer of that town ; she died in 1867. A family 
of four children were born to Truman L. Morse 
and wife, namely : Harriet L., deceased, was the 



35^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



wife of Charles Thompson; Charles L. resides in 
New Haven : Frederick H., a needle maker, also 
resides in Xew Haven; and Henry \V., of this 
sketch. Truman L. Morse and family resided al 
various times, in (Jninnipiac village in North Haven, 
and Centerville village in ilamden. In his political 
views he was a Republican; and in_ religious con- 
nection, he was a devout member of the Episcopal 
Church, lie died in 1878. 

Henrv W. Morse was five years old when his 
parents moved from Wallingford to Ouinnipiac, 
Conn., where they resided six years, and he accom- 
panied them when they removed to Centerville. His 
education was actjuired in l)oth of the latter towns 
and after coni[>leting his school course, at the age 
of fourteen years, he entered into the employ of the 
Candee Rubber Co., beginning then upon a business 
connection which has continued for fifty years. j\lr. 
Morse performed the duties of engineer in this fac- 
tory for two years, and was then promoted to the 
hand cloth cutting department. During his earlier 
years with this concern, Mr. ^lorse worked only 
during the summers, his winters being spent in 
school. Through his energy and ability he soon 
gained the confidence of his employers, and was 
continually promoted and trusted with more im- 
portant work, until now he is a contractor in the de- 
partment of cloth cutting by hand, a most re- 
sponsible position. 

On Feb. 20, 1871, Mr. Morse was married to 
Mary I. Beck, born in Trumbull, Conn., daughter 
of Peter Beck, of German extraction. She died 
July 16, 1899, leaving no children. Mr. Morse re- 
sides in his beautiful home at No. 751 Orange St., 
New Flaven. Politically he is identified with the 
Republican party. He is an active member of Har- 
mony Lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F. In the First 
Methodist Church he is highly esteemed, where he 
has been a faithful attendant. Mr. Morse has been 
successful in his business life, and the reason of it 
may be understood by those \vho have watched his 
career from his first entrance into the Candee fac- 
tory. His industry, fidelity and reliability have con- 
tributed to it, and his personal characteristics have 
won him the esteem of employers, employes and his 
social associates. 

ALBERT A1;R.\11.\M .MAY. general manager 
of the Pe(iuod Business College, an(l president of the 
Sturgis & May undertaking establishment, Meriden. 
is one of the liighly esteemeil residents of that city 
He was born in Xorthfield, \'t., March 17, 1844, son 
of Hustin and Xuftiet ( Duphiney) May, and is of 
I-nglisli and French ancestry. 

.Albert Abraham May was reared and educated 
in Ludlow, \'t., graduating from Black River .Acad- 
emy in i860. When the first call was made for 
tioops, at the outbreak of the Civil war, Mr. May 
was one of the earliest to respinid, enlisting .April 20, 
1861, and serving as a private in Company I. 2d Vt. 
V. L He participated in the battles of Bull Run, 



Fredericksburg, and Falls Church, and was honor- 
alilv discharged in 1863, only to re-enlist in the same 
ct.mpany and regiment, becoming corporal 



As a 
veteran he took gallant part in the battles of the Wil- 
derness, the Seven Days Fight before Richmond, 
(Gettysburg, Hagerstown, and the two battles of 
lete'rsburg, participating altogether in twenty-seven 
eiigagements. Perhaps it was' not wonderful that 
}ili. Mav should suffer for his gallantry, but he is 
one whom his country should ever remember with 
])ri(le and gratitude. He was wounded six times, 
the first time in the face, in 1862, at Falls Church, 
\ a. Carried from the battlefield of the Wilderness, 
ill 1SO4, with a shattered leg, he bravely won his 
promotion, and was honorably discharged July 15, 
1S05, as second lieutenant. 

Returning home, Mr. May, after a season of re- 
cuperation, went to Boston, and later to Dedham, 
Mass.. and there engaged in the grocery business for 
seven years. In 1878 he located in Salem, Mass;, 
and was there engaged as a carpenter for the Boston 
& Maine Railway Co. until 1886, when he was ap- 
pointed a mem'ber of the police force of that city, and 
served most acceptably for nine years. Since that 
time he has been occupied with his college in Aleri- 
dtn, establishing himself there in April, 1896. The 
Pequod Business College is justly regarded as one 
of the best institutions of its kind in the State. It 
has been brought to its present high standing 
tiirough the efforts of our subject and the ability of 
Mrs. May, who is not only an expert stenographer 
and a past master in the art of instructing in this 
useful branch of industry, but also a business woman 
of rare foresight. Mr. 'May is general manager of 
the college, and Mrs. May has charge of the short- 
hand department, which is a special feature. 

Mr. May has been twice married. On Dec. 31, 
1S65, he married Charlotte E., daughter of James 
B. Hooker, of Dedham, Mass. She died Nov. 15, 
1895, the mother of one son, George Albert, a dentist 
of Boston, who died Dec. 23, 1899, leaving a widow, 
Mrs. Eva (Ellsworth) May, and two children. Al- 
bert Ellsworth and Gladys Irene. The second mar- 
riage of Mr. May was celebrated Oct. 3, 1897, Rose 
Emery, daughter of Job and Abigail (Simpson) 
Emery, of South Berwick, Maine, becoming his wife. 

Mr. Alay is a busy, progressive citizen, and is 
connectt^d with a number of enterprises outside of 
his college, among which is the undertaking estab- 
lishment of The Sturgis & May Co. Socially he is 
connected with Merriam Post, No. 8, G. A. R., of 
which he is now conmiander, having been unani- 
mously re-elected to that position ; belongs to Merid- 
ian Lodge, No. yy, A. F. & A. M.; Meridian Chap- 
ter, Eastern Star, of which he is W. P. ; the Pilgrim 
Fathers, of which he is now governor : Meridian 
Conclave, Independent Order of Hepta.sophs, of 
which he is archon : the N. E. O. P. : and several 
other beneficiary and social organization!? . In his 
]xilitical affiliations he adheres to the Republican 
party. Mr. Alay is a leading member of the Metho- 




i:^$4^^^ 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



353 



dist Church, and for many years has been a teacher 
ill Trinity Methodist Church Sunchiy-school, oi 
which he is now the capable and beloved superin- 
tendent. In every way he is a good citizen, and en- 
joys the respect and esteem of all who know him. 

^Irs. .Ma\-, in spite of her many duties at the 
college, into which she puts her own ]iersonaliiy. 
giving die pupils under her charge not only the 
knowTedge of stenogra]>hy requisite to tit them for 
successful business careers, but also the benctit of 
her personal experience, still finds time for social 
obhgations, and is an active member of Meridian 
Chapter, of the Order of the Eastern Star, being its 
present conductor; a member of the Woman's Re- 
lief Corps, G. A. R.. in which she has also held 
office; lieutenant governor of (J. H. Piatt Ct)1ony, 
of the Pilgrim Fathers; and a member of the N. H. 
C). P. As may be inferred, she is a lady of high 
altainnients, social and intellectual. 

CARRIXGTOX. Few names indeed in the 
history of New Haven for the past sixty years have 
been more potent and influential than the one intro- 
ducing this sketch. The late John B. Carrington 
and John B. Carrington, Jr.. the latter now presi- 
dent and treasurer of the Carrington Publishing 
Co., of New Haven, have in turn conducted the 
newspaper stvled the Joiinial aiij Courier for sixty- 
five and more years, and aided materiall\' in shap- 
ing and sujiporting measures which have led to the 
development of the city and its institutions. 

The late John B. Carrington was born in 181 [ 
at Bethany, Conn., son of Ailing and Nancy (At- 
wood) Carrington. In 1824 he left home and came 
to New Haven, and began an apprenticeship to the 
printing business in the newspaper office managed 
by Thomas G. Woodward, then one of the ablest 
\Vhig editors in Connecticut. Young Carrington 
served a full apprenticeship in the mechanical de- 
partment of the office, and in the meantime began 
writing articles for the paper on the topics of the 
day. Later on, for several years, he was engaged 
in a newspaper enterprise in Macon, Ga., but re- 
turned to New Haven and, in connection with Mr. 
Woodward, in 1835 began the publication of the 
Daily Herald, the hrst daily newspajjcr iniblished in 
the State. Of this paper Air. Carrington in 1845 
was the sole publisher. The Journal and Courier 
of to-day is the outgrowth of the Herald, ami few 
men in the newspajjer business laliored luider 
greater diflicidlies to kee]) their paper alive than did 
the older Carrington, and in a season of strong com- 
petition and great business depression it was only 
accomplished by his tact, energy, ability and ])er- 
sonal popularity. These (|ualities, combined with 
rare foresight, built up and established a great 
daily paper and made it a success. In 1849 Air. 
Carrington formed a jiartnership with John B. 
Ilotchkiss for the piil)lication of the ])a])er. and on 
Mr. Ilotchkiss' retirement actpiired the entire ])rnp- 
23 



ertv. and later associated with him in the entcr- 
l)rise his two sons. Edward T. and John B. Car- 
rmgton, jr. The partnership was so continued un- 
til the death of Edward T., when another change 
was matle, and the paper and business of the otiice 
again became ;onducted by a company of which 
John B. Carrington, Jr., was made president and 
treasurer. 

Air. Carrington was a successful newspaper 
man and a business man in a general sense, and 
citizen as well. He was a broad-minded, liberal 
gentleman, of irreproachable character and busi- 
ness integrity, and most careful anil judicious in 
the conduct of his paper. He introduced into New 
Haven journalism a spirit of forbearance and cour- 
tesy toward men and newspapers of diti'erent politi- 
cal complexion or adverse views in measures of 
[uililic interest. Personally he was affable ami gen- 
ial, and his considerate treatment of public miatters, 
giving fair treatment to all sides, gave great popu- 
larity to his pajier. He possessed great tact along 
the line indicated, and w'as possessed, too, of a high 
order of judgment, which made him an excellent 
editor and newspaper man. "His editorial letters 
while in Europe in 1871 and 1872 were character- 
ized by a rare blending of polished diction, their 
writing showing an agreeable faculty of tell'ng in 
a straightforward manner all those things which 
came under his trained observation. He was fuml 
of travel and of seeing nature in every aspect, and 
when on trips both abroad and in this country he fre- 
c|uently wrote most interesting articles for the 
Journal and Courier." From Europe, the West In- 
dies and Utah, his letters to his paper were filled 
with the best spirit of journalistic corresjjondence. 

The political affiliations of Air. Carrington were 
with the Republican party and parties of which it 
was the outgrowth. During the Civil war his paper 
was loyal, constant and unflinching in its vigorous 
support of the CJovernment. His religious connec- 
tions were with the hirst Congregational Church at 
New Haven. As a citizen he was enterprising and 
public spirited, his sym])athies being elicileil m all 
jniblic improvements. So many years the editor 
and manager of one of the nuost successful journals 
in the State, Mr. Carrington left his impress for 
good on the enmmmiity in which he so long and 
prominently figured. \\i- became identified as early 
as 1848 ill the manufacture of malleable iron, be- 
ing among the first to see the value of the material. 
There were very few enterprises started in New 
I laven along some years ])rior to the Civil w^ar and 
following it that he did not assist both in giving 
advice, which was sought, and means, lie was in- 
terested in the lligelow .Manufacturing Co., was 
a director in the first horse street railway coni])any 
organized in New Haven and the Slate, in the 
New Haven County National Bank, the (rrilley 
Screw Co., the Mansfield Elastic Frog Co.. the .\ew 
Haven tias Li'dit iS: Water Co., and also ( f the New 



354 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Ilaven PalUuUinii. For some year? pri'jr to 1849 
Air. Carringtim published the A I'Xi' f.iiylandcr. then 
edited by Theodore D. Woolsey, of Yale, and Rev. 
Leonard Bacon. Mr. CarrinQton acquired more 
than a competence. 

On Sept. 12, 1838, Mr. Carrington was married 
to Harriet Hayes Trowbridge, who was born May 
22, 1815, daughter of Capt. Roswell Trowbridge, 
a representative of a distinguished Xew Haven 
family, she being a descendant in the seventh gen- 
eration from Thomas Trowbridge, the common an- 
cestor of the Trowbridges in this country, and wdio 
emigrated from Taunton. Somersetshire. England, 
prior to 163^1. in which year his name is of record 
as joining the church. He located in Dorchester, 
Mass., removed to Xew Haven. Conn., in 1638-39, 
and returned to England in i()44. From this emi- 
grant ancestor Mrs. (Trowd)ridge) Carrington's 
line of descent is through Thomas (2). Thomas 
(3), Daniel, Newman and Capt. Roswell Trow- 
bridge. 

(H) Thomas Trowbridge (2). son of Thomas 
the emigrant, b<irn in iingland in 1O32. married 
(first) in 1657 Sarah, daughter of Henry Ruther- 
ford, wdio died in 1687. Mr. Trow-bridge was an 
enterprising and successful West India merchant, 
and a man of note. He died in 1702. 

(HI) Thomas Trowbridge (3). son of Thomas 
(2), horn in 1664, married in 1685 Mary, daughter 
of John Winston. She died in 1742, and he died 
in 1704. He was a planter and mcrcliant. 

(IV) Daniel Trowbridge, son of Thomas (3), 
born in 1703, married in 1731 Mehetabel, daugh- 
ter of Francis IVown. He died in 1732, and she 
in 1797, 

(V) Newman Trowliridgc, son of Daniel, born 
in 1738, married (second) in 1778 Widow Rebecca 
Cables, daughter of Thomas Dodd. He died in 
1816, and she in 1S08. 

(\'\) Capt. Roswell Trowbridge, son of Xew- 
man, born in. 1784. married in 1813 Nancy, daugh- 
ter of Ezckiel Hayes. Capt. Trowbridge was a 
mariner. He died in 1844. and his wife in 1857. 

(VH) Harriet Trowbridge (Afrs. John P>. 'Car- 
rington). 

To the marriage of IVfr. Carrington and Har- 
riet Trowliridge came children as follows : Fran- 
ces E., bom in 1S30, died in 1843; Roswell T., born 
in 1841, died in 1843; Edward" T., horn in 1843, 
died in 1S83: Harriet F. was Ixini in 1845: luiiiiv 
A., in T847: John Rennett, .\pril 24, 1849; Har- 
riet T., in 1851 : and William, born in 18;;, died in 
1856. 

HENRY J.\MES CHURCH, the oldest funeral 
director and undertaker in Mcriden, was born in 
East Haven, New Haven county, .\ug. i, 1831. a 
son of James and Huldah (Barnes) Church, natives 
of Haddam and East Haven, rcspectivelv. 

The remote ancestor of this familv was Thomas 



Church, who came from England in 1680 and lived 
and died in Plainfield, Conn, He was the grand- 
father of that Church who served in the Revolution- 
ar\- army and, wdien taken prisoner by the English 
and conlined on their prison ship in New Y'ork 

i harbor, escaped by swimming. This distinction 
he divides with only one other man. He was the 

I grandfather of Henry James Church, was a farmer 
and spent his life in the town of Haddam. 

Isaac Barnes, the maternal grandfather of Mr. 

1 Church, enlisted under Benedict Arnold in the Rev- 
olutionary army and marched from New Haven to 
Fort Ticonderoga. His powder horn is now in the 
possession of Andrew Stoper, of New Britain. 
Isaac Barnes was a farmer in the towai of East 
Haven, and his daughter, Huldah, and grandson, 
Henrv J. Church, w-ere born there in the house he 
built for his own home. 

James Church, noted above, was a shoemaker, 
ar.d the latter part of his business career was spent 
as a shoe merchant in the West Indies. He died in 
East Haven in 1839. He was a soldier in the war 
of 18 1 2. His children were: Mary; Harriet, who 
is the widow of Horace Hart ; Maria, widow of 
Edward Barton Lewis ; Daniel M. ; Julia, wife of 
John H. Andrews ; George K., who went to Cali- 
fornia in 1849 ''"d is supposed to have died there; 
William, wdio died in California ; and Henry J. All 
the sons are deceased, except the youngest born, 
who is the subject of this article. The daughters 
survive. 

Henry James Church was reared in East Ha- 
ven, New Britain and Meriden, where he reached 
manhood. In 1847 he began at Meriden an appren- 
ticeship of three years to the trade of cabinetmaker, 
wdiich he mastered ; he was engaged as clerk in a 
furniture store at the breaking out of the Civil 
war. In August, 1862, Mr. Church enlisted in Com- 
pany F, 15th Conn, V, I,, and participated in the 
battle of Fredericksburg and the siege of Suffolk, 
after wdiich he was assigned to the subsistence de- 
partment of the Anny of the Potomac, 9th Army 
Corps, 2d Division, under Gen. Burnside, with 
wdiich he remained until the beginning of 1863, 
when he was transferred to the District of North 
Carolina and continued with same until the close 
of the war. He was discharged July 8, 1865. 
Since his return to civil life our subject has fol- 
lowed his present business and has officiated at 
the funeral services of over six thousand people. 

Mr. Church was married, in 1853, to Elizabeth, 
daughter of Luke T. and Elizabeth (Foster) Dra- 
per, of Monson, Mass, Of the five children born to 
this marriage but one survives, Louis H,, who is 
associated with his father in Inisincss. He married 
Maude Lillian Marshall, of Brooklyn, N. Y^.. and 
has one daughter, Grace Huntington, Mr. Church 
and his family attend the services of the First M. 
E. Church, of Meriden. He is past commander of 
Merriam Post, No. 8, G. A. R.; has taken the 
Knight Templar degree in Masonrv' ; is connected 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



355 



witli the subordinate IikIs^c in Meriden. of which 
he is past master: is enrolled in Silver City L<)tli;"e. 
No. 3, A. O. U. W. ; was a charter member of 
Myrtle Lodge, K. of 1'., and is an honorary mem- 
ber of Meriden Center Loilge. No. 68. I. O. ( ). b'.. 
sharing this distinction with Charles Parker. .\t 
the present time lie is holding the office of alderman 
of the b'onrth ward of Meriden; in polities he i.- a 
Republican. 

SOLON BENJAMIN PERKINS, machinist, 
a native of New Haven county, was born Dec. 1 1 . 
1832, in the Alount Carmel District of the town of 
Hamden, and has long been numbered among the 
respected citizens of Meriden. His grandfather, 
Amasa Perkins, was a native of Bethan\-, New 
Haven county, where he grew up on a farm, and 
where he married Esther Hitchcock. In early life 
he located at Cooperstown, Otsego Co., N. Y., and 
engaged in farming. After the birth of his eldest 
child, he returned to Connecticut and settled on a 
farm in Wallingford, near the Hamden line, where 
he built a home and passed the remainder of his 
days. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. Both 
he and his wife died on the farm in Wallingford 
and were buried in the north district of Hamden. 
Mr. Perkins was a Democrat of the old school, and 
was a member of the Congregational Church. All 
of his children, Lewis, Burr, Anna and Harriet, 
are now deceased. The elder daughter was the 
wife of Horace Hal:, and the vounger married 
William D. Hall, all of Wallingford. 

Lewis Perkins was born in Butternuts (now 
Cooperstown), Otsego Co., N. Y., and came to 
Connecticut with his parents wdien an infant. He 
grew up on the Wallingford farm and attended the 
subscription schools of the time. After his mar- 
riage, he settled on a farm in the Mount Carmel 
district of Hamden, wdiere he spent his life, and 
died at the age of sixty-three years. In addition 
to farming, he followed teaming and butchering. 
He was a stanch Democrat, and firm in support of 
his principles. For many years he served as justice 
of the peace, and was everywhere known as "'Squire 
Perkins," and was also a notary public. In re- 
ligious connection he was a faithful member of 
the Congregational Church. He w^as married in 
Hamden to Lois Peck, a native of that town, daugh- 
ter of Benjamin Peck. She died in Hamden, and 
was buried beside her husband in the family ceme- 
tery, in the North District. Like her husband, she 
was a devoted member of the Congregational 
Church, and she was a faithful wife and mother. 
Their children were four in number, namely : Solon 
B. ; Ellen, widow of Russell \\'ilcox, of New- 
Haven; Watson T., a resident of Wallingford: and 
Sarah, who died ;n infancy. 

Solon B. Perkins received such education as llie 
district schools afforded, but has widely supple- 
mented this in the great university of experience 
and observation. He retiiaincd on the home farm 



until si.xteen years of age, when he started out to 
make his own way in the workl. His first employ- 
ment was in the spoon shoi) of Kiibert Wallace at 
(Juinnipiac, where he received eight dollars per 
month and board, and contimiecl two years. i-"or 
several years he was employed in the a.xle >hop of 
Henry Ives, at Hamden, and was subsequently with 
the Brockett Axle Co. After a visit to Philadelijhia, 
he went to New Bedford, Mass., and ship]K'tl as 
blacksmith on a whaling vessel for a voyage of three 
years in the Arctic ocean. During part of this 
service, he acted as boat steerer, in pursuit of the 
whale. A brief visit to his native place, during 
which he worked in a bolt shop, followed, and then 
lie went to Boston and was employed during the 
Civil war by the Spencer Rifle Co. Having been 
tendered a position in the machine department of 
the bolt shop of Lampson & Woodruff, at Mount 
Carmel, he returned to that place and continued 
with the plant three )-ears after it was removed 
to Southington and operated by the Peck, Stow & 
Wilcox Co., being there a contractor in the bolt 
department. He next spent three years as superin- 
tendent of the bolt factory of Bradley & Lewis, 
at Cleveland, Ohio. Disposing of his Southington 
property, he engaged in the restaurant business at 
New Haven for a year, and was subsequently a fish 
dealer at Wallingford for a like period. For the 
next two years he was superintendent of a bolt fac- 
tory of Lampson & Sessions, at Clevelanil, Ohio, 
after which he returned to Wallingford and worked 
for the Simpson, Hall & Miller Co., until 1882. 

For the past twenty years, he has held a position 
as machinist with the Edward Miller Co., of Merid- 
en, and is still active and efficient in the perform- 
ance of his duties. Of most genial disposition, he 
is popular with all classes of people, and jjerforms 
the duties of a good citizen as he sees them. Jle 
is not bound by any ])artisan rule, but votes for 
his convictions at all times, and seeks to conform 
his daily life to the simple rule laid down by the 
Savior, to do as he would be done by. He is a 
member of Accanant Lodge, I. C). O. F., of Walling- 
ford, is devoted to his home and family, and highly 
respected in the community. 

Mr. Perkins was married Feb. 23, 1864, to Miss 
Rosawe k'arrell. a native of Boston, daughter of 
Henry and Mary (Macready) I'arrell. Henry Far- 
rell was one of the first settlers of Lawrence, Mass., 
and was a son of George Farrell, a Scotch-Irish 
linen manufacturer. Mrs. Farrell's father, Henry 
Macready, was also of Scotch-Irish descent. Mr. 
Farrell was a blacksmith by trade, and both he and 
his wife died in the city of Lawrence. Mrs. Perkins 
was quite young when her parents settled at 
Lawrence, and was educated in the public schools 
of that city. She is a cultivated and refined woman, 
of liberal views, and makes her home the tlcarest 
])lace to her family. 

The only child of Solon B. Perkins and wife 
is Louis Henry, born Jan. 11, 1805, at Lawrence, 



35''> 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



I^lass., and educated in the public schools of Cleve- 
land, Wallingt'ord and .\e\v Haven. For inany 
years he has been emplo_\ed in the factory of the 
Julward .Miller Co., and is now foreman of the 
lamp department. His social nature has made him 
prominent in the fraternal and benevolent or.s^an- 
izations of the town. He is a member of -Meridian 
Lodge, Xo. 77, A. !•. e\: .\. -M.; Keystone Chapter. 
Xo. 27, R. A. -M.; Hamilton Council, Xo. 22, R. & 
S. -M.. in which he is recorder: St. Elmo Com- 
niandery, Xo. (j, K. T. ; and I'yramid Temple of the 
Mvstic Shrine, of Bridgeport. He is also identified 
wi'th I'acitic Lodge. Xo. «7, L O. U. F., and Silver 
City Lodge, Xo. ip. X. F:. (). I'. He is a member 
of the i;a])tist Church, and has been several years 
secretary of its Sunilay ^chool. Lie is independent 
in politics, but (levote<l tn every work promising 
to ]jruniote the general welfare. 

Ll'HStjMl-: TFRRLLL WOOSTER. One of 
the UKisl inHuential men of the Xaugatuck \"alley is 
Letsonie Terrell Wooster, whose face is familiar in 
bu.-iness, church and educational circles thruugh- 
i.ui the State. .Mr, Wdtisler wa.> burn in W'ater- 
bur\-. lie is the seventh in descent fri.an Edward 
Wooster. who came acruss the water from England 
in i'i,V' ii'i'l founded the family honie in the green' 
hills of Cnnnecticut, whence this branch of the fam- 
ily has not migrated for over two and one-half cen- 
turit'S. 

The Colcinial hero, a luan of great courage, 
deep piety and abiding patriotism, uprooted him- 
self I'lr religiiiu's .-ake from the haunts of his 
ancestors and, with a handful of brave compatriots 
of like convictinns, established the first traces of 
.\ngio-Sa.\on civilization along the 'shores of the 
Housatonic, the two towns which are glad to do 
him honor lieing .Milford and Derbx. It is udt sur- 
prising that the descendants of Edward Wooster 
were early drawn into the Revolutionarx movement 
and that we find them exeryuhere connected with 
the wars of that ])eriod. Thus it is that the sub- 
ject of this sketch points to an ancestry of si.x 
illustrious Revolutionary commissioned officers, 
aiuciug them Ceu. David Wooster and the great 
lieutenant of l-'rench and Indian war fame, Gideon 
Hotchkiss. 

Letsome T. Wooster is likewise sixth in descent 
from Rev. John I'.ower. a graduate of Harvard Col- 
lege in the class of 1O41J who became, in 165-2. the 
first in.-tructor in the classics in the school which 
evemnally grew into ^'ale Cniversity, and who 
later, in iCiji, became the first minister in Derbv, 
where he pert'ormed the nitiltifarions duties which 
fell to the lot of such a Colonial dignitarx- until his 
death, in 1688. 

The two and one-half centuries which have inter- 
vened since the stirring Colonial da\s have served 
but to transfer, as through a single generation, the 
sterling characteristics of these early heroes to their 
lineal descendant. Letsome Terrell Wooster, The 



svmpatliv and interest in the welfare of the com- 
unmity that Mr, Wooster feels and substantially 
shows in his many benevolences are the outcome of 
generationis of patriotic forbears who have devoted 
themselves to the cause of church and State in this 
Icicalitv since 1630. He has been from early man- 
hood closely identified with educational matters and 
is at the present time a trustee of Weskyan Univer- 
sity. His interest in the cause of religion is one 
of the strong traits of his character and he has al- 
wavs given numificentlv to churches throughout the 
\'alley. 

.Mr. Wooster is the oldest and best-known brass 
luanufacturer in the United States. He is the 
founder and ])rincipal stockholder of the Seymour 
^ilanufacturing Company, a prosperous concern 
brought to its present degree of success by Mr. 
Wooster's executive ability, inventive genius and 
rare knowledge of metals. He is a metallurgist of 
admitted power, using many of his own secret 
formulas, notably one for German silver, which 
make the product from his manufactory especially 
in demand by concerns requiring delicacy and pli- 
abilitv, as well as strength and durability, in their 
metals. His molds for casting brass have revolu- 
tionized that feature of this great manufacturing in- 
dustry, and innuiuerable devices of his own inven- 
tion for saving time and labor have made the Sey- 
mour Manufacturing Company a model of modern 
methods in its unsurpassed capacity for business. 

;\Ir. Wooster's pre-eminence in the business af- 
fairs of the Xaugatuck Valley is recognized. Early 
in life he was prevailed upon by the president of the 
Waterbury Brass Company to abandon his chosen 
career of mechanical engineer and engage in the 
manufacture of brass. This was in 1852. He sub- 
sequently went to Torrington with Hon. Lyman W. 
Coe, and with him organized the Coe Brass Com- 
pany, remaining as manager for eight years. For 
the la'st twenty years he has been associated with 
his brother in Seymour, and is officially connected 
with the following concerns in that town: The 
-Seymour Manufacturing Company, the Seymour 
Electric Light Companv. the FL A. Mathews Com- 
pany and the Rimmon Manufacturing Company, 

FRAXK S. AXDREW^ For generations the 
-Andrew family have been residents of New Haven 
comity, and for a third of a century the name has 
been one of prominence in the commercial circles of 
the city of Xew Haven, the name being particularly- 
well known through all this section on account of 
the extensive business, in the meat and provision 
line, conducted by the cstalilishments of F. S. An- 
drew & Co., C. C. Andrew & Co,, and H. L. -Andrew 
& Co., at Xos, 183 to 197 State street. The last 
named firm has retired from business. 

I'rank S. Andrew, the founder of this business, 
has long been an influential citizen and pronunent 
business man of Xew Flaven, Born Xov. 21, 1841, 
in. the town of .Xaugatuck, he is a son of the late 




I 



^^" 



c^ ^ t^ , cc/^^, 



^r-z/^l^i 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



357 



Samuel and'Salina (Smith J Ainlrcw;, and grandson 
of William Andrew. Samuel Andrew was born in 
1800, and after his marriage settled in the town of 
Orange, where he resided until the latter part of 
the 'thirties, when he moved to Oxford. He died 
in 1875 in tlie village of Naugatuck. Five children 
were born to Samuel Andrew and wife: -Samuel 
X.; Caroline A., witlow of B. Booth, of Xew Hav- 
en ; Esther L., deceased ; George S., also tleceased ; 
and Frank S. 

Frank S. Andrew attended the public schools of 
Naugatuck and at intervals clerked in the store of 
liis brother, George S., who for years was a prom- 
inent merchant in that town. He was occupied in 
clerking the greater part of the time until 1855, 
wdien he came to Xew Haven, and for two years 
was clerk and errand boy in the store of B. Booth. 
Returning to Naugatuck in 1857, he was for about 
four years a bookkeeper for the firm of H. Stevens 
& Co., manufacturers of carriages. Following this, 
for a short time, he traveled for a Philadelphia busi- 
ness house through ]\Iassachusetts. He taught 
school in Red Oak district, in the town of Oxford, 
Conn., during one winter, and soon after opened a 
store in Naugatuck, Conn. The first week's sales 
amomUed to five dollars and sixty-seven cents. His 
energy and push were soon felt in the business, 
which rapidly increased until the weekly sales a])- 
proximated from eight hundred to one thousand dol- 
lars. ^Ir. Andrew carried on this, general store until 
1867, when he disposed of the business and returned 
to New Haven, in which city he was employed as a 
salesman in the pork ])acking establishment of 
William Hull & Co. In 1868 he associated himself 
in the pork packing and provision business with 
Ansel Hurlburt, under the firm name of Andrew & 
Hurlburt, and managed an extensive trade. In 1872 
these gentlemen erected a large pork-packing house, 
and they continued in business together until 1874, 
when JMr. Andrew purchased his partner's interest, 
and later the firm became F. S. Andrew & Co., 
our subject taking as partners two of his clerks, 
L. C. Bates, now of L. C. Bates & Co., and B. A. 
Booth, now of the Booth JMeat Co., all of New 
Haven. Their establishment was destroyed by fire 
in 1883, but was soon rebuilt by the new firm. In 
the course of the intervening years the business has 
grown largely, through the enterprise, industry and 
good management of the chief head, Frank S. An- 
drew, and the several branches as given above imder 
difTerent titles, have been added. These houses do 
an extensive wdiolesale and retail business in meats, 
provisions, butter, eggs, cheese, etc. Mr. Andrew 
has the reputation of Being a broad-minded, liberal 
and progressive gentleman, and has ever taken a 
deep interest in the growth and advancement of 
New Haven. During his third of a century's active 
business life in New Haven he has been coimected 
with various outside enterprises, and figured quite 
extensively in the city's afi'airs. ]\Ir. Andrew was 
one of the incorporators and for a time a director 



in the New Ha\en Co-operalive Loan Association, 
which is now oiu of business. He has been a large 
hiilder of real estate and of stocks, and is a member 
of the New York 1 'reduce and .Mercantile Ex- 
change. I'oliiically -Mr. Andrew is a Democrat, 
but while ever greatly interested in public ati'airs, 
he has cared little for political preferment. How- 
e\er. f<jr a number of years he liekl the ottice of 
^elec^man in New Haven, and for several years of 
that lime serveil as. presitlent of the board. Aiaiidy 
through his efforts "Springside Home" was given 
its present location, Mr. Andrew doing practically 
all the negotiating for the farm, on which this grand 
institution of the city is located. It was during his 
service as selectman that the eastern city limits were 
e.xtentled, annexing Fair Haven. Morris Cove, 
Light House Poiiu, and South End. This addi- 
tion to the city was bitterly fought, and at the 
time, the oflicials who were instrumeiUal in bring- 
ing it aljout came in for an abundance of censure 
from the less foresighted. The wisdom of, and ad- 
vantages froiu, this annexation have long been evi- 
dent, and its one time opposers soon afterward 
became its most ready sanctioners. In 1882 Mr. 
-Andrew was declared elected mayor of .New Haven, 
and received his certificate of election. This elec- 
tion was contested in the courts and after a pro- 
tracted hearing his opponent was Seated, though our 
subject had manv friends who stood by him faith- 
fully, h'or nearly six years he served the city of 
.Xew Haven as ])olice commissioner, and iov sev- ' 
eral terms acted as president of that board. During 
his connection with that portion of the city's gov- 
ernment he was a leader in many movements that 
were then new, and which the less progressive op- 
posed. The judgment and foresight of those iir 
favor of them will be evident when it is stated that 
these new id«ts included the conduit systeiu, the 
\eteran Reserve and the Police Pension Bill, and 
other features in that department that remained 
permanent fixtures. The outlying police districts 
were established, enabling ntembers of the force 
to report at nearer stations, thus obviating the neces- 
sitv of going long distances to report at head- 
quarters, and rendering the service much better. 
The police department made rapid strides toward 
advancement during Mr. Andrew's connection 
therewith. In all his jniblic service -Mr. .\ndrew 
has taken the same business-like intere.-t in his 
duties that he takes in his own affairs, lie is at 
present a member of the Civil .Service Board oi Xew^ 
Haven, for examination of all numiciiial employes, 
and has been secretary of that board for years. 

Socially Mr. Andrew is a member of Hiram 
Lodge, F." & A. M. : Franklin Chapter: Harmony 
Council ; Xew Haven Commandery : and has reached 
the thirtv-second degree, and holds membership in 
Pyramid' Temple, Mystic Shrine. He also belongs' 
to the Roval .\rcanum, the Knights of Honor, the 
Royal Society of Good Fellows, and the Chaiuber 
of Commerce of New Haven. Mr. .\ndrew is one 



!vS 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of tlie proniiiiein members of Dwight Place Church, 
ami fur over tifieeii xears served as a member of 
ihe society committee, being excused from further 
service as such at his own re(jue.>t. While a mem- 
ber of that cummittee, he acted on two occasions as 
chairman uf the building committees that caused 
to be built the Sabbath-school room, made other im- 
l)rovenients that greatly enlarged the auditoriimi, 
saw to the putting in of new scats, the lowering 
uf the main lloor of the edifice and other improve- 
ments. 

.Mr. -Andrew has been successfitl, and has risen 
to his position among the substantial residents of 
the city entirely through his own efforts. His life, 
while successful, has had its tips and downs, its re- 
\crses as well as its successes. He has gone stead- 
ily forward, and his standing in his city today has 
come after years of straightforward business deal- 
ing. As a business man he is considered one of 
tile safe, shrewd and careful kind, being able to 
see readily the value of an enterprise. 

The tirst marriage of Mr. Andrew, which was 
celebrated .May 17, i86(), was to Miss Julia Cutler, 
a tlaugliter of Joseph Cutler. Her death occurred 
l-"eb. II. 1888. The following children were born 
to this marriage: Clarence C. ; Harry L. and Louis 
(twins), the latter deceased; Alfred, deceased; and 
Frank 1. The second marriage of Mr. .Andrew, in 
1891, was to Miss Clara Lanison, of Beverly, Mass., 
and the children of this union are: Ruth, Esther 
and Helen. .Mr. .Andrew is a genial, companion- 
able man, the soul of generosity and hospitality, 
and conscc-uently is popular with all classes, and 
has beon deservedly successful. He ranks very high 
in the esteem of both his business and social 
associates. 

\\\l.l-..\Ti.\l', r,()llL. one of the mcM sub- 
stantial and respected business men of Waterburw 
whose methods in trade are ^characterized by hon- 
esty and integrity, and whose jiersonal reinuatmi] 
is of the l>est, was born in the town of l\osclil)ach, 
Rhenish- 1 lavaria. Cerman}-, Feb. 28. 1847. 

\'alentine llivhl. his lather, was bdrn Jan. 2J. 
1S20. at liurrwciler. in the same ]jrovince, sou of 
Jacob I'.uhl. a shuemaker. am! grard.>un uf Simon 
I'.ohl. X'alentine llohl was a clerk i>\ the tuwu. a 
teacher and a nuisician, with about one himdred 
inipils under his charge. He never came to .Amer- 
ica, dying in I'.avaria in 1893. He marnedi .Anna 
Maria Seiter. who was liorn in i8ivk in the town 
of Ramberg. same iiruvince. daughter of I'hilli]) 
Seiter, who was a butcher and an innkee|)er. .Mrs. 
I'.ohl died in i8<)2. Tiie parents were Catholics ni 
religious faith. They had a family of si.K children: 
X'aleniinc, Edward. John. Simon. Anna and L'nth- 
crine. Edward died in the old country about 1897; 
as ].)rinci])al oi a large normal school he had at- 
tair.ed eminence. John is a teacher in the higli 
sdioul at Ludwigshafen. I'.avaria. Simon is a 
biucher in W'aterburv. Conn. Aima married a .Mr. 



Hall, who is a. teacher at Ludwigshafen. Catherine 
married lohn Bruch, a teacher, who succeeded to 
ihe ]ilace left vacant l.)y the retirement of \'alentine 
Bohl, Sr. 

Naleiuine Bohl spent the first fourteen years of 
his life in Germany, and came to this country in 
1 86 1, in company w^ith an uncle who was engaged 
in the Inuchcr business in the city of New York. 
With him young A'alentiiie spent seven years, and 
learnt\l the business thoroughly. In i869-J\Ir. Bohl 
came to Walerbury, w4iere he opened a shop to 
engage in his trade. From December, 1869, to Feb. 
I, 1888, he carried on. a retail meat business, and 
had a patronage that steadily increased under his 
management. In February, 1888, he disposed of 
his retail meat interests and opened a wholesale 
r.iarkct for all kinds of fresh and prepared meats — 
his business at the present time. Success has at- 
tended his efforts to a remarkable degree. In 1893 
he put up a very valuable block, one of the best 
in the citv, which he sold in 1898. Mr. Bohl is 
doing well, and all w-ho appreciate thrift and honest 
iiulListry will be interested in the story of his suc- 
cessful career. 

In 1873 \"aientinc Bohl married Emma Draher, 
who was liorn in Waterbury, daughter of John 
L)raher, a native of Germany. She died in 1882, 
the nKjther of live children, of whom the only one 
nov,- living ;s .Amelia. Mr. Boh'I has not remar- 
ried. Politically he is a Democrat, and socially he 
is a meml.ier of Townsend Lodge, I. O. O. F., the 
Concordia Si.iging Society and other German as- 
sociations and takes much pride and satisfaction 
in preserving the old German songs and social 
pleasures. Irie attends the Episcopal Church. 

P.ATRICK J(JH.\ QUIGLEY, superintendent 
of the Hubbard. Brookside, and City Parks, is one of 
the Silver City's well-known Irish- Americans. He 
was born in the town of Orange, New Haven Co., 
Conn., Alarch 27, 1842. 

His father, Patrick Ouigley, was a native of 
Kilkemiy, Ireland, where, at one time, well-to-do 
farmers and land owners made up the family, the 
patrimony being later reduced by investments in 
fast horses and kindred unprofitable speculations. 
Patrick Quigley could not find prospects of suf- 
ficient brightness at home, so left for the new 
world, and after a long passage in a sailing vessel 
landed in New York. Coming to Derby, Conn., 
he found employment with "Uncle" John B. Davis, 
at eight dollars a month, and remained at it for a 
year and a half. He was the- first Irishman in 
Derby, and as there was then no Catholic Church 
there, he had to go to New Haven to attend mass. 
This he did regularly every Sunday for the first 
ten months of his residence in Derby, having been 
brought up strictly in the tenets and faith of the 
Church of his fathers. After saving $150, he went 
to the town of Orange, Conn., where he invested in 
a small tract of land, and engaged in farming and 





/^^,a^-ti^i^. 



't--£^tC'^ 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



359 



timbering. He contracted for ship timber, which 
was shipped to Xew York on scows from Derby, 
and he also engaged in furnishing telegraph poles. 
He thus furnished the poles for the lirst telegraph 
line between New Haven and Derby, as well as the 
tall poles used to string the wires over the elm trees 
at the New Haven Green. While unloading poles 
he met with an injury to his back which laid him up 
for a considerable time, and his troubles were 
further increased by a cold, caught while engaged 
in cleaning out a well. These combined disasters 
resulted in his death in 1855, and he found a last 
resting place in Birmingham. He was a W hig, an 
anti-slavery man, and a devoted member ot the 
Catholic Church. Through the agency of Francis 
Donnelly he furnished for Fair Haven 300 maple 
trees which still stand to shade and beautify the 
streets of the town. His wife, who was formerly 
Catharine Deleaney, a native of County yueens, , 
Ireland, died in Ansonia in 1870, and is buried be- 
side her husband, whom she resembled as a con- i 
sistent Catholic, and to whom she bore ten children : } 
(^ij James, a bugler and later lieutenant in the j 
Civil war, now dead; {j) i'atrick J., subject of this 
sketch; (3j William, a well-known citizen of Water- 
bury; {4) Catharine, deceased, wife of Eugene 
Flannigan; (5) Alice; {t) Edward, both dead; 
and four others, all of whom died young. 

Patrick J . Quigley was still very young when he 
lost his father, and he is a self-educated man, owing 
to the fact that when nine years of age he was ob- 
liged to face the problem of self support. Later, 
when he grew to know the value of education, he 
spent his leisure in well directed study and has thus 
become a well informed man. His first work, in 
the cotton mill of jMr. Perkins in the tovvn of 
Orange, and which netted him fifty cents a week, 
was so well performed that he was soon able to earn 
fifty cents a day. After a service of two years in 
the mill he went to work for A. H. & C. B. Ailing, 
manufacturers of woolen goods in Orange, and 
later, in Birmingham, Conn., held the position of 
assistant foreman until the breaking out of the 
Civil war. Thereupon he enlisted in Orange as a 
member of Company E, 15th Conn. V. L, under Col. 
Dexter R. Wright and Captain George ^l. White, 
with whom he served for three years, participating 
in the battles of Fredericksburg, Kinston, Suitolk 
and others. He was the first citizen of Orange to 
enlist, and he not only faithfully performed the 
regular service of his regiment, but frequently vol- 
unteered for reconnoissance and other hazardous 
responsibility. At the battle of- Kinston, he re- 
ceived a bullet wound, but was fortunate in being 
one out of a hundred to escape capture by the en- 
emy. At the time he was a corporal, and after the 
parole of the regiment, he was placed in the color 
guard, and there remained for the rest of the 
service. He attended the Grand Review at Wash- 
ington under Gen. Casey, and was mustered out at 
New Haven. Returning home, he spent a year 



with his mother on the farm, and then went to An- 
sonia, where he continued as clerk in a store until 
after his mother's death. 

In 1870 Mr. Quigley came 10 Meriden and ob- 
tained a position with the Wilco.x Silver Plate Co., 
and for nine years was employed as contractor on 
special work. Resigning this position, he went w^est 
and located in Kansas, where he remained some 
months, but, preferring the East, returned, and 
again entered the Wilcox Silver Plate factory, re- 
maining for two years. During this period he be- 
came interested in a new system of disinfecting 
cesspools, etc., and after resigning his position with 
the silver plate company, introduced this system in 
Meriden. He was engaged also in paving and 
other contract work on the highways, and in 1896 
sold out his business to -Mr. Edward H. Higgin- 
son. since which time he has been engaged in park 
j work. 

When Mr. Hubbard wished to lay out the park 
I which bears his name, ^Ir. Quigley was appointed 
I to superintend the work, and so faithfully and well 
i was his task performed, that in the estimation of 
the people of Meriden, he shares with Mv. Hubbard 
the credit of having produced one of the cky's finest 
and most beneficent pleasure grounds. Tlie pretty 
artificial lakes and beautiful driveways, the tower, 
36 feet high, and the rustic seats, were all created 
under Mr. Quigley"s supervision. In addition to 
Hubbard park, he "superintended the laying out of 
Brookside park, and he is (at present) superintend- 
ent of the City park. As indicated in his work, 
Mr. Quigley is"a man of artistic tastes, and his con- 
scientious devotion to the best interests of those 
who rely upon him insures a continuation of the suc- 
cess so richly deserved. 

Mr. Ouigley was married by Father Russell, 
in Meriden, Aug. 31, 1874, to Elizabeth Greer, born 
in Meriden, a daughter of George and Margaret 
(Moran) Greer, natives of Ireland. The former, 
of Scotch descent, died in Meriden. The latter, 
who is living here with her daughter, is a wo- 
man of fine character, and a member of tlie Cath- 
olic Church. Mrs. Quigley, who is a cultured wo- 
man of pleasing manners, is a devoted wife and 
mother, and presides over the finest home on Ken- 
sington avenue with well-known hospitality. Of 
enviable ancestry, she is a direct descendant of 
King Gregory, of Scotland. Her paternal grand- 
father, Abraham, was a well-to-do farmer of Sligo, 
Ireland, whither he removed from Scotland about 
1815, and where he spent the remainder of his life. 
His wife, Margaret ( Strudgeon i Greer, belonged 
to a wealthy mercantile family of the vicinity of 
Sligo, and she became the mother of two daughters 
and one son, the latter of whom was born in 1817, 
and died in .Meriden, in 1884. This son, who mar- 
lied against parental wishes, was disinherited in 
consequence, and thereafter went to England. In 
1849 he came to America, and after spending a 
year in Massachusetts, located in West ^leriden, 



^6o 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



where for several }ears he was employed as steward 
on ihe Alvah Merriam estate. While holdiiif; this 
position, he bought a farm of nine acres on North 
Broad street, and in i86y increa.sed his possessions 
by the purchase of 250 acres on the \\'e^ttield road, 
Kast iMeriden. Here he spent the remainder of 
his life. Although opposed 10 slavery, and an 
ardent Republican, he never look an active interest 
in politics, preferring in later life to devote his 
energies entirely to agriculture. The wife for whom 
he had sacrificed Iiis heritage died in 1839, and in 
Liverpool, England, he married Margaret .Moran, 
about i84(j. '1 be secund .Mr?, tireer is a daughter 
of Patrick and .Margaret (Austin) Moran, natives 
of County Oueens, Ireland. Abraham, a son of the 
first marriage, died in Meriden at the age of nine- 
teen. Uf the second marriage there are seven chil- 
dren, viz: Klizabeth, wife of Patrick J. Ouigley: 
'Hionias : .Margaret, wife of William liurion : Jane, 
the wife of Patrick Swain ; George and .\lar\-, twins ; 
and Sarah, wife of llenrv .Monaban. All live in 
.Meriden except the third, who resides in I'.ridge- 
port. The father was an Episcoi.ndian. 

Air. and -Mrs. Ouigley and their three children 
are members of .St. Jose])h's Catholic Church. Uf the 
children, (i) .Mary I'dizabetb was born in .Meriden. 
educated at St. Rose's Convent, afterward taught 
nuisic, and is now the wife of Harry S. Bradfonl, 
of .Meriden; (2) Josephine, educated at St. Rose's 
school and graduated from .Meriden High school, is 
a young lady of musical and general talent : 13) 
and Kittie A., also educated at St. Rose's school and 
graduated in lyoo from .Meriden lli^b school, is 
equally versatile. 

Mr. (Juigley is a member of Merriam Post 
No. 8, G. A. R., of Silver City Lodge, .\o. 3, A. 
O. U. W., and a charter member of the -Vmaranth 
Club. In politics he is a Republican, and during 
the war was a strong anti-slavery man. He was 
twice elected to the council froin the b'ifth ward, 
and served on the Street, Health, and Water com- 
mittees. 

_ CH. \RL1-;S JnliX I ILIXj.-.MA.V tdeceasol). 
lor many years i,ne of the leading German-. \mer- 
ican citizen^ .:)' .Meriden, was born lj<-e. IJ, i84_'. 
at Wolfhageii. in Hesseii-Cassel, (lermanv. 11 is fa- 
ther, John Heiiieman, was born in the same place 
and acquired the art ,.1 making fme shoes. There 
he married .Amelia Ritter. who h-.re him three chil- 
dren, of whom the subject of this sketch was the 
eldest. Henrietta, the second, died when vomm. 
The youngest, John Conrad, makes his h.nne ni 
I'.rooklyn, .\". ^■. j le married ( first ) Sarah Holmes, 
and (second) Jane, widow of William Wheeler, 
and sister of his tirst wile. John lleineman. Sr.! 
brought his wife and young children to .\nierica,' 
arriving in .\ew ^'ork Jan. 22. 1845. and workeci 
at his trade in .\ew \'ork until obliged bv ill health 
to give it up. .\fter spending a short time at Sa- 
vannah, (ia.. in the hoi)e of restoring his strength. 



he returned to New York, where he died and was 
burieil. He was a ntember of the Moravian Chtirch. 
His widow married Moritz Kramer, a native of 
(iermaiu-, with whom she came to Meriden. .She 
died .\ug. 2. iJ^77. while on a visit to her son in 
MniiiklMi. and \\;is luiried in Greenwood cemetery, 
in that citw .Mr. Kramer died .\pril 14, 1901, and 
was Imried in Walnut tjrove cemetery. The first 
two of his seven children — Minnie and .Augusta — • 
died in chiklhdod. Herman, who married Louise 
.Martin, resides in Ak'riden. Pauline is the widow 
of William Prownlee, who died in .\'ew Bedford, 
.Mass. Ethvard, who married Alary W'ickham, re- 
sides in Meriden. Emily and Minnie, both of whom 
are unmarried, reside in Meriden. 

Charles J. Heineman came to .America with his 
[larents, and remained in New York until fifteen 
\ears of age, attending the schools of that city. He 
then went to Wallingford, Conn., where he learned 
the art of chasing and engraving with .August Gang- 
lolf. wild was engaged in Britannia manufacturing. 
When that business was moved to Meriden, and 
conducted by I. C. Lewis and others, Mr. Heineman 
came to Meriden and worked in the Britannia fac- 
tory, at his trade, several years. .After spending 
two years in the same line in Brooklyn, N. Y., he 
returned to Meriden and entered the factory of the 
Wilco.x Silver Plate Co., as engraver, continuing 
with them until ii;oo. when ill health compelled hint 
to abandon active labor. (.)n the retirement of 
Mr. Fasy, as foreman of the engraving depart- 
ment. Mr. Heineman took his place, wdiich he con- 
tinued to fill with conspicuous ability and success - 
as long as he was able to work. .After years of 
battling with disease he passed away, at his home 
on Hohart street, (")ct. 12, 1901, and was buried in 
the East cemetery. The following notice of his 
funeral is copied from the Alcriden Journal of Oct. 
15, 1901 : 

'I'lio most largely attended funeral that Meriden has 
had in several years was that of Charles J. Heineman, 
which took place this afternoon from the house, 156 Hobart 
street. Hy i o'clock the friends of the deceased began to 
.■issemhle at the house, and at I 130 o'clock, half an hour 
before the time set for the funeral, the house \va.s filled 
with sympathizing friends and a large number who could 
not find room in the hou.se were on the lawn in front. 

.About I :45 the members of the Meriden fire depart- 
ment, who had met at the I'ratt street headquarters, and 
llie Turners, who had met at their hall across the street, 
marched in a body to the house, increasing the number by 
about 130. Chief 1'. L. Cowing and .Assistant Chief W. 
IJ. Seery were at the head of the liremeii and President 
I'red Weber led the Turners. 

During the noon hour the employes of Factory N, I. 
S. Co., visited the- bouse in a body to view the remains of 
their fellow workman. 

The remains reposed in a handsome black broad- 
cloth covered casket in the front parlor, and one by one 
friends pa-sed by to lake a Ian look at the departed, who 
had ever been well liked and respected l)v all who knew 
him. 

Tile Eiiiscopal funeral service was read bv Rev. .A. 
T. Randall shortly after 2 o'clock, and as he finished the 
impressive ceremony the Turner Liedertafel sang in Ger- 
man ■■Kuhig Schlaeft der Saenger" (Sweetlv Sleeps the 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



361 



identified with ^[eridian Lodire, Xt 



A. V. & A. 



Singer). The singing was followed by prayer by Rev. 
Mr. Randall, and then Charles Meyer, representing the 
Turner Society, delivered a touching eulogy upon the life 
of the dead member. He spoke in highest praise of the 
many good qualities of Mr. Hcinemati. 

.■\t the conclusion of Mr. Meyer's remarks Joseph Geld- 
niacher, of Brooklyn, a nephew of the deCeascH, sang in 
a deep baritone voice "That Beautiful Land on High.." 

The fire department headed the procession, which 
included every public hack in town, as well as a large 
number of private carriages. The Turners followed the 
hearse, the bearers walking on either side. The liearers 
were: L. H. Sntterlin and D. T. Lyon, from the N'olun- 
teer Hose Company: Joseph Heck, from Montowese Tribe. 
T. O. R. M. : Herman Weber, from the Turner Society: 
William Dickinson, from Court Meriden. F. of .\.. and 
Matthew Beatty, from Factory X, Shop .\\i\ .'-^ocietv. 

The flower bearers were: .Albert Patzke. from Silver 
City Lodge, A. O. U. W., and Wilton .X. Tavlor, from 
Electric Lodge, N. E. O. P. 

At the grave in the family lot in the Ka^t cemetery 
the committal service was read by Rev. Mr. Randall and 
the Liedertafel sang "Rest in I'eace." 

As the funeral procession started, shortly after 3 
o'clock, the fire alarm bells began to toll. Superintendent 
Buckley sending in fifty-nine strokes, one for each year of 
life of the deceased. 

The room in which the body reposed at the house 
was hardly large enough to hold all the floral tributes 
sent to the funeral and the casket was covered with a rare 
assortment of beautiful flowers. 

Mr. Heinenian was active in public ;ittairs, and 
was a stanch Republican in political jirinciple. He 
was elected a member oi the city council, repre- 
sentino; the Fifth ward, in 181/), and was later 
elected and served as alderman of the same ward, 
being chaimian of several imjjortant committees. 
On account of his keen .anil intelligent interest in 
city matters he was apjjointed by Mayors Ives and 
West (Democrats) on the I'.oard of .Apportionment, 
and held that position up to his death. He felt 
a warm interest in the fire department, having been 
one of the charter members of \"olunteer Hose 
Company No. 5, and in Jaiitiary. kjoi, the com- 
pany unanimously elected liiiu captain, out of re- 
gard for his long and faithful service, an honor 
which he fully ajipreciated. Mr. Heineman was 
baptized in youth m the Moravian Church, in 
Brooklvn, and alwa\s endeavored to live up to the j 
highest moral standards. He was a true husband 
and father, and won the resi)ectful regard of all 
classes of the coninuinitv. He was at one lime 



M.: was past sachem of Moniowese Tribe. I. O. 
R. M., of which he was a charter luember; and 
was also affiliated with Electric Lodge, X. E. (). P., 
an<l Cotirt Meriden, F. (). .\. He was a charter 
member of the Cosmopolitan Club and a member 
of the Iviton Guards and Meriden Tm-nverein. 
Cherishing a warm interest in the Cerman Amer- 
ican School, of which he was one of the organizers, 
he served on its official board several years. 

Mr. Heineman was married in Meriden, Jan. 
15. 1S68, to Miss Ida Louise TLanimarth, daughter 
of James and Janet (Delvie) Hammarth, botli na- 1 
fives of Hessen-Cassel, Germanv, of b^rench de- 1 



scent. Thev brought their family to Wallingford, 
Conn., where the father was employed as engraver 
and diesinker, and where he died, llis widow still 
resides there, aged eighty-three years. Mr. and 
Mrs. Heineman were blessed with four children, 
namely: Charles J., I-"aimie .\.. .Amy L. and Cen- 
tennial Ri bert. The second died in childhood. Tlie 
third married Charles Herry, of Meriden. C. Rob- 
ert is employed in the music department of the 
Aeolian Co., of Meriden. Mrs. Heineiuan is an at- 
tendant of the Center Consj-regational Church, and 
for over thirty \ears has been a member of Meri- 
dian Chajiter, Xu. 8. ( ). E. S. : she is alx) identified 
with the N. V.. ( ). 1'., the Ladies' Turnverein, of 
Meriden, and is shephenless of Star of Welcome 
Lodge, Sons of L'lethleheni. 

Cn.vKr.KS J. Ili:iNKMA\. Jr., was born Aug. 24, 
1868. in Meriden, and was educated in the dis- 
trict and (_ierman-.\merican schools. He learned 
the art of engraving under his father's instruction, 
and now holds the latter's position of foreman with 
the Wilcox Silver Plate Co. He was for some 
time connected with the sewer de])artment of the 
city of Meriden, in the capacity of timekeeper. He 
attends the Congregational Church, and politically 
is a supporter of Republican principles. Socially he 
is a member of the Meriden Cycle Club, the b'or- 
esters of America, Silver I'ity Lodge, Xo. 3, .\. O. 
U. \\'., and the Meriden I'urn.verein, of wliich lat- 
ter he is financial secretary. Lor twelve _\ears he 
has lieen a meml.ier of the city fire department, 

SAGE. The Sage family, of which Mrs. Adele 
De Ette (Sage) Booth, one of ^^leriden's well- 
known educators, is a descendant, is one of the old- 
est families of Middlesex county. Conn, The name 
is first found in English history upon the Roll of 
Battle Abbey (1066) made by William the Con- 
queror after the battle of Hastings, when he divided 
tlie English lands among his principal followers. 
All of the Sages in England, Scotland and Wales 
belong to the line founded at that time, as do also a 
few found in Ireland, where the name was intro- 
duced by the English conquerors. There are three 
coats of arms belonging to the Sage family. The 
one granted by William the Conqueror would seem, 
by the wreath of grain, fruit and flowers which stu"- 
rounds it, to indicate a people devoted to agricul- 
tural pursuits. The motto, Noii Sibi (not for our- 
selves) is deserved by most members of the num- 
erous Sage family, especially Elisha L. Sage, of 
Cromwell, Conn., com])iler of the Sage Record, 
1878. 

David Sage, the first of the name in America, 
was a native of Wales, born in ifj.V). and came to 
this country about 1652, being one of the first 
settlers in Aliddletown, Coiui, There he spent the 
remainder of his days, died in March, 1703. and 
was buried in tJie Riverside cemetery, Middletown. 
The stone marking his grave is still standing. He 
took a deep interest in the settleiuent and develop- 



362 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



mcnt oi .Miildletown, and his descendants have held 
positions of prominence in their different callings, 
as edncators, financiers, philanthropists and profes- 
sional men. Among them we may mention Hon. 
Russell Sage, of New York, and Henry W. Sage, 
of Brooklyn, famous linanciers and philanthropists. 

David Sage married, in February, 1664, Eliza- 
beth Kirby, born Sept. 18, 1O45, daughter of John 
Kirby. After her death .Mr. Sage married (sec- 
ond) -Mary Wilco.x. The children of his first mar- 
riage were: David, born in 1O65 ; John, 1668; 
Elizabeth, 1O70; -Mary, ibyj. The children of his 
second marriage were: Jonathan, born in 1674; 
Timothv, 1078; and Nathaniel and March (twins J, 
1680. 

Tiniuthy Sage, son of David and ^Mary (Wil- 
coxj Sage, was born in -Middletown in 1678. He 
located in what is now the town of Cromwell, where 
he spent his life, and died in 1725, being buried 
in the old cemetery at Cromwell ; the stone wdiich 
marks his last resting place is still to be seen. He 
married .Margaret Holibiet, and to this union seven 
children were born: Samuel, in 1709; .Mercy, 1712; 
Timothy, 1714; -Mary, 171O; David, 1718; Solomon, 
1720; -Amos, 1722. 

Solomon Sage, son of Timothy, was born u; 
Cromwell in 1720, and married Hannah Kirby. 
He spent his life in Cromwell, where he died in 
1794, and was buried in the cemetery in that town. 
Solomon Sage was a deacon in the church, in which 
he took a deep interest, and was a man of high 
standing in the community. His children were as 
follows: Samuel, born in 1746, married Elinor 
Edwards; Seth, born in 1746, was a minister, and 
married Pha'be Wilco.x; Chloe was born in 1749; 
Stephen, in 1752; J^lattie, in 1755; Millie, in 1751; 
Simeon, in 1759; Solomon, in 1762; Hannah, in 
1764; Mercy, in 1768. 

Solomon Sage, sun of Deacon Solomon, was 
born in Cromwell in 17C2, and married .Ynn Will- 
iams. They had eight childyen : Eben was born 
in 1790; Ro.xy, 1791 ; Ann, 1792; Ezra, 1796; Emily^ 
1798; Laura, 1799; Solomon, 1802; Luther W., 
1803. 

Ezra Sage, son of Solomon, and grandfather of 
^Irs. l.iooth, was born in 171/) in Crtimwell, where 
he spent his life. He married Batlisheba M. Wil- 
cox, of Cromwell, and to their union came nine 
children, namely; .Anna M., born in 1819; Henry 
M., 1821 ; Eliza E., 1823; Bathsheba, 1826; Ezra 
S. and .Marion (twins), 1829; I'.dward W., 1832; 
Frederick B., 1834; John N., 1837. By his second 
wife, Enmieline Belden, there were three children: 
Emma L. was born in 1848; Ella F., 1849; .\lbert 
P., 1851. 

Henry r^IcCall Sage was born in 182 1, in the 
town of Cromwell, and there resided until his fa- 
ther's second marriage, in 1847, when he engaged in 
farming. He then removed to Meriden. where he 
established a good business as a dealer in beef and 
provisions, and was widely known and respected. 



He married and afterwards moved to Rocky Hill, 
Conn., where he resumed farming until the call was 
issued' for volunteers for the Civil war. He was one 
of the first to respond, and served his country until 
the close of the war as a member of Company A, 
16th Regt. C. \". -\fter the close of the war he re- 
turned to Rocky Hill, Hartford Co., Conn., where he 
lived until the 'death of his wife, in 1889. At that 
■time he went to live with Mrs. Booth, and remained 
with her until his death, which occurred March 9, 
1892. He was buried in West cemetery, Meriden. 
During his long and useful life he lived up to the 
teachings of the Golden Rule, as embodied in the 
tenets of the Congregational Church, which he at- 
tended from early childhood. 

On March 5. 1848, Mr. Sage married Julia .-^nn 
I'arker, in Southington, Conn. She was born in 
Uneida county, X. Y., Aug. 8, 1830, and was one 
of the eleven children of James A. and Maria (Ives) 
Parker. Her grandfather, Ichabod Ives, served in 
the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Sage's death occurred 
JMay 14, 1889, and she was buried in West ceme- 
tery, Meriden. She was a member of the Con- 
gregational Church of Rocky Hill. One child was 
born to these parents, Adele De Ette, who married 
Eli Birdsey Booth, sixth child of Capt. Henry Davis 
and Eliza Ann (Curtis) Booth, of Meriden. Three 
children were born to Mr. and Airs. Booth : Paul 
Curtis, who is mentioned below ; Elizabeth Parker, 
born F>b. 3, 1876, who died Aug. 6, 1878; and 
Robert Henry Sage, born June 3, 1889. 

Mrs. Booth was born Nov. 12, 1849, in Meriden, 
Conn., and removed with her parents to Rocky 
Hill, Hartford county, in 1856. She was but thir- 
teen years old when she entered the Rocky Hill 
Academy, from wdiich she graduated after a three 
years' course, and received a thorough training 
under some of the best teachers in Connecticut. In 
18O5 she came to .Meriden, and for the past thirty- 
seven years has been devoted to the educational in- 
terests of young and old, in the public and private 
schools of that city. She is one of the best-known 
educators in the State. Many of the best-known 
men and women of the locality have been her pupils, 
and have afterward filled positions of trust and 
responsibility both in Meriden and elsewhere. As 
has been written of her by Rev. J. T. Pettee, acting 
school visitor for thirteen years, in the Meriden 
Daily Journal souvenir: "Mrs. .'\dele Sage Booth's 
career in the educational interests of Meriden is a 
conspicuous example of a high position won and held 
by a woman of much energy. In the ranks of edu- 
cation she stands among the leaders, the place hav- 
ing been universally accorded her by reason of suc- 
cess achieved by her in private and public schools. 

"Meriden was her birthplace and where she re- 
ceived her early education until removal of her 
parents to Rocky Hill, Conn. There she entered 
the academy in her thirteenth year. Her teaching 
ability was recognized by her teacher who encour- 
aged her to make it a profession. .After a thorough 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



563 



training b}- one of ihe best teachers in Connecticut, 
she began to teach in the pubUc scliools of -Meriden, 
in her sixteenth year, 18O5. 

"The occupation proved very congenial to her 
tastes and has been iier hfe work, in connection 
witli her home cares and the training of her two 
sons, one of whom, Paul Curtis Booth, has proved 
a valuable assistant for his mother, as he is familiar 
witli her methods, as well as giftetl, like herself, 
frum the Sage family, many of whom have been 
professors ot distinction in the Middle, Western 
and Xew England Staie.-. Being a teacl'.er liorn 
and not made, she carries her pupils, bv her own 
enthusiasm, through the most difficult lessons. 

Her methods are peculiarly lier own, and, if 
used by a person with less force of character or 
without tile singular talent possessed by Mrs. Booth, 
might result in failure, but with her exceptional 
faculty for imparting information, the most obtuse 
pupil has been able to learn easily. 

"For many years she was at the head of her 
profession as a public school teacher, and refers 
with pride to some of the best of 2^1eriden's citizens, 
who were her pupils and have sent her their chil- 
dren. 

"She recognized, early in her profession, that the 
combination of dullness and diffidence in a pupil 
was not likely to be treated with a great degree of 
patience by the average teacher in our crowiled pub- 
, lie schools. She, therefore, opened a private school 
(.the Booth School, 54 Olive street), in which her 
plans have met with the most cordial approval and 
extensive patronage from this and adjoining towns. 
Her classes have been filled by those desirous of en- 
tering high, normal and business schools, as well as 
by younger pupils who have been in delicate health 
or wish to enter higher classes by a course of es- 
pecial instruction. 

"Mrs. Booth has ever been interested in the 
working classes and has done a great deal to elevate 
them, especially foreigners, who cannot speak or 
read English. Some of her most satisfactory work, 
ill her own mind, has been done in the Connecticut 
.School for Boys, under the able superintendence of 
Mr. and Mrs. George E. Howe. She also taught 
in their private schools for boys, Milford, Conn. 
She established an educational department in the 
Boys' Club in 1890, which was one of its beneficial 
features ; also had supervision of the Y. W. C. A. 
classes, 1892-93. 

'"When, in 1893, the State legislature passed a 
compulsory evening school law, she was selected 
to conduct it in city hall. One of the especial 
dreams of her many years bade fair to be realized, 
and the working people were benefited thereby with- 
out expense. Under her administration, with the 
assistance of her son, and many of her private 
scholars, the evening school was a marked success, 
and ]Mrs. Booth was highly commended b\^the board 
of education, and her services engaged for the en- 
suing year. Mrs. Booth's building adjoining her 



private school has been remodeled under her super- 
vision and hired and furnished by the town for a 
free evening school, upon an entirely dillerent plan 
from those which had been less successful in 
previous year^. Airs. Booth and son mean to keej> 
the pro.-pects improving for the future educational 
privileges of the working people, as well as for 
thoie who may patronize her private school. She 
is as much in earnest with free scholars as those 
paid for, and means to make Aleriden's Free Even- 
ing School aiul the Booth Private School institti- 
tions which Meriden may be pleased to sustain. 
Both these schools are commendable institutions and 
tile branches taught are of broad scope, pupils of 
all ages being taken by Airs. Booth and prepared 
for business or professions." 

The night school mentioned in the foregoing was 
in charge of Mrs. Booth and son for si.x years. Her 
attention is now given to private tutoring. She is 
a woman of high moral culture and attainment; 
has devoted her life to her school and family, and 
is popular with all classes. In character, she is a 
lady of ability and sterling worth, and her varied 
experiences have made her broad-minded and lib- 
eral. In her religious ideas she is a member of St. 

I Andrew's Episcopal Church, of Aleriden. 

P.JiUL CuRTJs Booth, the eldest son of Mrs. 
Adele (Sage) Booth, was born in Aleriden Nov. 5, 

j 1872, and received his early education under his 
mother and in the public schools of Aleriden. Later 
he spent two years at Storrs Agricultural College, 
and returning, was his mother's able assistant for 
seven years, in her private school and the Aleriden 

! Free Evening School. He inherits his mother's 
wonderful faculty for imparting knowledge, her 

' love of study, and has a frank, pleasant manner 
and courteous way which wins many friends for 
him. He was made instructor in the Connecticut 
School for Boys under George E. Howe, superin- 
tendent, and in 1899 was appointed supervisor of 
the North Division of that institution, under the 
present superintendent. Air. Williams. For seven 
years Air. Booth has faithfully discharged the 
duties of his responsible position, having under his 
charge one hundred boys, in whom he takes a deep 
interest. His intelligent handling of his charges, 
and thorough knowledge of his work, as well as 
his pleasant, genial manner, have won for him the 
hearty commendation and co-operation of superin- 
tendent and staff, and, being a young man of 
studious habits and excellent education, he is well 
posted on current events as well as in ail branches 
of study, and is well and favorably known through- 
out the communitv. Fraternally he is a member of 
the O. U. A. AI. 'and the N. E. O. P. at Aleriden, 
and is also a member of the Home Club. 

Robert Henry Sage Booth, the last child of 
Eli B. and .Adele ( Sage) Booth, is seventeen years 
younger than his brother. Paul Curtis Booth, who 

; is much interested in his training and education. 

! He is studying in the Aleriden public schools, and 



364 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



bids fair to achieve success in wliaievcr he may un- 
dertake. 

It has been very difficult to ascertain much con- 
cerninsj the ancestry of Capt. Henry Davis Booth, 
of IMe'riden ((grandfather of Paul Curtis Booth and 
Rol)erl Henry Sage Booth, sons of \-A\ !',. and Adele 
(Sag-c) Booth I. as only one sister. Mrs. Joseph 
Becicet, of .Meriden, survived him. I'lhenezer Booth, 
their fallier. is supposed to have been a descendant 
of Richard Booth, of .Stratford, said to have been 
born in luigland in 1607, which seems probable, as 
the name of I-Ihenezer was given to -even children 
between the years 165 1 and 1802. Capt. Henry 
Davis Booth was a son of Ivbenezer and Betsey 
(Benham) I'.ooth. of Bridgeport. Conn. He fol- 
lowed the sea for over twenty years, and liad visited 
manv foreign countries. During the latter part oi 
his iile he lived upon his farm in East Aleriden. 
On Aug. 2i>, 1831, in -Meriden, he married Eliza 
Ann Curtis, who was a luember of one of the most 
respected families in that city, being a daughter of 
Sanniel and Polly (Andrews) Curtis, of Meriden. 
and they had seven children, twelve grandchildren, 
and twelve great-grandchildren. The record of 
their children is as follows: Elizabeth Benedict 
Booth, born in Meriden Aug. 25, 1832, died in Mer- 
iden b'eb. 8. 1872: \\'illiam Henry Booth, born in 
Meriden Ck't. 2. 1834; Mary Pier]50nt Booth, born 
in Philadelphia March 17. 1837: .-\nn Eliza Booth, 
born in .Meriden July i, 1841 : Ennua i\Iatilda Booth, 
born in Meriden Dec. 7, 1842: Eli Birdsey Booth, 
born in .Meriden July 7, 1843: John Coleman Booth, 
liorn in .Meriden Dec. 31, 1844. Capt. Henry Davis 
i5ootli, father of this family, died in Meriden iSov, 
27, 1872, and his much esteemed wife, wdio was a 
member of St. .Andrew's Episcojxd Church, died in 
Meriden April 2(), 1884. Both are buried in the 
family plot in East Meriden cemetery. 

.\h:i.S().\ .MORRIS (deceased) was horn in 
Milton, Liichtield Co., Conn,, Inly 21, 1831, a son 
01 .Arville .Morris, and a grandson of .\sa Morris, 
the latter a native of Woodbridge, where he fol- 
lowe<i farming and reared his famil\- of children. 

.■\rville Morris was born in Woodbridge. and 
v/hcn a young man went to the West Indies, where 
he was a merchant. Eater in life he came back to 
Xew I'.ngland. where he married Mis^ Caroline 
(-"astle. daughter of Dr. Khiel Castle, and settled on 
a farm. They had the following named children: 
Theodore, a liardware mereh.int in Te.xas. where 
he died: Caroline, deceased wife of .\ndrew Ciuild. 
of Bethlehem,: Dewitt. who died when aliout eight' 
years old: Nelson mentioned below: Eucretia. wife 
of S, A, Mun.son. of W'aterburv : Elizabeth, who 
died when eighteen vears old ; and Susan A. wife of 
Rev. J, D. Cilliland.' 

Xelson Morris spent his earlier life in Ik-thle- 
hem, and lived on the farm until he was seveiUeen. 
when he came to Waterbury to take a position as 
bookkeeper for Ransom S. Todd, a retail meat 



dealer. At the death of Mr. Todd, in 1857, Mr. 
Morris took the business, and carried it on until 
1883. when he retired. He died Jan. i. 1893. 

I )n .Mav 25, 1859, Xelson Morris married Miss 
hiveline Todd, daughter of Streat and Ruth H. 
( Welton I Todd, of W'olcott. Streat Todd was 
l-,orn in Cheshire. Conn., became a farmer and stock 
raiser, and died ( )ct. 23. i8()0. aged sixty-eight 
\i'ars. Hezekiah Todd, his father, was born in 
.\orih Haven, Conn., and was a farmer and pork 
packer. He was a son of Hezekiah Todd, who w^as 
descended from a ^'orkshire, England, emigrant, 
who located in .\ew Haven county about 1637. 
'i lioma- Welton. the father of Ruth, lived at Chest- 
niu Hill; he was a son of Stephen Welton, Twelve 
children were fiorn to Streat Todd and his wife: 
Ransom S., Jennette. Robert C, one that died in in- 
fancv, Edwin, James, \\'illis and William (twins), 
Eranklin, Eveline (Mrs. Morris). Jane, and Will- 
iam (2), all now- deceased but Franklin, who is a 
farmer in Ohio: Mrs. Morris: and Williaiu (2), 
wdio is a resident of Waterbury. 

( )ne child, Xellie, was born to Mr, and Mrs, 
Morris. In religious connection Mrs. Morris and 
her daughter are Episcopalians, as was also the be- 
loved husband and father. Mr. Morris was con- 
spicuous in Masonry, identified with Harmony 
L.iKlge. He was a generous man, and a good man, 
and though he made no display of his kindly deeds 
the world was better for his having been in it. 

HON. TILTON EDWIN DOOLITTLE, late 
of X'ew Haven, passed nearly forty years of his 
professional life there, and during that time adorned 
the legal profession of the State and county, serving 
in the public capacities of United States District 
Attorney, Speaker of the Lower House qf the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Connecticut, and State's Attorney 
for the New Haven court. He was the representa- 
tive of families in both paternal and maternal lines 

I who early came to the colony of New Haven, and 
wdio were'among the founders of both W^allingford 
and New Haven. 

Abraham Doolittle, said to have been the pro- 
genitor of all who bear the name in this country, 
was a resident of Massachusetts soon after the settle- 
ment of Salem, and removed thence to New Haven 
prior to 1642, becoming a householder there. Being 
appointed one of a committee to establish a new 
colony in Wallingford. Conn., he took up his resi- 
dence there in the year 1669, and held military rank 
among the defenders of the town during King 
Philip's war. He was often chosen as deputy to 
the General Court, from New Haven, later from 
Wallingford, and wms undoubtedly a man of repute, 
esteemed and respected by his fellow-townsmen. 
From this first American ancestor, on his father's 
side. Tilton Edwin iJoolittle. of this brief biogra])hv, 
was a descendant in the seventh generation. His 
birth occurred July 31. 1825, at Riverton, Conn., and 

I his lather, Ambrose E. Doolittle, and grandfather. 









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tc^~^iyi^-t^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



365 



iSenjaniin Doolittle, were both natives of the town 
ot Lliesliire. ilie mother of our subject \va; Ehza- 
beth i,BenhaiiiJ Doohltle, also of Cheshu-e, Conn., 
a descendant of Joseph Benhatn, who removed from 
A'ew Haven to \\alhngford in 1670. 

Tilton E. Doolittle was prepared for college at 
the Protestant Academy in Cheshire, and in 1840 
entered Trinity College, at Hartford, from which 
institution he was graduated in 1844. He then en- 
tered \ ale Law School, from which he was grad- 
uated in 1840. In August of the same year he was 
admitted to the Bar, in Middletown, Conn., within 
a few days of his twenty-tirst birthda\-. Establish- 
ing himself in practice in Cheshire, he remainetl 
there until 1850, wiien he removed to .Meriden, antl 
in 1858 to \'cw Haven, which he ever after made 
his place of residence. 

In 1861 our subject entered into a law partner- 
ship with Judge Samuel L. Bronson, and was asso- 
ciated with him until 1870, four years later forming 
a new partnership, w-ith Judge Henry Stoddard. 
To this combination of legal talent, two years later, 
was admitted W illiam L. Bennett, the firm being 
styled Doolittle, Stoddard & Bennett. In 1882 Judge 
Stoddard was lost to the tirm. leaving to go upon 
the Superior Court Bench, i)ut the business asso- 
ciation of Air. Doolittle and Mr. Bennett continued 
until the death of the former, existing for more 
than twenty-five years. 

In the spruig of 1859 Air. Doolittle was ap- 
pointed United States District Attorney, by Presi- 
dent Buchanan, in the place of Judge William D. 
Shipman, who had been appointed Judge of the 
United States District Court, and our subject held 
that office until i860. In i80fa, 1867 and 1870, he 
represented Xew Haven in the Lower House of the 
Legislature, and in 1874 he was again one of the 
representatives from -New Haven, and was elected 
Speaker of the House. In 1879 'i^' ^^''^ appouueu 
State's Attorney for New Haven county, succeed- 
ing Hon. Urvilie H. Piatt, and held that office until 
January, i8y6, when, at the opening of the January 
term of the Superior Court in Xew Haven county, 
he resigned, failing health warning him that his pub- 
lic duties were too onerous. 

Eor more than a year prior to the time of his 
resignation. Air. Doolittle had been aware that the 
work of his life, if not life itself, was Hearing its 
end, and on the 21st of Alarch, i8y(), after a few 
weeks' illness, from which he seemed abnut to re- 
cover, he died suddenly, without jiain. .\t a large- 
ly attended Bar meeting called to take action upon 
Air. Doolittle's death, ex-Gov. Charles K. IngersoU, 
in ])resenting resolutions which were unanimously 
adopted, spoke substantially as follows: "T confess 
that it is very difficult for me. here in this assem- 
blage of lawyers of New Haven county, to speak of 
Tilton E. Doolittle as no longer among living men. 
He has been for so many years a living, actual 
presence in this court room, at these tables, before 
this bench, and among the busy nien who daily come 



and go through the offices and halls of this build- 
ing, that I cannot yet easily bring mvself to think 
of him in an}' other association. It seems to me 
that he must still live as our courts live, so thorough- 
ly has he been identified with them, nor can it be 
necessary for me to tell any one here who Tilton E. 
Doolittle was. His personality was so individual 
that the _\oungest lawyer ai this Bar knew him as 
he actually wa.-. He never posed for what he was 
not. He never poseil, iiuleed, for anything that 
he was. In all his ways, in all his moods, under all 
circumstances, he was simply himself, he was Doo- 
little. 1 never knew a man more content to let 
the world put its (jwn \aluation upon his worth. 
This forcefulness of character was certainly born 
with him, but it was greatly strengthened by his 
career at this Bar. He came into practice a half- 
century ago, and with the excejjtion of a few 
months, when he was (JUt ol tlie Stale, I ilo 
not think there has been a term of the Superior 
Court for this county at which he has not been 
l)resent and generally an active particijiant. Look- 
ing at that long career in all its aspects of a much 
varied and hard-working jiractice, so largely in the 
court_ room, it is not ea>y to find the parallel in 
our State, and in this practice the individuality of 
which I have spoken was conspicuous. That voice, 
even, so familiar to these walls, had its tone, char- 
acteristic of him. His methods of trial, his vigor 
of attack, his skill of defense, his promptness to use 
every weapon of the thoroughly etiuipped lawyer 
which he was, were all manifested in a manner tliat 
was his own peculiarly, and imjjressed upon everv 
one his own strong personality. He has gone 
through these fifty >-ears of professional life with all 
the burdens and heat of confiict that are inseparable 
from it, with the respect and esteem and friendship 
of his fellow members of this Bar. But it was not 
altogether in this court roum tnat these forceful 
traits of character were shown. There was a side 
of his character which those who have known him 
as long as I have, and j^articularly in these latter 
years, have had frecjucnt occasion to recognize. 
Pie had a most kindly nature, and it was quick to 
respoml to any appeal to his sympathy or friend- 
sliip. In his administration of thAt most responsible 
and important office which he has held with such 
marked ability for so many years, the State's .At- 
torneyship for this county, he is to be remembered, 
not more for the zeal and vigor with which he has 
prosecuted crime, in the courts, than for the wisdom, 
prudence, humanity and integrity with which he has 
discharged its great responsibilities outside the 
court.'' 

Ex-Gov. Henry B. Harrison, having recalled 
the names of many brilliant members of the Bar at 
the time Air. Doolittle began practice — Ralj^h 1. In- 
gersoU, Roger S. Baldwin, Dennis Kimberly. Clark 
Bissell, Plenry Dutton and .Alfred Blackmail — 
said: '■.Such a galaxy of great lawyers as had 
never been seen here Iicfore ami has never liecn 



366 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



seen since," and then proceeded with this tribute : 
"In that school our friend began his professional 
life, and under the influences which a high-minded 
and honorable set of great men and great lawyers 
would necessarily exert upon him, in that school, 
under those intluences, he got his training. The 
school and its influences would have been of no use 
to him had he not possessed, as he did, the instincts, 
the tastes, the moral character, which fitted him to 
feel the inlluences of his environment there and to 
absorb and assimilate all that was valuable in them. 
Well, in due time, these men passed away. The 
young lawyer continued his course ; 1 will not go . 
over it ; continued it, always gaining strength by 
going, until he reached that place which for many 
years has been by all of you unanimously accorded 
to him. He cared little for public life, although he 
repeatedly served the public well, for short periods 
of time, by the mandate of his fellow-citizens ; but 
the court room was his place ; he was a lawyer down 
to the quick ; he delighted in the contest, the stress 
and strain, and the struggle of forensic life in such 
a place as this. He was here the hero of many 
battles; he enjoyed the victory, always believing he 
was on the right side, never doubting that ; but 
when defeat came, why, like every manly man, he 
took it in a manly way. 

"And now he has died at last, a veteran, as 
veterans always hope to die, in the very act of lay- 
ing down his armor. Those who entered this Bar 
contemporaneously with him are few in number — 
there are, in this county, only some six or eight still 
living; but they are in the place that nobody else 
fully occupies, for they stand at the end of his car- 
eer and they are able to look back for fifty years i 
during the whole of it to its beginning, and they j 
see in that career not one act done by him, unworthy 
of a high-minded and honorable and generous man. 
They part with him in sorrow ; and so long as they 
shall live they will remember him with profound 
respect and sincere affection." 

Ex-Judge Henry Stoddard also spoke, and said 
in part: "I knew Mr. Doolittle somewhat inti- 
mately after 1 came to the Bar, and was his associate 
in business for several years. In consultation at the 
office, his knowledge of law was intuitive, grounded 
of course upon a thorough study and appreciation of 
its fundamental principles ; and even in the most in- 
tricate cases, arising but seldom in our practice, his 
unerring sagacity invariably went straight to the 
marrow of the controversy. In the trial of his 
cases he was both sagacious and bold in attack, and 
in defense prudent and wary, a most dangerous 
antagonist and a most powerful ally. In the ex- 
amination of witnesses I may say that he was with- 
out a peer, and espcciallv so in his cross-examina- 
tions." 

When a young man, in 1848, our distinguished 
subject married Mary K. Cook, who was born Dec. 
9, 1829, a daughter of John and Mary (Munson) 
Cook, the former of Cheshire, the latter of North- 



ford, and to this union were born :Sarah, who mar- 
ried Dr. Presley Carr Lane, of St. Louis, Mo. ; 
George T., M. D., now a resident of Spokane, 
Wash.; and John A., a resident of New Haven. 

Mrs. Mary K. (Cook) Doolittle is also a de- 
scendant of an early and prominent family of Con- 
necticut, being in the eighth generation from Henry 
Cook, who came from Kent, England, to Plymouth, 
Mass., before 1640, where he is supposed to have 
remained. 

Samuel Cook, a son of Henry the emigrant, 
came to New Haven in 1663. Pie (first) married 
Hope, daughter of Edward Parker, of New Haven, 
and they went to Wallingford, in April, 1670, with 
the first founders of that town. Samuel was the 
first and perhaps the only shoemaker and tanner in 
the place, frequently held public office in both town 
and church, and was regarded with respect by his 
neighl)ors. He died in 1702. 

Samuel Cook (2), son of Samuel, was born in 
1667 in New Haven, and in 1692 married Hannah 
daughter of William Ives, of New Haven. He was 
a farmer, and died in 1725. 

Samuel Cook (3), son of Samuel (2), was born 
in 1695, and in 1721 married Hannah, daughter of 
Ebenezer Lewis, of Wallingford. He became a 
wealthy shipping merchant from the port of New 
Haven, died in 1745, and was buried at Cheshire, 
where he gave generously to the church and to the 
poor. 

Col. Thaddeus Cook, son of Samuel (3), was 
l)Orii in 1728, and for his second wife married Sarah, 
daughter of the Hon. Benjamin Hall, of Cheshire. 
Col. Cook served in the war of the Revolution under 
Gen. Gates, and his townsmen gave h.m almost 
every office of trust within their gift. His death oc- 
curred in 1800. 

Samuel Cook (4), son of Col. Cook, was horn 
in 1758, and married Constant Kirtland, of Walling- 
ford, who passed away in 1893. He was a thrifty 
farmer in the west part of the town, and died in 
1824. 

John Cook, son of Samuel (4), was born ahiiut 
1801, and in 1823 married Mary Munson, of North- 
ford. The death of Mr. Cook took place in 1858. 

GEORGE LAMPING (deceased), who was 
rnic of Meriden's well-known and highly respected 
citizens, a leading druggist, was born in Nyeneen, 
Holland. Feb. 11, 1848. His father, Dr. Herman 
Lamping, a medical practitioner, died when George 
was but two years old. The son was' educated in 
his native home, and took up the study of the 
science of medicine in LTrecht, Holland, where he 
received the degree of M. D. He immediately sot 
out for the l/nited .States, intending to locate here 
in the practice of his chosen profession. The ship 
in which lie sailed came in collision with another 
vessel in the English Channel, and out of the two 
hundred and fifty persons comprising the passen- 
gers and crew only three were saved. Dr. Lamping 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



367 



remained in the water several hours, and was finallv 
picked up by an Itahan vessel bound for Xew York, 
to which port he was carried. All liis belongings 
were lost in the wreck, and he arrived at New 
York with but fifty cents in his pocket. This mis- 
fortune prevented his going West, as he had in- 
tended, anil he was obliged to seek employment at 
once in order to maintain himself. He found a po- 
sition in a drug store in New York, and subse- 
quently worked in drug stores in Brooklyn and 
Hoboken. Having a liking for the drug business, 
he entered the College of Pharmacy and secured a 
diploma, after which he became manager of one 
of the largest drug stores in the metropolis, con- 
tinuing in that capacity until 1879. 

Having saved some money. Dr. Lamping sought 
a location for business on his own account, and 
found it in New Haven, where he bought out a 
store. He conducted same three years, and after 
keeping a drug store in New Britain for a like 
period he came to Meriden, in 1886. and established 
a branch store in the Morse & Cook block, on 
East -Main street. He continued to operate both 
establishments until i8c)0, when he sold out his New 
Britain interest and gave liis entire attention to the 
Aleriden business. In 1896 he removed his store 
to the Cahill block, and continued to do a success- 
ful business until his death, which occurred April 
I, 1900. His remains rest in Walnut Grove cem- 
etery. 

Dr. Lamping was a man of broad views, and 
gave much time and freely of his means for the 
benefit of local beneficent efforts, and was ever ready 
to lend a helping hand to those in need of en- 
couragement. Among the objects of his care were 
the Young- Men's Christian Association, the Boys' 
Club and the German-American School. He served 
several years on the official board of the last named 
institution, and was ever ready to aid any work 
calculated to benefit the community at large. A fine 
linguist, lie spoke German, French and Latin, be- 
sides English and his native tongue. His genial 
nature made him a pleasant companion, and he was 
ever popular with a large element in the city. A 
member of the Turners' Society and the Amaranth 
Club, he was an active factor in the social life of 
the town. Enterprising and progressive, he aided 
in establishing business undertakings outside of, as 
well as in, his home town. He was president of 
the Goodwin & Kintz Co., of Winsted, Conn., and 
was interested in the Cardonez Mining & Milling 
Co., of Guanajara, .Mexico. In politics Dr. Lamp- 
ing was an earnest Republican, always ready to 
further the propagation of his principles. He was 
chairman of the bi:;ard of assessors of Mcriden at 
the time of his death, in which the city lost one of 
its most large-hearteil and worthy citizens. 

Tn 1885 Dr. Lamping was married, at New 
Britain, Conn., to Hedwig (Hattie) Kaunitz, who 
was born near the city of .Stettin, Germany, daugh- 
ter of Ludwig Kaumtz, a native of the same place. 



Mr. Kaunitz received a good education, having been 
trained to be a bookkeeper, and held such position 
with a shipbuilding concern near his native home. 
There he married Clementine Wolkner, who bore 
him si.x children, namely: Bertha, Margaret, I'' rank, 
Elizabeth, Hellene and Hedwig. The first named is 
tlie widow of Henry Heck, and is residing in Meri- 
tlen. The second died in Germany. I-'rank is man- 
ager for the Consumers' Oil Co., at Macon, Ga. 
I-'.lizabeth is the widow of Carl Heuer. Hellene 
married Hans von Melzardt. and after his death 
Ix'came the wife of Edward Seeling, of Austin, 
Texas. In i88j Mr. Kaunitz came with his fam- 
ily to America and located in New Britain, where 
he found employment with the Russell & Erwin 
Manufacturing Co., with whom he continued eight 
years. He died suddenly, from heart failure, July 
24, 1890, and his remains were brought to ^K'riden 
and interred in Walnut Grove cemetery. His widow 
survived him nearly three years, dying at the home 
of Mrs. Lamping, in Mcriden, June 2, 1893; she 
was buried beside her husband. She was a true 
Christian, a devoted wife and mother, and a faith- 
ful member of the Congregational Church. Mr. 
Kaunitz adhered to the teachings of the Lutheran 
Church. 

Mrs. Lamping is a lady of much ability, as well 
as culture, and continues the business established 
by her husband with the same success which char- 
acterized his efforts. She is a useful member of 
■the Lutheran Church, and highly regarded in Mcri- 
den society. 

EDWARD KILBOURN ROBERTS, M. D.. 
is one of the well-known physicians of New Haven, 
Conn., who have been prominently identified with 
the city's interests for a number of years. 

Dr. Roberts was born in Milwaukee, Wis., Nov. 
15. 1857, son of John Roberts, a native of JNIorris, 
Conn. The father married Louisa M. Coe, a na- 
tive of Litchfield, Conn., a member of one of the 
oldest families' of the State, and to Mr. and Mrs. 
Roberts were born three children : Walter C., who 
is an Episcopal clergyman in Corning, N. Y. ; Helen, 
who married John H. Fitzgerald, an Episcopal 
clergyman of Hebron, Conn. ; and Edward K., our 
subject. John Roberts, the father, was for many 
years a carpenter, builder and superintendent in a 
planing mill in New Haven. At the time of his 
death he was a superintending architect, and testi- 
monials to his ability may be seen in the Normal 
school buildings of Willimantic, New Britain and 
New Haven. In politics Mr. Roberts was a Repub- 
lican ; for many years he was one of the prominent 
members of the Church of the Ascension and St. 
Thomas' Episcopal Church : and he carefully reared 
his family in the same faith. 

At about the age of two years our subject was 
taken to New ITaven, in the family removal from 
Milwaukee to the eastern city, and passed his boy- 
hood in this beautiful place. Finishing a course in 



368 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the Shffficlcl Scientific School, he in 1878, entered 
the Medical Deparlment of Vale, graduating there- 
from in 1880, after which he went West to enter 
upon his first practice. Sellling in Minneapolis, 
Minn., he renianied there some tnne. and iheii re- 
turned to the congenial surroundings of his Con- 
necticut home, where he has remained ever since, 
building up what is generally conceded to be one 
of the most lucrative practices in the whole city. 

CJn Aug. 2y, 1880, Dr. Ruljerts married Miss 
Clara X. Ludington, of New Jlaven. a daught-^r of 
Nelson A. and Adeline (Perminj Ludington. Mrs. 
Koberts' maternal grandfather came to America 
from Denmark. Two children have come to Dr. 
and Mrs. Roberts: Clifford L.. born .May 7, 1882; 
and Edward K. Jr., born .Aug. ly, i88(). The latter 
is a student in the .\e\v Haven High School, clas's 
of 1904, and intends to enter Yale. Although an 
ardent Ke])ublican, Dr. Roberts has never accepted 
any political office. Tie is a well-known member of 
various medical and fraternal societies — the Royal 
Arcanum, of which he is the examiner ; the Forest- 
ers; the American Medical Association, and the 
State and County Medical Societies. He and his 
wife are members' of Grace Episcopal Church, and 
possess the esteem of a very large circle of social and 
professional friends. 

" ARTHL'R A, IIEMIAM is one .T the intiuen- 
tial citizens ni W e>i lUuen, thai inwn having been 
his Iiirth])lace anil the s]There of his active life. He 
was born Dec. 9, 1848. and, while he has yet scarcely 
j):issed niiildle life, the natural develo])ment of his 
innate C|ua!ities has both clialler.ged' and enforced 
respect. 

For Several generations aiiUcedent to our sub- 
ject the faniilv has resided in the same town, and 
the ancestral homestead is well-nigh a landmark. 
'J'he T.enhains arc of ICnglisli urigin, and John J'.en- 
ham, the first .\merican ancestor, sailed from 
I'lymouth, luiglaiul, in the slii^p ".Mary ami John"' 
.March 20. I'l.V-'. ;md arrived at .\antasket I'oint 
Mav 30, i^'^P- X'ext day C'apt. .Squib put them on 
shore and left them. l'>\' the aid i^f ])lainters they 
obtained a boat and went uj) the Charles river to a 
])lace called W'atertnwn. where tlie\- landed. They 
found a neck ot land al .Matta])aii and renvoved 
tht're, naming their t()wn Durchester. They had 
many cattle. JiihiTs two sniis. Ji bii and Joseph, 
I)riibal>ly came with liim. Jnhn Iknliam was one 
of tb.e first set of ■'freemen" (.if liostnn nf Ma\' 18, 
i'')3i. In i''>39 he and his sons can;e with the orig- 
inal colony of Eaton and Davenport tn New llaveii, 
lie being one of the seveiitv lieails of families that 
settled that place. To him was assigned one each 
of the four-acre house lots and si.xteen-acre out lots 
set off to tb.ose first [principal colonists. 

John I'.enham, Jr.. and bis brother Joseph took 
the oath of fidelity in 1CJ54. Jose|)h removed to 
\\'allingford in 1669 or 1670. John remained on the 
original grant. I'robably the s'i.xteen-acrc out lot 



was on ^lain street near the ])ublic square, as rec- 
ords show they owned land there and later moved 
to "llenham liill," two miles west of West Haven. 
The holdings were extensive. The first John fol- 
lowed to some e.xtent his trade of brickmaker, as 
well as agricultural ]iursuits, which pursuits his sons 
and succeed'ing generations also followed, likewise 
filling prominent and infiuential places in the com- 
munity, ilany of them filled town offices, a distinc- 
tion wdtich in those early da\s was highly prized 
and carried a deep significance. The family united 
with the Congregational Church, and were among 
its earliest and most liberal contributors. John 
(2) married in 1654 Sarah Wilcoxson, and for his 
second wife Alercy .Smith, in i6(x;. and had nine 
children. He died in 1690. 

John Benham (3), son of John (2), died in 
1745. He and his wife Comfort had five children. 

John Benham (4), son uf John (3), had nine 
children. He died in 1777. 

Gamaliel Benham, son of John (4), married 
Lydia Painter, and had five children. He was born 
in 1738, and died in 1811. He served in the Revolu- 
tionary war in Capt. Bradley's company, enlisting 
June 5. 1780, and was discharged Jan. i, 1781. 

Elisha Benham married Phoebe Keeler, of Litch- 
field, and' had six children. He was born in 1782, 
and died, in 1876, attaining the good old age of 
ninety-four years. He served in the militia in the 
war of 1812. His two sons lived at the old home- 
stead until the marriage of Elijah E., father of 
Arthur A. 

Elijah E. Be^nham was born in March, 1820, 
and in 1842 married Mary E. Hine, who descended 
from the earliest settlers of Milford, being one of 
a family of four children born to Andrew P. Hine, 
a farmer and innkeeper of Orange in the days' of 
the old-fashioned coach. She died at the age of 
seventy-five Her brother, Albert .\. Hine, yet lives 
in the old familv homestead in Orange. Arthur A. 
was the only child of Elijah E. and Marv E. Ben- 
ham. Elijah E. Benham built a hctise and lived 
on a farm adjoining the old homestead, was a suc- 
cessful farmer, and as a citizen influential and re- 
spected. He possessed, soivnd judgment and was 
eminently r.nbiic-sijirited. In early life he was a 
Whig, and later a Republican, and^ he was a select- 
man of the town and held various minor offices. 
He lived to see his seventv-second birthday, dying 
in 1892. His brother, Lucius A., remained on the 
uld homestead, was likewise a successful farmer 
and prominent in town affairs, and was a deacon 
of the Congregational Church. In 1834 he married 
Sarah L. Plim]ilon, of Sturliridge, ALass., and they 
had four daugliters, only one, Catharine M.. living 
at the ])resent time, .\rthnr .\. and Catharine M. 
r>eniiam are the only ones bearing the name of this 
branch of the family. 

.\rthur .\. I'enham was educated in the public 
schools. For many years his life was devoted to 
agricultural ]iursnits, in connection with which he 




iu/u^uOl uj£^:;^a 



'a4^PL. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



3O9 



carried on a wholesale produce commission business 
in New Haven. At his father's death he came iiito 
possession of the fami and disposed of it in 1899, 
the old homestead having been previously sold, in 
1897. He built his present home in West Haven 
in 1889. Mr. Benham is held in high esteem by 
his fellow townsmen on account alike of his keen 
sense, excellent judgment and blameless life, and 
has been repeatedly elected to the office of assessor, 
and is at present chairman of that board. He is 
also member of the board of relief and board of 
burgesses. In political faith he is a Republican. 

On Nov. 17, 1870, Mr. Benham married Alary 
Baker, of New Haven, now the sole survivor of a 
family of three children. Her father, Capt. Otis 
Baker, commanded a merchant vessel sailing to 
Havre. Mr. and Mrs. Benham had one child,- a 
daughter named Albertina ]\I., born in Utica, N. Y., 
Aug. 22, 1876. She was educated in tlie public 
schools in West Haven, and was highly esteemed, 
and her death, on July 14, 1899, ^^ tlie early age 
of twenty-three, was a source of deep grief to her 
parents. 

BENEDICT. The family at Waterbury bear- 
ing this name is one of the oldest in New England 
and Connecticut, as well as one of the most prom- 
inent. Several generations of the family covering a 
jjeriod of one hundred and thirty years, have lived in 
and been leading citizens of Waterbury. The late 
Deacon Aaron Benedict, of whom special mention 
is made in what follows, was one of the great, use- 
ful and noble citizens of his day, and there are still 
residing in the city some of the descendants — useful 
men and women in the various callings of life. 

Deacon Benedict was in the sixth generation 
from Thomas Benedict, his first American ancestor, 
the line being through Lieutenant Daniel Benedict, 
Daniel Benedict (2), Capt. Daniel Benedict and 
Lieut. Aaron Benedict. 

( I ) Thomas Benedict of Nottinghamshire, Eng- 
land, born in 1617, came to America in 1638, in the 
same vessel w'ith Mary Bridgman, a daughter of 
his stepmother, and whom he afterward married. 
They lived for a time at places about Massachusetts 
Bay, then moved to Southold, L. I., where their 
children were born. After a residence at other 
points on Long Island they removed to Norwalk, 
Conn., it appearing of record that in 1665, he was 
chosen clerk of the town. He was a leading man 
in all of the places where he resided, and held a 
number of high public trusts. 

(II) Lieut. Daniel Benedict, son of Thomas 
Benedict, the emigrant, born in 165 — , after his re- 
moval to Norwalk. Conn., married Mary, daughter 
of Matthew and Mary Marvin, of Norwalk, Conn. 
Daniel Benedict was a soldier in the direful Swamp 
fight in 1675. He removed from Norwalk to Dan- 
bury-, Conn., and the records show he sold prop- 
erty March 25, 1690. 

(III) Daniel Benedict (2), son of Lieut. Dan- 

24 



iel Benedict, married Rel)ccca. daughter of 
Thomas and Rebecca ( Ketchani ) Taylor, original 
settlers of Danbury, Comi. His will was made 
March 26, 1762, and proved Aug. 5, 1776. 

(IV) Capt. Daniel Benedict, son of Daniel Bene- 
dict (2), born in 1705, married in 1728, Sarah, 
daughter of Thomas and Mary (ISronson) Ilickok. 
From the inscription on his tonibstonc wc read : 
"He was for many years Deacon of this town [Dan- 
buryj and by an exemplary life and conversation 
endorsed the sincerity of his Christian profession. 
'The memory of llie righteous is blessed.'" He 
died Nov. 9, 1777. 

(V) Lieut. Aaron Benedict, son of Capt. Daniel 
Benedict, born in 1745, n-iarried in 1769, Esther, 
daughter of John did Mary (Com'stock) Trow- 
bridge. The year after his marriage he removed to 
Waterbury, and settled in the eastern part of what 
is' now the town of Middlebury. He was in the 
French war, probably, and was a lieutenant in the 
war of the Revolution, served before Quebec, and 
became a pensioner. He was one of the leading men 
of the town, which he represented in the Legis- 
lature in 1809 and 1810. In 1818 he was a delegate 
to the Constitutional Convention for Middlebury. 
Mr. Benedict was a remarkable and superior type of 
the old time, strong-minded, straight-forward, 
square men. He died Dec. 16, 1841. 

The late Deacon Aaron Benedict, of Water- 
bury, was born Aug. 9, 1785. in what is now the 
town of Middlebury, Conn., a son of Capt. Daniel 
and Esther (Trowbridge) Benedict. He entered 
Yale College, but, owing to ill health, had to aband- 
on his college course after having pursued it for a 
year and a half. At the age of nineteen years he 
removed from the out-skirts of the town, and set- 
tled within the limits of the "First Society," where 
in 1804 he became partner of Joseph Burton in mer- 
cantile business. After several vears of experience 
as a merchant he began in 1812. the matuifacture 
of bone and ivory buttons, a business in which he 
continued until 1823. He then formed a partner- 
ship with Bennet Bronson, of Waterbury, and three 
New Haven gentlemen, for the manufacture of gilt 
buttons, he having the exclusive n-ianagement of 
the concern. "The prosperity of Waterbury a's a 
manufacturing town,'' says Dr. Henry Bronson, 
in the history of Waterbury, "may be said to date 
from the formation of this cornpany," the capital of 
which was $6,500. It was a small beginning, but 
industry, perseverance and skilled labor were not 
long in securing success. The partnership was re- 
newed in 1827, and the capital increased to $13,000. 
In 1829 a new partnership was formed under the 
name of Benedict & Coe, with a capital of $20,000, 
and in addition to the manufacture of gilt buttons, 
the firm undertook the rolling of ]>rass for market, 
this establishment becoming one of the most imixjrt- 
ant and lucrative departments of their rapidly ex- 
tending business. The finii also dealt in merchan- 
dise. On Feb. 10, 1834, at the expiration of the 



370 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



partnership of Benedict & Coe, a new one was en- 
tered into with a capital of $40,000 under the name 
of Benedict & Burnhani. This' partnership was re- 
newed in 1838, and the capital increased to $71,000, 
and again renewed in 1840, with a capita! of $100,- 
000. In 1843 the firm of Benedict & Burnham be- 
came The Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Co., 
the first joint stock corporation formed in the town 
of Waterbury. Mr. Benedict was chosen president 
of the company, and remained as its executive head 
until the close of his life. 

This Benedict cS: Burnham Manufacturmg Co., 
which has developed into such a great industry, was 
tthe parent from which -'prang the American Pin Co., 
in 1846. the Waterbury Button Co., in 1849, the 
Benedict & Scovill Co., in 1852, and the Waterbury 
Clock Co., in 1857. 

Mr. Benedict was a member of the State Legis- 
lature in 1826 and 1841, and State Senator in 1858- 
59. He became a member of the First Congrega- 
tional Church of Waterbury, in February, 1817. In 
1832, he was chosen to the office of deacon, the du- 
ties of which he fulfilled for forty years in the most 
j.xemplarv manner. He was noted throughout his 
life, not only for fidelity in all religious duties, but 
for his ])ractical benevolence. In his later life hi? 
gifts bestowed in the most unostentatious way 
"amounted to thousands of dollars annually. He con- 
tributed $10,000 to the erection of Divinity Hall, 
New Haven: $10,000 for the endowment of the 
Benedict professorship of Latin in Iowa College ; 
and $30,000 toward the erection of the First Con- 
gregational Church edifice, Waterbury. "Mr. Bene- 
dict's death will be keenly felt not only in the church 
■where he has wors'hiped so long and served faith- 
fully, but throughout the community and State. In 
•his death, another of the ties is broken by which the 
Waterbury of to-day is connected with the Water- 
■l)urv of fifty years ago. The transformation of the 
■insignificant village, which some of us remember, 
into the busy and prosperous city, which now fills 
the valley and over spreads the hillside is due to 
Aaron Benedict more perhaps than to any other 
■man. It fulfilled our conception of the fitness of 
things, that he was permitted to see and enjoy the 
fruits which sprang from his early labors, and to 
stay amongst us for so many years as a representa- 
tive of what is past, and at the same time a beauty 
lover of the present." 

At the time of his death the New Haven Palla- 
dhiin said : "Mr. I'encdict was one of ithc most prom- 
inent men of the State, more particularly in con- 
nection with its manufacturing interests, and was a 
vcrv public-spirited and greatly honored citizen. 
He was at one time somewhat active in politics, and 
>vas chosen on different occasions a member of the 
State Senate. His energy and exemplary character 
as a business man gave him a controlling interest 
as a counselor in matters engaging the attention of 
men of interest. His death will be greatly re- 
grcUed." 



On Sept. 17, 1808, Mr. Benedict was married to 
Charlotte A., daughter of Abel and Hannah (Eliot) 
Porter, and their children were : Charlotte A. mar- 
ried Scovill M. Buckingham; Frances J. died single; 
George W. ; Charles; and Mary L. married John 
S. Mitchell, of Tarrytown, N. Y. Aaron Benedict 
died Feb. 9, 1873, and his wife died May 9, 1870. 

C^EORGE William Benedict, son of Aaron and 
Charlotte A. (Porter) Benedict, was born Nov. 26, 
1814, married Feb. 6, 1838, Caroline R., daughter 
of Austin and Polly (Beecher) Steele, of Water- 
bury. She was born March 13, 1824, and died Dec. 
II, i860. Mr. Benedict was reared in Waterbury, 
and received practical training in the manufactur- 
ing business of his father, and his business life was 
given to the interests of the business of the compan- 
ies originated by his father. The son was an ardent 
Whig and Republican, and took an active interest 
in local affairs. He was warden of the borough 
from 1843 to 1846, a selectman in 1851 and 1859, 
and mayor of the city from June, 1855, to June, 
1856, councilman in 1859 and i860. In 1857 he 
represented the town in the State Legislature. He 
was a man of integrity and honesty, a man of action 
rather than words ; interested in every thing relating 
to the prosperity of the town ; reserved but possessed 
of a generous heart. He died April 12, 1S62. His 
children were : Mary C, married Lewis D. Griggs, 
of Waterbury ; Frances J., married Edward L. Rice; 
George H., was a soldier in company A, 23rd Conn. 
\'. I., in the Civil war; Aaron A.; and Clara L. 

SUMNER T. THAYER, a well-known retired 
citizen of New Haven, was born in Worcester, 
Mass., April 24, 1850, only child' of Alexander 
Thayer. 

Alexander Thayer was born in Bellingham, 
Mass., June 15, 1812, a son of Marvel Thayer, who 
also was a native of Bellingham, aind for a number 
of years was a successful farmer of that town. 
Marvel Thayer married Julia Bullard, and became 
the father of five children, namely: Sewell; 
George, who became a carpenter and builder and 
moved to Providence, R. I. ; Levina ; Alexander ; 
and a daughter who died young. Alexander Thayer 
was a lad of twelve years when he lost his father. 
Being of a mediajii'ical turn of mind, he early in 
life took up work along that line. Practically 
thrown on his own resources, his energetic and in- 
dustrious disix>sition helped him to fight life's battle 
alone. He was only a boy when he went to Wor- 
cester, Mass., and there secured work calculated to 
develop the natural mechanical skill he possessed. 
In toolmaking and in machinist's work he secured 
much i)ractical experience, while his steady habits 
and industry enabled him to accumulate some cap- 
ital, with which he soon went into business for 
himself. He was one of the founders of the well- 
known firm of Thayer & Houghton, too! and ma- 
chinery manufacturers, of Worcester, Mass. The 
product of this firm was shipped to various parts 




ALEXANDER THAYER. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



371 



of the United States aiiid foreign countries, and was 
noted for its excellency. For a time, also, Mr. 
Thayer was associated with his brother Sewell in 
business at Worcester. Alexander Thayer rentained 
in Worcester until about 1865, when he removed 
to New Haven. During h'is long residence in tlie 
former city he became one of its promincait citi- 
zens, and took an active part in public affairs, serv- 
ing as a member of the city council, as well as be- 
ing honored with election as a member of the Mas- 
sachusetts Legislature. In his [xjlitical afliliations 
he was a stanch supporter of Republican principles. 
Disposing of his mainufacturing interests in \Vor- 
cester, Mr. Thayer came to New Haven about 
1865 to become superintendent of the New Haven 
Manufacturing Co., a position he afterward held for 
twenty-five years. In that capacity he proved to 
be a most efficient man, and his retirement, as a 
result of his advanced _\ears and impaired healih, 
was the source of much regret to the stockholders 
of the concern. He was a director and stockholder 
in that business, in which capacity he was succeeded 
by his son, our subject. After becoming a citizen 
of New Haven he gave his attention entirely to his 
duties in the business with which he was connected, 
refraining from any part in public affairs. Ln re- 
ligious matters he took an active and prominent 
part, and was one of the founders of Calvary Bap- 
tist Church, in which he held the office of deacon 
from its organization up to the time of his death, 
which occurred March 23, 1895. He was ever 
strong in example of his religious professions, and 
a man who was respected by all. His successful 
life was marked by a conscientious discharge of 
his duties toward his fellow man. From a penni- 
less start he had amassed a comfortable com- 
petence, but it was the result of his industry and 
frugality, not of oppression or speculation. Alex- 
ander Thayer married Miss Lucinda Weaver, of 
Central Village, Conn., where she was born Dec. 
31, 1814, daughter of Remington Weaver, a farm- 
er. Mrs. Thayer died June 3, 1880, while on a 
visit to Worcester, Mass. The only child born of 
this union was Sumner T., our subject. 

Sumner T. Thayer spent his early life in Wor- 
cester, Mass., and there attended the public schools 
and later a private school. He was about sixteen 
years old when his parents removed to New Haven, 
where he was enrolled as a student in John Lovell's 
School, and later in the Hopkins Grammar School. 
For a considerable period he worked at the trade 
of a carriage trimmer, but for a number of years 
has lived retired from business. On Nov. i, 1882, 
Mr. Thayer was married to Miss Anna Mar)- Piatt, 
born in Chester, Conn., daughter of William Piatt, 
who was bonn in Westbrook, Conn., Aug. i, 1826, 
son of EHsha Piatt, who was also born probably in 
Westbrook. The mother of Mrs. Thayer, Marilla 
(Smith) Piatt, was born in Chester, Conn., Oct. 
31, 1844. Both parents still survive, the father, 
however, being unable to follow his trade of moldcr 



on account of injuries received during his service 
as a soldier in the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Piatt 
had four children, namely: Alice M.; Florence 
L. ; Anna M. ; and Rosa, who died young. Mr. 
and Mrs. Thayer have no children. In politics Mr. 
Thayer is a Republican. Both he and his wife are 
valued members of Calvary Baptist Church. Their 
very pleasant home is located at No. 140 Dwight 
street, and their summer home is at W'oodmont, 
Conn. Both enjoy the esteem of a wide circle of 
fricinds. Mrs. Thayer is a member of the Womans 
Relief Corjis of New H|aven. 

REV. EDWARD E. ATWATER, late of New 
Haven, whose death occurred Dec. 2, 1887, was one 
of the able men of the Gospel ministry in his day. 
He was descended from one of the earliest settled 
families in Coimecticut, having been in the seventh 
generation from David Atwater, a planter of New 
Haven, to whom a tract of land was assigned in the 
first division of lands in the prospective town. His 
assignment was in what was known as the "Neck," 
a strip of land between the Mill and the Quinni])iac 
rivers, and there it is believed he lived until his 
death, in 1692. Mr. Atwater's line of descent was 
through David (2), Joshua, David (3), Jared and 
Elihu Atwater. 

David Atwater (2), son of David, of New Ha- 
ven, was born in 1650, cultivated a part of the land 
assigned to his father, and died in 1736. 

Joshua Atwater, son of David (2), born in 1687, 
was married in 1721, to Anna Bradley, and spent 
his life on the old homestead, where his' son, 

David Atwater (3), was born in 1728. In 1746 
he married Elizabeth Bassett, who was his first 
wife, and the mother of all his children. 

Jared Atwater, son of David (3), was born in 
1758, married Eunice Dickerman, and lived on 
Cedar Hill, where he died in 1813. 

Elihu Atwater, his son, born in 1786, married 
Julia Thompson in 181 1, and Betsy Tyler in 1819. 
He was the father of the following children : Lydia 
H., born in 1812; Elihu W., born in 1814; Edward 
Elias, whose name introduces this article, born May 
28, 1816; and John T., born in 1820. Edward E. 
was the only one of these four children to .vurvive 
infancy, none of the other three living, to complete 
their second year. 

Edward E. Atwater was born in New Haven, 
and, graduating from Yale College in the class of 
1836, became a Congregational minister, having his 
first church in Ravenna, Ohio. Later he was called 
to Salmon Falls, N. H., and while yet a young man 
returned to New Haven to assume the pastorate of 
the Davenport Congregational Church. The hand- 
some structure of that society on Green street is an 
enduring monument to the liberality of the .A.twaters, 
father and son. The father gave the land for the 
church, and the son contributed the money to the 
building. During the latter years of his life Mr. 
Atwater was considerably engaged in literary work. 



372 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and wrote a history that throws much light on the 
early Colonial days. In 1851 he prepared in pamph- 
let form a genealogy of the Atwatcr family that 
was complete to the fifth generation, and a second 
edition of this was prepared and issued by him in 
1873, brought up to the sixth generation. He was 
the editor of what is called Atwater's History of 
New Haven, which was published in 1887. Mr. 
Atwater was a Congrcgationalist of the Old School, 
and was highly esteemed in New Haven, both in 
and out of the church. At Ravenna, Ohio, he was 
married to Miss Rebecca Dana, a native of Pomfret, 
Vt. Their only child, a son, died in childhood, and 
their adopted son, Harry T. Clark, has his home at 
No. 212 English street, New Haven. 

On the death of Mr. Atwater, the Davenport 
Congregational Church had the following minute 
made a matter of record : "This Church has learned 
with great sorrow and regret the recent death of 
Rev. Edward E. .\twater, its first founder and pas- 
tor. We wish to express in the most fitting way our 
sincere regard and earnest love for this loyal servant 
of Jesus Christ. In the years of our beginning as a 
church, he was faithful, hopeful, self-sacrificing and 
laborious in the pastoral office among us, exhibit- 
ing Christian love and zeal in all his work as our 
minister. Since he left us we have loved and revered 
him scarcely less even as his generous and tender 
affection for us never changed, and our hearts are 
grieved at his departure. \\'e believe him to have 
been a man of God, in mind, heart and life ; one who 
was glad to labor for his Lord, and willing and 
ready to obey the summons out of life." 

HOR.ACE WILLIAM dk r.its DERNIERS, M. 
D., a leading i)liysician of Meridcn, was Ixarn at St. 
Scholastique, Canada, April 6, 185 1. The de les 
Derniers are of Swiss extraction, and are supposed 
to have originated close to the line of France. Three 
brothers of that name came to .Xmerica at an early 
day, one settling in Nova Scot,ia, another in Maine, 
and' another, the grandfather of the subject of this 
notice, in Vermont. 

Horace Nelson dc les Derniers was bom in Ver- 
mont, and was quite young when his parents re- 
moved to Canada, locating at Vaudrcuil. in the 
Province of Quebec, where the father carried on 
the mercantile business, and where he died while 
still in middle age. There Horace N. de les Derniers 
grew to manhood, and became a clerk in the store 
of Francois Exavier Desjardins, a prominent mer- 
chant, who married his aunt. Wdien he became 
of age he secured an interest in the business of his 
uncle, and married his partner's daughter. Her 
parents opposed t'his union, and the "partnership 
was dissolved in consequence of the bitterness de- 
veloped by the controversy. Young de les Derniers 
tcKjk his bride to St. Scholastique, where he en- 
gaged in mercantile business and prosixrcd imtil a 
fire destroyed all his accumidations in l>oth store 
and house, leaving him penniless. In 1869 he and 



his family removed to Meriden, Conn., where he 
was employed as a salesman in the dry-goods store 
of D. S. Williams. After this he opened a grocery 
for 'himself, on East iMain street, and the venture 
was attended with much success. Horace N. dte les 
Derniers and a partner invested considerable money 
in real estate. A period of hard times ensued, and 
he was left to meet all obligations, with the result 
of financial ruin. After this he retired from busi- 
ness and he died in Meriden in 1894, being buried 
in St. Patrick's cemetery in that city. In his young- 
er days he belonged to the Episcopal Church, but 
on his marriage he united with the Roman Catli- 
olic Church, in the faith of which be died. In Can- 
ada he was a supporter of the Liberal party, and 
while in .St. Scholastique served as mayor of the 
city. 

Horace Nelson de les Derniers was married, in 
X'audreuil, Canada, to Normantine Desjardins, his 
cousin, who died in 1880, and rests beside her hus- 
band. Her paternal ancestors belonged to an old 
Quebec family, and were firm adherents of France 
in the early days. Mrs. de les Derniers received 
her education at the famous Notre Dame Convent, 
in Montreal (being especially proficient in music and 
art), and was a devout Catholic. She had a sweet 
disposition, and bore her trials patiently. Devoted 
to her family, she was a good and true woman. 
She became the mother of sixteen children, eight 
of whom lived to reach maturity : Nelson, now a 
groceryman in Meriden ; Horace William ; Ferdi- 
nand, employed at the factory of the Bradley & 
Hubbard Mfg. Co., Meriden; Edward, of Meriden; 
]\Iary, who married William C. Knipfer; Ida, a 
saleswoman in Meriden ; Sophia, who married 
Frank Talbot, of Meriden ; and Emilia, who died 
unmarried. 

Horace William de les Derniers attended a pri- 
vate school in his native town, and also St. Theresa 
College, where he remained until fifteen years old. 
Having a strong passion for music, he gave it much 
attention, and while at college took first honors in 
that study. His parents, having a large family, 
could not give him the opportunities in that line he 
craved, and he resolved to do what he could to 
help them. In his native country there was little 
outlook for a boy, however bright and ambitious he 
might be, so at the age of fifteen years, in 1866, 
he came to the LTnited States, and located at South 
Meriden, Conn., where he obtained a position with 
the Meriden Cutlerv Co., continuing with that 
house until 1872. During the first year he re- 
ceived as compensation a dollar and a quarter a 
day, and after that he was engaged at piece work. 
In 1872 he bought a piano with his surplus earn- 
ings, in order to keep up his practice. At a later 
period our subject entered the employ of the Meri- 
den Britannia Co., and was a burnisher in their 
factorv nine years, during which time he began the 
reading of medicine with Dr. Jenigor, and later read 
with Dr. E. W. Smith. The young man, ready to 




^^^x 




'£yU?ZCC^2^ 



^^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



373 



go to college, was desirous of retaining his position 
in the factory in case of untoward experiences, and 
asked Horace Wilcox, president of the concern, if 
he might not feel that his position was open for 
him in case he should wish to return. This was 
assured him. He attended the University of Ver- 
nxont, and was graduated from the Medical Depart- 
ment after a full course of four years. The first 
summer's vacation he spent in the factory, and' tht 
last in the drug store of H. K. Rice, tiraduating 
in the cJass of 1885, he returned to Meriden and 
took up the practice of medicine, but after a year 
moved to Gilbertville, Mass., where he followed his 
profession three \ears. In 1889 Dr. de les Derniers 
came back to Meriden, and since that time has been 
•one of the busy physicians of the city. A good 
clientage has come to him, he has given his calling 
hard work and close attention, and is one of the 
leading French-.\mericans in New Haven county. 
Possessing a pleasing and courteous manner, he 
has many friends, and is much respected. 

Dr. de les Derniers was married, in 1889, in 
Montreal, Canada, to Marie Louise \'alentine La- 
londe, who was born in Montreal, daughter of 
Charles F. Lalonde, a prominent man of St. Cune- 
gonde (Montreal West), who was mayor of the city 
for six years. Three children were born to this 
imion : Leath and Lionel, who are living ; and an 
infant that died unnamed. The Doctor and his 
wife are much esteemed in the community as people 
of culture and refinement. Mrs. de les Derniers 
obtained her education at Mount St. Marie's Sem- 
inary in Montreal, and is an artist of nnich ability. 

Dr. de les Derniers has served as j)hysician of 
the town of Meriden, to which position he was ap- 
pointed by the board of selectmen. He is a mem- 
ber of the various medical organizations of the 
city, county and State, and also holds men^bership 
in the National Medical .Association. He is not a 
politician, but supports the principles of Democracy, 
and was nominated bv his party as candidate for 
alderman in the First ward in 1900. He is a mem- 
ber of the French Catholic Church. Socially he 
belongs to Alyrtle Lodge, K. of ]'., being assistant 
surgeon of the Second Regiment, L'ni formed Rank, 
Division 12; he fills the office of medical examiner 
in the A. O. C W., and also in the .\. F. O. i'., 
the K. (). T. .M, and the R. .\. 

GEORGE HEXRV ELLSBREE, a well-known 
and respected citizen of Meriden, died at his home 
in that city, April 6, 1901, in the seventy-eighth 
year of his age. His ancestry was English, and his 
family was planted in this country alMut the middle 
of the eighteenth century, at which time three broth- 
ers of the name came to .America. Two of them re- 
turned to their native country. The third, Boomer 
Ellsbree, settled in Rhode Island, and reared a 
large family, viz.: Ephraim, Jemima, John. James, 
Joshua, Nathaniel, David, Benjamin, Norman, 
Aaron, Thomas, Edmond and Mercv. 



Ephraim Ellsbree, the eldest of the family, had 
ten children, namel_\- : Harriet, Bradford B., Will- 
iam, James, Isaac, Jemima, Mercy, Julius, Lewis 
and Ruth. Ephraim Ellsbree died Jan. I, 1831, aged 
sixty-one years. 

Bradford B. Ellsbree, eldest son of F.phraini, 
was born at Fall River, in ,1801, and died in Sep- 
tember, 1880, at Chicopee Falls, Ma;s. His wife, 
Waity .\ldrich, born in 1 799 '" Simsbury, Conn., 
died Sept. 4, 1873. Their children were: James, 
George Henrv, Susan E., Lyman .\., Elizabeth R., 
Ephraim B., Mary, Irving A., Charles M. and Ed- 
mond S. C)nly two of these are now living — Ed- 
mond S., who resides in Chicopee h'alls, .Mass., and 
the eldest daughter, .Mrs. Susan E. Stjuires, of .\thol, 
Massachusetts. 

George Flenry Ellsbree was born Aug. 12, 1823, 
in Smilhfield, R. I., and most of his life was passed 
in Massachusetts. During nearly all of his active 
life he was connected with the cotton industry, and 
for a period of eleven years was overseer in a cotton 
cloth mill at West Springfield, Mass. He gave three 
years of willing service to his country during the 
Civil war, enli'sting first in the 8th Mass. Light Bat- 
tery, and subse(|uently in the 3rd .Mass. Heavy -Xr- 
tillery. He ]iarticii-.ateil in the second battle of 
Bull Rim, the battles of Antietam and South Moun- 
tain, besides numerous engagements of less prom- 
inence, and returned to the arts of peace with honor. 
He was a valued member of Merriam Post, G. A. 
R., of Meriden, and was also identified with the 
Order of Chosen Friends. Mr. Ellsbree took U]) his 
residence in Meriden in 1877, and, while doing .some 
occasional clerical work, gave much of his attention 
to meteorology. With self-registering thermometer 
and barometer he kept a daily record of weather 
and barometric conditions and temperature, antl his 
data were often sought by parties interested in such 
records. In the enjoyment of the respect and es- 
teem of the comnuuiity he thus passed his declining 
year's in congenial pursuits, and closed a long and 
useful life in peace and contentment. 

On ]\Iarch 20, 1846, Mr. Ellsbree was married, 
at Three Rivers, Palmer, Mass., to Emeline Pierce, 
a native of Orange, Mass., daughter of Emery and 
Sophronia (Barnes) Pierce, botli born in that State, 
the former a son of Ichabod Pierce, a farmer of 
Hopkinton, Mass. j\Ir. and Mrs. Ellsbree had four 
children, George Lyman, Clarence Eugene, Mora 
Emeline and Effie Marian. The daughters died 
before reaching adult age ; Clarence Eugene is en- 
gaged in business in Boston, and resides in Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts. 

George Lv.m.\n Ellsdree, a leading business 
man of Meriden, ha's been identified with its material 
and moral interests since 1875. He was born Nov. 
I, 1851, in Palmer, Mass., and his education was 
supplied by the public schools of his native State, 
chiefly in New Bedford and Bclchertown. In Oc- 
tober, 1867, having just completed his sixteenth 
year, he set out to eipiip himself for business life, 



374 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and entered a store at Pittsfield, Mass., to master 
the mysteries of the drug business. That he was 
diligent and apt is shown by tlie fact that he has 
ever since been successfully following the same line, 
and for more than a quarter of a century as pro- 
prietor. His first drug store wa's in Amherst, 
Mass., where he established himself in 1871, and 
continued until obliged by ill health, two years later, 
to seek outdoor employment. In 187;. after a yeai 
of botanizing, he came to Meriden to take charge 
of the clrug store of N. l'>. W'elton, in the Palace 
block. This busin(?ss he purchased in 1877, and 
has ever since conducted it. with profit to himself 
and with satisfaction to his patrons. The location 
is a most desirable one, and the genial and courteous 
manners of the proprietor have attracted and held a 
desirable line of trade. Mr. Ellsbree has become 
interested in local manufacturing, and is recognized 
as a sound and reliable business man. 

It is but natural that the public should make 
demands for service upon one who has demon- 
strated ability in the direction of his own concerns, 
and Mr. l-Illsbree is no exception to this rule. Just 
l)revious to the town election in 1894 he was pur- 
suaded to become the candidate for first selectman, 
and the subsequent voie demonstrated his popidar- 
ity with the peo])le. .After being twice re-elected 
in succession, lie declined to be again a candidate, 
feeling that he had dev(.ited his share of time to the 
service which only a sense of public duty induced 
him to acce])t. In 1899 he represented the town 
in the Legislature, and during his term was chair- 
man of the House committee on Manufactures anil 
a member of the committee on Roads, Rivers and 
Bridges. lie was one of the authors of the "good 
roads bill," which became a law at that session. 
Mr. Ellsbree has served 'several years as a member 
of the city council and board of Education. He is 
now a member and treasurer of the State Board of 
Pharmacy. Eraternally he is a Freemason, being 
identified with Pacific Lodge,, of Amherst, Mass., 
and Keystone Chapter and St. Elmo Commanderv, 
of Meriden. 

In November, 1876, Mr. Ellsbree was married to 
Mrss Elizabeth Russell, a native of Amherst. Mass., 
and a daughter of Emerson and Barbara Russell. 
of_ old Massachusetts families. The only child of 
this union is Edward Clarence, born Nov. 6, 1877. 

THOMAS _ BRIGHT, who passed away Jan. 
15. 1876, was in his day one of the most respected 
self-made men of New Haven, where, though he 
died in the prime of life, he had succeeded in gaining 
a substantial position in the business world. 

Mr. Bright was a native of London, England, 
born Dec. 9, 1827, son of James and Elizabeth 
(TufTs) Bright, the former a native of Oxford, 
En.gland. the latter of Kent. They had a family of 
ten children, none of whom survive. The father 
served a number of years in the English navy, and 
his last years were spent in London, wiiere he died 



in 1830. The mother lived to the advanced age of 
seventy-five years, and died in Thompsonville, 
Conn., where she is buried; she was a member of 
the Methodist Church. Thomas Bright remained 
in London until he was eighteen years old, and re- 
ceived his education in the public schools. At the 
age mentioned he came to America with his mother 
and several children, locating first in Thompson- 
ville, Conn., where he followed weaving for a few 
years. He next spent a year in Hartford, this state, 
where he was in the crockery business, and in 1859 
came to New Haven and engaged in business, open- 
ing a store for himself at the corner of Elm and 
Howe streets, where he continued for eight years ; 
he then removed to Broadway, where he was lo- 
cated during the remainder of his life. He car- 
ried on a crockery and .glassware establishment in 
Broadway, and also conducted a junk business, and 
by industry and good management he succeeded in 
amassing a comfortable fortune, although he began 
with no financial capital whatever. Mr. Bright was 
successful in more than the ordinary acceptance of 
that term, for he won and retained the respect of 
all who had dealings with him for his integrity and 
genuine worth, as well as his executive ability. He 
was cut off at the height of his career, being only 
forty-eight at the time of his death. He took an 
active interest in the public affairs of the city, and 
was a Democrat in political affiliation. 

In January, 1840, Mr. Bright married Jean Mc- 
Cronc, a native of Scotland, who was born June 23, 
1830, daughter of Hugh and Elizabeth (Nesbit) 
McCrone, and granddaughter of Robert McCrone, 
all born in .Scotland. Hugh McCrone came to 
America in 1832 and settled iu' Thompsonville, 
Conn. In 1834 he sent for his familv, and the wife 
and six children started for America. On the way 
over the eldest daughter died. The remainder, after 
a voyage of several weeks, reached New York. Mr. 
.McCrone followed weaving throughout his long 
life, reaching the great age of eighty-eight years, 
anrl died in Thompsonville. The parents of Airs. 
Bright had a family of nine children, three of whom 
survive at this writing (1902) : Hugh, who is a 
resident of Philadelphia, Penn. ; Jean, Mrs. Bright; 
and Mary, Mrs. Richard Nesbit, of Norwalk, Conn. 
The mother died at the age of forty-three, in 
Thompson\-ille. Ten children were born to Mr. and 
Mrs. liright, seven of whom are yet living. Thom- 
as died when four months old, Elizabeth when two 
and a half years old. Thomas (2) died Nov. 17, 
1883, at the age of thirty-three years; he married 
Nellie Mercer, and their daughter, Kitty, now Mrs. 
Mitchell, of Florida, has one child. Of the living, 
(i) Robert C. (twin of Thomas, who died) fol- 
lowed in his father's footsteps, engaging in the 
crockery and glassware business. He is a well- 
known resident of New Haven, and takes an active 
part in political matters in the city. He first mar- 
ried Florence Bodge, who died at the age of twenty- 
nine years, and by whom he had four children, Rob- 




THOMAS BRIGHT, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



375 



ert, Ida (wife of Marcellin Adams, of Pittsburg, 
Penn.), Florence and Mabel. For his second wife 
Robert C. Bright married Annie Sumner, and they 
have two children, Thomas S. and Jean. (2) 
Charles C. is a letter carrier in New Haven. He 
married Emma Heubisch, and they have two chil- 
dren, Thomas and Helen. (3) Jennie is the wife 
of George Robinson, a machinist, and has two chil- 
dren, Jessie and Georgie. They reside in Belvi- 
dere. 111. 14) Jessie, twin of Jennie, married Will- 
iam Fleury (deceased), and had two children, Jen- 
nie and John. (5) .Mary married Benjamin \'ann, 
of Xew Haven. (6) Ida is the wife of Walter 
Crump, a railroad man of Shelton, Conn., and they 
have one daughter, Alice. (7) Alice married F'red- 
erick Osborn, a civil engineer for the city of New 
Haven, and they have one child, Marion. 

Mrs. Bright occupies the comfortable home at 
No. 140 Gotte street w'hich her husband erected, 
and which stands on a large lot, ci)ini)rising one 
and a quarter acres besides a regular building lot. 
Mr. Bright also erected a block at the corner ot Elm 
and Park streets. Mrs. Bright and her family at- 
tend the Congregational Church, of which her par- 
ents were devout members. Mr. Bright was identi- 
fied with Christ Episcopal Church. He is laid to 
rest in Thompsonville, near his parents. 

CHARLES \\\ BRADLEY. A valuable chro- 
nology and genealogy, with a few abbreviated 
biographies of some of the first settlers of the 
suburban town on the eastern border of one of the 
principal New England cities, was edited, com- 
piled, and published in book form, seventy-eight 
years ago, by Rev. Stephen Dodd, a resident clergy- 
man of East Haven. No copies of this valuable 
work are for sale, and the few still remaining in 
the town, are treasured with the greatest care by 
their fortunate possessors. Among those mentioned 
upon the two hundred pages of the work the Brad- 
ley families are dealt with at length, and it appears 
that there were three brothers bearing the name, 
who came from England to this locality about 1640, 

one of w-hom married Elizabeth . The 

record further states that "he first appeared on the 
Branford records in 1674 ; is noticed as a sojourner 
at New Haven and the town, probably Branford, 
granted him a home lot of two acre's, at Conoe 
Brook." This settler, who removed to East Haven 
in 1683, had the following children: Isaac; Will- 
iam ; Samuel ; Daniel ; Sarah, who married George 
Pardee in 1703; and Elizabeth, who married John 
Auger in 1710. Thirty-six families having this 
euphonius cognomen are mentioned in Mr. Dodd's 
book, after Isaac, the first. The following vital 
statistics of one branch of the Bradley family, is 
brought down to about 18 12, taken mostly from the 
volume above mentioned. 

Azariah Bradley married Elizabeth Thompson, 
on Nov. 7, 1759, nothing being said about children. 
His second wife, Elizabeth Woodward, he marrried 



! Jan. 18, 1764, and their children were: Elizabeth^ 
born on July 12, 1765 ; Sanniel, born on Jan. 6, 1767 ; 
Esther, born on Aug. 15, 1770. married Leverett 
Bradley in 1791 ; John, born Aiiril 9, 1774; Lydia,. 
born July 8, 1776; and Roswell, born Aug. 15,. 
1780. 

Samuel Bradley, son of Azariah. and the grand- 
father of Charles W. Brailley, of ICast blaven, mar- 
ried Sarah Bradley, the daughter of Jared Bradley,, 
who, at the time of the marriage of his daughter; 
had charge of the Gov. Saltonstall farm, near the 
lake which bears that name. The children of Sam- 
uel and Sarah were : Laura, William, George, 
Esther, Lue, Azariah, Adeline, Lydia, Samuel il. 
and Justin. 

Samuel II. Bradley, son of Samuel, was the vil- 
lage blacksmith of East Haven, sixty-five years ago, 
and by his industry accumulated considerable 
wealth. James and Edward E. Thompson, Samuel 
Chidsey and other large fanners in the town kept 
for New Haven ship[)ers hundreds of horses and 
mules collected in Kentucky. Thus it happened 
that a large share of the work which fell to the 
genial blacksmith consisted in pulling off the shoes 
of the animals preparatory to shipping. He mar- 
ried Sarah Louisa, a daughter of Jacob and Huldah 
(Stannard) T}ler. the l( inner cf whom was born 
in North Branford, and the latter in Westbrook,. 
Conn. Neither lived to middle age, Sanuiel Brad- 
ley dying in 1843, ^t '1''^ ^ge of thirtv-fivc years,, 
and his widow in 1848, at the age of thirty-three. 

Charles William Bradley, the only child of Sam- 
uel H., was born on the north side of East Haven 
Green, on Monday, Dec. 8. 1834; and the old home, 
having withstood the attacks of time and the ele- 
ments for more than 100 years, is still a feature 
of the landscape. Mr. Bradley's preparatory edu- 
cation was received in the district schools, after 
which he studied at Branford Academy, under Mr. 
Frisbie ; at Samuel M. Brown's Academic school ; 
at St. Mathew's Hall, Port Colden, N. J., under 
Rev. P. L. Jaques ; and at a select school, which was 
conducted in the town hall, in East Haven. 

Mr. Bradley is well-known to the residents of 
East Haven, where for many years he has been iden- 
tified with public and private interests. For several 
years he engaged in educational work in this and 
other towns, and has at times been interested in the 
grocery and provision business, as well as in agri- 
culture and stock-raising. In 1867 he was ap- 
pointed keeper of the New Haven light-house, and 
he has filled the positions of superintendent of the 
New Haven alms-house, and secretary of the board 
of education. As a military man he was at one 
time a member of the 2nd Company of the Govern- 
or's Horse Guards, and as a forceful and even 
brilliant writer he has for fifty years contributed 
to the Journal and Courier. 

On April 9, 1854, Mr. Bradley w-as united in 
marriage with Sarah Amelia Lecte, a direct de- 
scendant of Gov. William Leete, the chief executive 



376 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of Connecticut, in 1676. Three children were born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Bradley, Annelta Adeline, Harriet 
Louisa and Seymour Percy. 

Seymour I'ercy liradley developed into a young 
man of much more than u.sual ability. In 1879 he 
entered the West I'oint Military Academy as a 
cadet, a representative from the 2nd Congressional 
district, of Connecticut, and he is now an official 
and a civil engineer, in the construction of the rapid 
transit tunnel, in \ew York city. 

Although at one time the Bradley family seemed 
almost the most numerous in East Maven, of any 
there, it has scarcely kept its jjlace in the changing 
generations. It is believed that at the present time 
there is only one male member, under thirty, of that 
name in the .place. However, although a recent 
election showed that but seven Bradleys registered, 
the name has not by any means become extinct or 
of little worth in tjie world. Brobably no family 
in the United States has more conspicuous members 
in various walks of life, in the many States to 
which they have drifted, than the family established 
by the first Bradley in the little Connecticut ham- 
let, so many years ago. 

CV.y.. THICLI'S .MONTGOMERY, Judge Ad- 
vocate (ieneral nn the staff of (!ov. McLean, was 
born in Portland. ()regc)n. Xuv. 17, 1872. Though 
still a young man he has l)ecome one of the most 
popular characters in the city of Xew Haven, where 
hi:; manly (lualities and genial (lisi)osition have won 
him a host of friends. 

Gen. ^lontgoniery was educated at the public 
schools, the J'orlland high school, Phillips Exeter 
Academy, in Xew Hampshire, and Yale University, 
of whicii latter he is a graduate in both the acad- 
emic and law de])artments. In i8y8 he was admit- 
ted to the liar, and on Dec. 10, 1900, he was ap- 
pointed judge .Advocate General, his appointment 
being confirmed by the Senate the 7th of the follow- 
ing January. .After his admis,s,iun to the Bar he 
opened an office for the practice of the law in asso- 
ciation with Judge Livingston \Y. Clcaveland and 
Roger Sherman Baldwin, lie is president of the 
West Haven Buckle Co., and has considerable inter- 
ests in many of llie large local corporations. He is 
a popular and genial gentleman, and is prominent 
alike in social, business and professional circles. 

Gen. Montgomery was married, Oct. 12, 1896, 
to Miss Elsie Matthias, only child of the late John 
J. Matthias, the well-known West India importer 
and merchant, and granddaughter of the late Daniel 
Trowbridge, formerly president of the New Haven 
Gas Light Co. (!en. and Mrs. Montgomery reside 
in a beautiful home at No. 221 Whitney avenue. 
They are the parents of three children, Elsie Matth- 
ias, John Phelps and Mary Marjorie. 

Cicn. Montgomery was born a Republican and 
has never changed his political faith. During the 
cam|)aign of 1900 he was active in his support of 
the Republican candidates, particularly of Gov. Mc- 



Lean, making several effective speeches in his be- 
half. ' In Oregon he was connected with the Na- 
tional Guard, but had no connection with the mili- 
tary in this State previous to his present incum- 
bency. Always interested in military affairs, how- 
ever,' he has kept in close touch with them, and the 
duties of his present position are particularly con- 
genial to him. 

Gen. Montgomery is a member of the Gradu- 
ates' Club, the Ouinnipiac Club, the Union League 
Club, the Young Men's Republican Club, the Coun- 
try Club, the New Haven Lawn Club, the Sons of 
the American Revolution, and Wooster Lodge, A. 
F. & A. M. He is a member of the board of public 
park commissioners of New Haven and formerly 
served as a director of the Free Public Library. 

Gen. Montgomery is the son of the late James 
Boyce Montgomery and Mary Phelps Montgomery. 
His father, who was a native of Pennsylvania, be- 
gan to make his own way in the world at the age 
of sixteen, at the printing trade. He rose to be 
editor of several successful newspapers, but finding 
a larger field for his energies in the development of 
the railroad industry, then in its infancy, he became 
a contractor, and after meeting with considerable 
success in his native State moved to the Pacific 
coast and located in Oregon in 1871. He there con- 
tinued his railroad building, and was also largely 
occupied in the manufacture of lumber and in ship- 
ping wheat to Europe. 

The first of the Montgomery family to locate in 
this country was Archibald Montgomery, who came 
from Galway, Ireland, and settled in Lancaster 
county. Pa., where he engaged in farming the re- 
mainder of his life at what became Montgomery's 
Ferry, he owning the ferry privilege at that point. 
William Montgomery, son of Archibald, and father 
of James B., was born there Jan. 22, 1791, and 
passed most of his life in his native place, dying in 
1852. He was a prosperous farmer. 

Gen. Montgomery's mother was born in Spring- 
field, Mo., daughter of John S. Phelps, who repre- 
sented that State in Congress for eighteen years, 
and served as its governor from 1876-80. He com- 
manded a Union regiment during the war, and was 
also for a time military governor of Arkansas. Al- 
though he is known chiefly as a Missourian, having 
moved there as a young man, he was a native of 
Simsbury, Conn., and graduated from Trinity Col- 
lege, in Hartford, or, as it was then known, Wash- 
ington College. 

The Phelps family, wdiich is one of the oldest 
in New England, is descended from \\'illiam 1 'helps, 
who was born in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, 
England, in 1599, and came to Dorchester, Mass., 
in 1630. In 1636 he became one of the first settlers 
of Windsor, Comi.. wdiere he died July 14, if k)2. 
He was ajipointed by the governor and council of 
Alassachusetts as one of the board of com- 
missioners authorized to govern the people of 
Connecticut, for one year next ensuing. The 






(^/^■•Cc/ 'L-Lr 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



577 



following year the same commissioners, with 
•committees from the three towns then consti- 
tuting the Colony, carried on the government. 
Mr. Phelps was chosen one of the magistrates in 
1643. From this William Phelps Gen. Montgomery 
descended through (II) Joseph, born in England 
in 1629; (III) Joseph (2), born in Windsor in 
1667; (I\') David, born in 1710; (V) Gen. Xoah, 
born in Simsbury in 1740 (He fought in the Revo- 
lutionary war and was at Ticonderoga with Hthan 
Allen. He entered the fort disguised as a farmer, 
the day before its capture, and was shaved by the 
fort barber. He noticed the armament, position of 
the sentries, etc., and reported to Ethan Allen) ; 
(VI) Elisha, born in Simsbury in 1779; (VII) 
John S., born in Simsbury in 1814; and (VIII) 
Alary, born in Springfield, AIo., in 1846. 

FRANK PECK EVARTS, superintendent of 
the ornamental department of the Bradley & Hub- 
bard Manufacturing Co., of Meriden, is one of the 
■city's well-known and esteemed citizens. 

Mr. Evarts was born in Hudson, Columbia Co., 
N. Y.,' April 21, 1846, and is a descendant of one 
•of the oldest families of Xew Haven county. Conn. 
The first of the name in New England was John 
Evarts, who was born in Hereford, England, in 
1610, and came to Amercia with some of the early 
settlers and located at Guilford, Conn., in 1640, 
where he spent the remainder of his life, his death 
■occurring Alay 10, 1669 ; his remains were interred 
in Guilford. John Evarts was a son of Samuel 
Evarts, born 1570-74 at Hereford. The Stone fam- 
ilv, which frequently intermarried with the Evarts 
family, is descended from Rev. Samuel Stone, a 
non-conformist clergyman of Hereford. John 
Stone, his son, born 1610, came to Guilford with 
John Evarts and several others. The distinguished 
New York statesman, William AI. Evarts, was a 
scion of the same family. 

John Evarts was twice married. His first wife. 
Anne, died in 165 1, and was the mother of all his 
children. His second v/ife, Eliza, was the wid- 
■ow of John Parmelee, and a daughter of Jacob 
Sheaft'e. of Guilford. The cliildrcn of John and 
Anne Evarts were: John, born Feb. 28, 1641, 
married (first) Mary French, daughter of Thomas 
French, and (second) Sarah Crampton, daughter of 
Dennis Crampton, of Killingworth; Judah, born 
Oct. 27, 1642 ; James, born 1644, married Lydia 
Guttridge, daughter of Nicholas Guttridge; Daniel, 
born 1646, married Elizabeth Baldwin, daughter 
of John Baldwin; and Eliza, born 1648, married 
Peter Ablxjtt. 

(II) Judah Evarts, son fif John,, was born at 
Guilford, Oct. 27, 1642, married .\ug. 3. 1670, Mary 
Hayden, daughter of Thomas Ilayden, of Killing- 
worth. He died in 1696. His children were: 
Mary, born June 28, 1675. "i'scl 1678; Samuel, born 
•Oct.' 4, 1678": Mary (2), born May 16, 1682, died 
voun"-; and F.benezcr, l)orn lune 16, 1688. 



(Ill) Ebenezer Evarts, son of Judah, was born 
in what is now the town of Meriden, June 16, 1688, 
married Rachel Crampton, of Killingworth, May I, 
171 1, and died at Saybrook, Conn., in 1759. His 
children were: Rachel, who died young; John, 
born in 1714, married Submit Stone; Ebenezer, born 
in 1716, married Ann Norton ; Rachel, born in 1718, 
married Benjamin Stone; and .\nna. 

(I\') John Evarts, son of Ebenezer, born in 
1714, married in 17,38, Submit Stone, and their 
children were: John, born in 1739, married Naomi 
Branch in 1769; Samuel, born in 1741 ; Daniel and 
Amia died young. 

(V) John Evarts, son of John and Submit 
(Stone) Evarts. born in 1739, married, either in 
Guilford or Killingworth. He was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war. His children are thus recorded : 
Samuel, born in 1771 ; Daniel, in 1773; John, in 
1775 ; Isaac, in_i778; Emeline, in 1780; and Branch. 

(VI) Isaac Evarts, fourth son of John and Sub- 
mit Evarts, born in 1778, married Nov. 28, 1799, 
Elizabeth Phinney, who was born Sept. 20, 1778, 
and died Aug. 30, 1855. Isaac died of cholera in 
Athens, N. \'., Sejjt. 2, 1832. His children were: 
Claudius Lucius, born Jan. 6, 1804, died in Low- 
ville, Wis., Aug. 29, 1854; Lauriston Lewis, born 
Feb. 26, 1806, died Jan. 28, 1813; Alarcus Corn- 
ight, born May i, 1808, died May 22, 1872; Char- 
lotte Ann, born Sept. 5, 1810, died Nov. 21, 1890; 
Clythera, born July i, 1812, died April 13, 1840; 
Emeline, born July i, 1814, died Dec. 7, 1879; 
Isaac Branch, born Feb. 13, 1816, died J\Iay 2, 1864; 
Lauriston Lewis (2), born Sept. 20, 1821, was 
killed by lightning, June 15, 1832; and Philo Gris- 
wold, born Aug. 15, 1823. 

(VII) Philo Griswold Evarts, father of Frank 
P. Evarts of Meriden, was born Aug. 15, 1823, at 
Athens, N. Y., where he was educated. He began 
his business life as commander of a sloop which 
plied the Hudsun river between Athens and New 
York city. Later he carried on a business in 
stoneware and pottery, at Hudson, N. Y. On June 
13, 1845, lie \^'^s married, in Athens, N. Y., to Jane 
Pallas Seward, who was born in Scipio, New York, 
Sept. 5, 1822, a distant cousin of the noted Aubtirn 
statesman, Wiliam II. Seward, who was secretary 
of State, under President Lincoln. 

After the birth of his son, Mr. Evarts went 
West, with his family, locating in Middlel)urg, 
Ohio, where he followed the pottery business, h'rom 
there he removed to Bridgeport, Mich., and there 
became financially interested in the lumber business. 
From there he moved to Lowv'ille, Wis., and en- 
gaged in farming until 185S, returning then to Mich- 
igan. Until i8(>o he resided in Bridgeport, where 
he was interested in the salt works, removing from 
there to Oberlin, Ohio. In the latter city he worked 
as a carpenter and joiner, and during his residence 
there joined the State militia, which was called out 
by the (lovernor of Ohio at the beginning of the 
Civil war. In i8r)4, Mr. Evarts returned East, and 



37S 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



after locating in Southington, Conn., enlisted in the , 
I2th Conn. v. I. l'"rom the close of the war until ! 
1870, Mr. Evarts worked at his trade, coming in 
that year to Aleridcn, where he died, in June, 1898, 
and was interred in the West cemetery. He drew a 
pension for military service. 

.Mr. Evarts was' a Democrat in his earlier life, 
but later became a Republican. Jn his last years 
he became attached to the Prohibition party, taking 
a deep interest in the work of this organization. 
He belonged to ^Merriam i'ost. No. 8, G. A. R., 
Meriden, in which he was a valued conirade. His 
wife also died in Meridcn, March 8, 1900, and rests 
beside her husband, in West cemetery. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Evarts were consistent members of the 
Methodist Church, earnest workers for the advance- 
ment of religious and moral enterprises, and were 
held in high esteem. They had three children, 
namely: hrank Peck, our subject,. born April 21, 
184O; Benjamin Seward, born in Bridgeport, Mich., 
Oct. 4, 1851, as a [)ainter and decorator by trade, 
married Clara X'andenberg, of Coeymans, New 1 
York, and dieil in Meralen, in March, 1901 : and j 
Charles Lucius, born in Lowville, Wis., Aug. 10, 
185C), marrieil (.'harlolte ( Lolliej Lucas, of .\Eeri- 
dcn. and resides in lloston. 

Erank F'eck Jivarts was educated at Oberlin, 
Ohio, and later learned the carpenter trade with 
his father, and worked at it successfully prior to the 
location of tlie family in Southington. .At this time, 
although but a lad of seventeen, he was fired with 
the patriotic spirit which was sweeping in such a 
wave over the country, and unknown to his parents, 
made his way to Hartford, in .March, 186.^, and 
there enlisted in Co. L i-Hh Conn. V. L, under Col. I 
Peck and Capt. Erank Smith. Until the close of 
the war, the young soldier served hjs country faith- 
fully and well, particiiiaiirg in the operations of the 
.•Army of the (iulf, and in Sheridan's Shenandoah 
campaign. He was discharged at Savannah, and 
with the thousands of the survivors, took part in 
the triumphal review at Washington, I). C. 

After being mustered out of the army, at Hart- 
ford, Mr. Evarts returned to the family home and 
followed his trade unti) iSfx), when he accepted a 
position as millwright with the great Bradley & 
ihd)bard .Manufacturing Co., of Meriden. Since 
that time Mr. Evarts has been a resident of Meriden, 
and has watched with interest the growth of many 
of its great concerns. The plans from which the 
Winthrop Hotel was erected, were drawn under his 
supervision and he superintended its construction. 
Mr. Evarts occupies a position of responsibility 
with the Bradley & Hubbard Co., in being the super- 
intendent of the ornamental department, and pos- 
sesses the confidence of the directors to such a de- 
gree that he is sent on the road as their representa- 
tive, a part of the time. He has made the interests 
of the house his own interests, and by honesty and 
reliability has attained his present position. 

On Sept. 3, 1867, in Xew Britain, Conn., Mr. 



Evarts was married to Mary H. Bod well, born in 
Farmington, Conn., daughter of Woodbridge and 
Sarah Elizabeth (Hull) Bodwell. The latter was 
a daughter of Timothy Gilbert and Polly (Ocame) 
Hull, natives of Old Milford. Mrs. Evarts is a 
member of Susan Carrington Clarke Chapter, D. 
.A. R., being a descendant of Benjamin Bodwell, a 
soldier of the Revolution. Isaac, father of Timothy 
Hull, was a pensioner of the Revolution. Two 
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Evarts, 
namely: Arion F., born Nov. 14, 1868. is a photog- 
rapher connected with the Bradley & Hubbard Co., 
married Elizabeth Walker, of New Britain, and 
has one child, Walter Bodwell ; and Walter 
Clement, born Nov. 21, 1875, died March 3, 1876. 
Mr. Evarts has taken a very active part in po- 
litical life in Meriden. He is a Republican, and in 
1890 was elected alderman from the Second ward, 
serving with efficiency on the committees on Water, 
Fire and Claims. Both his wife and son, with him- 
self, are members of the Congregational Church. 
Mr. Evarts has been prominently identified with 
fraternal and social organizations, being welLknown 
and valued in Meridian Lodge, No. yy, A. F. & 
A. M. : Keystone Chapter, No. 27, R. A. M. ; Ham- 
ilton Council, No. 22, R. & S. M. ; St. Elmo Com- 
mandery, No. 9, K. T. ; Pilgrim Harbor Council, 
.\'o. 543. Royal .Arcanum ; Loyal .Additional Benefit 
.Association : and the Home Club. In the social 
circles of Meriden, both Mr. and Mrs. Evarts are 
factors. Although now Mrs. Evarts devotes the 
greater part of her time and interest to her family 
circle, many of her admirers remember her as a 
gifted vocalist, who contributed to the church music 
in Hartford, New Britain and Meriden. The beau- 
tiful family residence is the result of plans and de- 
signs made by Mr. Evarts, and it stands as one of 
the most imposing and attractive on Lincoln Street, 
Meriden, testifying in a very substantial way, to the 
mechanical knowledge and artistic genius of its 
owner. 

WTLLLAM ROBERTSON RLACK.AA', a well- 
known and ntuch respected citizen of Meriden, and 
a veteran of the Civil war, was born near Troy, 
Bradford Co., Penn., Nov. 13, 1840, a son of John 
R. i\[ackay. and a grandson of Captain Daniel 
Mackay. , 

Daniel Mackay was a native of Edinburgh, 
Scotland, and a member of a Highland Clan whose 
coat-of-arms dates back more than a thousand years. 
The greater part of Captain Mackay 's life was spent 
at sea, where he was in command of a ship which 
sailed from Edinburgh. .After being sliipwrccked 
seven times, he met with an accident from the ef- 
fects of W'hich he was compelled to retire from the 
sea, and spent his last years at hom§, where he 
died, old in years and prolific of honors. 

Mrs. Mackay, who was formerly Mary Rait, 
was born in Lannock, Scotland, and became the 
mother of five children: (i) W'illiam, who died in 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



379 



Edinburgh, his native home; (2) Catherine, who 
died young; (3) John Rait; (4) Donald, who Hved 
at one time in Meriden, and later in Long Island, 
where he died: and (5) Mary, who died young. 

John R. ^lackay was bom in Edinburgh, Scot- 
land, where his parents died in 181 3, and where he 
learned the silversmith's trade. When a young man 
he came to the New World, locating first in Canada, 
where he was employed for a time with the Hudson 
Bay Company. Removing to New York City some 
years later, he married Isabella K. Robertson, 
daughter of William Robertson, a native of Scot- 
land, and at that time a crockery merchant in New 
York. JMr. Mackay removed to Pennsylvania with 
his young bride, making a home near Troy, in 
Bradford county, where he followed farming for 
several years. Not finding the life of an agricul- 
turist as congenial and remunerative as he hoped, he 
returned to New York City and resumed his trade 
as a silversmith,, working principally in Sterling 
Silver. At a later period he removed to Dorchester, 
Mass., and found employment with R. Gleason & 
Sons, a position maintained until shifting his al- 
legiance with the starting of the Britannia business 
b\- H. C. Wilcox and others, in W'allingford, Conn. 
\\hen the latter named concern was removed to 
Meriden, Mr. ^Mackay brought his family to this 
city, where he passed the remainder of his life work- 
ing in the die and mould-making department of 
the Meriden Britannia Company. While still in 
middle life he died in 1878, and was buried in Wal- 
nut Grove Cemetery. In politics he was first a 
Whig, and became by natural development a Repub- 
lican. * His devoted wife and widow died in 1880, 
and was also laid to rest in Walnut Grove cemetery. 
In religion she was a member of the Congregational 
Church, a Christian woman, and devoted to her 
home and family. Mr. and Mrs. Mackay had a 
family of four children: (i) Daniel, who died in 
Wallingford in 1868, and was buried in Walnut 
Grove Cemetery, married Cecilia Kissam, and had 
two children, Isabella Robertson, who died young ; 
Elizabeth, who married D. A. Toles, of Jersey City, 
N. J.; (2) William Robertson; (3) John Rait, who 
died in Meriden in 1901, and was buried in Walnut 
Grove Cemetery; (4) Catherine B., of Meriden. 
The latter is an active worker in the Congregational 
Church, and is a woman of marked culture and 
social ability. 

William Robertson Mackay removed with his 
parents to New York City, where he attended school, 
and later went to Dorchester, Mass. While still 
in his teens he came to Wallingford and worked in 
the Britannia shops until the breaking-out of the 
Civil war. On Aug. 6, 1862, he enlisted in Com- 
pany K, 15th Conn. Vol. Infantry, under Col. Dex- 
ter R. Wright, and Capt. H. H. Stiles, of New 
Haven, and, as recruiting officer, succeeded in en- 
listing fifty-nine men. Serving until his discharge 
at New Haven at the close of the war, he partici- 



pated in the various engagements of his command, 
and was never sick or off duty a day. 

Upon resuming a life of peace, Mr. Mackay lo- 
cated in Meriden, where his parents were living at 
the time, and worked for nine months in the spin- 
ning department of the Meriden I5ritannia Company. 
Being a man of resource and possessing progressive 
ideas, he fomied, in company with P. S. Pelton, 
Jesse Cline, Henry Lewis and Lewis Hall, a liritan- 
nia business in Philadelphia, a venture of short dura- 
tion, owing to the fact that the climate and comi- 
mercial spirit of Meriden were more favorable to a 
profitable management of the business. When the 
firm of Parker, Casper & Company was formed, Mr. 
Mackay became interested therein, and was a stock- 
holder and contractor for three years. He was also 
engaged in contracting with the Silver Plating 
house of the Wilcox Company, and continued with 
that house until the formation of the Meriden Silver 
Plate Co., of which he was one of the organizers 
and stockholders, and assistant treasurer and super- 
intendent for over thirty years. He then became 
identified with the International Silver Company, 
and has since efficiently performed his numerous 
duties to the entire satisfaction of the management 
of that institution. 

Mr. Mackay is a man noted for his upright char- 
acter. He w-as one of the charter members of the 
Meriden Post, No. 6, G. A. R., and is affiliated with 
Meriden Lodge, No. 77, A. F. & A. IsL. Keystone 
Chapter, No. 27, R. A. M., and St. Elmo Com- 
mandery. No. g, K. T. He was one of the charter 
members of the Home Club. In politics he is a Re- 
publican, and represented the First ward in the city 
council, where he served on the Fire and Police 
committees. 

In 1879 Mr. Mackay married in Meriden, Miss 
Minnie E. Billard, daughter of the late John D. 
Billard, of Meriden. Mrs. Mackay died in 1880, 
and is buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery. For his 
second wife Mr. IMackay married in 1883 Miss 
Matie E. French, of New Haven, daughter of the 
late Capt. William French. The two children which 
have brightened this home are W'illiam Robertson, 
Jr., born Nov. 6, 1884. now a student, and Stanley 
F., born July 20, 1888, a student in the Grammar 
School. 

Mrs. Mackay is a woman of culture, and, like 
her husband, is libera! in her religious views. She 
is domestic in her tastes, and profoundly devoted to 
the interests of her family, a keen observer of men 
ami' events : with her husband and' others she has 
traveled to Europe, visiting many places of interest 
in France and Germany. Mr. Mackay is a man 
deeply interested in the comfort and welfare of his 
wife and sons, and is justly proud of their standing 
and character. 

John Rait ]\Iackav, a brother of William Rob- 
ertson Mackay. was born in Nev.' York City, and 
secured his primary education in the schools of 



38o 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Jersey City, where his parents were Hving before 
their removal to Dorchester. At the latter place 
he also attended school, and completed his education 
in Wallingford. In 1865 he came to Aleridcn, and 
for years held a position with the Meriden Silver- 
plate Company. His death occurred at the home of 
his brother, William K., Dec. 15, 1901, and he was 
buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery. Mr. Mackay 
united with Company I, National Guard, in 1872, 
under Capt. Dexter W. Parker, and was promoted 
to corporal, and later to sergeant. He wa« made 
second lieutenant, Jan. 11, 1876, under Theodore 
Byxbee, and served as a commissioned officer until 
he was honorably discharged, February, 1878. 
In 1876, Lieutenant Alackay commanded his com- 
pany on the occasion of its journey to Philadelphia 
to participate in the Centennial exercises in that 
city. 

Mr. Mackay was a strong Republican, but no 
politician. He was one of the best known citizens 
of the town, and was noted for his genial dis- 
position and upright character. He was one of the 
best informed men of the city, keeping himself 
posted on all the leading events of the day, and on 
most subjects he was regarded as authority. He 
was an upright citizen, and was nnich beloved by 
those who knew him best. 

'I'hk Fkexcii Family, of which IMrs. Mackay 
is a notable representative, are old settlers of New 
England. David French, her great-grandfather, 
was a resident of Vermont, and bore an important 
part in the War of the Revolution, as did also his 
brother, William, who was the first man to shed his 
life blood in that great struggle in New Hampshire, 
in which state a stone monument is erected to his 
memory. 

David French, son of David, and grandfather of 
Mrs. Mackay, was a resident of ,'\ndover, Windsor 
Co.. \'t., where he married, and became the honored 
sire of a family of thirteen children. Removing 
with his family to New York, he located at Cox- 
sackie. Green county, where he became a large land 
owner and successful merchant, and died ten years 
after settling in tliat locality. 

William French, the son of David, and the father 
of Mrs. Macka\-, wa- born ( )ct. 10, iSk;, in An- 
dover, Vt., and was but three years old when he 
removed with his parents to New York. Left an 
orphan when thirteen years of age. tlu' remainder 
of his youth was spent on the farm. ;uid he was 
given a good common school education. He was 
a man of much reading and wide observation. When 
young, he became a steamboat man on the Hudson 
river, working under his brother-in-law. Capt. 
I-Jarry Squires, and in time was made captain of a 
scliooner. After this nautical experience he was 
extensively engaged in the manufacture of brick 
at Hudson, N. Y.. where he had one of the largest 
kilns in that section, and in connection therewith 
owned several schooners and sloops eunploved in 
the transportation of his products to New York and 



other points. For many years he carried on this 
business very successfully, and after disposing of 
his brick interests became engaged in the coal trade. 
From Hudson he came to New Haven with his 
family, and undertook the management of the canal 
wharf for the Canal Railroad Company, and was 
thus employed for three years. He then began a 
wholesale coal business, which was carried on until 
1895, when he retired from active business. While 
on a visit to his daughter, Mrs. Mackay, at Aleriden, 
he died May 24, 1898, and he was laid to rest 
beside his wife in Evergreen Cemetery, at New 
Haven. 

The Methodist Church had a stanch supporter 
and helpful member in Mr. French. Domestic in 
his habits, he was much devoted to his wife and 
family. In early life he w^as a Whig, but on the 
formation of the Republican party, united with its 
fortunes, and though no ofifice seeker, was always 
an earnest worker in that organization. He was a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and was noted 
for his honorable and upright character. 

William I'rench was married in Coxsackie, N. 
Y., to Lydia A. Briggs, who was born in Coeymans, 
N. Y., and was a daughter of John Benjamin and 
Nancy (Hempsted) Briggs. The Briggs were an 
old family in Coxsackie, and the Hempsteads 
founded Hempstead, Long Island. Mrs. Lydia A. 
French died in New Haven, Sept. 24, 1893, and was 
buried in Evergreen Cemetery, of that city. She 
was a devout and consistent member of the Meth- 
odist Church, a notable Christian woman, and a de- 
voted wife and mother, whose many virtues and 
graces of heart and character are long remembered 
by those who come after. She was the mother of 
six children: (i) William F., of New Haven; (2) 
George, who died young; (3) Anna, deceased; (4) 
Charles I., of New Haven, who has three children, 
Donald, Walter and Charles I., Jr.; (5) Matie E., 
who married William Robertson Mackay; and (6) 
Grace, who married E. Z. Dow, of New Haven, and 
is the mother of three children, William French, 
Arthur Kimball and Gardner. 

HENRY GLEASON NEWTON, residing in 
New Haven, where he is the senior member of the 
law firm of Newton, Church & Hewitt, was born in 
Durham, Conn., June S, 1843. He is of Colonial 
descent, numbering among his ancestors Roger 
Newton, first minister of Farmington, Conn., and 
second minister of Milford, and Rev. Thomas 
Hooker, first minister of Hartford, Conn. He is a 
meml)er of the Sonsi of Colonial Wars and Sons of 
the American Revolution. 

In 1861 Mr. Newton entered Wesleyan L'ni- 
versity, Middletown, and was obliged by ill health 
to abandon his studies; in 1863 he entered again, 
and a second time his health failed him, but he 
succeeded eventually in completing the course, 
graduating in 1870, and ranking third in his class; 
he made a sjiecialty of mathematics;. He then en- 





n^^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



;si 



tered Yale Law School, and by diligent study com- 
pleted the course there in 1872, winning the prizes 
for essays in civil and common law. The same year 
he was admitted to the Bar, and in New Haven, 
entered upon the active practice of his profession, 
in which he has taken high rank. He has taken an 
active interest in the administration of public affairs, 
and in 1885 was a representative in the General 
Assembly from Durham, and became House chair- 
man of the Judiciary committee. The following 
term he was declared elected, but a miscount being 
claimed, j\Ir. Newton, as attorney for his opponent, 
contested his own election and succeeded in unseat- 
ing himself. In 1895 he again became a representa- 
tive in the General Assembly, this time, however, 
from New Haven. During this term he drew sev- 
eral important laws, as well as a revision of the 
Constitution recommended by the House. At the 
present time he is serving as a member of tlie State 
Board of Health, and is referee in Bankruptcy for 
New Haven county. He is also a director in and 
attorney for the Yale National Bank. He is the 
author of the work on Probate Law in the Con- 
necticut Civil Officer : article on the Bankrupt Law 
of 1898 in Encyclopedia Britannica ; article on the 
Blue Laws of New Haven in the New Haven His- 
torical Society : and the History of Durham in 
History of Middlesex county. 

In 1885 Mr. Newton was united in marriage 
with Sarah Allen Baldwin, of Cromwell, Con- 
necticut. 

HON. JOHN P. STUDLEY. Judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas of the County of New 
Haven, is a representative of a family that has long 
lived in New England. 

Bom May 15, 1846, in the town of Sharon, 
Conn.. Judge Studley is a descendant in direct line 
from Benoni Studley, who lived in Sandwich, Mass., 
and was in that part of Scituate now called Han- 
over, in 1702, in which year his house was built in 
Hanover street. In 1701 he married Abigail, 
daughter of John Stetson, of Scituate. He died 
suddenly in 1746. 

The name Studley is an old English one, found 
in the County of Kent, and also in "Yorkshire. Sav- 
age in his Genealogical Dictionary, in referring to 
Benoni Studley, says that perhaps he was a son of 
John, who was a .son of John Studley, of Boston, 
who had by his wife, Elizabeth, a son John, born in 
1659. This John and Elizabeth were in Boston in 
1659. 

From Benoni Studley of Sandwich. Mass.. Judge 
Studley's line is through his son, Joshua, who was 
born in 1707, and married in 1735 Lydia Pratt. 
Joshua died in 1759 or 1760, and his wife in 1759. 

Joshua Studley (2), son of Joshua, the next in 
line, born in 1742', married Ruth .Allen, and in 1771 
settled in the town of Sharon, Conn. He was a 
carpenter by trade, and a man of successful enter- 
prise. 



Ichabod Studley, son of Joshua (2), was the 
father of children as follows: Joshua, Gideon A., 
Enoch and Calvin. 

John P. Studley, the subject proper of this 
sketch, in his early boyhood removed with liis par- 
ents to Ansonia, and from the town of Derby, when 
but sixteen years of age, enlisted Aug. 4, 1862, in 
Company B, 20th Conn. V. I., the fortunes of which 
he shared and in which he bore an honorable record 
for three years, being mustered out with his com- 
pany June 13, 1865. The 20th saw much active 
service from start to finish. For a period in its 
early history it formed a part of the 12th Corps, 
Arm}' of the Potomac, under Gen. Hooker, and was 
engaged at Chancellorsville May i, 2 and 3, 1863, 
losing some eighty-five in killed and wounded, and 
as many more in prisoners. The regiment was 
among the first to arrive at Gettysburg, under Gen. 
Meade, where for a time it was on the defensive, 
awaiting the arrival of other troops. The 12th 
Corps occupied a position at the extreme right of 
the line at Gulp's Hill, jiitted against Ewell's Corps 
(formerly Stonewall Jackson's), arid after seven 
hours, fighting, drove the enemy back with great 
loss. The following fall the regiment, with the 
12th Corps, joined the Army of the Cumberland at 
Chattanooga, and on Jan. 20, 1864. were engaged at 
Tracy City, Tenn. Jn April, 1864, the nth and 
I2th Corps became the 20th, and in this corps the 
20th regiment thereafter remained. The regiment 
was in action at Boyd's Trail, Tenn., May 9, 1864, 
and bore an honorable part at Resaca, Ga., May 
15, 1864; CassviMe, Ga., May I9_; and at Pumpkin 
Vine Creek. The 20th also took an active part in 
all the marches and skirmishes and battles for the 
two months following, the regiment doing proudly 
at the battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 20, 1864, by 
a gallant charge which drove the enemy back from 
the field, and capturing prisoners and arms. Again, 
the 20th regiment was the first to enter the city 
after the siege of Atlanta, from July 21 to August 
7, 1864. It was afterward engaged at Silver Run, 
N. C, March 15, 1865, then at Bentonville, on 
March 19, losing thirty-six enlisted men. The regi- 
ment was at Raleigh, N. C, in the fight of April 13, 
and thence started homeward by land, passing 
through Richmond, Va., May 11, and on the 20th, 
reaching \\'ashington, where it participated in the 
Grand Review. It was mustered out June 13, 1865. 
On the close of the war our subject began anew 
his school days, entering Phillips Academy, at An- 
dover. Mass.,' taking the college preparatory course, 
and graduating in 1868. The same year he entered 
Yale College, where he pursued his studies for two 
years, then temporarily accepted a position in the 
Navv Department at Washington. He held this 
appciintment nearly three years, resigned and re- 
turned to New Haven, entering Yale Law School, 
from which he was graduated in 1875. After his 
graduation he was immediately admitted to the Bar 
in New Haven, began the practice of law in the 



382 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



office of the late Hon. George H. Watrous, and was 
soon, owing to his energy, habits and perseverance, 
on the road to usefulness as a citizen and success 
in his profession. For the past twenty years the 
former soldier bov has occupied a prominent place 
in the citizenship of his adopted city, and has filled 
a number of positions of honor, tru3t and responsi- 
bilitv, and, to his credit be it said, the duties of 
each have been most efficiently and ably performed. 
In 1878 he was elected to the common council of 
the city and served therein two years, tlie last year 
as its president. Jn 1880 he was elected a member 
of the board of aldermen, and served for a term 
of two years. In 1881 lie was elected by the State 
Legislature as Assistant Judge of the New Hav<- 
City Court, and in January, 1883, he was made 
Judge of the same court, his term of office expiring 
"in March, 1895. Two years later he was elevated 
to the Judgeship of the Court of Common Pleas for 
New Haven County, a position he has since held. 
He has also held by appointment the office of as- 
sistant city attorney. 

Socially Judge Studiey is prominent in the 
Knights of Honor. He was initiated into Roger 
Sherman Lodge, Xo. 323, at New Haven, Feb. 26, 
1878, and has since served the lodge in various 
official capacities. In 1880 he was chosen to repre- 
sent the Grand Lodge. In 1881 he was elected 
Grand Vice Dictator, and in May. 1883, he^ was 
promoted to the Grand Dictatorship of the Grand 
Lodge of Connecticut. 

FREDERIC SPRING, M. D., is the senior 
member of the well-known firm of Spring & Bull, 
prominent physicians and surgeons of Naugatuck, 
Conn. The talent and culture of these gentlemen 
have gained them an honorable position in the med- 
ical profession, and they enjoy an extensive practice. 

Dr. Spring was born in New York City, April 
25, 1858, and on the paternal side is of English de- 
scent, though the family was founded in this country 
in the early colonial days. His great-grandfather. 
Rev. Samuel Spring, pastor of a church at New- 
buryport, Mass., was a Revolutionary chaplain, and 
went with Benedict Arnold to Quebec. The grand- 
father. Rev. Gardinar Spring, was born in New- 
buryport, Mass.. and for over half a century was 
pastor of the Presbyterian Church at the corner 
of Thirty-seventh street and Fifth avenue. New 
York City. A i:)art of this time he also preached 
down town where the Times building now stands. 
He married Susan Barney, of New Haven, Conn., 
a daughter of Hannilial and Phoebe (Wolcott) 
Barney and granddaughter of Gov. Wolcott of this 
State. She was born Sept. i, 1781, and died Aug. 
7, iHCk). Lucius L. Spring, the father of our sub- 
ject, is the youngest in their family of fifteen chil- 
dren, two of whom were lawyers, one a doctor and 
some merchants. Nearly all settled in New York. 

Lucius L. Spring is a native of New '^'ork Cfitv, 
and there he has made his home throughout life. 



For many years he was a manufacturer of railroad 
iron, such as rails, but is now living a retired life, 
having acquired a comfortable competence which 
enables him to lay aside all business cares. He 
married Miss Martha C. Parson, who was born in 
New York, a daughter of an editor. She died at 
the age of fifty-two years. To them were born 
nine children, namely: Louis, deceased; Mary E., 
also deceased; Frederic, our subject; Gardinar, a 
physician of White Haven, Md. ; Edward Walton, 
auditor of the Erie railroad ; Cleveland Winslow, 
deceased ; Samuel ; Charles, deceased ; and Lillian, 
wife of Howard L. Isbell, of Naugatuck. In po- 
litical sentiment the father is a Republican. 

Dr. Spring passed his boyhood and youth in New 
York, and was graduated from the Harvard prep- 
aratory school. For a few years thereafter he en- 
gaged in business, and then entered the University 
of tlie City of New York, where he completed his 
medical course and was graduated with the class of 
1884. He next made a special study of the diseases 
of Women and Children, and in 1886 came to Nau- 
gatuck, where he has since successfully engaged in 
the practice of his chosen profession. He is now 
associated with Dr. Thomas M. Bull, under the firm 
name of Spring & Bull, and they have a fine resi- 
dence and office in Naugatuck. Constant study and 
close application to the details of their profession 
have won for them a prominent place in the medical 
fraternity. 

On Sept. 15, 1879, Dr. Spring was united in 
marriage with Miss Isabel Brockway, who was born 
in New York, daughter of Oscar F. Brockway. 
They now have three children : Gardinar, Eliza- 
beth Paton and Natalia. The Doctor and his fam- 
ily are members of the Congregational Church, and 
he also belongs to Centennial Lodge, No. 100, I. 
O. O. F., the Knights of Pythias ; and the Nauga- 
tuck, New Haven county and State Medical So- 
cieties. In his political affiliations he is a Repub- 
lican. 

WALTER WHITTLESEY BRONSON is the 
son of William Clark Bronson, and grandson of Ira 
Virgil Bronson, M. D., who was born in New York, 
and spent most of his life in Washington. Con- 
necticut. 

The Bronson family in Connecticut begins its 
American history with John and Richard Bron- 
son (Brownson or Brunson), the former of whom 
was early in Hartford, and is believed to have been 
one of the company which came in 1636 with Rev. 
Mr. Hooker, of whose church he was a member. 
During the Pequot war he served as a soldier. He 
was an original proprietor of Hartford, "by cour- 
tesie of the town," in 1639. About 1641 he removed 
to Tunxis, now Farmington. and was deputy from 
Faraiington to the General Court in 165 1. His ad- 
mission to the Farmington Church is recorded Oct. 
13. 1652. and his death occurred in 1680. John 
Bronson had the following children: Jacob, John, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



5«3 



Isaac, Abraham, Mary, Dorcas and Sarah. Of 
these (i) Jacob, born in 1641, lived in Kensington 
Societv, Farniington, where he died in 1708. His 
children were: Samuel; Jacob, of Kensington; 
Roger, of New Alilford; Isaac, of Lyme; Elizabeth; 
and Rebecca. (2) John (2), is mentioned below. 
(3) Isaac was born in 1645. (4) Abraaani, bap- 
tized in 1647, removed to Lyme. 

Richard Bronson, supposed to have been at Hart- 
ford with his brother John, removed in 1653 to 
Farmington. where he united with the local church 

- • * 1 

the following year. His wite was a sister ot the 
wife of \\'illiam Pantry, of Hartfoni. When he 
died, in 1687, he had a second wife, Elizabeth, who 
had been the widow of George Orvis, of Farming- 
ton, and, still earlier, of David Carpenter. She died 
in 1694. Richard Bronson had the following chil- 
dren: Abigail, born about 1643; John, born about 
1645; and Mary, baptized Feb. 12, 1658 (Farming- 
ton records). 

John Bronson (2), son of John, was born in 
1644, became one of the first settlers of Waterbury. 
His children were: John, of Southington ; Eben- 
ezer, of Woodbury; W'illiam, of Farmington ;, and 
Moses, who married in 1712, and had a son, Moses, 
born in 1736. 

Cothren, in his "History of Ancient Woodbury," 
1854, says : "Moses Bronson, probably a de- 
scendant of John, of Farmington, removed from 
Berlin, Conn., to Hillsdale, N. Y. ; had a son 
Ephraim, who married Bertha Virgil, of Hillsdale, 
and had fourteen children," giving Ira V., as the 
fourth child. According to Hinman's "Puritan 
Settlers of Connecticut," Moses Bronson moved to 
Hillsdale, N. Y., about 1755, his son Ephraim at 
that time being a child of about ten years of age. 

Ephraim Bronson reared his family in Hillsdale, 
Kinderhook, or in Delhi, N. Y., in which places the 
family resided at different times. They settled last 
in Groton, N. Y., where Ephraim died. 

Ira Yirgil Bronson, M. D., noted in a preced- 
ing paragraph, was bom Oct. 18, 1778, in New 
York, and went, while still young, to Simsbury, 
Conn., where he read medicine with Dr. Everett. 
In 1804 he removed to Washington; Conn., where he 
settled and practiced medicine. Dr. Bronson mar- 
ried Sarah Ann Moseley, daughter of Capt. Abner 
Moseley, and granddaughter of Increase Moseley, 
who was born in 1738, and was a member of the 
Committee on Safety during the war of the Revolu- 
tion. Dr. Bronson was a \\ hig and a Congrega- 
tionalist. 

William Clark Bronson spent his early years in 
Washington, Conn., and married Lucy Ann, daugh- 
ter of Charles Whittlesey. In his early manhood 
Mr. Bronson taught school for a time, but his vo- 
cation was farming. His death occurred in Wash- 
ington. To him and his good wife were born: 
(i) Martha Augusta, who married Henry S. Nettle- 
ton; (2) Mary Ann, who married Edward W'. 



Fenn; (3) Walter Whittlesey; and (4) Harriet, 
who died young. 

Mrs. William C. Bronson traced her descent 
from (1) John Whittlesey, a native of Cambridge- 
shire, England, who came to New England with 
the Lords Say and Seal Company in 1O35. Mr. 
Whittlesey was married there June 20, 1OO4, to Ruth 
Dudley. He held a number of town offices, being 
a number of times elected representative to the 
General Court between 1O44 and 1703. He died 
April 15, 1704. 

(Hj Eliphalet Whittlesey, born July 24, 1679, 
married Dec. i, 1702, Mary Pratt, and in 1707, lliey 
moved to Xewington, Conn., where he was engaged 
in farming. He died Sept. 4, 1757. 

(HI) Eliphalet Whittlesey (2), born May 10, 
1714, married (first) Dec. i6, 1736, Dorothy Kel- 
logg, and i'l 1 7*^ I removed with his family to Wash- 
ington, Conn. Mr. Whittlesey was a prosperous 
farmer, a pillar in the church, one of the leading 
men in the town in which he lived, and an energetic 
soldier and officer in the Colonial wars, in which he 
took an active and impurtam part. He died July 
17, 1786. 

(IV) Martin Whittlesey, born Oct. 5, 1737, mar- 
ried Nov. 27, 1760, Sarah Deming. He was a 
farmer of Newington and Washington. He was 
a soldier in the war of the Revolution, ami became 
a United States pensioner for the loss of his health 
incurred in the service. He died Alay 2y, 1800. 

(\') Joseph Whittlesey, born March 20, 1764, 
married Oct. 6, 1785, Mary (Polly) Camp. He 
was a captain in the State Militia, and served a 
number of times as a representative in the State 
Assembly. He died March 8, 1838. 

(VI) Charles Whittlesey, father of Mrs. Bron- 
son, born Oct. 5, 1793, married (first) Oct. i, 1816, 
Mary Ann Camp. He was a farmer in New Pres- 
ton, Conn., and was a deacon in the church from 
1826 to his death, which occurred Feb. 6, 1855. 

Walter W. Bronson was born Feb. 18, 1848, in 
W'ashington, Conn., and there spent his early days. 
In 1865 he attended' the Connecticut Literary Insti- 
tute, Suffield, and for several years thereafter 
taught winter school, working on the farm in the 
summer season. When he became of age he se- 
cured a clerkship in a general store at Washington, 
which he held until he was twenty-four years old. 
In 1872 Mr. Bronson came to New Haven to enter 
the store of Robert Barnes Bradley, and remained 
with him and his successors until the organization of 
The Bronson & Townsend Co., in December, 1898. 
His home was in Washington until 1880, when he 
removed to Waterbury, three years later returning 
to his Washington home, where he remained until 
1896, in which year he took up his residence in New 
Haven. 

Mr. Bronson was married in Washington, Conn., 
Oct. 4, 1877, to Helen M., daughter of Seth S. 
Logan, a farmer and leading citizen of that com- 



384 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



munity. Mr. Logan was an old-time Democrat, 
and at one time held the office of State Comptroller. 
Walter S. Logan, at one time the president of the 
New York State Bar Association, is a brother of 
Mrs. Bronson. To Mr. and -Mrs. Bronson have 
been born three children: (ij Howard Logan, 
Yale, 1900, is now an instructor in Yale, as an as- 
sistant to Professor Wright. (2) Clarence Whit- 
tlesey, Yale, 1900, is now a law student at his alma 
mater. (3) Lewis Ilollister, Yale, 1901, is in the 
employ of the Bronson & Townsend Co. Walter 
W. ISronson belongs to the Young Men's Repub- 
lican Club of New Haven, and in religious connec- 
tion is a member of the Congregational Church. 

'. WILLLAM DWIGHT PARKER, original in- 
ventor of self-jilaying instruments, has been a resi- 
dent of Meriden' fourteen years, and during that 
time has been a valued worker in the stafif of the 
Wilcox & White Company. His family is a very 
old one in New England, having been established 
here as early as 1630. His father, Charles A. Park- 
er, was a native of Princeton, Mass., a carpenter and 
owner of a saw mill, and was possessed of con- 
siderable mechanical genius, which seems to have 
been inherent in the family. His death, which oc- 
curred in Princeton, at the age of forty-six years, 
was caused by cancer of the stomach. He was an 
old-line Whig and a member of the Congregational 
Church. His wife, Sylvia A. Moore, who was also 
a native of Princeton, was a descendant of an old 
colonial family, and died while visiting a daughter 
at Plainfield, N. J. Mrs. Parker, who is buried in 
Princeton, was the mother of seven children, name- 
ly: Lucy, Sarah, George, William D., Mary, Ella 
and luuma 1*". The fitth and sixth both died in 
childhood, while the first married Thomas R. Howe, 
and the second, Alilton Howe, both of Princeton. 
George resides in Champaign, 111., and Emma P. is 
the widow of George Bartlett, of Princeton, Mass. 

The subject of this sketch had very little op- 
portunity to attend school, but has broadened his 
mind and developed his character by private re- 
search and discriminating observation. He was ear- 
ly introduced to wearisome toil, and after working 
in his father's saw mill until he was si.xteen years of 
age, had qualified to contract for the construction 
of a house, 'lliis early evidence of ambition, en- 
ergy and ability is still standing, a monument of 
which he is justly proud. I'or some time he was 
employed in the operation of woodworking machin- 
ery at Worcester, Mass., being first in the service 
of Howe & Chase, and later with the I'.radley Car 
Company. 

Before attaining his majoritv, Mr. Parker re- 
sponded to the call of his country foi volunteers to 
preserve its integrity, enlisting Aug. 13, 1864, in 
Co. F, First Battery of ALass. Heavy Artillery, and 
served until his discharge at Fort \Varren, in 1865, 
at the close of the struggle. Tn 1X65 he returned to 
Worcester and worked as a carjienter for a short 
time, sulisequently s])cnding Innr \ears in the shops 



of Taylor & Farley, organ manufacturers, and eight 
years with the Loren & Blake Organ Company, 
of Worcester, being superintendent of its plant dur- 
ing the last three years. His mind was not idle 
during this time, but was ever studying the mechan- 
ism of musical instruments, with a view to design- 
ing improvements. Alany ideas now in universal 
use are due to his constant study. After leaving 
Loren & Blake Organ Company Mr. Parker became 
a stockholder and director of the Tabor Organ 
Company, of Worcester, and was superintendent of 
its factory for five years. Believing in the possi- 
bilities of the West, he was induced to sell his stock 
and invest in the Kansas Organ Company, of Leav- 
enworth, Kas., in which city he resided one year. 
Not satisfied with his western environment, he sold 
out his interests there and returned to Worcester, 
where he was engaged as inventor and perfector by 
the Monroe Organ Reed Company, manufacturers 
of automatic instruments. 

Mr. Parker became a resident of IMeriden in 
1888, and has since continuously served the interests 
of the Wilcox & White Company, makers of the 
celebrated '"Angelus" — an automatic organ-player, 
and other automatic instruments. His skill and 
faithfulness are well-known, and he fills a re- 
sponsible and lucrative position in the musical world 
of Meriden — no circumscribed circle among the in- 
dustries of the "Silver City." Though he does not 
enjoy all the emoluments arising from their manu- 
facture, the ideas involved in the valuable products 
of this factory are largely due to the genius and 
indefatigable effort of Mr. Parker. 

On Christmas day. 1866, William D. Parker mar- 
ried in Worcester, Mass., Miss Margaret Colwell 
Smith, who was born in Newport, R. I., a daughter 
of Morton Smith, of that city. Only one of the 
three children of ^Ir. and Mrs. Parker is living, 
namely : Herbert. Two daughters died in child- 
hood. Mr. Parker is a member of Atherton Lodge, 
A. F. & A. j\L, of Worcester, is a Republican in 
political principle, and is independent in religious 
thought. Though he does not affiliate with any 
established Church organization, he is respected as 
an honest man and good citizen. The Golden Rule 
supplies his moral code, and in the game of life 
he endeavors to "play fair." 

WILLL\M A. CLARK was born in Seymour, 
Dec. 25. 1810, and died Jan. 15, 1879. He was en- 
dowed with inventive genius of a high order, and his 
justly celebrated expansive bit, which he invented 
and manufactured is one of the most valuahle inven- 
tions in the tool line that has ever been perfected in 
this country. His large factory in Wcstville, which 
was built in 1870, was a model of its kind. He 
conducted this establishment until his death, turning 
out small hardware, bits, hollow augers, etc. It is 
also claimed that Islr. Clark invented friction match- 
es, previous to 1S35, and before his location in West- 
ville he manufactured them in Woodbridgc, finally 
turning that business over to his son, Frank E. He 






(Pr 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



j'33 



employed about fifteen hands in tlie factory, and 
seventy-five hantls in making the boxes, mostly 
women and chiUhx-n in their own homes, and turned 
out twenty thrusand gro^5 ])er year, using sixty 
thousand feet of huuber. The work was done 
mostly by hand. However, Mr. Clark's skill was 
not confined wholly to invention and manufacturing. 
He was an up-to-date farmer, his skill in husbandry 
being unsurpassed in his locality. 

On June lo, 1S41. Mr. Clark married Emily 
Dibble, a native of Woodbridge, and ilaughter uf 
John Dibble, who was, born in Woodbridge, where 
he followed farming all his life. He married ]!et- 
sey Hine, who was born in W'ootlbridge, a daughter 
of Moses Hine and granddaughter of Stephen Hine. 
Philo F. Dibble, the father of John Dibble, was born 
in Woodbridge, anil his father, John Dibble, who 
graduated from Yale, came from Danbury, Conn. 
After their marriage \\'illiam A. and Emily (Dib- 
ble) Clark settled in the town of Woodbridge, 
they were the parents of four children : \M11- 
iam Eugene, Theodore Dibble, Frank Emerson 
and Jessie A. (^Irs. Xewton). William Eugene 
died when he was twenty-six years old; Theodore 
Dibble died at the age of thirty-one years ; Frank 
E. lives in California. ^Irs. Clark, the mother, is 
still living. Jonathan Clark, the father of William 
A., was a farmer in Woodbridge. He married 
Amelia Osborn, and had two sons, Elizur and Will- 
iam A. George Clark, the father of Jonathan, was 
the fifth in descent from George Clark, the settler, 
who located in iNIilford in 1639. 



JAMES DWIGHT DAXA, Scientific Explorer, 
Mineralogist, Geologist, Zoologist, Professor in 
Yale University. We quote freely from the open- 
ing chapter of the life of James Dwight Dana, by 
President D. C. Gilman : 

"The life of Prof. James Dwight Dana is the 
life of a distinguished naturalist, successively an ex- 
plorer, an in /estigator, a writer, an editor and a 
teacher. His versatility is as noteworth\- as his 
longevity. Gifted with uncommon ])Owers cf ob- 
servation, memory, comparison and reasoning, he 
devoted them to the science of mineralogy, geology 
and zoology. He had the advantage of a favorable 
environment in liis, youth — at home, at school and at 
college. Rare opportunities were subsequently en- 
joyed for seeing the most interesting parts of the 
globe — a visit to the Mediterranean sea ; a voyage 
around the world, with prolonged stay among the 
South Sea Islands; a summer in Switzerland; and 
a journey, later in life, across the American conti- 
nent, and beyond it to the Hawaiian islands. Long 
periods of qui t study and reflection intervened. 
Close relations with the most distinguished investi- 
gators in this country and abroad (principally by 
corres])ondence), and the prompt reception of their 
latest publications and their comnumications to the 
journal of which he was an editor, gave him early 
information of the progress of science and quickened 

25 



in him the spirit of research. The duties of an in- 
structor, never burdensome, kept him in touch with 
youth. During the latter half of his life he suffered 
from continuous ill health, but by cahiuiess of mind 
and economy of energy, by extraordinary concentra- 
tion while he was at work, and by habits of complete 
repose at stated intervals, he accomplifhcd far more 
than ordinary men who have no sense of mental 
weariness and no liodily ailment. With self-imposed 
restrictions, siqiported by the cheerfulness and se- 
renity of his wife and children, he contiimed to work 
until the \-ery last hours of his life, which extended 
two years beyond four-score. Death came to him 
with a gentle summons after he bad been crowned 
with abundant honors, and after his contribution to 
science liad given him the foremost rank animig 
his scientific countrymen and an honorable place 
amon,g illustrious naturalists of the nineteenth 
century. 

"Mr. Dana's life, in the main, is one of tranquiFity. 
Its chief interest consists in the unfolding of a mind 
'1 of rare abilities, and in the progress of his fcientific 
I work. Yet during his long career there were inci- 
dents of more or less exciting nature, such as the 
perils of the sea, including shipwreck ; the observa- 
tion of life among cannibals; the ascent of lofty 
'mountains; the |)leasitres of discoverv in unknown 
regions: the interchange of ideas with the leaders 
of contemjiorary thought ; the controversies of sci- 
ence and religion, and the earnest discussions inci- 
dent to the advancement of knowledge. The re- 
organization of a university, the building uj) of a 
school of science, the establishment of a nniseum 
of natural history, tlie conduct of the American 
Jouriia! of Science, the maintenance of corresi)ond- 
ence with investigators from P>erzelius to Darwin, 
and the inspiration of successive generations of 
young students are among the services of his life. 
Five ,great works, several smaller volumes, and 
numerous minor publications are enduring illustra- 
tions of his ability. 

"Problems of world-wide interest engaged his 
attention. Opportunities such as will never come 
again were opened lo him in the exploration of the 
Pacific ocean. Moreover, he lived in a period when 
scientific inquiry was more varied, comprehensive 
and exact than it ever was before in the progress 
of mankind ; when new fields invited students ; 
when new instrun;ents of rcscr.irch were at his com- 
mand ; and large outlays for the advancement of 
science were made by institutions and govcrimients. 
The great principle of evolution was announced 
and developed during this period, and Dana's cor- 
respondence on this and kindred subjects, with 
Darwin, Gray. .-Vgassiz and Guyot, and his success- 
ive papers, bearing more or less on this subject, 
are of significance in the history of the acceptance 
of that tloctrine. 

"James Dwight Dana was born I''el>. 12, 181.^, in 
Utica. r)neida Co., N. Y., the eldest of ten children 
of James and Harriet (Dwight) Dana, who were 



386 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



married in 1812, she a dausjhter of Setli Dwislit, 
of Williamsburgf, Mass. Mr. Dana's forefathers 
had Hved in Massachusetts for several generations. 
He removed to Utica soon after his marriatje. and 
died there in August, i860. 

"The parents of James Dwight Dana were aHkc 
characterized by thrift, integrity and good sense. 
Both of them were of strong rehgious convictions, 
l)ascd upon the modern Calvir.istic doctrines of the 
Congregational Church, to which they heloiiged. 
Everything in his home life at Utica was wiiolesome 
and invigorating." 

i'rof.Dana attended the Ctica high school after 
his fourteenth year, from which school hv went m 
Yale College, in 1830, attracted, as he afterward 
said, hv the reputation of I'rof. ISenjamin Silliman, 
who was then at the height of his reputation as a 
teacher, lecturer and editor, and under whose gni<l- 
ance many of the leaders in American science re- 
ceived their erliest training. He began his new 
life at the beginning of the Sophomore year, and 
graduated, I'.. .\., in 183,^. In his Senior year he 
offered himself for the jiosition of teacher of the 
midshipmen in the I'nited States Navy. This iip- 
]inintment he received, ;uid in this capacity he 
visited the ports of I'rance, llal\. (Ireece and 
Turkey while on the "Delaware" and the "United 
States." l-'roni 1836 to 1838 he was assistant in 
chemistry to I'rof. .Silliman. In December, 1836, he 
was appointed mineralogist antl geologist of the 
United States e.xjiloring expedition then about to be 
sent out by the United States government to the 
Southern and Pacific oceans under the command of 
Capt. Charles Wilkes. The exi>edition sailed in 
August, 1838. Mr. Dana was on the "Peacock" 
until it was wrecked on a sand-bar at the mouth of 
the Columbia river, July 18, 1841. With this ex- 
pedition he was aliseiU from the P'nited States three 
years, returning in the smnmer of 1842, making 
his residence at Washington from 1842 to 1844. 
Relations were ([uickly establisihed with the fore- 
most naturalists in America and Eurojje. For more 
than a decade his absorbing duties consisted in the 
]5reparation of three voluminous repcirts entrusted 
tii him. I'.esiiles mineralogy and geology, he had 
under his sui)ervision the zoological department, in- 
chiding the Crustacea and corals. Mr. Dana had 
been first appointed in the field of geology, and his 
observations and deductions are given in a large 
(juarto valume of 756 pages, with a folio atlas of 
21 ])lates ( 1841;). Later, liowever, in part because 
of the return of one of his colleagues to the United 
States, he assumed charge of the Crustacea and 
zoophytes. These combined de])artnients gave full 
scope to Jiis zeal and industry. The result of -his 
work in this dejiartments of zoology include a Re- 
l>ort on Zoophytes, a (juarto volume of 741 pages, 
with a folio atlas of 61 plates (1846) ; and a Report 
on Crustacea, in two tpiarto volumes, aggregating 
1620 pages (1853), accompanied by a folio atlas of 
ninety jilates ( 1854). A large part of the drawing 
cf the plates in both books was made by the e.x- 



plorer's own hand. These were published by the 
government in Washington, and only a hundred 
copies of each were is-sued. 

In 18^0 he was ajipointed .Silliman ]irofessor of 
Natural History and Cleology in Yale College" and 
entered into the administration of the chair in 1856. 
The .-ubse(|uent delivery of the lectures on natural 
history by others led to a change in the title of the 
professorshi]), in 1864, to that of Geology and Min- 
eralogy. Diu-ing the earlier years of his professor- 
siiip the measures were adopted which transformed 
the rndinuntary Scientific School of Yale College 
into that great institution which bears the name of 
it- ch'ief benefactor, and is widely known as the 
."-•heffield Scientific School. In the plans for its ex- 
pansion Dana took an active and influential part. 
He in(|uired into the work of kintlred institutions 
in luudpe, as they were described to him Ijy those 
who had lately returned from studies abroad, and 
he advocated tlie adoption of some of their methods. 
He urged the securing of an endowment, and he 
pointed out the uses that could be made of funds 
which .sjinuld l)e supplementary and auxiliary to 
those already held Ijy Vale College. The cabinet of 
minerals belonging to Yale received a great deal of 
attention ami care. Professor Dana undertook its 
arrangement and the preparation of labels, conform- 
ing closely to his own manual of Mineralogy, and 
he encouraged the students and public to visit freely 
the collections. He was one of the original board 
of trustees, and the construction of the building, 
as regards internal arrangements, was largely deter- 
mineil by ])lans made by him. 

Like Silliman, Dana was soon invited to deliver 
public lectures in different cities, usually under the 
auspices of Young ]\Ien's Institutes. The only ex- 
tended tour that he consented to make was made in 
the winter of 1857, when he visited, in rapid succes- 
sion. Utica, I"ort Llains, Canajoharie, tluffalo, Cleve- 
land, Louisville,* Cincinnati and Pittsburg. From the 
enthusiastic report of his lecture upon "Corals" in 
L'tica, his native place, it is obvious that he held the 
audience in delighted attention. "No scientific lectur- 
er ever si)oke more directly than he to the popular 
appreciation and instruction. To lively and pic- 
tures(|ue language he added an earnest, distinct and 
jilcasant delivery." Not far from thirty years had 
jiassed since the L'tica schoolboy was collecting 
rocks and minerals, and now he came "home" with 
wide experience, high station and national renown, 
to address his townsmen on the most fascinating 
branches of geological investigation. 

F"or fifty years Mr. Dana was associate editor of 
the Jiucricon Journal of Science and Arts, now the 
oldest scientific paper in the United States. The 
duties connected with this journal received a large 
portion of his time, for thr.t period, a service entitled 
to ample recognition. This journal was founded by 
the elder Benjamin Silliman in 1818, and conducted 
chiefly by him alone until 1838, when his son, Ben- 
jamin Silliman, Jr., late professor of chemistry in 
the college, was associated with him, and with the 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



387 



beginning' of the second series Air. Dana, soon to 
he made I'rofessor of Geology and Mincralog}-, iie- 
came also one of the editors-in-chief. These two 
gentlemen then carried on the work together, the 
senior editor having retired, but later most of the 
editorial labor devolved upon Prof. Dana, aiul this 
remained true until the later years of his life. Then 
these duties were assumed by his son, lulward S. 
Dana, whose name ai)i)ears among its editors-in- 
chief in 1875. 

Dana's .Manual of Geology first ;ippeared in 1862. 
and the subsequent editions came in 1S74. 1880 and 
i8y5. 'I'his work, as his son has said, is not simply 
a compilation of facts, but a development of the 
whole subject with a breadth, philosophy and orig- 
inality of treatment that have seldom been attempt- 
ed. Among his works in book form are "System 
of Mineralogy" (New Haven, 1837; 5th edition, re- 
vised, New York, 1868) ; "Maiuial of Mineralogy" 
(New Haven, 1848; 4th edition, revised in New 
York, 1881); "Coral Reefs and Islands" (New 
York, 1853); "Manual of Geology" (Philadelphia, 
1863: 3d edition, revised in New York, 1880); 
"Te.xt Book of Geology" (1864; 4th edition, revised, 
i<*^.S'3) ; "Coral and Coral Islands" (New York, 
1853) ; "The Geological Story Brietly Told" (1875; 
levised, 1895). 

Professor Dana was a member of scientific socie- 
ties in the United States and abroad, including the 
Royal Society of London, the Institute of France, 
the Royal Academy of the Lincei of Rome, the 
Royal Academies of Berlin, Vienna and St. Peters- 
burg, and one of the original members of the Acad- 
emy of Science in the United States. For a time 
]ie attended the meetings of the American Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science, and the Na- 
tional Academy of Sciences, of both of which 
be was chosen president. But he had no liking fur 
such assemblies, and as years went on he excused 
himself more and more frequentlv from engage- 
ments which took him away from home at periods 
hxed for the convenience of others. Throughout 
his later life academic honors had been abundant. 
Amherst College confi.ri-eil n|)on him the honorary 
degree of Doctor of Laws, in 1853, before he en- 
tered upon the professorship of \'ale. Pie was ad- 
mitted to the like distinction at Harvard, in 1886, 1' 
and at b'dinburgh in 1889; from Munich, in 1872, 
he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Phil- 
osophy. On several occasions he was the recipient 
of distinctions still more personal. The Copley medal 
was awarded him by the Council of the Royal .So- 
ciety of London. ]'"ive years before, in 1872, the 
Wollastan medal of the Royal Geological Society 
of London had been awarded to him for his con- 
tributions to mineralogv and geologv. The Roval 
Society of New South Wales awarded hiiu the Clark 
^lemorial medal, in 1882. 

Professor Dana's religious life "was sim])le and 
devout, full of good will to all men, absolutely free 
from dogmatism and obtrusiveness. Rvcn among 



h.is most intimate friends lie rarely referred to his 
i.imost convictions and hopes." Just before the ex- 
jieiHtion sailed he became a memlier of tiie ['"irst 
Cluu-ch of Christ in New Haven, and in later life he 
was a eonununicaiU in the college church and was 
constant in his attendance upon divine worship. In 
national polities he was deeply interested in all the 
controversies that preceded the Civil war. He was 
strongly devoted to the cause of the Union, but 
never ])artici])ated in public meetings. 

Some numths after .Mr. Dana's return f ri mi the 
Pacific, he announced his engagement to Miss Hen- 
rietta .Sillinian, daughter of his former teacher, 
I>enjaniin Silliman. and sister of his future colU^ague, 
Benjamin .Silliman. Jr. The marriage took place in 
New Haven, June 5, 1844, and after that New Haven 
veas his iiernianent abode. The liap])iness of the 
liome was greatly increased by the children that 
from time to time came info it. These were six in 
all, of whom four survive, two — a son and a daugh- 
ter — died of diphtheria in early childhood, in Au- 
gust, iS()i. The eldest daughter, Frances, has been 
since November, 1870, the wife of George D. Coit, 
of Norwich, Conn. The eldest son, Edward Salis- 
bury, is well known as hi> father's associate in the 
faculty of Yale I'niversity, and in the editorship of 
the Journal of Science- Another son, .\rnold Guyot, 
is connected with the Financial Chronicle, edited by 
his uncle, \\'illiam P.. Dana, in New S'ork City. 
The youngest daughter is still her mother's com- 
panii 111. 

I'riif. Dana died at bis lidiiie on Hillhouse ave- 
nue. New Haven, A\)t\1 14. 1895. 

JOHN JOEL OSBORN, for many years one 
of New Haven's leading husiiiLSs men and ])ronii- 
iieiit citizens, and several of whose children are 
now identified with the city's interests, notablv John 
J. and Frederick A. (the latter engaged in the life 
insurance business), was a rej)resentative of one of 
New Haven's Colonial families — a family whose de- 
scendants have he.n eloselv allied with tlu' gr(jwth 
and progress of the city and vicinitv, the name oc- 
curring in different lines of trade and in the vari- 
ous professions through a period of 260 years. 

Born Dec. 18, 1817, in New Haven, Conn., Mr. 
Oshorn was a son of Joel and Naiicv ( Hitchcock) 
Osborii, and a grandson of Capt. Medad and Ra- 
chael ( Hntehkiss) Osborn, both Captain and Joel 
( )sl)orn being of New Haven, and were engaged in 
farming and manufacturing in the line of woolen 
goods. C';ipt. .MLilad ( )sliorii was a soldier of the 
Revohitiiin. 

It is stated in .Vtwater's history of New Haven 
that John Joel ()s!)orn was a descendant in the 
eighlh generation from Thomas Osborn, wlio set- 
tled in .\"ew Haven in I''i38. Savage', in his "Gen- 
ealogical Dictionary of .\'ew iMigland." gives a 
Thomas Oshorn of New 1 ia\en, i'')39, and as remov- 
ing to Easthamptoii. L. I., in 1650. I^he town of 
Fasthampton was inirch.-ised as far eastward as 



388 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Montaiik in 1648 hy Tlioi)])hilus P'-aton. (lovcmor 
1)1' tliL- l.J)lciiiy of Xew llawn, and IC(l\vard_ 1 lop- 
kins, (iovcrncir of the Colony of Connfinicul. for ihc' 
lu-ni'lit of the original si-ttk-rs. and was assigne(l to 
thcni in the spring of i''>5i. Six of tlie nine oritjinal 
s.ttlers of tlie town were- from ],ynn, Mass.. to tliat 
])oint. 'Idionia- < )shiirn's name is not i,nven as one 
of the ori<,nnal nine settlers, hut it is one on the list 
of those who fidlowed. and heeanie ver\ early their 
associat.s. lled.ues. in liis Address and History of 
l-;asthani])ton. L. I. (iS,Vjl. f''oni whieh the fore- 
i^'oiiiij relative to ]''.asthanii)lnn was taken. sa_\s that 
Thomas (Jslmrn died .'-^epl. IJ. iji-'. a.ged ninety 
years, and that the '■( )shorn family ajipears to have 
i)een eniinnt fnr their industry, fruyality. morality 
and ])iety." 

|<ihn ioel ( )sliiirn early met with a two-fuld mis- 
fortune — the los- nf his father and his own health-— 
his father dvino- when the lad was ti,L;ln years of 
ap;c, and for seven years John j. was an invalid 
ecMitine I tii the house. .\lter the re^auiinj.;- of his 
health he attended a wi-U-known scIukiI at Wilhra- 
ham, Mas>. lie rettUMied from sehdol in 1833. at a 
period when the city of .\ew Haven .-eenied to be 
the center of the carriai^v manufacturing business 
of the country. \'oung ( )sbiiru became an ai)pren- 
lice lo the carriage l)usiness with Isaac Mi.K & Sons, 
th.n one of tlu' twn leading tn-ins in the business in 
that citw the other being Jame- I'.rewster. Tliis 
lirm failed during the )ianic .>f 1837. and .Mr. ( )sl>orn 
fomid emplo\'nu-nt in a carriage laci(ir\ iti the town 
of Milford. Conn., and tun \ears Later, in 1839. 
bonght otn liis employer. In 1840 .\lr. ( )sbnrn 
closed U]) the -Milford l)Usiness. and became asso- 
ci;iti-d in the same kind of business as a partner of 
the late 1 lenr\ llnoker. of carriage uiamitacture 
note, under the hrm name of Hooker & ( )sborn. 
'I"h^se gentlemen in 1841 est,ablished a branch house 
at Richnii nil. \ a., and sonn afterward another 
lir.anch at .\ew ( )rleans. I,a. Mr. ( )sl)orn took 
charge of tin' house at Richmond and lived in that 
city from 1841 in 185J. and Iniilt up an extensive 
bii.-iness. (in |ul\ 1. 1855. Mr. ( )sborn imrchased 
Mr. Hooker's interest in th, business in Richmond 
rmd ,\ew lla\en. and the followitig \e;ir Imk in 
with liim as a ])artner John .\driance. and the two 
were associated together in carrying nn the busin.ss 
until 1871J. wdien .\lr. ( )sborn retired from active 
bnsine.-s. and th.ereafter tnitil his death, wdiich oc- 
curred Jun, >-,, 1887. devoted his time to his pri- 
vate business affairs. 1 lis career was ( ne of marked 
success, he early dis|)layed characteri-lics which go 
lo make n|) a successful business life, Ih' was a 
man of excellent judgment and abilit\ . and his 
opinions were regarded a- of the best -go-ul and 
safe — and he was not infr, (|uentl\- consulted in re- 
gard to business matters. He owned considerable 
pro])erty in .\'ew Haven. He was a i)lain. unasstnn- 
ing gentleman ancl gre.atly attachecl to his family 
and honu. 

Un June 27. 1853. .Mr. ( );born was married tu 



Charlotte .\. Gilbert, of Se\'mour, Conn., a daugh- 
ter of Ezekiel (iilbert. a retired Xew Haven mer- 
chant, and a descendant of Judg.- ^Matthew Gilbert, 
an early settler of the Colony of New Haven, 
k'.zekiel Gilbert. I'ather of Mrs. ( )sborn. was the son- 
of Thomas Gilbert, who was a farmer and shoema- 
k.r in the town of Huntington. Fairfield Co.. Conn. 
He served in the Re\olutionary war. Si.x children 
were bor?i to John j. ancl Cliarlotte A. ((.iilbert) 
( )sborn, namely: t'mtis I'"., who died an infant: 
Robert (i.: |ohn J.: h'rederick .\.; \'irginia; and 
SekLn \'a:e." 

J.\RI£I) I!EXH.\M. The expression the ••dig- 
nity of labor" is exemplitied in the life record of 
this gentleman, who, withoiu reserve, attributes his 
success to earnest work. He is a man of strong 
force of character, pur[)osefnl and energetic, and his 
keen discrimination and sound judgment are shown 
in his capable management of wdiat is one of the 
leading industrial concerns of Hanulen — the Ham- 
den Manufacturing Co. — of which he is president. 

.Mr. Ilenham was Ixn-n on the farm where he 
now resides. May 18. 1823. and belongs to an okl 
Xew Haven county family, tlis paternal grand- 
father. Deacon Joseph I'.enham. was a native of the 
town of Cheshire, born in 1750. and there he grew 
to manhood and learned the tanner's and shoe- 
maker's trades. .After his marriage he came to 
Haniden. where he continued to follow his chosen- 
occupation throughout his active business life, but 
he spent his last days in retirement from labor with 
the father of our subject. He always took a deep 
interest in public affairs, and was numbered among 
the useful and resjiected citizens of the comn-mnitv 
in which he lived. In Cheshire he married .Miss 
Elizabeth r.unnell. a native of that town, born about 
1752. She died in Hamden in 1832, and he passed 
away in the same place Jan. 25, 1836. and both were 
buried in the Hamden Plains ceii-ietery. They were 
earnest, consistent Christian people, and held i-nem- 
bership in the Congregational Church, of which 
Mr. Henhai-ii was a deacon. Their children were 
George, Amos, Ransom, Betsey, .\da, Jared (who 
died at seal ai-id Isaac, all now deceasccl. 

Isaac I'lcnham. father of our subject, was horn 
in llan-iden .\ug. 2. 171)1. and recei\-ed only a dis- 
trict-school education. He le.-irned the shoemaker's 
trade with his father, and made the same his life 
work. He owned the small farm on wdiich our sub- 
ject now resides, jiartly built a house, and made 
other im])rovements upon the ])lace. The house is 
still standing, and is kept in good repair. Mr. lien- 
ham was noted for his temperate habits, was a 
strong advocate of the cause of temperance, and an 
active member of the Methodist I'^];)isco]jal Church, 
in wliich he served as class-leader and held several 
church ofiices. I'olitically he was first a Whig and 
later a Republican, but never sought political hon- 
ors. ( )n .March 8. 1813. he married Miss .Annie 
Tullle, a daughter of .Varon rulllc, and a school 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAI RECORD. 



1^9 



leaclicr, wlio was lioni in Middlelniry. Conn.. Jan. 
JO, 1795, and died in Hanidcn Aiii;'. 2, iS~(). SIk' 
was a lady of education and rL'tinenicnt, and was also 
a faithful member of the Methodist F.piscopal 
(.'Inirch. 'Pile father died at his home in I lani<Ien, 
Jan. 23, iiS/ij, from the effects of an injury he had 
received in the bowels, and was laid to rest by the 
side of his wile in the famil\' cemetery in llamden 
Plains. To them were born four children: (1) 
William, born March 4, 1S17. a retired citizen of 
.Xorth llaven. married .March 27, 1S43, Xancy Ives, 
who was born .Vug. 22. 1S17. and died Jiil\' 1 1, 1884, 
the mother of two children, .\ddie lletsey and .\nn:i 
.Xancv. (2) Isaac. Imrn July (>, 1S21. died when 
one day old. (3) jared is the subject proper of 
this review. (4) [ietsey .\nn, born .Se]>t. 30. 1S27, 
died July 30, 1846. Isaac I'lcnham. the father, was 
a most remarkably \vell-i)reserved man. and at his 
advanced aije he was spoken of liy all as ;i man who 
surely would li^e to be one hiuidre<l. lie liveil a 
most e.Kemplary life, his influence and example al- 
ways for ri,c;ht and the betterment of all. 

The common schools of llamden aft'orded Jared 
Itenham his edtication.al advantattes, but he was able 
to attend school onl\ throuii-b the winter months, 
as he was em]iloyed durintj the remainder of the 
year on the home farm, or by neighborin.L;' farmers, 
after he attained his fifteenth year, and his small 
wa^tjes went toward the suiiport of his parents tmtil 
lie attained his majority. .\t the age of twenty-one 
his father ijave him Sioo and a cheap satinet suit of 
clothes, as was the style those clays, as a lionus. and 
he found emjilovment in the rnblier shop of L. Can- 
dee & Co., of Hamden. where he at first worked for 
$1 iK'r day. During' the eleven years he remained 
with that company, liy the faithful discharsje of his 
(huies. he worked his way u))ward to the ])osition of 
sui)erintendent of the ])ackin_o- department. The 
following year he engaged in farming m llaniden, 
and then obtained a |)osition in ihe auger and bit 
manufactory of \\'. Churchill iS: Co.. where he was 
gradualh' ,ad\'anced initil he becinne manager of the 
plant. Later he was a stockh<ilder of Ives & Co., 
in the same line of business, and when that firm dis- 
continued business he became a stockholder, man- 
ager and treasurer of the llamden Manufacturing 
Co. On the retirement of Horace 1'. .Shares as 
])resident he was elected to that office, which he has 
since filled, in connection with that of assistant treas- 
m-er, to tlie entire satisfaction of all concerned. 

In 1844. in Ilamdrn, .\lr. I'.enham m.-irried Miss 
Rhoda M. W'oodin, a ii;itive of that town, and a 
daughter of Charles and lU'lsev (Coo])er) W'oodin. 
Her paternal grandfather was lienjamin W'oodin, 
her maternal grandfather .\liram Cooper, a soldier 
of the Kevolittionary war. Two children have been 
born to Mr. and .Mrs. llenham : ( 1 ) Charles Isaac, 
secretary and manager of the Hamden .Matiufacttir- 
ing Co.. was married .Mav i;, 1867, to Miss Emiua 
.\delle Dornian, and they have children as follows: 
Charles Jared, a thrifty and enterprising merchant 



in tile flour, feed and grain business in Xew Haven, 
born .\pril 12, i8C)8, married Dec. 2^. i8(jo. Miss 
Kathleen Peters, of r.rooklvn. .X. \'.. and has one 
daughter, .Mildred .\delle, born Jan. 7, i8(;2; Sarah 
.\1. was born ( )ct. 17, 1882: and I.erov ( )rrin was 
born .March 7, i8i;i. (21 Jared .\., also with the 
Hamden .Manufacturing t'o., was educated in the 
district schools and the schools of .Xt'w 1 lavi-n. He 
was married Dec. 4, 1870, to Ineetla Poller. Ik- 
is \-ery prominent in social circles, is a member of 
Day .Spring Lodge. 1". iK: .\. .M.. <if ll;nnden; ihe 
lnde])endent ( )r(ler of ( )dd I'ellows, Knights of 
Pythias, ;ind Sterling Lodge, .\. ( ). C. W'!, all of 
-Xew ll.i\en; .\nsant;iw;.ie Tribe, 1. ( ). K. .\1.: |un- 
ior ( )rder Cnited .\merican .Mechanics; Washington 
Camp. P. ( ). S. .\. ; ( iolden Rule l-jicam])ment, I. 
('.(>. I-'.: and the .Mutual .\i<l .Vssociation. 

I>\- his l)allot Jared I'.enham. our subject, has 
sni)])oned first the Whig an<l later the Re])ublicaii 
party, but he has never sought imlitical |)refennent, 
though he w;is at one time a candidatt- for re])re- 
sentative, losing the election liy a single vote. He 
had fre(|uently declined to allow his name to be 
used as a candidate, and this defeat came at a time 
when Hamden was a Demcicratic town. .\t the regu- 
lar election tin- \-ote was \\v. which was voted over 
on the day after election, at which tinn' .Mr. P.eii- 
hani was bedfast with ])neinnonia. In town affairs 
.Mr. I'.enham looks first to the man, ;uid his jjolitical 
connc'ctiim h;is lieen sim|)l\ that of ,a good citizen, 
who has al heart the town's welfare. He is well 
known and highly respected by all classes on ac- 
count of his sterling worth. He cotitinues to reside 
on the old homestead, where he has made nianv im- 
provements, including the erection of a fine resi- 
dence, su])])Iie(l with all modern conveniences, and 
this beautiful home is noted for its hospitalitv and 
good cheer, h'or the success that .Mr. I'.enham has 
achiexeil in life he deserves great credit, for it is 
due entirely to his own well-directed efforts and 
strict integrity. 

In church aft'airs Mr. I'.enham has shown greater 
activity than in ].)olitics. He has alwa\s been ])rom- 
inently identified with church work, as also was his 
estinial)le wife in her lifetime. In the .Methodist 
Episcopal Church, diu-ing over forty-ti\-e years, he 
was always in .some office, holding every office in the 
church at different times, except that of class-leader, 
which he declined. In .Sabbath-school wcrk he took 
an active jiart. He was for years a le;iclier. and for 
almost thirty years was superintendent. The fol- 
lowing set of resolutions were given him by llam- 
den Plaitis Sabbath-school in recognitioni of his 
faithful si'rvices : 

WiiKKi-As, Our esteemed lirotlier, jared Hcnliani. has 
for morr tlian a ([ii irtiT of a century lillni tlie oftice of 
Sabbath .Sclinol .Superintendent in the .Metliodist Episcopal 
Church, at Hamden Plain.s, C"nii., 

lifsntrcil. That the Saliliatli .School Hoard, composed of 
officers and teachers, and represenunt; more than "iOO mem- 
bers, do record our high estimate of the ability, the intecT- 
rity, the hberahty, and the self-denying labjrs of our d"ar 



390 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



brother, whose disinterested efforts for the welfare of the 
school, we have seen and admired. 

JirKidrif/. That his presence in the school )ias yielded us 
the highest gratification, and his cheerful spirit and strong 
and steady faith in i'.od has enlisted our affection and 
insjiired us with greater efforts in the work of our fjlessed 
Lord. 

li,.'<nlri.(i. That we desire Heaven's richest blessings to 
rest upon him and that the same may attend him through 
life. ^ , 

ReKolretl. That these resolutions he ent-red in the Sab- 
bath School record book, also that a copy be prepared and 
neatly framed and pr<'sented to Brother Benhaiu. 
Hamden, Conn., March, ISM. 

[Signed) Nl-.I.SON I.. I'ORTI-.K, 

lll'IiERT K. WAK.NER. 

Edwaku 1). Sanioki). 

Mrs. Jared I'.ciiliani died May 22, 1901, after 
fiftv-six years of married life, and was buried in 
Hamden 1 Mains cemetery. Slie was a iKilile. kind- 
hearted. Christian wcmian. wiio had tlie ])rofi)mid 
respect nf every one. The life of .Mr. llenham has 
been one of constant effort to do unto others as he 
wished to he done liy. Xo man in ll.iniden has. 
to an\- i;i-eater exlenl. the resjiect of every one. His 
kind and i^eiitle manner is known of hy old and 
yonns;-. Mis remarkable activity and well-preserved 
condition are the result of a temperate life and regu- 
lar liabils. When eighteen yi-ars iild he made his 
mother a promise never to tise tobacco, and he never 
(lid afterward. I le tasted ale once when a _\-oung 
man, and that was the last time he ever used into.xi- 
cants. and he is jtist as strong in example as in ])re- 
cept. Jle was a "home spun' boy of his time, reared 
under Christian intluence and teachings, and has ever 
tMideavored to live ;i Christian life, not one day, but 
seven days in the week. His nearly ci,ghty years 
of life have been spent, with exception of a few 
years, at the same liome where he is now ]iassing the 
c'venitig of his wt'U-spent life. 

ni':.\J.\Ml\" S11.L1M.\.\. M. n.. LL. D.. Pro- 
fessor of Chemistry. Mineralogy and (jcologv in 
Yale ("ollege from icS()2 to iHfi/;. atid tlu- most emi- 
nent teacher of X.atural Science of his time in .Amer- 
ica, was born in .Xortli Stratford (now Trumbull), 
Conn., .Vug. 8, 1771). In the follmvitig pages we 
fHiote freely front tlu- memoirs of 1'rof. Silliman by 
Prof. Gecn-gc P. iMsher. 

Daniel Silliman. the first of the name who set- 
tled in ]'"airfield. Coim.. is understood in the tradi- 
tions of the family to have been an immigraiU from 
]Iolland. "Later discoveries, in which F'rofessor 
Silliman was much interested, indicate that the fam- 
ily was of Italian origin. .At the epoch of the Ref- 
ormation persons bearing the name of Sillitnandi, 
and professing the Reformed faith, removed from 
1-iicca, in 'J'uscany, and took refuge in Geneva, then 
the common resort of persLcuted Protestants. Their 
<!escendaiits, who had dropi)ed the terminal svllablc 
di from the name, are found established in .Swit- 
zerland. They liave among them the tradition that 
a member of their family, named Datiiel Silliman, 
who had Jield a civil ofifice in lierne. left that citv 



for political reasons and went to America about the 
time of the Puritan emigration from England. There 
are strong reasons for believing that the first Daniel 
Silliman of I'airfield was either the emigrant from 
Perne, or a near relative. In this case Holland may 
have been a temporary place of sojourn, and at any 
rale, from Jlolland he would naturally embark for 
America, which will perhaps account for the tradi- 
tion which id.nlifies the progenitor of the Fairfield 
Sillimans with that country." 

Judge Ebenezer Silliman (1707-1775), thi? 
grandfather of P'rofessor Silliman, was a graduate 
of Yale College in the class of 1727; he pursued the 
profession of law, became a judge of the Superior 
Court of the Colony, and was a member of the 
Governor's Council. He was the proprietor of a 
large landed estate, and an influential man in public 
affairs. His son. Gen. Gold Selleck .Silliman ( 1732- 
171)0), the father of Professor Silliman. was like- 
wise graduated from Yale College, in 1752. After 
engaging for a .-hort time in business he studied 
law, and Ijccame a successful practitioner at the Bar, 
as is indicated by his holding the office of Prosecut- 
ing Attorney for the County. He had interested 
Irmself in military affairs, and at the outbreak of the 
Revolution was a Colonel of Cavalry in the local 
militia. Pitit during most of the war he was Brig- 
a<lier-( ieneral, and was charged with the superin- 
tendency of the defense of the Southwestern front- 
ier of Connecticut, which, on account of the long 
occupation of the City of New York and West- 
ch.cstcr county, as well as Long Island, by the Brit- 
ish, was a post requiring much vigilance and effi- 
ciency. He took the field at the head of a regiment 
early in 1776, was in the battle of Long Island, and 
both in that retreat and in the retreat of the Ameri- 
e.-m forces from Xew York City his command was 
]ilaced as the rear guard. He bore a perilous and 
iionorable part in the battle of White Plains, and on 
this, as on several other occasions, narrowly escaped 
the balls of the enemy. While serving in the camp 
of Washington. Gen. Silliman enjoyed his confi- 
dence. In Ma>-, 1779, a party that was sent to 
Lloyd's Neck by .Sir Henry Clinton surprised Gen. 
Silliman in his own house, and for a year he re- 
mained a prisoner on parole at Flatbush and Graves- 
end, L. T. Subsequently he was exchanged. 

( )n his mother's side Professor Silliman was di- 
lectly descended from Pilgrims of the "Arayflower." 
His grandmotluT. whose maiden name was Rebecca 
Peabody, was the daughter of Elizabeth Pcabody, 
wild lies bm-ied in Little Compton, R. I., and was 
well remembered h\ her grandson, she dying in her 
eightieth year at his father's house, and she was 
fourteen when her gr.-mdmother died: and her 
mother was the daughter of John Alden and Pris- 
cilla Mullins, the legend of whose love, which 
brouglit disappointtnein to the hopes of Miles Stand- 
ish, has been commemorated in Mr. Longfellow's 
verse. 

The grandfather of Professor .'^illiman in the 





(^t.\^ 



Sd. /^^^.-.^^^.^yL.yJ^^'^^-^t-^l-'-^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



391 



maternal line was Rev. Joseph Fish, a graduate of 
Harvard College, and for fifty years the pastor of 
a church in North Stoningtoii, Conn., whose repu- 
tation as a man of exemplary piety is sustained hy 
his letters. Ilis eldest daughter. Mary Fish, the 
mother of Professor Silliman, was first marrietl, in 
1758. to the Kev. John Xoyes. son of the pastor of 
the First Church in Xew Haven. Mr. Xoyes died 
in ij'ij. Her marriage with (Jen. Silliman took 
place in 1775. He had heen jirevionsly married, and 
a son, William Silliman, the fruit of this rarliLr mar- 
riage, was now a youth. 'I'hree of her children also 
survived, Joseph. John and James XdVcs, the last 
two of whom ultimately became faithful ministers 
of the (ios])el, and died at an advanced age. In 
1804 she was married a third time, to Dr. Jdlm 
L^ickensnn, of Middletown. who died in uSii. licr 
own death occurred in 181X. ".She combined in her 
nature a woman's tenderness with a remarkable 
fund of energy and fortitude. " 

lienjamin Silliman was prepared for college un- 
der the tuition of his ])astor. Rev. .Vndrcw h^lliot. 
He entered Yale College in 1792, and was graduated 
in 1796, and jjassed the following year at the home 
of his mother in Fairfield, which had beui the place 
of residence of the Sillimans from the early Colo- 
nial days. He then taught school in Wether-field, 
and was a resident tlure the greater ]iart of the 
year 1798. In that same year he returned to Xew 
Haven, and began the study of law in the eiffice of 
Simeon Baldwin; and in .September, 1799, when he 
had reached the age of twent\', he was ai^poinled a 
tutor in Yale. This he held until his admission to 
th*i Bar, in 1802. One of his classmates and a tutor 
in Yale with him was Charles Denison, and both ; 
were admitted to the Bar at the same time. Denison 
be;came a lawyer of high repute, .\mong his fellow 
pupils were two with whom he was destined to he 
intimately associated for nearly the whole of his ! 
long life, Jeremiah Day and James L. Kingslew 

At this ]5eriod in young Silliman"s life natural I 
science was lieginning to attract the attention of 
educators. The corporation of ^'ale had. several ; 
years before, at the reconnnend.ilion of 1 'resident 
Dwight. pas.-ed a vot.' or resolution t(.) establish a 
professorship of Chemistry and X'atural History 
as soon as the funds would admit it. The time had 
arrived when the college could safelv carrv the reso- 
lution into effect, and at the solicitation of President 
Dwight Mr. Silliman abandoned the profc-sion of 
the law and devoted himself to the p)-ofession of 
science. Tlie circumstances of this change of i)lan 
he describes as follows: "Tlu- |iresident tlien did mc 
the honor to jjropose that 1 should consent to have 
my name ])resented to the cor|)oratinn. giving me 
at the saiue time the assurance of his cordial sup- 
port, and of his belief that the ,ipi)f)intment would 
be made. I was then ajiproaching twenty-two years 
of age — still a youth, or only entering on early man- 
hood. I was startled and almost opi)ressed by his 
proposal. A profession — that of the law — in the 



study of which I was already far advanced, was to 
I)e aljandoned, and a new profession was to be ac- 
quired, ])receded by a cmtrse of study and prepara- 
tion, too, in a direction in which in Connecticut 
there was no prec^deiU. The good President ]K'r- 
eeived my sin-prise and emljarrassment, and with 
his usual kindness and resource proceeded to remark 
to this effect: 'I could not propose to you a course 
of life and oi cftort which woidd promise more use- 
fulness or more reputation. The jirofession of the 
law does not need yuu : it is already full, and many 
eminent men adorn our courts of justice: you may 
also be obliged to cherish a hope lon.g deferred, be- 
fore success would crown \inir elTorls in that pro- 
fesion, although, if successful, you may become rich- 
er by the law than you can l)y science. In the pro- 
lessioii which 1 profTer to yon ther^ will lie no rival 
here. The field will be all your own. The study 
will be full of interest and gratification, and the ])re- 
s.ntation which you will be able to make of it to the 
college classes and the public will afford nnich in- 
struction and delight. ( )ur comUry, as regards the 
pb.ysical sciences, is rich in unexplored treasures, and 
])y aiding in their development .von will ]x-rform i\\\ 
important public service, and coimect vour name 
with till- rising reputation of our native land, 'fime 
wdl be allowed to make everv necessary pre|)aration ; 
and when you enter upon ycur duties you will speak 
to those to wdiom the subject will be new. Yini will 
advance in the knowledge of your ])rofession more 
rapidly than your i)U]>ils can follow }ou. and will 
alwa\s be ahead of }-our audience.' " .\ir. ."silliman 
in 1802 was chosen t<) this ])rofe^sorship. and as a 
me:ms of preparation I'or it he passed two winters 
m Philadelphia in the study of chemistry under 
Prof. James \\'oodliouse. Professor of Chemistrv in 
the I'niver.-ity of Pennsylvania. ( )n .April 4. 1804, 
he delivi.red his first lectitre to the seifior class in a 
])ublic room, hired for college purpcjses. in Mr. Tut- 
tle's building on Cha])el street, on the history and 
])rogress, nature and subjects, of chemistry. "I con- 
tinued to Kcture. and 1 believe in the same room 
until the .Senior class retire<I. in July, preparatorx' 
to their commencemeiu in September. Alv first 
eft'orts were received with favor, and the class which 
I then acklresscd contained men who were afterward 
distinguished in life. On the 4th of .Xpril. 1804, I 
commenced a coiu^se of duty as a lecturer and pro- 
fessor, in which 1 was sustained during fifty-one 
years." In the following year he gave a com])lete 
course of lectures, and in March, 1803. he went 
abroad to jjurchase scientific bcjoks and apparatus, 
and spent about a year in study in Fdinburgh and 
Fondon. He also visited and met manv distin- 
guished men of science. Returning to this country, 
he devoted himself to the ditties of his professorship, 
which included chemistry, mineralogv and geology, 
until 1853, when he was made professor cincriliis, 
but at the special request of his colleagues continued 
his kctures on geology until 1855, when he was 
succeeded bv his son-in-law, fames D. Dana. The 



392 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



l;illiT, in lii> inaiiL^iiral disCKurse, dclivc-rt'd 1\1). iS, cal anaylsis, and lir wmtL- the larliest and best aii- 

,X;r,,'in part said: tlKiiticatfd aco tint nt the fall of a meteor in Amer- 

"■•'lii eiiterint;- iii»in the diitie- <.l llii- place, my ica. lie l)es,'an, in iSii, an extended course of ex- 

tl;i.:i,i;lits turn rath.r to tile i)a>l than t.i the Miliject p.rimenls with the uxy-hydrogen hydric, a com- 

i;f the present lumr. 1 feel that it i- an Imnored pound hlow pipe, invented hy Robert Hare, and he 

place, honored bv the lah. .rs uf nne win. has been succeeded in nieltinp; n'any of the most refractory 

lliv .guardian of ' .\niericau -cienix- fr.in its child- minerals, notably those containinj^ alkalies and alka- 

iiooth who here tb-st <ipened t.i the o unirv the won- line .artlis, the i^^reater part of which had never been 

<ierful records of ( ieolooy : wlio^c words of elo- reduced before, .\fter Sir Humphrey Davy's dis- 

(•ueiice and earnest truth wiW hut the overllow of covery of the metallic bases of the alkalies, Profes- 

a soul full of noble in-tinci> and warm sym])atliies. sor ."^illiman repeat..! the experiment, and observed 

tl'.e whob- throwinti- a |)ecnliar charm over his learti- for ihe tnM time in this country the metals sodium 

lui:,'. ami renderiiii:; his name beloved as well as illus- and potassium. 

trjous. Inst hftv vear> since. Professor Silliman 1 'rofes.sor Sillimail. in 1S30. explored W'yoiuing 
took his station ai the head of chemical and sc"'".!^'- \ alley and its coal foi-mations, examinino- about too 
cal -cience in tliis c ll.m-. < leolot^v was tluM! hardly mines and localitio of mines: in 1832-33 he was en- 
known l)v the name in the land, out of ihese walls, pit;, d innler a commission of the Secretary of the 
Two Near- heforr. pic'vioiis to his tour in iuu-oi>e. Treasury in a scientific examination on the subject 
the whole cahinei ol \ a\v was a half hn-h.l of un- of the culture and manufacture of su.i^ar, and in 1836 
labelled stones. ' )n visilinj.; l'".n,i;land he fi imd even he made a tour of investi.yatiou amono; the gold 
in London no scho>T ]iublic or i)rivate. for geologi- mines of \irginia. His |iopnlar lectures began in 
cal instruction, and the science was not named in the 1808, in .\;w Haven, on chemistry. He delivered 
l''n.gli-h universities. To the mines, ijuarries and his first conr-e in Hartford, in 1834, and in Lowell, 
clilT- of hln^land. the cra.:;s of Scotland, and the Mass.. in the fall of that same .\'ear. He subsequent- 
meadows of Holland, he looked for knowledi;e. and ly lectured in Salem, ISoston, X'ew York, I'.altimore, 
from th.se and the teachings id' .Miu'ray, bimeson, Washington, St. Louis, Xew ( )rleans and elsewhere 
Hail. Hope and I'lavfair. at I'.dinhm-gh. Professor in the Lnited States. In 1838 he opened the Lowell 
Silliman returned e(|nip|ied for (hu\. and creating Instilnle in I'.o.-ton. with a course of lectures on 
almost (111 of iiothino- a <lei/:irtmcnt not before rec- ( leolo^y, and in th-' three following years he lectured 
ognized in an\ institnlion in .\nierica." there on C'heinistrw "The series were without doubt 

While in Ldinhurph. I'l'ofessor Silliman l>.came the most Lirilliant of the kind that were ever deliv- 

interested in the discu-sioiis. then at their hei.ght, cred in this country, and its influence in developing 

I)etween the Werneri.iiis and I liilli niiui,-, anil attenil- an interest in the \onng science was very great. 

< (1 lectures on geolot^x ; and on his return he began .Many of the present leaders of science trace tlitir 

the studv of the mineral slinctiire of the \'icinil\ ot fir-t ins])iration to thos.- ])opular ex])ositions of Pro- 

\'ew llaveii. "I arri\eil in New lla\en fi'oni Scot- ftssor Silliman." 

I:mi' on Ihe first of. June. l8n(i. and on the tirsi da\ Professor .Silliman was opposed to slavery, and 

of .'^epti'inber I r.ad to the (. 'i nnecticut .\cademy ot during the Kansas troubles was instrumental in or- 

Art^ and Sciences a report 011 the mineral strnclure ganizing a colonv in Xew llaven for that point and 

of the environs of Xew I la\en. which w;:- ])rinteil spoke in fa\or of their being ])rovided with rifles, 

in the lirst x-nlnme of th,; TrruiMictions of tlu' Acad- Dnnn.L; the Civil war he was a firm supporttr of 

eiiiy This report occitpies fonrleeu pages, and li;iv- President Lincoln, and exerted his inlluence in the 

ir.g been piihlisheil more tha.n l]ft\-two \ears a^o — aholiliou of slaverx. 

when 1 was tw cut \ -sev. n \ ears of a.^c' 1 haw been In 1818 Professor Silliman founded the .liiicri- 

.gratified to inid that an attentive re-perusal \i.'Ster- cmi Ji'iini:! of .Vc/iv/cr uiul .Irts. and it has con- 
<la\ (Jan. '1. 1851)) after I know not how many i tinned to be edited and published 'nv members of his 

years of chlixion — suggested ver\- few alterations, family from that time to this, aided more or less bv 

and I ha\-e not discovered anv im]iortant errors." other scientirtc ex|)erts. hdr a long time it was 

About 1807-08 the coi|>or;itiiin of N'ale was jier- c|Uoied as Sillinuiii's Joiinial. The Joiinia! was coii- 
siiaded b\- Professor Silliman to jiurchase the cahi- ducted bv Silliman chiell\- alone until 1838. when his 
n.t of mineral,- helcnging !o .Mr. lleujamin I). Per- son. lleiiiamin Silliman. jr.. later |)rofessor of cliem- 
kins.ol .Xew \'ork. It w;is transferred to M r. Silli- istry in the college, was associated with him. and 
man's chamber, ami w.as the starting point for more witii the beginning of the second series ^Ir. Dana, 
exten-ive collections added afterward, .\ few years soon to l)e made Professor of Geology and Mineral- 
later Mr. Silliman secm\d the loan oi the magnifi- o.gy. became also one of the editors-in-chief. .-\s 
cent collection ol ( leorge (iihhs. which in i8_'5 he- Dana's ])art in it became more and more im])ortant. 
came the pro])ert\- ol the college. it was properly spoken of as the .hiicricaii Jouniol. 

Pnilessor Silliman's scieiititic work, \\hirh was P.owdoin t'ollege conferred u]K)n Professor Silli- 

exl.nsive. he.gan with the eNamiii:uion in 1X1)7 of man th;- degree of M, I), in 1818. and Middleburv 

the meteor that fell near West. n. ( onn. IP- pro- that of I.L. 1).. in i8_'n. Mr was the first president 

cured Iragments of this, of which he made a chemi- of the .\merican .\ssocialion of ( ieoloyists and Xat- 



■<^V' 




' ^., /{'^ 6 



<«:/ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



393 



uralists, in 1840, wliicli society later l)ecaiiie tlie 
.\mericaii Associatic;n for the Advancement of Sci- 
incc. He was one of the corporate niemliers named 
l)y Congress in tlie formation of the Natural Acad- 
i-my of Sciences, in iS'13. IK' was corres])onding 
meniher of the ( ieological Societies of (ireat l'>rilaiii 
and I-'rance. Me was also connected with other so- 
cieties hotli in this country and abroad. 

rrofes--"or Silliman. as referred to in \])])leton"s 
I'jicyclopedia, edited tline i-ditions of William Hen- 
ry's ■"Elements of Chemistry" ( lloston, 1808-1814) : 
also three editions of Robert liakcwell's "Instruc- 
tions in (!eolo,y;y" ( Xew llaven. 182Q-33- and .^9) : 
and was the aiuhor of '"jdurnals of Travels in F.ng- 
land, Holland and Scotland" (Xew 'S'ork. 1810): 
"A Short Tour lietween Hartford and Uuebec in 
the Autunni of t8ii)" ( 1820) : "I'.lements of Chem- 
istry in the ( )r(ler of Lectures ,<;iven in ^'ab' C<il- 
lege" (two vohnnes, Xew Haven. 1830-31 ) ; "Con- 
sistency of Discoveries of Modern C,eolno\-. \\'n\] the 
Sacr.d History of the Creation and Deluge" ( L. m- 
don. 1837); and "Xarrati\-e of a \ isii to Europe, 
1851" ( two voluuKs, 1853). 

.\n ini]KM-tant event in the life of Mr. Silliman 
occiuTed in 1801). alxnit three years after bis return 
from lun-oiH". This was hi- marriage to Miss Har- 
riet I rumlndl, datigbt.r of the second (ii)\'ernor 
Trumbull. Jonathan Ti'inubulb ibe elder, ;i graduate 
of Harvard C'oUege, had distingnished himself bv 
refusing to join a jiart of his colleagues in Council 
in administering to ( iovernor Fitch the oath to exe- 
cute the stamp act, and, being chosen lieutenant-gov- 
(.rnor, be had himself likewise refu-Lil to take the 
oath to carr\- out the oppressix'e measures of I'arlia- 
ment. Chosen governor in 17'"), be was re- lected 
for fourteeti consecutive terms — the only C'olonial 1 
governor who retained his office after tli. beginning 
of the Revolutionar\- war. He stood very high, as 
is well known, in tlu- c-leem of Washinglon. who 
])ronounce(l him "nue of tlu first of iiatriots." and 
whom he sustained with resolute, unfailing ]iatriot- 
ism to the md of the great struggle. A sedate Puri- 
tan, deejilv imbued with tlu- spirit of religion, and 
fearless in the discharge of every diu\. be stands 
among the heroic figures in our national history. 
llis son, the second governor, and tb,- lather of 
Mrs. Silliman, was worthy of such a jjarent. After 
filling various imiiortam offices he wa< made gov- 
ernor of Counecticm in 171)8. ;\nd held this station 
until his death, in 1801). 

One of Professor Sillim;m's daucblers, Maria, 
married John P>. Clun-cb : anotb.r. I'aitb, married 
< )liver P. Hubbard, jirofessor of Chenn'strv at Dart- 
mouth College, who died in i(;oo, when ninetx' xears 
old, in Xew \'ork : aiuuher daughter, Henrietta, mar- 
ried th; distinguished scientist, James Dwight Dana, 
late professor in \'ale L'niversity: Julia married 
Rev. Edward W. Cdlman, .Secretary of the .\meri- 
can P.iblc Society: and P.eiijamin, Jr.. M. D.. I.E. D. 
( 1816-1885). was a distinguished chemist and scien- 
tist, a professor in ^'ale l'niversity. The elder 



.Silliman was married a .-econd time. Mrs. .Sarah J. 
Webb liecoming his wife. Sept. 17. 1857, in Wood- 
stock. Connecticut. 

Prof.ssor Silliman was styled by b.dward I'.verett 
the ".Xestor of American Scienci-." I lis ])i'rson was 
conunanding. his maimers dignified and alTable. and 
bis general traits of character such as to win uni- 
versal r.speci and admiration. He died at Xew Ha- 
ven Xov. 24. 1804. .\ bronze statue of Professor 
.Silliman was erected on the ^'al^■ grounds in 1884. 

CCRTIS. This famil\- is one of the olde-t in 
Xt.w luigiand. and the branch in which ran the line 
of the late Hon. ( ieorge Redfield Curtis, a jiromi- 
nent manufacturer and leading citizen for many 
}ears of Meriden, where his widow and son still 
reside, is one <if the oldest of Connecticitt. The 
late (ieorge Redtield Curtis was seventh in line 
from his first .American ancestor, John Curtis, the 
line of his desceiU being through Thomas, Xathan- 
iel, llenjamin, I'.euiamiu (2) and .\sahel. 

I 1 I John Curti-;, bnrn in i".ngland. a son of 
Widow hdizabelh Cmiis, was at Stratford. Conn.. 
in i'>3i). aniiiug the first srttlers there with bi< 
mother and brother William. 

(H) Thomas Curti-. son of John, born in ifi48. 
settled in Wallingford. Conn, (one of the original 
settlers ). in 1670. 

(HI ) Xathaniel Curtis, son of Thonns. born in 
1(177. niarried ( second ). in T702. Sarah Howe. 

(1\') Peniamin ('urtis. son of Xathaniel. born 
in 1703, married in 1727 Miriam Cooke. 

iV) I'enjamiti Curtis ( _' ) . son of P.enjamin, 
burn in 1735, married Mindwell Hough in I7'i3. 

(\'I) Asahel Curtis, son of Peujamin (2). and 
the father of (ieoree R. Curtis, born lul\ 2. 1780, 
married ifi 1812 Mehitable l\edfield. She was from 
Clinton. Conn., born in 1790. and was a descendant 
ill the seventh generation from her first .American 
ancestor, William Redfield. He was from I'.ngland. 
and came to the Colouv of .Massachusjtts at an early 
(lav. locating on the Charle- river, six miles from 
Pioston. The line of .Mrs. Curtis' descent is through 
James, Thcophilus. Daniel. Roswell and .Augustus. 
The last named marriLil .Anna Cirinnell, through 
whom Mrs. Curtis was a de-cendant of |obn .Mden. 
The children of .\lr. and Mrs. As.abcl Curtis were: 
lennett, I'hebe .\.. Peiijamin L'.. .\sahel and (ieorge 
Redfield. 

(ii:oK(;i: Ri:ni'ii:i.n Cfirris was bom Dec 25. 
1825. in .Meriden, in which placi' in the main be 
receiv.d his education. He began life for himself 
at the age of eighteen vears. as clerk in a dr\-goods 
store in Middletown, remaining -o em])lo\ed four 
years. In 1847 he wan to Roeluster, X. ^■.. ;in<I 
for a \ear was occui)ied in teaching school in that 
vicinity. The following year he oursued the same 
occui)ation in Meriden. and in 184(1 he ln'came a 
bookke.|)er for Julius Pratt &• Co., of Meriden, with 
which firm he remained until ()clober, 1850, when 
he was made teller of the .Meriilen Pank. ( )n |an. 



394 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



7, 1853, the month followino; its organization, he 
entered the employ of tlic Meriden Britannia Co., 
and in April followinji; was elected its treasurer, a 
position he held until hi; death, May 20, 1893, a 
])ortion of the time serving also as secretary of the 
company, l-'or many years of liis lite his heft 
efforts, energy and ahility were given to the great 
and growing interests of that company, and his la- 
bor and care contributed largely to its prosiierity 
and success. 

Mr. Curtis wa? always interested in what affect- 
ed the prosperity of his native town, and his con- 
nection with the financial and manufacturing con- 
cerns of Meriik'u is indicated by the following list 
of offices held by him. lie was treasurer of the 
Meriden Britrnmia Co. : president of the Meriden 
Silver I'late Co.: .Meriden Horse Railway Co. and 
Meriden Cas Light Co.; wa- director of Manning, 
Bowman tS; Co., the lli>nie National Bank, Meriden 
Trust & Safe Dejiosit Co., R. Wallace & Sons Manu- 
facturing Co. of W'allingford. Rogers & Brother of 
Watcrlinry. and the William Ko.gers Manufacturing- 
Co. of Hartford, lie was a trustee of the Meriden 
Savings Bank, and of the Cui'tis Home for (Orphans 
and Old Ladies. 

In bis ])(ililieal views Mr. Curtis was a Repub- 
lican, but never a politician. He served the city as 
councilman and alderman, ruid from 1879 to 1881 as 
mayor. 1 le was intt'llectual in his tastes and widely 
read in gtMU'nd and historical literature. Socially he 
was a most genial and responsive companion and ac- 
(|uaintance. .As a husband and father he was most 
loving and indtdgent ; as a son most filial in his de- 
votion to his mother, whose life almost reached a 
century of years. His religion seemed to be innate. 
]'"or almost forty-five years he was an ofificer of St. 
Andrew's parish and for many years either senior 
or jtniior warden. As the years went on and his 
means increased, he gave to liis beloved church mu- 
nificently. In 1891 Ills sister, Mrs. Hallam, died and 
left the bulk of her jjroperty to build a new church 
in Meriden as a memorial to her husband; Mr. Cur- 
tis .nipplemented this gift largely, and two days 
before his death .-idded to his generosity by pre- 
sinting to the new parish a house and lot for a 
rectory. Mr. Curtis was elected, on Easter Monday 
prior to his death, lav clelegate to the diocesan con- 
vention, and he attended the General Episcopal Con- 
vention at Baltimore in the fall of 1892. He was a 
member of several committees on the fliocesan board. 
His gifts to St. Andrew's were bestowed with the 
characteristic modesty that always distinguished 
him. 

On May 22, 1855, Mr. Curtis was married to 
Augusta Munson, youngest child of lesse and 
Sophia (Tahnadge) .Munson, of Bradford, in west- 
ern New ^'ork. Tbe marriage was blessed with 
three children, namely: Ceorge Munson; J^'rederiek 
Edgar, who died in childhood; and Agnes 1)., Mrs. 
Allan B. S(|inre. of Meriden. who died Mav 20, 
1900. The mother of these was born June 17,1833. 



and was in the eighth generation from her first 
.American ancestor, Thomas Munson, a pioneer of 
Hartford and New Haven, Conn., the line of her 
descent being through Samuel, Joseph, Ephraim, 
Jared, Rufus and Jesse. 

On the death of Mr. Curtis one of the Aleriden 
papers thus referred editorially to his life : 

One by one the pioneers in the great work of building 
up Meriden are passing from the stage of human activities. 
The latest to go is (jeorge R. Curtis, so long a prominent 
figure \n the prosperity of his native town. The news of 
Mr. Curtis' death, while not a surprise, owing to the feeble 
state of his health for some time past, was never-the-less a 
severe shock to the community, for none of his colleagues 
or contemporaries in the larger sphere of Meriden business 
life was more generally respected. Those who knew him 
intimately loved him, and his death came to them as a per- 
sonal loss. Of a peculiarly refined and sympathetic nature. 
Mr. Curtis was always courteous and kind, under the most 
trying circumstances of a busy career. His love for his 
native town was only equalled by his unflagging interest in 
everything that pertained to its welfare and his unosten- 
tatious efforts to assist in every way possible, even at per- 
sonal sacrifice, the growth and advancement of the commu- 
nity alone the right lines. Like all our leading ciitizens 
Mr. Curtis began life at the bottom of the ladder, and by 
his at)ility, pluck and integrity worked his way up round by 
round. But he was never so absorbed in his own advance- 
ment as to refuse an encouraging word or a helping hand to 
others on the same toilsome journey who stood in need of 
both. His business associates had the most implicit confi- 
dence in his judgment, and his relations were always infused 
with that spirit of refinement and gentleness which was a 
dominant part of his nature. In the rush and complications 
of modern business life it was a genuine pleasure to find a 
man like Mr. Curtis with that old-school faculty of smoothing 
rough surfaces, rounding off sharp edges and bringing har- 
mony out of discord. 

l\Ir. Curtis held many positions of honor und trust. His. 
business connections were wide and varied, but he also 
found time for other relations necessary to round out a suc- 
cessful career. He served the city as a member of the 
council and as its chief magistrate, and zealously devoted 
to the performance of his public d\ities the same character- 
istics that were the secret of his business success. Long an 
honored member of St. Andrew's church, .Mr. Curtis will be 
missed Ijy every member of the parish. His lite was emi- 
nently consistent with deeply rooted religious convictions, 
but not obtrusively so. With a pleasant greeting and a 
kind word, and acts of charity known only to himself, loved 
and respected liy his fellow-men, George R. Curtis' life- 
among us has been such that while we are filled with grief 
because the end has come, we are thankful for such lives 
for the good they do, for the encouragement they give and 
for the example they are to others. 

(icorge AL Curtis was married Nov. 30, 1886, ta 
Sophie I^hillips. who was born May i, 1869, dau.gh- 
ter of Thomas Trowbridge and Catherine (Hurl- 
butj AL'insfield. 

ALJGUSTCS LINES (deceased) is well re- 
membered by both young and old in New Llavcn, in 
which city all his long life was ]5asscd. For thirty 
years be was a member of the board of assessors, 
and he was long prominent in commercial circles, 
for a time carrying on a btisiness established by his 
father, at the corner of State street and Grand 
avenue. 

.Mr. I^ines was born in New Haven, Sept. 13, 
1797, not far from the historic old mansion at No. 




(:3^/^a^i^^77A~^ Qs<£/«^ 



'/^? -c^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



395 



1/ 



T I I Olive street still occupied by his widow, and 
where he resided for over eitjhty years. It was 
built in 1804, ^y one of his ancestors, and is one of 
the oldest houses in that part of the State. The 
Lines family has lon^r-been located in Wootlbridge, 
this county, and there our subject's father, ICzra 
Lines, was born. Cominj^ to Xew Haven in early 
manhood, Ezra Lines remained in that city until his 
death, at the age of sixty, engaged in mercantile 
business. He was three times married, and .\u- 
gustus was one of the six children (all now de- 
ceased) born to his last union, with Elizabeth L'm- 
berfield. She also died at the age of sixty. They 
were originally Episcopalians in religious connec- 
tion, and later attended the Xorth Church, known as 
the L'nitcd Church. 

Augustus Lines was reared and educated in the 
city of his birth, and early commenced his business 
training under the careful guidance of liis father, 
later carrying on that store on his own account for 
a time. He subsequently had a tailoring establish- 
ment, in which, as in his other business ventures, he 
made a decided success. He was long a director in 
the Xew Haven National Bank, the oldest bank in 
the city, at the corner of C)range and Chapel streets, 
and was regarded as a man of integrity and un- 
questioned honor in every transaction. As above 
mentioned, he was on the board of assessors for 
thirty years, and was the oldest member thereof at 
the time of his retirement. He was also on the 
school committee for many years. Mr. Lines 
reached the age of ninety, dying Dec. 31, 1887, and 
he was remarkably well preserved, retaining his 
faculties to the last and continuing to take an active 
interest in all around him. In political faith he was 
a stanch Republican. 

Augustus Lines married Lucy Ann Ritter, and 
they had three children : ( i ) Augustus E., who re- 
sides in New Haven, married Mary A. Kimberly. 
(2) George P. died in New Haven in June, 1875. 
He was twice married, and by his first wife, Elmira 
Augur, had two children, who died very young; 
there were no children by his second union, with 
Ann Eliza Hibbard. (3) Jane E., born Aug. 2, 
1830, resides in New Haven, 

On Aug. 5, 1852, Mr. Lines was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Martha Kimberly, a native of New 
Haven, and they made their home at once in the 
old Lines residence, where Mrs. Lines still resides. 
Two children blessed this union, Martha Kimberly 
and Maria -Kimberly, the eldest dying in infancy. 
Maria K. Lines became the wife of James Henry 
Rowland, Jr., of New Haven, and died at the age 
of twenty-nine years. They had four children : 
Stuart Lines, Mabel Silliman (now Mrs. William 
C. Lloyd, of New Haven), Marion (deceased) and 
Edith (deceased). Mrs. Lines attends the Third 
Church (Congregational), 

The Kimberly P^\mily, to which Mrs. Lines 
belongs, has long been identified with West Haven, 
and was founded in America bv Thomas Kimberlv, 



who came from London to Xew Haven in 1638. He 
was one of the founders of the Xew Haven Colony. 
He removed to Stratford, and died in 1673. His 
family consisteil of four sons and two daughters, 
and I-~leazer was the first male white child born in 
New Haven; he Ix-came a [jrominent man, was for 
luany years secretary of State, and died at (llaston- 
bnr\- in 1707, lea ing one son and four ilaughters. 
'I'homas, the second son of Thomas, died at New 
1 huH-n in I'"ebrnar_\-. 1705, leaving no children. 
Abraham was killed by the Indians in .South Caro- 
lina. Nathaniel is next in the line of descent to 
Mrs. Lines. 

(II) Nathaniel Kimberly died at West Haven in 
1705. He had five children : Mrs. Elizabeth Mall- 
ory. Mrs. Sarah lilakeslee, Xalhaniel, Mrs. Kirby 
and .Mrs. Mary Chittenden. 

(III) Xalhaniel Kimerbly (2), son of Xatlianiel, 
died at West Haven in 1720. His children were: 
Nathaniel (3), Zuriel, Abraham, Abigail, Hannah, 
Mary and Bathsheba. 

(I\") Nathaniel Kimberly (3), son of Nathaniel 
(2), died at West Haven in 1780. His children 
were: Israel, mentioned below; Silas, who mar- 
ried Mary Smith, daughter of Jonathan, and died 
in 1803 (they had two children) ; and Abigail, wife 
of Laniberton Smith. 

( \' I Israel Kimberly, son of Xatlianiel (3 1, died 
in 17()8. He married Mary Cmlierfield, and they 
had children as follows: .\zel, Ciilead, .Nathaniel, 
Israel, Ezra, Gideon, Liberty, Huldah, Mary, Sarah 
and Hannah. 

( \T ) (jilead Kimberly was a sea sa])tain. ;nid 
lived to the age of seventy-six. He married .Mary 
Brocket, and their children were: Maria, who 
married Eliakim Kimberly ; William, father of Mrs. 
Lines; Elizabeth, who married Capt. I-'rancis B. 
Davis; Hannah; and Lydia, who niarrie<l Cajit. 
John Neagle. 

(\'II) William Kimberly was born in \\'est 
Haven, but spent the greater part of his life in New 
Ihnen, dying at the age of fifty. He was a farmer 
by occupation. Mr. Kimberly married Ruth .\nn 
Nichols, who was a native of Trumbull, as was also 
the father, and who died at the age of forty-five 
years. She and Mr. Kimberly were both members 
of the Congregational Church. Twelve children 
were born to this w<irthy couple, four of whom lived 
to maturity, and of whom we have the following 
record: (1) William Henry (deceased) married 
Mehetable Coggshall, and llu-y had a family of six 
children — Martha Elizabeth, who married George 
S]>encer, of Hartford (no children); Mary Ruth, 
widow of (ieorge ( i. B;ddwin, resitling in New 
Haven (no children); Willi;nn Henry; Harriet; 
Ilettie, .Mrs. luigene Del b'oss, who has one child, 
Eugene: and b'rank William, who married Harriet 
V. Kelsey (no children 1. (2) b'.liza Ann and (3) 
James are l)oth deceased. (4) Martha is the widow 
of Augustus Lines. (5) (iijead, now a resident of 
New Hartford, married .\bigail I'laldwin, and lliev 



396 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



have citjht children — William (iilead. who married 
Laura Dennis, and has had four children. Caroline, 
Agalha and iwo sons; MUen .Mary, wife of helix 
(.hantrell, who has had t\\(j sons and one (.laughter; 
An.tjeline. Mrs. h'rederick Donnan, who has had 
iwo children, Ahi.ijail and .\rthur ; .Martlia Ennna. 
who married Henry l^'airchild. resides in Lynn, 
Mass., and has had three children, IJwight. Henri- 
etta and Louisa; Augusta Lines, wlui married John 
Ransom, and had three daughters; Abigail; l-'red- 
erick .\hner, who is married and has one son; and 
Harry, (d) Dennis is deceased. 17) I'r;uicis (de- 
ceased) married jane I'latt; the\- had no children. 
iS) Harriet .Xewel (deceased) married Charles 
dales r.ostwick, and they ha<l \'>uv children — Leon- 
ard, married to Helen l'"riend I'lumh (one daughter, 
Kiuh I'lumh); .Martha Kimherly. who is deceased; 
Harriet Kimherly, wifenf Henry Smith fatten, and 
the mother of three children, Lenora Mostwick, 
James Thomas and LeonarrI llostwick; and Charles 
Cates. deceased. (1;) h'dwin is deceased, (lo) h'liza 
(deceased) married (.'ornelius Starr .Morehouse, 
and their daughter, .Mary Louise, marrii/d Rev. lul- 
win Ste\-eu.- Lines, by whom slu- had four children 
— Edwin .Morehouse, Henry Starr (tk'ceasedi, .Mar- 
garet Kimherly (deceased) and Harold Ste\ens. 
(110 lames, who now resides in .\ew Hartfi.ird. 
married .Margaret l-'.uiiice Clark, and to their union 
were horn four children — James WiUiam. Rohert 
I'.arnard. l-'.dwin .Xelson and Ruth .Minerva. ((2) 
Ceorge Dwight lives in h'air lla\eu. He married 
.Marv Louisa linrllnit. and to tluin were liorn tw.i 
children — (,'aroline i'".mily and h'.ilna. The former 
is the widow of John 1 lorax Hall, and has had two 
children. 

.\1'..\1:R .\rSTl\. The Austin t'aiuily of .Vew 
llaven. Conn., traces an honorable ancestry for 
nianv generations, nian\ of its members having been 
conspicuous in pulilic, niililar\ and religious life, 
])ossessing also, ilomestic virtue* and leaving credit- 
able records in business careers. .Among the resi- 
dents of .\ew lla\-en, and a re])resentati\e of litis 
old and resj;ecteu familv, is Miss Sarah E. .\ustin. 

( lreat-gre;U-great-gran(lfather John .\ustin, lived 
in W'allingford, t'oun.. a region rich in historic as- 
sociations, and he there married Prudence Royce. 
Joshua, son of John was Ixirn in W'allingford, and 
there married Xaucy Hall, .\bner. son of Joshua, 
horn also in that town, marrieil .\nn I'.eers, and their 
son, Joseph, born in W'allingford. married Rethiah 
I'age, also of \\'allingfi>rd. 

.\l)ner .\uslin, son of Joseph and llethiah .Vustin, 
was born in Madison, Conn.. Jan. ,^, iSio, and died 
in .\'ew llaven. .\'o\-. 1, (,SS4. He was sixteen 
years old when he lirst came to X'ew llaven, wdiich, 
for so man\' vears was destine(l to be the scene of 
his cf)mmercial success, .\aturally intt'lligent and 
ver\- studious, he was at this time better educated 
lha)i \-onths of his age ordinarily were, and after 
two vears with I'rof. Renjamin Silliman. of this 



citv, he was engaged by Professor Shepherd, and 
assi.sted that distinguished man in laboratory work. 
I^ater he was employed by Mr. Eli Whitney, with 
wdiom he remained for a number of years, accepting 
then a situation as clerk in the grocery house of 
Smith & Ives. Some time later he embarked in 
the grocerv business with his brother-in-law, Elijah 
(lilbert, and their grocery and market was located 
on the ctinur of Elm and Church streets (the site 
being now occupied l.)y -Mr. Xesbit), and for more 
than thirtv-six vears this business was ccjnducted on 
priuciides which reflected honor upon both the firm 
and this citv. Through times of activity and those 
of depression, the foundations of this business were 
ever the .>ame. speculation having nothing to do with 
its success or failure. By thi.ise incorruptible 
methods of honesty and fair dealing, Mr. .Austin 
gained and kei)t the confidence of both the trade and 
his patrons. 

I'he lanienteil death of .Abiier .Austin removed 
one of the oldest merchants in Xew Haven. His 
establishment had long been recognized as the most 
complete in the city, and he was a leader in his line 
for many \ears. His prominence and success had 
come to him by honest effort, as he was a self-made 
man, beginning at the bottom of the financial ladder. 
Close attention to Inisiness commended itself to Mr. 
.Austin as the surest way to succeed, and he built up 
a business tliat contributed to the prosperity of a 
large force of employes, added ]3rominence to the 
city, and brought competence to his own family in 
whose welfare he took so deep an interest, 

.Mr. .Austin was united in marriage with Esther 
.\. Ciilbert, a lineal descendant of Matthew (iilhert, 
one of the chief men of the commonwealth in the 
early days of Connecticut. Two children were born 
to .\bner .\iistiii and wife; E. Gilbert, wdio died in 
i88(), at the age of fort\-one years, a finely educated 
man, who was associated with his father as book- 
keeper; and Miss S.\k.\ii E., the youngest of the 
family. The death (jf Mrs. .Austin occurred June 
22, 1873. at the age of sixty-four years, lioth par- 
ents had been worthy an<l consistent members of the 
.Xorih Church, now the ITiitetl Church. 

J( iHX RC( ,1 ,1.ES R( iSSIThT-;. one of the ven- 
erable retired residents of the town of Ciuilford. 
conies of a famih- which has long been identified 
with \h\> region. ;iud is a descendant of E.dward 
Rossiler. om- ol' the earl\ settLrs of Roston and 
an assistant of Covernoi- Winthnp. and the first of 
the name in .\nieiica. He .arrived at Salem, Mass.. 
in June, 1630, and died in the autumn ol th.' same 
year. 

Dr. l'>r\an Rossiter. -1 n of Tulward. c:ime to this 
coiintr\- with his father in i':^!), making the voyage 
in the '"Marx- & John." In 1(131 he was made a free- 
man in Dorchester, Mass., wdience he removed to 
Windsor, Conn., in i'i3t); he was the first town clerk 
of the latter place. In i()5i he removed to Ciuil- 
ford. wlu're he ]):issed the gr.aler jiart of his remain- 




^-^-^^^^ , ^/^^^z^ 



COMMEMORATirE BIOGRAl'lllCAL RECORD. 



397 



insj- years, dying tlifrc Sept. 30, \C1j2. On account 
of difficultic.-: willi the ])eoplc of (iuilford about the 
union of tlie Xcw HaVvU and llartford Colonics, 
he removed li) i\iHini;\vorth, now CUnton, lull later 
returned to (luilfonl. He enjoyed an extensive 
]}ractice. Dr. Kossiter married I'dizahetli .\lsop. and 
eleven children were horn to tluin : Johanna, who 
married Rev. John Cotton, died ( )ct. 12. 170J: 
Esther died in i<')4(;: John miarried .Mary (iillette, 
and died in Se])temlH-r. 1670 : Samuel died Ausj. 10, 
1640: Timothy died in i'i47: Josiah is mentioned 
below; Peter di.d in 1(151: .\bis;ail died in if>4,S: 
Susanna, born .\"ov. iX, 1O5J, married Rev. Zach- 
ariaii Walker, and died .\pril _>(). 1710: Elizabeth 
died in September, i')5i ; .Sarah died Aul;'. 10, Kifx;. 
Josiah Rossiter, fourth son of Dr. I'.ryan, was 
born in W'ind-or, and came to (iuilford with the 
r.st of the family, s])endinL;' the remainder of his 
life in this town. Me was a farmer by occupation. 
He married .Sarah Sherman, daughter of .Sanuicl 
and Sarah (.Mitchell) ."^heniian. of .Stamford, and 
the\- died Jan. 31, 17111. and .March 13. i7i,v re- 
spectively They had a larg,- famih : .Sarah, burn 
.\ov. 2(.. 1C177. died Mav iS. |(>7(): j^lizabeth, .\pril 
I'l, i'i7';. .Se])t. 17, i(;i;8: Josiah, .Ma\- 31, I'lSo, 
Sept. 2,v 17.^1 (married AIar\- Hill) ; Samuel, Jan. 
28, 1682, -\ui4. 2.^, 1082: Timothv, June 5, i"(i8,v 
I-\'b. 7, 1725 (married Abigail I'eutield) ; John, ( )ct. 
13. 1(184, Jan. 8. 1(187; Sanmel, lAb. 17, ifuXCi, Jan, 
6. 1711 imarri.d .\nna Ward I ; D;i\id, April 17, 
1687, .\])ril 2y, i()88; Jonathan, April 3, i()88 (mar- 
ried .\nna Pierson ) ; .\atlianiel, mentioned below: 
Sarah, i*'eb. 25, ifxji (married .\braham Pierson); 
Patience, .April d. i(i<)2 (married John ISelding): 
Johanna. April 2},. 1^193, June 16, 1703; .Marv, Sept. 

3. 1694 (married SamuJ L'hesebrough ) ; Theo])hi- 
lus, Feb. 12, (()(/), A];ril 9, 1771 (married .Abigail 
Pierson); Susanna, June 13. :(i97: F.benezer. b'eb. 

4. i6c)9. (Jct. ((. 1792 (married IPuniah White). 
Xathaniel Ros.-iter, son of Josiah, born in (iuil- 
ford Xov, II, 1681;, spent his entire lifj in that 
town, where he died ( )ct. 4. 1751. He engaged in 
farming. On Jidy 8. 1 714, he married .\mia Stone, 
also a native of Ciuilford. born June 17. 1692, died 
April 20, 1770, daughtir of Xathaniel and .Mary 
( ISartlett ) Sti lU'. b'ive children were born to this 
marriage: Xathaniel. .March 2},. 1716, died Xov. 
21, I7C)9 (married Deborah l-'owlerl ; Penjaniin, 
Sept. 25. 1718 (mentioned b Jow ) ; Sarah, June I. 
1720, died .Vpril 4, 1760 (married .\aron ICvarts): 



X'oah, .\pril (5. 1725, died 



I "eh 



1757; X,-ithan, 



Oct. 31, 1730 (married Sarah lialdwin) 

I'enjamin Rossiter, born Sept. 25, 17 18, in (iuil- 
ford, died Sept. 2y. \~qCy He was a lifelong farmer, 
living in the northern i)art of the l<iwn. ( )n March 
21, 17.SI. he married .\bigail lialdwin, daughter of 
'J'iinothy and Pathsheba (.Stone) P.aldwin, liorii 
March 5, 1724. died Sept. 14, 1754. On .Xov. 19, 
17.SS, he married for his second wife .Sarah Morse 
Jtaldwin. widow of Timothv P>aldwin, ,i brotiier of 
the first wife. Mr-. .Sarah Rossiter was born Mav 



G. 172S, and died Jan. 2-. 1828, when almost one 
hundred years old. Children : Pathsheba. bom 
Jan. 18. 1752, died ( )ct. lo, 1770; Timothy, men- 
tioned below; .Sarah, born June d. 1757. dierl .\]jril 
19. 1852 (married Tlieo])hilus h'owler ) ; Lois, l.)orn 
July 13, 1759, died June (7, 1791 (married fvbui- 
ezer Fowler) ; Penjamin and .\bigail (twins), born 
Xov. 21, I7{)2, died July 5. I7')4, and Jan. 22. 1821. 
respectively (she married Fbeiiezer Russ.ll). 

limothy Rossiter, born in .Xorth (iuilford Mav 
21, 1754, died I'eb. 26, 1833, and was buried in 
Xorth (iuilford cemetery. He pa-sal most of his 
lile in liis native place, ;md was (luile tictivv- 
in all its interests, and a deacon in the church. He 
\v;is ;i soldier in the Rcvolutionar\- war. ( )n Mav 
14. 1783, he was married in (iuilford to .Mary Ru.g- 
gles, daughter of Deacon .Xathaniel and .\nna 
(Partlett) Rugglcs, born 1758. died March 16, 
18)9. ( )n ( )ct. iC. i8i(), he was married to widow 
.Anna .\rnold, of Haddam, C'omi., who died in .Xo- 
vember, 1844. Children: Penjamin, burn .\ug. 20, 
1784, died Oct. 31, 1787; .Aliigail, .Aug, 3. 1786. 
Se])!. 20, 179'); John, .Aug. 22. 1788. (Jet, 8. 1799; 
Penjatnin (2) ( )nenticned below); Lois, May 12, 
'793. I'cb. 22. 1821 ; Timothy. Dec. 2, 1 79(), .Aug. 
15- 1879 (married Sally Todd): Daniel. Oct. 8, 
I7<;8, .Xov, 29, 1837 (married Harriet llanford); 
.Mary, July 28, )8o), .April 9, 1883 (married John 
Xorton ) . 

Penjamin Kossiter was born (Jet. 10, 1790, on 
the old Rossiter homestead in .Xorth ( ludford. and 
there si)ent his entire life. He tm k an active inter- 
est in the affairs of his tkiy. and was w.ll known 
in public and church circles, serving as deacon in 
the church. In jxilitical opinion he was fir.-t a W big, 
later a Republican. On Jul\ 1, ),Si(i, he marrietl 
Catherine Prouks. burn in i7i>3. daughter of Dr. 
David .S. and .\nnis ( Peiiton ) Prooks. and she died 
Jan. 1, 1825. He subse(|iientl\ married, Dec. 12. 
1827, .Xal)by Dudley b'owler. widow of Daniel I-"ow- 
ler, born ()ct. 21, I78(); she died Xov. ii;, 1872. and 
he died Xov. 20, 18(16. Children, all b\- first mar- 
riage : John Ruggles, born June 20, 1817, is men- 
tioned below; Daxiil Prooks. born Xov. |9, i8ic), 
married Carrie .\1. Rossiter; So|)hronia .\nni-, born 
.Xov, 8, 1822, married Xathan C. Du(lle\. The 
])arents lioth sleep in Xorth (iuilford cemeter\. 

John R. Rossiter was fiorn on the old hom, stead 
in .Xorth (iuilford, and received a good education, 
which he jutt to practical use, engaging in the teach- 
er s prolession t'or tort\' \cars in the public schools 
eit .Xew HaVvii county. He also carried on farming, 
and has assisted in the local civil administration in 
various capacities, though sjieciady active in educa- 
tional affair?. .As selectman, juslice of the peace, 
assessor and school visitor he gave uniwrsal satis- 
faction to all concerned, and his ser\-ices in the 
State Legislature received sub-lantial approval in 
his re-election ; he served four terms in the House. 
Mr. Rossiter has, like his forefathers, taken a deep 
interest in the woi'k of the ('ongre.gational (.'hurch. 



598 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of which he is a member, and in which he was 
clecied deacon in 1856, serving many years. He has 
led a temperate, inchislrious, useful life, and is now 
enjoyinjj in retirement the fruits of his early efforts, 
deservedly contented in the substantial rewards 
which have attcndeil his industry and the esteem 
which he commands wherever he is known. 

On June 11, 1845, -Mr. Rossiter married Miss 
Cleora Frances Cruttenden, who was born Aug. 29, 
1824. and children as follows were born to them: 
]>enjamin, born Sept. 7, 1846, is mentioned below; 
Adeline, born March i, 1848, is a teacher; John, 
born Jan. 20, 1850, is a resident of Norwich, Conn., 
and is also a teacher (he married hdeanor G. Brown, 
of .\'ew Canaan); Catherine, born June 30, 1852, 
\va,- married I'eb. 13, 1883, to George IT. Chitten- 
den, and died .March 13, 1885: I'rances, bom Dec. 
18, 1854, is munarried, and is a trainetl nurse; Lois, 
born Oct. 3. 1857, was married July 27, 1882, !o 
William M. l-Vjote ; Mary, horn Dec. 28, 1859, was 
married Jan. 3. i8<So, to .\rthur Xewton, oi Durham, 
Conn.; Anna, born April 8, 1862; and Ruth i'"ow- 
ler, born .Se])t. 21, 1864, died Aug. 20. 1884. 

Ri-;n,i.\mi.\' Kos.srricR is a representative citizen 
of Xorth (iuilford, where he was born, and where 
his entire life has I), en passed, lie re'ce-ived his edu- 
cation in the di^trict schools and Xorth Guilford 
-Academy, and taught in the district schools of Guil- 
ford and Durham, .Middlesex county, in his earlier 
manhood, but he is now engaged in agricultural 
])ursuits on the old homestead. His life has been 
one of useful, effective industry, and by his tem- 
perate habit.- and uprightness he has won universal 1 
res])ect among his fellow men. The confidence • 
whicli his townspeople have in his ability and intelli- I 
gence has been shown in his election to the State 
Legislature, wlure he represented them in 1S91. 
!Mr. Rossiter is an active member of the North Guil- 
ford Congregational Church, in which he holds the 
office of deacon, and he i.- a worthy representative of 
ancestry which has alwavs lu'ld an honrired place 
in the life of the comnumity. ' ' 

The Cruttenden family, to which .Mrs. John R. 
Rossiter belongs, is also of English origin, and 
Abraham Cruttenden, the first of whom we have 
record, came from Cranbrook, England, settling in 
Guilford in 1639. lie died there in January. i'>83. 
.\fler the death of his first wife, Mary, he married 
Mrs. Johanna Chittenden, a widow, on May 31, 
1665 ; she died Aug. 16, ifSfiS. C'hildren: Thomas, 
who died Eeb. 8, i6<)8; Abraham, next in line of 
descent; Isaac, who married Lydia Thoni|)son. and 
died Julv 10, 1685; Marv, who married Deacon 
George Hartlett, and died Sept. 11, 1669; Elizabeth, 
wife of John Graves; Hannah, wife of George 
Hi.ghland; and Deborali, who died .April 30, 1658. 

Aliraham Cruttenden, son of .Abraham, was mar- 
ried Alay 13, 1661, to Susanna Grcgson, daughter 
of Thomas Grcgson, of New Haven: she died Sept. ' 
8. 1713. Children: .Abraham, liorn March 8. 1662, 
died Alay 14, 1725 (married Susanna Kirby) ; ! 



Sarah, born Aug. 21, 1665, died in October, 1692 
(married Thomas Robinson) ; Thomas, born Jan. 
31, 1667, died Sept. 14, 1754 (married Abigail 
Hall): John, born Aug. 15, 1670, died May 16, 
1751 (married I'.athsheba Johnson); Joseph, born 
April 9, i<'>74, died Eeb. 6, 1763 (married Alary 
Hoyt). 

John Cruttenden, born in (juilford Aug. 15, 
1670, died Alay 16, 1751. ( )n Alay 6, 1703, he 
married Rathsheba Johnson, born Aug. 20, 1683, 
died .A])ril 25, 1752. Children: Elizabeth, born Feb. 
3. i7f)4' f''^<^l Aug. 31, 1789 (married Ebenezer 
I fall) : Rachel, born Nov. 27, 1707, died Sept. 22, 
1751 ; John, born Alay 2, 1710, died June 18, 1784 
(married Lucy Lee) ; Alary, born Alarch 13, 1713, 
died Eeb. 22. 1795; David is nientioned below; 
Isaac, born April 3, 1720, died July 13, 1796 (mar- 
ried Lucy Benton). 

David Cruttenden was born in Guilford Dec. 3, 



1716, and died Sept. 30, I 



//"- 



On Oct. 20, 1742, 



he married Elizabeth Stone, born Alay 6, 1717, died 
Sept. 3, 1797, and they had children: Elizabeth, 
born 1744, died Oct. 8, 1820; David, born Alay 15, 
1746. died Sept. 27, 1829 (married Hannah Foster) ; 
Nathan, born Jan. 22, 1751, died July 28, 1817; 
Ruth, born Jan. 7, 1749, died Alarch 2, 1829; Abra- 
ham, born ('_)ct. 11, 1756, died Nov. 28, 1837. 

.Abrahaiu Cruttenden, born in Guilford Oct. 11, 
1736, sjjcnt his entire life as a farmer in East Guil- 
ford ( ne>w Aladison), where he died Nov. 28, 1837. 
(Jn Jan. 15, 1783, he married Hannah Dudley, born 
A])ril 2T^. 1754. cfied Aug. 7, 1810, and on Alarph 19, 
1812. he married widow Nabby Griswold, daughter 
of Josiah Kelsey. Abraham Cruttenden was a sol- 
dier in the Revolutionary war, serving as a private 
in Capt. Hand's Company, Col. Talcott's Regiment, 
(children: Abraham, born Alarch 9, 1784, died May 
14. 1861; Eber is mentioned below; Harvey, born 
Xov. 17, 1788, died 1868 (married Catherine Mur- 
l)hy ) : Sally, born Jan. 19, 1791, died Oct. 23, 1844 
(married Jared Redfield). 

leber Cruttenden, born Alarch 5, 1786, died 
.\ug. (>, 1872. On Jan. 2, 181 1, he married Olive 
Dudley, born in June, 1791. died Aug. 25, 1826. 
( )n June 23, 1827, he married Ruth Fowler, born 
Feb. 11. 1783. died Alay 13, 1866. Children: Han- 
nah Maria, born Alay 21, 1812, died Nov. 5, 1882; 
Fiber Dudley, born Jtuie 7. 1814, died Aug. 15, 
1821 : .Adaline, born Jan. 2, 1817; Samuel Dudley, 
born Jan. 23, 1819. died Feb. 23, 1819; Eber Dud- 
lev, born April 2, 1823, died Alay 20, 1889: Cleora 
Frances, born Aug. 29, 1824, married John R. Ros- 
siter: SanuK'l Dudlev, born Dec. 5, 1825, married 
Rhoda 11. Chittenden. 

Al.Ml'.R ZrXDER (deceased), the founder of 
the firm of .M . /under & .Sons, wholesale dealers in 
foreign ])roducc. liquors and tobacco, and late presi- 
dent of the Xational .'savings Bank, was long one 
of the hading business men and most substantial 
citizens of New Haven. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



399 



Mr. Ziinder was born May 24, 1829, in Fuerth, 
Bavaria, son of Aaron and ISesla (Kaiser) Zunder, 
and was of that nationality to which this country 
is greatly indelnctl for a good class of citizens, 
whose frugality, industry and public spirit have been 
potent factors in the general progress. In 1848. in 
company with three brothers, Mr. Zunder came to 
the United States. For a time he worked as a print- 
er, which trade he had learned at home, and in 1852 
began business on his own account, his patron- 
age increasing from a very modest beginning to 
large proportions under his able management. Be- 
fore his demise the business was located in a five- 
story brick building, with basement, in State street, 
Xew Haven. Each story has a floor space of 25x100 
feet, and ample room was afforded for the manipu- 
lation and display of a choice line of goods, embrac- 
ing French and German wines and liquors, the better 
grades of domestic whiskies and California vintages, 
tobaccos, and table condiments of almost every de- 
scription. The firm has an extensive patronage, and 
they act as agents for various ocean lines, issuing 
drafts payable in all the principal European cities. 

'Sir. Zunder was first associated with his brother, 
Samuel, at Xo. 54 Church street. After the latter's 
death our subject carried on the business in the 
Church street location until i860, when he removed 
his store to State street. For many years he was as- 
sociated with Mr. Metzger, the firm being known 
as 'SI. Zunder & Co., and in 1882, when Albert, the 
eldest son of Mr. Zunder, was admitted to the firm, 
it became M. Zunder. & Son. In 1887 another son. 
Theodore, was taken in, and the firm was composed 
at the time of the death of Mr. Zuiider of himself 
and his two sons, Albert and Theodore. Both these 
young men are natives of the "Elm City," and are 
jjrominent in various social and benevolent organ- 
izations. 

Maier Zunder was both enterprising and public- 
spirited to an exceptional degree, and contributed 
not a little of his time and means to work in dif- 
ferent lines leading up to the advancement of Xew 
Haven. For more than twenty years he was a 
member of the school committee, to which he was 
first elected in 1867, and was re-elected seventeen 
consecutive times. While on the board he served at 
different times on every committee, and succeeded 
the late Harmanus M. Welch as president of that 
body. Always interested in ])uljlic affairs, his office- 
holding was confined to the board of education. 
The Zunder school in George 'street was named in 
honor of him. 

Maier Zunder held membership in several or- 
ganizations. He was treasurer of the Congregation 
Mishkan Israel: was a past master of the 1. O. O. 
F. ; belonged to the Germania Lodge ; Connecticut 
Rock Lodge, F. & A. M., of which he was a char- 
ter member; and Horeb Lodge, I. O. B. B., of which 
he was at one time president. He was a member of 
the board of governors of the Bnai Brith Home, in 
Yonkers, N. Y. Socially he was connected with 
the Harmony Club and other organizations. Mr. 



Zunder was a man of open Jieart and generous spirit, 
and did a work of charity in the city of which little 
was known, but which made his death, on June 29, 
1901, a serious loss to many worthy and unfortunate 
people. In commercial circles Mr. Zunder was very 
strtjng. Thirty-five years ago he assisted in the 
founding of the Xational Savings ISank, and for 
twenty-five years was its president. It is said that 
during that long period he was never absent from 
any regular meeting of the bank officials. b"or manv 
years he was one of the directors of the Mechanics' 
Bank, and was one of the most active members of 
the Chamber of Commerce. He was also associ- 
ated with the Xew Haven Colony Society. 

Mr. Zunder is survived by two brothers and 
two sisters: Louis, who is at Grand Rapids, Mich.; 
Selignian, who is connected with the Xational Sav- 
ings Bank of Xew Haven ; and Mrs. David Lauten- 
back and Mrs. I'eucluvanger, both of whom reside 
in Xew Haven. 

Mr. Zunder was twice married. His first wife, 
Mina Rosenthal, die<l, and he then wedded her sis- 
ter, Mrs. Regina (Rosenthal) Zunder, widow of 
his brother. This union was blessed with the fol- 
lowing children : Isabella, who is the wife of Seig- 
wart Spier, of Xew Haven ; Albert ; Theodore ; So- 
phie, who married Isadore Chase, of W'aterbury ; 
Delia, whu is the wife of Charles L. Weit, of Xew 
Haven ; and Reginal E., a clerk in the Xational Sav- 
ings Bank. By her former marriage Mrs. Zunder 
had three children: Flora, wife of Lewis P. Weil; 
Carl : and Albert Rosenthal. 

Albert Zunder was born June 29. 1856, in 
Xew Haven, and was there reared to manhood, re- 
ceiving his education in a private school, and finish- 
ing at the Wooster school. When he was seventeen 
years of age he was taken into his father's store, 
and, in a sense, grew up with the business. At 
the present time he is at the head of the firm. 
Albert Zunder was married Oct. 8, 1882, to Rose 
E. Falk, a daughter of Maier Falk, of Albany, X. 
v.. where she was born, and where her father was 
in the tobacco trade. Monroe F. is the only surviv- 
ing child of this union. 

Albert Zunder takes an independent position in 
politics and holds to the principle of voting for the 
best men for public position. Since the death of his 
father he has been elected treasurer of the Jewish 
Synagogue. For five years he has been treasurer 
of the Harmony Club, and for fifteen years was as- 
sociated with its management : he is also a member 
of the I. ( ). C). F. ; of Connecticut Rock Lodge. F. & 
A. M.; Knights of Honor, and the Heptasoplis. 

JAMES II. SAXDFRSOX. one of the success- 
ful and progressive agriculturists of Hamden, Xew 
Haven county, has made his special field of industry 
a success, and is highly esteemed and respected by 
all who know him. He was born in Middletown, 
Conn., Oct. 7. 1829, son of David Sanderson, a na- 
tive of Hamden. where the grandfather. Cyrus San- 
derson, was employed in the gristmill owned by 



400 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



IIW Whitney and Jerry Davis. C\rus Sanderson 
died at about the age of sixty years. 

David Sanderson passed his boyhood and youth 
near W'hitncyville, where in early Hfe he served an 
apprenticeship to the giuiniaker's trade, and he con- 
tinued to follow tliat occupation there for some time. 
Subsequently he worked in Johnson's gun shop, at 
Middletown, and while there married Mij-s Sarah 
II. Tiftin, of that place. After the birth of our sub- 
ject the father returned to llaniden and entered the 
Whitney Gun Works, where he was employed until 
1861. He removed to the farm where our subject 
now resides in 1841. There he died in 1862, at the 
age of fifty-eight years. James 11. is the oldest of 
his three cJiildren : William H. is a resident of Rock 
Island, 111.; and Chandler died in 1862. 

James IT. Sanderson was twelve years of age 
when the family removed to the farm in Hamden, 
and amid rural scenes he grew to manhood. He 
remained on the farm until about fifteen, assisting 
in its operation, and then entered old Squire Whit- 
ney's gun shop at Whitneyvillc to assist his father, 
who was employed there. In those days this shop 
was turning out the first of the old Navy revolvers 
of the Colt pattern. Mr. Sanderson spent in all 
about twenty years at gun and pistol working, giv- 
ing up that work in 1865. About 1857 he built the 
house near the old homestead and lived there for 
twelve years, after which he retiu-ncd to the farm 
where his boyliKod was ])asse(l. Since aljout 1865 
he has devoted his entire time and attention to agri- 
cultural ])ursuits, for the past thirty years making a 
specialty of market gardening, raising all kinds of 
vegetables, which he retails; he also carries on fruit 
growing. He has a good farm of twenty acres. 

In 1856 ]Mr. .SandiTsoii was united in marriage 
with Miss Ellen R. C'urtiss, of Hamden, daughter 
of Philo Curtiss, and they have had three children : 
Elizabeth; Maria; and Hattie, wife of William C. 
Mansfield, of Hamden. In his jiolitical affiliations 
Air. Sanderson is a RepublicMi, though he seldom 
attends an election, his assistance to the party being 
rendered almost entirely through the influence he 
exerts. He was a stancli supporter of the Free Soil 
doctrine during the period of itsi agitation. Mr. 
Sanderson gives an earnest support to all measures 
which he believes will ])rove of ]niblic benefit. He 
is widely and favorably known and has a host of 
warm friends in the comnnmity where he has so 
long made hi.-i hnme; for a man of his age he is 
well preserved, in s[)ite (if his life of activity. 

111-:.\RY C. ROWE, the head of the firm of H. 
C. Rowe & Co., growers and shippers of Rhode 
Island and Long Island Sound oysters, was the 
pioneer in deep water oyster culture, and this firm 
now owns tnore oyster ground than any other in the 
United States. 

Mr. Rowe was liorn in New Haven April 23, 
185 1, .son of Ruel and Abbie (Gordon) Rowe, and 
grandson of Levi Rowe. His ancestors were land 
holders in New Haven in 1640. His great-grand- 



father, Ezra Rowe, and Matthew Rowe (3), brother 
of Ezra Rowe, were in the Colonial army in the war 
of the Revolution. Air. Rowe's ancestors were pub- 
lic-spirited and enterprising citizens. His father, 
Ruel Rowe, carried on various commercial and mer- 
cantile enterprises, and at the time of his death, in 
1868, was engaged in the importation of oysters, 
I)rincipally from Southern waters, and in shipping 
them to Canada, New York and the West. Upon 
his death, in May, 1868, his son, Henry C, under- 
took the conduct of the business, although then but 
a boy of seventeen. His mother was, however, a 
woman of rare intelligence, character and energy, 
and it was with the aid of her advice that he was 
able to lay the foundation of what has become a 
great and successful enterprise. 

For about a year after his father's death, Henry 
C. Rowe carried on the business along the same 
lines, but the Southern competition for the Western 
trade was strong, and he soon began to build up a 
New England trade, which formed the nucleus of 
the extensive business of the present firm. In later 
years he has shipped all over the northern parts of 
the United States and Canada, as far west as Cali- 
fornia and Oregon, and as far east as England and 
Germany. Mr. Rowe now owns over ten thousand 
acres of oyster ground in Long Island Sound, be- 
side controlling a large area in the State of Rhode 
Island, and gives employment to a great number of 
persons and vessels of various kinds. The culti- 
vated oysters of Connecticut and Rhode Island are 
superior in quality and flavor to most of the Chesa- 
peake Bay and other Southern stock, and Con- 
necticut alone ships annually millions of bushels 
of oysters, opened and in shell, to the markets of 
the IJnited States, Canada and Europe. 

Before this result w-as reached, however, many 
great difficulties were encountered and overcome, 
which cannot even be mentioned within the limits 
of this sketch. Before 1870 Mr. Rowe realized the 
great possibilities and inuiiense future for the oyster 
industry of New England — if oysters could be prop- 
agated On a great scale in Northern waters, in- 
stead of depending principally upon supplies from 
the .South. In order that this could 'be done, im- 
jx)rtant legislation was necessary, and it was not 
until May 14. 1874, that he took from the State the 
first large grant of oyster ground made in the deep 
waters of the Sound, outside of the harbors, reefs 
and islands, and commenced the work of oyster 
propa.gation on a large scale. This new enterprise 
was looked upon as foolhardy, the general opinion 
being that no defensible right could be secured to the 
.ground, and that, if it could, the culture itself, for 
many reasons, was imijracticable. Many of the 
predictions were not wholly mistaken, and the 
young man found a rough road to travel over ere he 
reached the .goal of his ambition. When some of 
the early obstacles were overcome, and he had con- 
verted some of the sea bottom of the Sound into a 
prospective oyster farm, numerous other difficult- 
ies arose. The general public had an idea that 




^ 




c^ 




c^-^r^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



401 



oysters srew like wild fruit, and needed only to 
be plucked ; and many believed that the rijjht of 
property in oyster ground was a wrong to the pub- 
Jic, and that all oysters in the water were connnon 
plunder. .Much prejudice against the enterprise 
existed, and it was for a few years almost im])os- 
sible to get redress from the courts for the thefts 
and tres])as>ing practiced, for, as the oyster farms 
were increased to include hundreds of acres, thefts 
were frequent and the beds difficult to guard. As 
Mr. Rowe's experiment liegan to give promise of a 
successful industry, others went into the enterprise, 
and some of them, not understanding the law for a 
written title, went into the Sound and staked out 
ground here and there, regardless of the rights of 
others. In substance, such were the nature and con- 
ditions attending the earlier years of oyster culture 
in Long Island Sound, and they clearly show that 
the undertaking was fraught with difficulties on 
every hand, and imposed on the projectors grave, 
and sometimes most unpleasant, responsibilities, as 
'suits in court were frequent and embittered. But 
the pluck and energy of I\Ir. Rowe and his asso- 
ciates were equal to the occasion and finally tri- 
umphed, establishing the largest oyster industry in 
New England, and Mr. Rowe now ow-ns and pays 
taxes upon more oyster ground than any other per- 
son or firm in the United States. 

Rowe & Co. in 1807 commenced the use of ex- 
tensive grounds in Narragansett Bay. Rhode Is- 
land, in connection with their vast oyster fields in 
Long Island Sound, and they now- control more 
ground in Rhode Lsland — as well as in Connecti- 
cut — than any other person or firm. Their prin- 
cipal shipping house is located at the east end of 
-Quinnipiac bridge. New Haven, and is arranged 
on an entirely dilTerent plan from any other oyster 
house in the United States. The oysters are handled 
"by such methods as to insure their perfect condi- 
tion, and with the least labor practicable. This 
firm own and use three wdiarves about seven hun- 
dred feet in extent, and with a depth of water 
sufficient to permit the loading and unloading of 
•their steamers at either high or low water. The 
plant is equipped with every facility for storing, 
shucking and packing oysters, and is the most con- 
venient, as well as the most complete, in the coun- 
try. Five thousand bushels can be caught and 
handled per day. 

During the years of progress in this line of in- 
dustry in Long Island Sound much legislation has 
naturally come up in matters of titles and regula- 
tions, and for twenty-five years no such bills have 
■come up and been passed without Mr. Rowe's 
careful consideration. One of the most vigorous 
contests in the Legislature, in which he was en- 
gaged, occurred in 1880, when he secured the pass- 
age of a bill permitting him to dredge on his own 
ground with his own steamer, which was the only 
oyster steamer then owned in New Haven. The 
'Other oyster planters vigorously opposed its use. 
and through their infiuence Mr. Rowe was opposed 

26 



by the representatives from New Haven and East 
Haven, both in the House and before the Legislative 
committee. Thirteen persons were before the com- 
mittee to oppo.-e the provision, and Mr. Rowe only 
in its favor. After a lively contest the committee 
favored it by a vote of eight to one, the Senate l)y 
fourteen to four, and the House by a two-thirds 
vote, deciding that Mr. Rowe was right, and that 
the act was just to those who opposed him so bitter- 
ly. They claimed that steam dredges would not 
only tlestroy his own oyster beds, but those of his 
neighbors, but later they owned and used steam 
dredges themselves. 

Since its formation, in 1881, Mr. Rowe has been 
one of the leading spirits in the Oyster Growers' 
Association, and for five years past has been its 
pre.Mdcnt. Men who were once his opponents now 
support his views. He has been connected with 
many measures having for their object the advance- 
ment of the oyster culture. He was mainly instru- 
mental in the removal of the place for depositing 
dredged material, in the government work, through 
the orders of the United States engineer officers. 
He also secured the passage of an act, by the Legis- 
lature, for the same purpose. In 1882 Mr. Rowe 
assisted Lieut. Francis W'inslow, of the United 
States navy, in carrying on some interesting and 
successful experiments in the artificial propagation 
of oysters. 

In 1887 Mr. Rowe presented to the General .\5- 
sembly a statement of the conduct of the Shell Fish 
Commission, as it was then constituted, and showed 
wdiere the State could save nine thousand dollars 
per year in the management of this commission. 
The General Assembly acted upon this information 
and by' legislation passed upon Mr. Rowe's state- 
ment more than one hundred and twenty-five 
thousand dollars have been saved to the State up 
to the present time. 

Few men managing such extensive interests are 
willing to sacrifice time and energy to public meas- 
ures. Mr. Rowe has not sought public responsi- 
bility, but when it has been placed ujjon him by 
various organizations, including the New Haven 
Chamber of Commerce, the Connecticut Oyster 
Growers' Association, and other organizations, he 
has performed the duties entrusted to him with 
faithfulness. Among other public movements, he 
was one of the first to advocate the annexation of a 
part of the town of East Haven to New Haven, and 
was on the committee to secure the passage of the 
bill providing for annexation. ?Ie was active in the 
preliminary work to secure the building of the 
Ouinnipiac bridge, and later for the new bridge, to 
replace Tomlinson's. On the petition of H. C. 
Rowe and others the Legislature in 1885 ordered 
the draw in the bridge just referred to widened to 
eighty feet or more, and it is an interesting coin- 
cidence that the General Assembly of 1842, upon 
the petition of his father, Ruel Rowe, ordered the 
draw widened to fifty-four feet, while twenty years 
before that date his grandfather, Levi Rowe, headed 



402 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



a movement to have the draw widened, the width 
then being- but twenty-six feet. In 1883 Mr. Rowe 
procured the pa-ssag-c of a bill by the Legislature to 
protect infant children from ill usage when in the 
care of other than their parents. In 1884 and 1885 he 
was chairman of a committee from the Thirteenth, 
Fourteenth and Fifteenth wards of Xew Haven to 
ojipose the schemes of consolidation then before the 
Legislature, and in 1886 was a member of a similar 
committee from the Iiorough of Fair Haven, East. 

As a member of the Chamber of Commerce of 
Xew Haven, Mr. Kowe has rendered the city valu- 
able service. He has worked faithfully for the im- 
provement of Xew Haven hartor. He was secre- 
tary of the Xew Haven Harbor committee for one 
year, and for the past three years, as chainnan of 
the committee, has labored successfully with others 
in securing Congressional legislation for harbor im- 
[jrovement. His duties in these capacities necessi- 
tated preparation of a great amount of information 
and statistics. The legi.dation secured was a pro- 
vision for the expenditure of $345,000 for dredging 
the harbnr of Xew Haven, and exceeded by $105,- 
0(~)0 tlie total amount that had been previously ex- 
pended for that ]nir|)ose by the Government during 
the whole history of the city. On March 29, 1899, 
at the fifty-ninth annual meeting of the Chamber of 
Commerce of Xew Haven, resolutions were unani- 
mously [)assed tiianking Mr. Rowe for his efficient 
services on the HarlKir committee. 

In 1901 the Chamber of Commerce requested 
suggestions of legislation to remedy the very unjust 
assessments which then existed in Xew Haven. 
The need of remedy was urgent, as the assessments 
ranged from one and one-fourth times to three times 
the market value of real estate. There were 3,580 
ai^jicals to the board of relief among the 10,377 real- 
estate tax-payers of Xew Haven. Xeither the board 
of relief nor the Superior Court proved of any avail 
in remedying these evils. Under these circum- 
stances the Chanrbcr of Comm^erce invited all citi- 
zens of Xew Haven to offer remedies, and a method 
proposed by Mr. Rowe was unanimously approved 
by the committee on Legislation of the Chamber, 
and by the Chamber itself. The leading meml>ers 
of the Chamber, with Mr. R(nve, urged the passage 
of what was known as the "Rowe Bill," and the Ju- 
diciary committee of the General .\ssembly voted 
to recommend its jiassage, notwithstanding its very 
unique and original provisions. After having so 
voted, however, four members of the Chamber ap- 
peared before the committee in opposition to the 
measure. The committee then reversed its posi- 
tion, on the ground that the Chamber of Commerce 
was not united, and as the measure was quite with- 
out ])recedent they hesitated to pass it, although the 
committee had previously shown its approval of the 
]>rinciple involved by voting to recommend the 
measure. Although the I'.ill did not become a law, 
the able presentatiwn of the case to the public made 
at that time resulted in a reduction of the uniu-t 
assessments bv the amount of twentv million dol- 



lars on the next assessment made after tliis work 
of the Chamber. 

Mr. Rowe's public services, however, have been 
only in cases where he was asked to assume re- 
sponsibility, and his principal work has been the 
great enterprise of cultivating oysters on a large 
scale in the deep' water of Long Island Sound, in 
which work he has come to be a recognized author- 
ity. As such, at the request of the L'nited States 
(Government, he read a paper before the Interna- 
tional Fisheries Congress at the World's Fair in 
Chicago, in 1S93, and also addressed the members 
of the Legislature of Virginia in January, 1894, by 
invitation of the Fish Commission of Virginia. His 
success in the oyster industry has resulted not only 
from a thorough study of the practical culture of 
oysters, but is also largely due to the fact ( for he 
has achieved success in the commercial department 
of the industry as well) recently expressed in a 
pithy way by one of the competitors of the firm, who 
said : "It is of no use to try to get the trade of H. 
C. Rowe & Co., because their customers know that 
they can not only depend on the quality and condi- 
tion of the oysters, but they know that they will 
always get full measure and solid meats." This- 
reputation enables the firm to hold its trade, al- 
though often undersold in price, by competitors. 
The unprecedented success of H. C. Rowe & Co. 
empliasizes the old saying that "honesty is the best 
policy." 

SHFLDOX BRAIXERD THORPE is a widely 
known citizen of North Haven, a descendant of an 
old family whose ancestry dates from William- 
Thorpe, who sailed from England to America in 
1635, coming with wife and daughter, Iwth of the 
name of Elizabeth, and settling in New Haven in 
1638. His second marriage was to Margaret Pigg. 
The eldest son of William, named Nathaniel, owned 
land at "Blue Hills" which his daughters. Experi- 
ence and Lydia, sold to Enos Tuttle in 1733. The 
wife of Xathaniel was Mary Ford, of Charlestown, 
Mass., and the children of this marriage were: Na- 
thaniel, Samuel, Mary and Abigail. His second 
marriage was to Sarah Robbins, who bore him : Sa- 
rah, Experience. Lydia, William and Elizabeth; 

Nathaniel Thorpe, of the above family, grew to- 
nianhood. He and his wife Elizabeth had eight 
children : Nathaniel, Samuel, Isaac, Hannah. Re- 
becca, Moses, Aaron and Elizabeth. Isaac Thorpe, 
son of Xathaniel, married Dinah Ludington in 
1725, and their residence was in Xorth Haven, 
where the records of the Congregational Church' 
testify to them being devout people. Their children 
were: Isaac, Alary, Nathaniel, Nathaniel (2), 
Jonathan, Titus, Jacob, Amos and Dinah. 

Jacob Thorpe married Eunice liishop June 20, 
1768, and was killed by the British forces at East 
Haven, July C^, I'jjq, leaving children: Asa, Zophar, 
Jacob, Beda and Billa. The widow, Eunice Thorpe, 
married Jonathan Rali^h, and the children of this- 
union were : Tilly, Jonathan and Eunice. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



405 



Billa Thorpe, the grandfather of our subject, 
in iSoo marnetl I'oUy Moulthrop, who died in 
1867, her luisband dying two years previously. Tlie 
children of this union were: ISeda, Eunetia, Jacob, 
William Darius, Beda Roxsina, Dennis, Polly De- 
light, Rachel and Grace. 

Dennis Thorpe, the father of our subject, resided 
in North Haven, on the Wallingfonl road, in an old 
brick house which was a noted landmark in the lo- 
cality, having been built in 1759. At the time of his 
death, Nov. 7, 1900, he was the oldest male resident 
in the town. He married, Jan. 3, 1837, Elmina Bas- 
sett, who died Jan. 2, 1901. The children of this 
union were : Our subject, Alarthena, Amanda, Ells- 
worth Harrison, and Henry Lewis. 

Sheldon B. Thorpe was born in the old brick 
house, on the upper plains of North Haven, Conn., 
Feb. 21, 1838. Educational privileges in that place 
w'ere most meager, but, by the aid of a few terms in 
the local academy of the town, he had acquired suf- 
ficient knowledge, by the age of sixteen, to engage 
in teaching, and was employed in the public schools 
of Northford, Hamden and North Haven. In that 
day the old-fashioned country "Lyceum," with its 
lectures, debates and dramatic entertainments re- 
ceived his support, and he was an occasional con- 
tributor to the newspaper press of that period. 

The demands of the Civil war claimed his at- 
tention, and, with many of his companions, he en- 
listed Aug. g, 1862, in Company K, 15th Conn. V. L, 
and saw hard service along the Atlantic seaboard. 
In 1865 he entered the employ of the N. Y., N. H. 
& Hartford R. R. Co., as assistant station agent, 
at Windsor Locks, Conn., where he remained several 
years, and was then engaged by the Adams Express 
Co., as a messenger between New York and Spring- 
field. Mr. Thorpe served this company for four 
years, a portion of the time being in charge of the 
Merchants' L^nion Express Co., in New Haven. 
In 1871 he resigned this branch of the liusiness and 
connected himself with the commission house of 
H. E. Smith & Co., in which line, in one capacity 
and another, he remained until he entered the em- 
ploy of The Stiles Brick Co., of North Haven, 
where he is at present engaged. 

Mr. Thorpe was married Dec. 25, 1865, to 
Isabel Jane Barnes, a daughter of Daniel and Jane 
(Barnes) Barnes, and two sons have been born to 
them : Gardiner E., agent of the Bradstreet Co., at 
Boston ; and Arthur B., connected w^ith the New 
England Engineering Co., with residence in Hart- 
ford, Conn. In 1858 Mr. Thorjie became a member 
of the Congregational Church, later served as sup- 
erintendent of the Sunday-school .some years, was 
also treasurer and clerk of the church for a time, 
and has been clerk of the First Ecclesiastical So- 
ciety for twenty-five years. In politics he has al- 
wavs been a Republican, and represented the town 
in the Legislatur:; in 1881. For many years he w-as 
a member of the board of education, acting as school 
visitor a portion of the time. 

The Bradlev Librarv Association (of which our 



subject is a charter member and ex-president), the 
\ eteran Soldiers" AssocialidU, the I'ierpont Park 
Commission, and other jjuljlic jirojects, have always 
received from him warm su])port. Through his 
great-grandfather, Sergt. Jacob Thorpe, killed at 
East Haven. Conn., in 1779, in the war of the Revo- 
liuion, he became a charter member of the Con- 
necticut Society of the .Sons of the Revolution, and 
was a member of its tir.-t Ijoard of managers; he 
also belongs to Trumbull Lodge, No. 22. ¥ . &. A. 
M., and to Admiral Foote Post, No. 17. (J. A. R. 
Perhaps Mr. Thorpe will best be remembered in 
his native State In- his History of North Haven,. 
issued in 1892, an<l his History of the 15th Comi. 
\'ols., is.-ued in 1893, both of these valuable works 
displaying a wonderfid amount of research and 
making a complete and reliable history of the sub- 
jects named. In 1901 he was the compiler of the 
memorial volume issued by the ■'20th Century Com- 
mittee." Mr. Thorpe has in his possession the early 
genealogies of the early settlers of the town, and 
has made extended studies in large manuscript vol- 
umes of the Thorpe, Bassett and Barnes families ; 
his collection of old documents, autographs, photo- 
graphs, cemetery inscriptions, church history papers, 
and tlie thousand and one things picked up, proba- 
bl}- constitute him the best authority on local his- 
t(ir\ in the town. This laborious and painstaking 
work is done in his leisure time, its accuracy mak- 
ing it very valuable to others in substantiating old 
claims, and in sometimes proving that some families 
are not like those of whom De Foe speaks, when he 
says they are like unto potatoes, the best being un- 
derground. 

HARMON HUMISTON, one of the venetable 
citizens of Hamden, New Haven county, was born 
in that town Jan. 15, 1818, on the old homestead 
which adjoins his farm on the south. The Humis- 
ton family is one of the old ones of that town, and 
one that is soon to become extinct, as our subject, 
his brother Elihu and his maiden sister, Maria S., 
are its last surviving representatives. Harmon 
Humiston is a son of Justus and Elizabeth (Har- 
mon) Humiston, who are mentioned elsewhere 
under the sketch of Elihu Humiston, of Hamden. 
He was reared a farmer's boy, and attended the 
country schools, among his teachers being Joel 
Cooper and .Allen Tuttle. He also attended a 
private school that was conducted in the basement 
of the Whitneyville Congregational Church. His 
home was made with his parents practically un- 
til he was married, which event occurred in Ham- 
den on Jan. i, 1844. when Miss Maria L. Dick- 
erman became his bride. The ceremony was 
performed by Rev. Dr. Taylor, of Yale College. 
Mrs. Humiston came from one of the old and 
numerous families of Hamden. She was born 
Nov. 8. 1819, at Hamden, the daughter of Eli 
and Sophia (Bassett) Dickerman. the former 
originally from W'estville. and employed for many 
years in the gun factory at Whitneyville, while the 



404 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



latter, Sophia ( Bassett) Dickerman, was a native 
of Ilanulen. Mrs. Humiston taught school, begin- 
ning at the early age of sixteen years, teaching first 
a private school in the basement of Whitneyville 
Congrirgational Church ; she later taught district 
schools in North Haven and llamden. being so em- 
ployed in all about twelve years. 

After their marriage .Mr. and Mrs. Humiston 
went to housekeeping on their present farm, where 
he built the house in whicli they have since lived. 
Farming has been his lifelong business, except 
that when a young man he at one time worked in an 
auger shop in Hamden. lie has amassed a com- 
fortable competence. In church matters he and 
his wife have taken an active jxirt, and he served as 
deacon for years in W'hitneyville Congregational 
Church, and for almost sixty-four years taught a 
class in Sabbath school, only giving up that work 
when his hearing became defective. In 1867 he 
■was made a life member of the American Board of 
Foreign Missions. Mrs. Humiston began teach- 
ing a class in Sabbath-school when she was little 
more than sixteen years old, and continued until 
about I'joo (about sixty-five years). Mr. and Mrs. 
Humiston have always been great workers in the 
church, and tiicy took active part in the choir, 
the former singing bass and the latter alto for many 
years. Their example has ever been a worthy one, 
and their induence ever the best. While they have 
no children of their own, their home has sheltered 
several young people, Col. H. A. Tyler, of Hart- 
ford, Conn., lived for several years with them, until 
his enlistment as a young man in the Civil war. 
Mr. Humiston and his wife have lived together 
over fifty-eight years, and in their quiet lives, full 
of hajipiness and good works, have shown a per- 
fect picture of calm content. In politics Mr. Humis- 
ton is a Republican, but has never aspired for honors 
in politics. No more highly re-pected old people 
reside in the town. 

RKV. CHARLES PAGE. ' To the early Colon- 
ial families are due the credit and praise for the evi- 
dences of thrift and prosperity to he seen on every 
hand. Their industry, frugality and undaunted zeal 
changed this once wooded and desolate coast to a 
land of abundance, dotted with prosperous homes, 
public schools and churches. The wonderful trans- 
formation was accomplished by the class of our early 
settlers brought up to the idea that labor and re- 
ligion should go hand in hand. Our Colonial fam- 
ilies instilled these views into the minds of their 
children, and to-day the good results of their 
efforts are most apparent. To no family in New 
Haven county can we point as better examples of 
this desirable colonizing class than the Pages, com- 
bining as they do willingness to carve out success 
for themselves with true religious principle?. 

From tile Probate Records (\'ol. II) we learn 
that George Page, a Christian gentleman, emigrated 
from England and came to America, soon taking up 
his permanent location at Rranford. Conn. In 1667 



he. with a number of others, signed an agreement to 
build a Congregational church, and two years later 
the building was completed. His marriage to Sarah 
Linsley, daughter of John Linsley, took place soon 
after they crossed the ocean, and the many good 
qualities of heart and mind that she possessed, 
coupled with those of her husband, have been 
handed down through generations, making their 
descendants desirable citizens, good neighbors and 
true friends. Mrs. Page died in iTk^s, when still in 
the prime of life. In another of the records we 
find that George Page made his will in 1689, and 
that it was probated the same year, thus giving posi- 
tive assurance that his death occurred in that year. 
His children were Sarah, born in 1666; Samuel, 
1676 ; George, 1672 ; Jonathan, 1675 ; Hannah, 1677 ; 
Nathaniel, 1679; Daniel, 1683; and John, 1684. 

Daniel Page, son of George, was but six years 
old when his father died, and like many was thrown 
upon his own resources at an early age. When a 
young man he located in North Branford, where he 
purchased land and engaged in farming. He be- 
came one of the representative citizens of the town, 
was a deacon of the Congregational Church, served 
as selectinan about 1727, and also as one of the 
grand jurors. He was married Feb. 3, 1710, to 
Hannah Johnson, and died April 17, 1766. Their 
children were Prudence, born in 171 1; Hannah, 
1713; Daniel, 1715 (died in 1716) ; Abraham, 1717; 
Mary, 1719; Daniel (2), 1724; Martha, 1727; Eph- 
raim, 1730; and Sarah, 1732. 

Daniel Page, Jr., son of Daniel, was born in 
North Branford, and remained there until 1776, 
when he moved to Bare Plain, in the southwestern 
part of the town. There he died July 4, 1779, just 
three years after the signing of the Declaration of 
Independence, and while the war for freedom was 
still raging. He served as constable from 1755 to 
1759; selectman from 1763 to 1777; and represented 
his town in the Legislature for eight terms. On 
Feb. 13, 1749. he married Dinah Baldwin, daugh- 
ter of Israel Baldwin, and to them came the follow- 
ing named children: Esther, born in 1749 (died 
in 1751) ; Dinah, 1752; Esther, 1754; Daniel, 1757; 
Mary, 1759; Lois, 1763; Tryphena, 1766; and Ben- 
jamin, 1769. 

Benjamin Page, son of Daniel, Jr., was born Oct. 
18, 1769, and died Nov. 29, 1851. He was twice 
married. On May 16. 1798. he wedded Lois Ford, 
who died June 25, 1810, and for his second wife he 
married ^iary Hurd. who died Aug. 15, 1852. By 
the first union there were six children, whose names 
and dates of birth were as follows: Esther, July i, 
1799: Daniel. Feb. 24, 1801 : Lois, Nov. 24, 1802; 
Phnebe A., Nov. 25, 1804: Benjamin, Aug. 11, 1806; 
and Selina. July 30, 1808. The children by the sec- 
ond marriage were Mary, born in 1815; Judson, 
born in i8ifi: Daniel and others who died in in- 
fancy: and Darwin, born in 1822. The father of 
this numerous family was a man of considerable 
prominence in his day and neighborhood. He had 
received some advantages in the way of education, 




QyLA^CuiJO^ 'Jo-j. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



405 



and by reading- and observation lie added greatly to 
bis fund of useful information. His merits were 
evidently ajjpreciated liy bis neigbbors and friends, 
as be was ealled u])on to serve as justice of tbe ])eace 
for forty years, as a member of tbe Legislature two 
terms; and as town clerk one year. He was an ac- 
tive wi>rker as well as member of tbe Congregational 
Clnircb. and like bis ancestors was a Democrat in 
])olitical views. 

I'.enjaniin I'age. Jr., son of iJenjamin, and fatber 
of our subject, was married in Meriden, Conn., ()ct. 
20, 1836. to Sarab F,. Merriam, wbo was born l-"eb. 
(S. iSit), and died .May u, 18S7; be dieil July 16, 
1876. He was an earnest and consistent member 
of tbe Congregational Cburcb. and Mrs. I'age 
united witb tbe E])iscopal Cburcb. Mr. I'age was a 
strong Democrat in ])olitics. He was [)roniinently 
identitieil witb public attairs. tilled various local 
offices, and served as town clerk and justice of tbe 
peace for twenty-tbree years eacli. In bis family 
were five cbildren : Jolm .\I., born Feb. 14, 1838, is 
engaged in tbe bardware business in Xaugatuck, 
and lias served as a member of tbe General Assem- 
bly: Cbarles. our suljject, is ne.Kt in order of birth: 
Benjamin, born Sept. 4, 1840, is in tbe insurance 
and real estate business in Meriden, and bas served 
two terms as mayor of tbe city ; .Martha E., born 
Feb. 25, 1845, is the wife of T. .A. Smith, of Xortii- 
ford : and Robert, born July 5, i84(-i, is a farmer of 
Xortb Bran ford. 

Charles Page was born May 21, 1S39, in Xortb 
Branford, where he grew to manhood, and his pri- 
mary education was ol.itained in the district school 
of the neighborhood. Later he attended the Meri- 
den bi.gb school and the Ciuilford Institute; spent 
one winter at the State Normal School ; and for 
three years was a student at A'ale Divinity School. 
Xew Haven. Previous to entering tbe Divinitx' 
School he engaged in school teaching five years in 
his native town, one each in Branford and W'alling- 
ford, and two in Xew Haven. 1 le has always owned 
farm ])ro])erty in Xortb ii ran ford, but has devoted 
Ills time to other ])ursuits, and bas only su|)erin- 
tended the o|)eration of his land. 

In (juilford, .April 22. 18' 13, .Mr. I'age married 
Miss Libertine .\. Dudley, a daughter of Lutlu-r !■'. 
and F.liza ( Buck) Dudley. The father wa.^ .-i tanner 
by trade, but followed farming in later life. He 
was born in Xortb (iuilford March 7, 1814, and 
died May 22, 1876. while bis' wife, hum l'"eb. 22, 
1816, died May 24, i8()7. .Mrs. Page was horn 
June II, 1841, and is tin- second in urder of birth 
in a family of four cbildren: Lois R.. horn ( )ct. 
-7- ''^39- '^ tlT-' wife of ( leorge I"(ird, of Xortb 
Branford; Mary .\., born .Ma\' 17. 1843, is tbe wife 
of W . P. Xiles, of Xew I laveii ; and h'annie IC, l)orn 
.\pril 9, 1855, married .\. L. Rice, of .\'ew Haven, 
and died .Aug. 12, 1898. .Mr. and Mrs. I'age have 
three children: Charles .\., born I'eb. 12, 1865, be- 
.gan railroad work in 1884, and since i8(;c) bas been 
a conductor on the Xew York, Xew Haven & Hart- 



ford Railroad; Edson C. born May 21, 1868, mar- 
ried .'>\hia L. (Sates, and now superintends the 
operation of his father's grist and saw mill in Xorth 
Branford (they have one child, (ienevieve Ge- 
nevra, born Alarch 3, lyoo); and May C, liorii 
Aug. I, 1870, is tbe wife of John R. Merrick, ])osl- 
master of Totoket, Xortb Branford, and has four 
children — I'.lbertine .A., born Dec. 12, i8(;3: X'elnia 
A., Jan. 12, i8</); Jonathan Lucius, March i 1, 1899; 
and a daughter, Jan, i, 1902. 

The Republican jjarty fiiicls in .Mr. Page a stanch 
supporter of its j^rinciples, and bis fellow citizens 
recognizing his worth and ability have often called 
him to public office. He bas served as town clerk 
for tbe past thirty \ears ; town treasurer for the 
same time; justice of the jjcace for a number of 
years; and re])resentative in 1874 and hjoe. On 
Sept. 30, 1885 be was licensc^l to preach as a minis- 
ter of tbe Con.gregational Church, was ordained h'eb. 
13, i8i;4, and is now pastor of the church at b"o.\on. 
His life bas been manly,, his actions sincere, his 
manners unaffected, and his example is well worthy 
of emulation. 

HEXRV W.\RR1-:X. presi.Knt of tlu- r.utler & 
Lyman Land Co., and a director oi the I'.ridgeixjrt 
Wood Finishing Co., is one o 
citizens of Meriden. 

Mr. Warren was 
town, Litchfield Co., 
Sarah M, ( Ilickox ) 



f the most respected 



)orn .Sept. 17. 1837, in Water- 
Conn., a son iif .\lanson and 
.-- - -- , - . , Warren, and is a descendant 

of one of the oldest families in I'.ngland. as well as 
America, We give the comj)lete genealogy from the 
Earl of Xormandy and tbe daughter of William 
tbe Conqueror: (i) William de Warenne, F.arl 
of Xormandy, who died in 1088, married Ciundred, 
youn.gest daughter ipf William the C'oniiueror. (2) 
William de Warren, second h'.arl of Warren and 
.Surry — Label. (3) Reginal Warren — .Adelia de 
.\lowbra\-. 14) William Warren — Isabel de Hay- 
den, (5) .Sir John Warren — .Alice de Townsend. 
(')) Injm Warren — Joan de Post. 1 7) Sir Ed- 
ward Warren — Maude de Skeyton. 1327. (8) Sir 
i'.dward Warren — Cicely de Eaton. ( 17) Sir John 
'\\';irren — Agnes de Wynnington. (lol .^ir Law- 
rence Warren (born 13<;4' — Margery P.ulkley. 

(11) John W;irren (born 1414) — Isabel Stanley. 

(12) .Sir Lawrence Warren — Label Leigh. (13) 
William Warren — .Anne . (I4) John War- 
ren (died 1523) — I'Tizabeth. (15) John Warren 

. (16) Christopher Warren . (17) 

William Warren — .Aniie Marble. (18) Christo- 
pher Warren — Alice Webb. 

( i')) Richard Warren — Elizabeth Jant-tte Alarsh, 
c:mie from (Ireenwich. F.ngland, on the "Mav- 
llower," to Plymouth, Alass,, in 1620, Richard died 
at Plvmouth in 1628, and his widow died in 1673. 
Children: Xatbanit-1, Mary, Jose])h, .\nne. Sarah, 
I''lizabetb and .Xbigail. (20) .Xatbaniel Warren — 
.Sarah Walker, married Xoveniber. 1645: Xatbaniel 
died in 1667, his widow in 1700. Children: Rich- 



4o6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ard, Jabez, Sarah, Hope, Jane, Elizabeth, Alice, 
Mercy, Mary, Xathaniel, John and James. (21) 

Richard Warren : Richard died in .Middle- 

boro, .Mass., 1697. Children: John, Samuel and 
James. (22) John Warren — ( i) Xaonii Read, (2) 
Anne Read; John died in Middleboro, .Mass., 1768. 
Children: James. Nathaniel, .Xehemiah, John, Na- 
omi and Anne. (23) James Warren and Abit;ail 
Thomas, of Woodbridtje, Conn., were married in 
July, 1744. They lived in .\e\v Haven and Wood- 
bridge, Conn. Abi.irail died in Walertown, Conn., 
Sept. 13, 1800. Children: Jason, horn I'cb. 20, I74.S'. 
Sarah, born I-Vb. i, 174'), married a Mr. Tiittle. 
Catskill, .v. \'.; Rachel, born July 4. 1741). married 
Johir Russell ; Abigail, born June 3, 1752, married 
James I'rilchard ; .Xathaniel, bi>rn Jan. 15, I7.=i5, 
married Susannah Jnhnsciu and .Mary Weilge: Je- 
mima, liorn ()ct. 13, 1*738. married a .Mr. Ibjstord. 
Putney, \'t.; l-'.duard, ln.rn Sept. iS. 1701. marrieil 
Mary Steele: Kichard^in. 124) i'',d\vanl Warren - 
Mary Steele, l-'.duard V\arren, burn Sept. 18, \y(\\. 
served in the Revoluti"nar\ war, was dr(_iwned in 
Nangatuck river Dec. 10, 1814. Mary Steele died 
in Watert<]wn, l"eb. 2U, 1841;, aged eighty-hve years. 
Children: Isaac: Mary, who died March 20. 1S63, 
aged seventy-eight, married I'armelee Richards, 
who died Dec. '), i86n, aged eighty years; Lew'is 
married Susan Judd: l.ymau, wdio ilied March 4, 
i860, aged seveiuv, married Abigail J. .Mien, who 
died Sept. 17, 1883, aged eighty-si.\ years, nine 
months; Sheldcii, who died .\ov. 21, 1823. aged 
thirty-two, luarriecl Clarenda Weltc)n, who died Oct. 
17, 1821, aged twenty-l'iiiir, and (second) .\nn 
Mead, who died Nov. 13, 1883, aged eighty-eight 
years; Alanson, born May 10, ]7()6, died Oct. 20, 
1858, aged sixty-two years; 'J'ruman, who never 
married, died Jan. 10, 1822, aged twenty-two, and 
was Ijuried in Darien, (leorgia. 

.\lanson Warren, father of Henry, was reared 
to manhocKl in his native t(.)wn, where be liecame en- 
gaged in the manufacturing buiiiness. He was a 
man of progress and enterprise, and was foremost 
in everything for the beiu'tit cif his town and its 
people. He was ime n\ tin- lirst members of what 
is now the Wheeler & Wilson .Sewing Machine Co., 
in 1848 becoming a i)artner of Natlianiel Wheeler 
and George 1'. Woodruff, mider the firm name of 
Warren, Wheeler iS: Woodrutf. They engaged in 
the manufacture of metallic articles, and .Mr. 
Wheeler was the manager of the business. Early 
in the year 1850 Mr. Warren formed a partnership 
with Messrs. Wheeler, Wilson & Woodruff, un<ler 
the style of the Wheeler & Wilson Co., as mami- 
facturers of .sewing machines. He died Oct. 20, 
1858. and was buried in Walertown. He was a 
Whig and Rejiublican in political faith. Mr. War- 
ren married Sarah M. Hicko.x, who died April 20, 
1866, aged sixty-seven years. They had eiglit chil- 
dren, viz.: T-!clinda, who married Ceorge ]'. Wooil- 
rulT, and. for her second husliand, < )wen 1!. Ring; 
Truman .\.: David Hard, who married Enuisa llron- 



son ; Sarah, wdio married Tracy J- Bronson ; Charles 
A.; Henrv; Mary, wdio died unmarried; and Alan- 
son . 

Henry \\'arren grew to manhood in Watertown, 
and like his father became interested in manufac- 
turing and similar enterprises. He is president of 
the Rutler & L}nian Land Co., of IMeriden, and a 
director of the i5ridgei30rt Wood Finishing Co., and 
is also interested in other concerns in New Haven 
and Meriden. Personally Mr. Warren is a man 
of domestic tastes and genial disposition, well-read,, 
and enddweil with more than ordinary intelligence. 
Politically he is a Re]:)ublican. He worships at St. 
.Andrews Episcopal Church, of wdiich his wife and 
daughter are members. On May 5, 1868, in Meri- 
den, Mr. Warren married Josephine Griswold Ly- 
n:an, daughter of Hon. \\'illiam Worcester Lyman, 
and one child. Etta Lyman, blessed this happy 
uninn. .^lie began her education in Meriden and 
graduated at Mrs. Sylvanus Reed's school, New 
\"i)rk. Like her mother, she has artistic tastes, and 
is a quite skillful performer on the violin, mandolin: 
and piano. She is also a vnculist. Miss Warren re- 
ceived instruction im the violin under Michael 
T'>anner, of New York, and Prof. Milche, of Wall- 
iiigford. She is a young lady of refinement and cul- 
ture, much devoted to her parents and they to her, 
and their home is one of the happiest in Meriden. 
Mrs. Warren .attended school in Meriden, also at 
Mrs. Edwards" school in New Haven, and received 
thorough instruction in both vocal and instrumental 
nuisic under the following masters : Prof. Rivarde. 
Tamaro, Ritzo, Bristol, and IMadame Torry, of 
New York. She possesses a beautiful voice, and 
has been a member of St. Andrews choir. She is a 
lady of character and culture, and presides over 
her beautiful home with ease and grace, dispensing 
a charming hospitality to the many who enjiiy the 
friendship of the family. 

Ashbel Griswold, the foster fatlier and uncle l)y 
marriage of the late Mrs. Lyman, mother of 
Mrs. Henry Warren, was one of ]\Ieriden"s grand 
old men. He was born April 4, 1784, at Rocky Hill. 
Hartford Co., Coim., where he grew to manhood. 
He learned the blacksmith's trade there wdth Capt. 
Danforth, and at the age of twenty-four came to 
Meriden, and soon after started in business at 
Tracy, engaging in the manufacture of tea pots- 
and similar articles, from l)lock tin. He contin- 
lu-d this until 1842, when be retired. He built a 
bduie on wdiat is now r.ritannia street, near the 
liduie of Mrs. William L}-man, about 1810. He 
was a member and warden of the Episcopal Church. 
Mr. Griswold represented his town in the State Leg- 
islature in 1831 and 1847, and was justice of the 
peace for several years. For a number of years he 
was president of tlie Afcriden Bank, and he was 
known miiversally as an honest, upright man in all 
dealings. He died May 30, 1853, and is Iniried in 
.Meriden. Mr. (iriswuld married Lucy Erary, 
dauijhter of |;unes b"rar\', and after her death 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



407 



wedded Ann (Hall), widow of Andrew Lyman and 
mother df \\ iiliam Worcester Lyman, father of 
Mrs. Warren. 

I'AL'L CUKESEBOROrCU SKIl'l-", .M. I)., 
a leading- physieiaii of New lla\en, for forty years 
has been actively engaged in the practice of his pro- 
fession in that city, and has risen to eminence in 
his chc)sen work. The good opinion of his fellow 
citizens is his to a marked degree, and he is a typi- 
cal reiM'esenialive of one of the sturdy families of 
old Xew luigland, whose coming to ihis conluieni 
was bnt a little after the landing of the i'ilgrim 
fathers. 

Dr. Skiff was born Oct. 4. i8j8, at the old fam- 
ily homestead in the town of Kent, Lilchtield county. 
now his own property. This htMiie aiuedates by 
at least a decade the breaking out of the war of the 
Revolution, and it has sheltered several generations 
of this name through a period of 134 years. Dr. 
Skiff is a son of Luther and Hannah (Comstock) 
Skiff, a descendant in the seventh generaticjn from 
James Skiff (who is the ancestor of all the .Skiffs 
in America), of Plymoiuh, Alass., where he is on 
record as early as 1(136, and later at Lynn, and then 
at Sandwich, which was foimded by settlers from 
Lynn in 1O37, including himself. I'"or thirteen 
years, counting from 1645, James Skiff represented 
this town in the Colonial Legislature ; and his son 
Stephen, beginning with 1676, also performed the 
same function for many years. The Doctor's line of 
descent is through Nathan, Stephen, Nathan (,2), 
Nathan (3), and Luther Skiff. 

Nathan Skiff', the son of James, was born in 
1645, was married to two wn-es, Mary Chipman, 
daughter of John Chipman, of Barnstable, ' and 
Ruth (surname not known). 

Stephen Skiff", son of Nathan, married Elizalieth 
Hatch, and in 1720 settled in what is now Tolland, 
Connecticut. 

Nathan .Skiff' (2), son of Stephen, beirn in 1718, 
was married in 1741 to Thankful Eaton. They set- 
tled in the town of Kent. Litchfield county, where 
they occupied for a time the log cabin, which gave 
way in 1766 to the frame house noted above. 

Natlian .Skiff (3), son of Nathan (2), was born 
in 1751. and was married to Abigail l'"uller, and 
nine children were born of this union. X'alban 
Skiff (3) served in the Revolutionary army under 
Capt. Abraliam k'nller. i le responded to the call 
for the defense of Xcw ^'ork in 177'!, and helped 
defend Danbury, which was raided by (ien. Tryon 
in 1777. His wife, Abigail l'"nller, was a daughter 
of Zechariah and Abigail (Hubbell) b'tiller, the 
former a son of Josejih and Lydia (Day) ITdler. 
Joseph I'uller was one of the original grantees and 
incorporators of the township of Kent, to which 
he came from I-^ast Haddam in 1738: he was a son 
of John and Mehitable ( Rowley ) l-"uller, and a 
grandson of Sanuiel I-'uUer and Jane, a daughter 
of the \i<\. John Lathrop. of Scituate. 'Hie last 



named couple were married by Capt. Miles Sland- 
isli. Samuel EuUer, with his father, iidward, and 
his uncle. Dr. Samuel b'uller, were among the J'il- 
grini fathers, who crossed in the "Maytlower." 

Luther Skiff, son of Nathan (3), and the father 
of Dr. Skiff, was born Oct. 4, 17^3, and he died l''eb. 
II, i85(j. On A])ril 8, 1818, he was married to 
Hannah Comstock, and tlie\- had eleven chil- 
liren : IClijah, Mary Ann, Edward, I'eler, i'aul C, 
llck-n, Hannah |., Giles, .Samuel .\., .Margaret and 
A lira. 

.Mrs, Hannah (L'omstock) Skill was the daugh- 
ter of Peter ami H;uinah ( I'lait) I'onistock, and a 
granddaughter of J-llipbalel and .Saraii (Pratt) 
Comstock. Eliphalel Comstock was a son of Daniel, 
Jr., and grandson of Daniel Comstock, Sr., who 
were both among the incorporators of Kent. Dan- 
iel Comstock, Sr., was the son of Christopher Com- 
stock, who came to l'"airfield from iuigland in iOOi. 
Mrs. I laiuiah (Piatt) Comstock was a daughter 
; of Judge Zephaniah Piatt, and Hannah Davis, of 
j Plattsliorough, N. \' . Judge Zephaniah Piatt was 
the son of Captain Zephaniah I Matt, who was a son 
of Jonas and ilannah (Saxtoii) Piatt, of Hunting- 
ton, L. I., the former a son of (^,"apt. i{pheiietus 
Piatt and his wife, Phoebe Wooil. Capt. ICphenelus 
Piatt was a son of Richard Piatt, the emigrant, who 
came to New Haven in 1638, and settled in .Milford. 
Thus it will lie seen that of the early seltli'rs and 
old families in Kent, Dr. Skii'f's ancestors include 
branches of the Comstock and h'uller line, also the 
Hubbell, Piatt and Pratt families. 

Dr. .Skiff' was reared <iii the old homestead in 
, Kent after the usual manner of the times. He at- 
i tended the neighboring schools and the Kent Acad- 
emy until fifteen years of age, when an o]j[)orlunity 
for better educational privileges was presented by 
an aunt (Mrs. Roderick Bissell), who live<l on the 
Western Reserve in Ohio. l'\)r ft)ur and a half 
years Dr. Skiff' lived with her at .\ustinburg, Ohio, 
and attended the Cjrand River Institute, h'or two 
years of that time he had as a roommate John 
Brown, Jr., of Harper's l-'erry fame. Dr. .Skiff had 
intended to enter Hudson College on the Western 
Reserve, but owing to the illness of an older lirother, 
he was needed at home to take charge of the farm. 
l'"or a time he worked there and was able to teach 
sclio()I during the winter season. Deciding upon 
the study of medicine he. in 1850, entered \'ale 
Medical School, from which he was gradu- 
ated in 1853. Subsequently he ])assed two years 
ii. the Jefferson Medical (.'ollege in Phila- 
del])liia, and following this, the young doctor 
located in .Xew Haven, which has continued 
to be the scene of his professional labors 
to the present time. The year he settled here it was 
his privilege to meet aiul renew his ac<[uaintance 
with >ouiig llrown, who was temporarily a resi- 
dent (jf the city, in company with his fallier ; they 
were then ])lanning that enler])rise which resulle<I 
so disastroush- at Harper's l-'errv. 



4o8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Dr. Skiff was educated in tlic tenets of the old 
sclii<()l 'if niedicnu . but after a tiionniijh comparison 
nf •.111' two sclinois. he deiil)erately selected Ilonie- 
</|)athy as his life work. .\t 1 'hiladelphia he was 
tuider the instruction (if such nu-n as Mutter, I'an- 
coast, Aleiijs and Dunj^rlison. Dr. Skill was one of 
the earliest homeopathic physicians in .\'ew Haven, 
preceded only by a cousin. Dr. Charles II. Skiff. 
His experiences through forty years of constant 
and bus_\- practice hau' been many and \aried. 
One who knows wherenf lie writes, says of Dr 
Skiff: "lie ciimbines skill in ihe lie.-diiii; art with 
proni[)t judgment, admirable foresinbi. inexhausti- 
ble tjood temper, and an in(k'|)endeut attitude 
towards all schools of practice. few ])ossess in 
such an eminent degree the iiersmial maijnetism, 
which immediately attracts and retains the confi- 
dence of tlu' invalid, that <,fentleness and proiu])t- 
ness which liuLjers so L;raC(.full\' in the inemorx' of 
the patient: and, more than all else that charit\-. 
which the doctor is callecl upon abo\e all men to 
so frequently exercise towards his fellows in the 
humble walks of life. .\ll bear testimony, who 
know him, that Dr. Skitf possesses all these (|uali- 
ties and many others which are important factors iti 
the success of tln' true physician." 

Dr. Skiff was one of the founders of the State 
Homeopathic Society, lie was an incorporator of 
(Irace Hospital, of which he is now a director and 
the constiltiui;- |)hysiciati ; this is one of the most 
successful hospitals iti .\ew luigland. Dr. .Skiff 
has been a frequent contributor to v.arious medical 
journals, and he has taken an active interest in the 
Humane .Society, anil otlu'r wortbv enterprises. 

( )n jitne jo. 1874, Dr. Skiff was uKirried to 
I'juma Mc(iri',L;(ir l-'.ly. of I'.rooklyn. .\. ^■.. who is 
a descendant of a prominent Xew l''.nj.jland f;miil\-. 
She is the si'cat-i;randilau,gliter of the Rev. David 
I'lly, D. D., of Lyme, (.'onu., and a descendant of 
Kichard \\\\. who was an e.-irlx settler in .\meric;i. 
She is also the i^randdau.gbter oi the Rev. 'fhomas 
Kunderson, one of the sexen ]iillars of the first 
Church of Christ in Xew llaveii. and its deacon 
from l')Sy to 1730. This marria<;e \\,is blessed with 
the birth of one danijbti'r, I'auline, born in .\la\' 
1880. 

DR. ACCCSTCS Kl -.b.K.M.X.X S.MITII. one 
of the l)est known and highly res])ected citizens of 
New Haven, comes from a family distintjuished for 
probity and learnin.s;. Dr. Smith was born in White 
riains. X. \ ., Oct. 15, 1S26, ;, son of Rev. j(jhn 
Mod and .\manda (Day) Smith. 

The ;)aternal .Lj'randfatber. Joseph Smith, was 
born in I'.rooklyn, X. \'., keb. "11. \ji,^. \\\ trade 
this estimable irentlemaii was a cork cutter, .and was 
very successful in his work. Takini^ a ljixmI inter- 
est in the Methodist Church, of which he was a 
lifelouij meiuber, he became class leader and local 
l)reacher, and was always a faithful worker in re- 
li.i^ious undertakinijs. I'.y his tirst marria,L,'e, which 



was with ^liss Honeywell, he had eight children, as 
follows : Elizabeth, who married J. D. Myers ; John 
.Mott : Peter, who married Catherine Fisher; Will- 
iam, who married Eliza Saunders; Joseph B., who 
married .\im Steele: Deborah, who married Amos 
.'^mith : and two who died in infancy. For his sec- 
ond wife he married Mrs. Mary Poillion, who, by 
her first marria.E^e,' was the mother of six children : 
I Cornelius, George, Ann IZ.. Ellen, Carnes and Ade- 
line. In the John St. Methodist Church, New 
\'ork. the first one built in America, with which he 
j was directly connected, the memory of this good 
I man is cherished as a type of upright manhood and 

true Christian living. 
I Rev. John Mott Smith, the father of Dr. Smith, 

was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., Oct. 10, 1795, and 
i died Dec. zj, 1832, in Middletown, Conn. For two 
I vears he was one of the professors in the Wesleyan 
University, and in 1816 was graduated at Colum- 
bia College with the degree of A. B., afterward re- 
ceiving that of M. A. The following year, 18 17. 
he took up the study of medicine, and later joined 
the Xew York Conference, being assigned to the 
Jamaica Circuit. In 1818 Rev. Smith was assigned 
to the Suffolk Circuit: in 1819-20 the Stanford Cir- 
cuit; in 1820-31 was princijwl of the Wesleyan 
Seminary, situated in New York City until 1826, 
when it was transferred to W'hite Plains, N. Y. ; 
j from 183 1 to 1832. he was professor of Latin, 
(jreek and literature at the Wesleyan L'niversity at 
I Middletown, Conn.: and also acting professor of 
Natural Science. While in full possession of his 
faculties and remarkable powers, he passed awav in 
this city one of the greatest educators of his time. 
( )n N^ov. 19, 1820, Rev. Smith was married to 
.Miss .'\manda Day, of Norwalk, Conn., a daughter 
of Absalom and Betsey Daw and to this marriage 
were born; William F.. born Nov. 19. 1821 ; John 
.M., Jr.. born Xov. 13, 1824: .\ugustus B.. our sub- 
ject : Amanda Day, born July 2t, 1829; Eliza Mead, 
born July !, 1832. ( )f these childixm, Eliza Mead 
died .\ug. 29, 1832: John Mott. Jr.. .Aug. 10, 1893; 
and Wm. F., who was a clergyman of the Methodist 
Church, and member of the New York East Con- 
ference, located 1882, died Oct. 29, 1883; and 
.\manda D. married H. W. Monson. of Middlebury, 
Conn. At the time of his death John Mott Tr. was 
a large j^roperty owner in the Sandwich Islands, 
]jossessing several fine ])lantations. .\manda, the 
wife of John Mott, afterward the wife of Charles 
Beck, of steamboat fame, died Oct. 5, 1853. 

Dr. .\ugustus I'l. .Smith enjoyed umisual advan- 
tages in his youth for ac(|uiring knowledge, his 
parents recognizing the im])ortance of .giving to 
their children, a good education. After six years 
residence at W'hite 1 Mains. N. >'.. with his parents 
he removed to Middletown. whert' he remained two 
years, and then wt-nt to live with his grandfather at 
South Norwalk. C<inn.. remaining six years, dur- 
ing which time he attended public and high schools, 
and then entered the Daniel H. Chase prei)aratorv 
school, .Midilletown. .\fter two xears in that well- 




OAUM^'iM H tJdinrricth 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



409 



known institution lie went to Troy, X. Y. At this 
latter city, the yonng man. being ambitious, earned 
his own Hving. and in 1845. came to New Haven and 
began business for himself as an instrument maker. 
During all this time, liis natural inclinations seemed 
to be in the direction of dentistry, and after si'ven 
years of faithful study with Dr. Samuel .Malleti. 
Dr. Smith began the practice of his profession l'"eb. 
17, i860, and built up a very successful practice, 
continuing it until lyoi, when he retired. 

On A]5ril u. 1849, Dr. Smith married lunily 
Jiartlett. a native of Bridgeport. (_'iinn.. horn Sept.. 
19. 1831. and died Jan. 11. i8(>o. a daughter of Rev. 
Horace I'.artlett. a Methodist minister. To this 
marriage two children were born: Henrietta J., 
wlio married Rev. J. (). Monson : Heman Hangs, 
who married Lill\' Carrington Xorlon, (Jet. 28. 1880. 
and died July 15. 1891. On .March 24, 1897, Dr. 
Smith married Esther Emeline I'raman, born in 
l^leasantville, X. Y., a daughter of Henr\- Romer, 
a native of Westchester county. X. \. llem-y 
Romer married Levinia flanks, also of \\'estchesler. 
Tile father of Henry Romer. Jacob Romer, traced 
his ancestry back to the same common ancestors as 
the Romers of Kingston. X. Y. (who came from 
Switzerland), one of whom Jacol) Romer, was of the 
party that captured Major Andre. Dr. .^mith has 
ni>w in his possession the \ an Conrthnul tabU' that 
Gen. .\\ ashington dined on, on several occasions. 
al)ove the town where Major .\iidre was arrested. 

in ])olitics. Dr. .Smith was originally a Whig, 
and is now a Republican: socially he is connected 
with the I. ( ). O. F.. Ouimiipiac Lodge of \ew 
Haven, and following in the footsteps of his honoreil 
father and grandfather, is a consistent menilier of 
the Trinity Methodist Church. During the many 
years Dr. Smith has made his home in Xew Haven, 
he has proven himself a man of whom the ciun- 
munity may well l>e ].)rond, and l)oth ho and bi> 
charming wife mimljer many friends among those 
with whom they are associated. 

.\XDRE\\' WOODWARD Dk FOREST, late 
president of the Xew Haven Gas Light Co.. and 
of The De I'orest & Hotclikiss Co.. lumlier dealers 
■on Water street, Xew Haven, was one of those u])- 
right citizens, whom all good men delight to honor. 
He passed away at his home, Xo. 351 Orange street, 
Nov. 29, 1900, in the eighty-fotirth year of his age. 
He was born in Watertown, Conn., Jan. 24, 1S17, 
son of John Hancock and Dotha ( Woodward ) 1 )e 
Forest. 

John Hancock De I'orest was born in Hunting- 
ton, Conn., -April 10. 1776, and was a ])rominent and 
successful shipping merchant in Watertown. He 
■owned no vessels himself but hired them to ship 
the pork, beef and grain of the neighljoring far- 
mers to Xew York by way of Derby, the Hoiisa- 
tonic 7\iver and Long Island Sound. There were 
ventures across the ocean in which he was the su])er- 
cargo, and various Xew England productions were 



carried to the West Indias, l-"rance. Spain, Portugal 
and .Morocco. In 1818, yielding to the advice of his 
brother, Daviil Curtis De F'orest, he settled in Xew 
York as a broker and commission merchant. His 
sales and shipments of merchandise to the West 
Indies, to South .-Vmerica and to F.urope were many 
and large. .\t that time a disastrous business de- 
pression affected Europe and all of the civilized 
regions of the .American continent. In 1821, weary 
with struggling against the persistent panic, he gave 
u]) his Xew ^'ork brokerage and commission lousi- 
ness, Iiaving lost alx)ut one-tenth of his capital, ami 
with his family returned to Connecticut an<l settled 
in Ihimphrevsville (now .Seymour I. This was a 
little \-illage name<l in honor of Col. David Hunipli- 
re\s, who had established large mills there. .At his 
death, work in the mill ceased, and the buildings 
remained unoccupied until in 1822, when they were 
inirchased by John 11. De I'orest and Messrs. Wain 
& Leaming. of Philailelphia. .A new company was 
organized, under the name of the Humphreysville 
Manufacturing Co.. of which John H. De Forest 
was president, and J. Fischer Leaming, secretary. 
.\lthough -Mr. De l-"orest knew nothing of manufac- 
turing, he nevertlieless made a success of his ven- 
ture. The new company immediately started the 
I)aper mill, gristmill and .sawmill, while they altered 
the woolen mill into a mill for cotton sheetings, and 
so the company became one of the minor founders 
of cotton manufacture in the I'nited States. .Mr. 
De I'ore.st contimied in the maimfacturing business 
imtil liis death, which occurred Feb. 12. 1839. Dur- 
ing his residence in 1 hnnphreysville, Air. De Forest 
was repeatedly elected to the State Legislature, and 
was for years the principal trying justice of the dis- 
trict. .Mrs. Dotha (Woodward) De l^arest was 
the youngest daughter of Fllijah Woodward, of 
Watertown, Conn., who marched with one of the 
first Connecticut companies to the rescue of I'.os- 
ton at the Lexington alarm. She was married to 
Jolm Hancock De b^jrest, Dec. 5, iSii. 

It may not be uninteresting to note that Da\id 
Curtis De F'orest, uncle of Andrew W. De F'orest. 
once lived in Xew Haven, as a pros])er(nis retired 
merchant. He built for his residence, which was 
then called "the elegant De F'orest mansion." the 
house standing on tlic corner of Church and Elm 
streets, now owned and occujiied by ex-Mavor Jos- 
eph B. Sargent. .Mr. De b'orest had lived in South 
-America nnich of his life and had amas.sed a for- 
tune. He was greatly interested in the struggles 
of the Buenos .Ayreans, Chilians and Bolivians for 
independence, particularly of the Buenos .Ayreans, 
and was elected F'irst Consul to the Cniti-d' States 
from the new government of Buenos .Ayres. Airs. 
De F'orest (who was Aliss Julia Wooster ) was a 
granddaughter of a cousin of (u-neral David Woos- 
ter, and was said to be a most beautiful woman. 
Two excellent j)ortraits of .Mr, De l-'oresl and his 
beautiful wife, joainted by .Mor.se. hang in the Yale 
-Art Gallery, -\bont 1822, his dutv done to lluenos 



4IO 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Ayres, Mr. De Forest resigned his consul-general- 
ship. Somewhat later he journeyed to Montreal to 
put his eldest daughter in a French school there, 
and thus was absent from hoiue when his "elegant 
mansion" received its most illustrious visitor, Gen- 
eral Lafayette, who was in New Haven four hours 
on -Aug. 21, 1824. Says the Columbia Register of 
that (late: 

The hero had a reception at the court house, then a 
hreakfast witli Gov. W'olcott and all the autliorities, after 
that three liundrwl ladies with their (■hildrcn stormed the 
hotel and wcrt- prusmtrd to tin- courtly old nobleman. At 
twclvL- he reviewed iho troops on tin- Green. After that ho 
paid his respects to various widows and da Lighters of slain Rev- 
oluli(.nary heroes; ne.\t, to Uie house of Uavid C. DeKorest, 
Ksepiire, late Consul-General fro n liuenos jVyres, and the 
provinces of the Rio de la I'lata. .Mr. DeKorest being 
absent, lie was received at th<- door by .Mrs. DeKorest with 
lier accustomed politeness. Here he remained several min- 
utes and ji.irtook of some refreshment, i'rom the [lortico 
in front ol this splendid mansion he surveyed the beautiful 
Green, full ol pio|)le, with the long line of trooi-is, the build- 
ing's around, and the line foliagi- 01 the trees. A lively sen- 
sibility at once afipeared. He was struck with the be.iuty of 
the seene. " .Such another prosjiect can hardly be presented 
in America." .^fter taking leave of his handsome hostess, 
•' .Mr. .Street's elegant barouch "bore hiiii through the double 
line of hurrahing students to the college, there U) be received 
by the President and faculty, after which he visited the 
burying ground and the graves of Humphreys and other old 
Comrades, and then lifteen guns roared .him out of town 
with th(.ir worshi]jing larewell. 

David C. Do I'orest's life in Xcw Haven was 
conducteil on a generous scale, spending and giving 
away nuich. His money had conic to him easily and 
he parted with it freely. It was his custom every 
]'\'l)ruary to send $50.00 to the almshouse in order 
that the inmates might celebrate Washington's birth- 
day by having a good dimier and a glass of wine 
each. He divided $15,000 among his relatives: and 
he offered his mother $5,000 more, but as she re- 
fused it, he presented the check to Yale College for 
the benefit of the library, 'i'hc magnitude of the 
gift hurt the vanity of one of the elder trustees, a 
locally illustrious gentleman \<-ho had just donated 
$1,000 for the same ])ur[xise,consc(|uently Secretary 
(Joodrich and Treasurer llillhnuse called on Mr. 
De Forest and re(|uested him [o withhold his check 
until the aforesaid dignitary could be reconciled to 
it. A year later, fearftil of losing the luoney, they 
called again and suggested that it shotild be given in 
another way. "(icntlenien," s:iid Mr. DeForest, 
"Ihe trustees relnrned my ciicck when I offered it. 
Now they want it for a purpose which fails to iti- 
tcrcst me. I will give it : Init 1 will not give it out- 
right to the college, i will give it for the benefit of 
my own ilesh and blood." Thereupon he proposed 
that the motiey should be held at interest uiuil it 
amounted to $26,000, when the income shotild be 
devoted to four scholarships for 1 )c b'oresls, and 
an annual gold medal, worth $100. for superiority 
in luiglish Composition and Declamation. The 
proposition was acce])ted, and the check paid over 
.'^epl. 12, 1S2.V -A vigorous oiiimsiiion was offered 
by the aforementioneil local grandee and one of his 



personal friends among the professors, but was 
voted down. The De Forest scholarships (now 
three in number) have done good, and the De Forest 
medal is one of the chief prizes of the Academic 
course of Yale. David Curtis De Forest died at 
his home, corner of Church and Elm streets, Feb. 
22, 1825. His remains lie buried in Grove street 
cemetery. 

As a boy Andrew Woodward De Forest at- 
tended the common schools in Humphreysville, and 
the Goshen (Conn.) Academy, a school which was 
then famous, and which in its time has graduated 
many men of note. At about eighteen years of age 
young De B^orest went to New York as a clerk in 
the large silk importing house of De Forest & 
Downes, the senior member of the firm being a rela- 
tive of his. He expected to make this his life work,, 
but a severe rheumatic sickness at the age of twenty- 
three compelled him to abandon his plans, and to 
return to his home in Humphreysville. While liv- 
ing in New York he had become interested in mili- 
tary affairs, and was captain of a company wdiich he 
used to drill in Washington Square. In 1847 ^^''• 
De h'orest came to New Haven to reside and estab- 
lish a lumber business on Custom House Square 
with Albert Steele as a partner, the firm being 
known as Steele & De h'orest. The partner- 
ship formed continued until 1852. when Mr. 
Steele retired, and Justus S. Hotchkiss became 
a partner in the business, the finn name be- 
ing changed to De Forest & Hotchkiss." Twen- 
ty-one years later (1873) the De Forest & 
Hotchkiss Co. was incorporated, and seven years 
later (1880) ]\Ir. Hotchkiss retired. From this 
date until his death, Mr. De Forest was only 
the nominal president of the company, the business 
being carried on and managed by his two sons, 
Charles S. De Forest and Eugene De Forest. In 
previous years, in connection with his New Haven 
lumber business, Mr. De Forest at one time owned 
and operated a lumber mill in Canada. Heavy 
freshets worked such disaster to his property that 
he finally abandoned it and sold the mill. 

During his fifty-three years' residence in New 
Haven he attained by large ability, untiring patience 
i and quiet persistence a distinguished place in the 
business affairs of tlie city, and won for himself the 
sincere respect of his fellow citizens. His ability as 
a sound and wise counsellor aiul able administrator 
of important business aft'airs was recognized and 
called into service. At the organization of the 
Tradesmen's Bank in 1854, he was elected one of 
its directors, a position which he held for forty-si.K 
years (until his death), and in 1896 he was elected 
vice-president. In 1863 he was elected by the peo- 
ple a member of the Board of Education to fill a two 
years unexpired term of a member who had died. 
He was re-elected in 1865 for the full term of three 
years, and was president of the Board in the years 
1864-1865. and 18C16-1867. It was during his first 
term that the sttid\- of music was inlroduceil into 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



411 



the public schools of Xew Havt-n. At this linn- rilso 
the question of a public high scliool. which had 
been considered and discussed 1)\' the voters and tax- 
payers of the city for many years, was revived with 
great earnestness. Pulilic meetings were held tn 
discuss the question, at which Mr. l)e I'orest pre- 
sided, and the outcome of this agitatinn was the 
starting of a public high school in the old I'alladium 
building on Orange street. In October, 1S71, the 
cornerstone of the present high school building, on 
the corner of Orange and Wall streets, was laid, 
and the building completed in 1873. Mr. l)e Forest 
was one of the oldest directors in the Xew Haven 
Gas Light Co., having been elected in 1880. He 
succeeded to its presidency on the death of Daniel 
Trow-bridge in 1894, previous to which he had for 
several years been vice-president. He was ;dso 
president of the Tontine Co. In all the varie<l ex- 
periences of his long and useful life, he showed by 
ills wisdom, his kindness, his tact, his reliability and 
liis integrity, that he was a man of true worth and 
solid character. His life from its beginning to its 
close was imimpeachable. When a young man he 
united with the Congregational Church in Hunipb- 
rcysvillc. On coming to New Haven he idenlitied 
himself with the old College Street Church, and at 
once entered heartily and enthusiastically into the 
work of the church. For a long time he was a 
deacon of the church and a teacher in its Sunday- 
school. Deacon De Forest was with the College 
Street Church about twenty years, when he took 
a letter to the Xorth (now United) Church on ac- 
count of its being more convenient for his wife. For 
many years he was a member of the New Haven 
Congregational Club. He was in all ways a worthy 
Christian citizen, abounding without ostentation in 
good works, and devoted to his church, his family 
and his friends. 

On Oct. 30, 1844, Andrew \V. De Forest mar- 
ried in Fairiield, Conn.. Lucretia Sturges Bennet, 
daughter of Thaddeus W'akeman and Deborah 
Lewis (Sturges) Bennet, of Southport, Conn. Five 
children were born of this union, of whom three 
sons survive: Edward Linson, of Springfield, 
Mass. ; Charles Sturges, president and secretary of 
the De Forest & Hotchkiss Co, ; Eugene, vice-presi- 
dent and treasurer of the De Forest & Hotchkiss 
Co.; Mary W^oodward, who became the wife of 
S. Duncan Leverich, and died at her home in New 
York, March 31, 1897; and Lucretia Hotchkiss, who 
died in New Haven, March 19, 1886. Edward Lin- 
son De Forest married Louise Hawdey, and has one 
daughter, Edith M. Charles Sturges De Forest 
wedded Lilian Ives, and has one child, .\ntoinette, 
Mary Woodward (De Forest) Leverich left a 
daughter, I\Iay D., now the wife of Major Tra A. 
Shaler, of Xew York City. Eugene married Minnie 
B. Richards, of Boston, Mass. A brother. Rev. 
Henry Alfred De Forest, M. D., a graduate of Yale 
College, class of 1832, and missionary to Syria, 
died at Rochester, X. Y., Xov. 24, 1858. A second 



brother, (leorge I'rederiek De I-'orest, a graduate of 
^ ale College, and in 1852 pn-siilent of the Eagle 
Manufacturing Co., of Seymour, capital Sioo.ooo, 
died in I'reepcMt, 111., Se])!. 16, 1883. (_)nc brother 
survives, Major John W'. De F<_)rest. of this city, a 
novelist, who was captain uf the 12th Conn. \'. T. 
in the Civil War. and was breveted Major of 
I'nited ."^tates \'olunteers. 

I11-:.\JA.M1.\' K. ]-:.\(il.lSH is one of the well- 
known men of .W'w Haven, and is a son of Henry 
English, a sun of James English, who in his time 
held many prominent ])ositions. 

James English followed the caliinel making busi- 
ness in coni])any with Sherman Blair, tie was the 
father of nine children: Benjamin: John; James 
E. ; (ieorge D. ; Charles L. : Henry; Nancy, the 
widow of \\'illiam B. I'ardee, resides in Xew 
Haven: Elizabeth married I'hilo I'.abbit, and has a 
son, Edgar, now engaged in business in Xew 
Haven; and Caroline married I'red Bronson, of 
W'aterbury. 

Henry ICugiish ;ic(iuired his educatinn in Xew 
Haven. After leaving school, he went into the car- 
riage business with a .Mr. Kimberry, under the firm 
name of Kimberry & English, and later, in company 
with his brother, James E., engaged in lumlier deal- 
ing. He died at the early age of thirty. He mar- 
ried Grace IL h'owler, daughter of Timothy I'owler, 
and one child, Benjamin R., was born of this union. 
Mrs. Grace (Fowler) English died Feb. 19, 1889, 
at the age of seventy-two years. The Fowler fam- 
ily is an old and imjwrtant one in the history of 
Connecticut, their first American ancestor being as- 
sociated with Governor Davenport, and at one time 
the first magistrate of the Colony. Timothy I'owler 
was the father of nine children, of whom one daugh- 
ter married Gov. English ; all are deceased except 
a son, W'illiam H. Timothy Fowler died at the age 
of eighty-two, and his wife at the age of fifty-four. 
I'oth were members of the Episcopal Church. 

Benjamin R. English was born Feb. 26, 1842, 
and acquired his education in the public schools of 
New Haven, and in the military school of Gen. Rus- 
sell, at that time one of the noted educational insti- 
tutions in New England. His business career be- 
gan as an errand boy in a dry-goods store, where 
he remained two years, and then for four years he 
worked in the clock factory. In i86r he engaged in 
the lumber business in company with John P. Tut- 
tle, with whom he continued for sixteen years, when 
he entered the real estate business in which he has 
been very successful, and which he continues to the 
present time. 

Tn 1866, Mr. English was united in marriage 
with Teresa 11. I'arren. one of the three children 
born to John .S. and Folly ( Pardee) I'arren, the 
former an oyster dealer in I'.altimore, and the latter 
a native of Xew Haven, who died when over seven- 
ty years of age. The other two children in the 
family of John S. ]'"arren are 1-dlen, wile of O. E. 



412 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Maltby; and liurdettf, who now lives in Baltimore. 
Mr. and .Mrs. luig-lish have had three children : ( i ) 
James E., who married (k-rtrude Worth, of lirook- 
"lyn, X. Y., and is the father of twins. Worth and 
(irace Atherton ; he is in business with his father. 
{J) ISenjamin i~.. who is connected with Peck 
Brothers. (3J A dau.^hter, (Irace L., died Dec. 5 



1895. ayed ei.uhteen \ear; 



H95 
is a Democrat 



l'<ilitically Mr. Ens^lish 
and has lu'ld a nnniher of of^ces in 
the ^ift of the jjcople. In iXS,| he was elected 
selectman, and became president ni the Lioard. He 
was on the tire board live yt'ars, and was postmaster 
from 1884 until i8S(). At the jji-escnt time he is a 
director of the I'ree I'liblic Library, a position he has 
lield since 181^4. He was secretary of the New 
]laven scliool district in v.hich position he served 
for six vears. l'<>v ten year> lie has been a com- 
missioner of tlie Sinkiiii; |-'uiid, and is one of the 
trustees of the town dejiosit fund. In tiiiancial and 
commercial circles he has played an ini])ortain part, 
and is a director of the b'irst National Bank, and 
a trustee of the Connecticut Savings Bank. He is 
a director of the .\'ew Haven Trust Company, the 
Xew Haven Saw .Mill Company and of the Danliury 
and Xorwalk R. R. Co.: director and secretary of 
the Evergreen Cemetery .Association, and the Xew 
Haven County Historical Society. He is also a 
trustee and treasurer of the Cler,L,'.Mnen"s Retirins;- 
[■'uiids, and .\L;eil ;uid Inlinn Clergy l'"und : trustee 
and secrelar\ nf tlic lli^liopV l-'niid. Relitjiously 
he is cimnected witli the Iqjiscopal Church in Con- 
necticut, beiiiu; a leading' and iiiHueiitial member and 
warden of St. Raul's E])iscopal Church in Xew 
Haven. SocialK .Mr. luig-lish lieloiigs to the 1. ( ). 
R. .M., and is one of the executive cemtmittee of the 
Sons of American Revolution, in which his eldest 
son, who is now secretary of the .\ew Haven Park 
(. onimission, takes an acti\e interest. 

CORXI'.LIl'S C. mni'.R, a representative and 
])roniiiieiit f;irnirr of ( ).\f(ird,' 1 'niiii., is a native of 
this .'^tate, born in ( Ireentield, Aug. I(), 1835, "^ ^"" 
I if Ralph and Harriet !■".. t t li.apnian ) Rvder, in 
wlidse faniilv were nine children, ,si\ Sdiis and three 
daughters. 'I'linse li\ing .are i leiiry A., town treas- 
urer of Seymnur: .M.ary I'.; Stephen, a resident of 
.'■■evmour: and Cornelius C . 

During- the childhood of our subject, the family 
ri'inoved to Danlniry. Conn., and at the age of nine 
years he went to Thom.-iston. E.ater he spent a 
short lime in ,'-^e\ iiiour. and then returned to Daii- 
liury. where he was enii)lo\ed on a farm until eight- 
een, when he ag-aiii went to Seymour. He found 
emplovnient in the ( ilobe Mills, .■ind engaged in the 
manufacture of augers for three \ears. In 1837 
he removed to the farm iti ( )\foril win-re lu' has 
since made his home. I le now owns 150 acres, one- 
half of which is valley land under a high state of 
cultivation, and U]>oii which he is successfully en- 
gaged in g;eneral farniing and dairying. I'or li'ii 
\ears or more he was also interested in the butcher 



business, but now devotes his entire time and atten- 
tion to agricultural pursuits with most gratifying 
results. 

On Sept, 21, 185'), Air. Ryder was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Sarah B. Tomlinson, by whom he 
had seven children, one. William T.. now deceased. 
Those living are Lillian ( ).. Ralph W.. Bennet H., 
John ].. Martha E. and Cornelius C. He was again 
"married. Nov. 7. 1883. his second union being with 
Mrs. iMiinia \'. Shippy. daughter of Marcus Mer- 
win, of Woodmont. In his political affiliations, Mr. 
Rvder is a Democrat, and he has been quite prom- 
ineiith- identified with local politics. He served as 
selectman of ( )xfonl in 1893 and 1894, as justice of 
the ijcace for many years, and as grand juror for 
over ten vears. He is an active and influential 
meniber of the Episcopal Chtirch. of which he is 
now senior warden, and is held in high regard by 
all who lia\'e the pleasure of his acquaintance. 

JAMES H. PECK, Warden of the liorough of 
West Haven in the town of Orange, and one of its 
most prominent and substantial citizens, comes of 
Revolutionary stock, his grandfather, a farmer of 
Middlebur\-, having served in the War for ludepeml- 
eiice. 

Ward Peck, his grandfather, was born in New 
Haven near where the Tontine hotel now stands. 
His father. Ward Peck. Sr.. was there shtjt in his 
own dooryard by British soldiers, and this so en- 
raged his sons that one and all volunteered for ser- 
vice in the Continental amiy. Although Ward was 
but fourteen at this time, he joined his brothers and 
tried to enlist. He was too short, however, and on 
going home revolved in his mind various ways by 
which he could outwit the examiner, in order to 
enter the service. He presented himself for examin- 
ation a second time, having increased his height by 
stuffing his boots with paper, and was accepted, and 
served seven years, participating in the hardships 
at \'alley l-'orgc, and at Stony Point. 1 U' helped to 
carry ( ieii. Lafayette ofT the field when the latter was 
wounded. In 1822, when the h'rench ( ieneral made 
his memorable visit to America, he visited Mr, Peck, 
who was transformed from a mere stripling into a 
man six feet three inches tall and weighing three 
hundred pounds. He went to Middlebury and 
there die(l. Prominent in iiublic afl'airs, he repre- 
sented his town in the State Legislature several 
times. His wife, Dorcas Bronson, bore him twelve 
children. Ward Peck was a namesake of his uncle, 
.\rtemus Ward, who had charge of the forces at 
I '.linker Hill, The remains of Ward I'eck, Sr.. were 
laid to rest under old Center Church on the New 
1 la\en "( ireen. " 

William .\ugiistns Peck, father of James II., 
a native of Waterbury. was a man of shrewd Inisi- 
ness foresight and great energy of character. Reared 
, ii])on a farm and educated in the district schools, at 
the age of twenty-one he began his business career 
as a common carrier. That was belore the com- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



413 



pletion of the Xew York & Xew Haven Railroad, 
and young Peck engaged in hauling freight by 
teams. He had thirty horses, and carried to New 
Haven, Farmington, Tannersville. Mcriden and 
Soiithington. He was strict with his men. insisting 
that they must neither smoke nor drink, and, above 
all. must be Whigs in pohtical sentiment. His 
learns brought the first organ and the hnt .sticking 
machine (for putting pins in papers) ever brought 
to that part of the country. The latter machine had 
aroused considerable curiosity, and, to prevent its 
being injured or stolen, an armed man walked be- 
side the wagon all the way from Meriden to Water- 
bury. .Mr. Peck's enterprise proved profitable until 
the coming of the iron horse, when he abandoned 
it. Then, going to Fairhaven, he purchased a large 
tract of land, which he subdivided, partially im- 
proved and sold as building lots ; he opened 
Peck street, and had the trees set out along the 
road there. From that point he removed to West 
Haven, where he bought about 100 acres, which 
he disposed of in the same manner ; here he threw 
twenty acres into streets, naming them after the 
members of his family. He was a man of broad 
public spirit and universally esteemed. He passed 
the remainder of his life there, dying in June, 1891, 
at the ripe old age of eighty-six. Both he and his 
wife were members of the Congregational Church. 
]\Irs. Peck, whose maiden name w-as Lucretia Leete, 
was born in North Haven, and was a great-grand- 
daughter of Gov. Leete, of Colonial days, whose 
home was near Leete's Island. She died in her 
fifty-seventh year. To Mr. and Mrs. Peck were 
horn ten children, six members of which large family 
are yet living. Their names in order of their birth 
are as follows : George L., a resident of Jamaica, 
Long Island: William A., Jr., who died in 1897: 
Eliza J., now Mrs. Joseph Andrews, a widow of 
West Haven ; Caroline D., who became Airs. George 
M. Anderson, of the same place: Nancy A., widow 
of Capt. Albert Chase, of that borough; James H.; 
Emma L., unmarried, also of West Haven ; Clara, 
who died at Jamaica, L. I., aged twenty-five ; an in- 
fant son that died unnamed ; and Sherman, who died 
in the 'sixties. 

Gov. Leete, mentioned above, was at first deputy 
governor under Gov. Winthrop. and later governor 
of the Colony. His brother was one of the judges 
at the trial of Charles I, but later came to America, 
and died in this country. 

James H. Peck remained at liome and attended 
school until he was fourteen years old, when he 
shipped before the mast. He followed the life of a 
sailor for six years, a part of the time being spent 
in the coasting trade and a part on vessels bound 
for foreign ports. Growing weary of the sea, he 
returned to West Haven, and started in business as 
a contractor for house painting. In 1877, however, 
a longing for new scenes once more took possession 
of him, and he made a trip to California, and for a 
year he engaged in various enterprises, returning to 



Connecticut in 1878. From that time until 1884 he 
served as deputy sherilt of his native county, under 
John C. liixby, of Meriden, and in the \-ear last 
named was appointed ganger and inspector in the 
Internal Revenue District, which was then the whole 
State, imder the first administration of President 
Cleveland. After three and a half years he resigned 
this i)ost, and in 1888 made a second visit to Cali- 
fornia, remaining until the spring of 1890. On his 
return to West Haven Sheriflf Charles A. Tomlin- 
son, of Milford, made him his deputy, Mr. Peck 
serving during the remainder of the term, which 
expired in 1894. He is a Democrat in politics, and 
one of the most active and intluential of his party's 
leaders in Xew Haven county. From 1878 to the 
present time (1901 ) he has been registrar of voters, 
with the exce[nion of the two years which he spent 
in California. During the greater portion of the 
last twenty years he has been chairman of his party's 
town committee, and is now serving his second term 
as a member of the State Central Committee. He 
was fir.st elected warden in iSi)7, and re-elected in 
1898 and 1899. 

Mr. Peck is a man of sterling worth and social, 
happy temperament, who has a wide circle of ac- 
quaintances and hosts of friends. He is a mem- 
ber of numerous fraternal lodges, among them be- 
ing Annawon Lodge, Xo. 11'). F. & A. M. of 
West Haven, in which he has filled all the chairs, 
and is now Past Master, and of Joseph Andrews 
Chapter, R. A. M., of which he is a charter mem- 
ber and Past High Priest : he is also a member of 
Crawford Council, of Xew Haven ; of the Order of 
O. U. A. M., of which he is likewise a chanter mem- 
ber, and in which order he has taken all the degrees 
and filled all the chairs. His business career has 
been a prosperous one. He has dealt largely in 
real propert}-, and has built wholly upon lines sug- 
gested hy himself one of the finest residences in the 
village, at the corner of Savin avenue and Church 
street. 

In September, 1869. Mr. Peck married Miss 
Henrietta M. Thompson, youngest child of Capt. 
John Thompson, of West Haven, well known in the 
merchant marine service. Mrs. Peck is one of 
six children, the others being Louise J., wife of 
Henry M. Ailing, of Xew Haven: John W.. of 
Lathrop Cal. ; Henry A., of Oakland, Cal. : Walter 
W. ("Capt." Thompson), of West Haven: and 
Sarah M.. wife of Theron Ford, of Milford. The 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Peck has been blessed with 
a daughter. Louisa Lucretia. who is the wife of 
Edwin S. Thomas. Esq., of Xew Haven, a leading 
member of the P)ar. as well as a justice of the 
peace and cx-meml>er of the .State Legislature. One 
daughter. Roberta, died in infancy. 

DAXIEL MEIGS WEBB. M. D.. the oldest 
medical practitioner on the shore line, and for over 
half a century a physician and surgeon of Madi- 
son. X'ew Haven countv. is a native of that town, 



414 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



born April 6, 1822. He is a member of one of the 
oldest families of America, and comes of English 
ancestry. 

(I)' Richard Webb, the first of the name in 
America, came in 1626 from Dorsetshire, Enc^- 
land, to Cambridge, Mass., thence moving to Bos- 
ton, where he was made a freeman in 1632. In 
Boston he remained until 1635, in that year coming 
to Connecticut and locating on the banks of the 
Connecticut river, in Hartford county, there mak- 
ing his home until 1650, when he moved to Fair- 
field county, locating in Xorwalk until 1655. In 
that year he took up his residence in Stamford, 
same county, but did not live long afterward, dy- 
ing Jan. I, 1656. In 1655 he was a deputy. He mar- 
ried' Elizabeth Gregory, daughter of John Gregory, 
and eight children were born to them: (i) Jo- 
seph, who married Hannah Scofield, died in 1685; 
(2) Richard, the next, died March 15, 1676; (3) 
Caleb died May 24, 1704; (4) Mary died Sept. 18, 
1706; (5) John died May 19, 1670; (6) Joshua; 

(7) Samuel is mentioned below: (8) Sarah, became 
the wife of John Marshall. The mother of these 
died Jan. 24, 1680. 

(il) Samuel Webb, born March 30, 1662, lived 
all his dax's in Stamford, Conn., dying there Oct. 
7, 1729. By his wife Hannah he had six children: 
(11 W'aitstill. born Jan. 6. 1691, married Jan. 18, 
1713. Joseph Holly; (2) i^amuel, sketch of whom 
follows; (3) Mercy, born Ajiril 11, 1^195, married 
June 18. 1713. Francis Brown; (4) Charles, born 
March 12, if«)7, married May 23, 1723, Mary 
Smith; (5) Mary, bom Jan. 7, 1699, married 
May 13, 1722, John Bates; (6) Nathaniel, born 
Xov. T). 1700, married (first) April 20, 1724, Sarah 
Webster, (second) Sar.ih ^^'ebb, and (third) 
Deborah Lockwood. 

(Ill) Sanniel Webb, born Mov. 16. 1692, in the 
town of Stamford, died there in January, 1731. 
He married Dec. S. 1720, .-Vhigail Slason, born 
March 8. 1700, who died in 17*^0. Children: (l) 
Abigail, born in January, 1722. married Jan. i, 
1749, Francis Holly; (2) Samuel, sketch of whom 
follows; (3) Elizabeth, born Jan. 16, 1725; (4) 
Charles, born .\pril 10. 1730, died April 19, 1730. 

(T\') Samuel Webb, born Xov. 14, 1723. in 
Stamford. Conn., tlience removed in manhood to 
Chester, Middlesex dunitv, where he was a land 
owner and farmer, and where lie died in October, 
1762. FIc married in 1744, and his wife. Marv, 
who was born in 1722, died in 1770. Children: 
(i) Sanuiel. born in 1745, died in Xovemlier, 
1778: (2) Jemima; 13) Stephen, born in 174'^). 
married Lucy Spencer, and died .\ug. i, i82('i; 
(4) Marv was born in T749; (5) .\nn married 
Martin Southworth ; (f>) Esther married a Mr. 
Douglas; (7) Reynolds, sketch of whom follow?; 

(8) Isaac; (9) James. 

(Y) Reynolds Webb, born Oct. 9, 1759, in tlie 
town of Chester, Middlesex county, was a farmer 
and !an<l owner, and took a very active part in the 



Revolutionary war. He enlisted June 2, 1777, in 
Capt. Kirkland's Company, Col. William Douglas' 
Regiment. 6th Connecticut Line ; was discharged in 
January, 1778; during the latter part of the war, 
he was transferred to the French army under Gen. 
LaFayette, and was present at the battle of York- 
town and the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. He 
was a pensioner in 1818; died March 20, 1834, and 
was buried in Chester, Conn. He married Nov. 15, 
1787, Catherine Parmelee, born June 30, 1768, 
who died July 15, 1851. Their children: (i) 
Samuel Parmelee, born Oct. 24, 1788, died Xov. 
24, 1S12. (2) Reynold, sketch of whoni follows. 
(3j Sally, born Dec. 4, 1792, married Deacon 
George Weed, and died May 18, 1876. (4j Cath- 
erine, born April 20, 1795, married Joseph Mather, 
and died Sept. 16, 1825. (5) Isaac, born Jan. 15, 
1798, was a graduate of Yale College, where he 
took the degrees of B. A. and M. A. in 1822 and 
1826, respectively; was tutor, 1825-27; he was twice 
married, first to Alary McClellan, second to Sarah 
McClellan. (6) Alary, born April 29, 1801, mar- 
ried Xoah Shipman, and died Oct. 27, 1851. (7) 
Ambrose, born Dec. 9, 1803, married first Eliza- 
beth W. Pratt, and second Sarah Tower, and died 
April 27, 1879. (8) Ann, born Alarch 6, 1806, 
married Rev. Emory Shailor, and died Jan. 16, 
1891. (9) William Jones, born April 11, 1808, died 
Julv 10, 1836, of consumption, and was buried at 
sea while on his passage home from Xaples, Italy. 

(VI) Dr. Reynold Webb, father of Dr. Daniel 
AI. Webb, was born Jan. 3, 1791, in the town of 
Chester, Aliddlesex county, where he was educated 
and prepared for college, after which he attended 
Yale Aledical School, where he graduated in 1819 
with the degree of AI. D. He then commenced 
the practice of his profession at Essex, and was 
later at Aladison. From there in a short time he 
returned to Essex, Conn., but after a sojourn there 
he returned to Madi.son and passed the rest of his 
days in that town, in the full practice of medicine 
and surgery. He died July I, 1856, aged sixty- 
five years, and was buried in Deep River cem- 
etery. In church views he was liberal and in pol- 
itics a Democrat. He represented the town of 
Aladison in the State Legislature ; was probate 
judge from 1836 to 1842, also from 1850 to 1852; 
was justice of the peace, and a selectman of the 
town. Socially he was a member of the Comiecti- 
cut Aledical Society, and of the American Aledical 
Association ; in fraternal predilections he was aiifil- 
iated with the I. O. O. F., and at one time was 
grand ma.-ter of the State. During the war of 
181 2 he was a nuisician from July 5 to 14, 1813, 
in Col. Elisha Sill's Regiment attached to Capt. 
Zachariah Clarke's Company. He was at all times 
active in public life, a goo<l citizen, noted for his 
honoralile and uiiright character. 

On Alarch 8, '1821, Dr. Reynold Webb was 
married to Deborah Hopson Aleigs, born Alay 24, 
1797. '" East Guilford (now the town of Aladi- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



41s 



son), a daughter of Capt. Daniel and Millicent 
(Hopsonj Meigs, the former of whom \va> in the 
Revolutionary war, and a sergeant in the "Lexing- 
ton alarm." Mrs. Webb dieil Dec. 7, 1859, and 
was buried in Deep River cemetery. .She was a 
lady of refinement and culture, a loving wife and 
mother, beloved by all. Two children came to 
Dr. Webb and his wife: Daniel Meigs was horn 
April 6, 1822. Catherine Millicent, born June 13. 
1832, married June 17, 1855, Col. Vincent Meigs 
Wilcox, of the I32d P. \'. I.; she died April i, 
i860, the mother of Dr. Revnold Webb Wilcox, 
M. D.. LL. D., of Xew York City. 

(,\'II) Dr. Daniel Meigs Webb, the subject 
proper of this sketch, commenced to attend school 
at the very early age of four years, and when 
ten he entered Lee's Academy, later studying at 
Clinton Academy, Middlesex county, where he pre- 
pared himself for college. In 1842 he entered 
Yale College, taking an academic course, and in 
1846 received the degree of B. A. (afterward that 
of ^L A.), after which he entered the Medical De- 
partment, and there graduatefl in 1849 with the 
degree of M. D. Returning now to Madison, he 
began the practice of his chosen profession with 
his father, and at the latter's death continued it. 
He has now been a physician and surgeon in his 
native town for over half a century, his ride ex- 
tending to Clinton, Guilford, Madison and North 
Madison. 

On April 29, 1849, at Clinton, Conn., Dr. Webb 
married Mary Elizabeth Elderkin, born in Clin- 
ton, March 20, 1825, daughter of Buckminster 
Brintnall Elderkin, of that town. Dr. Webb is 
a fellow of the State Medical Societv: is affiliated 
with the F. & A. ^L Lodge, Xo. 87, Madison, of 
'which he was medical examiner; is a Knight 
Templar, member of Xew Haven Commandery, 
Xo. 2 : and for several years was identified with 
the L O. O. F. In politics he is a Republican. l)ut 
no office seeker, in religious faith a member of the 
Episcopal Church, of which he is one of the war- 
dens. He is a broad-minded man, highly cultured, 
being master of several languages, extremelv pop- 
ular both in and outside of his profession, and 
highly respected. 

EDWARD RUTHERFORD HAYES (de- 
ceased) was in his lifetime one of the most re- 
spected and useful . citizens of Connecticut, a man 
of sterling w^orth and integrity. He was born Jan. 
30, 1822, in Xew Haven. The Hayes family be- 
gins its history in this country with the advent of 
George Hayes, who went from Scotland to Derby- 
shire, England, and came to this country, and ap- 
pears at Windsor, Conn., very early in the history 
of the Colony. His first marriage was to .Sarah 
(surname not known), who died in 1^183. and he 
married for his second wife .Abigail, a daughter 
of Samuel Dibble, of Windsor and Simsbury, the 
same year. About 1698 the family removed to 



Salmon Brook, in the town of Simsbury, which is 
now a part of Granby. He died in Simsbury, Sept. 
22, 1725. His second wife anil eleven children 
survived him. 

Daniel Hayes, a son of George, was born .April 
26, if>86, in Windsor. In 1716 he married .Martha 
Holcomb, who died the year following. In 1721 
he married Sarah Lee, of Wheatfield, Mass., who 
died in 1738. In 1739 Mr. Hayes married his third 
wife, Mary. Mr. Hayes died in Simsbury in 1756. 
During Oueen Anne's war Daniel Hayes was taken 
prison by the Indians almost within sight of his own 
home, and carried to Canada, where he was kept in 
captivity more than five years, when he was re- 
leased, and he returned to his home as one risen 
from tlie dead. 

Ezekiel Hayes (i), son of Daniel, born Xov. 
21, 1724, married in 1749 Rebecca, a daughter 
of Rev. Samuel Russell, of liranford. Air. Hayes 
was an early .settler in Xew Haven, whjre he 
owned and occu])ied a home on Court street. He 
was a prominent citizen, and a large projjrietor 
in Xew Haven. He lived many years at liran- 
ford, where in 1756 he built a handsome brick 
residence, which is still standing. His death oc- 
curred in Xew Haven Oct. 17, 1807. From [749 
until after the Revolution his home was in Bran- 
ford the most of the time. He served as a captain 
in the Revolution, and was present at the surren- 
der of Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown. A grand- 
son of Ezekiel (i) was Rutherford B. Hayes, 
President of the United States. 

Ezekiel Hayes (2), son of the above, was Iwrn 
in Branford in 1753, and married June i, 1775, to 
Mary Hemingway. Wealthy (Trowbridge) 
Barnes became his wife June 21, 1800. She was 
the widow of Samuel Barnes and a daughter of 
Rutherford Trowbridge and Dorothy Hitchcock. 
Elizabeth, the widow of .Archibald Rice, became 
his third wife, Dec. 8, 1822, and she survived him. 
Mr. Hayes, like his father, was a 'blacksmith and 
scythe maker. Air. Hayes resided in Court street, 
Xew Haven, where he died Oct. 20, 1828. 

John Hayes, son of Ezekiel (2), born X'ov. 
17, 1786, in Xew Haven, was married June 28, 
1810, to Elizabeth Bills, a daughter of William and 
Elizabeth (Thompson) Bills; she was born Jan. 
8. 1790, and died Dec. 5, 1872. Mr. Hayes was a 
merchant tailor, and died July 23, 1836. His chil- 
dren were as follows: Ezekiel; AVilliam Bills; 
Susan, who married a Williard ; Elizabeth T., who 
married a Johnson ; John Hemingway : Edward 
Rutherford: Charles Russell: Harriet Rebecca; 
and Alary B., who married Edward T. Alix, men- 
lion of whom will he made further on. .All were 
born in Xew Haven. 

Edward Rutherford Hayes, son of John, was 
for many years the efficient bookkeeper ami ac- 
countant of the firm of Henry Trowbridge & Sons, 
one of the most substantial and best-known con- 
cerns in Xew England. He rctirerl from active 



4i6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



life in 1889, and died on Dec. 9, 1895. On Oct. i, 
1849, he was married to Anna Cooke Sillinian, 
who was born Jan. 5, 1825, at Mt. Pleasant, N. 
Y., a daiisj;hter of Elisha and Amelia (Cooke) Silli- 
nian, of Now Haven. She died Alay 9, 1876. _ To 
them were born: (i) Martlia Silliman, who is a 
daup;hter of the .\nu-rican Kevolution ; (2) Caro- 
line Rutherford, who died \u<^. i, 185S. Mr. Hayes 
was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 
which he served as a vestryman many years. In 
early life he was captain of a militia company. 
In politics he was a Keiniblican. and belonged to 
the Republican Club. His great-grandfather built 
the old brick house, one of the famous taverns in 
Branford in the early days. 

The grandmuihe'r of -Mrs. .Anna C. (Silliman) 
Hayes was a great-grandchild of Gen. Lyon, who 
came to America very early in the colonial history. 
The family are all 'connected with the Sillimans 
of Yale College. The mother of Mrs. Hayes was 
a member of a family of ten children, three of 
whom are living, two in .\ew York, and one in 
Temisylvania. 

Eu'wAUD Tow.vsK.NU Mix, who was an architect 
of Milwaukee, learned his profession of Sidney 
Stone, and became one of the leading architects 
of the Northwest. His biography appears in the 
National Cyclopedia of American Biography. Mr. 
Mi.K was born at New Haven, Conn., May 13, 1831. 
His father and grandfather followed the sea, and 
were navigators of distinction, the exploits of each 
being named in the annals of the New Haven 
Colony Historical Society. In 1836 young Mi.x 
went West with his parents, who settled in An- 
dover. 111., on a large farm which his father had 
purchased. In 1845 the family returned to New 
York, where Edward T. began his education in 
the citv schools, and completed it in the Collegiate 
School', in Batavia, N. Y. In 1848, while on a 
visit to New Haven, he became acquainted with 
one of the leading architects of New England, 
whose office he entered as a student. At the ex- 
piration of seven years he refused a partnership 
with his instructor, and settled in Chicago, 111. 
In 1856 he went to Milwaukee, Wis., where his 
ability as an architect was .speedily recognized, and 
his application to his profession, with his unswerv- 
ing fidelity in discharging its duties, brought him, 
in a very few years, into the front rank of his pro- 
fession. In 1868 Gov. I'airchild appointed him 
State architect of Wisconsin, and he had charge 
of the construction of the State buildings until 1879, 
when he resigned. His reputation was not confined 
to Milwaukee, but extended to other cities. East and 
West, and received for him engagements where pro- 
fessional talent and experience of the highe-t order 
■were rctiuircd. Mr. Mix was a leading member of 
New York Institute of .Architects, and was presi- 
dent of Wisconsin State Architectural League 
from 1888 to 1890. A great number and variety 
of noble and stately buildings in Milwaukee, Min- 



neapolis and other western cities, bear testimony 
of his high attainments. Among many of the 
finest buildings in Milwaukee which he designed 
are the Chamber of Commerce, St. Paul's Church, 
Mitchell's Bank, the St. Paul R. R. Depot, Plank- 
ington House, and St. Grace's Church at ]\Iinne- 
apolis. He was also the architect of the Guar- 
antee Loan Building, costing $1,000,000. He 
married Mary Hayes, of New Haven, Conn,, 
a relative of ex-President Hayes. Edward Town- 
send Mix died Sept. 23, 1890, at Minneapolis, 
Alinnesota. 

FRANKLIN HENRY HART, than whom 
there are few better known business men in New 
Haven, is one of the sterling residents of that cit_\', 
where his long and honorable career has placed him 
in a foremost position in the commercial circle. 

Mr. Hart comes from one of the old and honor- 
able families of New England, and one of the very 
oldest in Connecticut, he being a representative of 
the seventh generation from Deacon Stephen Hart, 
who was the progenitor of this family in America. 
His line is from Deacon Stephen through Thomas. 
Hawkins. Samuel, Samuel (2), and William Au- 
gustus. 

(ij Deacon Stephen Hart, born about 1605, at 
Braintree, County of Essex, England, came thence 
to the Massachusetts Bay Colony about 1632, ac- 
companied by his wife and daughters, Sarah and 
Mary, and his sons, John and Stephen (2). He is 
supposed to have belonged to the company that 
settled Braintree, Mass, He located for a time at 
Newtown (now Cambridge V where his first wife 
died. For his second wife he married Margaret 
Smith, widow of Arthur Smith. 'Sir. Hart was one 
of the fifty-four settlers at Cambridge, Mass., later 
went to Hartford with the company of Rev. Thomas 
Hooker, in 1^135, and was one of the original pro- 
prietors in 1639. At Cambridge he had been a 
member of Mr. Hooker's Church and continued a 
member in Hartford. In 1672 he became one of the 
eightv-four proprietors of Farmington, Conn. In 
1647 li^ was a deputy to the General Court of Con- 
necticut, and continued to serve a; such during most 
of the succeeding years up to i6rio, from the town 
of Farmington. At the latter place he was one of 
the seven pillars of the church and was chosen the 
first deacon. An extensive farmer, he became a 
man of influence, and was one of the leaders in the 
town. His death occurred in 1683. his widow dy- 
ing in if^i- 

(II) Thomas Hart, son of Deacon Steiihen, was 
born in 1644, and married Ruth Hawkins, who was 
horn in 1649, in Windsor, Conn., a daughter of 
.Xnthonv Hawkins, a man of distinction in Farming- 
ton, whose wife was the daughter of Governor 
Welles, of Connecticut. Mr. Hart served as en- 
sign, lieutenant and captain, respectively, of the 
train band. iMr. Hart and John Hooker were the 
two most prominent men of the town, and conspic- 




/¥''^^^-^' 



~^^^'^^1>^'^>^<^^^^ 



1. 



^■t:^^:^^-/^ 



\ 




//. 



'O^/n^ 






COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



417 



nous in tlie Colony, heinsj men of wealth, activity 
and nsefulness. l-Voni 1690 to 171 1 he represented 
the town in the (ieneral Court, for twenty-nine ses- 
sions, and he was several times clerk and six'aker. 
CajM. Hart died in 172(1, and was Imried with niili- 
tarv honors, lie was a man of wealtli and intln- 
cnce. His family consisted of two danghters .and 
five sons. 

(Ill ) Hawkins Hart, son of Capt. Thomas, was 
born in 1^)77. in harmington, and was a farmer. He 
married in 1701 Sarah Roys, who was horn in 
1683. danghter of .\alhaniel Hoys and .Sarah 
(Lathro])). of Wallingford. They lived for a time 
in Farmington. and tlun removed to \\ allingford. 
where .Mrs. H;irl died in 17.^.^ .\lr. Hart then 
married .Mary I'diot. dauL;liter of Rev. Josi'ph h.liot. 
and his second wife .Mar\' (Willys), of (Inilford. 
the latter a danghter of Hon. Sanuiel Willys, of 
Hartford. Mr. Hart held the rank of lieutenant, 
and re])resented W'allingford in the (ieneral Court 
nine sessions, between 1714 and 1732. He died in 
1735. He was a large land holder and owned and 
occupied a twenty-seven-acre tract on Xorth .Main 
street, W'allingford. now known as the Kiee (or 
Roys) homestead. He was a representative man of 
his time. ])rominent in State, civil and military life. 
]\Irs. Mary ( ICliot ) Hart vva.s' a granddanghttr of 
Rev. John Mliot, the apostle to the Indians, who 
read the llible to the red men under the massive oak 
at .South .\atick in 1051 ; hv used his own trimsla- 
tion of Holv ^\'rit. and was the first to givi- them 
this sacred work in their own language. .After the 
death of her first husband. Airs. Hart married l\e\-. 
Abraham Pierson, first I'resident of Yale Collegt'. 
who died some time after, and his widow married 
(third) .Samuel Hooker, of Kensington, a grand- 
son of Rev. Thomas Hooker, of k'armington. ( )iie 
child was born to I^ieut. and Airs. Hart. S.amuel. 
mentioned beknv. 

(1\') Samuel Hart, son of Lieut. Hawkins, was 
born in W'allingford Julv iS. 1735. He married, 
in 1751;. at Durham. C'omi.. .Aliridget Fowler, 
and settled on a tract of land which had been 
given to Rev. Joseph b'.liot by the ('olonial Leg- 
islature, for valued anil distinguished service. 
Both he and his wife were taken into full I'hurch 
communion in 1771. Mr. i l;irt held the ranlc 
of lieutenant in the t'luuinenial Army during 
the Revolutionary war. and was wounded ;il tlu' 
battle of .Saratoga, .Sept. i<;. 1777. after which 
he drew a jiension. He rendered further service 
to his country as Cajjtain in Col. Comfort Sage's 
regiment July 5, 1771). in the invasion of W-w ll.a- 
ven. His death took plaet' Jan. 12, 1S05. .ind his 
widow jjassed away Xov. j(>, i>^2~. Their gra\es 
are well [)reserved in the old cemetery of his native 
town, his bearing the bronze marker of the society 
of Sons of the .American Revolution. 

( \' ) .Samuel Hart (2). son of Lieut. Samuel, 
was born July 12, 1770, and was baptized in Dur- 
ham, Conn. On Alarcli 3. 1803, he.married Patience 

27 



Hubbard, who was born in .August. 1772. a daughter 
of l-'.ber and Patience ( Cliittenden ) Hubbard. Mr. 
Hart was a farmer living on his father's homestead, 
and was an industrious man. He died Dec. 23. 1857, 
his widow surviving until March 15. 1804. 

( \ 1 ) \\'illi,-un .Augustus Hart, son of Samuel 
(2). w;is born .April 26, 1806, at Durham, Comi., 
;ind was well knowti to the residents of .\'ew Ha- 
ven. Middletown and Durham, as he carried on a 
provision business in these towns, and also kept 
a country store on the old homestead. 1 le married 
Sally .Ann Jones, who was a daughter of John Jones, 
of ."N'orth .Aladison, and the children of this union 
were as follows: Flizabetli II.. born .May 17. 1831. 
marrie<l ("h.arles E. Cam]), of .M iddletield. C'onn. ; 
l''rankliu 11.. born .\pril 2c). 1834; Mary 1',., burn 
July to. 183*1. is deceased: William Lewis, born 
Dec. 28, 1838. is residing in Prighton, ( )hio (he 
served as a private in 1st Conn. Heav\- .Artillery 
in the Civil war. and receives a ]iension ) : bdlen M.,, 
born .M.areli 11. 1841. married Isaac Hall, of W'all- 
ingt'ord. and l)otli are deceased; Charles ]•].. born 
.\pril 2. 1843. cnlisteil during Civil war in the 15th 
C'onn. \ . 1.. and was promoted to cajjtain in the 
loijth coloi-(,-d regiment: b'rederick J., born l"eb. 26, 
1845. and now a resident of Jo])lin. Mo., was during 
the Civil war a lieutenant in the 109th colored regi- 
ment, isl lle.ivy .\rtillery; Catherine .S.. born .Aug. 
II). 1847. lives in Durham. Comi. ; .Alice L., born 
.\l)ril \i). 1852. is an artist in Poslon, Alass. The 
parents of this family died in Durham. Conn. They 
were honored members of the South I'ongregational 
Church, and Mr. Hart was a tleacon in same. Mr. 
Hart was noted for his strict total abstinence from 
all kinds of intoxicants, and for his tirm stand on 
this suljjeet of temperance. 

I'ranklin Henry Hart w.as born in the town of 
Durham, on the farm whicli has been in the familv 
since the time of Rew Joseph I'^liot. granted l)v 
special act of the general court of Connecticut in 
\(n)H, to Alary I-diot, his great-greal-grandmother. 
His literary training was received in the public 
schools of Durham, and bis first bHsiness venture, 
at the age of fourteen years. w;is the |)eddling of 
charcoal. At sixteen he attended the (irst organ- 
ization of the .State Normal School, in Xew I'.ritain. 
where he was a student for two terms, in i84()-3o. 
He bad lilted himself for teaching, bm before he 
could obtain a school had to pass an examination, 
which was conducted liy nine residents of the town 
including the minister. One very important (|uali- 
fication of a teacher in this district was the abilitv 
to make ])ciis from quills furnished by the examin- 
ers. The use of steel pens was strictly ])rohil)ited, 
tlu" i>upils bringing the ciuills. and the teacher with 
his |KK-ket knife converting them into ])ens. In 185 i 
Air. Hart taught a district school in Aliddlefield, 
continuing to teach for two winters in the South 
Fnd District in Durham. In 1854 he became asso- 
ciated with 1 1. H. Strong in business in New Haven, 
where he remained until March, 1856. .About this 



4iS 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



time the trouble in Kansas regarding slavery was 
attracting attention from all over the L'nited States. 
Tiu- Abolition element in Connecticut was active, 
and in order to stinndate that side of tbe con- 
trovers\', a colony was furnied at W-w Haven lor 
niisjration to Kansas. The nieetini; to ori;anize this 
colonv was held in tbe .\<irth Church, New Haven, 
March 20, 1856. i lenr\- Ward iieecher made a stir- 
ring address, and after be bad concbi<led it was an- 
nounced that while tbe ])arty was well titled to dig 
and plow, it was not in shape to hght. Trofessor 
Silliman of ^'ale arose and in a short speech urged 
the furnishing of tbe eoloni.sts with guns, so that 
they could do something fur free<lcini, as well as for 
the building up of ])r(>sperity on tbe plains. He 
ended by subscribing $25 for tbe jjurcbase of a 
Sharps ritle. Others followed his example, and in 
a short time half of tbe colonists had been |)rovided 
with weai>ons for either offense or defense. .Mr. 
Iieecher, then at the zenith of his jjower, again took 
tbe rostrum, ami in :i magnetic speech gave his 
l)lessing to the new plan, and promised that if the 
■colonists could get half enough rifles there, he would 
promise that his church would furnish tbe remain- 
der. In a few days be >ent tbe cmnpany tbe re- 
(juired munber of guns, over ,$(xx) having been sub- 
scribed by bis parishioners for the purpose, and 
along with tbe guns came a J'.il)le and hymn Ijook 
f<;r every nieml)er of the ])arty. in tbe party were 
doctors, lawyers, mechanics, teachers and preachers, 
and on March 2q. !S3'>, they marched out of New- 
Haven, as splendid a i)arly of men as ever gathered 
for the colonization of the West. With them went 
the words of Mr. Beecher as he wrote them from 
liis studv in I'.rooklyn, as be sent tbe rifles. 

Let tlicse arms liang above your doors as the old Revo- 
lutionary innski-ts do in many a New I'.ni,'!aiid dweliinK- 
May your cliildrcn in anoilicr t^eneration look upon them 
with pride and say, " Our fatliers' toura.ne saved this hmd 
from blood and slavery." Kvery in<iinm,t;s bree/e shall 
catch the blessmi; of our |)rayers and roll tlieni westward to 
your prairie liomcs. May your sons be as larsje hearted as 
the heavens aliove their heaiis. May your daui,'hters fill 
the land as llie llowers do the prairies, only sweeter, fairer 
than they. N'ou will not need to use amis when it is known 
tliat you have them. It is the essence of slavery to be arro- 
gant before the weak and cowardly liefore the stroni;. 

( )ne of these bistnric Sharps rifles, which did 
service agaitist artiied itivasion of tbe slave power, is 
treasured by Mr. Hart as a factor in inakitig Kan- 
sas a free stale, atid the first gtm fired in the pre- 
liminary skirmish of tbe Civil war. 

.Mr. I lart was a member of the ci)lony which was 
under Chas. ]'<. Lities, and settled at Wafiatinsee, 
Kansas. Mr. Hart remained in Kansas ttntil tbe 
fall of 1859, cxceptitig dttring a jieriod of about 
seven months, in tbe winter of iS38-5(j, when be 
taught school at Cam]! I'oint, 111. Me rettirtied to 
Connectictit in the fall of 1859, ami again associated 
himself in business with Mr. Strong, and since that 
lime has been one of the reliable bttsiness men of 
New Haven, one who.sc integrity is unquestioned, 



and whose success has been merited. In 1872 be 
became associated in the whrjlesale provision busi- 
ness, tinder the firm name of Strotig, Barnes, Hart 
& Co. 

( )n Dec. 24, i860, at Durham, Mr. Hart was 
utiited in marriage with Miss Adaline Jacksoti, a 
daughter of John Jacksoti, and they have had one 
son, Horace Sedgwick, who was born Aug. 30, 
1864, and is a brilliant young man. He graduated 
from Yale in 1887, studied medicine in the College 
of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, and grad- 
uated in 1893, spetit two years in Bellevue Hospital, 
and began practice in 1896, in Catnbridge, N. Y. 
.\t 'I'arrytown, N. Y., he married Miss Amy Rich- 
ards, and they have two childreti, Gertrude Richards 
and Franklin Jackson. Mr. and Mrs. Hart are 
members of tbe Church of the Redcetner. He was 
for a number of years a member of the society's 
committee and its chairman. 

b'ranklin H. Hart is a inctnber of Wooster 
Lodge, F. & A. M. ; the Sons of the American Revo- 
lution ; and of the Union League. He was one of 
the organizers of the Republican League, which was 
organized on the defeat of James G. Blaine, and 
with three hundred members. His connectioti with 
ci\ic affairs has been notable in town and city. In 
1879 and 1880 he was a member of the board of 
selectmen, and it was during this period that Fair 
Haven was annexed to New Haven, and the town 
line extended, taking in tbe entire east shore of New 
Haven Harbor to atid iticluding Southend. From 
1 88 1 to 1 89 1 he was a tiiember of the board of police 
cotnmissioners. during which period was introduced 
tbe Gatnewell Police Telephone and Signal system ; 
also the patrol wagoti and ambulatice. It w-as in 
1889 that the \'eteran Reserve Grade pension act, 
and Reserve fund in Police department were estab- 
lished. In the inauguration of all these plans and 
de\-ices. Mr. Hart took a prominetit part. While 
a member of this board he was presetited with a 
valuable watch, as a testimonial of the regard in 
wdiicli he was held by tbe citizens of New Haven. 
Mr. Hart is one of tbe well known citizens of his 
city, atid has made life a success. While well along 
toward tbree-jscore and ten, ^Iv. Hart is active in 
mind and body — la man of regular habits, as his 
well-preserved physical condition will attest. He is 
an enthusiastic and successful amateur photograph- 
er, and during his travels has collected a vast num- 
ber of interesting views with his camera, his col- 
lection of Ctiban, Jamaican and Mexican views being 
especially itiiteresting, and, to no small extent, in- 
structive, as they embrace many photographs which 
a student of sociology would consider rare and ex- 
tremely valuable. 

RCSSFl^L HALL, a prominent citizen and na- 
tive of .Meriden, and one of the leaders in grocery 
sup[)lies. dealing also in woodenware, and a manu- 
facturer of tinware, was born Julv 26, iS^q. 

The family records of the Hall family reach 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



419 



back to Joliii Hall, who was horn in England in 
]6o5, ami died in W'allingford. Conn., in 1676. He 
came to Hartford, Conn., either just Ijcfore. or in 
company with Rev. Thomas Hooker, and was 
i;ranted six acres by courtesy of the town. He 
married Jane W'ollen, in 1641, and she died Nov. 
14. 1690. Xine children blesse<l the home of this 
pioneer couple: (i) Richard, born July 11. iC>^^. 
married, in 1699, Hannah, daughter of John and 
ilary (Alsop) Miles, and died in Xcw Haven in 
1726, aged eighty-one years. (2) John, bajuized 
Aug. 9, 1646, married Dec. 6. iM/i. Mary, daugh- 
ler of Edward and Mrs. (Potter) Parker (she was 
baptized Aug. 27, 1648, and died Sept. 22. 1725), 
and died Sept. 2, 1721. (3) Sarah, twin to John, 
baptized Aug. 9, 1646, married in December, 1664, 
William, son of Thomas Johnson, of New Haven. 
(4) Daniel, born in 1O47, married iit Tr)70, ]\Iary, 
<laughter of Henry RiUlierford, and died in Bar- 
badoes. West Indies, in 1675. (5) Samuel, born 
May 21, 1648, married in May, 1666, Hannah. 
<laughter of John Walker, and died March 5, 1726, 
survived by his wife until Dec. 20, 1728. (6j 
Thomas, born March 25, 1649, married Grace Wat- 
son, June 5, 1673, and died Sept. 17, 1731 ; she died 
^lay I. 1731. (7) Jonathan, born April 5. 1651, 
"exchanged accommodations in Xew Haven in 1667, 
for those of John Stevens of Xew London," where 
hi- was probably a vessel owner and captain. (8) 
l^avid, born March 18, 1652, married Dec. 24, 

1676, Sarah Rockwell (who died Nov. 3, 1732), 
and died July 7, 1727. (9) Mary, born in 1653, 
is probably the Mary Hall who testified as to John 
irall's nuncupative will in 1676. She married in 

1677, Henry Cook, son of Henry and Judith ( P)ard- 
sall) Cook, of Salem, Mass., and died Oct. 31, 1718. 
Henry Cook was born Dec. 30, 1652, and died in 

Thomas Hall, fourth son of John and Jane 
(W'ollen) Hall, was born in Xew Haven. March 
25, 1649, married Grace Watson, who was born in 
1653, a daughter of Edward and Grace (Walker) 
A\'atson. This is the first marriage in the W'alling- 
ford records. Their children were: Abigail, born 
Jan. 7, 1674, married John Tyler; Thomas, born 
July 17, 1676, married .A,bigail Atwater ; Mary, 
iiorn Xov. 22. 1677; Jonathan, born July 25, 1679, 
married Dinah Andrews, May 12, 1703 ; Joseph, 
born July 8, 1681, married Bethiah Terrell; b^sther, 
born Feb. 3, 1682, married Benoni Atkins: I'.cn- 
jamin, born April 19, 1684, married Mary Ives; 
Peter, born Dec. 28, i6S6, married Rebecca I'.ar- 
tholomew ; Daniel, born Jan. 29, 1689, married 
Martha Doolittle; Rebecca, born Jan. 6, 169T, mar- 
ried Daniel Holt; Israel, born Oct. 8, 1686, married 
Abigail Powell. 

Jonathan Hall, son of Thomas, married on May 
12, 1703. Dinah .\ndrcws, who survived imtil 1784, 
dying at the age of ninety-nine years, and he died 
at the age of eightv-one. Their children were: 



David, born r)ct. 16, 1705: Jonathan, born Jan. 13, 
1708, married Sarah Cook, in 1739; Joseph, born 
-May 31. 1710. married liamiah .Scoville, on .April 
19. I 



/ ,■) 



Anna, born Jan. 18, 1712; Isaac, born 
luly 11. 1714, married, .\'ov. 5. 1735, Mary Moss; 
Phebe, born b'eb. 12. 1717, died May 14, 1735: Eze- 
kiel, born May 13, 1719, married .Anna Andrews; 
Thankful, born Se])t. 20, 1722: P.enjamin, born Oct. 
20, 1725: and Temperance, born .April 16, 1727. 

Ezckiel Hall, son of Jonathan and Dinah (An- 
drews) Hall, was l>orn in the Hall homestead Mav 
13, 1719, and married Anna Andrews, Oct. 20, 1743, 
and his children were: Ezekiel, born Oct. 24, 1744; 
Titus, born Oct. 19, 1746, died Sept. 4, 1748; Eben, 
born May 23, 1749; and Ik-najah, ])orn in 1762. 

Benajah Hall, son of Ezekiel, was born in what 
is now the town of Meridcn, and on Aug. 19, 1784, 
married Ruth I'rancis, and their children were : 
Orrin, born June 5, 1785; Esther, born June 13, 
1787; Ruth, born -Aug. 25. 1789: Xancy, born Xov. 
9, 1792; Martha, July 13, 1795: Philo, May 13, 
1798: Jacob, April 5, 1801 ; Joseph, Oct. 17, 1S03; 
Joel, Xov. 3, 1806; and Levineas, July 21, 1810. 

Orrin Hall, the father of our subject, in his early 
days was a tin peddler, traveling through the -South- 
ern States. In those days the housewives who lived 
far from towns and villages, always welcomed the 
peddlers, who not only brought necessaries within 
reach, but gave news of tlie great world outsiile. 
Later .Mr. Hall retired to ]\leriden, and farmed in 
that neighborhood. He married .Anna G. Hall, a 
daughter of lirinton Hall, of Meriden, and died in 
July, 1853. His children were: .Almon ; ALarielte, 
who married Stephen Ives; Xelson ; Philo; Elvira, 
who married Silas Ives ; Margaret : Russell ; Mar- 
tha, who died young; and Eliza, who married Henry 
L. Baldwin. 

Russell Hall, our subject, is also a lineal de- 
scendant of Rev. Sanniel Hall and .Anne Law, 
daughter of Gov. Jonathan Law, of Connecticut, 
by .Anne (Eliot) Law, his first wife. She was a 
granddaughter of Rev. Joseph Eliot, of Xorthamp- 
ton ;ui(l (iuilford. and great-granddaughter of 
Rev. John Eliot (the .Apostle), and of (iov. Will- 
iam lirinton, oi Rhode Island. 

Russell Hall was reared to manhood on the farm. 
He obtained his education under the veteran peda- 
gogue, James Atkins, and at an early age entered 
trade, and his success, although gratifying, has been 
the natural result of unceasing hard work. .^.t 
eighteen years of age, with a mere pittance for a 
capital, he engaged in the making of tinwai'e and 
supplied peddlers. His little business incrcasetl un- 
til at the end of eight vears he branched out in iiis 
])resent business, that of dealing in wholesale 
grocers' su]>plies. In his jiresent business Mr. 
] lall is one of the largest dealers in his line in the 
State; his trade covers a large territory, the 
name of his establishment being recognized as 
a synonym for honest goods at popular prices. 



420 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



'I'lie customers of this joliher arc well looked 
after l)v traveliiis men, and Mr. Hall himself, who, 
from the fact that he has made them regular visits 
for years past, is the hest known and most popular. 

ilavins; s;Tailual!y hecome interested in real es- 
tate. Mr. Hall is a lar.L;e lax payer and improver of 
])r()])ert\-. 1 le now owns some dozen liouses. and ni 
huildin.t;- liie same, and in keejjint,' tliem in repair 
has furnished eni])loymenl to m;uiy men. While 
lie has always ilevoted his lull time ami attention to 
business, he takes an interest in iiulilic affairs, but 
has never soug-ht nor accepted oftice. He is, how- 
ever, one of those j;enial whole-souletl men. who 
win the ret,'ard of all with whom they come in con- 
tact, and liis strongest friends ;ii'e thc.jse who know 
him hest. 

Mr. Hall has been twice married. His first 
wile w;is lunily I'reston, daughter of Ira Preston. 
( )n Ian. 2,X. uSdO. he wedded Mary I*^.. daughter 
of Ransom and Sarah ( Twiss ) I'.aldwin, and six 
children liave been born of this umon : Luther 
Russell, born Jan. J,^. iS'n. died Dec. ii. 1S73; 
Irving I'.aldwin. bcirn .\ug. i,^, 1S71. died Dec. 14. 
1875; Lena .\ugusta. born July 17. 1873. died Dec. 
2'). 1875; these three all ilied from the effects of 
diphtheria. ( >f the others, Wesley R.. born Jan. 27, 
1877. died .\iiril JJ . 187S; I '.essie .\1.. born Feb. 8. 
1S71;. died \'ov. I I. i8i)i ; and Howard llaldwin, the 
only snr\i\or. liorn .\\:\y 1, l8,'^l. is engaged in 
business with hi^ f.itlier. .\lr. Hall suitports the 
liaptist Church, of which his wife and son are mem- 
bers, and in political affiliations is a Democrat, and 
of considerable inlhience in his part\. .\ thorough 
and experienced man of business, .Mr. Il.dl has lieen 
l)efore the public for many years, and has won the 
confidence and esteem of all b\' the upright methods 
he has always pnrsui-d. 

Mr. Hall's maternal grandfather, llrinton Hall, 
was the f.ather of :i numerous family, of whom we 



h.ive the toUowmg 
May 13. I7'i4. died 



8, i/f)^ 



reconl : 
July _'i). 
>. J. 1841); 



1768. died .March 1 1 . 1 71^5 



771. died .\la\ 



I7'>1 : 



i7«7. 



Mav 1. 



:8i)_>; Lasper. born 



.\pril 



William I'.rinton. l)oru 
1801; ; I'l lUin. born July 
."^amnel. born June 10. 
Lucy, born .March 13. 
.Sarah, born luK 1 S, 



1774; Lamont, born Jidy u. 177^1; I Miver. born 
Dec. \2. 1779. was a cU-rgyman ; and Joab, born Jan. 
12, 1781. The mother of these died and liy a sub- 
so(|ueut marriage. I'.rinton Hall l)ecame the father of 
Augustus, born |uly 3. 1783; Ira. born Dec. 2J. 



1790; and .\nna (iuv. who married ( )rrin Hall, fa- 
ther of Russell Hall'. 

Ransom I'.aldwin. father of .Mrs. Russell I lull. 
was horn on the i'.aldwin homestead, in liast Meri- 
den, near lliddwin's .Mill. March 1. 1793. son of 
Jjuues l'.;ddwin and I'.elhi.a ((ioodsel). .\ full his- 
tory of the I'.aldwin family is found elsewhere in 
this volume. Ransom I'.aldwin grew up on a farm, 
.and received his education in the district schools. 
lie w;is a ])eddler of dry goods i(n- nine years in 
tlie Southern St.'iles. after which he returned to his 



native home, and settled down to farming, buying a 
tract f)f land, over 180 acres, on which he built a 
dwelling house, barns, etc.. and where he spent the 
balance of his days. He was a man of domestic 
tastes, and lived at jieace with all the world. In his 
religious \iews he was a Baptist ; in his political 
aifiliations he was a stanch Democrat, but no ofifice 
seeker. He dieil in 1870. well-known, highly re- 
sjiected. anti was buried in the East Cemetery. Mr. 
I'.aldwin married Sarah Twiss. who was born Jan. 
<;. i8tM. and dietl ()ct. 30, 1872, a daughter of 
|osei>h and Lois ( .\ustin ) Twiss. This union was 
"blessed with nine children as follows: Hiram, 
X'incev .\nn. Lois, and .Vugusta, all died young; 
Sarah (deceased) married William liriggs (she had 
five children, one that died young; Delia; Rose,, 
w'ho married Charles h'erry, and has two children. 
Edna and Ruth .Margaret; Lizzie, ])rincipal of Skin- 
ner school. New Haven; and Waldo, a civil engin- 
eer in .\'ew ^'ork ) ; Ransom, who married Mary 
ilall ( wdio died in 1897), and had four children, 
bdora. Ransom L., Henry (died young) and Alice 
(wife of Charles Morgan) ; Alary E., wife of Rus- 
sell Hall; Roxauna. who died young; and Justina 
C.. who married llenjamin C. Kennard, and has two 
children. Helen M. and Benjamin Leighton. The 
mother of these children was a faithful and con- 
sistent mendier of the I-lrst Baptist Church. Meri- 
den. 

James I'.aldwiu, father of Ransom Baldwin, was 
a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He introduced 
Joseph Twiss to Lois Austin, and they later married 
and bt-i';nu(.' the parents of Sarah, wife of Ransom 
Baldwin. 

CH.\RLES E. EAIRCIHLD. The family of 
l-airchild was among the earliest to settle in Ox- 
ford, in which town our subject was born March 9, 
183 1. His grandfather, Abial l-'airchild, was a 
farmer, and ;i native of the same place, as was also 
his father, h'.benezer P'airchild. .\bial Fairchild 
was a citizen of |irominence and infiuence in his coni- 
munity. holding many local oifices, among wdiich 
was that of selectman. 

Isbenezer h'airchikl was but one year old when 
he was dejM-ived of paternal care through the death 
of his father. He grew up on the home farm, and 
while a young man learned the trade of carriage 
builder in the shoi)s of James Brewster, wdiose 
name has bet-n for decades associated and indis- 
solubly connected with this great industry. He 
served his apijrenticeship in N'ew Haven, and started 
in luLsiness for himself at ( )xford. meeling with 
good success. His trade was chiell\- with the 
Southern markets, and as ;ui iude.x to the extent of 
his business it may be stated that his son can recall 
mimerons shipments of vehicles to New 'N'ork by 
sloop. l'"rom ()xford he removed U) Seymour, con- 
tinuing in the same business until liis death, which 
occurred I'eb. _M. i88c). after he h.ad reached his 
sevent\-sixth birthdav. He married .Sarah (..'an- 



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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



421 



(lee, of Oxford, and l)nth were earnest and con- 
sistent members of the Coni; relational Chinch. Mr. 
l-"airchild was a Repnbhcan in jiohtics. .Mrs. l'"air- 
-child, hke her hnsl)and, descended from one of the 
town's early families. Her father. Job Candee, was 
a siiccessfnl farmer, and lived to be ninety years old. 
(_)n (jct. 3, 1784. he married Sarah I'.cnhatn, of 
.Middlebnrv. and they had se\en chililreii : fjios. 
Horace, Leverett. Laura. Esther, l\i>.\y ;ni(l .Sarah, 
of whom Sarah, the Nounji^est, was the last survivor. 
livinf( until Aug. 20. iSgg, and reachini;- the a.ije of 
ninety-two years. Mrs. Sarah ( I'enham ) Candee 
lived to the age of seventy-six. Job Candee served 
in the army of Gen. Washington, enlisting as a 
fifer, but rising to the rank of captain before the 
•conclusion of the war. f^is soul-stirring anecdotes 
of the great struggle which began in 1776, were 
full alike of pathos and humor, and to listen to their 
narration was one of our subject's great pleasures in 
earlv life. Under the heading, ".\ Daughter of the 
Revolution," an interesting article appeared in a 
local paper a few }ears ago. and we here give s;une 
in part : 

Sf) mour has a chapter of Uaughteri of llic Revdlutioii 
composed of hneal descendants ot soldiers of the Rcvolu- 
ti'>n, mostly of the third and fourth generations, and has 
also what very few cities or towns in ihe I'niled States can 
boast, a daughter of a soldier of the Revohition. This is 
Mrs. Sarah hairchild, of Washington, avenue, now nearly 
ninety years of age. She is the daughter of Job Candee, of 
<.)xford, who enlisted Feb. 9, 1779, in Captain Bradley's 
company of Matrosses (artillery), raised for the defense of 
New Haven. He was discharged Kel). 8, 1780, but re-en- 
listed March 1st in the artillery under Capt. Bradley, and 
served until Jan. 1, 1781, returning to his home during the 
most inclement weather, as was the custom with a great 
number of the patriots during that long contest. In 1781 he 
served in Col. Canheld's regiment, at West Point. He is 
mentioned in the list of Revolutionary pensioners, in 1882, 
and again in 184U, being then eighty years of age and a 
resident of Oxford. In the records of the Oxford Congre- 
gational Church (of which he liecame a menilier b'ly -d. 
1788) he is mentioned under date of 1792 as Lieutenant, 
and in the Candee genealogy as Captain in 18(J2. His 
monument reads— " Capt. Candee was the last survivor of 
nine brothers, whose aggregate ages were 7s.') '4 years, averag- 
ing 87 ',4 years. Reader, yet a few years or days or months 
pass in silent la|ise, and time to you will be no more." 

Charles E. Eairchild received the benefit fit an 
excellent English education, passing throtigh both 
the common and high schools of O.xford. and the 
academy at Newtown. Like inan\' of the bright 
Ncnmg men of Xew England, he lielieved that he 
might better his forttmes by leaving the rock-girt, 
nioimtain-crcsted section in which he had been born, 
and at the age of twenty years he carried himself 
and his modest outfit to Teimessee, where for five 
\ears he filled a clerical position in a store. Re- 
turning East at the end of that time, lie found em- 
ployment in the citv of .\ew ^'nrk. with a wholesale 
<lry-g<X)ds house, as an accountant. Me left this 
jxisition to become a bookkeeper in the Manufactur- 
ers & Merchants Bank, where he remained fourteen 
rears, resigning his ]jost to liecome a traveling sales- 
man for the Eowder Xail Co.; the territory assigned 



him extended as far west as the Mississippi. He 
left the b'owler Co.. in 1876, to accept his present 
position as sui)erintendent and general manager of 
the 11. ]'. ^ li. Day Manufacturing Co.. of Seymour, 
a concern engaged in the manufacture of hard rub- 
ber goods. Here he has found an ample field for 
the exercise of his rare mental powers, sound judg- 
nienl and executive capacity. The plant is one of 
the largest and best-e(|ui])ped in Connecticut, and 
Mr. b'airchild's strong common sense and tireless 
energy have contributed in no small measure to tlie 
conijiany's remarkable success. He is a director of 
the Valiev National Hank, of Seymour, of which he 
was one of the organizers. 

Mr. Lairchilti has been twice married. His 
first wife was .Martha W. Davidson, of I'.rooklyn, 
N. \'., to whom he was united in June, 1862. She 
was a daughter id" William .\. Davidson, a well- 
known custom house keeper of New York, and was 
a member of the Tabernacle Church, of which Dr. 
T. DeWitt d'almage was pastor. She died in 18S7, 
after reaching the age of fifty years. On Sept. 18, 
1888, Mr. Lairchild married, for his second wife, Ida 
((leeren) Coffin, daughter of .Mexander and l-'ran- 
ces ((dark) ( leeren, tlie former one of the success- 
ful brick manufacturers of Catskill. Xew N'ork. 

! ddie part\' ties rest lightly on Mr. Lairchild, his 
neck bearing no partisan yoke. He votes as his 
intelligence, i)romi)ted l)y his conscience, dictates, 
his natural ])refereiice being for men rather than 
part\-. His fellow citizens have not failed to rec- 
ognize his keen ])erceplive mental powers and his 
incorruptible integrity. Tlie\- have chosen him to 
fill the office of assessor, and to membership on the 
board of relief. While making no bid for pojin- 
laritv he makes friends as a matter of course, ami 
his moral worth commands the undisguised respect 
of the community, without distinction of ])arty. He 

\ is one of the inlluential members of the Hoard of 
Trade. ( )iir subject was one of the charter mem- 
bers of the local lodge of the ( )rder of Red Alen, 

I and has tilled many chairs in that organization. His 
residence at .\o. 23 Washington avenue is one of 
.Sevmour's most handsome and liest-appointed 
homes, and there, in his seventieth year, he enjoys 
the rest wdiich pertains to a serene old age and a 
"conscience void of oti'ence." I'.oth Mr. and Mrs. 
l'"airchild are conMiiunicaiits of the Episcopal 
Church. 

Wd f rriv I'roiniiient among the manufactur- 
ers of Watcrbury. for nearly sixty ycars^ have been 
the several memi)ers of the Wdiite family, sons and 
grandsons of the late Jacob White, of Cromwell, 
formerly Middletown I'pper Houses. This fani- 

j iiy has descended on both sides from early and dis- 
tinguished .Xew I'.ngland ancestry. Elder John 

t Wdiite. with his wife and several children, sailed 
from I'.nglaiid in 1^132 on the sbiii "L_\-on." The 
head of the family lived at Candiridge. Mass., 
Hartford. Conn, (of which ]ilace he was one of the 



422 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



original proprietors), and liadley, Mass. The 
late LutluT Chapin White and his brothers (sons 
of Jacob White), of Waterbury, were in the eighth 
generation from Elder John WhiU", the first Amer- 
ican ancestor of the family, the line of their de- 
scent being- through Capt. Xathaniel. Jacob, John, 
Jacol) (2.1, John (2), and Jacob (3). 

ill) Capt. Xathaniel White, .son of Rider John, 
born in England, was twice married. His first 
wife. Elizabeth, died, and be married (second) 
Widow Martha Mould. Jle became in 1650 or 
jf)5i one of tb.e original jjroprietors and first set- 
tlers of .Middletown," Conn., his home being in that 
part of the tnwn fnrmerly called "Cpper Houses," 
now Cromwell. He was one of the leading men 
of the Colony and acquired great intlucnce. He 
was elected a representative from Middletown to 
the (k-neral Coin-t eighty-five times.. 

(Ill) J;ic(ib White. Min of Capt. Xathaniel_ and 
liis wife i'dizabetli. ]).irii in I'l'i.S. married (first) 
in 1692, Deborah Sheplurd, and (second) in I/Jy, 
Widow Rebecca Ranney. He served as constable 
and also as selectman. 

(I\ ) |i]hn White, son of Jacob, was born in 
ijij, at Xiiildletnwn I'pper Houses, where he lived 
and died. lie marrieil. in 173(1. Elizabeth Rord- 
nian. 

(\) J;icnb \\'hite (2). son of John, was born 
in ij.v. in Middletown L'pper Houses, where he 
lived ;ind died. \\v married, in 1760, Lucy Savage. 

(\'l) John White (2), son of Jacob (2), born 
in .\li<ldletown L'pper Houses, married, in 1790, 
]\ntb Ranney. He was drowned at sea in 1799. 

( \'II) Jacob White (3), son of John (2), born 
1792 in I'pjR'r Middletown. married, in 1815, 
Susan, daughter of Caj)t. William Sage. She was 
horn in (79(1. J;icob White was a tanner and 
hhoeniaker, and in iSii^ removed to Sandisfield, 
Mass., where he carrie(l on the business of tan- 
ning for tweh'e \ears. lie returned to L'p])er Mid- 
dletown, and resided there chiefly until his death, 
in 1849. I lis children were: \Villiam S., Henry 
S., Luther (.'hapin, Harriet M., Jacob Watson, 
Abigail V... ' )rrin S. and Jane .\. 

Capt. William Sage, the maternal grandfather 
of the late l.utlur Cbai)in White, was a great- 
grandson of l);r,id Sage, a native of Wales. The 
latter was burn in 1^139, and became one of the 
first settlers of Middletown, in 1(152. Capt. W'ill- 
iam Sage was bom in 1748, son of Amos Sage. 
He married r.athsheba lloUister, and they had nine 
stjus and five daughters. William Sage was in 
the war of independence. Immediately after the 
battle of Lexington, an event that aroused the 
country to arms, he, like thousands of others, left 
family and business and hastened to the scene of 
conflict, and was at the battle of Bunker Hill. 
He was afterward in other ])laces. in this State 
when the citizens were called uiwn to resist in- 
vasion of the enemy. He died in 1831, lamented 
and respeetetl by all who knew him. 



Luther Chapin White, son of Jacob (3 J and 
Susan (Sage) White, was born Dec. 25, 1821, in 
Sandisfield, Mass. From the age of ten until he 
was seventeen he passed the time on his father's 
farm, in Cromwell, where he attended the district 
school. At seventeen he was apprenticed to his 
eldest brother, who was a builder in Middletown, 
but owing to an injury from a fall he was com- 
pelled to abandon the business. He then for a 
time was in the employ of L. E. Hicks, of Crom- 
well, a maker of plated door trimmings. In 1841 
he came to Waterlniry and entered the employ of 
\i. E. I'ritchard and H. J. \\'hite, manufacturers of 
umbrella trinnnings and small brass goods. In 
December, 1842, he entered the employ of the Sco- 
vill Mfg. Co., remaining some two years. For 
the next six years he was employed as foreman by 
J. S. Xorton, a manufacturer of door trimmings, 
in ■ Xew Idaven, jMiddletown and Meriden. In 
1851, having invented and patented a valuable 
improvement in the making of burners for "fluid'" 
lamps, Mr. White formed a partnership with I^rank 
Smith, in .Meriden, for their manufacture. Two 
vears later they removed their business to Water- 
I iuiry, and. in 1853 organized the City Manufac- 
turing Co., of which Mr. \\'hite was made presi- 
dent. A vear later Mr. Smith died and his inter- 
est was purchased by Mr. White. The latter con- 
tinued in the management of this business for 
fifteen years, although during that time an entire 
change in the character of the articles manufac- 
tured was made, owing to the introduction of coal 
oil and afterward of kerosene. In his important 
field J\Ir. White was a pioneer, having been the 
maker of the first burners ever made in America 
for utilizing these oils. He was largely interested 
in the numerous inventions and improvements in 
the manufacture of lamp burners which were made 
during this period. The manufacture of these 
goods was carried on in the building of the Benc- 
I diet & Burnham ilanufacturing Co., on South 
I Main street, and the business developed so rapidly 
I that the capacity of the factory was more than 
(|uadru])led. 

In i860 Mr. White purchased from the estate 
of his brothers, J. W. and Henry S. White, the 
paper and paper box business estalilisbed in 185 1, 
and associated with him Capt. Alfred Wells, under 
the firm name of White & Wells. They built up 
a large trade in [laper and straw board and the 
extensive manufacture of paper boxes, which is 
carried on in the buildings on Bank street, and 
in this line they were closely associated for twenty 
years. The jiartnership continued until the death 
of Mr. Wells, July 11, i88(), after which .Mr. White 
became the sole owner of the business. Toward 
j the close of i88r the Southford Paper Co., then 
newly organized, with L. C. White, as president, 
bought out the Southford i\Hg. Co., with its pa- 
permill. which had been established since 1853, 
I erected new buildings, and entered upon manufac- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



423 



turinj^- straw l)o;ird ami niaiiilla ])aper on a largo 
scale. This company in 1887 ceased operaliiins, anil 
ll;e mill was idle for some five years, startin^t;- Uji 
a,i;ain only a few week's before Mr. White's tleath. 

( )n Jnly i. iSdS. .Mr. White sold to the IJenedici 
iV Uurnham .Mani!faetin"ing' Co. all his interest in 
the I'ity .Manufacturing; Co., but retained the luU- 
ton back business, which he transferred ti> tin- 
building on liank street and which was ;ifter\vard 
conducted by the L. C. White Cn. .Mr. White 
was the owner, also, df a paj^er box factory in 
Xaugatuck, and of the 15ridge[)ort i'aper lln.x 
Company. 

.Although really an invalid f(ir many years be- 
fore his death, .Mr. White was reluctant to ac- 
knowledge it, even to himself, and exhibited great 
fortitude and courage. When not actually laid 
aside by illness he ap|)lied himself closely to busi- 
ness, exercising- a strict watch over details, antl 
exh.ibiting the luiwearied diligence which charac- 
terized him in earlier years. The result was visible 
in hi.s marked success as a business man. lie was 
not, however, so engrossed in business as to ex- 
clude interest in public affairs, or in the doings 
of the social world, lie was fond of good com- 
])any and interested in all that was going mi 
aroimd about him. lie was of a cheerful and 
hopcftU nature, and those with whom he met from 
(lay to da\- felt the genial influence of his life, lie 
believed in the legitimate pleasure of life, as well 
as in haril work, and .sought entertainment and 
profit in travel. There was no imiwrtant section- 
of his own country which be had not visited, and 
he had also traveled abroad. He was a close ob- 
server of men and things, and gave his friends 
not a little ])leasure in recounting his adventures 
atid describing what he had seen in other [)laces. 

Politically .Mr. White was an earnest Rei)ubli- 
can, exhibiting in politics, as in other departments 
of life, the whole-soided characteristics which 
made him so attractive to his fellow citizens. In 
religious affairs be held closely, but withotit a 
])article of bigotry, to the faith in which he was 
brought up. lie was for many years a member 
of the First Congregational Chm-ch, and took a 
warm interest in its welfare. 

On \'ov. 28, 1844, Mr. White was married .to 
Miss Jane Amelia Moses, of Waterbm-y, who sur- 
vived him. Their children were: William Henry, 
wdio died in 1873, at the age of twt'uty-six : ( leorgc 
Luther, now a resident of Waterbury ; and Mrs. 
Lynde Harrison, of Xew Haven. Liuher Cha])in 
White died .\pril 5. 18^3. 

CiEORGK LfriiiCK Wiini:. son of the late LiUher 
Chapin White, was burn July 15, 1852, in Meri- 
dtn. He attended the common schools of Water- 
bury and for a time the school known as the 
■■(iunnery," in Washington, Litchfield Co., Conn. 
He was afterward more or less associated with his 
father in his dififerenl lines of business until his 
death, and then succeeded to Ins large business in- 



terests. In January, i8ij2, he liecame the man- 
ager of the business of \\ bite & Wells, and in 
January, 1895, organized The White & Wells Co., 
as successors to the business of While & Wells, 
and was chosen presid.ent and treasurer, and has 
since most efiiciently ])erformed the duties of those 
trusts. .At the death of his father he became ])resi- 
dent and treasurer of the L. C. While Co. and still 
holds those ot'fices. He is also \'ice-president of the 
.\ew luigiand Watch Co.. uf Waterbury, and of 
the Weston .'^trawlxiard Co., of St. Mary's, Ohio, 
and (ias City, Ind. .Mr. White is one of the 
, younger ])rominent manufacturers and Inisiness 
men of Walerliury. Socially he is a member of 
the Waterbury Clul), and for snuie nine \ears 
servetl on the house committee, and from i8:)ij to 
lyoi was its president. I'olitically he is a Repub- 
i lican. He was a mi'mber of the common council 
' in 1890, from the Second ward. He has the confi- 
dence and esteem of the comnuuiily to a marked 
degree. On April 15, 1874, Mr. White was mar- 
, ried to Julia I'lieljis Haring, daughter of James 
j Demarest Haring, of Xew 'N'ork City, and the 
marriage has been blessed with children as f<jllows: 
I Caroline Haring, William Henry and (ieorge 
I.inher, Jr. 

Jacob Watson While, son of Jacob antl Susan 
I ( Sage J White, was born Sept. 19, 1827, in Sandis- 
field, r^Iass. In 183 1 he came to Cromwell. Conn., 
with his father's family, and lived llie greater ])art 
I of the time until 1850, when he Ujc;ited in Water- 
bm-y. There, associated with his brother Henry 
.'^. White, he established, in 1851, the i5ai)er and 
pa])er box business described in the foregtiing, 
I which he conducted the remainder of Jiis life. He 
died July 5, 1865, and the business was managed 
b\- his executors until I'^ebruary, 18O6, when it was 
]<urcliased by his brother, Luther C. While. Jacob 
Watson White w-as one of the original members 
of the Second Congregational Church, in the af- 
fairs of which he took a .great interest. He was a 
man of good business ability, and held the confi- 
dence and esteem of his fellow citizens. He mar- 
ried, Oct. T9, 1850, Anna I'lliza, daughter of 
Chauncey Wells, of Hartford, and their children 
were: ( 1 ) Edward Luther While, born Dec. 12, 
1853. in Waterbury, was prepared for Yale Col- 
lege at Williston Seminary, and graduated from 
.Sheffield .Scientific School in 1875. He then en- 
tered the emplov of While & Wells, as manager 
of their business at Bridgeport. On the death of 
Capt. Wells, in 1886, .Mr. While returned to Wa- 
terl)ury, and was manager of their business here 
until Jan. I, 1892, when lie was api)ointed secre- 
tary of the Waterbury Watcii Co, He remained 
coni-iected willi that business until his death, Aug. 
5, 1893. In January, 1876, he was married to 
Laura \'., a daughter of Judge James L. Ogden, 
of Jersey Cit_\-, X. J., and to them were Ijorn three 
children, Ogden \Vatson, Howard Sage and Kd- 
v.-ard Luther. (2) Cbaunce\- Howard While was 



424 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



born March 24, 1S56, in Waterl)urv, and was ed- 
ucated at Williston Scminarx . l-",astliainpton. Mass. 
]lc was vice-jjresidcnt of tlu- White & Wells Co., 
at the time of his death. An-. 23. 1901. (3) Anna 
S. White. (4) .Mary W . While. The mother of 
tliese died in .May. iWu. 

W1LLI.\M .\. W.VTI'.KnL'R^'. one of the best 
known railroad men of Connecticut, and a prom- 
inent citizen of .\ew ilavi-n. i> the su])eriiiteiKlent 
of the .\ir Line — .Xorthamplon Division of the New 
\'ork. .\ew I l;iven iK: I larlford Railroad. His career 
as a railroad man extends aloni;- toward a half cen- 
tnrv. and with hut one e\ce])tion he is the oldest, in 
point of service, dix'ision superintendent in the em- 
[jIov of the Consolidated Railway Company. 

'.Mr. \\aterlnn\ ua> 1m. rn .\iarch 23, 1838. in 
-Stamford, C onn.. where the Waterhury family lias 
been settled for generations. 'Ihey have been iden- 
tified with the history of that ti.wn from the earliest 
]ieriiid, taking an ;icti\e pai"t in pnhlic affairs, and 
an etpially active part in the Revolutionary war. 
The members of the famil\ ha\e always commanded 
the hiiiiiest esteem in their respective coniiniunities. 
I'jios \\'aterbtn-\-. the grandfather of our suliject. 
was one nf tin- most respected citizens of Stamford. 
He li\ed to the :\v,v nf ninetx. 

l(>n;uhau 1'.. Waterl)ur\. the father of our sub- 
ject, was a nati\e of .Stamford. I'.y trade he was 
a blacksmith and w heelw riL;ht, and for many years 
he did all the blacksmith work at Stamford for the 
old stasj;e line which ran ])etween Xew York and 
Roston. lie also can-ied nn farming' at one time 
ill his life, an<l owueil nmcli of the land which now 
com])rises Strawberry Mill, ilu" most aristocratic 
residence section of .Siamfoi'd. I lis spacious home 
of o\er twenu rooms, was one of the places in 
Stamford noted for lios|)itality. His family was a 
larije one. and they entertained fre(|uently and lav- 
ishly. .Mr. Waterliiiry married I'.etsy Weed, bv 
whom he had three children; I'.nos. Charles and 
Rels\ Ann. hor his second wife he married Sallie 
-Smith, nf Stamford, a d.an.yhtt.-r of Rev. 1-rederick 
Smith, a R.ajitist minister of that cilv, who had sev- 
eral other children win > lix'ed to maturity. To this 
marrias;e were Imni ten chiblren: luios, deceased; 
Charles, deceased; ISetsy .\iin, deceasetl ; I'^lizabeth 
J. ; James .\., (U'ceased ; 1 bury !■'.., deceased ; (leorja;e 
y\., deci'ased : Cornelia .\. ; William A.; and .Mary 
A., deceased. Rlizabeth J. married .\ndre\v IJoyd, 
of .Stamford, who beloniji'cl to ihe 28th Conn. \\ 
1. (leorge .\., who was alsn in the same regiment, 
was taken prisoner .at 1 '1 irl lhuls(]n; he was in the 
celebrated charge there, known as '"The T'orlorn 
Ho])e." Cornelia .\. married Samuel W. Meakim, 
a gardener of I'dushing, I,. 1. r.nili Mr. and .Mrs. 
Waterbtiry died in .^tamfonl. where they were 
])rominent members of the Cniversalist Church. 
-Mr. Waterhury was a Rei)uhlican. 

The boyhood days of William A. Waterhury 
were s]ient in Stamford, where he attended both a 



I common and graded school. At the age of six- 
teen he went to Bridgeport and clerked for about 
one vear. In 1857 he was employed on the Xauga- 
tuck' division of 'what is now the Xew York, Xew 
Haven & Hartffjrd Railroad, as clerk and ticket 
agent al Waterhury, continuing in that capacity for 
five \ears. .At the expiration of that time, he was 
prouioted to the position of conductor and general 
ticket agent, serving five years as such, three of 
which lie also had the examination of all freight 
receipts for that road. The next position he held 
with the road was that of agent at Wateid)ury. and 
he was then transferred to Xew York City, and 
made ticket agent there. At that time the Air Line 
Railroad, running from Middletown to Xew Haven, 
was Ix'ing Iniill, and Mr. Waterlniry was ajspointed 
su]X'rintendeiit of the construction. As soon as it 
was coiiii)leted he was appointed superintendent of 
the road, and located stations, etc., on its extension 

' for five \-ears, until it was completed to Willimantic, 
Conn., when in Uctober, 1875, he came to New Ha- 
ven and took charge of the freighting business at 
lielle Dock, serving ten years; during nine years of 
that time he also served as harbormaster. Li 1885 
Mr. Waterhury was made superintendent of the 
.\ir Line and Shore Line, and he retained this posi- 
tion for three years, but the business then became 
too extensive for one rnan to handle, and he dropped 
the work of the Shore Line. After about three 
years more he was transferred to the Shore Line, 
in the same position, remaining there until h'eb. i, 
• Kpi, when he was appointed superintendent of 
the Air Line — Xorthampton division, having 
charge of about two hundred miles of road. 

In Waterhury, Conn., Dec. 25, i860, Mr. Wat- 
erhury married Aliss Martha E. Kelsey, of Middle- 
town, a native of New York City, born June 10, 
1841, daughter of William and F-Tizabeth Kelsey. 
Four chiklren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wat- 
erhury ; ( I ) Carrie .Amelia married Xelson D. 
Coe. of Winsted, Conn., who is a clerk in the Xew 
^ orl<. Xew Haveii & Hartford Railroad offices at 
Xew Ha\'en. Mr. and Mrs. Coe have two children: 
llarriet Waterhury, a graduate of the .Xew Haven 
high school, class of 1902 ; and I'^ederick Kelsey, 
( 2 ) h'rederick Smith graduated from a hospital col- 
lege of medicine in T-otiisville, Ky. lie is now a 
traveling salesman. lie is married and has two 
children — I'Ved W. and Lois E. (3) 1-yman died 
in infancy. (4) Harriet Elizabeth married Charles 
li. IJurton, of New Haven, who is a member of the 
firm of Ceorgc R, Burton & Sons, insurance men, 
of that city; Charles E. Rnrtoii is himself a ]irom- 
iuent insurance man, special agent for the .American 
insurance Co., of I'hiladel])hia, with an office in 
I'loston. He is also an insurance adjuster. 

In ])olitics Mr. Waterhury is a Reiniblican. He 
has served his p;irtv ;is a member of the lioard of 
aldermen, and was cli;iirman of the Lamp commit- 
tee, which fnniished the first electric lights to the 
city. .Mthough repeatedly solicited he has declined 





^^2/^^^-r-^^^-»^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL. RECORD. 



425 



■any other offices, lie is a nieinl)er of tlie Masonic 
fraternity, affiliating with Trumbull Lodge, Xo. 
22; New Haven Cominander)-. Xo. 2, K. T. : and 
r'yraniid Temple. Mystic Shrine, of llridgeport. lie 
is a member and trustee nf the Knights Templar 
Club: a memlier of the board of directors of the 
Masonic ^lutual Llenetit Association, and treasurer 
of Trumbull Lodge. He is also past regent of Live 
Oak Council. Roval Arcanum: a member and trus- 
tee of the Knights of Honor: and \er\ popular in 
all these organizations. ISotb he and his famil\ are 
consistent members of the L'nixersalist C'hurch. 

When Mr. W'aterlmry severed his connectiims 
with the Shore Line he was presented with a beauti- 
ful silver loving cup. approjjriately engraved, to- 
gether with a large framed engrossed set of resolu- 
tions from his men liearing testiuK)ny to their a])|)re- 
ciation of him as an official, and their friendship for 
him as a man. Mr. \\'ater])m-y is a man of unusual 
ability, faithful in the discharge of duties conlided in 
him, upright in his dealings, both with his sujierior 
officers and the men under him. genial in his asso- 
ciations with his friends and fellow townsmen, with 
an untarnished record as a ])ul)lic man and a private 
citizen: and the success which has attended his ef- 
forts is certainly well merited. 

lX(iERS(jLL. The ancestors of the New 
Haven family bearing this name, and their posleritx 
in turn. ha\-e dwelt for two htnidred and iifty or 
more years in Xew luigland, and fur one hundred 
and fiftv years in Xew Hax'en, where they have 
figured conspicuiiusly in ]nil)lic affairs — Colonial. 
State and Xational. They have here Ijeen a famil\- 
of lawvers. men of great eminence in the ])rofession. 
Such names as Hon. Jared. Judge Jonathan, lion. 
Ral])h L. Judge Charles A., (lov. Charles R.. lion. 
Colin .M. and son. Hon. (Jeorge P. IngersoU. have 
retlected great honnr upon the ]irofession, the State, 
the .Xalion and the famih name, and constitute 
within themselves a famil\' galaxy of ilistinguisheil 
lawyers and pulilic men. 

lion. Colin -M. anil Hon. Charles R. Ingersoll, 
bnithers, still members of the liar of Xew Haven, 
though in advanced life, are in the sixth gi-neration 
from John Ingersoll. who was at Hartford in i'')5,^ 
or earlier, then at Xorthampton and W'estfield. 
Mass., respectively, lie died in if)84. llis third 
wife was Mary limit, a granddaughter of (iov. 
Webster. Vmm this John Ingersoll, Colin and 
Charles R. Ingersoll's line of descent is through 
Jonathan. Rev. Jonathan, Judge Jonathan and l\al]>h 
L Ingersoll. 

(Ill J(jnathan Ingersull. son nf John '\\ llarl- 
ford. born in K)Si. married in 1712. widow .Miles, 
who died in 1748. aged sixty-two years. .Mr. In- 
gersoll in i''h)8 was a resident of Milfnrd, Con- 
necticut. 

I III I Rev. Jiiuatban Ingersoll, son of Jonathan, 
born about 171,^. in Stratford, Conn., married in 
1740. Dorcas, daughter of Rev. Jr>seph Moss, of 



Derby. Mr. Ingersoll was graduated from Yale 
College in 17,^1. 'mm\ entered the ministry, being 
licensed by the I'resbytery of .Xew Jersey, at Eliza- 
bethtown, I'eb. 13. 1738. lie lived for a lime in 
Xewark. X. J. ( )n Aug. 8, 1739. he was installed 
])astor of the Ridgetield ( Conn. | Congregational 
Clnu'ch, succeeding Rev. Thomas Hawley, who died 
in 1738, and becoming the .^(jciety's second ])astor. 
lie was a man oi fine mind and good iieart, and he 
served the church with great faithfulness until his 
deatli. which occurred ( )ct. 2, 1778. when he was 
in the sixty-tifth year of his age and the fortieth 
of his ministry. In 1758 he joined the Colonial 
troops as chaplain, on Lake Champlain. He is 
said to h,i\e exerted an excellent intluence on the 
army, and to have l)een highly respected l)y the 
soldiers. 

(Ill) lion. J.-u'ed Ingersoll. son of Jonathan, 
and brother nf Rew Jonathan, born in J722. in Mil- 
ford. Conn., marrieil ( llrst ) in 1743. Hannali Whit- 
ing, who died in 1779, and (second) in 1780, he 
married I iannah Ailing. He was graduated iwmx 
N'ale College in 1742, and soon afterward settled in 
the ]>r;ictiee nf law in .Xew Haven. In 1757 he went 
to (ireat liritain a> the agent of the Colony, receiv- 
ing a special appointment from the (General Assem- 
lil\. lie went again in 17^14. while there was a])- 
piiinted to the office of stamp masler. and as such 
was faniiius. In 1770 he was appointed bv the 
L'rowu, Judge of ilie \'ice-.\dmiralty Court in the 
.\liddK- district of the (.'olonv, and went to Philadel- 
phia to reside. The ntlice was abolished at the be- 
ginning of the Reviilutionary war, when he returned 
to Xew 1 lavi'u to live, and where his death occurred 
in 17S1. ludge Ingersoll was one of the alilest 
I;iw\ers nf his time. I le was ;i remarkablv eloquent 
man, and as a hawser maile the cause of his client 
clear to the jur\ l>\- his ])ower of explicit statement 
and his Ingical method of reasoning. Me was of 
I pin. frank and engaging maimer, .ami was very 
succi'ssful. 

(I\'i Judge jDuatban lugersnll. sun of Rev. 
Jonathan, born in 1747. in Ridgetield. Con.n.. mar- 
ried ( Irace. daughter of Ralph Isaacs, of I'lranford. 
lie was graduated from ^'ale College in ijH^. and 
became a lawyer, locating in practice at Xew Haven, 
where fnr many years he ]nirsued his profession 
with great industry, fidelity and success, lieforc he 
had reached middle age. he entered ]jttblic life by 
the unsolicited suffrages of his fellow citizens, and 
became one of the purest statesmen Connecticut 
has ever had. Me was for years a meml.ier of the 
Cicneral .Xssi'inlily. He was once elected to tiie 
Congress nf the Cniti'd States, but declined to ac- 
ce|)t the honor. J'Tom 171J8 to 1801 he was on the 
I'lencb of the Sujierior Court, and in 181 1 he stic- 
ceeded (iov. Smith as Jud.ge of the Supreme Court 
of I'.rrors. and as such served until 1S16, He soon 
after re-eiUered the field of ])olitical life, and was 
one of those wdio did most to secure the final ovi'r- 
throw of the l'"ederalists. The Toleration i)arty led 



426 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



by Judge Ingersoll and Oliver Wolcott carried the 
State in 1818, and tliey were elected lieutenant-gov- 
ernor ami governor, respectively. it had been a 
long struggle of the jjeople against the Legislature, 
and the i)eople had triuin[)hed. judge Ingcrsoll 
lield the office until after the adoption of the pres- 
ent constitution. lie died in New ilaven, Jan. 12, 
1823. 

(V) Hon. Charles Anthony Ingcrsoll, son of 
Judge Jonathan, born Oct. 19, 1798, in New Haven, 
married in 1839 Miss Henrietta Sidell. of Xew 
York City, i le studied law under the direction of 
his older brother, Hon. Raljih 1., antl attained emi- 
nence at the liar, serving as State Atton:ey from 
1849 to 1853. In the latter }ear he was appointed 
by i'resident Tierce, Ju<lge of the I'nited States 
District C<iurt of C'onnecticul, and continued in 
that posiiiiin until his death Jan. \2, i8f)0. 

( \' I il(j\. Kai.i'H Isaacs 1xgi-:ksoll, son of 
Judge Jonathan, and the father of Colin M. and 
Hon. Charles Roberts Ingcrsoll, of Xew Haven, 
was born l"eb. 8. 1789, in Xew Haven. i\ftcr his 
graduation from Yale College in 1808, he read 
law for twii vears under Hon. Seth Staples, and 
tlien opened an ot'tice in Xew Hawn. The period 
was an interesting one. I'ieriKinl Edwards, able 
and eloquent, had recently lieen transferred to the 
P.ench of the District Court of the United States, 
leaving at the liar, as its most prourinent mem- 
bers. David Daggett, Nathan Smith and S. P. 
Staples, each j)re-eminent in his way. It is the 
l)est evidence r)f Mr. Ingersoll's energy and talent 
that he was aide, in the presence of these strong, 
men, first to stand erect, then to attain eminence. 

While still young, Mr. Jngersoll became inter- 
ested in ])olitics. 'riiough by birth a Federahst, 
when the (piestion was presented whether Con- 
necticut should longer have a State religion, ami 
Congregationalists be a ])rivileged sect, he, with 
his father and other influential churchmen, took 
the side of eipial rights, and in 181 7 became a 
"Tolerat'ionist."' .As a member of the new part\', 
l.e was chosen, two years later, to represent Xew 
Haven ( previcnisly a strong Federal town) in the 
Legislature. The session which followed, on ac- 
count of the new C(-)nstitution, was an important 
one. Mr. Ingcrsoll inunediatelv look a high po- 
sition among the leaders in debate. He was a 
working member, faithful to his trust, and ]jrob- 
ably the ablest man on his side, and was retained 
there until wanted for a higher place. In 1820 
and 1821 he was chairman of the finance commit- 
tee, and in 1824 he was S])caker of the House. 
In 1825 he was elected a re])resentative to Con- 
gress, which election vacated his seat in the Legis- 
lature, to which he had been again chosen. He 
was continued in Congress for eight \ears. sup- 
porting, the first four, the administration of I'resi- 
dent .\<lams, and afterward acting with the .\a- 
lional Republicans, led by Henry Clay. He served 
for four \ears on the W'avs and Means committee. 



the most important committee in the House, and 
during the last two years held the second place 
on that committee. He was able, industrious and 
vigilant, and from the start rose rapidly and stead- 
ily in the estimation of the public. While a mem- 
ber of Congress Mr. Ingersoll served one term 
as Mayor of New Haven. After the expiration of 
his Congressional career, in 1833, he returned to 
Xew Haven and resumed the practice of law. In 
1834 he su])ported the administration of President 
Jackson. In 1835 Mr. Ingersoll was selected to 
fill a vacancy in the United States Senate, but de- 
clined the great honor. He several times declined 
nomination for governor when his party was in 
power, and it is stated that he could have had any 
office in the gift of the people. While in Congress 
he became an intimate friend of Mr. Polk, and 
wdien that gentleman was elected president of the 
I'nited States, in 1846, he appointed Mr. Inger- 
soll minister to Russia, w'ithout his knowdedge or 
consent. This honor he accepted, and after an 
absence of two years at St. Petersburg gladly re- 
turned to his profession, and for twenty years. 
])racticed law with unabated vigor and never with 
greater success. He loved the law, and with great 
energy devoted himself to it through a long life. 
He desired to attain excellence and eminence as 
a lawyer; and on that objective point were brought 
to bear the converged forces of his wdiole nature. 
He had noble endowments of intellect, vigorous 
and well balanced, and obedient to his will, and 
equipped with all needful adornment. He was a 
hard student of both books and human nature. 

Mr. Ingcrsoll was noted for the proportionate 
and hamionious development of all his powers. That 
he was an able lawyer, a close thinker, adequate- 
ly learned, and familiar with the whole field of 
practice, all admit. His voice, pleasant, almost 
musical, and of unusual compass, could be heard 
distinctly in its lowest tones. The ready, fluent 
speech, graceful delivery, and active but natural 
gesticulation : the energetic, earnest manner ; and 
the continence which mirrored every thought, all 
contributed to his ].)ower as an advocate. While 
his language was select, his argument was clear, 
logical, com])act and complete. Eminently per- 
suasive, forgetting nothing and digressing rare- 
ly, he touched lightly on the weaker poims, and 
knew where to place the strain. If the chain broke 
the fault was not his. 

Though speaking well, with little premedita- 
tion, Mr. In.gersoll was accustomed to prepare his 
cases thoroughly ; looked at both sides and weighed 
opposing considerations. Well fortified himself, he 
was (|uick to see and exjiose an unguarded point 
in the enemy, de.xterouslv driving liome his ad- 
vantage. Though when speaking to the Court, or 
a deliberate body, he addressed himself wdiolly to 
the intellect, using little ornament, when before 
a jury or popular assembly he gave himself more 
iibertx, was sometimes impetuous, often eloquent. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



427 



On these occasions he woukl show his power over 
the common mind, pulling- liimself in contact with 
those primitive sentiments, convictions and in- 
stincts which He at tiie foundation oi hiiinan na- 
ture and which are older than reason. With his 
liand on the hidden springs of action, lie sha])e(! 
and directed the cerebral movements, awakened 
emotion or (|uickened the soiise of rig;lu, carry- 
ing his auditors whither he would. Says one of 
large experience: "He was the best ])ublic speak- 
er I ever saw." In a notable degree he was pos- 
sessed of that personal magnetism by the aid of 
which the orator sways and sets on lire the sym- 
pathetic multitude. At one time he was witty and 
humorous, at another serious and ])athetic, and 
he could be sarcastic. (Oppression of the weak by 
the strong he would vehemently denounce ; a i)re- 
varicating witness tlay, if he could. 

Air. IngersoU was an experienced and accom- 
plished writer. Concerning his facts he was con- 
scientiously scrupulous, and would state nothing 
which was not wholly and exactly true. No man 
ever lived a purer or more exemplary life than he. 
His character was adorned by all the public and 
private virtues. Honorable, manly and just, it is 
believed he was never guilty of a deed of mean- 
ness or conscious wrong. 

.Mr. IngersoU was delicately organized, of 
moderate stature, slender, straight, and of healthy 
constitution. For his size his head was large, full 
in the frontal regions and prominent at the angles. 
He had finely cut features, thin lips, and dark eyes 
well protected by jutting brows. Till nearly 
eighty, with unclouded intellect, he continued his 
practice, and till the last went daily to his office 
when health permitted. There he would sit, writ- 
ing and reading, giving a cordial welcome to any 
friend who might call. His intimate acquaintance 
wdth political life and character, taken in connec- 
tion with his urbanity, kindness and candor and 
simple dignity, made his conversation extremely 
interesting. He died, w'ithout a known enemy, 
Aug. 26, 1872. In his last years he was a com- 
municant of Trinity Church. 

On Feb. 10, 1814, -Mr. IngersoU was married 
to Miss Margaret \^an den Fleuvel, of Dutch par- 
entage, of New York, a lady of great energy and 
discretion. 

Hon. Cii.arles Roherts IxGERSOi.t,, son of 
Hon. Ralph Isaacs IngersoU, is a native of New 
Haven, wdiere his birth occurred Sei)t. 16, 1821. 
He received his primary education in the private 
schools of his native city and also attended the 
Hopkins Grammar School. He then entered Yale 
College, from which he was graduated in the class 
of 1840. It was next bis privilege to spend two 
years abroad, as a member of the official family 
of his uncle, Capt. Voorhes IngersoU, then com- 
mantler of the U. S. Frigate "Preljle." ]\eturn- 
ing to the United States and to his home in New 



Haven, young IngersoU spent twu 



in Y; 



Law Scho(.)l, having such instructors as Judge 
Samuel J. Hitchcock, Chief Justice David Daggett 
and Hun. Isaac 11. Townsend. After his admis- 
sion to the liar in New Haven county, in 1845, 
he settled in practice in his native city, associat- 
ing himself with his father, with whom he con- 
tinued more or less for nearly thirty years, and 
on the death of the father, in 1872, succeeded him^ 
and is still active in the ]jrofession. During all 
this long ]jeriod Gov, IngersoU has figured prom- 
: inently in the jirofession, and has been connected 
with many (jf the most important cases in the sec- 
tion, and he has also been of great usefulness as 
a citizen, .giving invaluable public service to the 
citv and Stale. 

M the very outset of his career young Inger- 
soU, like his distinguished father and forefathers, 
I became interested in politics, and like them, too, 
[ oflices and public trusts sought him and not he 
them. It has been said of him, "He has declined 
more lUJininations than he has accepted, and re- 
fused more offices than he has filled." In 1856, 
1858, 1 8^)6 and 1871 he served as a representative 
from New J laven in the General Assembly, and 
was accorded infiuential ]jlaces on important com- 
mittees. He declined a nomination for State Sen- 
ator, at a time when his i)arty was in power and 
he would have been almost sure of an election. 
In 1864 he was a member of the National Demo- 
cratic Convention at Chicago, which nominated 
Gen. McClellan for president, and served on the 
committee on Resolutions. Again in 1872 he was 
a delegate to the National Convention, at Balti- 
more, which nominated Horace Greeley, and served 
as chairman of the Connecticut Delegation. In 
1873 t^'i^ Democratic party nominated Mr. Tnger- 
soll for governor, an honor unsought. He was 
elected, running far ahead of his ticket, gave the 
State a clean and judicious athninistration, and so 
eminently satisfactory were his services that he 
was re-nominated and re-elected to that high of- 
fice, receiving a majority of more than seven thou- 
sand. Again in 1875 '''•'' name was presented, and 
he received the higliest number of voles up to that 
lime ever jioUed for governor. During this term 
Gov. IngersoU signed the biU. whicli had received 
a two-thirds vole of each House, providing for 
submitting to the people an amendment to the Con- 
stitution of the Slate wdiich inade an official term 
of all State officers and Stale senators biennial, 
changed the date of annual election from A])ril to 
Xovember and terminated his own duties in Jan- 
uary, 1877. Mr. IngersoU had the honor of be- 
ing one of the Centennial (rovernors of the sev- 
eral States composing the American Republic in 
1776. Gov. IngersoU w'as largely instrumental for 
tlie creditable re]jresentation of Connecticut Man- 
ufacturers at the Centennial at Philadelphia. On 
his retiring from the executive chair he had the 
])raise and admiration of both Democrats and Re- 
publicans. Said one of the Reiniblican papers at 



42 8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ihc time: "X'ery few men could be named for the 
office l)y tliat (Democratic) puny in whose suc- 
cess tlie people of opposing views would so cheer- 
fully ac(|uiesce."' (iov. Ingersoll is a lawyer of 
great al)ility. a dignified, scliolarly and cultured 
gentleman, affable and courteous. In 1874 \ale 
College conferred on him the degree of LL. D. A 
writer in the L'niversity nia.gazine thus referred 
to the governor: 

"(lovernor Ingersoll's record in jiubl-ic life is 
one which most statesmen can only ho])e for 
and envy, and it has received the praise of his 
Iiitterest i)olitical op])<jnents. His career as a legal 
])ractitioner in New Haven is such as t(.) make his 
snow-white head, his military liearing and his 
I harming i)ersoiiaIity a by-word throughout the 
State." 

( )n Dec. jS. 1X47. (li)v. Ingersoll was married 
to X'irginia. daughter of Kear-.Xdniiral h'rancis H. 
(iregorv. of .\'ew ilavin. and the union has been 
blessed with children as follows: Justine Henri- 
etta: I'rancis (i.. with the Standard Trust Com- 
p;ni\ . of .\ew N'cirk I'ity : N'irginia G.. who married 
llarrv T. ( lause. of Wilmington. Del.; and Eliza- 
I)eth Shaw, who married (jeorge G. Haven, of New 
York. 

h:.\'()C:il 11. Sn.Ml':RS (deceased), in his life- 
time one of the public spirited and highly esteemed 
citizens of West H;i\en. was born in the town of 
( )range. June 15, 1827, a son of Enoch and .Sarah 
( Downs) .Somers, ancl died I'eb. 2. 1894. 

I'jioch Somers, his father, was born in the town 
of ( )range, and passed his life there successfully en- 
gaged in farming. I li' died at the age of sixtv-five, 
and bis remains rest in Ihe old cemetery. West Ha- 
ven. He was a man of local prominence, a cap- 
tain of the Orange nu'lilia, and ])ossessed large in- 
fluence. Hy his wile. Sarah Downs, of Orange, 
who died in her forty-seveiuh year, he had two chil- 
dren. In his religious belief he was a L'niversalist. 
while his wife was a Congrt'gationalist. 

b'.noch 11. .Somers passed his early boyhood uiion 
the paternal f:irni, l)ut at the age of fourteen went 
to the city of .\ew X'nrk. where he ac(|uired an ex- 
cellent CMinmon schoul education. His first practi- 
cal business ex])erience was accpiired as a clerk for 
the old and well known ])awnbroker. William Sim]}- 
son. whose name was long a sxnonvm for integritv. 
.\lter some years lie was admitted into jjartnership 
with bis former employer, and remained a member 
of the tirm for nearh fortx \e;irs. ( )n his retire- 
ment. 1k' selected W est I Liven as bis home, au'l 
there he purchased the house now occupied bv .Mrs. 
Somers, in which be resided inUil his death, at the 
age of sixty-tive. He was active in public affairs 
and a man of inlluence in the connuuuiiy. although 
]K'rsistently declining nomination for ot'fice. Wliile 
not a comnumicant. he was an attendant upon the 
Congregational Church, as is also bis widow. 

( )n Dec. 3, 1830. .Mr. .Somers was married to 



Eliza A. Durand, born in West Haven, but wdiose 
father, Alvah J. Durand, was a native of Milford. 
Eight children, three of whom died in infancy, were 
born of this union : Carrie A. is the wife of Dr. 
I'. M. Wilson, of Bridgeport, and has two daugh- 
ters — Ethel S. and Helen B. Elmer E. was pro- 
prietor of a factory for the manufacture of decor- 
ateil tin boxes in Brooklyn, X. Y., but is now a 
broker of that city (he married Helen A. Gage, 
and has one daughter — Mabel B.). Alvah D. lives 
at home with his mother, wdiile his twin sister, Addie 
D.. is the wife of Harry D. Sutton, of West Haven, 
and has one daughter, Gladys A. William \'., the 
voungest living child, is a successful actor, and re- 
sides in West Haven. Those deceased are Elcie E., 
Wilfred 1. and Charles H. .Ml these children were 
born in New York City, wdiere the first twenty years 
of their parents' married life were spent. The fam- 
ily home has been in West Haven, at the intersec- 
tion of Elm street and Campbell avenue, some thirty- 
years or more, and the comfortable house has been 
enlarged and beautified since its early days. Mrs. 
Somers. w ho is one of the best known and most uni- 
versally beloved residents of West Haven, is ])ass- 
ing the evening of her life in this beautiful, richly 
furnished home. 

Airs. Somers" ancestry is I-"rench. and her great- 
great-grandfather was among the earlv settlers of 
Alilford, and was a man of distinction and influence. 
Her grandfather, Lemuel Durand, was born in Mil- 
ford, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812; he 
was a farmer and ended his days in Alilford, dying 
in his eightieth year. His wife ( Airs. Somers' grand- 
mother), Catherine Smith, was also of Orange, and 
became the mother of five children, all oi whom arc 
dead, and she, herself, entered into rest after round- 
ing out her eightieth year. 

.\lvah J. Durand, the father of Airs. Somers. 
was b(.)rn in 1800. and was a farmer by occupation. 
He removed from Alilford to Orange in early life, 
becoming a man of substance and influence, and 
; passed ;iway after reaching the age of four score 
years. He married Sarah .\. Piatt, born in Orange, 
a daughter of. and one of eleven children born to, 
Nathaniel and Catherine ( Alerrick ) Tlatt. She 
died in 1875 at the age of seventy-one. Air. Dur;ind 
and his wife were the parents of four children, two 
of whom are living: .Mrs. Somers: and Charlotte, 
the elder, who is the widow of Thoaias D. Cousins, 
wliom she married in .\ew A'ork : Mr. Cousins was 
killed in an accident on the X. 11. tK: 11. K. I\.. and 
his widow- resides in A'irginia. llolh .Mr. ;iud .Mrs. 
.\lvah 1. Dnr;md were ]irominent and consistent 
members of the Congre.gational C'hurch of West 
Haven. 

-ALDb'.X 11. 11 ILL. Honored and respected 
by all. there is no man in .N'orth Branford wdio oc- 
cu|)ies a more eu\iable jjosition in business circles 
than .\!den II. Hill. n.)t alone on account of the 
wonderful success that he has achieved, but also 




O ff ^>'^/^c^-^./ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



429 



on account of tlie honorable, straigfhlforvvard busi- 
ness policy he has ever followed, lie possesses 
untiring; enerj;v, is quick of perception, forms hi^ 
plans readily and is determined in their execution ; 
and his close application to business and his excel- 
lent manat'X'ment have brous;-ht to him the pros- 
perity which is to-day his. 

Mr. Hill was born Se])t. 4. 1831. in Killini^- 
worth, -Middlesex Co.. Conn., of which place his 
parents, .\rilen and Mora (Davis) Hill, were also 
natives, and the latter was a daiis;iUer nf Leonard 
Davis. Throughout life the father of our subject 
engaged in farming, and died at the age of sixty- 
four years. In his family were nine children, tw<i 
sons and seven daughters, all of whom are now de- 
ceased, with the exception of our subject. The 
others were Marilla, wife of llirani Thompson; 
lietsey, wife of James L. Chattield. of Killing- 
v.'orth : Rachel, wife of Henry l-'rancis, of the same 
place: Diantha. wife of William J. Hall, of Xorth- 
ampton, Mass.; .Mabel, wife of Mathias (i. hrank- 
lin, of Killingworth : Maria, who first marrieil 
Charles Franklin, of Killingworth. who dird in 
I,il)l.)y prison during the Civil war, ;uid secoml 
married Joseph Davcy, of l!ig Rapids, .Mich.; 
Sarah, who remaineil immarried ; and a son. who 
died in infancy. 

His parents being in limited circumstances. .\lr. 
Mill's educational advantages werr limited to three 
months" attendance at the district schools in the 
winter, and at the age of fifteen years he began 
to assist in the support of the family. His first 
employment away from home was as a farm 
laborer, at which he made $70, but as a wealthy 
neighbor held his father's note for that amoinit, 
lie asked for the same and in rettuMi handed over 
his first earnings to pay his father's debt, as it 
was more than the latter could do to provide for 
his large family. At the age of seventeen years 
Alden H. Hill began shop work, and on attaining 
his majority came to Xorth liranford, where he 
secured employment in a saw and feed mill. In 
1865 he embarked in business on his own account. 
He purchased land and lumber, and engaged in 
ship building for fifteen years, and also became an 
extensive ship owner. In the years ihafhave since 
passed he has lo.st $23,000 in fioating iiroperty from 
storms, etc., having seven vessels lost at sea. He 
has continued to purchase stock in dilTerent ves- 
sels since 1876. He now operates a sawmill on 
his property in North Branford and manufactures 
various kinds of lumber, which his ships carry as 
far south as Galveston, Texas, while others are 
engaged in the coasting trade between \'ew I laven, 
Norfolk, Charleston and Mexican and South 
.American ports. His landed [jossessions in Xorth 
liranford consist of 300 acres of farm and timber 
land. 

( )n Xov. 18, 1879, Mr. Hill was united in mar- 
liage with Miss Sarah 1'.. I 'age, who irceived a 
thorough education and snccessfullv ensjaired in 



teaching school in her native town for a number 
of years. Her father, Judson I'age, one of the 
leading men of his lime in .Xorth ISranford. was 
!)orn in 181(1, and died b'eb. 5, 1802. He engaged 
ii. farming and also taught school for many years, 
roliticall)' he was a stanch Democrat, and was 
called u])on to fdl the offices of school visitor, as- 
sessor, and selectman for inaiu' \ears. He was 
also an acti\'e and ])rominent member of the Ccjn- 
gregational Church, and a member of the So- 
ciety's committee. Judson I'age married Alarietle 
rhom])son, who was born Aprd 14, 1817, and died 
in .\iigust, 1851. Her i)arents were Ans(jn and 
.^ally (Karnes) Thompson, the former lioru Jan. 
-'5. 171)2. the latter. Dec. 1. 17<)1, and they were 
n'.arrifd .May 1, 1810; their other children were 
( ieorge \\'., born Dec. 2i;, i8iy; Daniel J!., .May 
18, 1824; and Merwin S., Dec. 21. 1828. Mrs. 
hill's brother, Herbert ( ). I'age. a resident ot 
.\orth I'lranford. was married ()ct. 2t,. 187(1, to 
lietsey R. lialdwin. an<l has two children, a sou 
and daughter. .Mr. Hill and his wife have two 
children; R.ayniond T., born Jan. II. 1883; and 
.\lden J., born .\ug. 12. l88(>. The elder son is 
now a studem at \'ale, where he entered in 1900, 
;uid the younger is at Morgan's Sclniol at t'linion. 
Connecticut. 

.Mr. I lill is a consistent member and lilieral sup- 
I'orter ol the Congregational Church, and has long 
ser\ed as a member of its Society's connnittee. In 
bis political affiliations he is a Kepulilican. He was 
a member of the Legislature in 1877. ''"d served 
on the fishery committee; filled the office of .-elect- 
man for eight years and three months; and at 
various linu-h has acted as appraiser of lands for 
water and insurance companies and railroad cor- 
porations. He i> undoul)tedly the most prominent 
man in Xorth I'.r.inford. and his po])ularity is well 
deserved, a.s in him are embraced the characteris- 
tics of an uidiending integrit)-, unaliated energ\- 
and industry, ih.at never fiags. He is what the 
world terms a self-made man, and his life record 
IS well worthy of emulation. 

ALllKRT l-R.\XKLiN AXDRFA\S (de- 
ceased), well k-n;iwn as one of the most ingenious 
mechanics in Connecticut, was descended from one 
of the oldest familii's in .\ew Lnglantl, the name 
originallv being s])elled Andrus. 

(I) John Andrus was one of the early .settlers, 
and in 1672 one of the t^ghty-four jjroprietors of 
the ancient town of Tunxis ( I-'armington ). Conn. 
Mr. .Vndrus was a plain f;irmer of common intelli- 
gence. His farm was situated on the east side of 
the river, about two miles north of the village of 
I'"armington. and is still cultivated by .\nclrews. 
who are his direct descendants. His wile's name 
was Mary, ancl both were members of the church 
there, lie died in iC)8i, and she died in 1(194. 

( 11 ) llenjamin .\ndrews. son of John, the set- 
tler, born in id^o. was married in 1(182 to Marv 



430 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Smith. He lived on, and inherited, the homestead 
of liis father. Both he and his wife united with 
tile church in Farniinsjton Jan. 3, 1O86-7. His wife. 
Alary, died in 1707, and he died in 1727. 

(HI) James Andrews, son of Benjamin, born 
Aug-. I, 1700, was married in 1730, to Elizabeth 
GiUet, of Suffield, Conn. He inherited and lived 
on the homestead of his father and grandfather. 
His wife joined the church soon after her mar- 
riage. Mr. Andrews died July 18, 17O1. 

(TV) Elijah Andrews, .soil of James, born in 
1731. was married in 1761, to Sarah, daughter 
of Timothy Thompson, of Avon. J'llijah .Andrews 
was by trade and oceu])ation a goldsmith, and he 
I:ved in l-'armington on the east side of the roatl 
nearly ojjposite the house of John, the first set- 
tler. He died in i<S()3, and his widow [massed away 
in 1814. 

( Vj James Andrews (2), .son of Jilijah. born 
Nov. 22, 1762, was married March 13. 1791. to 
Eunice Gillette, of Xorthington, boni Jan. U), 
]7(>,S. Mr. Andrews was a farmer, and a soldier 
I if the Kevolutii-n, He lived on, or near, the old 
home farm of his ancestors, and his death occurred 
I\lay 31, 1845. 

\\'T) Romeo Andrews, son of James (2), was 
born Jan. 16, i7'/>, at tlie old home of his father 
in Earmington. He was married Jan. i, 1824, to 
SerejJta Gillett. of Avon, born in Eamiington, Sept. 
lO, 1803. daughter of Obadiah and Rosanna (Pet- 
tibone) Gillett. Mr. Andrews located at the cen- 
tre of East .^von, near the church and railroad. He 
was a joiner by trade. He was a wealthy farmer 
and fuse maker, and a substantial and worthy man. 
He died in Avon Jan. 23, 1867, aged seventy-one 
\ears. Hms widow survived him and died at the 
age of .seventy-nine. Their children were: Albert 
Franklin, Robert .\els"n, Jenette, Mary E., Mary 
C. and John II., of whom Alary E. and Mary C 
both died young. 

Albert b"ranklin .\nilrews was born at .\\on, 
Hartfcird Co., Conn., Sept. 16, 1824, and ac(|uired 
his education in the schools of his native town and 
at the academv at W'estfield, Mas>. In his youth 
he traveled extensively and lectured on iihrenol- 
ogy with I'rof. b'owler. but later lauglit school in 
New Jersey. He made many useful and valuable 
mechanical and chemical invent'ions, a few of 
which are enumerated hereafter. In 1852, with 
his father and brother, he established the Safety 
Fuse Alanufacturing Co., known as R. .Amlrews 
& Co., at Avon, using the methods and machinery 
lor making the luulless Safety l'"use. of which he 
was the original inventor. This com])anv, now 
known as the Clim;i.K h'use Co., is still in success- 
ful operation and forms the principal industrv at 
Avon. In 1862 Mr. Andrews invented machinery 
for making hats from paper pulp and similar ma- 
terials. He also, at about this time, made great 
progress in the art of extracting aluminum from 
clay; in 1869 he made some useful and \aluable 



inventions connected with the preparation of flax 
for use in the textile industries; in 1876-79 he 
invented and ])erfected processes for making mal- 
leable iron and fine steel directly from common 
iron castings. 

In 1881 he again assumed an active interest in 
the fuse making concern of R. Andrews & Co., 
v.diich he shortly after reorganized as the Climax 
Fuse Co., and which he operated very suc- 
cessfully until his retirement in 1889. Dur- 
ing this period he made many valuable in- 
ventions and improvements in the art of mak- 
ing safety fuse. He died in 1896, wdien sev- 
enty-one years old. An able man of rare me- 
chanical ability, he showed his great originality by 
working out all his plans unaided. He was a 
jirominent man in public affairs, and independent 
in his thinking. In the days of the old Greenback 
])arty, .Mr. Andrews was its candidate for repre- 
' sentative in the State Legislature, and also for 
governor. He was a fluent speaker, and at one 
lime was a familiar figure on tlie lecture platform. 
He was a member of the Congregational Church. 

( )n June 4. 1856, Air. Andrews married Lou- 
isa .\1. .\lford, who was born Feb. 22, 1831, a 
daughter of Daniel M. Alford. One daughter 
I'lessed this union, Isabel Tyler, now the wife of 
(jeorge A. Saunders, a manufacturer and merchant 
at New Haven, Conn., and the mother of three 
children : W inifred Andrews, Aretas Andrews and 
Dorothea. 

Daniel AI. .\lford, father of Airs. Andrews, 
was born in .\von, one of the two sons of Samuel 
Alford, a farmer of that town. He became a 
prominent man, and, as a Democrat, held a number 
of the offices, among- them justice of the peace, 
judge of probate, selectman, etc. His death oc- 
curred when he was seventy-seven years of age. 
Ik- married luiiira Mills, who was born in Can- 
ton, a daughter of Joel Alills, grandson of John 
Alills, a Baptist clergyman. Of the eight chil- 
dren born of this marriage four are now living, as 
iollows: Airs. Albert F. Andrews; Airs. Asa Hos- 
kius. a widow residing in Simsbury; Airs. Sarah 
J. Alallory, of Bristol; and Frank N., of Avon. 
The mother of these passed away at the age of 
se\enty-nine, in the faith of the Baptist Church. 

J( )HX lU'NTING, a representative farmer 
and fruit grower of Cheshire, New Haven coun- 
ty, was born in the Town of Moy, County Tyrone, 
Ireland. Alarch 28, 1837, a son of Robert and 
I'dizalieth (Alartin) Bunting, also natives of that 
coinury, where they continued to make their home 
throughout life. The father, who was by occupa- 
tion a farmer, died in 1876. and the mother de- 
])arted this life in 1891. Of their six children only 
two are now living: John and William, and, with 
the exce])tion of one mentioned below, John is the 
only one who left Ireland. One son, Thomas, came 
to America in 1871, and after spending one stun- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



43' 



incr in Saybrook, Conn., went to Xew York City, 
whore his death occurred in 189O. 

Reared in liis native land, John Hunting ob- 
tained his education in its ])uljhc schools. De- 
termined to try his fortune in the Xew World, 
where he believed better opportunities were afford- 
ed ambitious young men, he sailed from Liverpool, 
England, May i, 1863, on a sailing vessel and 
landed in Xew York July 5, the day following the 
great riot. The following December he came to 
-Meriden, Conn., where he worked at farm laljor 
iov Deacon Allen twelve years, and in 1877 he 
purchased the well-known ISeach farm in Cheshire, 
to the cultivation and im])rovement of which he 
lias since devoted his energies, lie is engaged in 
sjeneral farming and fruit-gn)wing, and has met 
with well-deserved success in his labors. 

In Meriden, in 1882, Mr. Uunting was united 
in marriage with Miss Ida Alenkirk, a native of 
Holland and a daughter of Louis A. and Lllen 
( A;nelin.xeen ) Alenkirk, who emigrated to Amer- 
ica in 1881 and located in Meriden, Conn., where 
the father died in 1891, but the mother is still liv- 
ing there. Mr. and Mrs. Bunting have one child 
living, Elizabeth; .Vnna died Jan. 2, 1896; and 
Robert died Jan. 4, 1896. 

(iEORCF. F. PECKHAM, one of the highly re- 
spected and well-known retired business men of 
Xew Haven, is a native of this city, having been 
born here Aug. 8. 1836, a son of Charles W. and 
Elizabeth P. (Coggeshall) Peckliani, and a graml- 
son of George Peckham, a coo])er of X'ew lla\eii. 
where he married a Miss Merwin, of Milfonl. 

Charles W. Peckham was a caliinet-maker and 
resided in Xew Haven all his life, dying there in 
< )ctober, 1842. His wife was a native of Milford, 
Conn., a daughter of Ca])t. b'reegift Coggeshall, 
and died on May 16. 1882, the mother of nine chil- 
<lrcn : Charles, born Mav 14, 1829, died Dec. 13, 
1831 : Caroline E., born January, 1831, died Dec. 26, 
183 1 ; Charles W'.. born in 1833. miw resides in West 
Haven; Sarah E.. born (_)ct. 2;^. 1834. married 
William H. Lawrence, of Xew Ilaven; (ieorge P., 
our subject; Harry W., born .\ug. i, 1838, died 
Oct. 18, 1842; David H., liorn July 8, 1839, died 
Sc])t. 2, 1843: Martha C, born \\m\ 26, 1841. is the 
widow of .Albert E. Barnelt, of Xew Haven ; Alary 
C, born June i6, 1843, died on Oct. d, 1843. The 
father was a Whig in politics, and the family were 
Congregationalists. 

(ieorge E. Peckham grew to manhood in his 
native city, attending the excellent |)ul lie sclmols, 
as well as the private one of Amos Smith, .\fter 
finishing school, he took up liarncss making, and 
followed that calling for three years and then learned 
the trade of carriage tiimmer under Ribert Sizer, 
continuing with him three years. His knowledge of 
the harness maker's trade was of great hel]i to liim 
in taking up the carriage trimmer's trade, which 
he learned rapidly, as after but one mnuth be was 



put at trimming a carriage. Ordinarily an ajipren- 
lice was supposed to work two or two and a lialf 
years before he was put on such work. He took 
contracts in carriage trimming, and before he was 
twenty years old, his net itrotits were at times as 
high as $60.00 per week. He then sjjent three years 
in the freight department of the .X. \'.. X. H. & II. 
R. \\. .Mr. Peckham next became a clerk in a gro- 
cery establishment, continuing in that capacitv for 
about eight years. Having learned all the details 
of this line of business, in 1872, he estalilished a 
grocery store on the corner of Howard and Congress 
axenues, where he remained until February, 1890, 
when he retired with a comfortable competence. He 
liegan mercantile business on small capital, but his 
credit was good, and all during liis eighteen _\ears 
of business his cretlit remained gilt edge. In 1891 
lie Iiuilt his excellent home at Xo. 412 Howard ave- 
nue, in which \-icinity he owns some valii;ible real 
estate. 

( )n March i, 1859. Mr. Peckham married Mary 
A. (ilennon, a native of Ireland, who was reared in 
Xew Haven, and to this marriage seven children 
were ])orn ; Ella L., born Dec. 17, 1859, died Jan. 
16, 1900, married Joseph McCuire, of Xew Ilaven, 
and had one son; Mary E., lioni July 17, 1862, died 
July 13, 1865; George E., born Oct. 8, 1864, died 
March 9, 1867; Charles W., born Dec. 18, 1866, 
died .May 10. 1S71 ; George H., born Oct. 23, 1872, 
is ,-iii electrician, married, and has a son, George X.; 
Albert W., born Sept. 16, 1874, died .Aug. 26, 1880; 
.Martha B., born March 11, uSfx), married Joseph 
1". 1 lulion, of Xew Haven, and has four children. 
In i)(ilitical affiliations. Air. Peckham is a Democrat, 
and fraternally is connected with Hiram Lodge, No. 
I, V. & .A. M. ; also with the Knights of Honor, 
Sherman Lodge. Both he and his estimable wife 
have many friends, whoso good will Ihev have 
gained through their excellent cjualities and' pleas- 
ing ])ersonalitics, and are justly nuinbered among 
the ri'prescntative people of Xew Haven. 

CHARLES A. ROBERTS tdecea.sed). who 
during his life was a well-knnwn and highly-es- 
teemed citizen of Aleriden, was born in the town 
of Aliddletown, Conn., Alarcli 3. 1828. and was a 
descendant of an old and dest'rvedlv fanious f;mi- 
iiy of Connecticut. 

.\mhrose Rolierts, his father, was born in Mid- 
dlesex county. Conn., and in his lifetime sustained 
a good name as a citizen of Aliddletown, where he 
was engaged in agricultural ]Hirsiiits. and where 
he died. 

Charles A. Roberts was educated in the public 
schools of liis native town and grew U]j on tlie 
homestead farm. While still a lad he learne<l the 
tinner's trade with P. J. Clark, of Aleriden. with 
whom he worked nuany years. Later in life he 
began in business for himself as a manufacturer 
of novelties, securing a large |ialronage. His 
death occurred in Aleriden, Oct. 21;. 1872. and his 



432 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



remains wt-re 'aid to rest in the West cemetery of 
that city. He was noted for iiis honesty ami ii])- 
right character, and was well-known and hit;hi.\' 
respected. His s])irits were i,'-enial. and his man- 
ners pleasant and attractive. A devoted hnsband 
and an nprif,dit citizen, his personal standini^' wa^ 
heyond (|ncstion. Jlc was a stockholder and ili- 
rector in the iMrst Xalional I'.ank of Alcriden, and 
was also a menil)er nf the .\leriden Cit\- Council, 
in politics he l)eloni;ed to the J)emocratic jiarty. 
In tralernity circles, he was a .Master .Mason, and 
was aftiliated with Center L(ids;v. .\<). i)J. .\. h. 
X- .\. .\1. Domestic in Ivis hahus. he was broad- 
minded and well-read, hein.t,' thoron.nhly posted on 
all the leading- events of the day. lie and his wife 
attended the I'niversalist C'hnrch. 

.Mr. Roberts was married in 1S53 t" .Miss 
llelinda Shailer .\danis, wlm was bMi'ii in the t(.)\\ 11 
of Suflield. C'linn., ;i daus^hier of J.ihn and iletsy 
(.Snow) .\dain.s. Imth of whom were natives of 
Sllffield. where they li\c-d and died. .Voile of the 
children born to .Mr. and .Mrs. Roberts grew to 
maturity. 

■ I.IXr.S .Ml'"..\l). president and sole owner of 
the Cr\stal Ice Co.. of .\ew Haven, was born in 
l.ewisboro, .V. N'.. Sept. jo, 1835, son of Richard 
and ll;mnah ( Keeler) .Mead. The family was early 
settled in ( irt-enwich, Conn., where two brothers of 
the nanu', of English birth, settled in lOfo, 

.Solomon AK'ad, the great-grandfather of onr 
subject, was born there, lie was the first minister 
of the Presbyterian L'hurch in .South Salem, >,'. \'. 
His son Clark, the grandfather of our subject, mar- 
ried Lois Cilbert, of South Salem, and they had a 
familv of four sons and three daughters, all now 
deceased. Clark .Mead died at the age of sixty-three 
rears. His wife, who was a consistent member of 
the 1 'resb\ terian Church, died at the age of seveiity- 
niiu' \ears. 

Richaril Mead, the father of our subject, was 
reared on a farm, and received a part of the 
old homestead as his jiortion of his father's estate. 
He die(l there at the age of eighty \ears. He mar- 
ried 1 lannah Keeler, a daughter of .\mini and 
I'hoelX' (.Strang) Keeler. the former of whom was 
a farmer in Lewisboro. .Mrs. Keeler, who was one 
of a family of thirteen children, lived to be o\er 
eighty years of age. as di<l all the family except one. 
.She iiad two children: Hannah, the mother of our 
subject ; and Henry, who was during his life a prom- 
inent man, well known in his section of New York 
State. The parents of our subject reared five chil- 
dren, all sons, and all of whom survive: Solomon, 
whose sketch ap])ears in another ])art of this \-ob 
ume ; C'lark, who resides near the old homestead in 
.Soutli .Salem: L-inus, our subject: Henry, a ii'>i- 
deiU of .\ew Haven; and .Stephen S., who formerly 
rt'sided in .\ew Haven, but now lives on the old 
home farm in New V'ork State. The beloved mother 
•Still survives at the advanced age of ninelv-six vears. 



in good health and in full possession of all her fac- 
ulties. In 1832 she and her husband became mem- 
IxTS of the Presbyterian Church, in which he served 
as trustee. 

The early years of Linus .Mead were spent on 
the farm and in attendance in the conimon schools 
of his locality. At the age of eighteen years he 
came to New Haven, but two years later returned to 
.^outh .Salem, and engaged in farming and other 
kinds of work in that neig-hborhood. Some two 
years later he marrietl. and then bought a farm of 
liis father-in-law, Init some time later sold it and 
removed to lied ford, N, Y,. where he was foreman 
on a stock farm, and was also engaged in the busi- 
ness of buying and selling cattle and poultry, suc- 
cessfuU)' conducting this enterprise for some time. 
He then went to i'oughkeepsie, N. Y., where he 
was engaged as a farm manager on the farm of one 
lUirell, a grandson of John Jacob Astor, remain- 
ing for two years, and then spent two years in the 
same capacity on the land of ,M, S. Beach, editor 
of the New York Sun, near I'oughkeepsie. He 
then removed to New Haven and built his jiresent 
residence, entering into the foundry business with 
his brother, Solomon iMead. Later Air. Mead re- 
turned to .Salem, where he spent one year. Later 
he managed a business west of New Haven, at 
Tyler's Shore. Conn., for .Mrs. T_\ler. Here, in 
1877, Mrs. Mead died, at the age of forty years. 
Her maiden name was Sarah E. Bouton, and she 
was born in Lewisboro. a daughter of Linus and 
Laura ( I'ardee) Bouton. Linus Bouton was a far- 
mer, and died at the age of si.xty years ; his widow 
survived until the age of ninety-two, dying in 1900. 
They had three children, the survivor being Mrs. 
Laura V. liennett, of I'ulteney. N. Y. C)ne sou 
was born to Air. and .Mrs. .Mead, Frederick L.,. 
who was educated in the public schools, and at the 
age of eighteen engaged with his father as book- 
keeper. Later he was made secretary of the ice 
company, and now assists in a general way. In 
i88<^) he married Alice L. Russell, a native of the 
town of Orange, and a daughter of William AL 
Russell, who is a prominent man in that town, and 
the present assessor. Two children have been boni 
of this marriage, Alay E. and Walter Llewellyn. 

.■\bout 1878 Mr. Alead went into the ice business,, 
beginning in a sniall way, and gradually increasing 
— employment being given at jiresent to some thirty- 
five -men and from twenty-eight to thirty horses, 
during the busy season. The harvest consists of 
some 2o,cxjo tons of ice, wdtich is sold both retail 
and wholesale. A track has been constructed for 
the transportation of the ice, and every modern 
method is used for expeditious handlin.g. The first 
ice-house was fifty feet S([uare. and the ice was put 
in by hand. Soon after four other houses were 
erected, each 25x60 feet in dimensions, and still 
another 40xf)0 was soon required, and another 35 
x6o. Two years later another — 50x75 — was added, 
and two vears later the business was so extended 




tu^^,.^.^^ ^-^.^.^c^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



435 



that he built another house, 35x75. The business 
continued to expand, .Mr. Mead buying out another 
dealer, and adding a 6,000-ton ice-house. In i8yo 
he shipped all of his ice from .Maine, no ice forming 
in New Haven or elsewhere in Connecticut, and 
in I'ebruary, i8yi, in company with two other deal- 
ers, he put up a large storage house, having a ca- 
pacity of 15,000 tons, at Congamond Lake, Mass. 
This is kejn filled for an emergency, and during the 
ten years has been filled and enijitied five times. 
Mr. .\lead"s business has increased from i.Joo tons 
to 20,000 tons aninially, and he has become one of 
the financial factors of the city of Xcw Haven. 
Mr. Mead's residence is in the Second Ward, in 
which vicinity he owns ([uite extensively of real 
estate. He has not only built his own residence, but 
also that of his son, and has constructed all his own 
ice houses, in which he has made use of all mcjilern 
improvements. 

Mr. Mead's second marriage was to Harriet L. 
Hoyt, who was born in Lewistoro, and two children 
have been born of this union: Clarence Hoyt; and 
Florence Greenley, who died when two months old. 
In politics Mr. Mead has been a lifelong Republi- 
can (his son also being a member of that i)arty and 
has served in the city council. He is a member of 
the I. O. O. F., and prominent in that Society). He 
has always been interested in religious work. For- 
merly he was a deacon in the church in Hyde Park, 
X. Y., and superintendent in the Sunday-school. 
At present the family attend the Plymouth Church, 
of New Haven, and Frederick L. Mead is librarian 
and usher in the Dwight Place Church, where his 
father was formerly librarian. As an item of in- 
terest it may be mentioned that the great-grand- 
father of Mrs. Mead was a great musician, and 
was the first one to ring the chimes of Trinity 
Church, New York. 

Mr. Mead has been a successful man in business, 
and is a strong temperance advocate, being an ab- 
stainer from the use of tobacco and li(|uors, and 
while on the farm in his early days believed in the 
old saying: 

"That he who by farming woubl thrive 
Must himself either hold or drive; 

Work hard all day. 

Sleep hard all night. 

Save every ct-nt. 

And never get tight." 

PIOMER LliVl COOPI'IR. The name "Ridge 
Farm'' carries with it a guarantee of superior ex- 
cellence in dairy products. 'J'his farm has been 
in the possession of the Cooper family for a num- 
ber of years, and is a well-known tract in the vi- 
cinity of North Haven, Conn., where it is sticcess- 
fuUy managed by its owner, 1 lomcr Levi Coojjcr. 

The Cooper family traces its ancestry as far 
back as 1641, when John Cooper came to .\merica 
from England, and the tomb of one ancestor whose 
dust lies in the cemetery of North Haven, bears 

28 



the date of 1722, the most ancient in that veneral)le 
ground. Justus Cooper, born in llamden in 1750, 
married Lois llradlev Jan. 17, 1782. He was a 
farmer in Nortli Haven, giiing there from llam- 
den, and locating on a farm, part of which is now 
owned by Homer L. Coojier. Justus Cooper had 
a son, Justus (2), born in 1797. 

Justus Cooper was born on the Cooper home- 
stead m North Haven, and during the early years 
of his life followed the occuj)ation of fanning on 
I'.is father's land. Later he removed to llamdeii 
Plains, where for about ten _\ears he conducted u 
tavern known as the "Old Red Tavern." This was 
a well-known hostelry in its day, and is still re- 
called by some of the older residents. .After dis- 
Ijosing of that business, he returned to Xorlli 
ilaveii and continued farming until the time of his 
death, which occurred .Se])t. 24. 1883. He married 
Julia Gorham, a native of llamden. a daughter of 
Le\i and Rhoda (.Miller) (iorham, and she died 
Jiuie 8, 1879. The children burn of this unicju were: 
Le\'i Justus, and (leorge H., who married I'.i'tsey 
Coe. " 

Levi Justus Cooper was born in the "(JId Red 
Tavern," Dec. 22, 1831, and in time was sent ta. 
the district school. Lie grew up on the far'.n. and! 
in early manhood entered the Candee Ruljber Co.'s 
sliop in llamden, where he worked for some time, 
and then embarked in the butchering business, for 
a number of years petldling meat in North Haven. 
Later, as the country became more closely popu- 
lated, it was more profitable to open a market in 
New I laven, and for eight \ears he successfully 
conducted an enterprise of this kind, leaving it tO' 
open a grain business. This was organized un- 
der the firm name of Coojjcr, Ilinman & Co., but 
some time later Mr. Cooper disposed of Iris in- 
terest and retm-ned to North Haven, where he 
resumed farming and also engaged in the dairv" 
business. (Jn July 14, 1853, he married Sarala 
White, a native of Southwick, Mass., and they ha(8 
two children: Jeimie, who married William Cam- 
eron, of New "^'ork : and Homer Levi. 

llomer Le\i Coo])er was born Feb. 28. 1859. 
in the old home now owned and occupied In' his- 
father. His educational o])portimities were ex- 
cellent in character, and he was an apt pupil in the 
New Haven district and high schools. .After com- 
pleting his education he worked in various places^ 
— at W'estville, where he was employed to run a 
steam sawmill, and in New Haven, but later in' 
Woodbridge. where he drove a milk wagon for 
L. C. Hemingway and learned all the practical 
points about dairying. In 1880 he wenf to .North 
1 laven and ])urchased part of his j^resent farm 
from his uncle. Ceorge H. Coo])er. He has added 
tf) it until, at the present time, his well cultivated 
l"arm of thirty acres shows that a luan of intelli- 
gence is its manager and ])roprietor. In i8(jo. in 
comi)any with M. l'>. and I". .^. Hubbell, under 
the name of Cooper & llulibell, he established a 



434 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Ijrosperous and growing dairy 1)usiness, on High 
street, in Xew Haven, where lliey carried on a 
retail and wholesale l>nsiness in dairy pmducts and 
<.>perated several delivery waijuns. In June, lyoi, 
-Mr. Co')])er withdrew from this connection. 

On Xov. 24. 1886, Mr. (.oo])er was married 
to Alice Elizabeth Monson, ni Westville. a daugh- 
ter of David C. Monson, the postmaster of that 
l^lace. To this union have been born four chil- 
dren: Eleanor G., Kenneth, Harold and Roland 
Justus. Kenneth and Harold were twins, and 
both died when nine months old. Like his parents, 
Mr. Cooper is connected with the Congregational 
Uiuirch, and both he an<l his father are stanch 
supporters of the Republican i)art\. .Socially he 
is connected with the A. O. U. W., in which he 
is popular and valued. He is considered one of 
the most prosperous and progressive business men 
of the vicinity, and his energy and thoroughly 
honest metho(is have won him the confidence of 
the community. 

|OHX 11. lU/RTOX (deceased) was for many 
years one of the most highly esteemed and valued 
citizens of Hamden. He was of foreign birth, but 
liis duties of citizenship were performed with a 
lovaltv e(|ual to that of any native son of x\merica, 
and when the nation was imperiled by rebellion, he 
went to the defen.se of the I'nion and protected the 
cause of his adopted country on many a southern 
battle field. 

Mr. Uurton was born in Perth, .Scotland, Oct. 
14. 1833, and was educated in the common schools 
■of his native land. During his youth he learned 
landscape gardening with his father, and continued 
to follow that occupation until his emigration to 
the United States in 1854. Locating in Philadel- 
phia, he followed his trade there for two years, and 
then went to Loston, where he was similarly em- 
ploved until coming to Xew Haven. Conn., in 1857. 
After working at his trade for a short time here, 
he entered the employ of the Winchester Shirt Co., 
for whom he was working when the ( 'i\il war liroke 
out. 

.Mr. r.urton enlisted as a private in Comixmy F, 
4th Conn. \'. 1., which was afterward re-organized 
as the 1st Connecticut 1 ieavy .\nillery, and assigned 
to the Army of the Potomac. 'I'hey ]iarticiiKited in 
the siege of ricrmuda Hundreds, uiuU'r Ihitler, the 
siege of Yorktowu, siege of Kichniond, an<l the en- 
gagements at Chickahominy Swamp, IMalvern Hill 
and Fairfax Court House. For bravery on the battle 
field, Mr.rJurton was promoted from tiiue to time, 
and on Aug. 27, 1863, was commissioned captain, in 
which capacity he served until Dec. 2^, 1864, when 
lie resigned and returned to Xew 1 laven. hi De- 
cember, i8(j3, while .going the rounds of the forts, 
as held ofticer at Washington. 1). C, his horse fell, 
breaking the leg of our subject, .\fter his return 
from the war, Mr. lUirton spent four years in Xew 
Jl.'Lven, an<l then located up(.)ii the farm in Hamden, 



where he passed the remainder of his life and where 
his widow still resides. He was quite extensively 
engaged in market gardening and met with excel- 
lent success in the enterprise. 

On Oct. 17, 1863, Mr. Burton was united in 
marriage with Miss Candace C. Norton, of Spring- 
field, Mass., and to them were born five children, 
namely: William T., who now carries on the home 
farm ; James H., who is engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness in Nqw York ; John H. J. ; George G. ; and 
Lilias L. Mr. Burton was accidentally drowned 
Ian. 22, 1895. Politically he was a very strong Re- 
pul)lican, and fraternally was an honored member of 
Admiral Foote Post, G. A. R., of New Haven, while 
religiously he was an active and prominent member 
of the Congregational church and was serving as 
church trustee and Sunday-school superintendent 
at the time of his death. His influence was great 
and always for good ; and his sympathies, his benev- 
olence and his kindly greeting will long be remem- 
bered. His duties were performed with the greatest 
care, and throughout his life his personal honor and 
integrity were without blemish. 

W'lLLL'VM BENHAM is one of the oldest and 
most highly respected citizens of North Haven, 
where he has spent a long and worthy life, upon 
wdiich he can look back with pleasure and thankful- 
ness, so honest and upright has it been throughout. 

This branch of the family is supposed to have 
been descended from John Benham, who came to 
the new world in the ship "Mary and John," and 
was at Dorchester, Mass., in 1630. In May, 1631, 
he was made a freeman. In 1640 he removed to 
New Haven, and his name appears in a list of New 
Haven planters in 1643. He was engaged in the 
manufacture of brick. Joseph Benham, of New 
Haven, was married at Boston, Jan. 15, 1657, to 
Winnifred Ring, and they had twelve children. He 
was one of the first settlers of Wallingford in 1670. 

Joseph Benham, grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, was a deacon of the Congregational 
Church at Hamden Plains, where he lived and 
died. He reached the great age of eighty-six years, 
]iassing away Jan. 25, 1836. His wife, Elizabeth, 
(lied in 1831, aged eighty years. They had seven 
children : George, Amos, Ransom, Betsey, Adali, 
Jared and Isaac. 

Isa;ic Benham was born Aug. 2, 1791, in Ham- 
den, and died there, Jan. 23, 1879. He was a shoe- 
maker and farmer. On March 8, 1815, he married 
.Anna Tuttle, who was born Jan. 20, 179S, in Mid- 
dlebury, Litchfield Co., Conn., and died Aug. 2, 
i87(), in Hamden. They had four children: Will- 
iam, Isaac, J;ired and Betsey Ann. 

William Benham was born on a farm AFarch 
24. 1S17, in the town of Hamden, and there re- 
mained until he was eight years old, enjoying but 
few educational advantages. A comparison is very 
interesting between the modern school room and 
his last "hall lA learning," which was in a barroom, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



435 



located just nortli of the Methodist Churcli. I'ntil 
he was seventeen years old Mr. Benhani learned 
more ahout the science of farming, and the handling 
of plow and hoe, than he did of hooks, and it was 
necessary for him, as for many another respected 
citizen of our countn.-, to wield those useful im- 
plenTcnts of agriculture. Wages were small in' 
those days and hours of labor long, fifty cents be- 
ing considered fair compensation for farm laborers 
wlio worked from sunrise to sunset, and on these 
terms our subject was hired by Alerritt .Mien, a 
farmer near \Vestville. whose land comprised the 
])resent site of the Xew Haven town farm. Most 
industrious, and determined to win independence 
and a competency, Mr. Benham labored for two 
summers for Mr. Allen, and during tlie winters 
learned the shoemaker's trade in Hamden, where he 
worked for S. \\'. Baldwin, of New Haven. He 
would make shoes in lots of fifty pairs, and carry 
them to New Haven, whence they were shi[)])ed to 
supply the southern trade. Although the pay was 
small, he worked at the bench until his health gave 
out, and then hired out to Jeremiah W'oodard, of 
East Haven, to drive a milk wagon through New 
Haven. A\'ith this out-door employment Mr. Ben- 
ham regained his health, although his work was 
laborious, and for two and one half years he con- 
tinued with this employer; he delivered to i6o cus- 
tomers, among the best families in the city, some- 
times making three trips daily, with milk and veg- 
etables. In connection with his other business Mr. 
\\'oodard entrusted our subject with the making 
out and collecting of bills. Mr. Benham's wages 
were fifteen dollars per month and board for fif- 
teen hours of work daily. Having saved enough 
money he bought his present farm, from Deacon 
Elias Rassctt, in 1S40, and had enough left over to 
])ut the place in good shape. Farming has been his 
])rincipal occui>ation ever since, although he has 
liad seasons of work in the Candcc & Lester rul)l)er 
factory, for Henry Hotchkiss, in Centervillc, and 
in the auger shops, for eight years driving one of 
the teams for the latter factory. 

Mr. Benham was married March 27, 1843, to 
Nancy Ives, a native of North Haven, who was born 
Aug. 22, 1817, a daughter of Talcott Ives, and died 
July II, 1884. Two children were born of ibis 
union : Betsey Adelaide, who married W. W. 
J 'rice, a book binder and directory printer and ]}nb- 
lisher, of New Haven ; and Nancy Anna, who mar- 
ried Milo Wooding, now of North Haven. Mr. 
Benham is a Republican in his political convictions, 
and has declined many tenders of office. Formerlv 
he was connected with the M. E. Church, hut is 
now a member of the Congregational Church at 
Whitney vine. No one has been more energetic or 
industrious through life than has our subject, who 
is a well preserved specimen of the honest, hard- 
working American citizen. By right of his own 
efforts, he possesses a competency which insures 



him a life of coiufort during tiie rest of his days, 
and offers an exani])le to others who expect to en- 
joy a future of ease without endeavoring honestly 
to earn it. 

LIAVLS E. OSBORN, whose long and use- 
ful career has been passed in New Haven, with 
the exce])tion of two years in Milwaukee, Wis., 
was born in the city with which his life has been 
associated, May 22, 1836, a son of Walter Os- 
born. In 185 1 he returned from Milwaukee to 
New Haven, to serve an apprenticeshi]) with his 
uncle, Minot .\. Osborn, at that time the editor 
of tile Rciiistcr. with whom he learned the print- 
ing business, at which, however, his health was 
impaired, and he was obliged to turn to other em- 
])ioyment. Jn 1880 he became assistant to the 
treasurer of \'ale I'niversity, a position he held 
until 1890, when he resigned, anct is now li\ing 
retired. 

Mr. Osborn was married Sept. 20, 1858, to 
R. Sophia Merwin, of New Haven, a daughter of 
Samuel E. Merwin, and a sister of (jen. S. I*^. 
Merwin. To Mr. and Mrs. Osborn have come 
two children: Henry M., the bursar of Yale, 
married Lizzie Ramsdell, now deceased ; and Ruby 
M., who is the wife of Lieut. Clarence B. Dann. a 
prominent carriage manufacturer of the city. Like 
his father Mr. Osborn holds to the principles of 
Democracy, though he is in no sense a partisan 
voter only. He is broad and patriotic in his ideas, 
and seeks the best good to the community and the 
country. For forty }ears he has been associated 
with Hiram Lodge, No. i, A. F. & A. M., of 
New Haven, and in religious connection belongs 
to the Church of the Redeemer. 

W'alter Osborn, in whose death, July 3. 1880, 
New Haven lost one of its old-time business men, 
long respected and esteemed, was descended from 
a family identified with New Haven from its very 
beginning. Mr. Osborn was born Dec. 21, 1805, 
in New Haven, a son of Eli and Elizabeth (Augur) 
Osborn. Eli Osborn was a merchant tailor on 
State Street, and a man of high character. }^Iinot 
A. Osborn. another son of EH. and a brother of 
Walter Osborn. was editor and publisher of the 
Rci^Jstcr, and a sketch of his life and character 
may be foimd on another page. In liis earl}- man- 
hood Walter Osborn was associated with Albert 
Walker in the caliinet-making and furniture busi- 
ness. With him in 1833 he erected a building 
which was afterward occui)ied by William H. 
liradley as a carriage factory, and which is still 
standing, on Chajjel street. In 1S41) Mr. Osborn 
moved to .Milwaukee, Wis., Init returned in 1853 
to his old home, where, in company with his 
brother-in-law. Mr. Stanley, he formed one of the 
princip.'il cii;d firms ni New lla\eii. hor a time 
lie was insjK'ctor of customs, under his brother, 
Minot A. ( )sborn. who was for eight years col- 
Kctor of customs in New Haven. 



436 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Walter (Jsborn was chosen collector of the 
town and city taxes in i860, a iK)sition he filled 
until 1873. At that time the growth of the busi- 
ness of tlie office and llic advanced age which ho 
liad attained, compelled his retirement from active 
life. While he was collector the office was never 
under belter management, and many of his wise 
business methods are still in vogue. In his later 
years Mr. ( )shorn was called to take the difficult 
position of a receiver of the Townsend Savings 
]!ank. which he tilled with admirable skill and 
courtesy. When he died he was a director of the 
National Xew Haven I'.ank. He was a veteran in 
the famous military organization known as the 
New Haven (irays. .Mr. Osborn commanded the 
confidence of bis townsni-en to a remarkable de- 
gree, and when a candidate for tax collector, re- 
ceived many votes from those of the opposite faith. 
His political affiliations were with the Democratic 
party, but during the Civil War he was an ardent 
L'ninn m:ui. and did all in his power to support the 
Government. 

Mr. ( )sl»)rn was married Se])t. 17. 1833, to 
-Miss Mary jane Reemer, of Derby, Conn., by 
whom he had the following children: E. Walter 
(mentioned below), Lewis E., (k-orge W. (an at- 
torney at Xew Haven), Minot R. I who died in 
New Haven when eighteen years old), Mary Jane 
( wdio is the wife of Wilbur F. Day, jiresident of 
the Xew Haven Xational Bank) and William E. 
( who is connected with the American Sugar Re- 
fining Co.. of Xew York City). 

E. Walter Osborn, the eldest son, gave a 
])romising young life to his country during the 
Civil War. The following reference was made to 
l;ini in Atwater's "History of New Haven:" 

.Still aiicitluT family in the same Congre.tration was smit- 
ten in the spring of ly(i'), when Major E. Walter Osborn, 
of the l.'rth Regiment, having been mortally wounded in 
North ("arolina, and taken prisoner, died in captivity. He 
was born in New Haven, and was thirty years, old at the 
time of his death. He was for several years a captain of 
the (}rays, and at all times w.is an active and enthusiastic 
member of that po|;nilar organization, which he commanded 
at the first liattle of Hull Run, when the Grays were in the 
Second Regiment. When the 15th Regiment was formed, 
he was made major, in which position he had nearly com- 
pleted his three years of enlistment. He was on detached 
service whi-n his regiment moved to battle, and on his own 
application secured permission to rejoin his comraiies, and 
share their fortunes. His eipiable and generous teni|iera- 
ment, his tinsellishness, and his kindly manner, joined with 
hiuh manly attributes, attracted love and confidence. His 
death was sincerely mourned by the lirave men. who had 
known liim in camp and battle. 

CIIVkI.ES !•:. IK ).\1)I.IA' was l.nrn in Xew 
Haven .May 4, 1S5S. and remained in his native 
city until he was seventeen years nf age, attending 
the ])ublic scliools, and acquiring a fund of solid 
informalion with which he has made a \cr\- credit- 
able success. 

When Mr. lloadley began life for himself he 
was in the service of the /\dams ICxjiress Co. some 
four or live years, and then was in the lumber busi- 



ness at Bennington, \'t., soiue eight years or iriore. 
Mr. Hoadley spent a dozen years in Florida, wdiere 
he was engaged in various capacities by his uncle. 
H. B. Plant. The real-estate business, as he handled 
it presented great opportunities, and he was verv'- 
<leeply interested in Elorida lands, and at the present 
time lias extensive land interests in that State. Mr. 
lloadley came to Waterbury June i, 1899. and be- 
came associated with the New England Mutual Life 
Insurance Co., for wdiich lie is now district man- 
ager, and in the development of his business career 
as an insurance man has met with phenomenal suc- 
cess. Eor the month of May, 1900, he was the sec- 
ond most successful man in New England in the 
service of the company. In the month of Septem- 
ber, same year, he was a leader, having written 
and paid for twenty-one policies amounting to 
$81,000. In 1901 he wrote about two hundred 
policies, considerably over $500,000, about twice the 
liusiness done by any other L^nited States agent of 
the New England Mutual, and the largest amount 
written and paid for by any life insurance agent 
in Connecticut for the year. 

Mr. Hoadley and Miss Emma J. Anderson, of 
Cleveland, Ohio, were married Sept. 15, 1882. Mrs. 
Hoadlev is a daughter of George Anderson, a na- 
tive of Scotland, and she is true to the best traits 
of her Scottish ancestors. They have a beautiful 
home in the northern part of the city, andi are uni- 
versally respected. Three children have come to 
bless their union: Bessie A.; Edwin A.: and 
Giles R. Mr. Hoadley is a Republican, and the 
faniilv are associated with the Congregational 
Church. 

Horace P. Hoadley, the father of Charles E.. 
was born in Martinsburg, N. Y., July 17, 1833, and 
died in New Haven, Conn., Oct. 20, 1893. On 
April 10, 1855. he was married, in Cape May, to 
Amelia O. Hubbard, who was born Sept. 8, 1836, 
in Berlin, Conn., daughter of Edwin and Hannah 
(Xortli) Hubbard. Her death occurred in New 
Haven Oct. 2, 1861. ^Ir. Hoadley was again mar- 
ried, Aug. 2/, 1873, in Rutherford, N. J., to ^Irs. 
Jeanie (Ivison) Campfield, widow of Rev. Naithan 
Perkins Campfield, of Newark, N. J., and daughter 
of Henry and Sarah Bogart (Brinkerhoff ) Ivison. 
of New York City. Mr. Hoadley was brought by 
his parents to New Haven before he was three 
years of age, and with the exception of one year 
in Meriden, and a year spent in Texas before the 
Civil war, passed the remainder of his life there. 
He was one of the original pupils in the Lan- 
casterian School, and later became a pupil of Gen. 
Russell's .Military School, where he attained the 
rank of captain or training master on the school 
field. He became a master of military science, and 
at the breaking out of the Civil war hastened to 
offer his services to the government. He was ap- 
pointed a major in the army, and rendered con- 
spicuous services by organizing and training the ist 
Connecticut Cavalry, which was equipped and pre- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



437 



pared for active duty in a very liricf time, lie was 
connected with the (now) L'nitcd Church, and for 
years was a teacher in and superintendent of its 
Sabbath-school. Mr. lloadley was closely identi- 
fied with the Yoimg- Men's Christian Association, 
and was deeply inlere>ted in the welfare of the 
young men. While in Texas he was in the carriage 
business, and was connected with the Adams I'-x- 
press Co. He was also an insurance man, and 
largely interested in the real-estate business, long 
•acting as secretary of the Plant Investment Co. 
Two children were born to his tirst marriage ; ( i ) 
Charles E., whose name introduces these lines : 
and (2) Horace G., born Sejn. 23. 1861, who mar- 
ried Helen L. Anderson. Henrietta A. was the 
only child of the second marriage. 

Philemon Hoadley. the grandfather of Charles 
E., was born in Southam])ton, Mass., March 31, 
1797, and died in New Haven Jan. 28. 1862. His 
first wife, Rosetta (Cioodrich) was the daughter 
of James and Lois ( Wilcox) Goodrich, and was 
born Nov. 12, 1804, in (dendale. X. V. Her death 
took place at Martin.sburg, X. Y.. Aug. 17, 1826. 
Mr. Hoadley subse(|uently married Mrs. Betsy 
(liradley) Plant, widow of .\nderson I'lant, of 
P> ran ford, and daughter of Levi and Lydia (Beach) 
I'.radley. She was born Aug. 28, 1799, in Bran ford, 
and died Jan. 20. 1886, in New Haven. The chil- 
dren of the first marriage were: (i) Henry, born 
in October, 1823. and (2) James, born in June, 
1825. There were also two children by the second 
marriage: (i) George A., born in October, 1831, 
who died in April, 1836: and (2) Horace P., who 
is mentioned in the foregoing. Philemon Hoadley 
lived in Martinsburg. N. Y., until about 1S38. He 
•was instrumental in raising funds for the Connecti- 
cut State Reform School in Meriden, and was a 
■member of its first Ijoard of trustees. In recogni- 
tion of his marked business al)ililies and deep in- 
terest in the school he was made its first superin- 
tendent, in 1853. 

Philemon Hoadley. the great-grandfather of 
Charles ]•'., was born June 11, 1755, iu Branford, 
Conn,, and died in West Turin, X. ^'.. Jan. 18, 
181 1. On May t, 1776, in Branford he married 
!\Iary Rogers, who was born in Branford b'eb. 22, 
1753, daughter of Jonathan and Mary ( l^'oote) Rog- 
ers. She died Dec. I 1. 1843. in West Turin. X. V. 
Mr. Hoadley moved tn Westlield. .Mass.. and his 
first child was baptized there in 1777. After a 
]ieriod of some years he relin'ned to ^^'est Turin, 
where he died. The names and \ears of birth of 
bis children are as follows: Soiibia, I77r); Irene. 
1779; Lyman. 1781: .Mary. 1784: Roxana. 1787; ! 
Chester, 1790; Lester, I7<>4; and i'liilemon, 1797 
(whose history is already given). 

Jacob Hoadley, the great-great-grandfather of 
Charles E., was born in Branford. Conn.. Afarch | 
8. I73I- and died in Turin, X. Y., in Xoveniber, 
1816. His marriage to Jemima Buell occurred July 
I, 1752, in I'.ranford. She was born in October, 



1726, in Killingworth. Conn., daughter of Capt. 
Samuel and Lydia (Wilcox) I'.uell. Jacob Hoadley 
went to Westiield, Mass., and from there to West 
lurin, X. Y., where he died. He was born and 
bred a farmer, and followed that occupation all his 
life. He was the father of ten cliildren: Jared, 
Philemon, Lucy, Jacob, Jemima, Lvdia, Hannah, 
Marv, .\bigad and Jacolx 

Sanniel Hoadley, the great-.great-great-grand- 
father of Charles E., was born in Branford l'\'b. 20, 
1696. and died in that town Feb. 22, 1736. 1 le mar- 
ried. Lydia Frisbie, who was born June i, iC)(;8, 
daughter of Caleb and Hannah Frisbie, and (bed 
b'eb. 6, 1756. They were farming people. To them 
were born eight chudren : Abigail, (iideon. Sam- 
uel. Ebenezer. Jacob, Lydia. Jerusha and James. 

The father of Samuel Hoadlev also bore the 
name of Samuel. He married Abigail Farrington, 
daughter of John and Mary ( Bullard ) Farrington. 
.She was born in Dedham, .Mass., .April 30, iC/)8, 
and died F'eb. 26, 1745, long after the death of her 
husband, on F'eb. 8, 1714: he was killed under a 
hav mow. He is first mentioned in the records 
of the town of Branford .-Xpril 4. 1683. and on 
Alarch 4, i()87, he and others were granted a tract 
of land one mile square in the western and. north- 
western ])ortions of the town of Branford. He and 
his wife had children as follows: .Abigail. William, 
Hannah. Samuel, (iideon. Lydia. lienjamin. Daniel 
and Timothy. 

Williani Hoadley. the emigrant, and also known 
in the old records as Capt. Hoadley. was the father 
of Samuel (i). He was born in I'.ngland about 
i<')3o. and his death occurred in 170<) in liranford. 
The name of his first wife is not known, h'or his 
second wife he married .\hirv (Bullard), widow of 
John Farrington. Capt. Hoadlev married Ruth 
I Powers) F'risbie, widow of b)hn I'risbie, for his 
third wife. Seven children were born to him : Will- 
iam, .Saniuel, John, .Marv. I'.lizalietb. Hannah and 
.Vbrabam. 

FRAXKLTX FARREL. For sixty years Al- 

mon and branklin F'arrel. father and son. respect- 
ively, have been most closely and ])rominently iden- 
tified with the industries of .Vnsonia and the Xaug- 
atuck \alley. and from the inccjrporation of tlie 
foundry and machine company bearmg their name 
at .Vnsonia — a jjcriod of fifty years — have e;icli in 
turn served as its president. 

.\lmon I'"arrel was born ( )ct. t2. 1800, in Oak- 
ville, the son of Zebah and Mehilaljel (lienliam) 
barrel, of Walerbury. Conn. He learned of his 
father the trade of a millwright, and for many vears 
was the leading millwright, machinist, engineer, 
builder and contractor in his line in the .Vaugatuck 
\ alley. There was jirobably no man in the .State 
at the time of .Mr. I'arrel's death who had superin- 
tended the construction of so many lirst class mills 
and manufacturing establishments. He wasnoted 
for the strength and i)ermanency of his work. What- 



438 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ever lie ])ut his liands to was successfully carried 
through, not always inexpensively, but with good 
judgment and thorough workmansliip. Monuments 
of iiis skill may be seen in W'aterbury, Seymour, 
Ansonia, nirmingham, I'lymouth Hollow, Wolcott- 
ville, Bristol, W'estville, I'oquonock, Newtown and 
other places, and at the time of his death he had a 
large contract in Chicago, 111. He was a self- 
taught man, one whose success was owing to his 
own native genius, ami whose services in building 
U]) the manufacturing interests in his native town 
and the Naugatuck X'alley were almost indispensa- 
ble. He died on .May 31, 1H57, in the jirinie of life 
and in the midst of bis usefulness. 

( )n May 1, i<S_>(), .\lmon l^irrel was married 
to Miss Emma, daugluer of Mark Warner, and the 
marriage was blessed with seven children. 

b'ranklin b'arrel, son nf Almon I'arrel, was born 
l''eb. 17, iS_>,S, in Walerluiry, L'liiin. lie received 
only a cummnn si'liiml eilucatiim, and like manv 
hoys wliu \\[\\v maile Ibeir mark in the world lie 
"roughed it" in early life. He wrs for a time at 
W'est J'oinl. ,\t the age of fourteen he commenced 
to learn the trade of a millwright under the practical 
direction of his fatlu-r. and in December. 1844, lie 
wi'ul t.) 1 )crby. l nnn., and assisted his father in en- 
gineering liir tlu' water wurks and other projects 
within the limits nf .\nsoni;i. In 1849 young Parrel 
l)ecame associated in the foundry and machine busi- 
ness in the tirm of b'arrel & Johnson, into which his 
father had put ,'>8,ooo. and S. and S. IM. Colburn, 
with Dr. josiah Al. Colburn, $7,(XJ0. Later, with this 
small capital, the concern was reorganized under 
the nanie of the b'arrel b'oundry & Machine Com- 
])auy, ;nid Almon b'arrel became its president, an 
office he held until bis death in 1857. Franklin 
]''arrel succeeded his father to the presidencv, and 
has ever since remained the executive officer of 
the company, b'rcjiii the very start, and all through 
these luany years, the works of this coiupan\- have 
])layed an im[)ortaiit part in the growth and pros- 
perity of Ansonia. 'I'lie grciwtb of the business has 
been steady and rapid until, under the able manage- 
ment of its president, it has becoiue one of the larg- 
est of its kind in the L'nited States, the stock having 
been raised from a nominal cash capital of ,$100,000 
to a real ca])ital of $5(X),ooo. This speaks louder 
than words of Mr. b'arrel's capaliilities as a shrewd 
and far-sighted business man .and tinaneier. The 
business is the second largest in .Ansonia, the works 
covering several acres of ground and giving stcadv 
eni])l()ynient to Ooo men. 'I'bey manufacture a heavv 
casting for machinery of nearly every description, 
and turn out (jii ;in extensive scale, iron, l>rass and 
copjjer luill machinery, chilled rolls, etc., for all 
])ur])<ises, consuiuing annually about 20.000 tons of 
metal in the manufacture of their goods. Mr. b'ar- 
rel has devoted himself with great assiduity ti_) var- 
ied lines of business, his labors having been uni- 
fonuly crowned with success, and he is, and has 



been, identified with many other enterprises of im- 
portance in the commercial world. 

In his political views Mr. Farrel is a Republican, 
and he and his family are connected with the Epis- 
copal Church, of Ansonia, to which he has been 
most lil)eral. In 1850 Mr. Farrel was married to 
i\liss Julia ]-. Smith, of Derby, Conn., who died 
in September, 1874. On Dec. 12, 1876, Mr. Far- 
,' rel married Miss Lillian Clarke, a native of New 
Haven. I5y bis first marriage he had five children, 
of whom one is living: May Wells, who married 
Kutberford Trowbridge, of New Haven, and has 
two children — Rutherford. Jr., and Rachel. By his 
second marriage our subject had four children: 
Florence A., who married George Clarke Bryant; 
Elise Marion ; Franklin F., Jr.; Lillian Estelle. 

STEl'IHiX WHITNEY, formerly of the 
United States army, now living retired in a pa- 
latial home at New Haven, has long been one of 
the familiar figures and well and favorably known 
men of the "'City of Elms." 

Born C)ct. 20, 1841, in New Haven, Air. Whit- 
ney is the son of bleiu-y and Hannah Eugenia 
(Lawrence) Whitney, and is a representative of a 
sturdy and prominent New England and New York 
ancestry, and on his father's side is of the seventh 
generation from Henry Whitney, who was born in 
England about 1620, and appears first of record in 
this country at Hashammock in Southold, L. I., in 
1649. Later he was at Huntington, L. 1., and is of 
record at Norwalk, Conn., as one of the early pi- 
oneersof the place in 1665. 

From this emigrant settler, the lineage of 
Stephen Whitney, of New Haven, is through John, 
Josiah, Henry, Stephen and Henry (2) Whitney. 

(II) John Whitney, son of Henry, the settler, 
born probably before his parents went to Southold, 
L. I., settled with his father in Norwalk, Coiui., 
and succeeded him as a miller and millwright, and 
to the mill and homestead property. On March 
17, 1674-5, he married Elizabeth Smith, daughter 
of Richard Smith. In Norwalk, Conn., John built 
a fulling mill, was prominent as a citizen, and died 
about 1720, and his \vidow passed away some time 
after, about 1741. 

(III) Josiah Whitney, son of John. luarried Oct. 
30, 1729, at Norwalk. Comi.. Eunice Hanford, 
daughter of Eleazer and Hannah Hanford. Josiah 
settled at Norwalk, where he died as early as 1750. 

(lY) Henry Whitney, son of Josiah, Iiorn l-'eb. 
T9, 1735-6, in Norwalk, marriecl alxnit T761, in 
Derby, Conn.. Eunice Clark, born April 15, 1745, 
in Derby, and seltU-d in that town. lumice Clark 
was the daughter of Williaiu Clark, who di'scended 
from Thomas Clark, who. it is thought. w;is mate of 
the "Mayllower." .\ sister of lumice Clarlc, l^liza, 
of Lvnie, Coim., married Joseph Hull, of Derby, 
in 1741). and became the mother of (leu. William 
Hull, and graudiuotiier of Comman<ler Isaac Hull 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



439 



of historic note. Ilcnry Whitney was for many 
years an active and nseful citizen of Derljy. I'.oih 
lie and his wife died in the town. ]ier death occnr- 
ring Alii;-. Ji. 1794. and his .May I, iSii. lie was 
the foinider of King- liiraui .Masonic I.odye ni 
Derljy. 

(\ ) Steplu'n Whitnev. son of llenrw horn 
Sept. 14. i/Jd, in Derhy. married Ang. 4. jSo^. at 
Xewtown, L. 1.. Harriet, horn Sej)t. I, ijSj. dan,u;h- 
ter of llendrick and I'hoehe ( Skidniore ) .'^uydani. 
of Ilallets Cove, L. 1. After their marriage, they 
settled in the city of Xew "S'ork. where Mr. W'hit- 
ney hccanie one of the most wealthy and influential 
merchants of his time, llolh he and his wife died in 
that town in 18O0. his death occurring I'eh. i'>, and 
hers -May \2. .Mr. Whitney, when he first went to 
.Xew ^'o^k City, at eighteen or twenty years of age, 
and hegan his career as a clerk in the husincss house 
of Lawrence & Whitney, early showed good intelli- 
gence and remarkahle energy, and was shorth' sent 
to the West Indies as a super-cargo. Saving his 
earnings, he soon went into husincss for himself, 
forming a partnershi|> in 1 800 with one John Currie. 
a Scotchman hy hirlh. The new firm engaged in 
the wholesale grocery husincss. hut in i8o() the 
])artnership dissolved. During the war of 181 _>, Mr. 
Whitney dealt largely in cotton and accunudated 
money ra])idly. In ahout 1818. he ahandoned the 
grocery husincss, and engaged extensively in ship- 
ping interests, iiuilding many vessels and sending 
them to various ])arts of the world, especially trad- 
ing largely with China and the East Indies. Among 
other interests, he held large shares in the Kermet 
line of packets plying hetween Xew York and Liv- 
erpool. ]\fr. Whitney was among the early projec- 
tors and founders of the great systems of railways 
and canals, which did so much to increase the pros- 
perity of Xew York, and held interests in the Xew 
Jersey Railroad Co., the Delaware, Lackawanna & 
Western Railroad Co.. and others, as well as im- 
mense financial institutions. His personal interests 
hecame .so large that for some thirty years hefore his 
death, he gave up active husincss and occupied his 
time in caring for his ])rivate husincss. His estate 
at his death was worth something like $5,000,000. 
^Ir. Whitney was a man of strictest integrity and 
honor, and w'on and held the esteem and admiration 
of all. 

(\'l) Henry ^\hitney, son of Stephen and the 
father of Stephen (2). was horn in Xew York City. 
Aug. 23, 1812. and was graduated from ^'ale col- 
lege in 1830. On Jan. 27, 1835, he married Hannah 
Eugenia Lawrence, horn Jan. 2J. 1815, in Xew 
York, a daughter of Lsaac and ("ornelia (lleach) 
Lawrence, the latter the daughter of Kev. .\hrahani 
Beach, D. D., rector of Trinity Church, Xew 'S'ork 
City. Mrs. \\'iiitney died March 10. 1844, in Xew 
Haven, Conn., and Mr. \\'hitney married July 25, 
1850, at Xorwich, Conn., Maria Lucy h'itch. 

Tn 1837, Mr. Whitney kicatcd in Xew Haven, 
and hegan the erection of the \\'hitne\ home, which 



when comiileted was the finest mansion and grounds 
in Xew Haven. Until its com])letion, the family re- 
sided in "Maple Cottage" on Trumlndl street. Mr. 
Whitney being a man of ample means, had time for 
gratifying a taste he possessed in agricultural lines, 
and was greatly interested in that pursuit l)Oth lo- 
cally and in the country in general, giving consider- 
able time to the breeding of cattle. He was secre- 
tary of the Xew Haven .\gricullural Society, and 
was well known in agricultur.al circles. His death 
occurred in Xew Haven March 21, 1850. and his 
wife, Maria L.. passed awav in Xew York City about 
i88f). 

The children horn to the first marriage were: 
Isaac Lawrence, born in Xew York, Xov. 13, 1835, 
dietl Dec. 7, 1835: Harriet, born in .Xew JIaven, 
Conn., March 2, 1838, marrieil June 5, i8'k), t'harles 
Jl. ISerryman, of Xew \'ork, and they now reside in 
that city: Cornelia Lawrence, born Xov. 2J, 1839, 
in Xew Haven, Conn., married March 4, 1802, Joim 
Ciirard Heckscher, who served as first lieiUenant in 
the 12th Keg. L'. .'^. 1. for two years during the 
Ci\il war, and she died March 30, 1891 : .Stephen, 
born Oct. 20, 1841 : Hannah luigene, Ijorn March 
10, 1844, in Xew Haven, died there Sept. 15. 1845. 
The chiklren liorn of the second marriage of Henry 
Whitney were: Maria, born May 26, 1851. mar- 
ried April 28, 1870, Roijcrt C. Livingston, and re- 
sides at Jslip, L. L: Caroline Suydam, born Xov. 
17, 1852, married Oct. 18, 1871, John X. .\. (jris- 
wold, who died Dec. 8, 1871, in (icrmany, and she' 
married, in Milford, Conn., Jinie 21, 1874, Cornelius 
Fellows, and resides in Xew York. 

Stephen Whitney (2), son of Henry (2L and 
the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch, 
was in the pursuit of a liberal education when the 
Civil war burst u]Jon the country, and .Vug. 5, 1861, 
he entered the army as first lieutenant in the 4th 
United States .-Vrtillery, and from that time until 
Xov. 12, 1863, shared the fortunes of the connnand, 
retiring with an honorable record. 

On April 2~. i8(>4, .Mr. Whitney married, in Xew 
'S'ork City, Margaret Lawrence Johnson, born in 
Xew York City Jinie i, 1841, daughter of Bradish 
and Louisa Anna ( Lawrence) Johnson, the latter 
then a resident of .\ew 'S'ork. .She died in Xovem- 
l)er, 1884, and April 2tj, i88(>, .Mr. Whitney married 
Louisa Johnson, a sister to his first wife. Mr. Whit- 
ney's children by his first marriage were: (i) 
Louisa Lawrence, liorn June 16, 1867, married 
(first) Hugh Dickey and had one child, hVanccs 
De Koven ; (second) Charles D. Dicke\-, and has 
two children, Charles 1). and Stephen W. Mr. 
Dickey is in the banking house of Brown l'>ros., in 
Xew York. (2) Hannah luigene Lawrence, horn 
.\])ril 29, 1871. (3) Henry, born Dec. 1, 1872. (4) 
Lawrence, Ijorn Oct. 21. 1874, died in i8<)6. Bv his 
second marriage, Mr. Whitney lias one child, 
Stei)hen, born April 13, 1887. 

Mr. Whitney and family have been prominent in 
sfjcial life, an<l from their elegant home on Whit- 



440 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ney avenue a generous liospitality has ever been 
dispensed. Mr. Whitney is a gentleman of cul- 
ture and extended travel, and is an interesting con- 
versationalist. J'or years he was interested in sugar 
planting in Louisiana, and himself and family 
passed the winter months on Woodland I'lantation. 
Mr. Whitney is a member of the Ouinnipiac Club 
of New Haven, of the I'nion (."lub of .\ew York, a 
member of the Society of Colonial Wars. Order of 
Runnvmedcs (or descendants i>i the l!;iriins who 
obtained a charter fnmi King Jnlni). and also a 
incinber of the Military ( )rdrr (.f the Ijyal Legion, 
Kew \'ork ."^tate C'ommandery. 

ELI C. i'..\RXr.M. the efficient secretary, treas- 
urer and general manager of the Xaugatuck Water 
Co., was born in the town uf KvM. Litchfield Co., 
Conn.. Dec. 14, 1S44. lie is a grandson of Rich- 
ard and .\mia ( lUakeman ) r.arnum, farming peo- 
ple of that town, who were the parents of six chil- 
dren. Ileecher, the oldest, was the father uf the gen- 
tleman whose name ap])ears at the beginning of 
this sketch. .Mills was a farmer in Litchfield, and 
died in Last Hartland. wbitlu-r he had retired to pass 
the rest of his life. Calvin, also a farmer, passed 
his life in Litchfield, dying unmarried, luneline be- 
came the wife of Daniel Chamberlain, a farmer of 
Kent. (_.'nrtis was a wheelwright in that town. Ade- 
line married a Mr. Hurd, of the same jjlacc. 

Leecher I'.arnum was born in 1800, and grew to 
manhood on his father's farm, and clied in Cornwall 
Bridge, Coim., in 1S5S. i'.y trade he was a mill- 
wright. He married .Sophia, daughter (if Eliud 
Combs, of Danbury, ami of the Ww children born 
to them, J^li C. was the youngest, the others being 
Lafayette, Lewis, Marcus and Mar\-. The three 
elder sons were engineers; all are deceased. Mary, 
the only daughter, married Levi r.anunn. of r.ridge- 
port, where she still resides. 

F-li C. Barnum was educated in the schools of 
Kent atid naubur\-. the parents mo\ing to the latter 
place for a time when lie was a lad of fen years. 
The familv soon returned to Kent, liowrver, re- 
maining there until the death ot the f.itber, which 
occurred when our subject was scarcely fourteen 
years old. -Mrs. Tlarnum and the children then 
removed to liridgeport. Thence ITi C. went to 
Botsford Station, Comi., where for three years he 
worked as clerk in the general store of Oliver Bots- 
ford. hi 1864 he went to Xaugatuck, which town 
has since been his home, h'or some yi'ars .alter his 
arrival he filled the post of clerk in the dry goods 
store owned by Frank S., and later (ieorge. .\n- 
drews. In 1869, through jiatient industry, joined to 
regularitv of haliits and economy in (.xpendilure, 
he found himself able to engage in liusiness on his 
•own account, in co-partnershi)) with Calvin Hotch- 
kiss, the style of the firm being Hotchkiss & Bar- 
num. Thev conducted a general store, h'our ^■ears 
later Mr. rjarmim ])urcliased Mr. llotchkiss' inter- 
est, and for twenty }ears m;m;igeil the business 



alone. Meanwdiile, in 1890, he was made secretary 
and treasurer of the Naugatuck Water Co., then 
an infant and comparatively unimportant concern. 
Mr. liarnum, however, was Cjuick to perceive the 
])ossibIe future of the corporation, and in 1893 he 
disposed of his store, and has since devoted his 
whole time and energy to the upbuilding and de- 
velopment of the company, in which he has been re- 
markal)lv successful. He is a citizen of ]niblic spirit, 
and the i)eo])le of Xaugatuck have shown their con- 
fitlence in his capability and probity, by repeatedly 
electing him to local offices, the duties attaching to 
which he has always discharged with fidelity and 
ability. He is a member of Shepherd's Lodge, A. 
F. & A. AL, and of the L O. R. M. : is a Republican 
in political creed ; and a Congregationalist by re- 
ligious profession. For about twenty-five years 
he has been treasurer of the Fcclesiastical Society. 
In 1868 Mr. Barnum was married to Miss Eliza 
Ward, a daughter of Lauren Ward, and a niece of 
William Ward, a biographical sketch of whom may 
be found elsewdiere. Mr. and ]\Irs. Barnum have 
had two children, F'rederick W. and Earl AL The 
first named is an employe of the Water Company. 

CHARLES HEXRY REDFIELD. The Red- 
field family, of which Charles Henry Redfield, one 
of Madison's well-known farmers, is a member, has 
long been prominent in New England, where it has 
been noted for its integrity and uprightness of life. 

\\'illiam Redfield, the progenitor of the family 
in America, emigrated from England with the early 
settlers of Massachusetts, and before 1639 he 
owned a home on the south side of the Charles 
River, near Boston. He later joined others in re- 
moval to Connecticut, the Colony settling at wdiat 
is now .Xew London, where he built a house and 
s])ent the remainder of his life, dying in May, 1662. 
His wife, Rebecca, bore him the foUowdng children : 
Lvdia, born in 1636, married Thomas Bayley, of 
New London, Comi ; Reliecca, born in 1641, mar- 
ried Thomas Roach, of New London ; James, bom 
in 1646; Judith, born in 1649, married .Alexander 
Pygan, of Norwich, England, June 17, 1667. 

James Redfield, son of \\'illiam, born in 1646. 
came to New London with his parents, and bound 
himself to Hugh Roberts, to learn the tanning trade. 
He later followed the sea and also engaged in 
farming. I'or a short time he lived in Saybrook, 
but his death occurred in Fairfield, Conn., about 
17J3. In Mav, ifjfK), he married Elizabeth How, 
wdio was born in 1645, a daughter of Jeremy How. 
of New Haven, and upon her death married Delilah 
.Sturgis, daughter of John Sturgis. of Fairfield. 
James Redfield was the father of the following chil- 
dren : I-'lizabcth, born in New LTaven, Afay 31, 
1670; Sarah, born about 1673: Theophilus, born 
1682; Margaret, baptized Oct. 7, i6<)4: and James, 
baptized Oct. 25, 1696. 

Theoiihilus Redfield, son of James, born in 1682, 
learned the trade of carijcnter and joiner, and set- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



441 



tied in Killingworth, whero, in 1717, he bought a 
tract of land in what is now North Killin<j;worth, 
-and there spent the remainder of his life, and died 
I"eb. 14, 1759, highly respected for his genuine 
worth. On Dec. 24, 1706. he married Priscilla (irin- 
ncU, daughter of Daniel and Lydia Grinnell. of 
-Saybrook, and she died Jan. u, 1770. at the age of 
eighty-one years. The following children blessed 
their union: Daniel, born Sept. 22. 1707, served in 
the French and Indian war, and died Jan. 11, 1758: 
Elizalieth, born Alay 8, 1709; Richard, born June 
II, 1711 ; Ebenezer, Iwrn Dec. 3, 1713; Lydia, born 
Feb. 9, 1715 ; Theophilus, born June 20, 1720; Peleg, 
born April 2, 1723; George, born Nov. 7. 1725; 
William, lx)rn Dec. 5, 1727; Josiah, born Sept. 6, 
1730; Jane, born June 24, 1733; and James, born 
.March 29, 1735. 

Theophilus Redfield (2), son of Theophilus, 
lived in Killingworth, where he was engaged in 
farming. He was a sergeant in the I'Tench and 
Indian war. His death occurred in Killingworth 
Jan. 30, 1770. He first married .Mary lUiell. daugh- 
ter of Benjamin and Hannah Ihiell, and she died 
Aug. 22, 1749. For his second wife he married 
Martha Gray, daughter of I'hili]) Gray, of Killing- 
worth. By his first marriage his children were as 
follows: Eliakini, l)orn ^Iay 2'i, 1741 ; .Xaliian. 
■born July 31, 1743: Levi, born .\ug. 17, 1745: and 
Isaac, born JuK' 2ij. 174(>. died Nov. 2^. 1749. By 
the second marriage were born Philip, born Xov. 
:25, 1751, died 1780; Constant, born July 30, 1753; 
-Mary, born Jan. 24, 1755 ; Elias, born Jan. 31. 1757 ; 
Martha, born Feb. 18, 1758; and Xathan (2). i)oni 
Aug. 17. 1763. 

Constant Redfield. son of Iheoijliilus (2), was 
liorn in Killingworth July 30, 1733, and was a 
cooper by trade, and took an active ])art in the Rev- 
olutionary war. On April 9, 1778, he married 
Amanda Buell, who was a daughter of Daniel Buell, 
and who died in October, 1837. He died in ( iuil- 
ford at the home of his son Ebenezer, Jan. 15. i83(). 
The children born of this union witc: Pardon, 
horn Feb. 20, 1779; Martha. Fel). 3. 1781 ; Theodore, 
Oct. I. 1782, died 1847; Mary, born Xov. 14, 1784; 
Siba, Dec. 18. 1786: Lydia. June 2<;. 178(); Lyman; 
Ebenezer, 1794: Ruth, July 11, 1796; James; 
Amanda; and one that died unname<l. 

Lyman Redfield was born in Killingworth in 
i7C)i, and became one of the prosperous farmers of 
Killingworth, where his life was spent, and where he 
died July 19, 1848. He first married Clarissa Par- 
mclce, daughter of Henry Parmelce, of Killing- 
worth; for his second wife, he wedded Sophronia 
Kelsey, of Clinton. His children were: Mari- 
etta Elizabeth, born March. 1818; Henry Toyman, 
1820; Gustavus Kimberly, Xov. 14, 1822: Charles 
T'armelee, March 8, 1825; and Francis Sherman. 
April, 1828. All arc now deceased except Charles 
Parmelee, who resides in Clinton, Connecticut. 

Henry L. Redfield was born in 1820. and engaged 
in the coasting trade. He married Elizabeth Coe, 



daughter of Darius and Thankful Coe, of Madison, 
where Mr. Coe owned a large tract of land. The 
children born of this marriage were as follows ; 
Charles Henry; John Darius, born May 31, 1842, 
died in the army; Wellington Monroe, born Feb. 18, 
1845, ''''■"'1 March 9. 1845; George, born March 25, 
1847; Clarissa Elizabeth, who married Edgar Spen- 
cer, of Madison. Mr. Redfield died March 19, 
185 1, aged thirty-one years, and was buried in 
West cemetery, where a monument marks his last 
resting i)lace. His life was one of duty well per- 
formed, and he died esteemed by the whole com- 
munity. His widow resides with her son Charles 
Henry, and has attained the advanced age of eighty- 
three years. 

Charles H. Redfield was born June 10, 1840, in 
Madison, where he attended the district schools. 
The farm of too acres, formerly known as the Coe 
farm, is now ocupied and managed by him. and he 
has been engaged since his youth in making im- 
provements, and in bringing his land to a high state 
of cultivation. He has also successfully engaged in 
stock raising, at the same time carrying on a thriv- 
ing dairy business. 

On Feb. 20, 1862, Mr. Redfield was married to 
Emeline .Smith Bolles, who was born in Xiantic. 
Conn., a daughter of Francis and X'ancy (Morgan) 
Bolles, of that town, the .former of whom was a 
son of Calvin Bolles, and the latter a daughter of 
George Morgan, who was a native of England. 
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Redfield are as 
follows; (t) Jennie Thankful was educated in 
the district school. Hand .Academy in Madison, Wil- 
limantic Normal and (iatifney Business College, of 
New Haven. Slie is an expert typewriter and sten- 
ographer, and has taught school for four years. (2) 
Frank Henry, a carpenter and joiner, married Net- 
tie Griswold, and has three children, Marguerite. 
Leslie Bolles and Charles Kenyon. (3) Willard, 
a machinist in New ^'ork, married Josephine Con- 
way, of Ilolyokc, Alass., anil has one child. C. Mor- 
gan. (4) Charles Gustavus, a farmer, married 
Susan Trainer, of New Haven, and has one child. 
F'arl Trainer. (5) Burdcttc P)olles is a machinist 
in New Haven. (6) Emeline Coe is a graduate of 
Hand Academy. Mr.- Redfield has always taken an 
active part in the improvements in his town and 
district, and for a long time has served on the lioard 
of relief, where his judgment is much valued. In 
politics be is a Republican, and socially is connected 
with the :\. O. V. W. The famih- are members 
of the Congregational Church, to which Mr. Red- 
field cheerfully contributes, and where they arc most 
highly esteemed. A man of fpiiet and unostentatious 
manner, he is one of the substantial citizens who 
well represent the town of Madison. 

ALMON JESSE I\FS. The Ives family is one 
of the oldest in the town of Wallingford. John Ives, 
the first settler of tliat name in the town, was a farm- 
er and land owner, and died in Meriden. He was 



44: 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



father to the following children: John, born in 
1669, died in 1738; Hannah married Joseph Ben- 
ham Aug. 17, 1682; Joseph, l)orn in 1674, married 
listher iJenedict May 11, i(-X)j; Gideon married 
Mary Royce Feb. 20, 1706; Nathaniel, born in 1677, 
married Alary Cook in iCxjq; Ebenezer; Samuel 
was born June 15, iCn/j; Benjamin was born Nov. 
22, 1699. 

(lideon Ives, noted above, was a farmer and 
land owner. He and his wife, Mary (RoyceJ, had 
the following children: Sarah, born Sept. 8. 1708; 
Jonathan, born Sept. 20, J7U) (died Sept. 2. 1753) : 
Amasa, born Aug. 24, 1712; ivhoda, born Dec. 12, 
1714: Martha, born Aug. 10, 1716; Amasa, born 
Nov. 15. 1718; Gideon, born Sept. 24, 1720; Joel, 
born Jan. 13, 1723: Mary, born Dec. 16, 1724: 
Susannah, born .Ma\- ji>, 1727; Esther, born ( )ct. 
14. 1729. The mother died (Jet. 15, 1742. 

Jonathan Ives, son of Gideon, was engaged with 
his father in farming. He died Sept. 2, 1753, at 
the age of forty-three years. He married Abigail 
Burmughs. l'"eb. 28, 1736. 

Zachariah Ives, son of Jonathan, was born Jan. 
31. 1737. and was a farmer all his life. He located 
in the town of Cheshire, where he died March 9, 
181 5. His wife, Lois, also died in Cheshire. Their 
children were: (I) Rev. Reuben, born in 1761, 
graduated from Yale College in 1783, and was or- 
dained by Bishop Seabury in 1786. He was rector 
of St. Peter's Episcopal Church at Cheshire for 
thirty years, and died Oct. 14, 1836, at the age of 
seventy-five years. (2) Chauncey, born in 1762, 
died Xov. 17, 1778. (3) Lowly married Seth De 
Wolf. (4) Jarcd was a farmer of Cheshire. (5) 
Jesse. 

Jesse Ives was born and reared in Cheshire, and 
upon reaching man's estate removed to the town of 
Alerideu, wdiere he lived and died. He married 
Marilla Johnson, and became the father of four 
children: Jotham : Almon, who died in 1896; 
Rosetta, who married John i'.ardon; and Lyman, 
who married Betsy Sanderson, and is deceased. 

Jolham i\-es was born cm the home farm in 
Meriden, where he was a farmer and stock raiser 
all his life. He died there May 18, 1864. at the 
age of fifty-six years, and was buried in the Meri- 
den cemetery. A man of strong domestic habits, he 
was honorable and upright in all his ways, and held 
in the higliest esteen by those wdio knew him best. 
He was a Democrat in politics, but had no, taste for 
party machinery, and never sought office. He mar- 
ried Mary R. Way. wlm was born in Meriden, a 
(laughter of Samuel and I'.ctsey (I'reston) Wav. 
They had children as follows: I'.dward (who died 
in Cheshire): .Amos: I'.etsey (wife of Rcibert \^^ 
Hallam ) : Julius L; and .\lmon J. The family are 
members of the Congregational Church. 

.\mos Ives is engaged in business in Meriden, 
as a coal dealer: has been very successful and is 
quite well-to-do. He has twice served as nia\-or of 



that city, to which ofifice he was elected on the Dem- 
ocratic ticket, and proved very capable, his services 
giving general satisfaction. He has two sons, Wil- 
bur B. and Cleveland A. The elder, after an at- 
tendance of a year or two at the high school, stud- 
ied at a school in Canada, and has since been in 
business with his father. Cleveland A. graduated 
from the Meriden high school in 1897, and from 
the Wesleyan College in 1901. 

Julius I. Ives still resides on the old homestead, 
and is a very successful farmer and stock raiser. 
He is a member of Hancock Lodge, No. 28, I. O. O. 
F., and is past grand of the local lodge. He has 
two children, Minor and Lucretia. The son has 
finished his school work, and is now helping his 
father on the farm. 

Almon J. Ives attended the district school of 
Meriden, and remained on the farm until nineteen 
years of age, when he went to Plymouth, Conn., 
and there he spent a year clerking in a store. At 
the expiration of that time he returned to the home 
farm and engaged in its cultivation in company with 
his brother Julius I. Their father was dead, and the 
brothers continued together in farming for fifteen 
years, when Almon J. retired and settled on the 

' Allen farm, in the town of Meriden. In 1880 he 
came to Wallingford, and located in the village of 
Tracy, where he set up in business, buying out 
the grocery and good will of his father-in-law. 
Here for over fifteen years he has carried on a 
very successful and popular establishment, dealing 
in groceries and feed. In 1885 he was appointed 
postmaster under President Cleveland and has held 
that position to the present time. He is a good busi- 
ness man, and noted for fair dealing, courteous 
demeanor and unswerving honesty. 

I In 1879 Mr. Ives was married to Aliss Ellen A. 
Parker, wdio was born in JMeriden, a daughter of 
Edward and Harriet A. (Blake) Parker. To this 
union have come two children : ^lary, a graduate 
of the Meriden High School, class of 1901 ; and 

i Edward Jotham. Air. Ives is a member of Hancock 

1 Lodge, No. 28, I. O. O. F., and is now past grand of 

i the local lodge. 

The Parker family, to which Mrs. Ives belongs, 
is traced back to John Parker, the first of the family 
in this country. He was one of the earlier settlers 
of Wallingford, and made his location at what is 
known as Parker's Farms, in the western part of 
the town. He died in 171 1. and Hannah, his 

I widow, survived until June 7. 172O. Their children 
were as follows: ( i) Hannah, born .Aug. 20. 1671, 
married W'illiam Andrews Jan. 12, i6()2. (2) Eliz- 
abeth married Joseph Royce March 24, 1693. (3) 
John, born AFarch 26, 1675, married Alary Kibbe, 
of Spring-field, Alass., Nov. I, 1699. (4) Rachel, 
born June ](\ if 180, married Thomas Rcbyea in 
1700. (5) Eliphalct married Hannah Beach Aug. 
5, 1708. (6) Samuel married Sarah Goodsell, of 
Middletown, July 16. 1713. (7) F.dward was born 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL. RECORD. 



443 



in 1692. (8) Mary marricil Joseph Clark Xov. 27, 
^707- (9J Abigail, born March 10, 1710. married 
Joseph Bradley Dec. 8, 1765. 

ICdward Parker, son of John, the hrst settler of 
Parker's Farms, grew up in the town of W'alling- 
ford, and after his marriage settled in Cheshire, 
where he followed farming all his life, lie died 
Oct. 21, 177O, and is buried in Cheshire. He was 
three times married. Jerusha. his lirsl wile, died 
Dec. 27, 1745. On Dec. i, 1748, he married Re- 
becca Ives, who died May 23, 1762; and on Sept. 
30, 1762, he was married to Ruth Merriman Mer- 
win. His children were as follows: Ral]ih, born 
Jan. 9, 1718, married Martha Ives, daughter of 
Gideon Ives; Athildred, born July i, 1719, mar- 
ried Timothy Hall Jan. 10, 1748; Edward, born 
T^Iarch 1 1, 1721, is mentioned below ; Joel, Ixirn Feb. 
24, 1723. married Susannah Hotchkiss Dec. 25, 
1746; Ephraim, born Aug. 23, 1725, married Bath- 
shcba Parsons Xov. 11, !747: .\mos, born Xov. 26, 
1726, died Aug. 20, 1748: William, born in 1728, 
died May 2. 1752: Eldad, born Sept. 14. 1731, mar- 
ried Thankful Bellamy April 24, 1755, and died July 
6, 1779; Joseph ^ferriam, born Feb. 2, 1734, died 
March 21, 1734: Joseph, born Oct. 9, 1735. married 
Mary Andrews May 30,. 1758. 

Edward Parker, son of Edward Parker, was also 
a farmer. He married Sarah Burroughs, and their 
cliildren were as follows : Sarah was born in 
Cheshire Aug. 28, 1745 : Elizabeth, born June 7, 
1748, married Enos Clark, of Southington; Will- 
iam was born June 18. 1752; Aliigail. born July 7, 
1755, married Deacon Benjamin Yale Dec. 17, 1777; 
Edward, born April 21, 1760, married Rebecca Heii- 
drick, and removed to Cazenovia, New York. 

William Parker, the great-grandfather of Mrs. 
Ives, was born in Cheshire, and was a farmer all 
his life. He married Desire Bunnell, and of their 
children we have the following record : Sarah, born 
Xov. 7, 1779, married Charles T. Hill ; William 
married the widow of Reuben Hull ; Xancy married 
Dixon Lusk ; Anson : .Abigail married Elnathan 
Beach; Fanny married Simeon Perkins, and after 
his death .Simeon Hersey ; and Marcus was the 
grandfather of Mrs. Ives. 

Marcus Parker was born in Cheshire, where 
he spent his life engaged as a carpenter and joiner. 
lie married Mehitable Mathews. 

Edward Parker, son of Marcus and Mehitable 
Parker, was a carpenter in early life, and finally en- 
gaged as a grocer at Tracy. In 1882 he sold out lo 
his son-in-law, and spent his last days in New Ha- 
ven, where he died. He married Flarriet A. Blake, 
and their daughter, Ellen A., is Mrs. Almon J. 
Ives. 

JAMES ELTOX SMITH, one of the prom- 
inent farmer citizens of Xorth Haven, bears the hon- 
orable badge of having suffered for his country's 
liberty during the Civil war. His ancestors were 
sturdy Xew Englanders, the first of the line in 



.\merica, Thomas Smith, coming to these shores at 
an early day. lie came by way of P.oston to Xew 
Haven, where he was propounded for a freeman in 
i6txj, and was a proprietor in I'lS^. He evidently 
lived in that part of Xew Haven from whicli was 
created East Haven, where Dodd ( who writes of the 
early families- of East Haven I locates him and many 
of his [losterity. In i6()2 he married Elizal>elh. only 
daughter of Edward Patterson, one of the original 
settlers of Xew I laven. 

Thomas Smith, grandfather of James E.. was 
one of the well-known citizens of the Xortlieastern 
part of Xorth Haven, then called '"Smitlitown," he- 
cause of the number of inhabitants of that name 
living there, but now known as Clintonville. Thomas 
Smith married (second) Rosanna Hull, and to 
this union were born : b'benezer, who married Bede 
Bassett ; James, the father of our subject; Hiram, 
who luarried Polly Smith; Rosanna, who married 
David Doolittle; and Martha, wife of George 
Thorpe. 

James Smith was horn in Clintonville June 11, 
1805, and spent his youthful days in that locality. 
He was still a lad when he lost his father. .Select- 
ing the trade of a shoemaker as a lucrative one. 
-Mr. .'^mith bade fair to become an excellent work- 
man, but he accidentally thrust an awl into his eye 
antl was deprived of the sight of that member, later 
in life becoming totally blind. Being thus obliged 
to give up his trade, farming seemed the best occupa- 
tion open to liim, and he secured farm work in var- 
ious parts of his town and Wallingford. He finally 
settled down to agricultural work on the homestead 
in Xorth Haven, now occupied by his son, where he 
and his wife died, he in 1887. Mrs. Smith sur- 
vived to be ninety years and thirteen days old. dy- 
ing in May, 1897. Her maiden name was Emily 
Bassett, and she was a daughter of Jesse and Pa- 
tience (Blakeslee) Bassett. The children born to 
Air. and Mrs. Smith were: Sarah Lavinia. who 
married Marcus .-\. Alarks, of ^^'allingford (a sol- 
dier of the Civil war) ; Edward A., who married 
Hannah Maria Tucker; Willis L.. who married Me- 
lissa Way, and lived in Meriden ; James Elton; 
Emily .\.. wife of Isaac L. Doolittle, who resides 
with Air. .Smith (he served through the Civil war) ; 
Sanford B. (also a veteran of the Civil war), who 
married .Sarah Eovejoy ; Catherine A., who resides 
with her brother, ancl Charles B., who married, first, 
Mary Boyington (who died in 1888), and second 
Edith Church (who also died). 

James !■'. .Smith was born Aug. 8, 1835, in Wall- 
ingford, where his Ijoyhood days were spent, atid 
there he attended the district school, later going to 
work on a farm and earning what were then consid- 
ered good wages. He s]ient sixteen years in Wall- 
ingford. and four years in I'Ister county, X. Y. 
I'pon his return to Xew Haven he was employed by 
William Parmelee as a gardener, but the tenor of 
his whole life was changed by the Civil war. On 
Sei)t. 7, 1861, he became a member of Company E, 



444 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



/til Cunn. \'. J., under Capt. Charles Palmer, of 
W'insted, who (hed in the service. During the 
stormy days which followed, Mr. Smith accom- 
])anied his regiment through the battles of Port 
Ko\al, Johnson's Island, Fort Pulaski, James Island, 
Pocotaligo, St. John's ISIuft", I'"ort \Vagner, Fort 
Ciregg, F'ort Sumter. Periinida llimdred, Drury's 
lilurf, Deep Bottom and Deep Run. .\t the last 
named engagement, on August ifi. iSf)4, he was se- 
verely woimded in the leg. and fnr one and one- 
half years this gallant and faithful sohlier made 
his way on crutches, his right leg being yet so crip- 
])le(l that it is stiff, and his foot, ever so ready to 
f(jllow in the march, is crooked beyond help. He 
received his discharge for disability May 22, 1865. 
These things are written on the hearts of the 
yotniger generation and explain in part the respect 
accorded the American veteran soldiers. 

When able again to take u]) the duties of life, 
Mr. Smith returned to farm work, his aged father 
needing his assistance, and after the death of the 
father .Mr^ Smith took entire management of the es- 
tate. He holds a high position in the community, 
commanding the unqualified resiiect of all wh<:) know 
him. 

.\ stanch Repulilican in political views. Mr. .Smith 
has been active in local affairs, and has been called 
upon to serve in several important positions. He 
is a member of the board of relief, and during the 
administrations of Speakers Flarrison, Hall, Chase 
and Pine, in 1881-82-83-84, was doorkeeper of the 
Coimecticut House of Representatives. Socially he 
is connected with Admiral Foote Post, Xo. 17, G. 
A. R., of New Haven. He has long been a member 
of the Congregational Church of North Haven. 

S.V.MCl'lL .\. L1A\'1S is well known in Xew 
Haven business circles as the pro])rietor of an ex- 
cellent storage and transfer warehouse, the best 
and largest in the city. He was born in .Vauga- 
tnck, this comity, .\pril 4, i84fi. sou of Lucien F. 
Lewis, also a native of Xaugatuck. ,\sahel Lewis, 
liis grandfatluT, was a farmer, and died at the 
early age of thirty-five years, lie married Sarah 
Atkins, who lived \n be eigbty-imc \ ears old. and 
they had five children, all of whom are now de- 
ceased. 

Lucien F. Lewis, the father (if Samuel .\., was 
reared in Xaugatuck. wheri- be fullowed farming 
during the earlier \ears of his life, and be was en- 
gaged in brickmaking at Southington and Cheshire. 
He (lied at Soutbinglnii in 1878. lie married 
Susan Hitchcock, a native of .Soutbington, where 
her father, Sanniel llitehcock, was long a [irsjuii- 
nent farmer. .Mrs. Susan Lewis was onf cif a fam- 
ily of three children. To Mr. ;md .Mrs. Lewis 
came five cliildreii, four of whom are nnw li\ing: 
Henry D., who is in Xew Haven: Samuel .\.; l",d- 
ward M., a foundrymaii in .\nnislon, .\la. ; and 
F.lliot L., su])erinteiident of a wire mill al Trov, 
X. V. ]\rrs. Lewis died at the age of si.xl v-eight. 



Both paren.ts were members of the Congregational 
Church, in which he was a deacon, and they were 
active workers in both church and Sunday-school. 
Their children were reared in the faith of the 
church, and became members as they reached ma- 
ture years. 

Samuel A. Lewis spent his earlier years in 
Xaugatuck, and in 1853 accompanied his parents 
to West Haven, where the family resided until 
1862. l-Tom that year until 1868 he was engaged 
in the Cheshire brickmaking enterprise, in com- 
pany with his father. FTom the year last named 
he was in Southington with his father until 1872, 
when he bought out his father's interest, and ran 
the business alone until 1874. The ensuing year he 
was in the brick 'business at Xorth Haven, and then 
engaged in trucking at Xaugatuck until 1881, in 
which year he transferred himself to North Haven, 
and again carried on the manufacture of brick until 
1884. That year he came to Xew Haven and 
founded the business which he now carries on ; 
until 1890 he was also engaged in trucking. In 
i8y3 he finished his present warehouse in Olive 
street, a magnificent structure, having 102 feet 
front, 168 feet depth, and four stories in height, 
the entire space being devoted to storage. It is 
the largest building of the kind in the city, and 
the business created now gives employment to fif- 
teen men and twenty horses, and is constantly in- 
creasing. Mr. Lewis is noted as having the larg- 
est business of tlie kind 'in the State, incorporated 
as the S. A. Lewis Storage & Transfer Co., of 
which he is president. He has another warehouse, 
built in 1884, 55 by no feet, and two and one- 
half stories high, which is situated on Whalley 
avenue. There he did business until 1893, when 
he ])ut up a building in Olive street, antl in 1898 
erected anotlier, on Lirevvery street, 40 by 90 feet, 
and two stories in height. Mr. Lewis is well pre- 
jiared for every kind of work that belongs to 
trucking and storage. Mr. Lewis began life with- 
out capital, and b\- dint of his own energies has 
won a foremost position among the better class of 
business men in his city, and the foremost posi- 
tion of any man in his line, in either Xew Haven 
or Connecticut. He is a man of energy, and has a 
personal knowledge of every detail of the immense 
luisiness of which he is the head. Personally he 
is a modest, plain ni;in. eiijoving to an unusual 
extent the confidence (jf the best people of Xew 
llaven, who make uj) the major portion of his pa- 
trons. 

-Mr. Lewis was married in 1870 to Sarah J. 
Pardee, a native of Cheshire. aii<l a daughter of 
(leorge 1'. Pardee, a farmer of that town, who 
lived to be se\'enty-fivc. Louisa (Cook), his wife, 
was burn in Cheshire, of an old family. They had 
lour eliildren, three of whom are living: Sarah 
J., Mrs. Lewis: and Cjeorge anil (Georgia, twins, 
ihc former a resident of Cheshire, the latter the 
wife of lCdwar<I T. Hall, of (."hesbire. 





m 




i^^H 




^m^^ 





/^u^t^^ a.^.c^ 



COMMBMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



445 



Mr. L(.\vis i> a Republican, and belongs to ibe 
Congregatiunal Cburch. He is popular in tlie cit\-, 
and his friends regard him highly as a reliable anil 
trustworlliN- man. 

(Jl'.URCiF. C. FIELD, a prominent citizen of 
r.ranford, who has luiiletl the occupations of farm- 
ing and blacksmilhing in a long and honorable life, 
was born in Killingworih, Conn., March d, iH,Vi, 
son of Danford Clark and Lucretia (Griswold) 
]-"ield, natives of^Clinton and Killingworth, respec- 
tively. 

'i he father of our subject was reared in his native 
lilace. ami was a shoemaker by trade. .\t one time 
in his life he was a merchant. Locating in Bran- 
ford April I, 183O, he followed fanning there the 
balance of his life, dying Nov. 29, 1890, at the ven- 
erable age of eighty-five years. He had a numer- 
ous faiuily, of whom the following lived to maturity : 
Cynthia J., wdio married James S. Ludington ; John 
R., now deceased; Michael G., now deceased; 
George C. ; Chancellor W. ; Edmund L, who w'as 
killed at the battle of Aniietam. during the Civil 
war; David DeF., who is now deceased; Stillman 
K., now deceased; James R. ; \'iletta S. ; and LLar- 
riet M., who married Elmer I hirst. The paternal' 
grandfather of George C. Field, James E. Field, 
was a son of Samuel Field. The maternal grand- 
father of Mr. Field was Alichael LJriswold. Both 
these worthies were lifelong farmers, the former in 
Clinton, and the latter in Killingworth. 

George C. Field was reared in Branford, where 
he has always lived. Here he began his business 
career by serving an apprenticeship of three and a 
half years at the blacksmith trade, and he has also 
carried on farming in connection with the shop. 
Mr. Field was married, Aug. 27, 1863, to Sarah, a 
daughter of George L. and Matilda L. (Dowd) 
Dowd, of Madison. Mr. Field has been selectman 
of Branford, and in politics is a Democrat. 

REV. WATSOX LYMAX PHlLlTrS, D, D., 
pastor of the Church of tlie Redeemer. Xew Haven, 
was liorn in West Troy, X. V., Jan. 28, 1850, son of 
Rev. Jonas and Maria E. (Xims) Phillips. 

Rev. Jonas I'hillijjs was a native of Fishkill-on- 
the-FIudson, where many of the name still reside. 
Fie and his wife had four children ; Amia, now 
a resident of Ballston Spa, X. Y. ; Emma !•"., wdio 
died in 187 1 ; Watson Lyman, whose name intro- 
duces this sketch ; and Olin 1"., who died in early 
childhood. The father died in 1883, at the age of 
sixty-three, and the mother lived to the age of 
eighty. Rev. Jonas Phillips was a teacher in early 
life, and afterward entered the ministry of the 
Methodist Church, becoming a member of the Troy 
Conference. Fie was a thient speaker, rui effective 
lectiu'cr, a zealous temperance worker, and was 
also active in missionary work, serving as treasurer 
of the missionary .society of his conference. Mr. 
Phillips enjoyed great popularity \\liere\er he was 



known, and connnanded the highest respect of all 
with whom he came in contact, lie was a prominent 
member (if the Masonic Fraternity, in politics was 
an ardent Republican, and he was an unusually well 
informed man in many lines. 

Through his mother Dr. Pbilliiis is descended 
from (iodfrey Xims, one of the early settlers of 
Deerfield, .Mass., whose house was burned, some 
of his children killed, and others, with his wife, car- 
ried to Canada, at the time of the Deerfield massa- 
cre. 

Dr. Phillips obtained his early eilucaiion at ])ri- 
vate schools, at the Poultney (\ t.j .\cademy. and 
the h'ort Edward (X. Y.) Institute. Fie was gradu- 
ated from Wesleyan L'niversity. .Middletown, Coiui.. 
in 1872. and then took a partial course at the Theo- 
logical School of Boston University, in the spring 
of 1873 joining the Providence Annual Conference 
of the -Xlethodist Iilpiscopal Church. Flis first ])as- 
toratcs were in Massachusetts, where he preacheil 
successively in the churches at \\'est Duxbury. 
South Yarmouth, F'all River (the First Church I 
and Xew Bedford (the County Street Church). In 
1880 he was called to the pastorate of the Summer- 
field Church, I'rooklyn. X. Y.. and later to St. 
John's Church, in that city. In 1888 he became pas- 
tor of the First Church in Wilkesbarre, Pa., one 
of the largest and strongest churches in that ])art 
of the State. In i8<-)0 he accepted a call to the 
Church of the Redeemer ( Congregationalist ), Xew 
Haven, Conn., where he still remains. Dr. Phillips 
made the change of dt^nominations because of his 
fondness for the Congregational polity and for a 
settled pastorate, and because of the influence of 
Presbyterian blood inherited from his mother's fam- 
ily. The Church of the Redeemer is one of the 
most prominent churches of the State, and is dis- 
tinguished for its members' influence and liberalitv. 
The society conducts the Oak Street Mission, ne- 
cessitating the employment of an assistant pastor 
and a lady missionary. This energetic and active 
congregation conducts a reading room, clubs for 
boys and young men, a sewing school, mothers' 
meeting. Band of Hope, Penny .Savings Bank, sing- 
ing classes, kitchen garden and the usual Sunday- 
school and gospel services. 

Dr. Philli])s is well known as a lecturer and 
after-diiuier speaker. He is deeply interested in 
all movements toward good citizenship. In college 
he was a member of the Greek letter fraternities 
.'\lpha Delta Phi and Phi Beta Kappa. He received 
the degree of M. A. from Wesleyan University in 
course, and the clegree of D. D. in 1889 froni that 
institution and Dickinson College. ])r. Phillips is 
a F'rcemason, and was formerly chaplain of lodges 
in South ^'armouth and h'all River. Mass. lie 
is a meml)er of the ( iraduates Club and of the 
Congregational C'lub, both of Xew Haven, and 
served one year as ]iresitlent of the latter. Fie is a 
corporate member of the American Board and the 
Coiuiccticut Bible Society; is a director of the Con- 



446 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



grt'gational Home jMissionary Society, of the Con- 
necticut Missionary Society and the Organized 
Charities Association, New Haven; and has for 
many years been president of the New Haven City 
Missionary Association. His pohtical support is 
given to the RepubUcan party. 

On June 22, 1873, Dr. PhiUips was married to 
Ella Vernon Stetson, of East Pembroke, Mass., and 
children as follows have been born to this marriage : 
Arthur Vernon, Frank Lyman and Ruth Palmer. 
The eldest son received his literary education in the 
conmion and high schools, studied one year at the 
Yale Law School, and is now on the staff of the 
Ei'cniiig Leader. He married Miss Charlotte Pal- 
mer, of New Haven. Piank L. is attending Shef- 
field Scientific School, preparatory to taking up the 
study of medicine. The daughter is being educated 
at the National Park Seminary, Forest Glen, Mary- 
land. 

Mrs. Piiillips heartily co-operates in her hus- 
band's work, and is a manager of the Home for the 
Friendless, and of the Young Woman's Christian 
Association in New Haven. She is a member of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, and her 
family has a line record for services in the Revolu- 
tion. One of her ancestors. Cornet Robert Stetson, 
a resident of Scituate, Mass., was active in Colonial 
affairs in his locality and was a member of the 
First Company, Governor's Guard. He owned a 
large tract of land. Alexander Stetson, ]\Irs. Phill- 
ips' father, was born on the original tract in Scituate, 
and worked all his life as a mechanic and "box fit- 
ter." He died at the age of eighty-four, the mother 
at the age of seventy-three. They were identified 
with the Methodist Church. Mrs. Phillips is also 
descended from < low Thomas Prince, who served 
as governor of I'Kiiinuth Colony from 1634 to 
1638, and from \(>~,/ to iO()3, and assistant governor 
from 1635 to 1657. 

JOHN LLNFS. an ex-.soldier of the Civil war, 
and at present su])eriiUendeiit of the burner depart- 
ment for the Scnvill Manufacturing Co. at Water- 
bury, was born in that town, then known as Naug- 
atuck, Jan. 7. 1833. His father, Jose])h W. Lines, 
a farmer of Pethany, .\ew Haven county, was one 
of a large family nf children, several of whose 
names are still rememljrred, viz.: Lewis, Linas, Jos- 
eph \\'., .Xancy and Julia. ( itlu-rs went West, and 
their names are not now known. Lewis was a far- 
mer in Pethany, where his death took place; Linas 
went to Illinois when young, and was a farmer; 
Julia was married to a Mr. I'.onghton, and went 
West: Nancy first married a Mr. Sjierrw and later 
became the wife of John Gorham. 

Joseph W. Lines, father of our subject, was an 
axmaker liy trade and later became an adejit at the 
forge, at which he worked in Naugatuck, Spring 
Mills, N. J., l'"armington, Conn., and ricrliu, this 
State. At one time he was an overseer at the Con- 
cord, N. H., State prison. He married l.ydia Rits- 



sell, daughter of Enoch Russell, a sawmiller of 
Prospect, Conn., where her birth took place, and to 
this marriage were born four children: Henry; 
Jane ; one that died in infancy, uimained ; and John, 
the subject of this sketch, who is the only one that 
survived childhood. The father was first a Whig 
jKjliticallv, and later became a Republican. He 
passed the declining years of his life in Naugatuck. 

John Lines spent his boyhood in Waterbury, 
in New Jersey and at Farmington, Conn. At the 
proper age he was apprenticed to a machinist in 
Bristol, Conn., thoroughly learned the trade, fol- 
lowed it at New Haven for a time, and later with 
the Wheeler & W'ilson Manufacturing Co. at Wat- 
ertown. Conn. He also worked in Waterbury, and 
was there at the breaking out of the Civil war, when 
he enlisted in Company C, 14th C. \'. I. He was 
detailed as a musician, and served two' years and 
ten months. 

After returning to Waterbury from his army 
service Mr. Lines worked at his trade for various 
employers until 1873, when he was given the su- 
perintendency of a contract at Sing Sing, N. Y., 
which occupied his attention one year. Returning 
to Waterbury, he was employed there until 1881, 
when he was placed in charge of a contract at 
Cleveland, Ohio, which took another year of his 
time. On his return, in 1882, he accepted his pres- 
ent position with the Scovill ^Linufacturing Co., 
which he has filled with the utmost satisfaction to 
all concerned. 

In 1857 Mr. Lines married }iliss Sarah J. Neale, 
of Plainville, Conn., a daughter of Jeremiah Neale, 
a native of the town. This union has been graced 
with one child, Clarence W., who is in the employ 
of the Scovill Manufacturing Co. Mr. Lines is a 
stanch Republican in politics. He is a member of 
the Grand Army of the Republic, and also belongs 
to the Improved Order of Red 'Men. In religion he 
is a Baptist. He is universally respected in the 
community for his integrity and steady-going habit's. 

HERBERT BARNES belongs to an old and 
prominent Connecticut family, of which he is a 
most worthy descendant. The first member of the 
family in Connecticut was Thomas Barnes, who 
arrived from England in 1040, and located at East 
Haven, where he married. To this emigrant settler 
and ancestor, and his wife Elizabeth, was born a 
son, Thomas (2), whose birth occurred Aug. 26, 
I ('133. This son married Mary Hubbard, June 26, 
i'i75, aijd on her death wedded Abigail Frost. 

Thomas Barnes (3), son of Thomas (2), was 
born July 26, 1687, and married Mary Leek May 
18, 1709. 

Ca])t. Joshua P.arnes, son of Thomas, was born 
July II, 1722, and married Deborah Woodin Dec. 
26, 1745. He won his title in the Revolution, and 
died June 7, 171)0. She died in 1782. 

Deacon Joshua I'arnes. son of Capt. Joshua, was 
l)orn in 175'), and died .\ug. n. 1831;. A patriot of 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



447 



the war of the Revolution, he first enlisted in June, 
1776, in the company commanded by Capt. jacoi) 
Brockett. In 1779 he was a member of tlie "Alarm 
List." In 1797, 17<)8 and 1799 he represented his 
town in the General Assembly, and for fifteen 
years served as justice of the peace in North Ha- 
ven. In 1800 he was chosen a deacon in Dr. 
Trumbull's Church, and retained that position until 
his death, on Aug. 11, 1839. His name appears o-i 
the United States Tension Rolls of 1S32. Deacnn 
]5arnes was an extensive farmer in North Havc:n. 
where he was also engaged in stone dealing. In 
the community he exercised nnich inllucnce, and 
was highly esteemed for his many good (jualities. 
I-'eb. 15, 1781, he married Mercy Tultle. who died 
April I, 1828. They became the parents of six 
children: (i) Joshua, born in 1781, died Nov. 25, 
1886; (2) Frederick, born July 4, 1784; (3) Mary, 
born Aug. 16, 1787, died at the age of four months ; 
(4) Mary (2). torn Mav 30, 1789, was married 
in 181 1 to Andrew Pierpont. and died May 20, 
1840; (5) Rebecca, horn April 5, 1791. was mar- 
ried in 1818, to Eleazer Warner: (6) Ilyard, born 
in North Haven, Jan. 22, 1794. 

Deacon Byard Barnes, youngest child of Deacon 
Joshua and Mercy (Tuttle) Barnes, was a prom- 
inent man of godly spirit. During the first half of 
the century just closed he was one of the best 
known and most highly honored citizens of North 
Haven. Born near the close of the 18th century, 
he early walked before his fellow men with such 
sterling worth and manly piety that in 1824, when 
only thirty years of age, he was chosen a tleacon 
in the church, and sustained such relations until his 
death, Feb. 5, i86r, a period of thirty-seven years. 
A devoted Christian and high-minded gentleman, 
he died in the triumph of faith, leaving to his chil- 
dren the legacy of a good name, and the memory 
of a beautiful affection, and to all men the exani])le 
of an upright and just life. 

Deacon Byard Barnes remained at home until 
his marriage to Dede E. Gill, Nov. 6, 1811'). .Sdon 
after this he went to Ithaca, N. Y., where he was 
engaged in farming some two \cars, then returned 
to North Haven. A stone cutter by trade, he also 
worked at cabinetmaking and blacksmithing very 
successfully. Ijeconiing (|uite well-to-do. 1 le filled 
the office of justice of the peace for many years. 
I'y his first marriage he had tliree children : Au- 
gusta, born Aug. i, 1817; Dede G., born ()cl. i, 
1819; and Ellen A., born Feb. 15, 1822. Deacon 
Barnes was married (second) March 31, 1824, to 
Cleora Lindsey, by whom he had the following 
children: Andrew, born Feb. 3, 1825; I'yard, Dee. 
II, 1826; Celestia C, Aug. 10, 1828: Marcus L.. 
Dec. 10, 1830; Eli H., July 20, 1832: Herbert. I'cb. 
4, 1834; Stewart, Julv 16, 1856; and Fli Hcnrv (2), 
Jan. 17, 1838. 

Herbert Barnes, whose birth is noted in the 
above family, is one of the most important factors 
in the business life of Fair Haven, where his good 



sense, sterling honesty and manifest aliility have 
won him success and the confidence of the public. 
Mr. r.arnes has had but little assistance from 
friends or f(jrtime in climbing the heights to which 
he has attained. His enterprise, well-directed effort 
and grim determination to win out, along with deal- 
ings of the utmost honor, have contributed es- 
pecially toward his ])rosperily, and he lias arrived 
at a ])eriod where he can look back over the years 
and ccjngratulate himself tliat so nnich has been 
accomplished by his industry and character. 

Mr. r.arnes was reared in North Haven, where 
he attended the local schcwls, and remained at home 
with his ])arenls until his marriage, Jan. 28, 1858, 
to Miss Elizabeth S. Dickt'rman. To them have 
been l)orn two children ; Edward H. and Arthur 
D. Edward H. was born Nov. i, i860, and on 
June 20, 1883, married Lula R. Hemmingway. They 
have two children — Herbert, born fan. 8, 1884, and 
Harold H., born Aug. 28, 1886. Edward H. 
Barnes now takes his father's place in Strong, 
Barnes, Hart & Co., and has proved himself a busi- 
ness man. He has many fine traits of character, 
and is greatly respected among all his associates. 
(2) Arthur D., born Nov. 14, 1862, was married 
Oct. ir, 1899, to Anna May Stoner, and they have 
one child, Elizabeth Sylvia, born July 17, 1900. He 
is a manufacturer in rhiladel];>hia, being a member 
of the Murray, Barnes & Alurray Co., manufac- 
turers of chamois leather. He is very prosperous 
and a capable business man. 

Soon after his marriage Mr. Barnes located 
where he is found at the present time, and where 
he was successfully engaged in the wholesale 
butcher and stock business until 1872. That year 
he consolidated his business with that of Strong 
& Hart, of New Haven, under the firm name of 
Strong, Barnes, Hart & Co. They carry on a whole- 
sale meat and cold storage business, and do the 
most extensive business of any firm in New Ha- 
ven. In 1887 Mr. r.arnes became a heavy stock- 
holder in the Swift Packing Co., of Chicago, and 
holds a position in that organization as one of its di- 
rectors. He has ])ractically retired from active par- 
ticipation in business affairs, though his interest 
has in no way abated. 

Mr. Barnes is a meml)er of Ihe Congregational 
Church, of I'air Haven. Socially he is a Royal 
Arch Mason, having been associated with the fra- 
ternity for about forty years. 1 le is a Republican in 
politics. His i)leasant manner wins liim many 
friends, and he is one of the popular and honored 
citizens of his community. 

CHARLES AUGUST SCTTMELZER. one of 
the well-known and enterprising German-Ameri- 
cans of Meriden, was born at W'erdau, Saxony, Ger- 
many, May 26, 1841, and is a descendant of a long 
line of notable ancestors. 

Gottlieb Schmelzer. his grandfather, was a na- 
tive of the same town, which was the home of his 



448 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



family, and devoted his life to the manufacture 
of woolen goods. A very successful man, he left 
his family in good circumstances. 

Charles August Schmelzer, Sr., son of Gottlieb 
and father of Charles August, was also Liorn in 
Werdau and followed his fatiier's business. Ik- 
was very successful and died at the age of forty- 
five years. Johanna Wetzel, his wile, was burn 
in Werdau, the daughter of .\ugust Wetzel. She 
became the mother t>f ten cliiMren, tight of whom 
died while voung. ( Jf this family Charles August 
is the eldest, and the only survivor; ISruno died hi 
i8y7, in liis native town. .Mrs. .Schmelzer died in 
i8i;6 in her nati\e town. 

Charles August Schmelzer had a good educa- 
tion in his native town, and upon leaving school was 
sent by his parents to an adjoining town to learn the 
woolen manufacturing business, receiving only his 
board for his four years' services. Returning home 
on the death of his father, in comjiany with an uncle, 
he took charge of the manufacturing business, anil 
remained with him until he reached the age of 
twentv-two years. .\t that age he began business 
for himself. 'which he continued seven years, when 
he had to give it up, as the times had set in fatally 
against his trade. Resolved to retrieve his mis- 
fortunes, he brought his family to this country in 
1S71, landing in Xew York. He found employment 
■in the woolen mills, in Meriden, and remained 
there for si.x months. At the end of that time he 
worked in the screw factory of the Charles Parker 
Co., six months, and after an absence of several 
months in New York and Albany, came back to 
Aleriden in 1872, where he was again employed in 
the screw factory of the Parker Company, and then 
in the woolen mill. In 1879 the failure of the mill 
comi)elled him to take a position as shipping clerk, 
with the Malleable Iron Co., where he was busy for 
a period of nine years. 

In 1881) Mr. Schmelzer liought the coal and 
wood business which was owned by George C. 
Beadle, and this has been his vocation for the past 
twelve vears. In that time he has built u]) a very 
successful business. In i8()3 he bought the iJresent 
place, owned at that lime by Walter Hulibard, where 
he has siqierior accommodations. Here he has built 
a coal jxjcket of ten departments, holding 2,000 tons 
of coal, and made other improvements, which have 
cost him over $20,000. in 1873 Mr. Schmelzer 
started a news depot and stationery business, which 
has proved very successful. In 1886 he began an 
express business, which has greatly grown on his 
liaiifls. In 1807 he began llu- manufaciure of cigars, 
which he carries on both as a whoU-sale and retail 
enterprise: this has ])rovcd highly remunerative, 
and gives employment to a number oi men. Mr. 
Schmelzer has extensive real estate interests, and 
is a hustling and energetic business man. 

Mr. Schmelzer was married in Gcrmanv to 
Flora Schoen, a daughter of Gotllie!) Schoen, and a 
native of \\ erdau. To this union were born ten 



children, live of whom lived to maturity: Edmund, 
who is in business with his father; Oscar, who 
married a Miss ^Maloy, and died in 1899; Victor, in 
the drug business on I'^ast ]Main street ; Charles, who- 
lives in Germany with an uncle ; and Emma, who 
graduated from the high school, and also from the 
Voung Ladies' Institute at Hoboken, New Jersey. 
In 1875 Mr. Schmelzer secured the agency of 
the North German Lloyd & Hamburg S. S. Line, 
which he still holds. In local affairs he is some- 
what prominent, and for six years represented the 
i'iftli Ward in the eit_\- council. In politics he is a 
Democrat, but takes a very independent stand. In 
matters of education he takes a deep interest, and 
is one of the organizers of the German-American 
School. Mr. Schmelzer was one of the organizers 
of the Board of Trade, and his connection with it 
has been very prominent and highly useful. He 
has taken a broad view of the commercial interests 
of Meriden, and a letter of his dated Jan. 18, 1897, 
and addressed to the directors of the board, was 
replete with useful information and valuable sug- 
gestions. It was attended with much discussion, 
and produced valuable results. Socially he belongs 
to Teutonic Lodge, No. 95, I. C). O. F., the D. O. 
hi., and the Cosmopolitan Club. He also belongs 
to the Saengerbund, and was four },-ears treasurer of 
the Turnverein. The family attends Emanuel 
Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

DR. CAL\TX L. ELY, a retired dentist of 
IJranford, was born in Cheshire, New Haven Co., 
Conn., Nov. 7, 1828. a son of Calvin and Nancy 
Ely (Alford) Ely, both natives of Harwinton, Con- 
necticut. 

Jacob Ely, the grandfather of Calvin L., was 
born in Old Lyme, New London Co., Conn. He 
served in two different regiments during the war 
of the Revolution, holding rank as a sergeant, tak- 
ing part in the battle of Bunker Hill and in other 
important engagements. Five of his brothers,, 
John, Benjamin. Gad, Andrew and Seth, also took 
])art in the war, Andrew Ely being killed in a 
.skirmish at King's Bridge, New York. After the 
struggle, Jacob Ely settled in Harwinton, where 

i be carried on farming, and for twenty-eight years 
taught sehoiil in his own house. He dietl in 183O. 
lie was twice married, and his tirst wife, Tem- 

j perance Tiffany, bore him three children: Eli, 
.\;iron and Temperance (who married Samuel Os- 

1 borne). b'or Mis second wife he married I^is 
I'.eebe, daughter of David and Sarah (Lord) Bee- 
lie, of Lvme, and by this union had seven children: 
t'alvin. Clark, Setlu Benjamin, Gad, Seabury and 
Jacob. The faniilv were all well educated, and sev- 
cr.il members became well known in their various 
lines, .\aron was one of the comijilers of the orig- 
inal Webster's dictionary ; he was assisted by his 
brother Calvin, father of Dr. Calvin Ely. Gad Ely. 

J who died in rhiladeljihia in 1837, aged thirty- 
nine, was noted for his penmanship, of which our 




CALYIK L. ELY. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



449 



subject has several fine specimens; and he tau.q;ht 
ornamental penmanship in this country and Kii- 
ro])e. He was married, but left no children. Seth 
Ely was a composer of sacred music, ami he died 
unmarried at the age of forty. Benjamin Ely, 
who was a teacher of vocal music, died young. 
Clark Ely died in Pittsburg, I'enn., leaving one 
child, now Mrs. John Ck-tty, of Pittsburg. Sea- 
bury ICly died on Long Island, leaving a large 
family. 

The jjaternal great-grandmother of Dr. Ely was 
Dorcas (.\ndrevvs) Ely, a daughter of an old fam- 
ily. James Ely was the son of William, who was 
a son of William, who was a son of Richard I'-ly, 
the ancestor of the family in this country, who 
came from J'lymouth, England, in i6()0, and was 
among the first settlers of L)nie. Plis wife was 
a sister of Lord Eenw'ick. 

Calvin Ely, son of Jacob, and the father of 
Calvin L., was reared in llarwinton. He was a 
farmer and teacher in early life, teaching school in 
the States of New York and Pennsylvania. His 
last years were spent in Xangatuck, Conn., where 
he died in 1868. He left two children, Calvin L. 
and Ciriswold S., twins. Griswold S. went to 
California, where he died 'in 1896. 

Calvin L. Ely was reared and educated in 
Cheshire, Conn., and locating in Branford in 1849, 
began the study of dentistry in 1851. Three \ears 
later he opened an office for the practice of his 
profession in New Haven, where he continued un- 
til 1862, when he recruited Company B, 27th 
Conn. \'. L, and went to the front as its captain. 
He entered the service Aug. 19, 1862, and took 
part in many of the bloodiest battles of the war, 
particularly at Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. 
He was never wounded or captured. Mustered out 
July 28, 18(^3, he returned to the practice of his 
jjrofession in New Haven. Dr. Ely organized the 
first cornet band in the town of Branford, and was 
organist in the Baptist Church of that place for 
over twenty years. In 1890 he gave up active work, 
and is now living retired. 

On June 5, 1850, in the P.aptist Church of 
Branford, Dr. Ely married Sarah ]5eers, only 
child of Lester and Mary (Stedman) Beers. Her 
father died when forty-three years of age, and 
his widow afterwards married James Linsley. 
She died in 1900 at the advanced age of eighty- 
nine years, six months. Mrs. Ely comes from an 
old and noted family. James Lieers of .Xorth 
Guilford, was her grandfather, and his father, 
James Beers, of Middletown, was a son of James 
Ikcrs, of Stratford, both being soldiers in the Rev- 
olutionary war. Benjamin Stedman, father of 
Mary, named above, was born in Newbcrn, N. 
C, was a sea captain, and met his death at sea. 
Polly Linsley, his wife, was a daughter of Samuel 
Linsley, of Branford, whose wife was a Wheaton. 
Mrs. Ely's great-grandmother, Sila i'oote, was a 
native of Connecticut, and went to Newbern, X\ 

£9 



C, to teach school ; she was also a music teacher. 
There she married Benjamin Stedman, and their 
son Benjamin, previously mentioned, was the ma- 
ternal grandfather of Mrs. I'Hy. Rew Hopson, 
great-grandfatiier of .Mrs. h'.ly, was a sergeant in 
tilt Revolutionary war; his wife was Sarah Tib- 
bals, of Haddain. 

Dr. and Mrs. bTy ha\e foiu" children; (l) 
]• ranees Anna married lienjamin hi. Goodrich, 
owner of ilie Indian Xeck Hotel at Branford, and 
had one daughter, .Mabel KW (joodrich. .\fter his 
death, she became the wife of Charles K. (jorliam. 
(2) .Adrian (iriswold married Jilvira .\vcrill. and 
has three children : Esther E., John Calvin and 
Leila May. (Jne child, Adrain i'^enwick, died in. 
infancy. 13) Hatlie .\lford, a graduate of the 
Kranford High School, was a teaclier in the gram- 
mar school, teacher of music in several depart- 
ments, and .instructor of German in the High 
School ; she is now an official court stenographer 
in -Xew Haven, Conn., and is a notary [)ublic, and 
as such acts in many important hearings. (4) Lot- 
tie M. married Charles IJeers, and has four chil- 
dren living. Maud Peatrice. liazel Ely, .Maida Re- 
becca and Irma ICIizabeth. Two, Charles Harold 
and N'iolet. are deceased. On June 5, 1900. the 
DtKtor and his wife celebrated their golden wed- 
tling. .\I)out four hmidred guests were i)re.sent, 
and the occasion was a very enjoyable one. Dr. 
Ely is a memlier of the Widow's Son Lodge, Xo. 
C>(), 1'". & A. .M. He is of irreproachable habits, 
and is widely known as a man of the finest char- 
acter. The first commander of .Mason Rogers Post, 
•Xo. 7, (i. A. R., he has ever taken a deep interest in 
the prosperity of that order. In politics he is a 
stanch Republican. 

While abroad this summer. Miss Hattie Alford 
Ely visited Winchester, England, the ancestral home 
of the Ely famil}-, where the genealogy dates back 
to before the discovery of .America. One of the an- 
cestors, John ]-Ty, was Warden of the Palace of 
the liishops of Winchester in 1540. The office 
of Warden was one of great dignity and im- 
portance, ranking next to that digniitary, the 
Bisho]j. .V meml)er of tlie family who died recent- 
ly in England, in the town of ICly, was John Ely, 
Lord Bishoi) of the Diocese of Ely. 

TUTTLE. The Tuttle family, of whom the 
late Joel Tuttle. general merchant. Ciuilford. was 
an b():-ored member, is an old settled one in .Xew 
1 laven county. 

(1) William Tuttle. the first of that name in 
this country, emigrated with his wife Elizai)clh 
from iMigland in the "Planter," antl was among 
the earliest settlers on Stony creek, in East Haven, 
a);out the year 1635. .\t the time of sailing jiis age 
was given as twenty-six. He was a man of cour- 
age, enterprise, intelligence, |)robity and pietv, 
and was the e(|ual socially of any of the colonists. 
His wife died in 16S4. Wc have the following rec- 



45° 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ord i;>f his cliildrt-n : Thomas. Jonathan. Sarali, 
Josc])h, Simon and .XalhanieJ. ( )f tliese. 

(II) Josc'iili Tuttle, ha])tiz(.-(l in 1O40. in Xcw 
Idaveii, married, in 1667. Hannah .Munson. dau!;'h- 
Icr of CajJt. Thomas .Munson. Jost'ijii 'i'ntlle (Hed. 
in 1690. and his widow nmrricd .Xathan Hradley. 
He left tlie followinj;- children : Joseph, born 
-March 18, 1668 {mentioned belnw); Samuel, July 
J5, 1670; Stephen, .May 20, i')73: Joanna; Tim- 
othy, Se])teml)er, i67f): Susanna, l''eli. 20, 1679; 
I'lHzabeth, July u, 1083; llaiinali. .May. 16S3 (who 
(iied yountfl ; and llannah ( _M . 

(III) Joseph Tuttle married in .Milford. Conn., 
Xi)v. U), i(>(;i, l^lizabeth Sanfurd. and had chil- 
<lren : Joseph, born .\'o\-. 10. \(v)2. wlio eked in 
J761 (mentioned below); Xoah, born (_)ct. 12. 
J'«;4; Catherine: bdizalieth, .born Jtdy 27. 1705; 
and Thankful, linrn Sept. 3, 1701). 

( 1\') Josepii Tiutle was ca|)tain nf -a train-band 
ii; East Haven and was (|uartermaster of troops 
in the Second' Ke,!;imcnt in 1742. He was several 
times elected moderator, and was at various times 
school committeeman. He married Mercy Thomp- 
son, dau.^'hter of John and Mercy Thompson, of 
East Haven. She died in 1761, leaving- seven chil- 
dren : Joel, born ( )ct. 28, 1718, who is mentioned 



below; .Mar\, boi-n Dec. 2^ 



who married 



J((lin IIenn'n\\a\; .\nnc (or Anna) (i), l:)orn in 
1726; Mercy, born Sejjt. 17, 1730. who married, in 
1746. Abrahaiu Heniinway ; Comfort, born in 1732; 
Joscjih, l)orn in 1734: and Saiuuel, born in 1741. 
Jose]:)h Tuttle married (second) Mrs. Sarah Wash- 
burn, a widow, and by her had three children: 
Joseph, .\nne (or .\mia ) (2), and lieujamin. 

(V) Joel Tuttle married, in 1743. Rebecca 
Rowe, who was born in E.ast Haven in 1713, a 
(lau.sjhter of Matthew and Rebecca (j\lix) Rowe, 
and tiiey had e'i,t;ht children : Ste])hen, born in 
1744: Joel, horn in East Haven, Conn.. Aut;-. 21, 
I74'i: David, burn .Se])t. 2c). 1741): .\braham. born 
Xov. 17. 17.S0: .Mercy, born in .\])ril. 1752, who in 
1781 married Joshua Uarnes ; Rebecca, born Dec. 
-O. 1755. who in 1781 married Jose])h liracket: 
Christo])lKr, biM'u Sept. 26, 1759 : and Marv .\., 
born A])ril 1 1 , i7')4. 

( \T I Jiiel Tuttle, son n\ Joel, abuut the bei^in- 
iiin.s: of the Revolution moved to lluilford. He was 
twice married, on Jan. 6, 1774, to .\iuia Woodward, 
wlio was born in b'.ast Haven Xov. 30, 1749, dau!;'h- 
ter of John and .Mary Woodward. She died in 
October, I77,S. 'H <Iuiltord, without issue, and fur 
his second wife Joel TtUlle wedded, in Ciuilford, 
(.)ct. 15. 1778, IClizabetb l'"owler, a nati\e of Ciuil- 
ford. Thev had seven childn.'n : .Sarah, born |ul\' 
12, 1779; IClizabeth and .Anna (twins), March 11, 
1782: Rebecca, I'eh. 22, 1785; I'olly. Se])i. 6, 1787: 
Julia. June 8, 1790; and Joel, the (inly sun, a sketch 
of whom immediately follows. The father of these 
(lied Xov. 30. 1822, the mother, who belon.e:ed to 
one of (hiilford's oldest families, passing away 
Sept. 26, 1842, a,L;cd over ninety-one years. 



(\TI) Joel Tuttle. born m Guilford. May 8, 
1792, died May i, 1855. He received only a lim- 
ited common-school education in his native town, 
but in his later years was a great reader and dili- 
gent student, and became remarkably well edu- 
cated by his own efforts. He early showed an in- 
clination for business pursuits, and he was trained 
for mercantile trade, which he successfullv fol- 
lowed until 1850. His store was on Broad street, 
west of the new residence which he occupied as a 
homestead in the latter days of his life. He was 
very energetic and industrious, prospering in his 
affairs, and became one of the leading business men 
of his [jart of the country. The care of a farm also 
received his attention, and he was much interested 
in the construction of the Shore Line Railroad. 
He had a clear judgment and his integritv was un- 
sullied. Hence his advice on business matters was 
often sought, and many safely rested on his coun- 
sels. He manifested a warm interest in the affairs 
of the town, and his fellow townsmen showed their 
appreciation of his worth by electing him to various 
positions of honor and trust. He was a judge of 
the probate court, and served as a representative 
from Guilford in the State Legislature. Although 
not a member of any Christian church, he lived a 
life of the strictest morality, and was esteemed as 
a just and upright man. 

Joel Tuttle was married .April 2^. 185 1, to Lucy 
E., daughter of Isaac and Harriet Sage, of Crom- 
well, Conn., and two children came to them: Joel 
Edward, born March 8, 1852, died Aug. 29, same 
year. William Sage, born Dec. 28, 1853, died July 
2y, 1867. He was a youth of unusual promise, and 
his intellectual development was. for one of his 
\ears, unusual. His mother fitly jjerpetuated his 
memorv by .giving Olivet (Mich.) College a memor- 
ial library fund of $15,000. Mrs. Tuttle was a 
woman of many excellent qualities, and, like her 
husband, was much esteemed in this community. 
The Tuttle homestead is now occupied by her sis- 
ter. Miss Clarissa L Sage. 

.Sack. The Sage family, of which Miss Clar- 
issa I. Sage is a member, is an old and highly hon- 
(ir.ible one of Connecticut, and is of Welsh origin. 

( 1 ) David Sage, the first of the name in Con- 
necticut, was born in 1639 in Wales, at an early 
a.ge coming to .America, and about 1652 settling in 
.Middletown, Middlesex Co.. Conn., where he 
(jassed the rest of his days, dyin.g in 1703; his re- 
mains were interred in what is now known as River- 
side cemetery, where the stone marking his grave 
is still to be seen. In Eebruary. 1664. he married 
Elizabeth Kirby, dau.ghter of John Kirby, and by 
her had four children: David, born in i()65: John, 
!)!)rn in 1668, who married Hannah .St;irr: l",liza- 
beth, born in ]()7o; and .Marv, l.iorn in 1(172. In 
i(>7Ti David Sa.ge married for his second wife Mary 
Wilco.x, by whom he also had four children: 
Jonathan, born in 1074; Timothy, born in 1678; 
Nathaniel: and Marcv, born in 1680. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



451 



(II) Timothy Sage, horn in .Mi(klii,-ti)\\n in 
1678, was a landowner and farmer in CromweH, 
Middlesex couniy, dying there in 17^5. and the 
i;ravestone still marks his resting place in the old 
cemetery of that town. He married Margaret llul- 
Ijert. of Cromwell, and hy her had seven children: 
Samuel, horn in 1709; Timothy, horn in 1714. who 
married Mary Warner, and resided in L'roniwell : 
Mercy, horn in 1712: Mary, born in i7i(): David, 
born in 1718, who married Sarah Stockings, antl 
resided in I'ortland, Conn, (he was a deacon in the 
church) ; Solomon, born in 1720. who married 
Hannah Kirby (he was a deacon in the church) ; 
and Amos, born in 1722. Of these. 

(HI) Deacon Amos Sage was liorn in Crom- 
^vell, and spent his entire life there, dying in 1759. 
He married Rebecca Willcox. and they had a fam- 
ily of eight children: Amos, born in 1747. mar- 
ried Hilary Lewis, and resided in Cromwell; Will- 
iam was born in 1748: Hezekiah. born m 1750. re- 
sided in Salem, Mass.; Xathan, born in 1752. mar- 
ried Huldah Ranney, and resided in Cromwell ; 
Rebecca, born in 1754, married a -Mr. Riley; Elisha, 
born in 1755. married Martha Montague, and re- 
sided in Cromwell: Abigail, born in 1756. married 
xi Mr. Swift; Submit, born in 17S9. married a Mr. 
Willitts. 

(I\'j William Sage was born in 1748 in the 
town of Cromwell, and was there reared and edu- 
cated. Fired with patriotism at the outbreak of the 
Revolutionary war. he left family and business and 
cnlisteil in the army of patriots. As ca])tain lie 
participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, and was 
present at other places in this State when the citi- 
zens were called ujxjii to resist invasion by the 
enemy. He died in 1831. the community thert^jy 
losing a good, upright citizen, one of the most 
highly respected in the county. His remains rc- 
])ose in the old cemetery. William Sage married 
liathsheba HoUister, ami they had fourteen cliil- 
<lrcu : William, born in 1768. married Elizabeth 
Cook and resided in Middletown ; Betty, born in 
i/fy^, married C Butler: Josiah (known as "Colo- 
nel"), born in 1770, married Sarah Savage, and 
resided in Cromwell; tjeorge, born in 1772, mar- 
ried tiarriet Edwards and resided in Cromwell. 
Conn, (he died in 1808) ; Roswell, born in 1778. 
<Iicd young; Sally, born in 1780. married a Mr. 
Deming ; Levi, born in 1782, died young; Roswell, 
born in 1784, died young; Clarissa, l)orn in 1785, 
married J. liutler; Isaac, sketch of whom follows; 
Xathan was born in 1788; Orrin, liorn in 1791, 
(lied in 1875; Sophy, born in 1794, died aged fifty; 
and Susan, born in 1795, married a Mr. White. 

(V) Isaac Sage, father of the late Mrs. Joel 
Tuttle and 'Miss Clarissa I. Sage, of Ciuilford. was 
horn in 1786 in the town of Cromwell. .Middlesex 
Co., Conn., and received a liberal education. 
Learning the trade of carpenter and joiner, he fol- 
lowed same all his life, and in connection was a 
contractor and builder in both Middletown and 



Lromwell. lie was a very domestic and temperate 
man in his habits, for many years a deacon in the 
Congregational (,'hurcli of Cromwell, and was 
widely known and universally respected. 

In 1812 Isaac Sage married Harriet Sage, who. 
was born in 1791, a daughter of Lemuel and Lois 
( Savage ) Sage, and granddaughter of Lewis S. 
! and Deborah ( Raniey ) Sage, of Cromwell. To 
this union came eight children, all tlaughters : 
Lucy E., born in 1814. married Joel Tuttle. and 
both are now deceased. Harriet .Maria, born in 
1817. married .\iinis Merrill, an attorney at law of 
Boston, Mass.. and they reside in San h'raiicisco. 
Miss ISatlisheba. born in 1818, lives in Cromwell. 
Jane IC. married Rev. Edgar Doolittle. Marv .\nn 
died young. Miss Clarissa I., a lady of culture and 
refinement, most highly respected, has traveled 
over ])otli tile American and luiropean continents; 
she has a i)eautifiil home in (juilford. Alniira i3_ 
the deceased wife of Rev. William Corning. Ade- 
laide died in childhood. The mother of this fam- 
•ily was called from earth in 18O8. She was a mem- 
ber of the Congregational Church, and beloved by 
all who knew her. 

I'llKoDoRl-: 1). L. .MAX\ ILLE, for many 
years Clerk of the City Court and former Super- 
intendent of Charities of Ansonia. is one of the 
leading citizens of that place, and his biography 
will be read with more than ordinary interest. 

.Mr. .\lanville was born Jan. 13, 1843, '" Middle- 
bury, Xew Haven county, and is descended from 
good I'Tench Huguenot stock, the family in this 
country being traced to three brothers who came 
from i'Vance at an early day and settled in Con- 
necticut. Cri Manville, our subject's grandfather, 
was born in .Middlebury and jiassed his life there 
in agricultural jiursuits, his death occurring at the 
age of seventy-two. He was prominent in local 
affairs, holding various townshij) offices, and was 
extremely ]iopular in the community, being fainil- 
\ ir.rlv called "L'licle Cri" by young and old. His 
; wife, lietsev Strong, a native of Southbury, died 
' when eighty years of age. Both were connected 
with the Congregational Church. Their family 
consisted of two daughters and five sons. iu)iie of 
j whom are now living. 

i William Manville, our sulijecl's father, was 
■ l)orn in .Middlebury, and during his active years 
followed the carpenter's trade there and at Wood- 
bridge. He died at the age of forty-two years, and 
i was buried at Miildlebury. His wife. Maria C. 
Lord, was born in Woodbridge, the daughter of 
Ransom and Chloe Lord. She survived him : mar- 
ried for her second husband 1 lenry Richardson, a 
, resident of Woodbridge. and died aged seventy- 
four vears. Throughout her life she was a consist- 
ent member of the Congregational Church in 
Woodbridge. She had six children by her lirst 
m.irriage and one by her second, and four of the 
former are now living: (i ) Cri D. is a dealer in 



452 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



sewing inacliincs and ])iaiii)s in Xew Haven. (2) 
Harvey W. is snpcrintciuk-nt of the yard work at 
the Fa'rrell l-'otnidry and .Machine Co., in Ansonia. 

(3) Theodore D. 1.'. was next in the order of birth. 

(4) Albert !'., a commercial traveler, resides in 
New Haven, jane .\., a danKhier by her second 
marriage, married I'.dgar C. Squire:-, and resides in 
]''air Haven, (.'oiniecticut. 

Theodore 1). 1.. .Manville'.- boyhnod was spent 
in Middleburv, and a- he was l)nt si.K years old 
when his father died, he made his home wuh his 
grandfather. Tri .Manville. lie received a com- 
mon-school edncation. and when he was twentv- 
onc years of age entered the emi)loy of the Ameri- 
can Fish Hook and .\eedle fo., of .\'ew Haven, re- 
maining with them two \ear>. He then removed 
to M'id'dlebnry, (.'onn., and for the next tixe years 
he worked ina woolen factory there, owned by his 
father-in-law. < in removing to Ansonia, in 1870, 
he engaged in business as a shoe dealer, and two 
years later took a position in the case department 
of the .\nsonia Clock Co.. was there some two 
years, and was then with the l-'arrell Foundry and 
Machine Co., in the wheat roll ilepartment. under 
Charles Moore, then su])erintendent. until 1893. 
In the latter vear he was appointed Superintendent 
of Charities, but a change of administration caused 
his retirement in l)ecemi)er, i8()5. On Jan. I, 1896, 
lie was apixiinted Clerk of the Citv Court for one 
year, and' in |ulv, iSijj. he was again appointed to 
serve until jtdy.' \Xnn. He still holds the position 
by appointmeiU. In December, 1897, Mr. iMan- 
ville was re-appointed Superintendent of Charities, 
and was retained in that incumbency until Jan. i, 
1900, discharging the duties with marked efficiency, 
tile books ;uiil accounts being kept by him person- 
ally. In .\ovember. iijoo, he was elected a member 
of 'the Lower House of the State Legislature, and 
was chairman of the Committee on Labor. He 
affiliates with the Ueiuiblican party, and has always 
l)een active in politics, serving as chairman of ward 
committee, member of town committee, registrar of 
voters, and in nilur offices. 

(_)n ( )ct. II. iSh4, .Mr. .Manville married Miss 
Sarah ]'-. Dews, a native of luigland, and daughter 
of (ieorge and Ann Dews. She died aged twenty- 
six years, and he l.-iter marned .Miss F.lla J. W'cmil- 
in, of Chelsea, Mich., who was born in .Seymour, 
Conn., daughter of .\iier !•". Woodin, a carpenter: 
the latter married Delight I'.ronson, a sister of Dea- 
con Oriii 11. I'.ronson. a leading lumber dealer of 
Waterbury. I'.y his lirst marriage our subject had 
tv.'o sons: ( 1 ) t li.arK's 11., who has been for some 
years employed as an electrician with tlu' Rubber 
Cilove Co.. of .\'ang:Uiti-k. married .Margaret 
Lasher, and h;is two chililieii, Flciiior .M; and 
Charles Theodore. (J) b'.dwiii .\., superintendent 
of the .Ansonia F.lectric.al t'o.. married Miss Hat- 
tie S. Judsoii, and has two daughters, label Mav 
and l'".lizabetb. \\\ the second marria.ge our suliject 
has two children : Miss Sadie F., a talented \-(nr,ig 



lady, who is assistant cit}' clerk ; and A. Theodora, 
a pupil in the high school. The family is actively 
ir.terested in the work of the Methodist Church and 
.Sniidax-school. Mr. Manville is also prominent in 
\arious fratern;U orders, notably the L O. O. F., 
belonging to Xangaluek Lodge, No. 63, with wdiich 
he united .\l;ircli iS. 1874, and to Hope Encamp- 
iiieiit. .\o. jO; he has (jassed the chairs in both the 
^ocieties. lie also passed the chairs of the Grand 
Fincampment of the State, having been Grand 
i'atriarch in 1893-1)4, and was sent as a representa- 
tive at .Atlantic City, X. J., to the Sovereign Grand 
Lodge, in 181)5. ;iiid in 1896 to Dallas, Texas. In 
i8ij8 he \isited the iJoston session of the Sovereign 
(irand Lodge. In 1899 the fiftieth anniversary of 
the lodge was celebrated, IMr. Manville being one 
of the oldest members present. He also holds 
membership in S^dvan Lodge, No. 5, Daughters of 
Rebekah, at .SeMuour. Air. ■Manville has passed 
the chairs in I'Tiendship Lodge, Xo. 34, -\. ( >. I . 
\\'.. of which he was a charter memiber, and in the 
( Inler of Red Men, at Ansonia, being past sachem 
of Wepawong Trifle. Xo. 7 (since dissolved). He 
helped to organize the Ancient Essenic Order in 
.\nsonia some \ears ago. but it has also been di-- 



ril()M.AS FLAIES (deceased) was for many 
years identified with the commercial and municipal 
growth and prosperity of Derby, of which city his 
widow is still an esteemed resident. His father, who 
was also named Thomas, was one of three brothers 
— the others being Abner and Lazelle — who emi- 
grated from Old to Xew England. Thomas Flmes, 
Sr., married Lydia Coles, and shortly after their 
union the young pair took up their residence in 
Philadelphia. They were the parents of ten chil- 
dren: Lydia, Phoebe, Maria, Thomas, Mar\-, .An- 
gelina, David B., Henry M., Fannie and an uii- 
christened infant. Of this numerous progeny only 
one daughter Fannie, is yet living, residing in Phila- 
delphia. Phoebe died there recently. 

Thomas Elmes was born in that city .Aug. 23, 
1818. Flis school days over, he became associated 
with his father, then a dealer in hats, caps and furs, 
and at the age of twenty-seven left the city of his 
birth to become a resident and merchant of Quincy, 
111. Previotis tf) that emigration, however, on June 
19, 1839, lie had married Lucy R. Atwatcr, concern- 
ing whose ancestry more will be said in a succeeding" 
]jaragraph. llis wife accompanied him to Illinois, 
but their Western experience was not of a sort to 
induce them to make their permanent home in the 
"Prairie Slate,", and in 1848 lliey relnnied East, 
finally taking a residence in liirniingham. Conn., 
where Mr. hdnies died, Nov. 15, 1880. Even in 
boyhood he disi)layed mechanical ability of no com- 
mon order and on his settling in llirmingham was 
made su]ieriiitendent of the liirmingham Iron and 
Steel Works, in which his father-in-l;iw, Air. Charles 
.At water, was a large stock holder. He continued' 




X 



(TTixevJ 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



453 



to discharge the ar'thious duties of this responsible 
position witii marked ability and fulelity until 187O, 
when failing healtli compelled him to retire to i)ri- 
vate life. 

Mr. Elmes was a stanch Democrat, and stood 
high in the councils of his party. For many years 
Jie was an influential member of the State Central 
Committee. In 1871-72 he represented the l'"ifth 
District in the State Senate, and in 1875-76 was the 
chosen delegate from Derby to the Lower House. 
In both jiositions he brought to bear upon the dis- 
charge of his official duties native shrewdness ami 
well developed executive ability. In 1876 he was a 
delegate, from the New Haven district, to the Na- 
tional Convention which nominated Tilden and Hcn- 
•dricks. From what has been sai<l, Mr. Elmes' pop- 
ularity may be inferred. It may be said to liave 
been attributable to his unfailing courtesy, his faith- 
fulness as a friend, and his worth as a man. His 
death was deeply mourned by citizens of Derby, 
without distinction of political or religious creed. 
He was a Mason of high degree, a Knight Templar 
and an Odd Fellow, being a member of King Hiram 
Lodge, of Birmingham, the New Haven Command- 
ery, and Housatonic Lodge, I. O. O. F. 

Mrs. Elmes can trace her English ancestry back 
to the days of Charlemagne. Her maiden name, 
Atwater, is a corruption, through Attwater, from 
•Outwater. She is the great-great-great-grand- 
daughter of David Atwater, who was born in Eng- 
land in 1O15. From him the li)ie of descent runs 
through Ebenezcr. James' and Timothy to Charles, 
^Irs. Elmes' father. Timothy .Atwater, her grand- 
father, was born in 1749, and was the owner of a 
large farm, which is now the site of a very consider- 
able portion of the city of New Haven, including 
York Square. He was a gentleman-farmer, fond of 
"books, and a man of ability and education. He 
■died in 1824. He married Susan Macomber, ;i 
lady of .Scotch descent, who was according to extant 
tradition, the greatest beauty in New Haven. Nine 
■children were bom to them of whom Charles, Mrs. 
Elmes' father, was the seventh. The others, in the 
■order of their birth, were Susan, Sarah, Harriet, 
Julia, Jeanette, James, Robert and Flenry. 

Charles Atwater was born in New Haven, where 
after reaching manhood, he engaged in the dry- 
goods business with Joel Root, his father-in-law, in 
Avhich he continued for nearl\- eighteen years. He 
was eminently successful, and little by little became 
interested in banking in both New Haven and New 
York, and was made president of the Mechanics' 
Bank of the latter city. He was also the founder 
of the Birmingham Iron and .Steel Works of Derby, 
investing about $300,000 in the ])lant, and acting as 
president and manager of the company from the 
time of its organization until his deatli. He owed 
his influence not so nuich to his wealth as to his gen- 
•eroits nature and his moral worth. In politics he 
was first a Whig and afterward a Republican ; his 
religious belief was that of the Congregational 



Church, of which be was a devoted member and to 
which he was a liberal contribiUor. He married 
Miss Lucy Root, who was born in .Southington, 
Comi., a daughter of Joel RchH, who tracetl his line- 
! age back, through five generations, to John Root, 
j who was born in 1608. A distinctively martial s])irit 
I has characterized the family since their emigration 
front England, which was chiefly due to a refusal to 
serve in the army of "Old Ironsides." Stephen, the 
son of John Root, the American progenitor of the 
family, was a man of extraordinary stature and 
l)hcnomenal physical strength. He stood six feet 
si.K inches in his stockings. In athletic sports — 
wrestling, bo.xing and running — he was especially 
expert, freiiuently "outclassing"' the lleetest Indian 
ruiuiers. Timothy, Stephen's son, was the great- 
great-grandfather of Mrs. Elmes' mother. Timothy 
( born in ifxSi ) was the .son of Ste])hen and father of 
Jonathan. The next Root in the descending line 
was Elisha, the maternal great-grandfather of Mrs. 
Elmes, he was a soldier in the Revolutionary army, 
and was stationed in New York, dying at East 
Chester, on his way home. Joel Root, the maternal 
grandfather of Mrs. Elmes followed a sea-faring 
life in his youth, but later became a dry-goods mer- 
chant. He was originally a resident of Southing- 
ton, but subsequently removed to New Haven. Mrs. 
Elmes, as has been said, survives her husband and 
is esteemed in Derby for those traits which, when 
happily combined, go to make up the estimable 
woman and valued citizen. 

WILLI.\M D.XGGETT i;k\AX was in his 
day a well-known merchant tailor and prominent 
citizen of .\"ew Haven, where his widow still re- 
sides, at No. iy8 CrowMi street. 

Mr. Bryan was born May 13, 1819, in New 
1 laven, son of Oliver Bryan and grandson of .Major 
( )liver Bryan, who died in Milford, this county. 
(Miver llryan, father of our subject, was born in 
Milford, and, coming to New Haven, engaged in 
the merchant tailoring business, which he followed 
until his death, at the age of sixty-nine years. 1 ie 
prospered, and did mtich toward the improvement 
of his section of the city, erecting several houses, 
among them the one in wlvich the widow of his son 
William 1). nnw resides, which was built about 
1840. 1 ie also put up the buildings at Nos. 200-202^ 
and No. 210 Crown street, and that at .Vos. 194- 
196, occupied bv the Young Men's Rei)ublican 
Club. Oliver IJryan married I'hoebe (.jorhani. a 
nativc'of New Haven, who died at the age of sixty- 
seven years, and six children blessed their union,^ 
only two of whom, Oliver and .Stephen C.. sur- 
vive. The former is a real-estate broker in New 
"S'ork t'ity, where he resides. .Stephen C,. is a com- 
mercial traveler, with office in Boston. .Another 
one of the sons, Benjamin .Sherman l!ryan. went 
to California with the "forty-niners." and remained 
in the Stale a numijer of years, kee])ing a hotel. 
He returned b^ast, and died in Sa\brook, Conn,, at 



454 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



llie age of fifty. ( )n Xnv. iC), 1868. he married 
J\lis.s .\[. Louise Hayden, a native of Kssex, Conn., 
and they had one son, OUver, now making his 
lionie in \cw \'ork City, wlio married Bess'ie Ida 
(iitt. of .\e\v ( ).\ford, I'enn. Mrs. AI. Louise 
(llayden) i'.ryan resides with llie widow of her 
Inishand's lirotiier William. .Mrs. .Mary -M. Jiryan, 
in the city of Xew ilaven. 

W'ilham 1). iSrvaii learned the merehant tailor- 
ing liiisiness with his father, and after the latter's 
death carried on the estahlishment successfully on 
his own accouiu until his death, which occurred 
June 1, 1SS4. .\lr. l!r\an was a man of the strict- 
est integrit\ in all his transactions, esteemed wher- 
ever he went, and socially was one of the most 
genial ami ci mipanionahle of men, winning numer- 
ous friends li\ his amiahle disposition and engaging 
maimers. He was .a member of the Uuinnipiac 
Cluh, the Xew 1 la\en ( irays, Connecticut \olmi- 
teer Militia, llie J. ( ). tJ. I'", and the Masonic fra- 
ternit\-, 'in which lailei- he reacheil the thirty-sec- 
ond (legre.e, at'liliating with W'uoster Lodge, I'. & 
A. -M., the Council, Chapter and C'ommander}-. 
J lis political sujiport was given to the Repul)lican 
]jarl\, and he was a stanch friend <.if (iov. Fluglish, 
.Mr. Hrxau \\;i.^ a inemher nf the h'-jiiscojial Church, 
attending first at .St. Thomas, later at Trinity. 

( )n .Srpt. I. 1S3J. .\lr. I'.ryan was united in mar- 
riage with .Mary .Miles Uniwu. a native of Xew 
Haven, who survives him. All the children Ijorn 
ot this miiiin are deceased. 

jaciT i'.riiwu, father of Mr>. I'.rvan, was liorn 
in .\ew Ihueii, sun of Waller I'.rown, a sea ca|)- 
lain, who made his home in that city. Jacob Brown 
carried on a grocery store in Chajiel street until his 
death, at the early age of thirty-three years. He 
married Henrietta .Miles, also a native of Xew Ha- 
ven, and three children were born In them, of 
whom .Mary .Miles, .Mrs. I'.rxan, is the onlv sur- 
vivor. The others were Henrietta and Sarah. 
■Mrs. llrowii died at the .age of thirtw Her father, 
Capt. John .Miles, served in the l\e\i)lutionarv war, 
and lived to the age of eighty-one. By calling he 
was a sea cajnaiii, and his vessel was once captured 
by the l*'reiich, and .Mrs. I'.ryan's claim against the 
]''reiich (ijivernment is on file in Washington. 

-S.V.MChlL 1'. CU.\ I'I'S, president of the Ouiu- 
ni])iac P.rick Co., and a member of the Chamber of 
Commerce of Xew Haven, has led an interestin.g 
career. Though his life has been a busy and use- 
ful 01U-, il has been diversified by travel and con- 
tact with people of every condition, and until the 
I'ast few \ears lu' has been engaged in business 
enterprises demanding constant activitv in their 
.supervision. 

The family from which Mr. Crafts springs is 
one of the oldest in CMniKH'ticut, the first nf his line 
coining to .America in if).^n. lulward Crafts, hi;- 
.grandfather, a native of I'onifrel, Conn., settled in 
Derby, this State, wdiere he followed the medical 
profession unlil his death, which was caused by a 



fall from a horse. He had quite a numerous fam- 
ii\-, of whom Gen. Chauncey Crafts, father of Sam- 
uel P., w-as liorn in Derby, where he was reared. 
During his early manhood he clerked in a store, 
but for the greater part of his entire life he wa.s en- 
gaged as a manufacturer in Woodbury, Conn., 
turning (.ait horse-power machinery, which he also 
invented. He died in Woodlniry, at the compara- 
tivel\- earlv age of fiirtx-one. Chauncey Crafts 
married .Miss .Maria Bacon, a native of Woodbury, 
and nine children were born to them. But two of 
this family survive: Samuel P., whose name opens^ 
this sketch ; and Fanny, widow of Gen. Charnly. 
.Mrs. Crafts passed away at the age of si.xty-five 
years. In religion she and Mr. Crafts were mem- 
iiers i)f the .\orth Church c.f Woodlniry. He took 
a deej) interest in militarv matters, and was a liriga- 
ilier general of the Connecticut militia. 

.Samuel P. Crafts was born Jan. 30, 1824, in 
Woodbury, where he passed his earlier years, re- 
ceiving a thorough education in the common and 
S'clect schools. Before going to sea he spent eight- 
een months in Bridgeport, this State, in the harness 
business.- He was not many years a mariner before 
he rose to the position of master, and he sold his 
ship to enter the navy, being in that service as act- 
ing ensign during the Civil war. Incidental to 
his share in the capture of Fort I'^isher is men- 
tioned his ]3romise to meet Gen. Terry inside the 
tort, which he kept. He was recommended for 
promotion to acting first jiiaster and later for the 
rank of lieutenant. 

.Mr. Crafts went to California in 1841), and had 
h'is share in the exciting experiences of those law- 
le.ss times. He was a member of the vigilance 
committee, and witnessed the hanging of three men. 
two of whom were buried in the grave they had 
prepared for their murdered \ictim, a Capt. Snow, 
of Xaiitueket. In 1855 our subject was in Xor- 
folk, \'a.. where hundreds were dying of yellow 
ICN'er, and he was in Barliadoes during the terrible 
rage of cholera, where there was an average of 350 
deaths per day. Fie has traveled extensively all 
ever the country. 

.\fter his discharge from the navy iMr. Crafts 
went to Liver])ool. wdiere he took charge of a hark 
lor ITiiik iSr Meincke, ami made a few European 
voyages. He continued to de\ote himself to vari- 
ous matters up to iSjj, in which year was or- 
ganized the Ouinnipiac Brick Co., and he was 
elected president thereof. He has continued to hokl 
that ])osition to the present, and its duties receive 
the same faithful and effective attention which has 
characterized all our subject's undertakings. In 
|S()5 Air. (.'rafts niowd from llam<len to .Xew Ha- 
ven, wberi' he still m.-ikes his home. He was not 
long in establishing himself in the esteem of his 
new luighbors and fellow citizens, for in 1896 he 
was elected selectman in .Xew Haven, and filled 
that oflice to the satisfaction of all concerned. Our 
subject .gives his political allegiance lo the Rei)ub- 
licaii partv, and has long lieen a member of the 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



455 



"^"oiniij Men's l\c])iil)lican L'lul). Socially he holds 
iiienihcrslii]) in the Loyal Legion and in Admiral 
Loote I'ost, Xo. II, (i. A. R. He was commander 
of (iideon Welles Xaval X'eterans. 

In iS5(> Mr. Crafts was united in marriajje to 
Miss Sarah A. Thomson, who was born in Xew 
Haven, daughter of Isaac Thomson, a mason 
builder, who ])ui nj) many of the college buildings 
in the CUV, as well as llie large insurance build- 
ings. He was a mcmlx'r of the firm of Thomson. 
Sperry & Smith. Mr. Tluimsim died in iSjf). ( )f 
his four daughters three are yet living, Mrs. Crafts, 
Mrs. Macon (in C'alifornia) and Mrs. Hurt (in 
Cincinnati ). 

HI'.XRV K1RK1-. W IllTK. For a quarter of 
a ccntiirv the name of White has been jjromineni 
in the business and social circles of Meriden. where 
have resided Henry Kirke White and his sons 
James Henry. Kdward 11. and Howard, all of 
whom 'have l)een identified with the extensive in- 
terests of tiie Wilco.K & White Co., whose products 
liave gone to the ends of tlie civilized world and 
brought fa<iie to the name of White and to the city 
of ^lericlen. 

Henrv Kirke White was born in llollon. Conn.. 
Feb. 7. 1822, and comes from an ancestry on both 
sides reaching back to the early Colonial period of 
Connecticut, one of his forebears bein.g a member 
of the party led by Rev. John Warham, who came 
trom England to these shores in the ship "Mary 
and John" in 1O30, landing at Xantasket. ■ Mass. 
Henrv Kirke \Miite was reared on a farm, but. pos- 
sessing musical tastes and genius, he soon found 
a new and broader field for the exercise of his tal- 
ents. While yet in his "teens" he was a conspicu- 
ous figure in the singling schools of his locality, 
as a teacher and musical director, and he soon be- 
came known throughout the State. In 1841 he 
mastered the art of tuning musical instruments. 
and was engaged in that capacity until 1845 in the 
West and .Xorthwest. Returning to Connecticut, 
he began the manufacture of musical instruments 
at Colchester for Dennison Smith. Two years 
later, in 1847, he begiui on bis own account the 
making of melodeons in Xew London. Conn., mov- 
ing his business in 1853 to Washington. X. J., 
where he remained until the great panic of 1857 
and the subse(|uent outbreak of the Civil war ren- 
dered it unadvisable to continue in business, bor 
several vears lie was mainly occupied in piano 
tuning in Philadelphia, and in 1865 took charge of 
the tuning and action department of the l^stey Or- 
gan Works at I'.raltleboro, \'t., where he and his 
several sons soon obtained hig'h positions. In 1876 
and the followin.g year Mr. White and his sons, 
through their tact and energy, interested several 
citizens of Merid.en. among them the late Horace 
Wilcox, in the establishment of a factory for the 
n;anufacture of musical instruments, and these 
efforts resulted in the organization of the Wilcox 



& While Organ Co. To this concern there was a 
guarantee of success in the ver\ beginning of its 
eti'orts. in the jierson of Mr. White. A man of 
genius and energ)-, of high liouur and most un- 
swerving integrity, with long years of experience 
in business and manufacturing, not a little of the 
great success and the achievements of the company 
m the last twenty-five years is due to llenry Kirke 
While. He enjoys the distinction of being one of 
the oldest makers of reed instruments now living, 
and can look back over an experience of more than 
fifty years in this line, with a just pride in the 
achievements credited to his genius ami labors. 

The Wilcox & White Co. is. to-day, foremost 
among the manufacturers of musical instruments 
in all the world. The great effects jjroduced by 
their instruments have won for them the hearty 
welcome into the homes of all the civilized coun- 
tries of the globe. The Wilcox & White organ is 
one of the most celebrated of reed instruments. 
To the builder of these was given use of the best 
old features and the new ones of the organ. The 
principal inventions of the company are the "Pneu- 
matic Symphony." or self-playing organ, and the 
".Vngelus" Piano Player. The former has the fea- 
tures of an ordinary organ, and can be i)laye(l as 
such, while the latter can play an\- piano; they are 
al.so supj)lied with mechanism whereby jjerforated 
]>aper is made the medium for automatic playing. 
With this ]ierforaled paj^er. and the use of the ])ed- 
als and stojis as in ordinary playing, the most in- 
tricate and beautiful music can be produced with- 
out touching the fingers to the keys. This com- 
pany, in which the Whites figure conspicuously, is 
one of the leading industries of the great and fa- 
mous center of manufactories. Meriden, and gives 
cmplovmcnt to over 300 people. L'nder the admin- 
istration of James H. White the business of the 
company was very largely increased, and an addi- 
tional brick factory, four stories high, and 250 by 
40 feet on the ground, was erected for the manu- 
facture of the ".\ngelus." This is the invention of 
Edward 1 1. White, and is the first instrument ever 
manufactured for automatic piano ])laying. 

Henry Ivirke W'hite has been called by his fcl- 
IcAv citizens to a number of public offices, and in the 
discharge of their duties has conscientiously and 
faithfully used his time and best eft'oris. He has 
served as alderman from the I'ifth ward, and for 
a ])eriod was Mayor [to tciij^orc of Meriden. I'or 
many years in succession he was first commitlee- 
nian of his school district, and both as a citizen and 
as a man he has held the full confidence of the com- 
munity in which he has lived so long. 

.Mr. White was married Sept. 2. i84(). to Lticy 
Cornwell, who was born Jan. 2. 1825. a dau.ghter of 
William and Julia (Robert) Cornwell, of Middle- 
town, Conn. She died Feb. 18. 18(17. and Mr. 
While then was married to Mrs. I'.etsey Herrick. 
, who was born July 12. 1840. a daughter of Uenja- 
min Stickne\-, of Dummerston, \'t. The children. 



456 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



all honi of the first iiiarriai;c, were: James Henry, 
Frank, Edward Jl.. Howard and Julia Cornwell, 
the last named now the wife of Silas Donavan, of 
Meriden. Fraternally, -Mr. White is a .Mason <it 
Knight Templar degree, and is highly respected in 
the craft. He is now retired from active business on 
account of a paralytic stroke, which deprived him 
of the use of his Hmhs. ile is a well-read man, 
with a clear mind, and is noted as a genial gentle- 
man and a brilliant conversationalist. .Although he 
was greatly broken ddwii by the ileath of his two 
sons,"j'ldwanl H. and Howard, he is cheered by the 
near jiresence of all ihe sur\i\ing members of the 
family. 

J.\.MKS Hj;.\k\- Will 1 1., sun of J lenry Kirke 
White, and fcir years the proident and treasurer of 
the W'ilco.x & White t "., is a native of Connecticut, 
born at Westfield, Sept. jO. 1847. Jlis education 
was received at Snmerville. Washington and P'hil- 
lipsburg. in llie Stale of New Jersey, whither his 
father reiiKiveil. The family later removed to Phil- 
adeli)hia, and there James II. White began his 
business career as ;i clerk- in the famous "(Jak Hall" 
cloth'ing house of Jnlin Wan:imaker. This experi- 
ence, hnwewr, was <if short duratinu. as his father 
was sought by the h'.stey C'(inipan\-, and the family 
settled in r.rattlebiirn, \'t., where James H. was 
em])Io\ed with his father in the tuning department 
of that famniis f.-ict(ir\. Possessed of natural musi- 
cal .gifts, the \oung man de\otei.l his time to the 
work of tuning, and b\ steady apijlication soon rose 
to a iiosition where with his t'ather he was in joint 
control of that ileparlnuiit . There he remained 
some thirteen years, when he was induced liy the 
late Horace C. Wilcox to come to .Meriden, with 
his father and brother, and org;ini/e the company 
which has since borne the family name, and of 
which for years he h.ns been the executive head, 
making a great name for himself as one of the en- 
teriirising and public-spirited citizens (jf .Meriden. 
He is a member of the Home t'lub of Meriden. 
Mr. White was married 1 )ec. i, iSoS, to Kate, 
daughter of Samuel T. K. and .Martha ( Brown) 
Cliene\', oi llrattleboro, \ t., b\' whom he became 
the father of three children: brank I'ornwell, edu- 
cated in .Meriden. and now the assistant superin- 
tendent of the W ilcox I'v \\ bite (.'0.; Grace Louise; 
and b'lorcnce .\la\. Mr. While has represented 
the iifth ward in the city council, having been 
elected on the Kejiuljbcan ticket, though he is no 
office seeker, preferring to give his undivided at- 
tention to his business. 1 le is a trustee of the Con- 
gregational Church, ;ind a man of high character, 
greatly respected in the city. 

l",i)W.\Rn H. Wiii'ii-., son of Henry Kirke While, 
was born in Washington. .\. J.. .\|)ril 5, 1855, and 
Iiad a thorough training in the buikling of musical 
instruments, chielly in the i-'stey r)rgan Works at 
I'rattleboro, \'t. I'or twenlv-five years he was a 
\alnable adjunct in the \\'ileox & While Co., at 
Meriden, in which cslablishmeni the tuning and 
voicing of instruments left l(j his supervision was 



thoroughly done. He was the owner of the ".\n- 
gehis" patents, and was secretary and superintend- 
ent and one of the directors of the reorganized 
Wilcox & White Co. Edward H. White died Sept. 
i(), i8ij9, and was buried in Walnut Grove Ceme- 
tery, Meriden. A Republican in j^olitics, he had 
no time for office-seeking; was a believer in the 
Golden Rule, and was liberal in his rehgious ideas ; 
domestic in his habits, he found his greatest pleas- 
ure in his home. He was early married to Mary 
Carter, a (.laughter of Bela Carter, and to this union 
was born one child, .-Allan Hubbard, now a student 
at Choate School, Wallingford. Mrs. White makes 
her home in Meriden, ami is a lady of culture and 
refinement. 

H()\\-\i;i> WTiiTi:, the youngest son of Henry 
Kirke White, was for years superintendent of the 
Wilcox & WTiite Co., of Meriden. He was born 
Sept. y, 1856, in Somerville. X. J., and his life was 
not unlike that of his lirothers, as it was given to 
llie work of building musical instruments. Inherit- 
ing in a large degree his father's musical genius 
and taste, through close attention to the work of 
building musical instruments, he acquired great ap- 
titude in it, and made for himself a creditable place 
111 the work. His early experience was acquired 
with the Estey Company at Rrattleboro, but he came 
to .Meriden with his family, and from the very be- 
ginning of the Wilco.x & White Co. was identified 
with it, rising to the position of superintendent. 
He was one of the directors of the company and 
]iroved himself a valuable citizen of Meriden. 
With his brother Edward H. and others of the 
family he belonged to the Home Club of Meriden. 
Mr. W'hite was married in 1880 to Flora A., daugh- 
ter of Russell J. Ives, of Meriden, and their union 
was blessed with two children: Russell Ives and 
Stanley. Howard White died Dec. 9, 1897, and 
was buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery. A Repub- 
lican in i)()litics, he sought no official position. 
Domestic in his habits, he lived in charity for all 
men, and tender memories of him survive. His 
widow resides in Alcriden. 

AUtil'STUS E. LINES, .\mong the retired 
business citizens of New Haven, who for almost 
a half century pursued one calling in this, his na- 
tive city, is Augustus E. Lines, one of the most 
highly I'sleemed residents. Flis ancestors for sev- 
eral generations had made the name known and 
respected in conniiercial circles, and Mr. Lines' 
own career added luster to the family title. Grand- 

' father ]''zra Lines was Ixirn in this beautiful city, 
grew to useful manh(Jod here, and for very many 
years conducted a successful grocery business on 

I the corner of Grand and State streets. New Haven. 
He was a soldier of the Revolution, under the 
command of Gen. Israel Putnam, and was pres- 
ent with him when he rode horseback down the 
stone steps at Horse Neck, now Greenwich, to 
escape the Pritish. His death occurred at about 
the age of sixty, and the grocery business was 







^^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



457 



continued by his sons Augustus and Frederick, 
the former being- the father of Augustus E. 

Augustus Lines, father of our subject, was 
born Sept. 13, 1797, and died Dec. 31, 1887. Not 
only was he prominent in commercial circles, but 
also in political and financial ailairs, for twenty- 
five years being assessor with Willis Antliony, 
who was the father of the present collectt)r of 
taxes, of the same name, and Mr. Lines was alst) 
a member of the coinmon council, for a number of 
terms, and was a director in the New Haven Na- 
tional Bank. In military circles Augustus Lines 
was also conspicuous, being an active member of 
the Old Grays, and the accomplished fifer of the 
noted old regiment, for very many years. He mar- 
ried Miss Lucy Ann Ritter, a daughter of David 
Kitter. She w-as born in New^ Haven and died in 
1 85 1, at the age of forty-eight years, one of a 
numerous family. David Kitter was a well-known 
stone and marble cutter, married twice in New- 
Haven, and died at about the age of si.xty years. 
Three children were born to Augustus Lines and 
wife: Augustus E., of New- Haven; George P., 
who died in 1884: and Jane E., who resides in 
New Haven, at the age of seventy-one years. Au- 
gustus Lines married for his second wife Martha 
Kimberly, of West Haven, and two children were 
born to this union, ^lartha and Maria, both of 
whom died some years ago. it is remembered of 
I\Ir. Lines that he was skilled in musical instru- 
ments, played the double bass viol with fine exe- 
cution, and was the first resident double liass viol 
player, in New Haven. 

Augustus E. Lines was born cm the corner of 
Grand and Olive streets, in New jlaven, Nov. 4, 
1822. and attended the old Laiicasterian School. 
\"crv early in life, he displayed a leaning toward the 
engraver's trade, taking lessons in the same in New- 
'^'ork, at the corner of Fulton and Nassau streets. 
I\Ir. Lines was employed there by a firm located 
at the intersection of Broadway and Cedar streets, 
being apprenticed w-ith the firm of Stiles, .Sher- 
man & Smith, located at the above named places. 
For six vears Mr. Lines fotmd a pleasant home in 
the family of ^^Ir. Sherman, who tlien lived at .\o. 
18 Rose street, the neighborhood which is now 
given up to a lower class of residences, then being 
a fine residence district. The venerable Mrs. 
Sherman still survives. I-'rom 1838 to 1844 Mr. 
Lines remained in the city of New York, becoming 
during this period skilled in his trade, and able 
to enter into successful competition with others. 
I'vcturning to his native city. ^Ir. Lines embarked 
in the engraving business for himself, founding 
a house which prospered for forty-tw-o years, until 
in 1886 he retired from active work, justified in 
seeking rest after so continuous a career. There 
arc few- of the older residents of New Haven who 
do not readily recall his establishment on Chapel 
street. 

On Jan. 9, 1849, Augustus E, Lines was mar- 



ried to Miss Mary A. Kimberly, who was born in 
Guilford, Conn., and was a daughter of Eli Kim- 
berly, and a member of one of the first families 
of this part of Connecticut. Eli Kimberly was a 
sea-faring man and he made his home on Faulk- 
ner's Island, Guilford and Sachems Head, having 
charge of the light house on Faulkner's Lsland for 
tnirty-three years. No resident along this coast 
was better or more favorably known to both lands- 
men and sailors than Capt. EH. His lamented 
death took ])lace at the age of seventy-nine years. 
The mother of Mrs. Lines was Mary Fowler, of 
New London, her marriage to Capt. Kimberly tak- 
ing i)lace the 12th of November, 1812, and twelve 
chihlren resulting from this union, the four sur- 
vi\ors being: Airs. Lines; (ieorge, a resident of 
New London, Conn.; David Calvin, a resident of 
Sacramento, Cal. ; and Henry W., a resident of 
New Haven, a well-known carpenter and builder. 
The mother of these children died at the age of 
fift}-two _\-ears. Both parents of Mrs. Lines were 
worthy members of the North Church, and this 
family was one of the most intelligent and liberally 
educated of any on the coast, the father having a 
teacher installed in the household. 

One son, Augustus K., bles.sed the union of 
.Mr. and .Mrs. Lines, born in 1850; he was edu- 
cated in .New Haven, and made this city his home 
until his death at the age of thirty-five years. An 
ado])teil son, Harry Kimberly Lines, was educated 
in the schools of New Flaven, and is now one of 
the valued employes of the Electric Co., and has 
cnargc of their work in the difierent States. He 
niarrii.-(l C_'lilTi)i-d Cooke, who was born in Mari- 
etta, (ia., and they have one daughter, Louise 
Douglas, aged twelve years. 

Mr. Lines has ahvays ardently supported the 
Republican party, thoroughly believing in its prin- 
ciples, biU has never sought political preferment, 
broni his resjiected father, he has inherited a great 
talent anil love for nuisic. the careful cultivation 
of which has resultetl in making him the admirer 
of many instruments, but particularly of the flute, 
which he has jjcrformed upon more or less for 
fifty years. One of his early ]>upils in this sweet 
music was a nephew of Mrs. Lines, who is now 
connected with the New York Symphony Orches- 
tra, and who is regarded as one of the most fin- 
ished fluti.sts in the United States. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Lines belong to the Church of the Redeemer, 
formerly Cha]>el .Street Church, becoming connect- 
ed with it under Rev. William T. Eustis. Few- men 
of this city have been more omnivorous readers 
than Mr. Lines, and his thorough knowledge cov- 
ers a w-ide range of subjects, his interest being 
still as keen in public affairs as in his earlier days, 
b'or his immediate ancestors he cherishes a high 
regard and liighlv values a w-onderftd jiicture in 
liis possession, of his uncle William Lines. An- 
other very interesting picture which he preserves 
with care, is of a house on Grand avenue, near 



45« 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



llic railroad hridRc, which was laki'ii dnwii iiuiny 
years aj^o, il \w'm^ \W- one in which his nioUicr 
was l)orn, tiic l'"arniinglon canal then hcing w^hcrc 
the railroad tracks of one of the hranches of the 
C'onsohdated Railroad are now ])laced. Mr. Lines 
enjovs recallint;- the ol<l da\s of the city, and his 
recollections are of the most interesting nature, 
the limits of a ski'lch of this kind |)reventing a 
recitation of some of the most entertaining records 
of more than a h;df-centnr) past. Mr. and .Mrs. 
Lines celehralccl iheir golden wedding, in January, 
l.S(><), and il is the sincere wish of their hosts ol 
friends thai lhe\ m:i\ Ik- spared to also celehrale 
iheir st'\enly liflh ainii\i'rsary. 

|()||\ ( ,( »( )| )kli 1 1 \'i)iri"ll (deceased) was 
hon'i in r.erlin. l..nii,, keh. jj, iSj.:^, and died 
March c^, iXi^j, at Mdford, t'onii., a siin <if l.iin- 
uel .X'orlh, who, allhongh a tinni-r li_\ tra<le, en- 
gaged in farming in I'.erlin. 

Tlu' hislor\ of the Xoilli f.imily in .\meriea 
begins with John .\orlh. who was horn in Eng- 
land in 1(115. m.-in-ied I lann.ah llnd. of l''arming- 
lon, after his .arrival in this connlr\ in il'.vS, on the 
ship ".Sus;m .'md I'.lli'n." Me died alioul Idol. 
Mis land in larmin^ton w.is entered lo him in 
li)5_^. .and with his sons John and .Samuel, he was 
among the eighu-four propnelnrs among whom 
the imoccn])'ied Lands of the town were divided in 
1(17-'. I lis nanu' is given in the li-'i of "persons of 
(|n;dity emigrating from hn^land io America, 1600- 
1700," and he is recorded as being twenty years 
ol<l. Mis lirsl child, Joh, was horn in i(i.|i. 

Thomas .N'orih. who was horn in l'"arming|on, 
t'onn.. ahoni I'Mu, and died in 1712, married J lan- 
nah .X'ewell. who was horn in i()5S, 

Thomas .\orih ( _' I . son id' Thomas, was horn in 
i(i7X. married .M.arlh.i Koyce, .and died in 17J3. 
Martha ( ko\'ce ) .\orth w.as horn in i(i7<). 

Deacon Isaac Xorth. of W'etherslield :md ller- 
lin, w.as horn in 170J, married .Mary Wondlord 
(who w.as Imrn m l7o<)). and dieil in 1 7S8. 

Jedediali X.irlli, .•d^o of W elhersfuld anil I'.er- 
lin, was horn in 17.VI. and died Uec. id. iSlo. In 
1757 he married Sar.ah Wilcox, who was horn in 
1731), anil who ihrd ( 'ct. 3. 1773. 

l^avid .Xorth, son of Jnlediah. w.as horn in 
17()|, and lived in r.erlin. lie married SaK>ine 
XVilcox in I7!~!i. and died in l.S^i. llis wife, wdio 
was horn in 17(11, died March 13, 1807. 

Lenuiel .X'orlh. of I'lcrlin, was horn in 17W1, and 
(lied .■\li,g. 23, 18 13- lie m.arried Rehecca ( lood- 
rich, will) was horn June jo. 178^^. and died Jiil>' 
5, 1837. |ohn (iooilrich, tlu'ir son, is the suhjecl 
of this .article. 

John (loodrich North w.as riared in I'.erlin. 
where he atti'iided the local schools until he was 
ahonl sixteen \ears old, when he came to Xew 
I laveii to lake ;i position as a clerk in the dr\' goods 
line, .\fter sonie two or three years he hegan hnsi- 
ness for himself as a merchant, and some \ears 



Later turned to the lire and life insurance interests, 
in which he engaged until his death. I'or at least 
a half a century he was associated with insurance 
interests, and was regarded as one of the best 
posted and most successful men in that line in this 
section of the State. 

Mr. .X'orth was married May 31, 1843, lo Eliza- 
beth Dickinson, wdio was born in New Haven, Dec. 
8, 1821. a daughter of Raphael Dickinson (who was 
born lib. (k 1781. and died I'elj. 20, 1837), 
and his wife. .Xancs' .\lc.Xeil ( wdio was bora 
June 4, 1783, and died b'eb. i), 1833). Mrs. 
I Xancy (.McXeil) North was a daughter of Will- 
iam .McNeil, wdio graduated from Vale and be- 
came a civil engineer, but si)ent his later years as 
a sailor and sea cajitain. To .Mr. ,and Mrs. John 
(,. .Xoilli were born tivi- childnn : .Mary (i.. John 
L.. .Sarah V... I'.dward C. and Nellie C. ' ( )f these, 
John (.'. is in the iiisur.ance business in New Haven; 
l'".dw;u'd L. is in the same line in lloston; Sarah \\. 
married S. I'. W.arren, M. D., a .graduate of \'ale. 
anil they now live in I'ortl.ind. .Maine; Mary (i. 
married Rev. I'.rastns I'.lakeslee ;ind lives in llrook- 
line. .Mass.; .Xellie L. married I'rof, .Samuel T. 
Dutton, of (.'olumbia Lni\ersily, who at one time 
w ;is sui>(.'rintenik-nl ol schools in .Xew 1 la\en and 
ir. I'.roiikline. John ( i. .Xorth was a W'li'ig and a 
Republican, hi relii^ion all the family have Icnig 
been associali'd with the (. 'ongre.gational (Imrch. 
Tiiic Dickinson 1-'a.\i ll.^ . to w'hich Mrs. John 
(i. North belongs, has an authentic history that runs 
back in k'ngland to a ])eriiid bcNond 1473. Thomas 
Dickinson, who was a nali\e of .\bin,gilon, h'.n.g- 
laiid, went ti» .\yrshire, .Scotland, about 1(170. 
where he h.id three sons, Thomas, Josiah and 
Moses. 

Moses Dickinson, born in ,\\rshiri.', canie to 
r.oston, from which point he went to Deertield, 
Mass.. aboiit i(ii;o, 

Daniel Ebi.'nezer Dickinson, son of .Moses, mar- 
ried .'-^.ar.-ih Winslow. the great-.graiiddanghter of 
( io\-. \\ inslow. 

I )liver Dickinson, son of Daniel Ebeiiezer, grew 
II. manhood, and married Mary I'armalee. 

( )li\-er Dickinson, the son of ( )li\er. was liorn 
JuK' HI, 1737. in Litchlield, t'oiiii., and died March 
2^-^. 1847. lie married .\im,i Landon, June 11. 
1778, ;ind served in the Revolutionary army, in 
v. Inch he iii.ade a iiolilr record as a gallant soldier 
and a jialriotic citizen, lie was in the arm\' from 
177') to 1781. 

Raphael Dickinson, second smi of ()li\-er, was 
born b'eb. (1, 1781, and died I'eb. Jd, 1837. 1 le mar- 
ried N;mcy Mc.Xeil h'eb. 23, 1803, and their <lau,gh- 
tir b'.li/.alietb was married to John (",. North, as 
iinti'il ;ibii\e. 

Leonard .\. Dickinson, a son of Raphael, and a 
brother of bdizabeth .North, became one of the 
noted citizens of Xew I haven. In i8t>i he enlisted 
in the 121I1 (.'omi. \ . I., and the same year was 
made capt.ain of (.'omp:my L' of that regiment, lie 



COMMEMORATIJ-E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



459. 



served tliroiigihoiit the war, and returning- to 1 lart- 
ford, was made local agent of tlie Aetna l-"ire In- 
surance Company, in wliich capacity he serveil 
tl:irty-t\vo years. l-"or tliree years he was (piartiT- 
niaster on the stall' of (iov. Jewell, and for fmir 
years he was postmaster at Hartford. l''ralernally 
he was active in Masonry: in the (irand Army he 
was past commander of the department of (."on- 
iiecticut, and treasurer of the Soldiers' Home ai 
Xoroton, Connecticut. 

Leonard A. Dickinson died Jan. 27. 1901, and 
his funeral services were very largely attended, hy 
the puhlic generally as well as 1)\- the (irand Army 
of the Republic and the insurance a,gencies with 
which he had been so long and intimately associ- 
ated. Seldom has a man passed into tlie Great l!e- 
_\(>nd w^hose loss has been so deejjly and generally 
felt. Of high character, unimpeachable integrity 
and a winning; personality, he had a host of friends, 
who knew him as a man of honor, of i)usiness abii- 
itv beyond the average, whose useful life and many 
virtues shed honor upon the State. 

TiiK McXeii, F.\mii.n-. of which the mother of 
Mrs. North was a member, has a history in Con- 
necticut that l)e,gins with the purchase of land by 
Archibald McXeil at r)ranford, about 1735. At 
the same t'ime he married Mary, a dang-hter of 
Samuel Russell, and a widow of lienjamin h'enn. 
He died about 1753, leaving three sons, John, Sam- 
uel and Archibald. 

Archibald McXeil was born Sept. 20, 1736, at 
llranford, and May 2, 1758, married Sarah Clark, 
of Derby. They had a son, William, born May 13, 
•759' '" Xew Haven, who was graduated from Yale 
in 1777. He was a gunner on the ])rivateer "Mar- 
quis De Lafayette" from Jan. 30, 1782, to .Aug. 13, 
1783. ()ii Sept. 25, 1779. he marri-d lliddah .\u- 
gur in Xew Haven, and they had si.K children : 
W'illiam, John, Henry, Maria, Xancy and Abra- 
ham Archibald. Of these, Xancy married Raphael 
Dickinson, as noted above. 

WILLI. \M C. RrSSl':LL, formerly a whole- 
sale meat and jjrovision dealer on Cedar street, 
Xew Haven, is a resident of Orange, where he was 
born March 13. 1835. The fahiilv has lon.g lieen 
])rominent in W'oodbridge and Oran.gc, and his 
.great-grandfather, ,3tephen Rtissell, who served 
eight years as a private in the Revolutionary war, 
was a resident of Woodbridge for many years, 
later removing to Orange, where he died at an ad- 
vanced age. 

Chauncey Russell, our subject's grandfather, 
was born in W'oodbridge, and died in Orange. 
March 30, 1825, at the early age of thirty-nine. 
He was a carpenter and wheelwright by ti-atle, and 
a number of water-wheels in different jilaces in 
this section were built by him. He married Lu- 
cinda Sperry, a native of W'oodbridge, and a 
dau.ghter of. Lieut. Job Sperry, an officer in the 
Revolutionarv war. Thev had si.K children : Henrv, 



William HI!, Roswell. Wealthy, Catherine and 
Cliarlotte, all now deceased. 

William I'll Russell, our suliject's father, was 
a native of ( )ran,ge, and made his permanent home 
tlure. 1-dr a time he fcjllowed the shoemaker's 
trade, and later he purchased a farm, where his re- 
maining years were spent, his death occurring at 
the :!.ge of fifty-nine. His homestead, a farm of 
medium size, is now owned liy a sun. Politically 
lie was first a Whig and later a Republican, and his 
services in \ari(>u> offices showed much ]nil)lic 
spirit. lie married Susan Parsons, wlio died in 
1 888. a.ged seventy years. She was born in Or- 
ange, i)ut her ancestors were early settlers in 
Derbw of which ])lace her father, Levi I'arsons, 
was a native: he followed the sea for some time 
before engagin.g in farming. During the war of 
181 2 he raised and drilled a company in Derbv. 
He died aged seventy-seven years, and hi,^ wife, 
I'jnilv ((/lark), who was born in Derl.)y and who 
was a member of a jMoneer famih' of Milford, lived 
to a good old age. She was a very able woman 
and reared her three children with rare ability. 
Jn reli.gious faith they were Con.gre.gationalists. 
( )ur subject was one of a family of seven children, 
of whom four are living: William C. : Llford C. 
a resident of Orange: lietse)-, who married An- 
drew I). Thomas, of West Haven: and Edward 
W., will I was employed by our subject in Xew Ha- 
ven, and resides at the old homestead. 

.\s a boy William C. Russell assisted his father 
upon the farm, and attended the public schools and 
the academy at < )range. W'hen sixteen he began 
to run teams to West Haven and to Xew Haven, 
to sup])lv the retail trade in meat and provisions, 
and continued thus several years, the business in- 
creasing under his management. Later he be.gan 
a wholesale business in ( )range, and for seven 
vears was a silent partner with C. C. Andrew & 
Co. In March, 1893, he rented a large building 
on Cedar street, constructed for the wholesale 
meat and provision business, and he built uj) a 
lar.ge local trade and also sent to adjoining cities. 
He has a farm which lie jjurchased when twenty 
vears old, and he now' owns three farms in CJrange, 
which his son-in-law ojierates for him. In ad- 
dition to general farming they are engaged in 
dairying ;nid in nther lines of wurk. iMr. Russell 
employing a number of men. 

On Ajiril 15, 1855, Mr. Russell married i\Iiss 
.Mary J. Lyon, who was born in Woodbridge, 
dau.ghter of Dilazon Goodsell Lyon, wdio is now 
deceased. Her mother, whose maiden name was 
V.\\y.:i I leach, was a native of W'oodbridge, and 
died Ian. 4, K^oo, at the a.gc of ei,ght\-nine years. 
Mr. and .Mrs. Lvon had five children, and four 
arc vet living: W'illiam, wiio resides in Derby: 
Sarah, wife of Isaac Dickinson, of W'estville: 
Emily, who married I'.dward Grant, of Water- 
bury: and Mary J.. Mrs. Russell. Mr. and .Mrs. 
Russell have one child living, lennie. wife of 



460 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



l-'reilerick C. Sperry, who superintends our sub- 
ject's farm; they have two children, Kussell Fred- 
erick, born Jan. 4, 1897; and William Curtis, bom 
Julv 10, 1900. George Lyon, only son of our sub- 
ject, was born Feb. 21, 1857, '^""^ '''^'^' -^^^^ ^4> 
]8(')3. Jessie E., born Oct. 20, 1873, died Aug. 29, 

.Mr. Russell is a J\epul)lican in politics. He 
b.as served a number of years as selectman, mem- 
ber of the board of relief and assessor, and for a 
time he was chairman of the board of assessors. 
In 1871 he was sent to the Legislature, and during 
his term served on the committee on fisheries; he 
introduced the bill on shad fisheries, and the bill 
appropriating money from the .^tate td the school 
of Deaf ]\Intes in Hartford, to ]jrovide for teach- 
ing reading by the motion of the lips; a number 
of private bills were introduced and gained by 
him. His inlluence and vole were also given to 
the bill to c(jnsolidate railroads. Mr. Russell is 
a memlier of the Reiinblican Club of New Haven, 
and has been a delegate to several State conven- 
tions with Senator (Iraliam. As one of the oldest 
members of Annawan Loilge. V . iS; A. .\I., of West 
]Iaven, he Imlds a prominent ])lace in Alasonic 
circles in that locrdity; he is a charter member of 
the Grange, a member of the Orange Agricultural 
Association and of the Milk Dealers Association 
of Xew Haven, of which he was the first presi- 
lient. For some years he was a member and di- 
reet<H- of the ( )range (!v: Milfunl Agricultural As- 
sociation and took an active part in sustaining the 
work ; his exhibits fre(|uently won premiums. He 
has also served in the State Militia, and for sev- 
eral years was in the Light Guards of Xew Haven, 
lie and his family are members of the Congrega- 
tional Church of Orange, in which he held office 
for some _\ears as a nteniber of the Society's com- 
mittee. 

Ll-.RON' SlXDb'.kl.AXl) WlHTb:. inventor. 
])atentee, natural ineclianic and l)usiness man of 
Waterbury, was JKirn in Springfield. Mass.. May 
14, 1828, and is a W(irtli\' rei)rescr,tative of one of 
the oldest families of New England. 

I'.lder John White came to the Xew England 
colonics in 1632, bringing with him his wife and at 
least one child. .Xathaniel. 

Xathaniel, afterward known as Capt. Xathan- 
iel White, was born in luigland in 1629. and was, 
tlierefoi'e, but three years of ;',ge when brought to 
America. 'The family made their first home in 
Cambridge. Mass., but after four years removed to 
Hartford. Conn. In 1(150 or 1(151 C:ipt. Xathaniel 
moved to Middletown, I'omi., of which place he 
v,as one of the original proprietors. 

Deacon Xriihaniel White, son of Capt. Xathan- 
iel, was Ijorn in .Middletown, I'pper Houses, Conn., 
July 17, 1652. and ilied in Hadley, Mass., Feb. 15, 

Daniel While, son of Deacon Xathaniel, was 



born at Hadley, Mass., Alarch i, 1690, and set- 
tled in West Hempfield, where he died Oct. 19, 
1721. 

Preserved White (i), son of Daniel, was born 
in West Springfield, Aug. 31, 1721. He was a 
weaver bv occupation, and his death occurred in 
Springfield July 16, 1802. 

Preserved White (2), son of Preserved (i), 
was born in Springfield, Nov. 25, 1743. He was an 
armorer, learning his trade in the famous armory 
of his native city. He died June 8, 1823. He was 
married Aug. 20, 1767. to Miss Mary Terry, daugh- 
ter of Samuel and Sarah Terry, of Springfield, 
.Mass. Thirteen children blessetl this union ; 
Roderick, Martin, Luther, Alary, Luther (2), 
Roderick (2), Rachel, Hannah, Roderick (3), 
Jlannah (2). Walter, Preserved (father of sub- 
ject ) and i'ersis. 

Preserved White (3), father of Leroy Sunder- 
land White, was born in Springfield, in 1789, and 
died in September, 1832. He was married July 
13, 1823, to Lucinda Rice, a daughter of Jeduthan 
Rice, of Ludlow, Mass. Mrs. Lucinda White sur- 
vived until ['"ebruary, 1879, when she passed 
away. The family born of this union consisted of 
the following named children; Albert M., born 
June 18, 1824; Lewis, born Dec. 22, 1825; Lyman, 
born I'eb. 18, 1827; Leroy S. ; Sarah Ann, torn 
-March 24, 1830; and William W., March 9. 1832. 
(Jf this family Albert M., Lewis and Lyman are 
deceased; Sarah Ann was married March 7, 1854, 
to the late Gen. George A. Washburn, of Hart- 
lord; and William W. is a machinist of Water- 
bury. 

Shortly after the death of his father, Leroy 
Sunderland White was bound out to a farmer until 
nine }'ears "Id. He then returned home, and next 
found emi)loymcnt as a bobbin boy in a cotton fac- 
tory at Chicopee ; while there he was promoted 
from jilace to place until he became a room superin- 
tendent. At a very early age young White mani- 
fested a decided tendencv for mechanics and a jire- 
cocious faculty for invention. At the age of twelve 
years he made a miniature tool chest, which he 
filled with planes, saws, chisels and other tools be- 
ionging to a joiner's outfit, and all of his own 
manufacture. This kit was for many years the 
admiration of his friends, and it foreshadowed the 
tuture of the youthful mechanic. He was em- 
(iloyed for .some }'ears in the Springfield armory, 
where in former years his father worked. When 
he was about eighteen years of age he entered the 
employ of the Ames Manufacturing Co.. sword 
makers of Chicopee, where his duties includetl die- 
sinking and ornamental work upon swords, especi- 
ally ordered by the United States government as 
presen'ation swords. About 1855 Mr. White 
moved from Chicopee, or S])ringfield, to Hartford, 
Conn., where he was emjiloycd as a machinist and 
die cutter l\v the Hartford Manufa,cturing Co. 
'J'here he invented the first successful machines for 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



461 



burnishing silver-plated flatware, and this patent he 
sold to the company. The fimi of Rogers & 
Brothers ( consisting of Asa Rogers, Simon Rog- 
ers, the late Mr. D."B. Hamilton and L. S. White) 
was soon afterward organized in W'aterbury, and 
for this lirm, from 1858. .Mr. ^\'hitc was for seven- 
teen \ears su])erintendeni and master mechanic, 
and part of liiis time was its secretary. While 
with this fn-m Air. White invented several new 
burnislTing machines. In 1874 Mr. White was em- 
ployed by Brown & Brothers to superintend the 
erection of the plant for the manufacture of llat- 
ware, and while with them he invented and per- 
fected machinery for making seamless tubing anil 
kitchen boilers. Since leaving ]>rown & Brt)thers 
he has devoted his time to the invention and manu- 
facture of a large variety of articles, most of them 
for use in the ap])lication of electricity to mechan- 
ical devices. 

On April 24, 1852. Mr. White married Sarah 
Jane DeLanccy. of New Market. N. H. They 
have lived in Waterbury since 1858, and here have 
reared their three children, namely: Emma L., 
who was married, Dec. 19, 1876, to Alexander C. 
Mintie, of Waterbury; Jennie C, married, in July, 
1890, to Thomas (\. Lane, of Portland, Me.; antl 
Edith S., married in June, 1897, to Dr. Edward 
W. Goodenough, (jf Waterbury. In 1874 Mr. 
White passed three months in luirope on a tour 
for both pleasure and study, and in 1884 he made 
a more extensive tour. In politics Mr. White is a 
Republican, and lias filled several local offices, such 
as councilman, street commissioner, etc., but has 
been more interested in his private afifairs than in 
the concerns of the public. He is a member of Con- 
tinental Lodge, F. & A. AL, Clark Commandery, 
and of the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science. Although he never attended a 
school after reaching his seventh year, he has ac- 
quired a wonderful store of jjractical and theoreti- 
cal knowledge by studying at all favorable oppor- 
tunities, and he has a fine library well supplied 
with the works of the best scientific writers and 
metaphysicians. He experiments a great deal with 
the X-Rays, in wliicli he is quite skilled, and is 
classed among the true scientific investigators of 
Waterbury. 

NATHAN I'OWLl'.R CRISWOLD, one of 
Meriden's best-known business men, and president 
of The Griswold, Richmond & Clock Co., dealers 
in stoves, furnaces, etc., .Meriden, was born in Lock- 
port, N. Y., and is descended from one of the old- 
est families in New England. 

The lineage of the family nia\' be traced, in an 
unbroken chain of descent, from Humphrey Gris- 
wold, a "Lord of the Manor," who lived in Eng- 
land in the sixteentli century. The Malvern estate 
came into his possession in 1600, and the heritage 
still remains with the luiglish branch of the fam- 
ily. In 1679, Malvern Hall, with the Coat of Arms, 



was mentioned in English records as belonging to 
Huni])hrey Griswold, who died in 1671, and "was 
succeeded by bis liroiher. Rev. Henry Griswold. 
who (lied about 1720. b'rom him the'title passed' 
to his eldest son, Humphrey, and upon the latter's 
death, in 1772, to his youngest son, Henry. Henry 
dying without male issue, the estate and title passed 
to Rev. Mathew Griswold, a justice of the ])eace 
for the County of Warwick. On his death, in 1778, 
he left a daughter, .Mary, who became the wife ot 
David Lewis. She died without sur\'iving male 
issue, but left three daughters, .Magdalene', .\niie 
Maria and Eliza. The oldest marr.ed the fourth 
Earl of Dysart, Anne -Maria married the fiitli, and 
Eliza died a spinster. .\ male heir in the direct line 
being still wanting, the .Malvern estate, and the 
Arms of Griswold, ])assed to Henry tiriswold 
Lewis, a son of David Lewis by a second mar- 
riage. The next heir was Lieut. -Col. Julmund. 
Meysey Griswold, who was succeeded by his uncle, 
Henry Wigley, M. A., who assumed the surname 
of Griswold, and whose descendants are still own- 
ers of the ancestral estate and arms. 

The American branch of the (iriswold faiiiih- 
claims as its first-kn(.>wn I'jiglish ])rogenitor 
Mathew Griswold, b'.sq., of Kenilworth, Warwick- 
shire, an uncle of Humphrey tiriswold, the first 
Lord of the Manor abo^'e named. Mathew had 
three sons, Thomas, Edward and Mathew, and of 
these, Mathew, the youngest, was the first to come 
to America. While yet very young, he jtjined a 
company of pilgrims collected from Warwickshire, 
Worcestershire, Somersetshire and Devonshire, un- 
der the leadership of Rev. John Warham, who left 
lingland during the reign of Charles I, and landed 
on the shores of Massachusetts Dec. 30, 1620. 
Nine years later Edward tiriswold joined his 
brother Mathew, and the two renK)ved from Massa- 
chusetts to Connecticut, Edward settling at Wind- 
sor and the younger brother at Saybrook. 

Edward (iriswold, mentioned above, was born 
in iLiiglanil in lOo", eniigr;Ued to America, and 
made his first permanent settlement in Connecticut, 
at Saybrook, in 1663, and in \(-^)~ moved to what 
is now Killingworth, in .Middlesex couiitv, where 
he settled and which he named after his birthplace 
in England. Here he became an extensive land- 
owner, and died in Hmji. In 1630 he married Alar- 
garet (surname not given), who died .\ug. 2^. 
1670, and two years later he married Sarah, widow 
of James Renies, of New Ix)ndon, Conn. His chil- 
dren were: .Sarah, born in if)3i ; tieorge, in i''>33; 
I'Vancis, in 1635: Lydia, in 1(137; Sarah, in i')38, 
marrietl Samuel Phel])s, Nov. 10, 1650, and mar- 
ried (second). July 21, 1670, Xallian I'innev : .Vnn, 
in 1642; -Mary, born Oct. 13, i()44, married Tim- 
othy Phelps, on March kj, \G(m : Deborah, June 28, 
1646, married !^anniel Buell; Joseph, March 12, 
1C147; Sanuiel, Nov. 18, 1649; John, Aug. i, 1652. 

John (iriswold, youngest son of Edward, the 
emigr.mt. was born in 1(152, in Windsor, Conn., 



462 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and removed with his parents to Killingworth, now 
tile town of Clinton, wiiere he became a land owner 
and farmer, and died there •Vng'. 7, ^^7^7- John 
(iriswold was a man of intellij;ence and influence 
and was a deacon in the church. On Oct. 27, 167 1, 
he was married to Mary (surname unknown), and 
after her death to Hathsheba (surname unknown), 
who died ?ifarch 19, 1736, and he was the father of 
tliese children; Alary, horn in l'"el)ruary, 1673; 
Alarg-aret. in December. i')75; Hannah, in October, 
if)77; Jc^hn I')., Sept. 22. and died Dec. 27, i()79; 
Dorothy, born in .Xiay. i'ib!i ; iiathsheba, in Decem- 
ber, 1682, married Daniel Clark, Dec. i, 1708; 
Samuel, A])ril, I'i85; Lucy, in July, 1686; Martha, 
in June. i()8<;, died in March, i()yo; Joseph and 
iJenjamin (twins). Sept. 2(). lOyi ; Dorothy, in 
September, if)<^2: Martha, in June, 1694: Dauiel, 
in October, lOi/i; and Walter, in March, 1700. 

Josei)h (iriswold, twin brother nf Iknjamin, 
and .son of John, of Killinj,''worth, likt- his father 
and i^-randfather, spent his tlays in the town (jf his 
birth, where lie was inlluential, and a worthy mem- 
ber uf the church, and died April 18. 1770. ( )n 
Dec. 27, 1714, he married 'remperance l^a\', who 
died in Se])teml)er, 1.772, and their children were: 
John, bt)rn Oct. 12, 1715: Jose])h, ( )ct. 22. 171O; 
Martha, .April 2'!''. 1719: (iiles, June 3, 1725; John; 
i^aniel, who married Cydia Hull; and Jedediah. 

Giles (Iriswold. sun of Joseph, was born in Ivill- 
ingworth, June 3, 1725. and on ,\ov. 17. 174O, mar- 
ried .Marv Cii.'itlielil, ;uid their children were; 
Mary, bnrii April iS. 1747; (iiles. ( )ct. 28, 1748; 
Mercy, Oct. 19. 1751; Lucy. ( )ct. 15, 1753; Jesse, 
.Aug. 28. 175(1. '''<■■'' •'^e])!. 21, 1777; Zenas, born 
May 10, 1759; Abner, .March 31. i7()2; Drusilla, 
Jan. 21, i7()4, died in .March, i7<)4; Drusilla (2), 
May 21. I7()(); l)a\id. .\civ. 20, i7()8; and Charity, 
Feb. 12, 1774. 

Zenas Criswold, i^r.-indfalher of Xatlian l-'owler 
(iriswold. was bnrn .May 10, 1759, in J\-illing-worth, 
where he grt'w in m;mhood, and where he became 
a farmer and landdwner. lie partici|)ated in the 
war of the Revnlution, Iia\in>;' enlisted Jan. 3, 1777, 
in (.'apt. Stevens' company, and was discharged 
Dec. 21, 1779. re-enlisting .May 3, 1781, and served 
in Ca])t. X'alhaniel I'.d wards' ci_im])any. \\\ an act 
of Congress, ])as^ed .March 18, 1818. he was made 
a ]jensioner, and ilied in his nati\'e hnuie. full of 
years and honors, in i83(). Zenas Criswold was 
twice married. llis iirst wife. .Mary Lane, was 
liorn in 1758, and dietl in .May, 1803. Her chil- 
dren were; Philip, born in January, 178(1, settled 
in (jenesee, X. \'. ; Jesse, liorn in February, 17SS, 
settled in Lockporl, .\. N'.; Deljnrah, born .\.ug. 
2. 1790, married William llill. and died ( )ct. 15, 
1873: Rachel, horn in January, 171)3, ilied in 1S09: 
Martin married Sally h'owler; and Sarah married 
Flias Xorton. h'or !iis second wife Zenas (iris- 
wold married Mary I'ettibone, a widinv. who died 
in 1843. Twd chililren were bnrn to this union; 



Alnasa Pettibone, who married Charlotte Chatfield ; 
and Rachel, who married Louis Chatfield. 

Martin Griswold, father of Nathan Fowler 
(iriswold, was born on the old (jriswold homesteatl 
in Killingworth, where he grew to manhood, and 
where he married Sally Fowler, daughter of Nathan 
and Cliloe (Davis) Fowler. After his marriage he 
removed with his wife to Lockport, X. Y., where 
hi> broiher Jesse was also located, and engaged in 
fanning for some time, but after the death of his 
wife, which occurred shortly after the birth of our 
suliject, he sold out, and returned to Connecticut, 
locating in Middletown. There he engaged at gun- 
making for several years for the United States 
(iovernment. and then went W'est, locating in 
Cuyahoga brails, Ohio, where he bought a farm 
and spent the remainder of his days. Mr. Gris- 
wold was a hard-working, honest man, well known 
for his integrity and for his fair and honorable 
dealings, a man who made the Golden Rule his life 
motto and' steadily endeavored to follow it. His 
happiness was only found when he was square 
with the worlil and his fellow men. In his younger 
(ia\> he was a Democrat, but held anti-slavery 
views, and at the formation of the Republican 
party associated himself with it, ever after being a 
strong partisan, although no ofilice seeker. P^or his 
second wife he wedded Mary Post, of W'estbrook, 
Conn., who died in Ohio. She became the mother 
of sever.al children, all of whom aru dead except 
.Anne aiul W'illard AL Griswold, a railway agent, 
residing in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. 

Xatlian h'owler Griswold, the subject proper of 
this sketch, was only three days old when his 
mother died, and he was thus early deprived of 
her tender, fostering care. While still a babe he 
was taken by his bereaved father from his native 
New ^■ork home to Connecticut, and there placed 
un(k-r the care of his maternal grandparents, in 
Durham, and there attended the district schools. 
When hv was but eleven years of age he started 
out to make his own way in the world, trying one 
season on a farm. This life did not entirely please 
him, and he then engaged to work in the store of 
1/riah .A. ,\ycrs, of East Haddam, where he re- 
mained four Nears, receiving as compensation his 
board and clothes. While tilling this position he 
managed to attend school during the winters, but 
the greater part of his education was received 
through study at home, through reading, and in the 
severe school of ex])erience. The desire to learn 
a trade first lirought him to Meriden, and he worked 
Iirst with I'linierciy tv Ives, learning the tinning 
trade, and during his four years with that firm he 
received fur the Iirst year $25, with an increase of 
$5 ever\- ^ear. .\fter comi^Ieting his trade within 
one or two mnntlis of his apiirenticeship, he pur- 
chased his remaining time, and started for the 
West, with Cincinnati as his objective point. The 
trip was an interesting one. tilled with \arietv and 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



463 



excitement. By canal he reached Buffalo, thence 
by boat he went to Toledo, thence as^ain by canal, 
and here the canal gave way and the passengers 
suddenly found their boat high and dry on land 
in the woods. 1-Iach one had to do the best he 
could, -Mr. Clriswold finally reaching the (Jueeu 
Citv by team. He soon found employment at his 
trade, with (ireentield & W'inchell. and there for a 
])eriod of three years worked as a journeyman. 
Returning to Meriden, he worked for I'duieroy iS: 
Leonard, and later removed to Holyoke, .Mass., 
where he first started in business and remained 
two years, and then returned to Meriden. In 1<S54 
he started in the tinning business for himself, first 
with George F. Searles as partner, who later sold 
out. With Henry J. Lewis, son of the well-kncnvn 
citizen, Lsaac C. Lewis, the business was conducted 
under the firm name of Griswold & Lewis, until 
1876, when Mr. Charles C. Glock became a partner 
and the firm became Griswold. Lewis & (iloc 
-Mr. Lewis later sold out to .Mr. J. L. Richmond, 
the firm thus becoming (iriswold. Richnicjnd & 
Glock. In i88y the firm changed into a stock com- 
pany, known as the (iriswold. Richmond & ('dock 
Co., of which Mr. tjriswold is ])resident and Mr. 
Glock is superintendent. 

Mr. Griswold has conducted a successful busi- 
ness for nearl)' half a century, succeeding on ac- 
count of h'is ability, energy and keen foresight. .\ 
man of kind and genial disposition, large-hearted 
and generous, he is very fre<iuently called upon for 
aid for charitable purposes, and liberally resi^onds. 
In his religious views Mr. Clriswold avows himself 
an agnostic, declaring his belief to be founded on 
facts and science, in tlie place of superstition and 
faith, which has been opposed to progress. .Mr. 
(iriswold believes there is nuich wisdom in I'aine's 
■■.\ge of Reason" and in Ingersoll's ".\ge of 
Truth," and closes his testimony with the gentle 
assertion, "with malice toward none, and charity 
for all, 1 simply confess that I don't know." .Mr. 
(iriswold's spotless private life and his untarnished 
])ul)!ic reputation disarm all criticism, and he is in 
every way a citizen of whom his city is jtistly 
])rou<I. 

In Meriden .Mr. (iriswold married I'diza Will- 
iams, a native of that town, where she died, and 
her remains rest in the West cemetery. She was a 
consistent and valued member of tlie Cniversalist 
(.dnirch. The children born to this union were; 
Ella A., who married F.ugene II. Ray, superintend- 
ent of the Silver City Plate Co. ; Charles, who died 
in young manhood, and now sleeps in the West 
cemetery by his mother; Frank, who died while 
a resident of Chicago; and Lewis 1".. who is a de- 
signer for the Charles Parker Co. l*"or his second 
wife Mr. Griswold wedded Mira Rockwell, who 
was born in Hartford, a daughter of Ca]H. Samuel 
Rockwell, and is a lady of high cidture and of fine 
attainments. Mr. and Mrs. (iriswold reside in their 
beautiful home on Lincoln street, where they ofler 
a bounteous hospitality. 



The Rockwell family, of which Mrs. Xathan 
I", (iriswold is a descendant, is one of the oldest in 
Hartford count)'. William Rockwell, the first of 
the family in .\meriea, was br^rn in Dorchester, 
Fngiand. .\i)ril 14. idj^. was married in his native 
comury to Susannah Cajjan, a daughter of Bernard 
Capan. They came to .\merica in ib^O, locating 
first in Dorchester, Mass., where he was one of the 
iwenty-foiu' freemen wiio took the oath of fidelitv 
on .May 18, 1(1,^1, was a tleacon in the church there, 
and was one of the jurors in the first manslaughter 
case tried in the Colony. In it>T,- he removed his 
family to Windsor. Conn., wiiere he ])assed the re- 
mainder of his days, dying May 15, 1640. William 
Rockwell was also a tleacon in the church at Wind- 
sor. On .May 2y, 1645, his widow married for her 
second husljand Mathew (irand, and she passed 
away .\'ov. 14. i(>(>(>. Tlie children were; Joan, 
born .\pril 25, 1^)25, in Fngiand; Samuel, July 18, 
k. j 1627, in Fngiand; John, .March 28, 1631, in Dor- 
cUester, Mass.; Ruth, in .\iigust, 1633, in Dor- 
chester; Sarah, July 31, 1634, in Windsor, Comi. ; 



and 



seph, 



if>35. in Windsor. Ruth married 



Christopher Huntington, and removed to Say- 
brook in i()6o, and later to .Vorwicb. where they 
were early settlers. .Sarah became the wife of 
Walter (jaylor. 

."'^ergeant Sanniel Rockwell, son of Deacon Will- 
iam, was born in Fngiand, came to America with 
iiis ])arents, and removed with them to Windsor 
and was one of the early settlers of what is now 
ICast Windsor, and there engaged in farming until 
his death, in 171 i. ( )n .\pril 6, 1662, he was ad- 
mitted to membership in the Windsor Church, and 
on .\pril 7. i()()o. he married Mary Xorton, of Guil- 
ford, a daugbti-r of Thomas and (irace ( Wells j 
.Vorton, and to them were i):)rn these children: 
-Mary, baptized in January. i()()i, married. Oct. 27,, 
1683. to Josiah Loomis; .Sanniel, baptized Oct. 19, 
i()i')7; Joseph. Mav 22, 1670: John, May 31, 1673; 
.Abigail. April 11, 167C). married. Xo\-. y). 1704, 
John Smiih. and died ( )ct. 12. 1741 ; and Josiah, 
ba])tized March 10. i()7(). 

Lieutenant Jose])h Rockwell was born in East 
Windsor, where he grew to manhood and was en- 
gaged in farmiup' ail his life, d\ing on June 26. 
1733. His marriage was to Flizabeth Drake, born 
Nov. 4. 1675, a daughter of Job and Flizabeth (.Vl- 
vord ) Drake, .-iiid to them were born si.x children: 
Joseph, X'o\-. Jj,. i(>y5: Flizabeth. Dec. 12. 1690, 
died in infancy; I'enjamin, ()cl. 26, 1700; James, 
June 3, 1704; Job, .\pril 13, 1709; and Flizabeth, 
Jul\- 24. 1713. married Jonathan Huntington. 

llenjaniin Rockwell, son of Lieut. Josejih. was 
born in I'.ast Windsor, Oct. 26, 1700. At the age 
of nineteen years he removed to Stafford. Tolland 
county, where he became engaged in fanning and 
passed the remainder of his life. He married Mar- 
garet Park, a daughter of Ri bert Park, of Preston, 
Conn., and their children wei'c Margaret, Samuel 
and Elizabeth. 

Samuel Rockwell, only son of Benjamin, was 



464 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1)1. rn in Stafford. Conn.. Nov. 28, 1727. and died 
there Xov. 24. 171^- He was twice married, the 
lirsl time. Dee. 13. 1757, to Hannah (Jreutt, liorn 
Ian. 2. i/^.S-i;. a" daui;hter of Nathan and I'helje 
"(i.ittle) Orcutt. and to this nnion these chihJren 
were l)orn : lienjamin, Job, Samuel, Nathan, Han- 
nah and .Margaret. His second marriage was to 
Hannah [ohnson, tlie widow of J':has Lee, and she 
(hed Dec! 16, 1S34, at the age of eighty-one, having 
been the mother of one daughter, Lucy. 

Benjamin Rockwell, the grandfather of Mrs. 
Griswold, was horn in 173S. du the old homestead 
in Stafford, where he died in 1803. J lis marriage 
was to Eunice Lillihridge. of Stafford, and these 
children were hi)rn to the marriage: Lark, Sept. 
]6, i7yo, and died Sept. 4, 1877, married Esther 
Slater, a daughtt-r of Moses Slater, born May 14, 
^7()3, "and died in .March. 1883. and they had five 
children, lienjamin. an unnamed infant, Maurice, 
Miranda and 'i'.meline ; Samuel, the father of Mrs. 
(iriswold: David, born in 1800. died Jan. 18. 184c* 
married Lavinia llvde, of Stafford, who was born 
in 1794. and died I'mie 8, 1852; and Polly. 

Capt. Samuel Rockwell was born on the old 
homestead in Stafford, where he received a com- 
mon-school educatinii. growing to manhood m his 
native town. In earlv manhood he came to Hart- 
lord conntv. where he started in business and be- 
came one of the largest grain and feed dealers in 
the city of ilartlor.l. building up a prosperous 
trade, and becuming noted for his honesty and up- 
right dealings. Domestic in his habits, neverthe- 
Kss he lonk an interest in public aft'airs, was a 
stanch supporter of the Democratic party, and 
although he ever upheld its principles, he just 
as strenuouslv refused ])ublic office. Mr. Rockwell 
was captain of the State militia in Stafford, and 
alwavs took a deep interest in it. His religions 
connection was with the Congregational Church. 
wliere he was liberal in the support of charity, and 
was a devoted husband and father, a man who en- 
joyed the respect of the community. 

Capt. Rockwiil was twice married. He tirst 
married Lydia Lillibridge, and three children were 
born to them: llenjamin, Emery and David, the 
latter a theological student at Trinity College, 
JIartford. lie married, second, Hannah Hyde, and 
to this union five children were born: James, 
Clark, .\lniira. Charles and Willard, all deceased 
excejit Mrs. (Iriswold and Charles, who resides in 
JLartford. Loth Mr. ;md .Mrs. Rockwell are buried 
in .Spring drove cemetery. Mrs. Rockwell was 
noted for her gentle, winiring manner, and w-as a 
consistent member of the Congregational Church. 
She had descended from one of the oldest families 
in Connecticut, William Hyde having been one of 
the oldest settlers of Norwich. The name of Will- 
iam 1 Lde first ajipears in llartford in the old bury- 
ing ground as one of the oldest settlers, but the 
name was well known in England for many vears 
before it was found in .\merica. Sir Robert Hvde 



was chief justice of the court of common pleas 
in 1660. Sir Edward Hyde, afterward the Earl of 
Clarendon, is known to all students of English his- 
tory as the grandfather of Queen Anne and of Ed- 
ward Hyde, who became one of the provincial gov- 
ernors of New York. 

^\'illiam Hyde was probably a contemporar}- of 
Sir Robert and came to America with Rev. Thomas 
J looker, the first minister in Hartford, removing 
to Sa\iirook and later to Norwich, where he died 
on Jan. '>. i'i8i. William Hyde's children were: 
Hester, who married John Post; Samuel, born in 
llartford. alxnit 1637, married, in June, 1659, Ja"'^ 
Lee. a daughter of Thomas Lee, of East Saybrook, 
and their children were Elizabeth, borti in August,. 
1660. married Richard Lord; Phebe,.born in Jan- 
uarv. 16(13, married Mathew Griswold ; Samuel, 
born in 1665, married Elizabeth Calkins; John, 
born in December, 1667, married Experience Abel; 
William, born in January, 1670, married Ann Bush- 
nell ; Thomias, born in July, 1672, married Mary 
r.ackus ; Jalus. liorn in .May. 1677, married Eliza- 
beth I'.uslmell; and Sarah, liorn in ifi75. died the 
same \ear. 

Thomas Hyde, son of Samuel, was born in Jul_\', 
1 672, in Norwich. Conn., and died April y. 1755. 
In December, 1696, he married Mary, daughter of 
Ste])hen Backus, of Norwich, and their children 
were: Mary, born Eeb. 21, 1698, married John 
Pember; 'Thomas, born July 29, 1699, married 
Elizabeth Huntington ; Phebe, born March 16, 

1702, married John French; Jacob, born Jan. 20, 

1703, married Harriet Kingsbury; Jane, born Dec. 
4, 1704, married John Birchard ; and Abner, born 
Sept. 12, 1706, married first Jerusha ILmtington, 
and second, Mehetable Smith. 

I Jacob Hyde, born on Jan. 20. 1703, in Norwich, 
Conn., died Jan. 22, 1782, was married Oct. 11, 
1727, to Hannah, daughter of Joseph Kingsbury ,- 
and their children were: Jacob, born Aug. I, 1730, 
married Hannah Hasen ; Mary, born March 24, 
1732. married Peabody Moseley ; Ephraim, born on 
April 2},. 1734; Joseph, born June i, 1736, married 
lir^t .Mi'igail Abel, and second married Justicia 
.\bal; Hannah, born JNLay 8, 1738, married Samuel 
Ladd : Ruth, liorn Jan. 26, 1740, married Ezekiel 
Ladd; Jonathan, born Jan. 4, 1742, died Oct. 22, 
1743: Silence, born April 13. 1744, married Joseph 
Lad'd: Rebecca, born Dec. 11, 174.S, married Leb- 

i l.>eus Armstrong; and Phebe. born Oct. 7, 1751, 
died Tan. 28. 1771. 

Ephraim Hyde, son of Jacob, was born in Nor- 
wich, later removed to Stafford, and married ]\Iar- 

. tha Ciddings. of Norwich, the children born to them 
being: •Nathaniel. March 7, 1757, married first 
Sarah String, and second Cynthia Palmer; Han- 
nah, Nov. i'5, 1758: Lvdia, Jan. 6, 1760, married 
Joseph Alden: I'phraim, Jan. 23, 1763. married 
"Margaret Walbridge ; Nathan, Feb. 15, 1765, mar- 
ried Olive Wales; Jacob, Nov. 13. 1767, married 
Lvdia Hall: Jasper! December, 1769, married De- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



465 



light Strong: Eninia. Aug. 2. 1772. niarricil EH 
Converse'; ICli, May 4, 1777, married .Mehitable 
Lvon. 

Jacob Hyclo, son of Ephraim, was Ijurn in 
Stafford, on Nov. 13. 1767, and died June 8, 1847, 
and married Lydia llall. of Stafford. The children 
of this marriage were: Ephraim Mali, Marcli 17, 
1794, (Hed h'eb. 22, 1873. married hrsl Nancy Siiaw. 
second. ]*-sthcr l'\:)Ster: Jacolj. born in 1802, died 
Nov. 30, 1828: Lydia, born in 1797, died Dec. 20, 
J832, married Daniel I'inney: Hannah, li(irn .March 
6, '1808. died in .Meriden, Oct. 13, i8i>3. ( )n Sept. 
24, 1834, she married Sanuiel Rockwell, ihe lather 
of -Mrs. X. I'', tiriswold. 

1^( )l..\.\l) .\rSTl.\ SMiri I. ( )ne iif the well- 
known farmer citizens of that ])art of North llaveii 
known as Montowcse, is Roland .Austin Smith, who 
is a descendant of an old and honored famile of 
Crawfordshirc, England. .\sa Smith, the grand- 
father, came to .\merica when a young man, landing 
at JSoston and opening uji a blacksmith shop, which 
lie operated for some time there, later moving to 
Sherburne, Ma^s., where he also worked at his trade. 
lie sul)se(|uently located in the home of his daugh- 
ter in W'alpole, Mass., where both he and his wife 
died. 'I'he children born to this cou])le were: b'.m- 
erv : Louisa, who married Metcalf .Smith: Roxie. 
who married Reuben Clapp ; Caroline, wiio married 
William Carroll; and Roland Sumner. 

Roland .Sumner Smith was born in Sherburne, 
iMass., and learned the trade of blacksmith under 
Mr. Plimpton, in W'alpole, Mass., and also engaged 
in making hoes, scythes, in those days all the work 
being ijcrformed by hand. l.att'r he n-ninved tn 
I'.urrviile, Mass., and still later entered into \\<irk 
at his trade in both Walpolc and Eo.xboro, his last 
work being done in Walpolc Center, removitig some 
time previous to his death to Norfolk, Mass. llis 
marriage was to Eliza Gilbert, wIkt was a sister of 
Lydia Curtis, who became the mother nf ( len. 
Nelson Miles. The father of Mrs. .Smith was 
Solomon Cilbert, a basket manufacturer, who w.is 
born in Sharon, Mass. The children of this union 
were Roland .\.: Maria, who married T'^-llis Royden, 
of Wal])ole, .Mass.; Levi E., a resident of L}-nn, 
Mass.; and Charles LL, a resident of r'>oston. 

Roland Austin Smith was born in Waljjole, 
Mass., May 24, 1824, and removed with his par- 
ents to Foxboro when a lad, and went to the dis- 
trict schools in that village and in Waljiole. After 
the a.ge of twelve he had little educational opportun- 
ity and came to New- Llaven, where lie was em- 
ployed by his uncle, Levi (hllierf, as a clerk in a con- 
fectionery store at the corner of Center and Church 
streets. Remaining with his uncle for two years, 
he then returned home and was occupied on llie farm 
until he was eighteen, when he started in to learn 
the trade of a baker, in Afedfield. Mass.. and be- 
came skilled in the business. I'or fifteen years he 
worked at this trade in New llaven, in a building 

30 



located where the 1 lyperion Theater now staiuls, 
and llu'n eml):ukeil in the oxster business. 1 iiring 
a depoi on ( )range street, he dealt in the bivalves, 
both wholrsale ;uid retail, ship])ing m;my to distant 
States, remaining in this line alx'Ut nine years. 
Later he started a restaurant where the Second 
National Rank is now located, remaining there Ijut 
a short time, as this did not jjrove a favoral)le lo- 
cation. 

.Mr. ."^inith then took a jwsition as brakeman on 
the ilartford & New Haven R. R.. and filled many 
]50siiions on the road, acting as a general mechanic 
at times, and becoming conductor, severing his con- 
nection with the road when Inisincss becan)e poor 
with it, on account of the Civil war. Entering llic 
sho]) of I'eck, .Smith & Co. of Soulhington, C'onn., 
now the I'eck, .Stowc & Wilcox Co., he remained in 
their em])loy for ten years, doing general mechani- 
cal work, and being employed on bayonets, which 
were sold to the government. He remained all 
through the war, but after its close the demand for 
these weaiions ceased, and another line of good.s 
was jjroduced. .\ man of many resources, when 
one line of work failed .Mr. Sniitii found another, 
and coming to North Haven, he was emjiloyed to 
care for an aged lady, .Mrs. liedotha Rulton, for 
nine years faithfully performing the duties re- 
qnire<l of him. .After her death he'bonght liis ])res- 
ent farm from V.W 1 layes, and has made many im- 
lirovemi'Uts, anil carries on a general li:ie of farm- 
ing. 

On Alay 2^. 1848, .Mr. Smith was married to' 
Lois I'laton, a native of North Haven, and a daugli- 
ter of Tlieophilus and IClmira ( Rronson) Eaton, and 
two children lia\e bei-n born of this imion : ("harles 
and Harriet. .V very ])leasant and companionable 
gentleman, his recollections of former days are very 
interesting, and he possesses a wonderful memory, 
stored with incidents of interest. His political affil- 
iation is with the Reiniblican ]jarty. and he is ever 
ready to uphold its jirinciples, althongh he is unwill- 
ing to hold any j)osition in the gift of the party. 

rilO.MAS .WDRl'AV SMITH, who in early 
life was [)rominently identified with the industrial 
nUerests of New Haven county, ami is ninv en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits in North lir.-mforcL 
was born in that town Jan. y, 1827, and belongs 
to old Colonial families. His paternal grandfather, 
Thomas Smith, was born about 1 762, and died 
l'"eb. 20, 1815. He was a soldier of the war of 
1812. and succeeded in blowing up an I'.nglish 
craft, but was injured in the explosion and died 
from the eft'ects of his wounds. His first wife. 
Sarah b'rost, was the mother of Thomas ( father 
of the subject of this sketch), John and Sarah. 
On A])ril 22, 1801, lie married Rosanna Hull, who 
died I'eb. 3, 184^1. In their family were five chil- 
dren, namelv : l-"i)enezer, born March 17, 1802, 
who wedded .Mary .\mi Rogers; Rosanna, bap- 
tized June 2r, 1812: Martlui, who married George 



466 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1.. 'llioriK' : Hiram, lja[)lizod Mav 6, iSio: and 
James. 

Deacon Thomas Smith was born in North 
] lavt-n Se])t. 20, 1798, and (hcd Dec. 10, 1874. 
Jle was married Jan. 24, 1811;, to llannah Tultlc, 
tlaiightcr of Jutle Tuttlc. Slic was born Jan 4, 
180J, and (Hcd Dec. 6, j87(). To them were born 
the followin!>- children: JuHus, born J)ec. (j, i8i(j, 
wedded .Mary ITost : he was ens^ai^ed in the 
l)Utcher 1)nsines,s in l\iir lla\-en and Hartford, 
(ieorge R., born Jan. j8, 1821, married EmeUne 
Mnnson, and fiiUowed farming- near the ohl home- 
stead. Sarah L., born A])ril 20. 1824. (bed y(jung. 
Thomas Andrew is next in order of birtli. James 
1'"., born Dec. 31, 1S30, also followed farming near 
the old homestead. Jane V., twin sister of James 
I-'., is the widow of \\'illiam S. Munson. of Wall- 
ingford. John \\'., born Jan. 14, 1835. first married 
Anna Fowler and second J da iiradley, and is en- 
gaged in farming in Seymour, Conn. Julia A., 
l.iorn .Vug. 20, 1844. married J lem-y Harrison, of 
North Bran ford. All are now deceased with ihe 
exception of Thomas A., Jane and John W. 

(Jn tiic maternal side Tluimas A. Smith traces 
his ancestry back to Wilham Tuttle, a passenger 
on the ■■ Planter," who came to New England at 
the age of twenty-si.x years, and died in June, 
1O73. Elis wife, Jilizalx-th, was b'lrn in 1612, and 
died in 1O84. In their family were the following 
children: John, born in 1631; Hannah, born in 
1632 or I '133; Tli'imas. born in 1633 or 1634; 
Jonathan, who was baptized in L'harlestown, Mass., 
Jul)' 8, 1637; David, who was ba])tized April 7, 
i''3'); Josei)li, who was bajHized in New Haven, 
C'onn., Nov. 22, 1640; Sarah, who was also born 
in Xew Haven and married John Slauson; Eliza- 
beth, who married Richard Edwards: Simon, who 
was baptized .March 28, i')47: Renjamin; Ak-rcy, 
who married Sanuiel llrown: and Xathaniel. 

Jonathan 'J'nttle, son of William, was born in 
Charlestown, .Mass., in i'i37, and died in 1705. 
He married Rel)ecca l!ell, of Stamford, Conn., a 
daughter of Lieut, b'rancis I'.ell. She died in 167O. 
They had six children, whose names and ilates of 
birt'ii were as follows: Rebecca, Sejjt. 10, 1664; 
Mary, Sept. 7, i66f>; Jonathan, ,\])ril 6, i66y; 
Simon. .March ti, 1(171; William, Mav 25, 1673; 
and Nathaniel. J'eb. 25. \(^-jU. 

William Tuttle, son of Jonathan, wedded Alary 
Jkbernethy, of Wallingford, Conn., and they had 
eleven children: .\aron, liorn Xov. 25, 161)8; 
Moses; .Mary, .\ugust, 1702; I'lzelciel, .April 21, 
17 — ; .Miel : Susanna, .\o\-. 10, 171)8; Lydia, l"eb. 
22, 1711; Jemima, l'\-b. 13, 1713; llannah, Nov. 
10, 1715; William, -\ng. 1, 1718; and Daniel, 
.April 30, 1722. 

-Aaron 'J'ulllc, a son of William, was one of 
the founders of the b'piscopal Church in \\'alling- 
ford, Conn. \\q was married, !''eb. (>. 1724, to 
Alary Alunson, and to them were born the f(.)l- 
lowing children : Jude, the eldest, was born Aug. 



16, 1724; Deborah, born Dec. 30, 1725, married- 
.Amos Clark; .Abel, born Feb. 14, 1728, married 
Dorcas Thomas; Aaron, born Oct. 23, 1729, died 
ill ^72)7'' Alary, born May 22, 1732; Eleazer, born 
Oct. 12, 1734, died in 1739; Rhamar, born Oct. 
26, 1736, was the great-grandfather of our sub- 
ject; iVar(.in, born Nov. 30, 1738; Eleazer, born 
Sept. 2, 1740; Rachel, born July 14, 1742, mar- 
ried James Hill; and Isaac, born Feb. 4, 1745. 

Jinsign Rhamar Tuttle, also captain in the 
militia, was born Oct. 26, 1736, and died Nov. 8, 
1817. He was married, July 28, 1762, to Rhoda 
liarnes, who died Alay 6, 1806. Their children 
were Joshua, who was born in 1764; Jude, the 
grandfather of our subject; Levi, wdio married 
.\Iolly Rassett ; Polly, who married David J. Tut- 
tle: Retsey, who married Reuben Doolittle ; Patty; 
Jerry, who married Mary Bronson ; Whiting, who 
married Lucinda Tuttle; Lyman, who with the 
loregoing was Ijaptized Oct. 7, 1780 ; Manning, 
who was baptized Feb. 23, 1781 ; Rhoda, who was 
baptized April 13, 1783, and married .A.mos Rrad- 
ley : and Rhamar. 

Jude Tuttle, the maternal grandfather of our 
subject, was born June 24, 1765, and died probably 
Sept. 26, 1808. He married Louisa Smith, Jan. 
I, 1791, and they had six children, namely: 
.Aurelia, wdio married Jesse Bassett ; Whiting, who 
married a member of the Fairbanks family; Patty, 
who was born in Rome, Mass. ; Lorinda, who died 
in .\orth .\dams, Alass. ; Hannah, mother of our 
subject; and Jude S., who was born July 4, 1804. 

Thomas .A. Smith, whose name introduces this 
sketch, passed his boyhood and youth in North 
Bran ford, and began his education in the district 
schools of the town. Later, however, he attended 
the graded schools of North Haven. When a 
young man he secured employment in a factory 
at Aleriden, where he remained two years, and 
then embarked in the foundry business at Clinton- 
ville, Conn., as a member of a company, manufac- 
turing locks and similar articles. Prior to the war 
of the Rebellion they did a large business in the 
South, depending on the mail order system to ad- 
vertise and sell their wares. About 1855 Air. 
Smith sold out, and took stock in the agricultural 
implement manufacturing company, then being or- 
.ganized in .\orthford, which enterprise was car- 
rietl on very successfully for a number of years, 
and then discontinued. He ne.xt enga,gcd in mer- 
chandising at that place until 1896, when he dis- 
I)osed of his business, and has since superintended 
the operation of his farm of sixtv acres in North- 
ford. 

In that town, Air. Smith was married, Alay 9, 
1855, to Miss .Ann Delia Harrison, a daughter of 
.Alliert and Ann (Footc) Harrison. She died Dec. 
I, i85(;, leaving one child, Albert Harrison, who 
was born Feb. 11, 1856, and died Alay 25, 1898. 
He was engaged in fruit raising at Paw Paw, 
Mich., and was married, Alarch 18, 1885, to Emma 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



467 



R. Snyder, by whom he had two children : 
Thomas Albert, horn Jan. 25, 1886; antl J'aul 
llarrison, born Sept. 20, 1889. Mr. Smith was 
married, second, Oct. 21, t86y, by Rev. Mr. Uavis, 
1(1 -Miss .Martha E. Page, of Xorth LSranfonl, 
whose ancestral history is given in connection with 
the sketch of her brother on another page of this 
vohime. 

i'olitically Mr. Smith is an ardent Re])iiblican, 
and in religiims connection a member of the Con- 
i^regational Church of Northford. He has been 
honored with several official jjositions of trust and 
resp(jnsibilit_\', havir.g' served as postmaster of 
Xorthford for about fourteen years ; selectman 
several terms ; tax collector six consecutive years ; 
member of the State Legislature two terms; anil 
member of the school board. In business aiiairs 
lie was always energetic, prompt and notably re- 
liable, and he is a man whose worth and aliility 
have gained him success, honor and public confi- 
dence. 

ED\MN W. COOPER, who was born in West- 
villc, Conn., l~eb. 3, 1826, jiassed out of life Dec. 
10, 1898, and in his death Westville lost not oiilv 
one of its most successful manufacturers, but also 
a citizen who was prominently identified with and 
interested in the progress and industrial develop- 
ment of his section to an unusual degree. 

The birth of Edwin W. Cooper occurred in the 
town where his business success was obtained. His 
early educational opportunities were very limited 
as, by the death of his father, when only a child, he 
was obliged to labor for his mother's support, she 
being left with a family to care for. bjitering a 
cooper shop as early as he would be received as an 
a])i>rentice, he worked there for a time and then 
tiKik passage on a vessel owned by Abram J leaton, 
gradually being promoted until his wages permitted 
the saving of money. This vessel plied between 
.\ew llaven and Southern ports, and Mr. Cooper 
continued on it for three years. 

I'pon his return to W'cstville, Mr. Cooper en- 
tered into business in jxirtnership with Josejih 1). 
Payne, the association continuing for fifteen years. 
It was at this time that the business was inaugurated 
in the town of Madison, by Mr. Cooper, that jjroved 
such a financial success and resulted in the founding 
of an industrial enterprise which has been of the 
greatest value to this section of the county. Eor 
about fifteen years ]\Ir. Cooper was a manufacturer 
<if maiiilla and straw board pajier, utilizing the force 
of two mills, and giving cm])loymeiit to a large 
number of competent workmen. Eor some vcars 
prior to his death he had retired from the active 
management of the business. 

Mr. Cooper was married, first, lo Unth Ann 
W'ooster, who was a daughter of (kirry W'ooster, 
of W'cstville. She died, leaving one son, Zenas W., 
who is a resident of Windsor, Conn. On Se])t. 8, 
1868, Mr. Cooper was married to Miss .Martha S. 



llotchkiss, who was born in Xaugatuck, Conn., a 
daugliier of (Jideon O. and .Xancy (Smith) llotch- 
kiss. the latter of whom was a daughter of .\nsoii 
Smith, also ui .Xaugatuck. One child was born 
of this union: hJeanor M., born in 1872, married 
Harry li. Kennedy, of Xew llaven, Conn., and died 
I'el). 8, i8y6. 

-Mrs. Cooper was a daughter of Gideon Oscar 
llotchkiss, a son of .Major Orrin, a son of .\inos, 
who was a son of Gideon. Gideon C)scar Holch- 
kiss was a farmer of prominence, and was also a 
leader in the Democratic party, for nine years being 
one of the most eiiicient sheriffs of the county, holil- 
iiig the office at the time of his death, in 1872. The 
children born to .Mr. and .Mrs. llotchkiss were: 
[I) Martha and (2) Marian, twins, the former of 
whom became .Mrs. Cooper, and the latter .Mrs. 
(ieorgc W. Davis. (3) ( )rrin W'aite, deceased, 
was Iwrn in .Xaugutuck where he was eiiucated, 
learned the trade of machinist and became superin- 
tendent of the E. S. Wheeler factory in Saugatuck, 
spending his last years in Bridgeport ; he married 
Emma Perry, who was born in Westport, and they 
had one soil' — Edwin Benton, who was educated 
in Westville, became also a machinist, and in 1895 
went to Rotterdam, Holland, where he is the super- 
intendent of a factory. (He married Katherine .Mc- 
Carty, of Brooklyn, X. Y., near which city her 
father is a farmer, and they have two sons, Harold 
Orrin and \'ernoii l.e Grand.) (4) George Leaii- 
der is deceased. (5) Ida married Willis 15. 1 shell, 
well known as "Parson" Isbell, and they have two 
children, Lena May, wlio married Rev. Charles O. 
Scoville in Xew llaven, and has a daughter Helen 
May; and Grace Lillian, who married Dennis Crum- 
my, and has two children, Teresa and Julia. (6) 
llobart is a prominent lawyer and a judge in the 
city of Xew Haven. (7) Howard L. married May 
Towne of Cleveland, Ohio, and is superintendent of 
the malleable iron department of the Deering .Manu- 
facturing Co., of Chicago. 

Mr. Cooper was a Hfe-long Democrat and for 
eight years served his city as selectman, h'rater- 
iially he was connected with the Masonic order, and 
both he and family were C(5nsislent and devoted 
members of the Episcopal Church. 

S1-:LDEX CH.XRLES WILIT.VMS, who is 
one of the well-known and ])0])ular men of Meri- 
den, is now living as a retired farmer, and is en- 
joying in his old age the fruitage of honest and 
industrious years. He was born on the Midtllc- 
town Road, East Meriden, May 22, 1832, a grand- 
son of David Williams, a native of Xew York, 
who followed the occupation of ship cariienter. 

I\<jbert Williams, son of David, and the father 
of .'^elden, was born in Catskill. X. '\'., and as his 
father died four years after, Robert was tala-n to 
bouth (jlastonbury. Conn., and received into the 
home of David Tryon, where he remained until 
sixteen years of age. -At that time lie came to 



468 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Mcridoii, and entered the employ of Xoah Pom- 
ero_\-. a tinner, and devoted himself tj learning the 
tinner's trade, l-'or several years he was an aj)- 
j)rentiee with .Mr. I'omeroy, and tor hfteen \ears 
after leaving him followed the trade as a journey- 
man, lie tiien Ixniglit his native farm, embracing 
twelve acres in East .Meriden, wliieh hecanie llie 
home of the faniilv. lie traveled through the 
United States for several years, selling patent 
rights, with great success. Ills la>t years, how- 
ever, were spent on the farm, where he died. In 
politics he was a Democrat, and in religious mat- 
ters a believer in the faith of the r.a])Mst Church, 
of which his wife was a life-long nienilier. ^Mr. 
Williams was married in Meriden to Rachel I'.ald- 
win. (laughter of Samuel I'.aldwin. of l-".ast .Men- 
den. She was a school teacher in her early _\ears, 
and died on the farm where she had lived many 
years, and her remains are buried in the East 
Cemetery. They had nine children: .Monzo J., 
who died in i<joo; Hannah, the wife of Henry 
Winslow, of .Middletown: Selden Charles: Jo- 
seph II., \vh:i died in iijoJ: Russell, of Meriden,; 
I'rancis, of East Meriden: Linus, of .Akron, Uhio: 
Isaac 1'., of Meriden: Harvey .Miller, who died 
when nine months old. 

Selden t'harles Williams received his education 
in the district school and at .Meriden .Academy. ■ 
Jle grew up on the farm, and at the age of eight- j 
een "vears liegan traveling through the Middle 
States and the South, engaged in peddling. .\t 
New ( )rleans his health failed, and he took passage 
on a Swedish ban|ue fnr Italy, acting as third mate 
on board the -hi]) while <in the voyage. While 
returning home he learned at West Sicily, of the 
breaking out of the Civil war in the L'nited States. 
He hastened Imme and enlisteil in Company F, 
15th Conn. \'. I., with Capt. .VI. Harvey and Col. 
Dexter Wright as his superior officers, .\lthough 
he had a cripjjled hand, he was accejHed, and par- 
ticijjated in se\eral battles, proving himself a brave 
and loval suhher. Jle was transferred to the 
quartermaster's deiiartment, having charge of the 
cajjtnred liorsrs and mules brought in by .Sher- 
man's men. .\lr. Williams was nuistert'il out of 
llie service in .\orth Carolina, and returned home, 
feeling that he had done a man's ij.arl in the hour 
of his country's need. 

.\t home .Mr. Williams w;'.s c'ngaged in the 
cultivation of the home farm fur a time, and then 
found work in the factory of I'.railley i.\: Hubbard, 
l-'or eight years he was with thai noted Imusc, and 
then resumed Iv's work on the f.irni, where he is 
still engaged. Mr. Williams is well read, and is 
tlloroughly posted on all the subjects (if the (la\-. 
.\n earnest and intelligent believer in the cardinal 
])rinci[)les of Democracy, he is a worker for the 
success of the party, lie is not connnitied to au\- 
church, and holds tlie (Golden Rule as a sufficient 
law of life. 

On Sept. 4. 1865, .Mr. Williams was married 



to Sarah L. Remington, who was born in Meriden,. . 
a daughter of Oliver T. and X'incey (Morse) Rem- 
ington. To this union were born eight children, 
of whom f(jur are living. namel_\' : Carson E. 
married .Anna E. Loy : I'dora E. is at home; Har- 
vey, born Oct. 24. 1875. and now a butcher and 
meat dealer, was married to Josephine Iviemli ; and 
Sarah Lois married Edwin S. Culver, of Aleriden, 
and is the mother of three children, Howard 
.Marcus, RayiiKjiid George and Roijert -Almon. .AH 
the others died in infancy. Airs. Williams is a 
ladv of intelligence, and has proved a worthy help- 
meet to lier e.xeellent hushand. 

CH.ARLES GR.AXXISS AIERRLM.AX, now 
living retired in . Westville, is a native of Xew 
Haven, born Ma_\' 29, 1823, in Elm street, and 
through a long and e.xemplary life has upheld the 
prestige of a family whose members have ever com- 
manded the highest respect. The connection of 
the Alerriman family with the history of Connecticut 
dates back to the earliest Colonial days. The name 
has been variously spelled Alerriman, Merriam, etc. 
l-'r(jm the History of Wallingford we extract the 
l(.illowing : 

"Joseph Alerriam took the freeman's oath in Lex- 
ington, .Mass., Alarch 14, 1638, and died Jan. i, 
1641. and some of his descendants assumed the name 
of or were recorded as Alerriman. Capt. Nathaniel 
Alerriman was one of the original settlers of Wal- 
lingford, Conn., in 1670. He died Feb. 13, 1693,-4- 
aged eighty }ears. 

"John, born Feb. 28, 1O59, had three wives, first 
Hannah Lines, of New Haven, second Mary Doo- 
little, and third Elizabeth Peck. 

"John, son of John and Elizabeth Peek, born 
Oct. lb, \(x)\. This John ( i ) was probably a Bap- 
tist preacher, preaching at Wallingford and after- 



ward at Southington. wdiere he died b'eb. 



^7^4. 



and he was my grandfather's grandfather, as fol- 
lows: Silas (2), Alarcus (3), Marcus Jr. (41,, 
my father, Charles Granniss (5) Alerriman, myself, 
aged si-xty-five now' (1888), born Alay 29, 1823. 

"Silas Alerriman, my great-grandfather, was 
born 1734, died Alay 8. 1805, age seventy-one; his 
wife, Hannah L'pson, died 1820." 

Marcus Alerriman, grandf.ather of oiir subject, 
was born ( )ct. 31, 1762. in Cheshire, Conn., and 
died in .\e\\ 1 l.aven. Just before his death he wrote 
a sketch of his life wliich is now in the possession 
of his grandson, our subject. Lie was very active 
during the Revolutionary period, and took part in 
that struggle as an artillerist, being in many 
of the engagements in and around Xew Haven. 
His ])arents iiad moved back to Southington. 
and remained tliere throughout the war. In 
17(8(5 Marcus .Merriman went to sea on a privateer, 
and he scr\-ed several months on the Atlan- 
tic, visiting, in comi)any with dther privateers, 
[•"ranee and other countries. In .March, 1781, he 
enlisted on board a 20-gun ship which w'as to sail 




xt^/C^ft-r <!^/ ^^.^p'Cs^- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



469 



out of Xew London, under letter of marque. He 
went to llie West Indies, where at Port au Prince, 
Mayti, lie had _\ello\v fever, in the Pay of Piscay, 
whither the vessel had sailed after visiting- the West 
Indies, they were engasied by two Pritish war ves- 
-sels, were hard pressed, and obliged to run ashore 
Jiear Payonne, where the shiiJ was abandoned. After 
recovering the cargo they sold it, and Mr. Alerri- 
ir.an walkt'd to liordcaux. a distance of H)0 miles. 
This consumed four or five days, and after waiting 
a month, he and his companions left on foot fnr 
Xantes, 200 miles away. .\t the latter pnrt they 
shipped for $8.00 per mo)itli, cii a Rhode Island 
brig. J lere they heard the good news of the sur- 
render of Lord Cornwallis to Gen. Washington. 
After leaving the coast of France, they did not see 
another vessel until they arrived in Providence, after 
a voyage of fifty-three days. They carrieil silks and 
brandy from France. Mnally returning to Xew 
Haven, Alarcus ^Merriman cnm])leted his trade, that 
of a jeweler and silversmiih. which he continued to 
follow, becoming a member of the firm of ^lerri- 
man & Pradley. Marcus Merriman was a good citi- 
zen and a devout believer in the principles of Chris- 
tianity, which he earnestly fried to follow. Ide was 
four times married. In Xovember, 1783, he wed- 
<led Sarah Parmelee (grandmother of our subject), 
who died May 16, .171)3, leaving three small children. 
P.y his second wife, Susan Ponticou, who died in 
Januar\-, 1S07, he had hvi-' children, all of whom 
died in infancy but Sarah, who became the wife of 
V.\k-u S. Thomson, of (iosheii. Conn. On Dec. 22, 
1807, Mr. Alerriman married Lydia \\'ilco.\, of Kill- 
ingvvorth, who died l'"eb. 5, 1822. [n Xovember, 
1822, he married Petsey, widow of Othniel De l-'or- 
est, of 1 limtiiigton, Connecticut. 

Marcus Merriman, Jr., father of Charles G., was 
born in .\ew l.laven, and there died Dec. 11, 1864, 
( )n Sept. 12, 1813, he married .Mar\- Hotchkiss, who 
"was born in Xew Haven, March 18, 17^3, a daugh- 
ter oi llezekiah llotchkiss, also a native of Xew 
Haven, and a member of an old Connecticut family. 
Mrs. Merriman died March 12, 1855. Xine chil- 
•<lren blessed this union, of whom we have the fol- 
lowing brief record: James E., born Jan. 27, 181 5, 
resided in Mem])his, Teiin., where he was engaged 
in the jewelry business: he died May 15, i87(j, in 
Xew Flaven. Marcus P., born Xov. 18. 1817, <lied 
June 3, 1821. I-Clias !'.. born May l, 1819, lives in 
Westville ; for many years he was in the ta.x col- 
lector's office. ( ieorge T.. born b'eb. 22, 1821, died 
on Xovember 2y, 1829. Charles Ci. is the snli- 
ject pro])er of this article. William, l>oi-n Dec. 
22. 1825. died in infancy. .Mary G., born June 13, 
1827, died in July, 1830. Grace H., born .\ov. 2, 
1829, died Dec. 17, 1834. Samuel P.. born July y, 
J831, died Sept. 21, 1854. Marcus Merriman, Jr., 
the father of this family, was a silversmith during 
his early manhood, and in later life a manufacturer 
of hardware. He took a very active part in the pub- 
-]ic affairs of his section, held numerous local offices, 



and discharged the duties thereof so completely to 
tile satisfaction of his fellow citizens tiiat they hon- 
ored him with election to the State Senate. His 
political afiiliatit)n was originally with the Whig 
parly, and he eventually became a Republican, in 
religion he was a Congregationalist, holding meni- 
bershi]) with the Xorth Church. 

Charles Granniss Merriman remained in the 
city of his birth until he was fourteen, and received 
his literary training in the Lancaslerian School, 
where Mr. LovcU was then the instructor. He then 
Went to Xew York City, remaining there until he 
was twenty-one, when he went to Montgomery, Ala., 
for two years. PPs ne.xt move was to .Memphis, 
'Peim., wliere he resided for twenty years, eiigageil 
in the jewelry business. In 1858 Mr. .Merriman 
brought ills family to Hamden, Conn., purchasing 
a farm whereim they lived until 1875, sniee which 
_\ear their home has been in Westville. He never 
engaged in fanning as an occuiiation, residing on 
the i)lace mentioned from preference. Xo citizen 
of the community enjoys more thoroughly the es- 
teem and attection of his neighbors than iloes oiir 
subject. Mr. .Merriman has literary tastes, which 
in his _\ears of retirement he has had plenty of op- 
portunit}- to gratify. He has written numerous arti- 
cles for ditTereiit papers, and has published several 
books of poems, among them "The Legend of the 
Sleeping (liaiit," "Crude Thoughts in \'erse," 
"Past and Present." and ".Memories. Reminiscences, 
etc. in verse of the C )ld Lancasterian School." Like 
his father before him, he is a Repnlilican in politics 
and a Congregationalist in religion, in the latter con- 
nection holding membershi]> in the \\ estville Con- 
gregational Church. 

( )n .Aug. 22, 1855, -Mr. .Merriman married .Miss 
ALartha L. White, who was born in Waterbury, 
! Conn., but was living in .Meni])his at the time of 
their marriage. Her jiarents, Hir;im J. and Hen- 
rietta Wliite, were Waterbury ik-oijIc. Three chil- 
dren wer(.' liorn to .Mr. and Airs. Alerriman: l-'ran- 
cis, who died in infancy: Laura W., who died ( )ct. 
15, 1880, aged twenty-two years; and Aliss Alice 
AL, residing at home. 

ROAl.AXT.A r. LIXSLEY, one of the leading 
and inlluential men of Xorth Haven, is a worthy 
re])resentative of an old famil\- in Connecticut. 
The original settlers in .America were two brothers, 
Francis and John, who came from hjigland, and 
located and bought land in Totoket. in 1(143. I'l'om 
John are descended the Linsleys of Xorth Ha\en. 
I'or genealogy see sketch of l^dward Lee Linsley, 
elsewhere in this volume. 

Romanta T. Linsley was born in .Xi)rlliford, 
Dec. 17, 1832. and received every educational ad- 
vantage that the time and place afforded, having 
both district and select scliooling. L'ntil eighteen 
years of age he attended school, a part of the lime, 
and assisted about the farm, and then started to 
learn the cabinet maker's trade, later the car- 



470 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



penter"s trade. I lis first wages did not cover more 
than tile price of his Iward. Hampered by poor 
lieallh, lie was not able to continue very long at 
one (iccupatioii. He worked in North Haven in 
an agricultural implement factory, and then went 
to reiinsylvama, where he tried work on a railroad. 
Keturning later to .\orth Haven, he assisted his 
father in' the lumber business. The war breakhig 
out, his brother Samuel gave \\\) his butchering 
business to become a soldier, and our subject took 
charge of this, selling meat over a large territory. 
Closing out this business, he returned to his old 
trade of joiner, and continued in that line until 
1885, when he was elected first selectman, to the 
(luti'es of which office he gave his whole time and 
attention. I'or twelve years .\lr. Liiisley held that 
im])ortant ])ositioii, his term expiring in 1807. 
since which time he has lived on the pleasant farm 
of eleven acres, somewhat retired from public life. 
During his administration the beautiful Memorial 
Hall, in .Xorth Haven, was erected, and he was 
chairman of the building cfimmittee. In October, 
1800. he was furtlu-r honored by his fellow citi- 
zens with the a])i)oinlment to the office of town 
treasurer, to succeed the late 1'. liayden Todd, 
which iK).viiioii he still tills. He has also served 
cfficieiitlv as grand juror. 

Mr. 'l.insley married .Miss Angelinc B. Pardee, 
a native of .\orth ll;iveii, a ilanghter of John and 
IX'borah (Todd) Pardee', and the only child of 
this union was Idora, who was born Aug. 2, 1858, 
and who died .March 18, 1872. In politics Mr. 
Linslev is a st;iiich Republican. b"or twenty-five 
years he ha- been the treasurer of the Episcopal 
I'hurch, of .Xorth Haven, and yet retains the po- 
sition, and he has also been vestryman; both he and 
his wife are valued members of the same. Kind 
and obliging in manner, Mr. Linslev has many 
friends, ;nid is regarded as one of the substantial 
and reiircseiilative men of Xorth Haven. 

.M.h'KbJ) 1). T^■RR1LL, superintendent of 
the .\ew ll.-iveii br.iiicb of the National Casket 
C'o., is one of tlir well known men of the Liusiness 
world in .\ew 1 laveii. Almost his entire life has 
been passed within the confines of New fdaven 
countv, and there, where he is so well known in 
commercial and social circles, no man stanils higher 
in the t'StiiiKitioii of the ])eoplr. lie was born in 
l)erb\'. Conn., Dec. 10, 18,57, a .son of Isaac H. 
Tyrrill, of that town. 

Isaac H. Tyrrill w;is born Jan. 5. 1812, a son 
of b'.ben Tyrriil, and his wife I-.sther, the former 
of whom was born in 1784, and died lub. 21. 1825, 
and till' Latter born Oct. 17, 17S0, ami died Jan. 
10, 1855. Isaac H. Tyrrill grew to manhood in 
Derby, and there learned the joiner's trade, be- 
coming a master builder. In ])oIitical sentiment 
he was a stanch Whig. ;nid in his religions faith 
an l".pisco])alian. He married i larrielt .S. lUake, 
who was l)om April 6, 1811, a d;uightcr of Isaac 



Blake, and died June i, 1874. Two children were 
born to them, Elmore S., born March 17, 1835, 
now residing in New Haven; and Alfred D., our 
subject. 

Alfred D. Tyrrill was one year of age when 
his ])arents removed from Derby to Newtown, 
Conn., ami there he acquired his literary training 
in the public schools and in the academy, under 
the personal tuition of J. Homer French and J. 
E. Goodhue. He was prepared for Trinity Col- 
lege, but was obliged to abandon his intention in 
regard to a higher education by the failure of his 
health. Ciitil he was twenty-one years of age he 
engaged in teaching in the public schools, spending 
his summers in looking after his mother's prop- 
erty. By the time he had gained his majority he 
had become prominent in public affairs, and he was 
elected to se\'eral offices at dilterent limes, being 
town clerk for three years, registrar of vital statis- 
tics for a like period, member of the board of edu- 
cation six years, etc. He had six schools under 
his charge to visit and examine all the teachers, 
and was chief constable for three years, ta.x col- 
lector one year. When President Buchanan was 
in power, Jerome Judson was postmaster, Init as 
he was in business in Sandy Hook, Mr. Tyrrill 

! attended to the postoffice. After four years in 
Newtown, closing up his altairs, he, in 1864, came 
to New Haven, and has since made it his home. 
His first employment in this city was as a laborer 
in the New Haven Clock Co. ; he remained witli 
this company some twelve years in various posi- 
tions, but by straining his eyes while filing saws, 
he lost the sight of one eye. He was an expert saw 
filer and held a position as such for fifteen years, 
at the end of which time he became assistant super- 
intendent of the company he had served so long. 
After one year he was chosen superintendent, tak- 

' ing entire charge of the case and brass depart- 
ment. After nine vears in this responsible position 
he resigned, and for a short time was engaged in 
the retail grocery Inisiness. In 1891 he became 
superintendent of the National Casket Co., and in 
1899, when that company became the New Haven 
liranch of the National Casket Co., Mr. Tyrrill 
was ap])ointed superintendent, and this he con- 
tinues to be. He has built up a large trade, and 
has won much praise for his management of the 
compaiiN 's interests in .New Haven. 

On Dec. 21, 1858, .\lr. T\rrill was married to 
Miss Martha Dikemaii, who was born in New- 
towii; Conn., a daughter of Ebenezer and Betsey 
M. (DikemanI Diktniaii, the former born in New- 
town, a son of .Xatbaniel Dikeman. and the latter 
born in Danbury, a daugliti.-r of Xiram and Pat- 
tie (Berkcrl Dikeman. .Xiram and Nathaniel 
Dikeman were brothers, and they were the sons 
of Thad(K'us Dikeman. Two chiidren blessed the 
hoiiu' of Mr. and .Mrs. Tyrrill: (i) Dwight S., 
born Jan. 2, i8'io, has for many years been asso- 
ciated with his I'ather. \\"hen the latter was super— 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



471 



imcndciit of the Clock Co., Dwight was the assist- 
ant supcrintciuk-in. ami again with the National 
Casket Co., IJwigiit was bookkeeper for two years, 
then traveling salesman for a like ])erioil, and now 
is foreman of the -Mill department, lie married 
Anna Daniels, and makes his liome in Xew Haven. 
(2) (riertriide married William M. Reid, of Hart- 
ford, where he is salesman in ih-own & 'I'hompson's 
dry-goods store, the leading bnsiness of its kmd in 
Hartford. I'olitically Mr. Tyrrill is a Democrat, 
bnt in local alTairs acts independently, voting for 
the Ijcst man regarcUess of party. Jle is a member 
of W'ooster Lodge, Xo. 79, F. &. A. .M., and the 
^Intnal iJenefit Association. For fourteen years 
he was a member of tlie Second Comjjany, Gov- 
ernor's I'"oot Cjnards, and for the last seven years 
of that time was secretary and treasurer. \\ hen 
a yonng man, Mr. Txrrill was possessed of a tenor 
voice of good ([nality, and for many years he was 
the soloist in the I'.piscopal Church choir in .\'ew- 
town, and also in other clunrs. 

IIOX. JOHX gL■IXC^' TH.WKR. of ^[eri- 
den, for thirty _\ears and more one of its substantial 
men and honored citizens, and now Judge of Pro- 
bate for the Mcriden district, and a veteran of the 
Civil war, has long held a prominent position in the 
])rofessional and social circles of the city, in which 
his useful life is passing. 

Judge Thayer was born March 24, 1843, ''i ''i*-' 
town of .Xew Milford, Litchfield Co., Conn., a son 
of Augustine and Electa ( l-'airchild ) Thayer, and a 
grandson of Lenuiel and Lucy ( Brownson) Thayer. 
Electa Fairchild belonged to the old and respected 
family of that name in Xewtown, Conn., where she 
passed her girlhood and early womanhood. 

Augustine Thayer w'as a carpenter and builder, 
and followed his trade all his active life in Xew 
]\Iilford, where he was justice of the peace for .a 
number of vears. A man of iniassuming spirit and 
genuine worth, his advice commanded resjjcct, and 
many disputes were settled by him out of court. l"or 
fifty years he was a niemljer of the Congregational 
Church, and his daily life brought no blush of shame 
to his Christian profession. As a good husband and 
a kind father, as well as loyal and faithful friend, 
he is tenderly remembered by those who knew him 
most intimately. He was a strong Anti-slavery 
man, and gave very substantial aid to the cause of 
the Cnion in the days of war and strife. 

The l'"airchild family, as noted abtjve, has long 
been noted in l'"airheld comity, and is supposed to 
be of Scottish origin, the name being written h'air- 
bairn in the early days. The family coat-of-arms 
indicates that some of its members took part in the 
Crusades from I0(j6 to 1400 A. D. The family re- 
moved front Scotland to ]'",ngland where the name 
became b'airchild. Thomas l'"airchild, who was the 
first of the name in America, came with the first set- 
tlers, locating at Stratford, b'airfield county, in the 
rising colony of Connecticut. He became a mer- 



chant, and was one of the leading men of the settle- 
ment, holding various positions e)f honor and respon- 
sibility. In Uj(j4 he was justice of the jieace, and was 
also a leather scaler for the county. In 1654 he, witli 
his brother, and Thomas Sherwood, were appointed 
a committee to draft men for the Xarragansett war. 
His death occurred Dec. 14, 1670. Miss Seabrook, 
a sister of Mrs. Thomas Sherwood, was his first 
wife; and Miss Catherine Craigg, of London, Conn., 
his second. To these two marriages were born six 
children. 

Thomas l-'airchild, born in 1644, was the first 
white child born in Stratford, i le lived and died in 
his native town, antl was the father of the following 
children: John, Josiah, i'riscilla and Emma. 

Josiah l''aircliild, noted in the ])receding para- 
gra])h, was born in Stratford, in if)04. wliere he 
was a land owner, and where he died. ICdward 
I''airchild, his .son, was born in Stratford, where he 
grew to manhood, and in 1720 removed to Xew- 
town, b'airfield comity, where he spent the remainder 
of his life and where his ])osterity still abide. He 
was married, and became the father of Jonathan, 
Ebenezer, Moses aiul James. 

James I'airchild, the great-great-grandfather or 
Judge Thayer, was born in Xewtown, Conn., where 
he lived and died, lie was a land owner and a 
farmer, and s])ent his life in his native community. 
Silas, Philo and James were his children. 

Silas ]-"airchild, the great-grandfather of ludge 
Thayer, was Iwrn in Xewtown, in 1748, and was 
married to Sarah Godfrey, of Weston, Conn., who 
died .\L'irch 31, 1832, at the age. of eighty-three 
years. He died Dec. 17, 1 82 1. He was a prom- 
inent man ami was commissioned lieutenant and 
subsequently a captain of Train IJand by Ciovernor 
Trumbull. His children were as follows: Joseph, 
born Aug. 12, J 770; Al)igail, born Aug. 10, 1772. 
died ^larch 28, 1794: Stephen JSradlew born May 
31, 1774, died l"eb. i<), 1775; I'olly, born March 3. 
1776, died Jan. 22, 1794; Sarah, born July 6, 1781. 

Joseph h'airchild, the grandfather of Judge 
Thayer, died June 23, 1855, and his years covered 
a long and critical period in the history of the Re- 
public. Jrle was three times married, his second 
wife being Amarillas Dibble, of Danbury, Conn. 
She died Jan. 10, 1827, and their daughter, I'.lccta. 
became the wife of Augustine Thayer, and the 
mother of Judge Thayer, as already noted. 

Judge Thayer received his preliminary education 
in the old Housatonic Institute at Xew .Milford, 
where he was being jirepared for College at the 
breaking out of the Civil war. The firing on Fort 
Sumter, and the stirring scenes of the summer of 
1861, aroused within his heart a jiatriotic devo- 
tion that could not be denied, and he left the school 
rofini for the tented field, enlisting .^ept. 2r. i8f)i, 
in Company I. 8th Conn. \'. I., and was mustered 
into the L'nited States service with his company and 
regiment the same day. This command became a 
part of the l^astern army, sailing with the lUirn- 



4/2 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



sidf e.\])c(liliiin in Jamiary, iS'iJ. ami iruin thai lime 
until ils (liscliar.m'. iJcc. u, 18(15, ■'^<'^^' imich active 
service, ami made an honorable record for itself on 
many a hhjody held. Jiul.tje Thayer shareil the for- 
tunes of his resjfiment from start to f^ni^h, and par- 
ticijjated in the following- notable enga,<;cnients : 
Xeubern, X. C. .March 14. \^<i2: siese of Macon, 
in April, \H(i2: iM-edericksbnrj;-, \ a., Dec. 1,^. ]8(j2; 
iMjrt flu,ui-r, .\|)ril \'), iS'>3; \\altliall junction, \a 



Ah 



18(14: 1-ort Darlin.u, \ a.. May ifi, 181)4; 



l'eterslnn\i;, \ a., .\n^. j^. i8<i4; l-Hi't Harrison, \'a., 
Se])t. 29, 18' 14, and entered Richmond with liis regi- 
ment A])ril 3, i8<i5. .\fler the fall (jf Richmond he 
was detaile(l as clerk in the .Xdjiuant-Generars de- 
parlnient of the _'4lli Army L'orps. commanded Ijy 
(leneral Ord. and snbsei|nently, after the dissolution 
of that corps was assigned to <lniy at tlu- headi|uar- 
ters of the l)e])artment of \ irginia, commanded b\ 
(ieneral Terry, where he served until discharged in 
December. 18(15. When his f(nir years and three 
months of military service were over, young Thayer 
returned to his home with a record as a L'nion sol- 
dier, of which he and his friends may well he proud. 

ludgi- riia\er ]iromptl\ resumed his studiou.s 
habits, and became a student in the office of \\'ill- 
iam Knapji, of Xew .\lilfurd. stiid\ing law under 
his most efficient direction, being admitted to the 
Litchfield I'.ar in 1801^ In that year he kjcated at 
Meriden, and for three _\ears it was his ]jrivile.ge to 
be in the office with lion. ( ). 11. I'latt, now L'nited 
States Senator from Connecticut. .After this period, 
Mr. Tliayer was associated in the practice of the 
law with 1 Ion. U.illitT I licks, under the firm name of 
Hicks & Tlia>er. This partnershi]) continued sev- 
eral years, ami since ils dissolution Jud.ge Thayer 
lias not been a member of any legal firm. Judge 
Thayer has served several terms as a city attorney, 
and for about thirti-en years was .assistant judge 
and clerk of the cit\- and police court of Aleriden. 
lie has also been justice of the peace and a judge 
advocate of the (U'p.artment of C onneclicut ( i. .A. K.. 
and was chosi-n to his ])resent ])osiliiin, ludge (if the 
CotU'l of I'roliate for the Meriden district, in 1893, 
ably ])erforming its luany ami cnmplicated duties, to 
the satisfaction of all concerned. Judge Thayer is 
a man of ability, of the strictest iiUegrity, and com- 
mands the esteem and respect of the conununit'. in 
which he has so long lived. 

( )n Jan. Hj, \Hj_^, Judge Th.iyi'r was married to 
Annie S., a dauglUi'r of S. K. Devereux, of C'astine, 
Maine, Collector of Cnstiim> of the Port of Castine. 
'J"hc only child of this iniion was Zerline Devereux, 
born in Meriden, L'onn., May Jij, 1880, and died 
Dec. 9, 1884. 

G.VTMS. Throughout the [)ast century there 
have lived in the town of Derby several generations 
of the (iates family, among whom ha\e been men of 
l)roniinence. wealth and large inlluence in the com- 
munity — such men as the late Col. Robert (iates and 
Robert Wilder (iates. and the present Hon. Robert 



I Owen (jales. former high sheriff of New Haven 
coinitv, and a man of prominence not only in the 
town and county but in the State. N'arious mem- 
bers of the earlier generations in America ranked 
with the most prominent as well as the earliest of 
the settlers of Xew England. 

Capt. ( ieorge (iates, the progenitor of the Derby 
branch of the (iates family, was born about 1634, 
in England, and came to this country when about 
seventeen years old, in the care of Ca])t. Xicholas 
Olmsted. He was of Hartford, Conn., as early as 
i(i(>i. and in the following year was an original pro- 
]irieti.ir of h'.ast Haddam. which locality was the 
home of his descendants for generations. He was 
ca])tain of the h'irst Alilitary Company of Haddam, 
and served as such until (October, i'kj". Ca]5t. (jates 
married Sarah, eldest daughter of Capt. Xicholas 
tJlmsted. of Hartford, son of James, who came to 
ISoston in i'>32. and removed to Hartford in 1^)3^1, 
becoming an original proprietor. Xicholas Olmsted 
was one of the prominent public men of Hartford, 
and held important public offices. He served in the 
I'e(piot war, also in King Philip's war, was ap- 
pointed a captain anil sent to Xew London in i()75. 
He married Sarah, daughter of Joseph Loomis. of 
Windsor, Conn. Capt. George Gates lived to be 
aliout ninety years of age, dying in 1724, and his 
wife died in 1704. Erom this Capt. Gates and wife, 
Roljert ( )wen (Jates of Derby, is a descendant in 
the eighth generation, his line being through Deacon 
Joseph. Deacon and Capt. Joseph. Ensign Bazaliel, 
Razalicl (2). Col. Robert and Robert AVilder Gates. 

(H) Deacon Joseph Gates, son of Capt. George, 
the settler, born in 1662, married Elizabeth, daugh- 
ter of Thomas Hungerford {2), and ,granddaughter 
of Thcmias 1 lungerford, of Hartford, and Xew Lon- 
don. Deacon (iates died in 171 2, and his widow 
passed away in 175(). 

(HI) Deacon and (.'apt. Joseph (Iates, son of 
Deacon Joseph, born in i(h)^-i)(\ married in 1719 
Hannah l'>rainar<l, who was born in i6(;4, daughter 
of Deacon D.iniel and Haiuiah (\'entris) llrain- 
ard, of Haddam, and granddaughter of Daniel and 
Hannah (.Spencer) l'>rainard. Deacon Joseph Gates 
died in 1770, and his wife Haimah in 1744. 

( W ) Ensign liazaliel Gales, sou of Deacon and 
Capt. Joseph Gates, lioni in I72(), married in 1750 
Mary Prainard, who died in 1790. 

( \' ) liazaliel Gates (2), son of Ensign P.azaliel. 
born in 1751, married Dorotln- Wilder, and died in 

1780- 

(\T) Col. Robert (iates, son of I'.azaliel (2), 

born Dec. 16. 1780. married Alarch 17, 1804, Re- 
becca 1 lowe. born May 12. 1782, daughter of Elisha 
and Ann ( HoUister) Howe, of CJlastonbury. Conn. 
Col. (iates died h"eb. 27, 1865. and his wife passed 
away July 6. 1856. Col. (iates early in life removed 
from East Haddam to Derby, in which town he ever 
afterward made his home. Pie engaged in merchan- 
dising, keeping one of the ])rincii)al stores in the 
Xaugatuck Aalley. from which many ui the settlers 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



All 



in lluu whole region of countrv obtained ihcir sup- 
plies. He also owned vessels, freighting- between 
Derby and Xcw York, became a very prosperous and 
successful man, and was prominent and inllueiitial 
in the comminiity. He was postmaster of Derb\- 
from 1833 to 1849, ^''"' served in the State Legis- 
lature in 1S38. He served in the war of 1S12 in 
the Connecticut militia, and our subject has four 
commissions hanging in his spacious hall given to 
the Colonel by the government of Connecticut, as 
follows: In 1807, when he was ai)])ointe(l by (leu. 
Trumbull captain; in 1813, when lie became ca])- 
tain of the third company of artillery ; in 181O, when 
he became major; and in i8i8, when he was [)ro- 
moted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In Sep- 
tember, 1813, he and his company were ordered to 
New London, and served forty-live days. Jt is 
said that he furnished and equipjied his com])any 
on this expedition and is so reported in history. 
The "TJerby History" states that he furnished ma- 
terial aid to the cause. Rebecca (Howe), his wife, 
on her mother's side was a direct descendant of 
Lieut. John Hollister, Richard Treat, John Tal- 
■cott. Hon. Elizur Holyoke, John Rohbins. (iov. 
Thomas Welles, the Ciavlords, Mott, I'ynchon anu 
]lutler families, all prominent in the early C.io'.iial 
hi^tory of New England. 

( \TI) Robert Wilder C.ates, .son of Col. Robert. 
was born in Derby, Jtme Ti, 18 12. ( )n Jinie 21 . 1833. 
in old Trinity Church, Xew \'ork, by liishoi) ( )n- 
derdonk, he was married to .Vnn .Maria Townsend 
Hotchkiss, born Jmie 8, 1813, daughter of John 
Owen Hotchkiss. Air. Gates (lied Dee. ij, 1882. and 
his widow Alay 6, 1891. .Mr. C!ates was a citizen of 
Derby throughout his long lifetime. In his boyhood 
and young manhood he assisted his father in the 
conduct of his business, and along in the "thirties'" 
became associated with James Standish as a builder 
and contractor, and at the same time was engaged 
in the lumber business. .Subsequently, associated 
with J. J. Brown, he was engaged in the carriage 
business. Like his father before him, he was a 
successful Ijusiness man. prosperous in his tmder- 
takings, and was a man of means and intiuence in 
the town. His political affiliations were with the 
Democratic parly. I'or a time, beginning early in 
1853, he served as postmaster of Derby, and he also 
served as assessor and as depwty sheriff. He com- 
manded the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens. 

Ror.iCRT OwiiN G.\TES, son of Robert Wilder, was 
born Nov. 23, 1838, in Derby, and in the ])ublic 
schools of that town received his education, .\fler 
his school days were over, he for a pericxl assisted 
his father in his carriage business. Later on and 
wiiile yet a boy, was a clerk in the nfiice of the Hart- 
ford & New Haven Railroad Conqiany, at .S])ring- 
field, under T.. B. Woodford, then in charge there. 
Lollowing an experience of a \ear or two so occu- 
pied in Springfield, he returned to his native town, 
and became employed in the manufacturing ])lant of 
Robert N. Bassett, who in the latter ])art of the 



fifties began the manufacture of hoo]:)-skirt wires 
and metal corset material, though ]jreviously en- 
gaged for many years in oilier lines of manufacture. 
I kre Noung dates early developed marked ability 
in the business of manufacturing, and rose rapidly to 
positions of trust aiul responsibility. He remained 
actively and energetically connected with the es- 
tablisbinent for a decade and more, and iox much 
u{ the lime was in charge of the factory. Such was 
his energy and ability, and his fidelity to his em- 
ployers, that while at the beginning his wage;5 were 
but a dollar and a half i)er da\- they were speedily 
advanced until he commantled a salary of several 
thousand dollars per year. An idea of the growth 
of the business during .Mr. Gates' connection with 
the establishnienl is shown in what follows. In 
1858 only twenty braiders were employed, while in 
|8()8 nine Inmdred were in running order. In 
1858 one man tended five machines, while in 18O8 
one girl had charge of forty. In busy limes llie 
plant was operated 23 1-3 out of the 24 hours; and 
toward the close of the decade between i8(k) and 
1870 there were used annually 75 tons of cotton and 
500 tons of wire, making about 75,000,000 yards of 
braid. Lor a period during the Civil war the profits 
of the business netted something like $50,000 per 
year. 

.since his retirement from the manufacturing 
business .Mr. tiates has given much of his time to 
his private affairs, and has been occupied largely in 
public life. 1 lis public service has been of a most 
valuable ortler to the town of Derby and count)' of 
New Haven, and his integrity and efficiency have 
been i)roductive of telling results, ile was select- 
man of the town from 1881 to 1887, the last four 
years of that period serving as town agent, and dur- 
ing his administration the lioard of which he was 
president reduced the public debt from nearly $100.- 

000 to, in round numbers, $42,000. His careful 
handling of the finances of the town won him the 
friendship and su])port of the leading citizens, 
withoui regard to party lines. When waited upon 
by his friends who urged him to become a candi- 
date for office of sheriff of New Haven county, he 
was given an idea of his popularity. This, how- 
ever, was more significaiilly demonstrated al the sub- 
sefjuent county election in 1883, when elected to that 
offfce by a large majority, overturning the district 
previously largely Democratic — a feat unprece- 
dented in the county's history. He brought to this 
important office the same energy and aliility that 
had characterized his successful career as a manu- 
facturer and town official, and his efficient and con- 
scientious work were sustained by a re-election with 
a more flattering vote. So great was his ])0]Hilarity 
at the near close of his first term in 1886, when tiie 
County Republican Conventicjii assembled in .\ew 
Haven, thai he was enthusiaslicall\- and unanimous- 
ly renominated. ( )n this event one of the .Xew 

1 laven papers said : 

"The action of the convention to nominate a 



474 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



sheriff was just what it was expected to l.)c and what 
it oiis;ht to have been. Sheriff Gates lias performed 
the duties of his office in such a way as to win the 
admiration and respect of all who have watched his 
course. He has been firm, dignified, prompt and 
courteous. Even his political opponents have noth- 
ing to say against him, for the very good reason that 
he has done his work so well that nothing can fairly 
be said. He deserves a re-election, and the indica- 
tions are that he will get it." 

Mr. Gates has been one of Derby's enterprising 
and [Hiblic-spirited citizens, always taking an ac- 
tive interest and important part in public improve- 
ments, and for twenty years was one of the trus- 
tees of the Birmingham Burying Ground Associa- 
tion, seventeen years of which period he was presi- 
tlent of it, a position he resignetl along in the mid- 
dle nineties, to the regret of all ct)ncerned. His 
great interest in the cemetery and long service as 
])rcsident of the association resulted in the present 
beautiful "City of the Dead" from a nidr Inirying 
ground once sadly neglected. He. too. should be 
credited with tiie most gratifying manner in which 
the finances of the association were handled dur- 
ing the long term of years of his presidency. On his 
assuming charge the association was in debt some 
$3,000; this he liiiuidated, and on his retirement a 
good, comfortable surplus had accrued. 

Some years after the e.\]Mration of his eight years 
of official life as sherifi' of New Haven count\', Mr. 
(lates was looked upon as being a, most valuable man 
to lead his party in the race for Congress in the 
second district. He had been a successful business 
man. and most efficient and popular as a county 
official. His knowledge of New llaven county poli- 
tics was thorough, lie had shown the power of 
attracting to himself Democratic votes. The press 
of the county was outs])oken and strong in his 
praise as to his fitness for that high office, as well 
as to his availability, he being considered the strong- 
est man that the Republicans could nominate. One 
paper, referring to Mr. Gates in this connection, 
said : "A more competent man to fill the office could 
not be found. 1 le ])Ossesses the ability and linancial 
knowledge. His ])Oi)ularity is extensive, ;uid bis 
nomination would be received here witli unboundeil 
satisfaction liy the Republicans and many of his 
Democratic friends." I lad he consented to have 
made the race there is no douljt in the minds of his 
friends but he could have received the nomination 
and been elected. P.ut <>n retiring from the office 
of sheriff' he felt that br had been well rewarded 
at the hands of his party. ;ind was disposed to keep 
out of politics thereafter. His name also at one 
time was mentioned in connection with the office of 
State Comptroller. 

Mr. Gates is a prominent iM-eeniasdn, a member 
of the New Haven Commandery Knights Templar. 
He is a leading member of the Derbv l^.oard of 
Trade, and was formerly a director of the .Star 
Pin Company, l-'mni a lifelong residence and an 



active participation in public, business and social 
life. Sheriff' Gates is known as one of the most in- 
liuential and able of Derby's residents. 

On Dec. 9, 1868, Mr. Gates was married to Le- 
titia Fletcher Hegeman, of New York City, and the 
union has been blessed with children as follows : 
Frank Hegeman, Ross Fletcher, Georgia Waldron 
and Laura Hegeman. 

Mrs. Letitia Fletcher (Hegeman) Gates is a 
descendant in the seventh generation from Adrian 
Hegeman and wife, Katrina, a native of Holland, 
who came from Amsterdam, Holland, to New Am- 
sterdam in 1650 or 1 65 1, and a few years later lo- 
cated at Flatbush, Kings county, N. Y. Mr. Hege- 
man was prominent in public affairs, and served as 
Burgomaster. 

From this emigrant settler Adrian Hegeman, 
Mrs. Gates' line is through Abraham, Adrian (2), 
Adrian (3). Peter Adrian and Peter Adrian (2). 
Adrian (2). 

(H) Abraham Hegeman, son of Adrian the set- 
tler, married Geertray Jansze. 

(HI) Adrian Hegeman (2), son of Abraham, 
married Adriaantje, a native of Flatbush, New York. 

(IV) Adrian Hegeman (3), son of Adrian (2), 
married Sytje Strykhes. 

(V) Peter Adrian Hegeman, son of Adrian (3), 
born Sept. II, 1758, in Flatbush, N. Y., married 
Letitia, a daughter of Nicholas Fletcher, of Eng- 
land. Mr. Hegeman died Nov. 7, 1815. 

(VI) Peter Adrian Hegeman (2), son of Peter 
Adrian, born Sept. 25, 1796, in New York City, 
married Dec. 31, 1839, Laura Nancy Hotchkiss, born 
Oct. 4, 1818, in New Haven, daughter of John Owen 
Hotchkiss and Mary (Townsend) Hotchkiss, of 
New Haven, Connecticut. 

(VII) Letitia Fletcher Hegeman, daughter nf 
Peter Adrian (2), married Dec. 9, 1868, in New- 
York City, Robert Owen Gates, of Derby, Connecti- 
cut. 

Both Mr. and ]\Irs. Robert Owen Gates on their 
mothers' side are of the same ancestry, wdiich is one 
of distinction in the annals of New England, they 
being in direct line of several governors of the com- 
monwealth, as well as many of the most prominent 
and influential settlers of New England. This 
couple are descendants in the ninth generation from 
Samuel Hotchkiss, \Vho supposedly came to New 
Tuigland from Essex. England. I Fe was at New 
Haven in ir)4r, and in 1642 married F.lizabeth 
Cleaverly. ilis death as given in the Tuttle (iene- 
alogy, occurred in i6c;3. F'rom this Samuel Hotch- 
kiss Mr. and Mrs. Robert Owen Gates" line is 
through John, Joshua, Caleb, John (2), (Mabriei, 
John ( )wen, and Ann Maria Townsend, and L;uira 
Nancy 1 lotchkiss, respectively. 

(II) John Hotchkiss, son of Samuel the settler, 
born in 1042, married in 1672, b'lizabeth, born in 
1649, daughter of llenry Peck, of New Haven. 
Mr. Hotchkiss died in 1689. 

(III) loslnia llolchkiss, son of lolin, born in 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



475 



1675, married Susannah, daug'iter of William and 
Mai-y (Clark) Cliatterton, the latter a daughter of 
James Clark, of Xew Haven. 

(IV) Caleb Hotchkiss, son of Joshua, burn in 
1703, married in 1728, Ruth, born ni 1708, dau.iih- 
ter of Capt. John and Sarah (Cooper) Munson. a 
descendant in direct line from Capt. Thomas Mun- 
son, William liradley, and John Cooper, of Xew 
Haven, and John Thompson, of East Haven. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hotchkiss died in 1785. 

(\') John Hotchkiss, son of Caleb, born in 1731, 
married in 1755, Susannah, born in 1732, daughter 
of Timothy and Jane (Harris) Jones, and a 
descendant in direct line from Deputy Governor 
William Jones and Covernor Theophilus ]'"a- 
ton, of Xew Haven. Mr. Hotchkiss was 
tjraduated from ^'ale in 1748, tanght in the 
Hoi)kins (irammar School in Xew lla\en from 
I74(_) to 1751, and from 1752 to 1764 was encased 
in merchandising'. When the British invaded New 
Haven in 1779, Mr. Hotchkiss was one of the vol- 
unteers who went out July 5, to oppose the march 
of the enemy, and he was anion"- the first of the 
patriots to fall. His widow survived until Mav d. 
1813. 

( \'T ) Gabriel Hotchkiss, son of John, born in 
1757, married about 1780, Hilpah Rosctta, born in 
I7()3, daughter of Capt. F.lisha and Rosetta (( )wen ) 
Pheljis, of Simsbnry, Conn., and a descendant in 
direct line from William Phelps, Sanniel Humphrey, 
Matthew Grant. Gov. Thomas Dudley, Gov. Will- 
iam Leete and Rev. John Woodbridge. Mr. Hotch- 
kiss was graduated from Yale in 1774. He died in 
1818. 

(V'H) John Owen TTotchkiss, son of Gabriel, 
born Xov. 28, 1781, married Oct. 17, 1805, Mary, 
born r^farch 8, 1788, daughter of Elias and Hul- 
dah (.Shcpard) Townsend, and a descendant in 
direct line from Thomas Townsend, Edward Hitch- 
cock, Matthew Moulthrop and John Thompson. 
Mr. Hotchkiss died July 6, 1870. His wife, Mary 
(Townsend) Hotchkiss, died in May, 1847. 

(VHI) Aim Maria Townsend Hotchkiss and 
Laura Nancv Hotchkiss, daughters of John ()wen, 
married Robert Wilder Gates and Peter Adrian 
Hegcman, respectively. 

(IX) Robert Owen Gates, son of Ann Maria 
Townsend (Hotchkiss) Gates, and Letitia Fletcher 
(Hegeman), daughter of Laura Nancy (Hotchkiss) 
Hcgeman, were married Dec. 9, 1868. 

LYMAN F. P.ASSFTT, deceased, a leading 
agriculturist of Hamdcn, was a native of Xew 
Haven county, born in the town of North PTaveu, 
Feb. 27, 1827, and was a w'orthy representative of 
one of its honored and highly respected families. 
His father, Jarcd F>assctt, was born upon the same 
farm in t8oi, and it was also the birthplace of the 
grandfather, Eli Bassett. His great-grand f.-ither 
Bassett died in New York during the T\evolutionary 
war. 



Jared P>assett spent his entire life upon the old 
homestead in North Haven, and followed the occu- 
pation of farming with marked success. He took 
(|uite an active and prominent pan in local politics 
and was honored with several otiices, including 
those of selectman and assessor. He died in 1892, at 
the advanced age of ninety-one years. For his first 
wife he married ^liss Polly Fenn, of I'lyniouth, 
Coini., and to them were born five children, of whom 
our subject was the eldest; David, born in 1829, died 
in 1893 ; Fli died at the age of eighteen years ; Aaron 
is a resident of Xorth Haven ; and Jared lives on the 
old homestead in that town. After the death of 
the mother of these children, the father married her 
sister, Miss 'J'hankful h'eini, and lor his third wile 
wedtled Mrs. Laura (Button) Foote. 

During his boyhood, L_\inau F. Bassett atteutled 
the common schools and academy of Xorth Haven, 
where he acquired a good practical education. Ik- 
assisted in the operation of the home farm untd 
eighteen years of age, and then turned his attention 
to the butcher business, which he followed in .Xorth 
Haven at intervals for thirty years. He continued 
to reside upon the old homestead until 1873, when he 
removed to the farm of twelve acres in Hamden, 
u])on which he last resided, having retired from the 
butcher Inisiness about i8()2. This Imsiness he 
had carried on in Hamden at different times as his 
health permitted. 

On Sept. 14, 1858, Mr. Bassett was married to 
Miss Emily J. Pierpont, of Waterbury, Conn., who 
was born Jan. 25, 1832, a daughter of Luther and 
Delia M. (Waugh) Pierpont, natives of Water- 
bur}- and Litchfield, res]iectively. The father, who 
was an extensive farmer and highly esteemed man, 
died at the age of seventy-seven years. In his 
family were seven children: William H., James !•".., 
Chloe -M., Emily C, Jane A., Henry S., and i-juily 
J., all now deceased with the exception of Mrs. 
Bassett. .\lr. r.assetl lield membership in the Con- 
gregational Church of Xorth Haven since 1868, as 
has also his wife, and he took an active interest in 
everything lending to advance the moral, intellectual 
or material welfare of the town or community. While 
a resident of Xorth Haven, Mr. Bassett served as 
justice of the peace for two years, and also filled the 
office of assessor in a most creditable and accei)lable 
maimer. He died July g, 1901, and was buried at 
Xorth 1 laven. 

STILF.S J. TREAT, a successful and progres- 
sive farmer of the town of Orange, widely known 
and as w-idely respected, lives in tlie house in which 
he was born SeiJt. 2, 1833. He is a lineal descend- 
ant of Gov. Treat, of Colonial days, whose name and 
fame brightly illumine one of the pages of Con- 
necticut's history. 

Jonathan Treat, grandfather of Stiles J., was 
born in Orange, not far from the l)irth])lace of Stiles 
J., and was a farmer. He bought liis holdings early 
in the century, and his son, Jonathan (2I. father of 



4/6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Stiles J., received the land by inheritance. The 
^M-andfatiier was a deacon in the church. He mar- 
rie<l Susanna Ciunn, of Alii ford, who reached the 
remarkable at^e of ninety, and they had three chil- 
dren : Airs. Benjamin Clark.Jireh and Jonathan (2). 

Jonathan Treat (2) was born in Urange, not far 
from the birth])lace of our subject, and died in i886, 
at the aije of ei.s.(ht_\--six. lie was a Repulilican, a man 
of ]Hiblic s])irit, and was held in hit;h rei^ard. Re- 
lii^'iously he was a member of the C(.>ngregational 
Church. He married Alary, daughter of Hezekiah 
Ilaldwin, of W'oodbridge, who had a family of nine 
children. Seven children were born to Air. and 
Airs. Treat, of whom four reached maturity, and 
two are yet living. Stiles J. and his elder sister, 
Alary, who married .Silas Jlaldwin. The mother 
died in 1H77, in her seventy-ninth year. 

Stiles J. Treat was raised upon the paternal farm, 
and after his father's deatli became owner of the 
ancestral estate, consisting of 136 acres. This he 
sold in r8(jcS to his son-in-law, Arthur D. Clark, with 
whom he makes his home. Air. Clark carries on 
general farming, but makes a specialty of dairying. 

On Dec. 25, 1855, Air. Treat was married to 
Miss Anna Al. b'itts, of .Seneca Falls, X. V., daugh- 
tei of John b'itts, a wealthy retired farmer. She 
was the youngest of seven children born to her par- 
ents. Airs. Treat died July (), 1888. Their mar- 
riage was blessed with two children: Fannie E. 
married C'harles 1 1. Dewell ( who died Alay 6, iSgc; ), 
and has one son, Robert Treat JJewcll, now attend- 
ing Storrs ^Agricultural College, and Alary 15. be- 
came the wife of .\rthnr L). Clark, son of Charles 
A. Clark, anil died .\ov. 12, njoo. Mr. Treat is 
independent ])olitically, and has been justice of the 
])eace for eight years. 1 le is a member of the 
(irange. In religious connection, he attends the 
Congregational Church, and is a member of the 
Society's connnittee. 

lll'.RRICK l'.\N'.\l', I'ROST ( deceased), late 
of .\ew Haven, wlu'rr for many sears of a busv 
life he was one of the useful citizens and substantial 
business men of that city — lirst as a wholesale gro- 
cer, and then as a telephone projector, as well as 
manager — was desciiuk-d from the Im'osI familv, 
of W'olcott, Connecticut. 

-Mr. b'rost was born Jan. i(), 1835, in the town 
of W'olcott, a son of .Sylvester and Fhilanda ( Tut- 
tle) b'rost, and was in the fourth generation from 
l.)a\'id b'rost, of the s.anie town. David I'^rosl was 
born Sept. 5, 1742. and lii> wife, .\l,ar\, was born 
Dec. 22, 1740. They had their home three miles 
east of W'aterbiu'y, on the Southinglon road, at what 
is now called Fast I'"arms. His death occurred Dec. 
13, 1812, and that of his wife, l-'eb. (1. i8i(), when 
she was aged seventy-nine years, l-'rom this David 
F'rost. I lerrick 1'. hrost's lineage is through David 
J'rosl (2) and Sylvester. 

David I'rosl (2) was born .March I, i7r)7, and 
was married June 14, 1790, to Alary Ann. a daugh- 



ter of David Hitchcock, of Southinglon. Air. FTost 
settled on Southington Alountain, north of Capt. N. 
Lewis, and liecame a man of influence and responsi- 
bililv in the town. He died March 18, 1850, and his 
wife, Xov. 24, 1S32. Sylvester Frost, Ins son, was 
the father of Merrick Frost, and was born May 8, 
1807. He married Philanda Tuttle, and was en- 
gaged in farming in W'olcott. His death occurred 
in Southington, Connecticut. 

Herrick I'. Frost passed his boyhood for the 
greater jiart at the home of his uncle. Herrick Payno, 
and was educated at the Academy. In his seven- 
teenth year he secured a team and wagon and went 
on the road selling goods of various kinds through' 
a number of States, and in this manner soon be- 
came self-reliant and confident, as well as experi- 
enced and fairly successful. For a number of years 
he was engaged in this line, and in 1856 made his 
home in New Haven, where after several experi- 
ments in various enterprises, in 1858 he formed a 
partnership with Julius Tyler, Jr., establishing the 
wholesale grocer}- house of Tyler & Frost, on State 
stieet. This business Air. Frost prosecuted with 
great energy and varied success for nearly tw'enty 
sears, the jjartnership being dissolved in 1876, at 
alxiul the time the telephone was just coming into 
pulilic notice. The attention of Air. Frost was turned 
to it, and after a careful examination of its merits, 
its practical character was quickly revealed to him. 
Associated with George W. Coy, an electrician and 
at one time a telegraph manager, Mr. bTost and his 
partner, in January, 1877, projected the first tele- 
phone company ever formed for a general exchange 
business in New Haven, under the name of the 
New Haven Telephone Co., and the first telephone 
exchange, it is said, that the world ever saw, was 
established. The new enterprise attracted from 
its novelty general attention, and in less than three 
months after its inauguration it had 150 subscribers, 
and within a year over 400. Air. Frost and his part- 
ner were thus instrumental in giving to New Haven 
the credit of leading the world in this important 
line. \\\ 1880 capital had become interested in 
the farther development of the s_\steni, and the 
New Haven Telejihone Co. was merged into the 
Connecticut Telephone Ci)., with the late Alar- 
shall Jewell, of Hartford, as ])resident, and Hon. 
Charles L. Alitchell and Alorris 1'. Tyler as directors. 
This company in 1884 underwent another change, 
becoming the Southern New ICngland Telephone 
Co., with a capital of one and a half million dollars. 
Through the foresight, energy and ability of .Mr. 
I'rost, to whom was committed the general man- 
agement of this great and growing corporation, the 
lines of the com])any were carried into nearly every 
town, hamlet and school district, within the terri- 
tory in which they operated, and until a very few 
years ago there was no district in the world with 
so many telephones in use. in proportion to its ])op- 
ulation, as Connecticut. The lloston Flectric Light 
Co.. of Lioston, was jirojected by Air. I'rost, and 





'^^-;^^^<^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



4/7 



Fred A. Gilbert, of Xew Haven, was placed in the 
liresidenc}' of that company by ^.'r. bVost, and voted 
by him a salary of $8,000 per year. Previous to 
this Mr. (iillieri was in the paper lian.nini;- business 
in New Haven. The Xew Haven [■llectrie l.i,t;bt 
Co. an(l the Xew Haven .Steam Heat Co. were .ilso 
l^rojects of his, and he was interested in the Chesa- 
jjeake and Potomac Telephone Co., Washington, 
1). C. : and be was director and stockholder in ibiri\- 
four electric li^l't and telephone com|)anies. lb- 
was also one of the ors:janizers of the oppositi(.)n line 
■ of steamboats. 

.As a man and a citizen .Mr. b'rost commanded 
the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens. 1 le had 
been connected with the city i^overnment in various 
relations — as a councilman, alderman, police com- 
missioner, as well as in other capacities. l-'(ir a 
number of years he was chairman of the city board 
of finance, and in all official relatidus ac(|uitleil him- 
self with credit. 

Mr. l-'rost was married .\pril 22. 1S5X, to .Miss 
Olive Amelia, a dansj'hter of Ashbel .Mix, a highly 
respected citizen of the town of P.ristol, and to this 
union were born : ( 1 j Louie Herrick, who mar- 
ried Clara Drake, a direct descendant of Sir iM-ancis 
Drake: (2) Helen Louise, who died wlu'n live years 
did: (3) Pauline .Amelia, who married Archiliald 
Ward Ives, of Poston, ami is n<iw the nintber of 
two children, Paul Frost and ()live: and (4) 
Dwii,dit S. .M. -Mr. P'rost died Xov. 3, i8<S8, and 
was interred in Evergreen cemetery, .\ew llaven. 

The Mi.x family, to which belongs Mrs. Herrick 
P. I-'rost, traces its authentic history back to Tim- 
othy Mix. who was born in 1725, and died Jan. 23, 
1800, his will bearing date of Jan. 14, 1800. His 
wife's christian name was. Elizabeth. 

.\shbel Mix, who was born in 1760, and died 
l'"eb. 15, 1807, was married to Hannah liyington, a 
daughter of Lieut. Joseph and Hannah ( Warren ) 
liyington. who was born Xov. 10. "iJJ^S^ '""' '''^''' 
June 27, 1836. 

Joseph Piyington, the father of Mrs. Hannah 
.Mix. was born in 1736, and died .\ug. 25, I7<j8. 
Jemima Hungerford, who became his wife in 1757. 
died in 175Q. His second wife, Hannah .Spencer, 
whom he married in \'j(n. bore him the follow- 
mg cliildren : Isaac, born in 1761; Xoah, born in 
i7f)2; Isaiah, born in 1764: Martin, born in 17C7; 
iuid Clarissa, born in 1770. Hannah (Spencer) 
Mi.x died in 1 771 ; and the third wife of ^Ir. Mix 
was Hannah Warren, who was born in 1752, and 
died May 13, 1819. To this marriage, which oc- 
curred P'eb. 20. 1772, were born the following chil- 
dren : Hannah, born Xov. 10, 1773 : Meliscent, bom 
in 1775; Chloc, born in 1777: Joseph, born in 1778: 
Asahel, born in 1780; Enos, bom in 17.S1; and 
-Xewell, born in 1787. 

Joseph Byington served as a lieutenant in the 
war of the .American Revolution, anfl his name a]*- 
pcars on the records from the "Lexington .Alarm." 

Ashbel Mix, the father of Mrs. Herrick P. I'rost, 



Xew Haven, Conn., was born in Bristol, Hartford 
conrity, where he was known as a modem and pro- 
gressive farmer, serving his town in many public 
capacities. His wife, Olive Eliza Foote, was a 
(laughter of Truman Sherman P'oote, of Woodbury^ 
Conn. -Mr. .Mix died in Bristol, nbere his industri- 
ous and useful life was passed. 

CL'LLI';.\ i;b;b:Clll-:R I-OOTE. an enterpris- 
ing agricidnu-ist of Xew 1 laven county, is the 
owner of a tine farm in the ti-iwn of llamden, and 
his management of the estate is marked l)y the 
scientific knowledge and skill which characterize, 
the modern farmer. 

Mr. P'oote is the only male representative of his 
family left in llamden. There he was born Xov. 
28, 1838. .son of Jared Foote, a native of Xortli 
Haven. llis jjaternal grandfather. Dr. Joseph 
Foote, was also born in Xorth llaven, and there 
made his home throughout life. He was a grad- 
uate of ^'ale College, and was one of the most 
[prominent and infhieiitial citizens of his community, 
as well as one of its most successful physicians. 
Religiously he was an active member in the Con- 
gregational Church. He wedded .Miss Marv Bas- 
sett. The farm now owned and occupied bv our 
snliject was the ancestral home of the liassett 
family. 

J;ired b\x)tc. father of our subject, was bom 
in Xorth Haven in 1800. In 1821 he was gradu- 
ated from Yale, and the day of his graduation his 
father gave him the old liassett homestead. CJn 
the same day he married Miss Rebecca Beecher. 
of Kent, Conn., who was Ijorn in 1800. and they be- 
came the part'nts of six children, namely: Joseph, 
deceased: Wilfred, a resident of .Xew Haven; 
Bobert, deceased : l'"retlerick. a retired merchant 
of liingbamton. X. \'. : .Mar\-, who married Henrv 
C. Griggs, of W,iterl)ury, ;md is now deceased 
(her husband preceded her to the gravel: and 
C'ullen B., our subject. Soon after his marriage 
the father located on the farm, now l;)elonging to 
our subject, which then embraced about 300 acres, 
and there he s])ent the remainder of his life en- 
gaged as ;i farmer and dealer in live stock. He 
died in Julw 1873. and his wife in October, 1877. 
Their remains rest in the Xorth Flaven cemeterx-. 
Both were active members of the Congregational 
Church, anil were held in hig-h esteem bv ail who 
knew them. He was a Whig and later a Republi- 
can, though no politician, taking onlv the interest 
of a ]Hiblic sjiirited citizen in ])olitical matters. 
He was a great reader, and well informed, and for 
several years conchicted a ])rivate school at his 
b.ome. 

Cullen 1'). b'oote attended public school in Ham- 
den, private school at Xorth llaven, and the Xorlh 
I la\en .\cadeiny and later took a supplementary 
course, by pri\-ale instruction, in Chicago. I'ront 
vnuth he iiad a passion for railroad service, and 
was but a boy when he commenced that work. lie 



4/8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



look. kindly to it, and his progress was rapid. He 
\',as engaged in the railroad train service at differ- 
ent times, and when but thirteen years old was 
fireman between New York and New Haven. 
'i'hough np to this time iiis service had not been 
cijiitinuoiis, he was competent to perform duties 
much in advance of his years. At an early age he 
went to Chicago, 111., wliere he secured a position 
as brakeman on the lllin(jis Central railroad. CJn 
his first trip the engineer was taken severely ill, and 
our subject took his place anil ran the train on time, 
lie was then but seventeen. .Vfter serving as train 
baggage master he was made jjassenger conductor 
on the road, and continued to fill that position until 
l;e attained his majority, when on account of ill 
health he returned Imme. Soon afterward he pur- 
chased the farm, :md has since devoted his energies 
to its improveuRiit .and cultivation with marked 
success. He lias constructed stone drains through 
the farm, and now has one of the best improved 
and most fertile and productive places in the coun- 
t\. Until j88ij he gave his attention almost en- 
tirely to dairv farming. He is a prominent mem- 
ber of the Hamden Grange, 1'. of H., and is a mem- 
ber of the county. .State and national organizations 
of that order, displaying a most intelligent interest 
m everything pertaining to liis calling. 

-Mr. Foote was married, .Sept. 8, iSfnj, to .Miss 
Nancy AI. Adams, of Scotland. Conn., w^ho has 
been a true helper to Iviin. They are members (jf 
the Congregational C'hurch at North Haven, and 
for ten years he was deacon and snperiniL-niknt of 
the Sunday-school, making the school one of the 
iriodel ones of the .Stale and nation, l-'or many 
years he has been one (jf the prominent men in 
Sabbath-school work in Connecticut, taking great 
interest in the welfare of children and young ])eo- 
ple, and the betterment of institutions for their 
moral and intellectual development, b'or eighteen 
years he was a leading member of the executive 
conniiittee of the Coiuiecticut Sunilay-School As- 
sociation, and lor eight years president of the as- 
sociation. 1 le is a life member of most of the large 
missionary societies of this conntrv and the world. 
While his benefactions ha\-e been largely to aid 
organize<l philanthropic effort, he has ever been 
quick to relieve, unostentatiously, individual cases 
of need. He spends considerable time each 
year at his summer residence at .Short J leach, 
C"onn., and has taken great interest in the build- 
ing up of the Sabbath-school and moral and 
religions interests there. Politically he is a 
stanch sup|)orter of the Republican ])artv and 
its principles. I'.y special request of his fel- 
low citizens he accejited the position of school 
visitor of Hamden, and served as such with nmch 
acceptance from 1805 to iSiji). .Mr. luiotc is a 
ibonghtful reader, and well informed on matters 
of general interest. As a public speaker on educa- 
tional, religious or moral topics he has been in 
great demand, and has delivered addresses in every 



town and nearly every Protestant church in Con- 
necticut. In all the relations of life lie has been 
found true to every trust reposed in him, and is 
justly numbered among the valued and useful citi- 
zens of h'is community. 

WATSON DAVIS AUGUR is a leading and 
inllucntial citizen of North Branford, and is a 
worth)' representative of one of its honored old 
families. His paternal grandfather, Joel Augur, 
was an extensive and prominent farmer of the 
town, and owned considerable land at the time of 
his death. He had one brother, Capt. Reuben 
.Augur, who died Jan. 13, 1831, and a sister, Rhoda, 
who died Sept. 13, 1821, at the age of forty- four 
years. He was born in 1790, and died July 5, 1873. 
b'or his first wife he married Abigail Augur, who 
was also born in 1790, and died Dec. 8, 1824, and 
for his second wife he married Hannah A. Blakc, 
a school teacher, who was born in 1789, and died 
Nov. 28, 1876. He had five children: Phoebe 
11., born in 1820, married Henry Loper, and died 
Nov. 24, 1895: Angeline married John Allen, of 
Wallingford ; Reuben, born Sept. 29, 1822, was 
the father of our subject; and Cornelia, born in 
1824, married Thelus Todd, and died June i, 
1861. One son, John P., was born of the second 
marriage, and he died on the old homestead, south 
of Northford. 

Reuben Augur was born in Northford, and be- 
came an extensive and very successful farmer of 
North Branford, owning at the time of his death 
300 acres of valuable and higiily productive land, 
lie died May 10, 1898. He was three times mar- 
ried, his first wife being Esther E. Todd, daugh- 
ter of Willis Todd. She died Oct. 2t„ 1849, aged 
twenty-three years, leaving one son, Elbert R., 
who died July 22, 1879. at the age of thirty-one 
years and ten months. He ne.xt married her sis- 
ter, Maria C. Todd, who died Jan. 3, 1873, at the 
age of forty years. By this union there were three 
cliildren: Robert Duane, who died Aug. 23, 1883, 
at the age of thirty-one years and nine months ; 
Ella M., wife of Henry M. Stevens, of Walling- 
ford, Conn. ; and W'atson Davis. The father's 
ihinl wife was Mrs. Margaret ( i^iarnes) Hall. ■ 

Watson Davis Augur was born in the town 
of North P.ranford, May i, 1856, and began his 
education in the district school near his boyhood 
home, but later attended Powers' Institute at 
Bernardston, Mass., and studied for three years 
under the tutorship of Prof. A. J. Sanb(3rn, a most 
able instructor, now deceased. It was his inten- 
tion to make the jjractice of law his profession, 
but owing to ill health he was forced to discontinue 
his studies. At the age of twenty-two years he 
embarked in the livery business at Middletown, 
Conn., and continued there for twelve years. On 
Nov. 21, 1882. he was married to IVfiss Agnes 
Gertrude .Stevens, of Northford. 

The first of the Stevens faniilv of whom we 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



479 



have any aulhcntic record was Rev. Tiiiiiithv 
Stevens, a nali\e of lirislol, Wales, wlio came Ui 
ilartford, Conn., when a young man, and was the 
hrst Congregational minister at Glastonbury, be- 
ing ordained in CJctober, 1693. He died April 
lO, 1725. His son, Joseph, born in Hartford, in 
1705, was the father of Elisha Stevens, who was 
born in Glastonlnny, in 1752, and married Agnes 
Kimberly. Their son, Milton Stevens, the grand- 
father of Mr.s. Augur, was a native of ilartford 
comity, and died in I'rospect,' Xew Haven comi- 
ty, when her father was quite small. He had three 
children: Henry; Mary, wile of Timothy howler, 
of Xew Haven ; and David. 

David Stevens, .Mrs. Augur's lather, was born 
in Prospect, July 14, 1823, and there married ICliza 
IJeiijaniin, who was born Jan. i, 1824, and died 
Sept. 8, 1865. l!y this union were born the fol- 
lowing children : Albert, who died at the age of 
thirty-six Aears ; Alice, born Aug. 17, 1849, mar- 
ried Jared Bassett, of North Haven, and is now 
deceased; Elizur Seneca, born March 3, i85i, 
married Harriet Maltby, of X'orthford; Henry, 
born Alay 7, 1855, married Ella Augur, a sister 
of our subject, and lives in W'allingfortl ; David 
S.. born April 4, 1857. is a resident ul Xorili 
llranford; and Agnes (i., born Oct. 4, 1859, is the 
wife of Mr. Augur. Eor his second wife the fa- 
ther married hVanccs Hart, of (JuiniTi]jiac, town 
of Xorth Haven, and to them were born two chil- 
dren: Eannie, wife of Lee l\e\ere : and I'eter, 
both residents of Alillenbeck, \'a. \\ hen a young 
man the father moved to Ouimiiijiac, where he 
engaged in the manufacture of spoons, silverware, 
etc., until 1869, when he sold his business there 
and came to X'orthford, town of Xorth J'.ranford, 
where he continued to manufacture silverware for 
some years. In 1883 he removed lo Lancaster 
county, \'a., where he purchased proj>erty and lived 
in retirement for some time. He died there .March 
24, 1895, 'I'- tliE -^S^ of seventy-two years. 

]-"indiiig the Connecticut winters somewhat 
severe W. D. Augur purchased property in Millen- 
Ijcck, \'a., where during the winter season he 
made his home for three years, but has since dis- 
posed of his interests there. He has a summer 
cottage on the Sound at Stony Creek, Conn, h'or 
four years he led a life of ease, but finding lliat 
steady employment provided more real enjoyment, 
he again engaged in business, owning and man- 
aging a boarding and sale stable at Xew Jlaven 
for two years. He then returned to .Middlelown, 
\vhere he was again engaged in the li-\ery busi- 
ness for four and one-half years. He has always 
been a lover of fast horses, has followed the cir- 
cuit for years, and like many others has not al- 
ways been successful, though his interest has been 
more for enjoyment than gain. In his own stables 
he has a fine pacer, Faustina Smith, who, in the 
fifth heat of a race, driven liy her owner, paced a 
half mile in I :04Vj ; he also drove a two-year-old 



that covered a half mile in i :io. On May 10, 
|8(J9, Mr. Augur returned to the old homesieatl in 
Xnrtli llranftjrd, and nuw oversees the operation 
of his farm land, consisting uf 400 acres. He alsb 
owns i)ro])eriy in W alliiigi'ord, aiul Xew Haven, 
and ins uiteresi in land sijcculation claims much 
iif his alteutinn. Politically he is a Democrat, 
though not railical in his views. He is a liberal 
supporter of the Episcopal Cluu-ch at Xorthiord, 
taking his father's place in that respect, and his 
wile IS a member of the Congregational Church. 
He is a pleasant genial gentieman, who is very 
pcjuilar with his many friends and associates. 

lloRAriO XELSOX LY.M.VX (deceased). 
The Lyman family, of wlrich the late Horatio X. 
L_\nian was a notable representative, was descend- 
ed from Richard Lyman, a native of the County 
of Jisse.x, J'higland. In August, 1631, he lelt 
England with his wife' and children, in the ship 
"IJon," sailing from Uristol for X'ew Englancl. 
He located at Charlestown, where he became a free- 
man June II, i')35. 'i'he same year he joined a 
jK'.ny who settled Windsor, Hartford and W'ethers- 
lield. Conn., himself Deing one of the hrst settlers 
of Ilartford. lie died 111 1640, and his widow, 
Sarah, did nut long survive him. 

Lieut. John Lyman, son of Richartl, the enii- 
gnini, was born in the County of Jissex, England, 
in 1O23, anil came lo Xew Juigland with his par- 
ents. In i()54 he was married to Dorcas, the 
daughter of John I'lumb, of llranford. Conn., and 
settled in Xorthampton, Mass., where he died Aug. 
20, 1690. Lieut. L_\nian was in eomniand of the 
Xorthampton soldiers in the famous Falls hght 
above Deerfield, I\Liy 18, 1O7O. 

Moses Lyman, a son of Lieut. John Lyman, 
was born in Xorthampton, Mass., h'eb. 20, 1O62, 
and died Feb. 25, 1701. 

Capl. Moses Lyman, son of Moses Lyman, 
w;is born l'"eb. 27, 1O89, married Dec. 13. 1712, 
MindweH .Sheldon, and tlied .March 24, 1762; she 
died .\la_\' 23, 1780. 

Deacon Aloses Lyman, son of C'api. Moses Ly- 
man, was born Oct. 2, 1713, and was married 
.March 24, 1742, U) Sarah Ilayden (or Highton), 
of Windsor, Conn. .She was born Sept. 17, 1716. 
•Mr. Lyman removed to Ciosheu, Conn., in the 
autumn of 1739, being one of the earliest inhabi- 
tants of the pl;ice, the settlement having only been 
opened the preceding year, fie died Jan. 6, 1768. 

Col. Moses Lyman, son of Deacon Moses Ly- 
man, was born .March 20, 1743, and was married 
to Ruth, a daughter of William Collins, of Guil- 



ford. .She d'icd lune 8, 



and twelve vears 



later Col, Lyman married the widow of Jesse 
Judd. and the daughter of Cajit. Jonathan Ihicll, 
of (ioshen. L'o\. Lyman was a farmer, and oc- 
cu]Med through life the homestead of his father, 
in the State ^^lilitia he lield every position from 
that of Corporal to Colonel, and (hiring the Revo- 



48o 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Uitiim spent much of his time in the Continental 
;irmv. lie went with the recruits from Goshen to 
join' the Xorthern Army hefore the surrender of 
riur.t;o\ne, and was in command of a detachment 
which was stationed on the extreme rii,dU on the 
r.ii;ht of Oct. 7, 1777, to watch the niovanients of 
the invadiu!.;- enemy. It was his privilege to he 
the first to' inform' (len. (iates that the F.nglish 
cam]) was deserted, and for his promptness he 
was sent to ( ien. Washingtiai tn convey the in- 
formation in ])erson. Tlie guard which had 
the custody of the galhint and unfortunate 
Major Andre was commanded 1)\ him.^ Lol. 
Lvnian was afterward prominent in civil life, 
ai'id was elected to many important offices. A 
man of strong will and much determination, 
he was active and forceful all his life. His 
death occurred Sept. -'9. "*^-'y. '"^ second wife 
dving in Milton Suciety, Litchfield, Oct. 7, 1835, 
at tile verv advanced age' of ninety-three years. 

{■'.rastps l.Miiaii. son of Col. Lyman, was born 
Xov. 1. 177,5, and was married Sept. 8, 1803. to 
Al)igail, a daiigiiler of i'".phraim Starr, of Goshen, 
C on'n. Thev resided through life in (ioshen. where 
he was known as a man of alnlity and energy. 
I lis success in business put him anning the solid 
men of the comiiiunit\', and his integrity and 
benevolence declared him a man of lofty character 
and noble .Mini. lie died Dec. 20. 1854; and his 
widow Jan. 2>. 1855. 

iloratio .Xelson Lyman, son of lu-astus, whose 
name introduces this article, was Ijorn May 2, 
1804, and was married to his first wife, Marana 
I'dizabeth Gliapin, of (ioshen, Conn., May 9, i83(), 
and to .Mr>. Jnliel .Vorlli, widow of \Mlliam 
.North, |une 4, 1830. After a residence in Gcjshen 
of some twenty years Mr. Lyman removed to 
W'aterbiirw Conn. Some three years were spent 
i)v him in (iermaiu, and on his return he located 
at New Jlaven, where his home was maintained 
imtil his death. July 13, ]88t). To his first mar- 
riage were born : I 1 ) Jane V... July 11, 1837. 
(2) Henry .Mcxaiider. Sept. 5, 1839. a member of 
the Sons of the .\nierican i\evolution. lie was 
married in Westminster, London, I'aigland, .Sept. 
12, i8(i(). to Isabella .Maria, a daughter of T. K. 
baulls, of London, lie compiled the pedigree of 
the Lymans in bingland from the lime of L.dward 
III. which ai)pears in Dr. Lyman Coleman's His- 
tory of the Lyman I'amily — 1872. (3) Josephine 
Alari;i. ( )cl. 2, 1841. (4) .Vbby died an infant. 
To the second .Mrs. Lyman were born: (5) Will- 
iam 'I'homson, March 5, 1851, died b'eb. 15, 1853: 
. (9) ( leoi-ge Xelson, .\ng. 2i), 1852, die<l Ind). 19, 
^''^5?i'- '7' 1'idward Xorman, July i, 1855, died 
( )ct. 2(), 1855. 

The second .Mrs. L\inan was Juliet Thomson. 
a daughter ot b.ben Thomson, and was born in 
G,<isheii. Iler father, who was born in the same 
town, came to New Haven, and followed the gro- 
ccrv business for manv vears. Mrs. Lvman, who 



was born in 1821. married her first husband, Will- 
iam .Xorth, a lawyer of Elmira, X. V., who died 
after fourteen months of married life, at the age 
of twenty-eight years. The family were all asso- 
ciated with the Cnited Congregational Church of 
Xew Haven. 

LUCIAX DAYTOX \\'ARXER affords in his 
career a striking illustration of what may be achieved 
l)v the hard sense, rugged determination and steady 
insistence of the sons of Connecticut, of which he 
's a worthy representative. 

Richard Warner, his grandfather, was Ijorn in 
Salem (now Xaugatuck), Conn., in 1772. and was 
one of a large family, the others being Obadiah, Ran- 
som, Eri, Wakely, Walter. Philena, Carolina and 
Ro.xana. Richard Warner married Lolly Hicox, 
who was biirn in the same town, daughter of 
Gideon and Philena Hicox, and was four }-ears his 
junior. Thev were poor, and finding life in Con- 
necticut by no means a bed of roses, in their com- 
parative \i)Uth they migrated overland in a wagon 
to I'ilcher, Chenango county. X. Y., a locality then 
considereil the "far West." There they settled, shar- 
ing bravely the toil and danger attending the estab- 
lishment of a new home in the forest. To these 
sturdv pioneers were born fifteen children, namely: 
( )badiah. Sheldon. Adna, iMinerva, Edward, iMaria. 
David H., Curtis, Rachel. Electa. Lucina, Calvin, 
Florilla. Elmina and Richard P. Only the youngest, 
Richard P.. now survives. With the exception of 
Calvin, who bt^came a minister, all the eight sons 
were farmers, and five of the seven daughters mar- 
ried farmers, Elmina W. becoming the wife of 
George P. Swan, a wagon maker of Binghamton ; 
her home was at Xo. 149 Robinson street, that city. 
Richard P. Wamer has been twice married, his 
first wife being Lucy Parks, and his second Helen 
Debell : his residence is at Candor, Tioga Co.. X. 
Y. ( )f the other thirteen children all were married 
but h'lorilla. who was born July 6, 1815. and died 
Julv 8. 1863. Obadiah. born Ai)ril 13. 1793, married 
Lucy L. Sperry. Sheldon, born Xov. 20. 1794, niar- 
ried Lucy Carter, and died Feb. 7, 1892. Adna, born 
April 9, 1796. is mentioned below. Minerva, born 
Jan. 22. 17<>8, was the wife of Elijah Fenton. Ed- 
ward, born May 14. 1799, married Sophronia Sails, 
and died Oct. 28, 1890. Maria, born Dec. 3, 1800, 
married John Tlinman. David IL, born Feb. 5, 1802, 
married .Mmira Robbins, and died Aug. 9, 1896. 
Curtis, 1iorn July 4, 1803, married Caroline Hyde. 
Rachel, born July 4, 1805, married Orlando Pierce, 
and died Ajiril 18. 1882. Electa, born July 5, 1807, 
became the wife of John Robbins. Lucina. born 
Julv 5. 1809, luarried "Xornian lUirnham. and passed 
awav Ian. 20, 1887. Calvin, born in .\ugust. 1S12, 
married ]\-lia Knight. Richard Warner, the father 
of this large family, died on his farm in Pitcher. 
Chenango Co., X. Y.. May 25. 1857; his faithful 
wife entered into rest nine years i^revious. 

Adna ^\'arner, the father of Lucian D., was born 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



481 



in Xaiigatuck April 9. 1796. and had grown to early 
manhood when lie accompanied his parents to Clie- 
nango Co., X. V., to do his part in clearing the 
forest anil plowing furrows in the virgin soil. There 
he married Lucia Carter, a school teacher of Pitcher, 
whose father, IClias Carter, was the scion of an old 
English family, which settled in Lancaster, Mass., 
in the first half of the seventeenth century. Adna 
Warner was a blacksmith by trade, and a farmer 
by occu])ation. ile owned 400 acres of land, and 
made a s]X'cialty of dairy farming, being largely in- 
terested in breeding tine Devonshire cattle. Ile was 
a man of deep and earnest convictions, in both re- 
ligion and politics — an energetic worker in the Con- 
gregational Church, and a strong abolitionist, be- 
ing tirst a \\ hig and later a Republican. He died 
Nov. 25, 1881, preceded to the grave by his wife, 
who passed away July 26, 1880. 

Lucian D. \\'arner was born in ritcher, X. ^'., 
Sept. 18, 1839. After attending the district schools 
of that town he was sent to the acadeiuy at Cincin- 
natus. Cortland county, X. Y., and at the close of 
his school days entered the general store of Jefferson 
Kingman, who in addition to keeping store dis- 
charged tlie duties of ]K)stmaster. There young 
Warner remained for two years, in C)ctober. 1859. 
coming to Xaugatuck, Conn., where he at once be- 
came a clerk in the general store of Thomas Lewis. 
He evinced from the outset a natural aptitude for 
the business, to which were joined unw earying in- 
duslrv and scrupulous fidelity. On Jan. 1, 1863, he 
became an equal partner with Air. Lewis, the rela- 
tion continuing for three years. In 1866 Mr. War- 
ner was tendered and accepted the position of secre- 
tary and treasurer of the Connecticut Cutlery Co., 
whose plant was located at L^nion City, but three 
years later he resigned this dual office to enter into 
partnershi]) with B. B. Tuttle and J. H. Whitte- 
mcjre, under the firm name of Tuttle & WJuttemore. 
In 1871 a joint stock company was formed under 
the style of the Tuttle & Whittemore Co., which 
was the predecessor of the Malleable Iron Co. of to- 
day. Mr. Warner was at first secretary and af- 
terward treasurer, later becoming president and gen- 
eral manager. ( )n Jan. 2, 1899, he retired from ac- 
tive business, and has since had no care outside of 
the management of his estate. His home is in 
Church street, a center of culture, refinement and 
religious influence. 

Mr. Warner has been twice married. r)n Sept. 
14, 1864, he was united to Miss Julia AL Lewis, a 
daughter of his jjartner, Thomas Lewis. To this 
union were born six children : Lewis C, the eldest, 
is superintendent of the Beacon l-'alls Rubber Co. 
Winnifrcd L. is the wdfc of (icorge B. ,\lford. of 
Torrington. Carlcton S. is a foreman for the To- 
ronto Rul)ber Shoe Co., at Port Dalhousic, Canada. 
I-Vederick A., formerly a traveling salesman for the 
Malleable Iron Co., is now general manager for the 
Metal I-'inishing Co., of Union City. ( ieorge D. is 
in the emplov of the Beacon I-'alls Rubber Co. Luci.i 

3'l 



1-.., the \'(jungest child, is attending school in Xor- 
wallc. the mother of these died March 15, 1890. On 
Xov. 10, 1892. .Mr. Warner married Miss Anna B. 
Rowe, the orplianed daughter of Dr. Rufus J. 
Rowe, of Whitehall, Xew York. 

-Mr. Warner is social in his tastes and life, fond 
of friends and deservcdl\- pojnilar. He is a Repub- 
lican in politics, but althougli repeatedly recjuestcd, 
has steadily refused to become a candidate for office. 
I le is a member of the Masonic fraternitv, belong- 
ing to Shepherd's Lodge, Xo. 78. A. 1-'. '& .V. .\L, 
of -Xaugatuck, and to Clark Commandery, K. T., 
of Waterbury. Since i8f)i he lias been a devout 
member of the Congregational Church, is a liberal 
coulriliutiir to its support, ami earnest in advancing 
its work, having been for thirt_\-two years super- 
intendent of the Sundav-school. 

S.VMCICL M. IILAIK. a well-known grocer at 
Xo. 32 Mott street, .\nscinia, was born in Rivcrton, 
town of llarkhamsted, Litchfield Co., Conn., Aug. 
17, 1838, son of Sherman L'. Blair, who was born in 
idandtord, Mass. Xatiiau Blair, his grandfather,, 
was a native of the same place, and was a son of 
one of the first settlers of that locality. The fam- 
ily is recorded as being settled in Massachusetts in 
the very early jjart of the seventeenth century, aiul 
the great-grandfather of Samuel .M. JUair was a 
farmer, and received his latid from the Colonial 
go\-ernmein. He was a man of jjarts, and served, 
m the Continental Congress. Xathan Blair was a 
])hysician, and ])racticed medicine all his life in 
Blandford. He was a well-kmiwn man. and his 
iife was a singularly honorable and useful one. i le- 
married Sally Tirrell, a daughter oi a well-known 
lamih' of that region, and to them were Ixirn thir- 
teen children, of whom only two survive. Reuben, 
of Lair Haven: and M;iry .\mi. who resides in 
Alassachu.setts. Xathan Blair and his wife botli 
reached an advanced age. 

Sherman C. Blair was reared in BlandfortL 
where he began his business career. When some- 
what older he went to I'"annington to take a posi- 
tion as treasurer of a hoc and shovel company. 
When the railroad was run through to .\nsonia he 
was made agent at the depot, and was among the 
earlier railroad agents in that part of the State, 
b'or a number of years after leaving the railroad 
>ervice he was treasurer of a building and lumber 
com[)any in Derby, Conn, bor some time he was 
a bookkee])cr for tiie .\nsonia Clock Co., after leav- 
ing which position he gave U]) business. 1 le died 
a; ilie age of si.xty-seven years. He married Lydia 
W. Mallory, who was born in Sijcncertown, .\. \'.. 
a daughter of Ebenezer .Mallory. a lifelong farmer 
in that locality. Sherman C. and Lydia .M. Blair 
became the parents of seven clrildren, three of 
whom are living: Samuel M. : John, who is man- 
ager of the Apothecaries Hall Co., at Waterbury: 
and James, nov.- living in California, who lias trav- 
eled all over the world. The mother died at the age 



48: 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



OS seventy years. She and her husband were de- 
vout nieinhers of the Congretjatiunal Church, in 
wliich h.e was a deacon and dee])ly interested in its 
Welfare, lit' was a member of the IJome I\[issi(jn- 
.jiry Society, and an active wori<er in everything' 
liiat conserved tlie public i^rojd. In jxilitics he was 
.Ji Republican, and for many years held the office of 
justice of the peace. 

Samuel -M. Blair s[)ent the earlier years of his 
life at home, attending;- the i)ublic school. When 
he was fotirteeil years of a_i;e he entered the store 
oi -Mnion Smith at Ansonia. for wivoni he clerked 
a number of years, and lie was eni])loyed two years 
iit J!rids^-e])ort. Mr. Illair became sergeant of Coni- 
]K'.ny [■', 23d Conn. \'. I., which went from Derby, 
and received an JKjnorabk- discharge after one year 
of service. {'Returning to .\nsoiiia. he entered the 
■ciuploy of '!'. !'. Terry & .Son. in the general hard- 
ware line, llj was then c'ni])loyed Ijy ]i. H. Ran- 
dall, in the grocery business, also by C. H. Smith, 
In 1S84 Mr. ISlair started in his jiresent store, and 
while he has not attempted to do a large business 
lie has a very satisfactory patronage. One clerk 
antl his daughter are with him in the store. Mr. 
JJlair has been established in business many years, 
and is one of the oldest and most respected men in 
liis line in the city. .\11 his com])etitors speak well 
<jf him. and he is nnich resjiected in the communit}'. 
JJe was a charter member of the r><xird of Trade. 

.Mr. Illair was ni.arried in 1801 to lietsv A. 
Smith, who was born in Derby, daughter of Almon 
,Smith, a grocer of long-tiiue standing in that citv. 
Mrs. Blair was one of six chiklreii. To our sub- 
ject and his wife have come two children, Jennie 
S. being the only one now li\ing. The other child 
•died in infancy. 

.\lr. Illair belongs to Geor 
Lodge, 1\ tS: .\. M.. in which he 
offices, and h;is been senior deacon for a number of 
years. He also belongs to the American ;\Ieclian- 
ics, and is a charter member of Thomas ]\f. Retl- 
shaw Post, (1. .\. 1\.. in which lu- h;is filled all the 
offices and in which he is deepK- interested. He 
was an aid-de-cani]) on the staff of Adjt. Gen. 
Goben in iSi)S. In politics he is a Republican. 
Mr. and .Mrs. Illair .are meiubers of the Congrega- 
tional Church: he was secretary of the societv for 
a time, has also been treasurer, and has acted as 
j'brarian of the .Sunday-school. 

DWJGllT ELI TODD, for many years a 
farmer and honored citizen of Bethanv, passed 
away Jan. ,^, npi, in Woodbridge. where he spent 
ihc last two years of his life, lie was a native of 
New Haven count)-, born in Bethain' Se])t. 11, 
!<S34, son of Leonard and Julia (Bradley) Todd. 
His father, who was born Nov. <S. iSoo. and died 
-April (), 1876, was a son of Eli and llede Todd, 
in whose family were three children, tln' others 
being Lovisa, wife of .Amos I'eck, of Hamden ; 
and Mary Ann, wife of Jesse .Mien Doolittle. of 



ge Washington 
has held several 



the same town. Eli Todd was also a native of 
Bethany, and a son of Jonah Todd, who was born 
in \orthfor(l, and went to Bethany in 1783. 

( Jur subject was the sixth in the order of birth 
in a family of seven children, as follows : Grace, 
bjrn April 1, 1823, married I\ev. F. B. Woodard, 
of Watertown, Conn., and died 'in June, 1898; 
Emily, born June i, 1825, married Isaac Perkins, 
of Bethany, and died Atig. 3, 1880: Margaret, born 
.March i(). 1828, married Channcey Beecher, of 
Bethany, and died March 15, 1886; Celia, born 
July 23, 1830, is the wife of Wales Dickerman, of 
Hamden; Street B., born Aug. 9, 1832, married 
Sarah Hotchkiss ; and Jasper B., born Sept. y. 1842, 
married Minnie Moody, and resides in the old 
'J'odd homestead in Bethany township. 

Dwight Eli Todd received a common-school 
education. Throughout his active business life he 
engaged in agricultural pursuits with marked suc- 
cess, but during his later years, owing to ill health, 
he discontinued all business, moving to \Vood- 
liridge. Earming was his principal occuiiation, but 
he also engaged quite extensively in butchering, in 
company with his brother Street. He owned 200 
acres of land in Bethany, and he was one of the 
\"ell-to-do and substantial men, as well as one of 
the highly respected citizens, of his community. 
Jn his political affiliations he was a Democrat. For 
many years he was a member of the Episcopal 
Church, and gave liberally toward its support. 
Though an energetic and successful man, he was 
(luiet in his habits and unassuming in his manners. 

Un Dec. 24, 1877, ^Ir. Todd married Mrs. Cath- 
erine Emily Bishop, and they had two children : 
Leonard E., born May 10, 1880, who is a student 
at Yale College; and Julia Rosette, bom June 24, 
i88f), wdio is now a student in the Boardman Train- 
ing .School, New Haven. Mrs. Todd was born 
.\ug. 15, 1842, and first married, June 17. 1868, 
Henry Bishop, who died March 24, 1876. By that 
union she also liad two children, of whom Charles, 
born May 7, 1869, died in 1886. Berton F., born 
Feb. 22, 1874, is a graduate of the University of 
Pennsylvania, and is now a dentist in New Haven; 
he married Miss Mary Smith Gold. 

The Sperry family, to which Mrs. Todd be- 
longs, is ])robably of English origin, and was 
founded in this country during Colonial days by 
Richard .Sperry, who came from England and was 
among the first to lake uj) land in Connecticut. 
I'rom bim have undoubtedly sprung all the Sperrys 
in New Haven county, though there arc families 
in Woodbridge who can trace no connection with 
others of their name in the same town. The Dick- 
erman book says that he had ten children and si.xty 
grandchildren; also that his home and Ralph Lines' 
were the only houses between West Rock and the 
Hutlson river, except a few at Derby, in 1661. 
Wood1)ridge was originally known as Amity, and 
was renamed in honor of Rev. Benjamin \\dod- 
bridge. for a long time its jiastor. Richard .S])erry 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



483 



u?.s a man of consideraljle liistDrical imtt.'. llis 
name is frequently mentioned in connecliim with 
the iliglu and escape of the Regicides. Imu- some' 
I'ime they luund sheher in W'oodliridgc (where he 
located), and he provided them with food and aided 
ihem in eluding their pursuers. He housed them 
en his own land without the members of his house- 
liold learning the secret. J lis son, I'lbenezer .Spt-rry, 
was born in July, 1663, in Woodbridge, and there 
passed his entire life as a farmer and hmiter. 1 le 
married Abigail Dickerman. J'ollowing in direct 
<_lescent came three who bore the name of Isaac, 
and of the two first very little can be learneil. 

Isaac Sperry (3) married I'olly (.Maryj Tut- 
l!e, and from the old cemetery in IJethany we learn 
that he died Feb. 7, 1844, aged eighty-four years, 
his wife Oct. 25, 1835, aged seventy-one _\ears. 
To them were born children as follows: I'olly 
married Joel Ilotchkiss and moved to Mosiertown, 
Pa. : Dolly married Theodore i'age and also located 
in I'enns} Ivania ; Malinda was twice married, her 
second husband being David lieecher, of Ik'thany, 
Conn.; Clara was the wife of Sheldon Ilotchkiss, 
of New Haven ; Lucy died unmarried, and was 
buried in the old Hethany cemetery: Isaac locatetl 
in Mosiertown, Pa.: Enos was the fatluT of .Mrs. 
Todd: Lewis located near Mosiertown. Pa.; .Mien 
first moved to Pennsylvania and later to Michigan, 
since which time nothing has Iiecn heard of him ; 
Chauncey lived in Xew Haven; and Cerry made 
his home in Bethany. 

Hnos Sperry, Mrs. Todd's father, was born in 
Bethany in 1801, and died in May. 1880. He was 
married in his native town to Rosetta Russell, 
<iaughter of Daniel and Eunice (Ailing) Russell, 
also natives of Bethany, and to this union came si.x 
children, namely: Louisa, born Aug. 5. 1826. mar- 
ried Royal Xettleton, of Xew Haven; Julia, born 
in 1831. married Charles Allen Smith, of .\ew 
Haven; Celia died Oct. 15, 1853, at the age of 
twenty years; Isaac served as a cavalryman in the 
war of the Rebellion, and then went West; I'.llen, 
horn in 1838. lives on the old homestead in Peth- 
any : Catherine Emily, wife of our subject, com- 
pletes the family. The mother passed away -Aug. 
*J> '893, aged eighty-seven years. 

ALEXAXDER HALL, the oldest citizen in 
the North Farms District, town of W'allingford, 
and a retired business man of a high character 
and an unblemished career, was born in Xorth 
Farms Aug. 24, 1824. 

Thomas Hall, the first of that name in W'alling- 
ford of whom w^e have definite record, was born 
there and spent his life as a farmer and land owner, 
dying Aug. 27, 174:. Abigail .\twater, his wife, 
was the daughter of John Atwater, and their 
union was blessed with the following children: 
Thomas, born March 10. 1712, married Lydia Cur- 
tis; Phineas. l)orn April 12, 1715; .Abigail, born 
April 12, 1719; and Joshua, born .May 23, 1722. 



Joshua Hall was born on the farm where he 
spent his life engaged in ils cultivation. To Inm 
and his wife Hannah wero burn the following chil- 
li run ;■ Susannah, ijorn Xov. 10. 1742: Aledad, 
born July 2O, 1743; Abigail, born .April 5, 1745, 
died in nifancy; (ides and .\bigail (twins), born 
I'eb. 24, 1747; and Samuel, born Jan. 2y, 1767. 

(iiles ilall, noted in the preceding paragraph, 
grandfather to .\le.\ander Hall,- grew to manhood 
luider his jjarents' roof, and owned a farm in the 
Xorth h'arms District, which he cultivaletl and on 
which he died. Lois Ives, his wife, also died on 
this farm, and was buried in the Center Street 
cemetery. 'J"o them were born these chiUlren : 
-Abel, born Dec. 10. 1778, died in .Atwaler. Ohio; 
Sarah, born .Aug. 20, 1780; Ciles died -Aiiril 21, 
1791; Joshua; Lois, \\\\o married Andrew .\n- 
drews; Lucy; Hannah; and John. 

Joshua Hall, the father ot Alexander Hall, was 
born in Xorth h'arms, and was reared to manhood 
on the home estate, and there he S]jeut his entire 
life engaged in general farming, reaching the ripe 
old age of eight\ years. 1 le died on his farm, and 
was buried in W'allingfortl. In politics he was a 
Democrat, and in religion a man of broad and lib- 
eral views. .Sophronia Ciates. his wile, was born 
in .Xorth Brauford, and became the mother of the 
following family: William Chauncey, born Alay 
5, 1805; Roderick, born Dec. 21, 180O; James M., 
born Alarch 3, 1809: Delight, born Jan. 24, 1811, 
died young; Delight (21, born Alarch 29. 1813; 
Henrietta, l)orn Jan. 24, 1815; Lois, born Fel). 3, 
1818; Jenette, Dec. 18, 1821 ; and Alexander, .Aug. 
24, 1824. Mrs. Joshua Hall died on the farm, and 
was buried in Wallingford. 

Alexander Hall had his education in the district 
school in Xorth l-'arms, and worked at home until 
he reached the age of fifteen years, when he started 
out in life for himself, working for a time at farm 
labor, and ])eddling "S'ankee notions through the 
country during the winter months. He was em- 
];loyed for a time in the button shoj) at East Mcri- 
(len, and then at Hanover, near East Meriden. 
Married in 1846. he settled ilown to farming, and 
in 1848 he bi>ught a tract of sixty acres, wdiich for 
more than half a century has been his home. Here 
he has been engaged in general farming, and lias 
aLso done a large business with the railroad in get-' 
tmg out ties, sjiokcs, etc. His landed property at 
tile ])resent time amijimls to 250 acres. 

.Air. Hall is living a retired life, \m\. is still re- 
markablv active, and looks after ever_\- item of his 
large business. .A great loss befel him in the death 
of his onlv son Herbert, wdio died in .August. 1900, 
from tvphoid fever. In politics he is a Republican. 
In religious belief he is a l!a])tist. belonging to the 
church of that denomination in Wallingford. His 
standing among those who know him best is liiat 
of a good Christian man, kind to the poor and 
needv. honest in every detail of his life, and a pub- 
lic-spirited citizen. 



4S4 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



( )ii May 3. i84(). Mr. Hall and jane A. Potter 
were married in Xorthford, in tlie tnwn of North 
liranf(jrd, C:)nn. Mrs. Hall was a daughter oi 
Jerard 11. and Hannah ( I'.arlholnniew i I'otter. and 
was the mother of three children: ( i ) Mary Jane, 
unmarried, is a dress maker, and resides at home, 
kee]Mng Imuse i'or her father. ( _' ) Herhert .M.. 
who died in .Xngiist. 1900. married h'.mma Landers, 
and was the fatherHf three children: Ralph, who 
was accidentally slmt and killed: Helen: and Clar- 
ence. He was "a farmer, a KepuMican. and a mem- 
ber of the I. (). ( ). 1-". (3) I'.dith \.. married. Oct. 
23, i.SHij. William Hart, Of I'lainville, and is the 
mother Of two children, luhel M. and Xaoma. 

Mrs. Jane A. Hall died Aug. 24, 1895, in Wall- 
ingford, and was hm-ied at the Center .Street ceme- 
tery. She was a member of the I'.aptist Church, 
and ;i ladv of high religions spirit. .Mr. and Mrs. 
Hall had lived tdgether for nearly fifty years, and 
their wedded life was singularly beautiful and 
harmonious. 

Cll.VRLl'.S W. L'd-:.\KI)SL1-:V, a leading resi- 
dent of Milford, was luirn in Stratford, Conn., ^May 
27, 1829, and is a representative of a family that 
has been ])roniinent since pioneer days. He traces 
his descent from William lleardsley, one of the first 
settlers of the town of Stratford, from wdiom he 
takes the name of \Villiani, William Beardsley 
came from ."^tratford-on-.Xvon (the birthplace of 
William Shakesi)eare), Kngland, in 1635. in the 
good ship "I'lanter," commanded by Capt. Travice. 
J le was then (iuly thirty years of age, but had a w'ife 
and three children, .ill of whom accompanied him 
hither. .After his arriv:d he was made a freeman in 
Hadley, .Mass.. but in 1^)39 settled in the Connecti- 
cut town to wdiich the family gave the name of Strat- 
f(ird, in luintir of the English town fmm which they 
had emigrated. The town of .\von, X. V.. was also 
named by descendants (if William lleardsley, who 
.settled there, in hdUdr nf the old river in England. 
William ISeardsley \\;^^ :i deputy in .Stratford in 
1645, and for si'ven years thereafter, and was a 
man of nmch [vrominence in early Colonial times. 
He diecl in iC>fio, at the age of fifty-six, leaving three 
children. 'I he succession in the line to the suliject 
of this sketch is ihrdugh Jdseph, the ydtmgesi son, 
the generatidus fmni Joseph being John, .\nilrew. 
Henry, William 1 h-nry ;ind Chark's, the last named 
being the falln-r of Charles W. 

William Henry l'>eardsley. our subject's grand- 
father, was born in 17^)7, and died Jtily 26, 1841. 
aged seventy-three. He married Sarah lleach, a 
native of the town of llmitington. Eairfield C'o., 
Conn., and a datighler nf Israel lieach (2), a de- 
.sccndant of Jolm lieach, of Stratford. .She died 
A])ril 25, 1827, the mother of the following children : 
Wilson, born .\])ril 15, I79''i, was a farmer in Strat- 
ford and died .May 18. i8('>3; Henry, born in 171)7, 
was a tinsmith iti liridgeport. and died .\pril 20. 
1880; Lucretia, bi.irn in 1800, married a Mr. I'rofiU. 



a farmer in Xorwalk, Conn. : Charles, our subject's 
father: Stephen, liorn in 1804, was a carpenter and 
died in .Stratford; Sarah, born July 10, 1810, mar- 
ried ISenjamin Califf, of Bridgeport, and died at 
the age of eighty-two years and five months ; and 
Mirah died Oct. 11, 1839, aged twenty-four years. 

Charles Beardsley was born in 1806, and was 
reare<l in Stratford upon the old farm. He learned 
the shoemaker's trade which he followed many years 
in connection with farming. He died in 1853, at 
the age of forty-seven years. His wife, Sarah Bald- 
win, who died in 1889, was a daughter of Hezekiali 
Baldwin, of ^lilford, a descendant of Joseph Bald- 
win, one of the first settlers of the town. To Charles 
and Sarah ( Baldwin) Beardsley were born eigl:; 
children, of whom Charles W. is the eldest. The 
following is the record of the others, all of whom 
are living and residents of Milford, un.less therein 
stated : Abigail, born May 9, 1832, married Charle.> 
R. Baldwin, of Milford; Alvlra, born June 4, 1834; 
Hezekiali, born April 30, 1836, is an extensive con- 
tractor and builder of Milford; George, born Jan. 
20, 1838, has charge of the cabinet work in the 
schools of Xew Haven, where he now resides : Theo- 
dore, born Eeb. 23, 1840, is a prominent builder of 
Si)ring"fiel(l, Mass. ; Sarah J., born Jan. 25, 1842, mar- 
ried Edward Clark, of Milford ; and Frederick, born 
(Jet. 22. 1843, has for tw-enty-two years been em- 
l)loyed by the X. Y. & N. H. Railway Company. 

Charles W. Beardsley was educated in the com- 
mon and select schools of his native town, and com- 
menced learning the shoe business at the age of 
fifteen, following same for eighteen years. He 
learned his trade in Milford, having accompanied 
his parents to that town in 1844. His health par- 
tially failing by close confinement in his work, he 
engaged in the stock and produce business, imjjort- 
ing from Montreal, Canada, and continued success- 
fully in this business for twelve years. He has had 
some of the finest Jersey cattle that have appeared 
in America, for which he has obtained large prices. 
He then bought one of the best farms in Milford, 
and is engaged in the seed business for Peter Hen- 
derson & Co., of New York City. He has been iden- 
tified with some of the most iiuportant enterprises 
of the town, and has served as a director of the Mil- 
ford Savings Bank, and of the Steam Power .Manu- 
facturing Company. 

Mr. Beardsley has held an important ])lace in 
|)ublic afi^airs. Tie has held the offices of selectman 
for twelve years in succession, member of the board 
of edtication, member of the fire department for 
twenty-two years, and w-as a member of the Sec- 
ond Company. ( lovernor's b'oot (Juards (organized 
1775), tmder ( lov. I'luckingham, and he was one of 
the incorporators of the Taylor Library, of Milford. 
Tn 1889 he was elected a member of the House of 
Representatives of Connecticut, for two years, and 
served on the railroad committee, and was com- 
missicMier of the Washington bridge. He gave a 
full historv of the old bridge, and when the bilf 




-^-^^^^^^^^ h'/t^^x^^-^'-< 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



485 



came before the House to ha\e the structure made 
a free bridge, supported by Xew Haven and l-"air- 
field couuties. he made a strom;' argument in favor 
of the free bridge system, and the bill was passed. 
Three other free bridges, the L'>irminghani. Zoar and 
Bennett, now cross tlie Housatonic river, making 
a well defined line between the two comities, lie 
was re-elected a nieniber of the House of Repre- 
sentatives for the years 1891-92. and was again a 
member of the railroad committee, (iox-. I'.ulkeley 
appointed him sliell-fish commissioner, and in 1893 
Gov. Morris reappointed him to the same office. 

On ^lay 28, 1850, -Mr. lieardsley was united in 
marriage with Sarah Baldwin, who was born Jan. 
4, 1827, (laughter of Elnathan Baldwin, of .Mil- 
ford, and their union has been blessed with three 
children: De \\\\.t Clinton, born May 18, 1852. a 
prominent contractor and builder, who married Mar- 
tha P. Avery, of Stratford, and has four children : 
Mcdorah H., Aland C. Stanley A. and Ida Frances; 
Sarah Etta, born Feb. 10, 1855. married Charles 
Clark, contractor and builder, of West Haven, and 
liad two children : George W. and F.lwood R. ; 
Charles Frederick, born June ^C^. 1866. resides at 
home, and is engaged in the seed business with his 
father. Mr. Beardsley united with the First Con- 
gregational Church of Mil ford in 1850, and is es- 
teemed in his native town and in the town wliere h? 
resides and wherever known, as an honorable and 
upright citizen. Socially he belongs to the L O. 
O. F., of Milford. The Beardsley family is quite 
a numerous one in Connecticut, and in all its 
branches has maintained the honorable reputation 
transmitted through succeeding generations from 
William Beardsley, the venerated ancestor. 

The first record of the Baldwin family, with 
which Mr. Beardsley is connected in the maternal 
line, is in England, A. D. 1672. but the line is sMUie- 
what broken from then until 15 15 when occurred the 
liirth of Richard Baldwin in Bucks countv, ICngland. 
and since then the descent is as follows : John, son of 
Richard, born about 1540. and his son Richard, born 
al)Out 1580 : Joseph, son of Richard, born about 1600, 
and with his two brothers Timothy and Xathaniel 
left their home in Stratford-on-.\von. and came to 
.America in the ship "Planter" in i''>,S.v Joseph 
ISaldwin, who located in Milford in 1^)39. married 
three times, first Hannah, second, Isabel Xortham, 
widow of James Xortham. and third, Elizabeth 
Hitchcock, widow of William Warriner, of Spring- 
lield. He was the father of the following children : 
Joseph, Benjamin. Hannah, Mary, Elizabeth, Mar- 
tha. Jonathan, David and Sarah. Jonathan linldwin 
was born Feb. 15. 16-1.9. '" New Haven, and mar- 
ried Hannah Ward, daughter of John \\'ard. and 
became the father of six children : Jonathan. John, 
Joseph, Hannah. Daniel and Joshua. Of these chil- 
dren, Joshua is in the direct line, and he was born 
Jan. 24. iTx)!, and by his marriage became the father 
of four children: Hannah. Joshua, Elizabeth and 
Sybil. Joshua Baldwin (2), our sul)iect"s great- 



grandfather, was born in .\lilfonl. Conn.. Dec. 14, 
172O, and reared the following children: llezekiah, 
father of our subject's motlu-r ; Mary: .\l)igail ; 
I'dizabeth : .Sarah: and bdijab, born in 1789, was 
graduated from Yale I'niversiiy, and became a 
preacher of note, .'ind died without children. 

llezekiah Baldwin was born in Milford in 1775, 
and married Mary Ann Hine. His children were a.s 
follows: (i) .Mary Aiui married Joseph Beard, of 
Milford. and had one child, Josejih T.. a farmer. 
(2) .\bigail married Louis Smith, of .Milford, and 
had four children. Miles. Elizalieth, .Mary and Mar- 
tha. (3) llezekiah married Harriet Stowe and had 
two children. Susan and .Mary. (4) Sarah or Sally, 
our subject's mother, was the ne.xt. (5) Betsey 
married William Stowe, and had one son, Clark. 
(f>) -Martha married Rogers Beard, of Milford, and 
had seven children, Seymour, Miles, Alice, Eliza- 
beth, Charles, Pennington and Gideon. (7) Charles 
J. married Etmice l>alilwin and had three children, 
Charles W.. Henry E. and Edwin. (8) Elijah mar- 
ried Julia Wilson, and had four children, Abigail, 
Mary E., Eliott and Julia. (9) Susan C. married 
X'^athan C. Tomlinson. and had six children. Susan, 
Mary, Ann, Charles, Celia and Julia. ( 10) .\nna 
Maria married Addison Beard, of Milford. and had 
five children, (ieorge II., William. Herbert, .\nn 
-M. and Elliott. 

SAMUEL R. DEAX. late one of the pros- 
])erous merchants of Seymour, and a popular, pub- 
lic-spirited citizen, was a native of Xew ^'ork 
State, born I'eb. 13. 1832. in Caroline, Tompkins 
county, of .Scottish descent. 

.Samuel H. Dean, his father, set out for th'is 
country from the Xorth of Ireland in 1812. but the 
vessel on wdiieh he was making the vovage was 
captured by the B.ritish and conveyed to Halifax, 
Xova Scotia. hVom there he succeeded in making 
his escape, and traveled afoot to Delaware countv, 
X. ^'.. where he located. In that vicinity he mar- 
ried Jane Douglass, and by her had twelve chil- 
dren: John. .Mice, John C, James A., William D., 
Mary .A.. Sar.ih. Alaria II.. Jane .A.. Samuel R., 
Cornelia C. and one that died in infancv. .After 
the death of the mother of these children Mr. Dean 
married Mary Thomas, of Dutchess county. X. Y., 
and two children were born of that union. 

From the early age of ten \-ears Samuel R. 
Dean may be said to have earned his own living. 
In 1867 he came to .Seymour and embarked in mer- 
cantile business with a Mr. McEwen. but after 
four and a half years the partnershij) was dis- 
solved, and in 1872 Mr. Dean became a member 
of the firm of Wooster, Dean & I'uckingham, 
doing business in the store he occupied up to the 
time of his death. The firm continued until the 
spring of 1880, after which it was Wooster & 
Dean until June, 1881, when Mr. Dean bought out 
his partner, and he carried on the business alone 
from that time. 



486 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



In January, 1862, Samuel K. Dean was united 
in marria.ije with Miss Anna C. ]'"airchild, of Ox- 
lord, Conn., a daui^iiter of Nathan Ji. and Augusta 
(Sherman) i'airclnld. Five children were born to 



: William 1'".; Benja- 
ancl L'lara A. Will- 
at C'ornell CoUei^e. 
tlnishing at Lehigh 
He visited Jamaica 



them : Cornelia A., deceased 

ir.in T., deceased; Robert K.: 

iani !■'. was educated partly 

where he studied two years, 

Universitw lielhlehem, I'a. 

twice in the interest of the Thompson-Houston 

Electric Co., and for the ])ast five years has been 

.superinlenilent of the Canadian (k-neral Electric 

Co., at Mnnireal, Canada. Clara A. and Robert K. 

are both li\ing at linine. 

In [jolities .Mr. Dean was a Re])ublican, and in 
1886-87 re]iresentt'd the town of Seyiuour in the 
State Legislature, the first year being a member of 
the committee on Incorporations, and the second 
year of the committee of Fiitanee. In municipal 
matters he si'rved as chairman of the lioard of re- 
lief for se\en \ears. Socially he was affiliated with 
the V. & .\. .M.. .Morning Star Lodge, No. 47; 
with Alt. \ernon Chapter, No. 35; with the Coun- 
cil: and witii the .\ew I lavefi Commandery, No. 2, 
K. r. : and was also a ntemljer of the I. O. R. M., 
Nonnawaid< Lodge, \o. (/. In religious faith he 
was a l!ai)tist, but attended the Congregational 
Church, ll'is death, which occurred March 25, 
inoo, was nmm'ned by many friends, 

D.VNIEL II.\.\D is a name that deserves to be 
forever luminous in the amials of American philan- 
thropy. His large donations to the relief of the 
suffering and the unfortunate victims of evil con- 
ditions and inherited privations are m part a mat- 
ter of historical record. In part they can only be 
surmised. h'.nough is known to warrant the in- 
clusion of this name on the roll of the great and 
l)ermanent benefactors of the race — men who have 
ac(|nired large fortimes, and have considered them 
a trust to lie wisely administered for the welfare of 
their Ijrothers and sisters who have lacked precious 
jjrivileges of wealth and faith. 

Daniel Hand belonged to an olil and estaldished 
family of .\'ew k'ngland, whose many representa- 
tives in former generations have been distinguished 
alike fur their ability, business energy and hi,gli 
moral character. 

The first .American anceslur of the family was 
John Hand, .who emigrated aliout 1635 from Kent, 
I'".ngland, and located first at Lynn, but presently 
found a home at the east end of Long Island. He 
was one of the original patentees of East Hamp- 
ton, and took a leading part in the affairs of the 
small settlement. He died in 1660. .Mice Stan- 
Iiorough, his wife, was a woman of character and 
force, and two of tiieir sons remained in East 
Hampton, where their descendants still reside. 
'l"wo or three other sons removed to New Jersey, 
and their progeny may be found in that Stale and 



in rciuis\lvania. A daughter married and re- 
turned to England. 

Joseph Hand about the time of his father's 
death removed to Guilford, Conn., where he luar- 
ried Jane Wright, and settled in what is now 
Madison. This Joseph Hand took an active part 
in town ail'airs, and his name frequently appears in 
the old records. The Hand family was represented 
in the American Revolution, Capt. Daniel Hand 
leading a company of East Guilforders to the as- 
sistance of General Washington and proving one 
of the able and valiant soldiers of that war. 

The maternal ancestors of Daniel Hand were 
al.so linked in with the affairs of the Colonists of 
those far-away days. Mncent Aleigs being a con- 
temporary of the first John Hand, 

i)aniel Hand was born July 14, 1801, in East 
Guilford, and had such -intellectual and moral train- 
ing as might be expected for a scion of an old and 
pTosperous Puritan household in New England, 
which has been somewhat toned and softened by 
contact with the outer world. In 1818 he went to 
.vugusta, ( ia., in charge of his uncle, Daniel Meigs., 
an ol<l and prosperous merchant of that place and 
of Savannah. Here in process of time he suc- 
ceeded to his uncle"s business, up to within a few 
years preceding the outbreak of the Civil war, still 
keeping uj) close relations with his old home in 
Connecticut, where his sisters were married and 
settled, and where he spent nearly every summer 
during his long Southern residence. Some fifteen 
vears previous to the war Mr, Hand had estab- 
lished a partnership at Augusta with George W. 
Williams, a native of the South, and a man of 
much ability and high character. Shortly after 
the establishment of the partnership Mr. Williams 
opened a branch of the firm's business at Charles- 
Ion, .S. C, and the branch soon became the princi- 
pal place of business. The AugT.tsta business was 
put in charge of D, H. Wilcox, a junior partner, 
and Mr. Ilaml luade his headquarters in New York 
teiupiirarily, where he attended to the purchasing 
and financial interests of the business. By this 
ehange of the firm's interests practically all of Air. 
Hand's large fortune was concentrated at Charles- 
tbn, and there it was at the breaking out of hos- 
tilities. 

At a time when the war was about to begin 
Mr. Williams urged Mr. Hand to come South, not 
knowing wli.it disasters to their business might 
occur if the two proprietors were on different sides 
of the line. .Mr. Hand immediately departed for 
the scene of their mutual interests, and the business' 
interests of the firm carried liim to Xew Orleans, 
whore the Mayor had him arrested on account of 
a telegram which charged him with being a "Lin- 
coln s]jy." When lirouglu before that au.gust per- 
.sonage he found Mr. Hand a very dilTerent man 
from what he had ex])ected, and set him free on hi.s 
parole to rejiort to the authorities at Richmond^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



487 



Stuppini;- owr niylil at Aiiyiista, Ga., Mr. Ilaiul 
iiarrciwly cscapcil huini;- nu)l)l)cd on account of his 
known anti-slavcrv scntinients. Good friends, how- 
ever, interfered, and sent him safely on his way. 
At KiciinuMid Mr. lland was set at hbertv and per- 
mitted to go wiiere he pleased within the limits of 
the Confederacy, lie located at Asheville, X, C, 
where lie spent his time in reading, and wailing 
for the war to close, as he knew it inust, in the de- 
struction of the Southern oligarchy. The Con- 
federate government sought to secure Mr. Hand's 
extensive property, which was saved after strenuo.'.-: 
efforts to confiscate ii. 

.■\t the close of the war .Mr. lland came Xorth 
and left Mr. Williams to adjust accounts, allow- 
ing him unlimited control in his administration. 
Mr. Williams' linal statement showed a large 
amoinu due Mr, Hand, and for this he gave hi.s 
note at a low rate of interest. I'inal payment was 
at last made, and the name of Mr. Williams is held 
by those conversant with the facts as that of as 
honest and incorruptible a man as is known in the 
annals of American business. 

In the South Mr. Hand never became identified 
\vith its i>revailing pro-.slavery sentiment, and xet 
he never expressed unkind or unfriendly sentiments 
toward the Southern ].)eople. He treasured their 
good ((tialities and entertained the kindest feeling 
toward the communities where he dwelt. Sin- 
cerely compassionating the white people as well as 
the black, he used his great fortune to bring the 
colored people of the South up to a higher level. 
In order that he might return to the people of the 
South a substantial expression of his interest in 
their behalf, and that a portion of his fortune 
earned there might forever work for the benefit of 
the needy and suffering of that part of the country, 
]\Ir. Hand gave to the American Missionarv As- 
sociation in 1888 a fund of one million dollars to 
be used for educational pur]>oses, and to be kept 
intact as the "Daniel Hand Educational Fund for 
Colored People.'' This great gift, the largest at 
that time bestowed in a single sum, was put into 
the hands of the officers of the Association, and has 
fqr many years l)een doing its noble work. By the 
will of Mr. Hand the fiunl w'as increased bv over 
$600,000. 

In his youth Mr. Hand married his cousin, 
Elizabeth Ward, daughter of Dr. Levi and Mehita- 
ble (Hand) Ward, early settlers of Rochester, N. 
Y. Mrs. Hand and her children all died voung, 
and for more than sixty years .Mr. Hand lived a 
widower, and in absence of family cares and 
domestic relations, his beneficence has fallen like 
the sunshine and the dew ujjon many w-ho were 
Irving to help themselves and overcome unfriendly 
contlitions. Mr. Hand established the Hand Acad- 
emy in Madison, and did many other commendal)le 
and noteworthy deeds. Formed under the influ- 
ence of a Puritan ancestry and home surroundings, 
Mr. Hand's rehgions convictions were deep but 



never olitruded ni)on any. He had faith in the 
Hible, and his consecration was marked. Cniting 
with the First Presbyterian Church at Augusta, 
Ga., when twenty-eight years of age, he was ahvavs 
a ready and willing worker in the Clnirch. For 
thirty years he was superintendent of the Sunday- 
school at Augusta, and maintained atlmirable or- 
der and enthusiasm, yet never rejiroved a bov or 
censured a teacher. He died in December, i8(jo. 
Gkokck li. Jl.wi), a brother of Daniel Hand, 
anil one of the leading lawyers and public men of 
Michigan, was born in East (Suilford, Conn., -Aug. 
16, i8oy, and was graduated frou) ^'ale College at 
the age of twenty years. After com])letiug his 
course at Yale he went to Detroit, Mich., wIktc he 
became a student in the law office of William .\. 
Fletcher, anil on his admission to the liar Ijecame 
a partner of that geiuleman. In the law .Mr. Hand 
very quickly attamed eminence. In 1835 he was 
made Judge of i'robate for Wayne county, and in 
1844 injimction Master for Juistcrn Michigan. In 
i84() Mr. Hand was sent to the Legislature as the 
representative from Detroit, and in that body took 
an active part 'in ])reparing the revised statutes of 
that year. He also introduced the resolution for 
selling the public works of the State, the ])rincipal 
ones being the Central and Southern rr.ilroads. 
l\\v. Hand prepared the charter for these roads, and 
negotiated their final sale. Tlu- p(ilic\' which he 
advocated proved of great value to the .State then 
struggling with the problems of an impaired cur- 
rency and profound business depression. In 1853 
"Sir. Hand was ap]Jointed Cnited States atlornev 
lor ^lichigan and held the office four \ears. 
Founding the Young Men's Society of Detroit, he 
was its first president. He also organized the De- 
troit Bar Association, and for many _\-ears was its 
president. A personal and an intimate friend of 
General Cass, he was chairman of the Democratic 
State Committee in 1848, when that distinguished 
citizen of ^Michigan became a candidate for Presi- 
ilent. Always devoted to his ]5rofess'ion, he was 
long recognized as one of its leading representatives 
in his adopted .State. The last two years of his life 
v.^cre spent in .Mailison, where he died .\ug. 30, 
1889. He was a nieml.)er uf the b'ort .Street Church 
in Detroit, of which he was an elder, and main- 
tained a high standing as a man and a citizen 
among those at all familiar with his life and char- 
acter. 

ROBERT DOWNS, a thorough and .skillful 
farmer and a business man of more than ordinary 
ability, is a worthy representative of the agricultural 
interest of Oxford. I lis fine farm, whicli is one of 
the most desirable of its size in the town, is pleas- 
antly located on ChestmU Hill road in the Red Oak 
school district. 

-V native of this county, Mr. Downs was born 
in the town of ISethany, March 10, 1835, a son of 
Leverett and .Anna (.\twater) Downs. He was 



488 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



only a year old when his parents removed to the 
farm where he now resides, and u])on thai place he 
grew to manhood, assistin;;- his father in the labors 
of the farm and ])ursning his stndies in the locai 
schools. After the death of his father, which oc- 
curred in 1859, he took charge of the farm and has 
since carried it on with marked success. He owns 
about 116 acres of rich and arable land under a high 
state of cultivation, and is engaged in dairy and 
general farming, ;nid in bee culture. 

Mr. Downs' labors were interrnpted during the 
Civil war, as he enlisted Aug. 18, 1862, for three 
years or during tlu' wai', as a private in Co. H, 15th 
Conn. \'. 1. With his regiment he proceeded to 
Camp Chase, Washington, 1). C, and later partici- 
pated in the battle of k'n-dericksburg, the siege of 
Suffolk and the balilc of Kinston, X. C, where 
he was cajjtured March S, JSO5. Jrle was then taken 
to Richmond. \ a., where Ihey arrived after fifteen 
days spent upon the road, and where he was held a 
prisoner for three days. .\t the end of that time, 
however, he was paroled and taken to Annapolis, 
Md. Returning home on a furlough, he was here 
when the war ended, but again went South, and 
was discharged at .Xewbern, .\. C, June 17, 1865. 
Since the war be has engaged in farming on the 
old homestead in ( )xford. lie is a stanch supporter 
of the l\epublican ])any .■nul its principles, and has 
served as grand juror. In all the relations of life 
he has been found true to every trust reposed in 
him, and has tlie entire confidence and respect of his 
fellow citizens. In his chiuxh affiliations he is a 
member of the .Mellujdist Episcopal Church, of 
Naugatuck. 

IlEXRV Rl'A'.Xt )L1JS, long conspicuous as a 
manufacturer and business man of New Haven, is 
a son of Stephen and .Sybil (\'inton) Reynolds, and 
was born in Southbridge, Mass., March 16, 1824. 
His father was a blacksmith and later a manufac- 
turer of scythes, hoes and other such articles in de- 
mand among the ])eople with whom he lived. He 
was an honest man and reputalile citizen. lUit he 
was not wealthy, and his son Henry Revnolds began 
his acli\e life without capital or intlnential backing, 
cqiii])peil with such a rudimentary education as he 
was able to gain in the common schools of .South- 
bridge and W'ilbrahani, to which jilace his father 
moved when he was nine years old. Henry's nat- 
ural bent was for mechanics, and he set about ac- 
quiring a jM-actical knowledge of mechanical en- 
gineering, finishing liis apprenliceshi]) with Otis 
Tuffts. a once celebrated mechanical engineer, of 
Boston. 

Later Mr. Rexnolds was eniployt'd by Mr. Tuffls 
continuously in one responsibk' posit i(jn after an- 
other till 1848. In I'ebruary of that year Mr. 
Reynolds went to Springfield, Mass., and coimccted 
himself with the American Machine Works, af 
which he was superintendent and ])art jiroprielor 
initil i86t, during which pi-ri<id were built under his 



supervision all the engines constructed by the com- 
pany, including a large engine in the water works of 
Columbia, S. C., and another in the L'nited States 
L'ranch Mint at Xew Orleans, La. The erection of 
these two, with many others, Mr. Reynolds per- 
sonally oversaw. The business of the company was 
largely in the South, and at the outbreak of the 
Civil war, in common with many others, it was so 
sericmsly crippled that a change of base was deemed 
e.\]:iedient, and the manufacture of firearms was be- 
gun. 

In 1861 Mr. Reynolds disposed of his interest in 
the American Machine Co., and removing to New 
Haven, Conn., became interested in the Plants ^lan- 
ufacturing Company fa joint stock concern), and 
engaged in the manufacture for the government of 
])istols and gun parts, making a specialty of the 
i'icynolds. Plants & Hotchkiss revolver, of which 
two sizes were made. The business was continued 
until Dec. 8, 1866, when the factory was burned. 
At that time the company was turning out an aver- 
age of si.xty revolvers per day. 

In May, 1867, the present business of Mr. Rey- 
nolds was established by Reynolds & Bigelow, and it 
was soon sold to Reynolds & Co., a stock company, 
of which the following named gentlemen are now 
officers: Henry Reynolds, president and manager; 
William H. Reynolds, secretary ; James English, 
treasurer ; and George F. Reynolds, superintendent. 
The business was started with the design of man- 
ufacturing screws wdiich should be standards of 
excellence, and the success of Mr. Reynolds and 
his associates in carrying out their intentions is at- 
tested by the popularity which their goods have at- 
tained and the steady increase of their business, 
which has obliged them to make frequent large ad- 
ditions to their facilities. Started with one screw 
machine, five horse-power engine, many are now in 
use and the factory gives employment to 150 skilled 
men. 

The i)remises comprise several brick buildings, 
having an aggregate floor surface of alx>ut 40,000 
square feet. The factory is equipped with the latest 
imi)roved machinery and tools, operated by a one 
hundred and seventy-five horse-power engine. The 
products of these works comprise all kinds of set, 
ca]) and machine screws, machine Ixills. bridge and 
roof bolls, coach screws, nuts and w'ashers. The 
comi)any also manufacture molding machines of 
metal as the Eames, Reynolds & Llammcr machines. 
Though on the market only some twenty-odd years 
their machines for pressing sand molds have, in 
spite of the strong opposition shown to them by the 
molders, slowly but surely grown in favor with the 
foundrymen, until there are to-day thousands of 
them in active use, showing in each case very fav- 
orable results, and quickly repaying the foundryman 
for his investment. The leading sewing machine 
foundries of the country are now making all their 
sewing machine beds, arms, wheels, jnilleys, tread- 
lers, braces and all small castings upon these ma- 





'&^/^:^^Hi^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL. RECORD. 



489 



chines, and they are also in cjcneral use in the larg- 
est lockshops and malleable iron foundries both East 
and West. The company for twenty or more years 
has been constantly improving the machines, their 
endeavor being to so simplify and strengthen them 
as to render it almost impossilile for them to get 
cut of order or break with any proper use. This 
end has been practically accomplished, and the ma- 
chines they now offer to the public cannot be cciualed 
for strength, simplicity, compactness and easy adap- 
tation to all classes of bench molding. These ma- 
chines arc made in several different styles and sizes, 
and will make any kind of casting that can be 
molded in flasks 36 inches long and 12 inches wide, 
or smaller, but are especially adapted to snap flask or 
bench molding, and show' the largest gain over hand 
ramming on light work, such as is generally made 
in flasks 20x16 inches and smaller. The molds can 
be made at considerably less cost than they can be 
rammed up by hand, much smoother and more uni- 
form castings produced, and owing to the simplic- 
ity and durability of the machines they can be run 
for years amid the dirt and dust of the foundry wilh- 
out getting out of order or occasioning any outlay 
for repairs. The company also makes a draw plate 
macliine, wdiich is on the same principle as is em- 
bodied in the Reynolds machine. This machine is 
especially adapted to globe valves. pi])e fittings keys, 
parts of sewing machines, locks, etc. It is claimed 
for these machines first, that ihcy will produce 
smoother and more even work than can be made 
with hand rammers; second, a smaller percentage 
of poor castings ; third, a much larger luimber of 
molds per day; fourth, a saving of from 25 to 50 
]5er cent, in cost of molding, according to pattern ; 
fifth, considering size, strength, durability, capacity 
and adaption to all kinds of work, they are the 
cheapest machine made ; si.xth, they do not recpurc 
experienced molders to run them; seventh, they 
will soon rejiay any foundrynian fur his invest- 
ment, if properly handled. 

The great success of the enteqirise mentioned in 
the foregoing is attributed no less to the practical 
mechanical skill of Mr. Reynolds, than to the able 
business management of himself and associates. It 
is true of him (and of many manufacturers it can- 
not be said), that he is ]jersonally able to do (juickly 
and skillfully any work rcfpiired of any machine in 
his employ, but he learned his trade when men ac- 
quired the whole, and did not content themselves 
with learning portions of it. It is a distinction 
which he enjoys, that he was the first in the United 
States to make steel and iron set and cap screws 
for the trade ; and the first pianoagraffe screws in 
America were made by him. 

Mr. Reynolds was marrieil to }\rarlh:i A. Shearer. 
cf Massachusetts, Jan. 10. 1S47. She died March 
26, 1850. Sometime later Mr. Revnolds married 
Nancv IT. Wheeler, of Springfield. Mass. Tie has 
two sons, William Henry, born in 1853; and George 
Francis, born in 1856. Politically Mr. Reynolds 



is a Democrat, anil has lieen one from his youth. 
While adhering finnly to the principles of that parly 
in all fpiestions of national imiwrt. he is liberal in 
his views, and in municipal affairs is in favor of the 
election of the man who l>ids fair to be the best 
ofiicer. lie has been for many years a member of 
St. Thomas I':piscoi)al Church, upon the services of 
which he and his family are attendants. 

Mr. Revnolds has long been prominent as a 
Mason, having attained the 32d degree. He is a 
member of Hiram Lodge, Xo. i ; Franklin Chapter, 
Xo. 2: Harmony Council, Xo. 8; and Xew Haven 
Commanderv. Xo. 2; also E. G. Storer Lodge of 
Perfection ; Elm City Council, Princes of Jerusalem ; 
Xcw^ Haven Chapter Rose Croix .\. A. S. R. ; La- 
favette Consistory, S. P. R. S. Since taking up his 
residence in Xew' Haven he has never consented to 
accept any ])osition of public trust, but while living 
in Springfield he served his fellow citizens as al- 
derman and councilman, and in other capacities. 
He is public sjjirited, and has always done his full 
share in the upbuilding of the best interests of the 
community. He is a conspicuous example of Xew 
Haven's self-made men. 

jrLU"S l-.LI/.L'R XORTOX. one of Guil- 
ford's successful business men. and a well-known 
citizen, is a native of that city, born Oct. 23, 1841. 
and is descended from one of the oldest Xew Eng- 
land families. The first known of the family under 
consideration was 

(1) lohn Xorton, a native of P.edfordshire, 
Fnglan(K wdiere he passed all his life. He married 
lane Cooper, and had children ; William, Alice, 
John. Robert and Richard. Of these, 

(]]) Richard Xorton. born in Bedfordshire. 
Enoland. where he passed all his days, married 
Marjorv Wingatc, and had children ; William 
(married to Margaret Harrison) and Thomas. 

(Ill) Thomas Norton, born in Bedfordshire, 
England, son of Richard, moved to Ockley, Countv 
of Surrev, thence in 1630 coming to America and 
settling in Guilford, Conn., where he died in K'lsS. 
In England he had married, his wife's name being 
Grace, and thcv had children, all born in England : 
George, born in 1606. wdio died in 16^9; Thomas, 
sketch of whom follows; Ann. wnfe of Tohn \\'ar- 
ner; Grace, wife of William Smead ; John, mar- 
ried to Hannah Stone; Marv. wife of James Rock- 
well; and .Miigail. born in 1629, wdio died in 1704. 

(TV) Thomas X^orton. born in England in 
1626. cnme to Guilford with his parents, later nuiv- 
ing to Saybrook, and dying at Durham, Conn., in 
1712. He married. May 8. 1671. Elizabeth ?vIason, 
wdio died Jan. 31, 1699. the mother of children as 
follows; Elizabeth, born in October. 1674, died 
April 2. iCi'/Ci; Thomas, born June r, 1677. died 
Mav 22. 1726; Elizabeth (2). born Dec. 2^. t^tq, 
married Reuben X'eal ; Toseph. born Xov. 6. i('i8t, 
died in 17^6; Samuel (twin of Toseph) died Tulv 
13, 1749; .Abigail and Ebenezer (twins), born Oct. 



490 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



26, 1683, botli died _\oung; Juhn, sketch of whom 
follows. 

(\') John Xortoii, born Oct. 8, i'i86, in Dur- 
ham, Conn., passed all his life there, dying in 
1708. He and his wife ICIizabeth had children: 
Jonathan, born l-'eb. 18, 1712, who died Oct. 27, 
1801 ; John, sketch of whom follows; Benjamin, 
born heb. 12, I7i(j, who died in 1758; Ephraim, 
born Aug. 20, 1721: Stephen, born June 7, 1724; 
Elizabeth, born June 15, 1720, wiio died young; 
and Elizabeth {2), liorn June 21, 1728, who mar- 
ried Joseph Seward. 

(\'I) John Norton, born at IJurham, Feb. lO, 
1715, in "early manhood moved to KiUingworth, 
Conn., where he ])assed the remainder of his days. 
Jn 1742 he marrieil .\l.-ir\' (Iriswold, who was born 
June 23, 1723, and died ni KilHngwonh. We have 
the following record of their children; Mary, born 
April 13, 1743, married Cornelius Hull; Rhoda 
was born Aug. 16, 1745: Aloses, h>b. 23, 1748; 
Aaron, June 24, 17SI : Anna, Eeb. 3, 1754; Elah, 
May 8, 1757 (married Huldah Hull); Abel, July 
4. 1762: and Amos, sketch of whom follows. 

(\'ll) Amos Norton, grandfather of Julius F.., 
born in the town of KiUingworth in November, 
J764. rt-moved in early manhmid to East Guilford 
(now the town of .Madison), where he died Dec. 
4, 1822, and he is bm-ied in Madison cemetery. He 
married Sylvia h'ield. whn was b(irn March 11, 
1779, and (lied March 15, 1812. Their children; 
I'hebe Ann, l)nrn .\lav 25, 1800, who died Oct, 17, 
1868; Mary, twin of I'hebe Ann; Rebecca, wdio 
married i\. S. 1 lill and died Oct. 21, 1828; Edward, 
sketch jjf whom follows; L'alvin and Mclinda 
(twins), born June 11, 1805 (Calvin died Sept. 12, 
1876) ; Jose])h ;'.nd .Mary .\nn (twins), bom Aug. 
17, 1807; Joshua, born in i8()(), who died in De- 
cember, 1820; Josiah, twin of Joshua, who died in 
1813; (irift, born March I, 1812, who died }\larch 
15, 1812. 

(Mil) i''<lward Xortiin, father of Julius E., 
was born at b'ast (inilford (miw Madison), Feb. 
26, 1803, and died in (iuilford June 2(j, 1873. A 
butcher and cattle dealer by occupation, he became 
a man of considerable means, Init lost all or most 
of his property. On June u. 1834, he married Airs, 
Eliza ( Hotchls'iss ) Leete, who was born May 27, 
1800, died March 16, 1874, and is buried in (iuil- 
ford West cemetery. She was a daughter of Henry 
Hotchkiss, and widow of Simeon Leete. 1iy whom 
she had one child. To h'dward Norton and his 
wife came children as follows: Mary !•".., born 
Dec. 31, 1835, married Jonathan Morse; James .An- 
drew, born in l'"ebruary, i83(j, died ( )ct. 14, 1840; 
Julius Elizur, sketch of whom follows; and Julia 
Elizalieth (twin of Julius i-".), b^irn ( )ct. 2},. 1841, 
(lied May 8, 1844. 

(IX I Julius Elizur Norton, whose name opens 
this sketch, received his education in the district 
schools of (Iuilford, and earlv in life, owing to his 
lather's ill iiealtli, hiul to contribute toward the 



support of the family. At the age of thirteen years 
he removed to IJranford, where for one year he 
found employment in the iron works, at the end of 
which time he returned to Guilford and com- 
menced working in the Spencer foundry, at the 
time conducted by Isaac S. Spencer & Son, the 
former father of the present proprietors. Here he 
passed over a quarter of a century, being einployed 
in all the departments, during which time, through 
his industry and attention to business, he won for 
himself the confidence of his employers. In 1881 
he met with an accident which necessitated his re- 
signing his position in the w'orks, and as a con- 
sequence he had to seek some other employment. 
In 1882 he commenced in the produce business. 
Inlying and sellmg on a small scale, gradually ex- 
panding his trade, and for the last twelve years he 
has shipped produce in large quantities to Preston 
Drown, of Providence, R. I., as well as to many 
Western points, etc. In course of time, in 1876, 
he took his son Robert into partnership, under the 
firm name of J. E. Norton & Son, which has since 
continued, and they have several branch meat 
markets in Guilford and elsewhere, besides dealing 
extensively in live stock. 

On Feb. 23, 1863, Julius E. Norton was mar- 
ried to Maria (jriffing Hill, a record of whose fam- 
ily is given farther on, and children as follows 
have come to them ; ( i ) Robert Henry, born Sept. 
12, 1864, was married Nov. 30, 1889, to Laura 
Noble Roberts. They have had five children — 
Arthur Julius, born Aug. 27, 1890; Hazel Maria, 
Sept. 19, 1892; Earl Daniel, June 8, 1895; Leslie 
Roberts, July 12, 1897; Robert Henry, June 28, 
1901. (2) LeIia Augusta, born July 15, i8()6, mar- 
ried, Oct, 31, 1889, (jeorge Mason, who died Aug. 
16, 1899; she makes her home in (iuilford, and has 
four children — I'rank Norton, Olive Margaret, 
(jeorge R. and Walter Harris. (3) Anna Laura, 
born Jan, 19, 1872, died April 26, 1888, (4) Harry 
Eugene, born March 20, 1878, died Aug. 22, 1893. 
(5) Clarence Edward, born. Feb. 28, 1886, is "the 
largest boy of his age in Guilford," The family 
are all identified with the Congregational Church, 
and in politics .Mr. Norton was formerly a Demo- 
crat, but since i8()6 has been a stanch Republican. 

'Che Hill family, of which Mrs. Julius E. Nor- 
ton is a member, trace their descent from old ami 
honored residents of (juilford, and the first of the 
name in Xew Haven county was 

(!) John Mill, who came from Xorthamiiton- 
shire, luigland, and in 1654 settled in (Juilford, 
where be jjassed the rest of his life, dying June 8, 
(()8ij. lie was twice married, and his first wife's 
name was h'rances. ( )n Sept. 23, i(')73, he married 
for his second wife Catherine Chalker, Ijorn Sej)!. 
8, i(>57, a daughter of Alexander Chalker. Chil- 
dren hfirn to John Hill: (I) John, a sketch of 
whom follows; ( 2J James, who died N(jv. 1, 1715; 
(3) Sarah; (4) Ehzabeth ; (5) Ann, wife of James 
ro])])ing. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



491 



(II) John Hill (lit-d May 8. ifxjo. lie married 
Thankful Stunc, \vh(_i was born in .May, I()4<S. anil 
died Nov. 18, 1711. Their children: (i) .Mary, 
born May 8, 1671, died -Aug. 24, 1(171: (J) Juhn, 
sketch of whom follows: (3) Elizabeth, born h"eb. 
1, 1O76, married josiah Rossiter anil died July 14, 
1739: (4) Hon. Samuel, born Feb. 21, 1O78, mar- 
ried Huldah Ruggles and died May 28, 1752; (5) 
Xathaniel, born in .\pril, 1680, died Oct. 10, 1764: 
(0) James, born in .April, 16S2, married May bay 
and died .March 20, 1715. 

(HI) John Hill, born July 18. i()72, ilied in 
Guilford i-'eb. 10, 1740. tie married I lannah 
Highland, who was Ijorn Jan. 29, 1O70, and die<I 
Alay 19, 1752. Children: (i) John, born Jime 
13, 1695, married Haiuiah Dibljle and died Sept. 
(), 175O: (2) Hannah, born May 3, 1699, died 
.March 13, 17O8: (3I Elizabeth, born Oct. 1, 1705, 
married John Stone and died .April 14, 1781 ; (4) 
Thomas, sketch ot whom follows; (5) George, 
born .April 25, 1710, married Ruth Robinson and 
died Eel). 1;, 1 7S7 : (6) Benjamin, born Jan. 29, 
1712, died yoinig: (7^ Reuben, born Nov. 2, 1713, 
went to Canada: (8) Abigail, born March 10, 17 — , 
died Oct. 11, 1774. 

(I\') Thomas Hill, born Sept. 2J. 1708, died 
in Guilford l-"eb. 2^,. 1/^2. On March 2^^. 1734, he 
married Hannah I'ierson, of BridgehamiHon, who 
ilied May (1. 171;!. Children: (i) Lucy, born July 
-0- 1735. died Dec. 13, 1745; (2) Hannah, born 
Jul\- 2j. 1737. married Xathaniel Johnson and died 
Dec. 2/, 1703; (3) Elizabeth, born Sept. 9, 1739, 
died July 2S, 1748; (4) Thomas, a sketch of whom 
follows. 

(V) Thomas Hill, horn Alarch 20, 1743, died 
April 4, 1820. On. Oct. 13. 1767, he married Ediza- 
beth Eairchild, who died Eeb. 28, 1812. Children: 
( I ) Reuben, born April 2^. 1769, died Sept. 23, 
1775: (2) Thomas, sketch of whom follows; (3) 
\\'illiam, born .A[)ril 29, 1773. married Lucy Sco- 
vill and died Sept. 13. 1832; (4) .Anson, born .April 
13, 1775, married Polly .Arnold; {5) .Mary, born 
Feb. 4, 1781, married Alex. McQuillan. 

(\'l) Thomas Hill, born Nov. 16, 1770, died 
Dec. 10, 1827. On Xov. 16, 1794, he married Rox- 
anna Benton, who was born Sept. 10, 1776. Chil- 
dren : (1) William, bom April 4, 1796. married 
Laura Blakeslec and died Jan. 26, 1878; (2) 
George, born Alav iS, 1798, married Rebecca Nor- 
ton and died in November, 1877; (3) Thomas, 
born Xov. if), 1800, married Mary .Morse and died 
in 1835: (4) Clarinda, born May i, 1803, married 
\\'illiam Drugin : (3) Ralph, born -Aug. 25, 1805, 
married Dencv Ives and died .Aug. 6, 18S1 ; (6) 
Reuben, born' Feb. 23, 1808, died .April 8. 1887: 
(7) Almira, born Oct. 7, 1810, married .Alfretl 
-Allen; (8| Edward, born in .August, 1813, married 
Laura .Ann Hill; (9) Alaria. born July 27, 1816, 
married William Potter; (10) Catharine, born 
Sept. II, 1S19. married Moses Culver. 

(\'ll ) Reuben Hill, known as "Captain," father 



of .Mrs. Julius F.. Norton, was born at Guilford 
beb. 2^,, 1808, and was engaged in the hshing luisi- 
ness in his native town, bemg owner and master 
of fishing smacks. He had the misfortune to lose 
his e\esight at sea, and was totally blind for sev- 
enteen years before his death, which occurred 
.April 8. 1887, at his home in (ntilforfl. He was a 
lifelong Democrat, active in school and church 
Vvork, and, altogether, a good citizen. (_)n Oct. 11, 
1832, he married Laura -Ann Stone, born (Jet. 7, 
1813, a daughter of Ciideon and Xancy (Tyler) 
Stone, and granddaughter of Eter and 'iemperance 
(Hodge) Stone. Children: (i) b.liza Jane, born 
-May 19, 1833, married Horace Fowler and died 
.May 6. 1887; (2) William E., born June 2O, 1835, 
died -Aijril 21, 1837; 131 William Philetus, born 
Oct. 25, 1837, married Sarah .\. Potter: (4) 
Henry (ireen. born .\])ril 15, 1840, died May 14, 
1872: (5j Maria (infting, born .Sept. 18, 1843, 
marrietl Julius IC. Norton; (0) .\ancy Roxanna, 
born -March 29, 1847, ^1'^''' March 9, 1855: (7) 
Raljjh Benjamin, born Oct. 25, 1849, married Mary 
Hitchcock; (8) Ella Elizabeth, born May 23, 1852. 
died Dec. 10, i860; (9) Reuben Edward, born 
.Aug. 29. 1858, married Jennie Spencer. 

HENRY HALLER, one of the older and bet- 
ter known citizens of Valesville, in the town of 
Wallingford, and long an employe of the auger 
works at Tracv, was born in Bavaria, -Aug. 12. 
1836, a son of John Ilaller, who was also of Bavar- 
ian birth. 

John 1 laller was a weaver, and spent his entire 
life in (iermany, where he married Catherine Burn- 
hart. They were both mcml)ers of the Lutheran 
Church. To their union were born three children : 
Margaretia, who married George \'ollmiller, and 
was the mother of the late .Mrs. Thomas b^nn, of 
Valesville: iJarbara married Christian lieck, of 
Cornwall, Conn.; and Henry, whose name a])pears 
at the opening of this article. liotli John Ilaller 
and his wife are now deceased. 

Henry Ilaller had a good German education, 
and when his |);irents died and left him alone in his 
early youth he worked at farm labor until he was 
eighteen years old. Wishing to better his condi- 
tion, and knowing the oi)portunities that waited on 
honest industry in the new world, he came to the 
United States in his eighteenth year, and after an 
ocean voyage of thirty-six days landed in .\ew 
"5i'ork. He walked the streets of that strange eii\-, 
]ioor in evervthing save strength of body and mind 
and an indomitable si)irit. Coming to .South Brit- 
ain, Conn., he worked at the sho])s until 1851), when 
he came to C'ornwall, where he sjjent two years 
working in the shops. On the outbreak of the 
Civil war he enlisted in Company C. 5th Conn. 
\'. 1., Ca])t. Collis and Col. O. .S' Ferry, Three 
years were devoted by him \o the service of his 
adopted country, and his true (ierman courage was 
proved in the battles of Cedar ?\Iountaiii, Gettys- 



492 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



burg. Peach Tree Creek and others, and also in the 
ternljle struggle around .\thtnta. In 1864 he re- 
cei\e<l an honorable discharge, an<l returning to 
Cornwall, resumed his work in the shops. Some 
years after he secured a position with the Chees- 
man Co., at iVnsonia, as fireman an<I engineer. 
.Mr. Haller remained in Ansonia muil 1876, when 
lie removed to ^'alesville, and was employed by the 
C'. I'arker Co. for some five years, and since that 
time he has worked at the auger shop of the Jen- 
nings & Griffing Co., at Tracy. 

.Mr. llaller is sincereK' resi)ecte(l by all who 
know him, and his residence in Yalesville, which 
covers more than a quarter of a century, has been 
marked by an integrity of heart and spirit that has 
made him many friends. Mr. Haller was united 
in marriage in 1859 with Miss Dor^ithea Tiefen- 
bach, a daughter of John Tiefenbach. and a native 
of Prussia. To them were Ijorn three children: 
( II Henry, who re^ides at home and is employed 
in the auger factory at Tracy. (2) Charles P., who 
graduateil from the district school and at a busi- 
ness college at Xew Haven, was assistant secretary 
of the V. .M. C. .\. at .Meriilen, secretary for two 
years at Thompson\ ille, and was general secretary 
of the ^■. .M. C. .\. at .Stamford : he is now a student 
at Hahnemann .Medical College at Philadelphia. 
(3) George, who is in the tiM bu->ine^s. married 
Nettie Woodstock, and has three chddren. Charles 
Henr\-, Edwin h'rancis and Lawrence \^'allace. 
]\Ir. Haller belongs to the Aleriden Post, No. 8, 
G. A. R.: Hancock Lodge, I. O. C). F. ; and to the 
K. of P., at -Ansonia. With his wife he belongs to 
the Methodist Church, and in [lolitics is a stanch 
Ke])ubiican. The entire family sustain the respect 
and confidence of their fellow townsmen. 

HOMER TWITCHELL. luirly records show 
the first .American ancestor of the Twitchell family 
to have come to W-w I'.ngland in 1(133. His bap- 
tismal name was Jcise])h, and his surname was 
spelled at times Tnchel. lie is believed to have 
enugraled from Oorset. an iMiglish shire adjoin- 
ing Devonshii'e. lie settled in Dorset, and land 
was assigned him in i(>!5. He was the father of 
two sons, Joseph and lienjamin. from the _\'ounger 
of whom -Mr. Ibimer Twitchell is descended. Pienja- 
nfin removed from Dorset in 1^163, and is presumed 
to have bought one hundred acres of Ranes grant. 
Be that as it may, he built his house about eighty rods 
southwest of Deathbridge, where the ancient exca- 
vation for the cellar is still ]jlainly discernablc. 
Three sons and three daughters were born to him: 
Jose].)li, Mary, llannah. Penjamin, Picrtha and 
Abiell. 'i'he last named is next in line of descent 
toward Homer. lie is jiresumed to have been the 
father of llenson, who was t'arly left ;ni orphan and 
was reared bv his f:Uber's sister .Marw the wife of 
Jc)sc])h Rochet. ( )n reaching manhood he and Mr. 
Rochet, with a cousin. Iiecanie proprietors of what 
is now the site of the town of O.xford. Penson was 



distinguished for energy, enterprise and courage, 
no less than for intelligence and probity, and was 
held in high esteem. He dealt extensively in real 
estate, and his name appears upon the town records 
of O.xford for January, 1722, as an "innholder." He 
was the fatlier of six children, Seth, Jeremiah, Han- 
nah, .Abigail. John and Joseph. Joseph, wdio was 
Ijorn at Oxford in 1717, married Elizabeth Thomp- 
son, of Derby ; his children were Isaac, David, Enoch 
and Worcester. Enoch passed his life in Oxford 
and became the father of Polly, Samuel and Isaac. 

Isaac Twitchell, the father of Homer Twitchell, 
was born in O.xford Feb. 2, 1777, and died Sept. I, 
1849. CJn Sept. 2, 1798, he married Frances Smith, 
who bore him thirteen children, all of whom, ex- 
cept Hope (who lived Init twelve hours), attained 
mature years: Miles J., Clara, Bennet, Curtis, Isaac 
S., Robert, Thomas, Laura E., Charles, Clark, Fannv 
and Homer. His widow survived him until Ajiril 
2, 1865, when she, too, entered into rest, at the ri]ie 
old age of eighty-three. 

Homer Twitchell, the youngest child, and now 
the distinguished citizen of Xaugatuck, whose life 
forms the subject of this sketch, was born in Ox- 
ford, -Aug. 19, 1826, and he and a sister are the only 
members of his father's family wdio remained in the 
county in which they were born. He was brought 
up on his father's farm and received a common 
school education. At the age of eighteen he began 
his apprenticeship to the ctitler's trade, at Water- 
burv, and after becoming a journeyman was em- 
ployed for several years in the shops of the Union 
Knife Co. and other concerns. He was a skillful 
workman and endowed by nature with rare execu- 
tive capacity, and in time was made superintendent 
of the Connecticut Cutlery Co., which position he 
continued to fill until 1870. In that year he began 
the manufacture of umbrella trimmings at Union 
City, and two years later added the making of 
safety pins to his business, and these specialties he 
still continues to manufacture. In 1870 his son was 
admitted into partnershij), the style of the lirm be- 
coming Homer Twitchell & Son. Piesides being at 
the head of this industrial establishment. Mr. 
Twitchell is interested in various other enterprises 
of a senu'-public character. FTc took an active part 
in founding the Naugatuck A\'ater Co.. and was 
the corporation's first president. He was also one 
of the organizers of both the Savings and National 
lianks in that town, serving as president of the for- 
mer until 18S9, and acting as one of the trustees 
since that d;ilc. Of the National P.an]< he is a di- 
rector. 

He is sincerely attached to Naugatuck, and no 
measure looking toward the advancetuent of its best 
interests ever a])peals in v;iin for his support. His 
natural generosity, (|uick sympathy, broad intellect 
and ]niblic spirit have all combined to render him 
one of the town's most pojiular and valued citizens. 
While never seeking office, nonfinations have been 
spontaneously tendered him. He has filled various 




C^<^^^:.^^IA^ ^^>t-^.^5:^^??'"~~~^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



495 



minor local offices, and has served as first select- 
man for several terms. In 1864 he was sent to the 
Legislature, and in 1888 was elected State senator 
from the l-'ifth district, and re-elected in i8()0. He 
is a Democrat in politics, and that he stands high in 
the local councils of his party is shown hy the fact 
that he was chosen a delegate to the National con- 
vention that nominated Grovcr Cleveland for tlie 
])resi(lency. His religious affiliations are with the 
Congregational Church. He has heen a memlier of 
the Masonic fraternity since 1845, and has heen re- 
peatedly chosen master of his lodge. 

On May 21, 1855, Mr. Twitched was married to 
^liss Lavinia Mason, whose father. Ahner, was a 
prominent citizen of South Coventry, Conn. Air. 
and Mrs. Twitched have but one son, I'Tank M., 
who was born in Union City .\pril 7, 1856; he was 
educated at the academy in W'ilhraham, Mass., and 
on finishing his course tlure entered his father's 
emjiloy. In 1879, as has been said, he became a 
ircmber of the firm. He is a man of prominence and 
mlluence in the community; and besides serving 
on school committees was chosen to represent his 
town in the Legislature in 1894. Like his father, 
he is a Democrat in politics, and in religious belief 
a Congregationalist. He belongs to various fra- 
ternal orders, being a thirty-second degree Alason, 
a Knight of rvtlii;is, an Odd I'ellow and a mem- 
ber of the A. 6. C. W. Mr. Frank M. Twitched 
was married Dec. 5, 1883, to Emma, a daughter of 
A. J. Spencer, of .Middletown ; she died, childless, 
I'eb. 13. 1896, and on April 7, 1897, he married her 
sister, May. 

CLIFT. The name of Clift lias had a ])lace in 
the annals of Xew England from the earliest 
Colonial days. \\'illiam Clift, of Marshfield, 
Alass., married. 1691, Lydia, born 1676, daughter 
of Samuel and granddaughter of \\'illiam Wills, 
or \\'illis, who was made a freeman in .Scituate, 
Mass., in 1639. It has been stated in print that 
William Clift was put ashore in the liarl)nr of 
.Scituate, Alass., when but seven years of age. 
Tradition has it, through one I'ero, an old negro 
servant, who died in 1807, at ei.ghty-one, and knew 
the first generation of the family, that "Mr. Clift 
was sent from England by interested parties be- 
cause he was heir to a large estate which they 
would inherit in case of his death.'" William Clift 
died Oct. 17, 1722. F'rom this ancestor descended 
in the fifth generation the late Capt. William Clift, 
of Groton, Conn., the parents of the latter being 
Capt. Xatbaniel and lumice ( Denison ) Clift, who 
were married .\ug. 5. 1801. Xathaniel Clift 
passed the earlier [)ortion of his life in trading voy- 
ages along the Atlantic and Gulf States, antl rose 
to the rank of commander. 1 le finally settled in 
Mystic I'ridge (.Stonington ), engaged to a certain 
extent in trade, and became the popular proprietor 
of a public house which was located in the vicinity 
of the "Hoxie Hnuse.'' 



Ca])t. William Clift. son of Capt. Xathaniel, 
was born April 20, 1805, in Mystic LJridge (Ston- 
ington), C'onn. He was educated in the common 
schools of the town and in the ])rivate schools of 
Sheffield and Kirby, at the borough of Stonington. 
attending the latter school two terms. He com- 
menced liis acti\'e life by teaching school two vears 
in his native town, then for three years he held 
a ])os:tion as clerk in the store of Gilbert Denison, 
at the head of Mwstic river. His health, owing to 
bis sedentary life, was not good, and when twenty- 
three years of age he went to sea in a fishing smack 
to im])rove it. In three years' time he regained his 
original strength, and tlien, in company with eleven 
others, formed a joint stock company, bought the 
sloo]) "Montgomery," altered her to a schooner, 
and went on a sealing voyage to the west coast of 
I'atagonia. The vessel sailed from .Mystic Aug. 
18, 1831, and was the first \-essel in that Inisiness 
that sailed from Mystic. .Mr. Clift went out of 
jxirt as a common sailor, yit he ajipears to have 
had the whole management of affairs. This enter- 
prise and voyage was successful, and Mr. Clift im- 
mediately started on a second voyage, this time as 
master in the schooner "Mary jane." This vov- 
agc, too, was a successful one, ])ayiug the owners 
a di\-idend of one hundred and twenty-five per cent, 
r^et jirofit in twenty months. These two vovages 
were \ery laliorious. replete with hardships and 
\icissitudes, and Cajit. L'lifl endured great physical 
discomfort and dangers. At <ine time they were on 
i>ne rock seventy-three days and nights. ( )n his 
tirst voyage on the ".Mary jane," Ca|)t, Clift was 
selected by the h'oreign .Missionarv Societv to con- 
vey two missionaries. Revs, .\rmes and Cowan, to 
Terra del Fuego. Knowing their lives not to be 
worth anything in the hands of the people of that 
land, as they were cannibals, Capt. Clift prevailed 
tn them to change their destination, and conveyed 
them to Patagonia. The unprecctlented success of 
these voyages gave Capt. Clift great reputation as 
an able navigator, and he was invited to take com- 
mand of ex])loring expeditions untrammeled by or- 
ders, and could have accepted very hi.gh marine po- 
sitions. I'm his sagacity and carefulness caused 
l"iim to decline all these brilliant offers, and, know- 
ing that his was a commercial mind, he bought the 
schooner "Hudson" and larger vessels and contin- 
ued as master during the remainder of his nineteen 
years of seafaring life, the first five years of which 
were spent "before the mast." He never sailed for 
wages, liut always for a share. His business ca- 
pacity, shrewdness and ability were rewarded liy 
very handsome financial results. When be retired 
from the sea he owned a part of a numljer of 
vessels, and became their Xew 'S'ork agent, s])end- 
ing most of his time in that city for fifteen years, 
taking care of and managing their business. .Vt 
the same time he was extensivelv engaged with 
.Vathan G. h'ish and others in ship building at Mvs- 
tic. and he purchased all the necessary material in 



494 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Xcw York. In 1865 he retired from active busi- 
ness. Every vessel with wliich he had ever had 
anything- to do was successful, never failing to de- 
clare a dividend, lie was a man of careful system, 
and for many years no policy of insurance was car- 
ried on his vessels, and not a dollar was lost. One 
of his peremptory rules on shipboartl was that no 
one, sailor, officer or passenyer. slmuld swear, play 
cards or drink liijuor. 

( )n Aui^. I, 1854, Capt. Clift was chosen direc- 
tor in the Alvstic River liank, and remained in the 
(iirectory for many years (still in 18S2). He was 
])resident of the i)ank fnini Aug. 24. 1S70, until 
June 7, 1881, when, owing to failing health, he re- 
sitrned the position. ( )n the organization of tlie 



Groton S: 



's Hani 



5, 1854, Capt. Clift was 



cliosen its vice-president, was elected its president 
Sejit. 6, 1870, holding such office until July 27, 
1875, when he declined a re-election. Init acce])ted 
the office of vice-president, which he continued to 
hold for years afterward ( was such officer in 1882). 
He was jjresidenl dt the IClin (ircive Cemetery As- 
sociation fnim .\pril K). i8f)(). to \\n-\\ 11, i88r. 

Capt. Clift never held any political office, al- 
though he did nuich as a private citizen to aid his 
party, — Whig and Rejnihlican, — ^espousing the 
principles ot the latter on its formation in 1856. 
For the last ten and nmre years uf his life he was 
very active in religious matters, using his money 
very liberally and freely in building up not oidy the 
L nion Baptist Church, of which for many years he 
was an esteemed member, but for all worthy ob- 
jects. He always gave liberally to charitable so- 
cieties, educational ])rojects and to every good ob- 
ject, being especiall)- generous to the poor. 

(_)n June 18, 1833, C'apl. Clift was married to 
the youngest daughti'r of Sands Fish, of Groton. 
'i"wo children were horn to them: Mary H., who 
was married to Fdward V. h'oote; and Hannah F. 
Clift. Mrs. Clift died Sept. 17, 1845, ^""l "" ^cpt. 
lO, 1846. Capt. Clift married Flizabeth, daughter 
of Rev. Daniel llurrows. of Middlelown. She died 
10, i8()3. Capt. Clift ])assed away in Uctoljcr, 



Ian 
1882. 

Ei)w.\ui) \' 
Mass., a son 



I'oori-; was Ijnrn in Xew .Marlboro, 
of Salmon and .Margaret l'"oote. 
Salmon Foote was born in Colche.^ler in 171^7, and 
followed the trade cf cabinet and coffin maker in 
Xew Marlboro, Mass., and Colchester, C'onn. The 
latter ])art of his life was S[)ent in C(jlchester, and 
he died in Utica, N. Y.. May 31, 1882, at the age 
of eighty-four years. He was a capable and en- 
thusiastic musician, and a line singer, and during 
the years of liis residence in Xew Marlboro played 
the bass viol in church and led the first choir there 
for thirty years. His family cuusisled of nine chil- 
dren. 

JCdward Y. I'oote removed from Marlboro and 
Siiringiield to Colchester, and finally to Xew York, 
where he was in business, and spent the greater 
part of his active life. The real estate field looked 



attractive to him, and he engaged in the real estate 
business, in 1870 he came to New Haven, and was 
successfully engaged in that Hue until his death, 
in 1881. He was highly respected for his many 
iioble personal (|ualities, and at his death was sin- 
cerely mourned. 

Mr. h'oote was twice married. His first wife, 
Lucy Mason, died leaving one son, Emerson, who 
was graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School, 
class of 1871;, and from Yale Law School, class of 
1881, and who later went to Chicago, where he 
attained a prominent position in real estate circles, 
lie die<l there. In 1863 Mr. Foote wedded Aliss 
Mary 11. Clift. To this union was born one son, 
William C, who attended Gen. Russell's school in 
New Haven, and later the Business College in Bos- 
ton, and finally one year at Yale. Law School. He 
IS a meml)er of the Fire Department. Airs. Foote 
i;. only five generations removed from John ^Vldeh 
and I'riscilla Mullen, and is an enthusiastic mem- 
ber of Mary Clapp W'ooster Chapter, D. A. K. 

JCJSEPH NOYES NICHOLS (deceased) 
was one of the leading citizens and successful agri- 
culturists of Waterbury, Conn., where he was born 
Dec. 17, 1824. 

The Nichols family is one of the oldest in Con- 
necticut. Sergeant Francis Nichols, the first of the 
name in Xew England, was a native of England, 
and one of the first settlers of Stratford, Fairfield 
Co., Conn., where he located in 1639. He is sup- 
posed to have been closely related to Sir Richard 
Nichols, the first English governor of New York. 
Before coming to this country he was a member of 
the Horse Guards of London. He owned property 
in Stratford, Conn., and Southland, L. I., and spent 
his last days in the former place, where he died and 
was liiiried. h'or his second wife he married Barn- 
abas Wines, who after his death wedded John 
Elton, of Southland, L. I. By his first marriage 
Sergeant Nichols had four children: Isaac. Caleb 
and John, who were all born in England, and Mrs. 
Richard .Mills. The only child of the second union 
was Aim, wife of Christopher Young. 

Isaac Nichols, son of Francis, came with his 
parents tti the New World and spent the remain- 
der of his life in Stratford, Conn., where he owned 
and njK'rated a farm. He died in 1695, and was 
Iniried there. His wife, Margaret, bore hini the 
tollowing children: Mary, who was born Feb. 2. 
1648. and married Rev. Israel Channcy ; Sarah, 
who was born Nov. 1, 1649, married Stephen Bur- 
rctt; Josiah, born Jan. 29, 1652; Isaac, Alarch 12, 
1654: Jonathan, Dec. 10. 1655; Ei)hraim, Dec. 15, 
1637: Patience, l'"eb. 2, i()6o; Temperance, j\lay 
17, \(\(\2\ Margery, Nov. 30, 1663; Benjamin, Feb. 
2, Kififi: and h^lizabeth, who was born .\pril 2, 
16C18. and was married, July 9, \(v-)\ . to Rev. Jo- 
se])h Webb. 

Isaac Nichols. Jr., a s^n of Isaac, was also a 
lifelong resident of Str;itfiird, a farmer and land- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



49: 



owner. Tliorc he died in lUjo. He and his wife. 
-Mary, had Uiree chihlren : I'rancis, born June 3, 
1O76; Richard, Xov. _'0, I'l/H; and Joseph, Nov. 
], 1680. 

Joseph Xiehols. son of Isaac, Jr., was Inini and 
reared in Stratford, wlience he removed to Lony 
island, and in 1728 came to Walerbury, New Ha- 
ven county, where he owned property. Mere he 
(hed March 10, 1733, and was buried in Waterbury 
cemetery. He married Ehzabeth Wood, of Strat- 
ford, and they hail a family of eii;ht children : 
James, born on Long Island, June 2j, 1712 ; George, 
born at the same place. July 14, 1714: I'lli/.alieth, 
who was married, in 1740, to Ebenezer W'akelee ; 
Kichard; Joseph, born in 1724; Maria; Isaac, who 
was born May 4, 1729. and tiled in the Ilritish army 
in 1776; and ISenjamin, born .May 14, 1731. 

Joseph Nichols, Jr., son of Joseph, was born on 
Long Island, and came with his parents to W'ater- 
bury, wlure he sub-setpiently owned and operated 
a farm until called from this life Jan. 24, 1773, at 
the agj of forty-nine years. On Sept. 6, 1750, in 
Waterbury, he married Tamar Hronson, daughter 
of Lieut. John P.ronson, and to them were born two 
children: Simeon, mentioned below; and F.unice, 
who was born Sept. 6, 1753, and married to 
Michael Bronson. The mother of these children 
died Xov. 14, 1755, and on Dec. 15, 1757, the fa- 
ther married Annie Webster, by whom he had one 
child, Lucy, who was born Dec. 5, 1758, and who 
married Luke .\dains. 

Simeon .Xiehols, st)n of Josejih, Jr.. was bom 
.-\pri! 20. 1751. in Waterbury. where he spent his 
entire life as a farmer, land owner and highly re- 
spected citizen. ( )n June 15, 1775, he married 
I\Iartha Hotchkiss, antl to them were born ten chil- 
dren, whose names and dates of birth were as fol- 
lows : Joseph, April 2t, 1776, died Oct. 27. 1825. 
aged forty-nine; Tamar (wife of James Chatfield). 
Dec. 25, 1778; Humjjhrey, Xov. 23, 1781, died Jan. 
S. 1853. aged seventv-one; Abigail, March 2, 1784; 
Chloe. Jnh- 30, 1786; .-Vmy, Nov. 25, 1788; Will- 
iam, August. 1791, died March 5. 1817; Chauncey, 
Leliruary, 1794, died .\pril 6, 1795, aged fourteen 
months; Simon, 1796; and Philo, June. 1798. died 
Dec. 14, 1849, aged fifty-one years. 

Humphrey Nichols, son of Simeon and father 
of our subject, made his home throughout life in 
\\'aterbur_\-, where he owned a farm, and like his 
ancestors engaged in agricultural pursuits. He 
died Jan. 5. 1853. and his remains were interred 
in the old cemetery where the LSronson Library now 
stands. He had two wives, Esther and I'hebe 
Hotchkiss. Esther Hotchkiss was a native of 
Waterbury, a daughter of -Stephen Hotchkiss, and 
d.ied Oct. 29, 1837, aged fifty years. Hum])hrey 
Nichols was the father of the following children: 
Harriet, bom I'eb. 3, 1810, married G. A. Hall ; 
Emeline, born May 20, 1811. married David Ter- 
rell, and died Nov. 4. 1834, aged twenty-three; 
Stephen H. was born .\])ril 25. 1813; Isaac, born 



Sejjt. 2-, 1814. married Lydia Erisbee ; William, 
born Jan. 2/, 1817, married Elizabeth Atwater; 
.\nn, born Leb. 8. 1819, died May 12, 1835; Xancy, 
bt;rn June 15. 1S21. married .Marvin Mills; K\i, 
born .Sept. 13. 1822. married Jane .\lami; ICstber 
married b'red Holmes; David died Sept. 2~, 18A5, 
aged thirty-seven; and Joseph X. is om- subject, 
[■fanklin, a sdu by liis union with I'liebe I lotchkiss, 
died ."^e])l. 2^. 1 848, aged six years. 

Joseph X. Xiehols grew to manhood in Water- 
I)ury. and became a prosperous farmer and land 
owner of that town. He owned the homestead 
farm at Ho])eville and also the large Hull farm on 
1 own I'lot, Waterbm-y, upon which he made many 
im])rovements. It was the l'>enjamin .Moore tract 
of eighty acres, and has since been dividetl into 
lots for building ])urposes. He was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Lucena Clark, of Xew .Milford, a 
daughter of Daniel and I-ucy (Hawes) Clark, anil 
li\- this union were born seven children: (I) Dan- 
iel lliim[)hrey. who died March 18. 1890. aged 
thirty-three years, first married Mary C. tjladding 
(who died h"eb. 28. 1887. aged twenty-nine years), 
by whom he had two sons, Frank Ikieon and Ar- 
thur W. ; .Arthur was a member of St. John's Clun-ch 
choir. l'"or liis second wife he married .Mbertic 
Lobdell. by whom he had one child, Harry Hnm- 
])hrey. (2) Clark Holmes is a resident of Water- 
l)ury. (3) Joseph Hayden, who resides on the 
(lid homestead, first married Xellie Jackson, by 
whom he had two children. Louis Hayden and Carl 
I hnn]ilirey. deceased, and for his second wife mar- 
ried .Mice harmer. by whom he had one child, 
.Xellie -Mice. (4) Lucy Esther was educated in 
the high school of Waterbury and resides on the 
town plot near the old homestead. (5) Emily C 
died -April 1. 1885. aged twenty years. (6) .Anna 
L. diecl March 26. 1886; aged eighteen years, six 
months. (7) William Francis, who is connected 
with the Cnited States mail service and resides 
in Waterbury, married Annie O'Rourke, and they 
have had four children, Gertrude E., Charles (de- 
leased). William and Elizabeth. Our subject died 
-April 21, 1878, aged fifty-three years, his wife Sept. 
14, 1887, aged fifty-nine years, and both were laid 
to rest in Riverside cemetery. They were faithful 
members of St. John's Episcopal Church, and were 
highly respected and esteemed by all who knew 
them. In his political affiliations .Mr. Xiehols was 
a Detnocrat, and ever took a commendable interest 
in those enter])rises calculated tn advance the 
moral, social or material welfare of his' town and 
county. 1 le was a kind father, a loving husband 
and true friend. 

AXTO.\' REL'SS, who in his lifetime was one 
of the best-known and most highly-respected Ger- 
man citizens of Meriden, was born in r>omberg, 
llavaria. Germany. March 20, 1825. While he was 
in his infaiicv his father dieil. ami this made it 
necessarv for hnn to early take up the responsi- 



496 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



bilitics of life. \\'heii still a boy he learned book- 
l>in(lins, but this trade, while a fairly good one, 
was iiiit sufficiently lucrative to satisfy the ambi- 
timis vouth. ANishing to better his condition, and 
seeing no opening in his native land, he deter- 
mined to come to America. Accordingly he made 
jireparations f(jr the trip, and lioarding a sailing 
vessel in 1850, made the voyage to Aew \ork, 
where for a' time he engaged in making pocket- 
uooks and similar goods. After a short time he 
came to .Meriden, Lonn., where in connection with 
Walter Hubbard he engaged in the manufacture of 
morocco leather cases. Later the firm l.iranched 
out, addi'.ig to their list <'f pruducts plush and 
chamois cases. -Mr. Reuss conductetl the business 
lor a long time on I'.utler street, and had as his 
assistant Julius Knell, who later cnndncted a simi- 
lar business on his cjwii account. In 1890 Mr. 
Reuss sold out to (.". li. Schunack, and passed the 
remainder of his days in retirement. His death 
occurred .Xnv. (>. 1893, at his home on Butler 
street, and his remain> were buried in the W est 
cemetery. 

Mr. 'j\euss was one of the first German settlers 
in Meriden, and was held in high esteem by his 
countrymen, as well as by all who knew him. In 
liis religious belief he was a faithful and consist- 
ent follower (if the teachings of the immortal Lu- 
ther. In jxilitics he was a Republican, but in no 
sense an olTice seeker. L'raternally he was a mem- 
ber of Meridian J-odgc, Xo. //, A. F. & A. M.; 
Keystone Chapter, Xo. 27, R. A. .M.; and St. Elmo 
Commandery. .Xo. 9, Knights Templar. He was 
also a meml'ier of the German Mutual Aid Society, 
an<l was a stanch supporter of German schools. 

,Mr. Reuss was twice married. His first wife, 
Katharine Magdalena .Mueller, was born March 2, 
i82(), in Germany, and ]jassed away June 5, 1890. 
They had three children, Charles, Anton and Julius, 
all of whom died yuung. For his second wife ^Ir. 
Reuss wedded, on June 8, 1892, Mrs. Catharine 
Mueller, widow of Joseph Mueller, and daughter 
of Philip and llarbara Stephans. Xo children 
were born of this marriage. Mrs. Reuss resides at 
Iter home in iUuler street. She is an active worker 
in Esther Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah, of wdiich 
she is the only living charter member, and is a 
noble woman, highly respected for her many good 
((ualitics of head and heart. 

JosKi'H MuKLiJCK was born June 15, 1828, in 
the city of Xassau, Germany, where he grew to 
manhood. In 1854 he came to America and located 
in Meriden, where he was engaged in the burnish- 
ing business, being several years employed by the 
Meriden liritannia Co., and for several years super- 
intendent of the imrnishing department of C. Rog- 
ers & Ilros. His death occurred Jan. 6, 1891. In 
1837 he married Catharine Sle])hans. who was 
Dorn ()cl. 18, 1831, in J'.omberg, (Germany, and of 
this imion two children were born, t'atharinc and 
Joseph, Jr. Catharine was married Jime 29, 1899, 



to James B. Smith, who was bom in Xew Haven 
in 1872, son of James B. and Emily (Plumb) 
^niith, the former a wholesale grocer in Xew Ha- 
ven, where he and his wife died. James B. Smiitli 
is engaged in the banking and brokerage business 
in Xew Haven. Politically he is a Republican; 
fraternally a thirty-second-degree JMason, being a 
Knight 'templar, and a member of chapter and 
council ; and religiousl}- a member of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church. Airs. Smith is is a mem- 
ber of Esther Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah. In 
religious faith she clings to the church of her an- 
cestors, the Lutheran. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have 
one child, Kathryn Miller. Joseph Mueller, Jr., 
was born Aug. 8, i860, and was educated in the 
public schools. For a time he was bookkeeper for 
C. Rogers & Bros., was subsequently in Ballard- 
vale, j\lass., in the employ of Craighead & Kintz, 
and later in Pittsburg, Pa., with the Pittsburg 
Lami) Co., and in Allegheny, Pa., in the manufac- 
ture of the "1890 Varnish Removing Fluid." In 
1890 he returned to Meriden to look after his 
father's estate. He died Oct. 31, 1897, at his fa- 
ther's late home, and his remains rest in Walnut 
Grove cemetery. He was a member of the I. O. 
C). I'', in Pittsburg, and like the rest of his family 
was a member of the Lutheran Church. 

In his political faith Joseph Mueller, Sr., was 
a Democrat, and a stanch supporter of his party. 
Fraternally he belonged to Pacific Lodge, Xo. 87, 
L O. C). F., of Meriden. In his religious faith he 
was a Lutheran. In his Ijusiness relations he was 
a man of highest integrity. 

JAMES HEXRY FOY. Among the list ,of dis- 
tinguished and imperishable names of those who 
passed from life during 1900, that of James H. 
Fov brings to the people of Xew Haven a feeling of 
deep regret, that so wise and generous a man should 
no longer be in their midst. 

James H. F'oy was born at Gardiner, Alaine, and 
died at his home in Xew Haven, Conn., in "Xovem- 
ber, 1900, in his seventy-second year. The beginning 
of his business career was in W'orcester, Mass., but 
he removed to Boston in 1861. There his business 
was known as D. B. Saunders & Co., manufacturers 
of corsets. In 1871 he came to Xew Haven, and 
immediately engaged in manufacturing under the 
firm name of Harmon, Baldwin & Foy, this business 
being later removed to Xew York. At the time of 
his death he was a member of the R. A. TiUlIe Co., 
of Boston, dealers in corset materials. 

Both Mr. F''oy and his wife were members of 
the Davenport Avcntie Congregational Church, be- 
coming connected with it in 1872, and he was a 
member of the hoard of trustees, in which capacity, 
on account of his business sagacity and generous 
liberalit\-, he was of the greatest service to the 
church. ( )f a retiring disposition, he always shrank 
from any prominence, but always could be found 
at the post of duty. Mr. I'oy was a life member of 





O/^^^ 




-7 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



497 



the Good Will Home Association, and had been a 
contributor to the Home since the begiiming of 
this charity. In the fall prior to his death, he gave 
$5,000 to the Home to make up a deticit, and gave, 
by will, still another $5,000, making the James 11. 
Foy fund at the Good Will Farm, $10,000. 

In 1858, at Hudson, Conn., .Mr. Foy was married 
to Lavinia H. Jcnks, a daughter of Rev. Hervey 
Jenks, the latter a native of Urookrteld, Mass., a 
notetl divine, of \\"elsh ancestry. The paternal fam- 
ily of ]^Irs. Foy traces its ancestry to 150 15. C., 
while on the maternal side, her great-great-grcat- 
grandniother was a daughter of Roger Williams. 
The first marriage of Mrs. Foy was to Marvin Har- 
mon, at New Lebanon, X. Y., and George M. Har- 
mon, of New Haven, is her son. Mr. Harmon dieii 
in Pirookfield, Mass., in 1854. 

ilrs. Foy is a lady not only of wlucaiion and cul- 
ture, but also of mechanical genius. Interested in 
her husband's business, in 1862, she invented and 
patented wliat is known to the trade as the Madam 
l-'oy Supporter, and there were eight infringements 
upon the patent, which were all prosecuted. The 
merits of the article attracted general and 
favorable notice at once and its demand and popu- 
larity have steadily increased from year to year, 
until it now has a world-wide reputation. Being 
constructed on scientific principles, yet simple and 
practical, it answers fully the object for which it 
was intended. Improvements have been made on it 
from time to time and it is now covered by seven 
letters of patent, of the I'nitetl States, and is manu- 
factured by C. X. Chadwick & Co., of Brooklyn, 
Xew York. 

Since 1884, Mr. Foy had been a director of the 
Xew Haven County Bank, by whom the following 
resolutions were adopted at the time of his death : 

"The directors of the New Haven County Na- 
tional Bank, assembled this day, learn with deep 
regret of the death of their highly esteemed asso- 
ciate and fellow member, J\Ir. James IT. Foy, and 
in e-xpression of their sorrow, be it 

"Resolved, That while we bow to the will of 
a Divine Providence, we sincerely deplore the de- 
I)arture of one, who for many years has been asso- 
ciated with us in the management of the affairs of 
this bank. 

"Resolved, That by his removal we have sus- 
tained the loss of a conscientious and upright citi- 
zen, an able adviser and one whose superior quali- 
ties of heart and mind have endeared him to all. 

"Resolved, That our attested copy of these reso- 
lutions, with our deepest sympathy, be sent to the 
bereaved family, that they be published, and that a 
copy be spread upon the records of this bank. Xew 
Haven, Xov. 15, 1900. Attested, H. G. Redfield, 
secretary." 

HEXRY' A. WARXER, capitalist and real es- 
tate dealer, whose business career from boyhood has 
been passed in Xew Haven, where he is widely and 

32 



favorably known as one among the city's leading 
business men and substantial citizens, has descended 
from one of Connecticut's earliest families. 

John Warner, the first of the line on this side 
the Atlantic, at tlie age of twenty years came from 
ICngland with the parly who sailed in the ship "In- 
crease" in 1635. He became one of the original pro- 
prietors of Hartford in 1631). In i(>37 he performed 
service in the I'equot war. in 1O49 he married (sec- 
ond) Ann, daughter of Thomas Xorton, of Guilfonl. 
Air. Warner became an original proprietor anil 
settler of the town of Farmington, Conn. He united 
with the church there in 1657, and was made a 
freeman in 1664. In 1673 he went to view Matta- 
tuck (Waterbury), to ascertain if it was a desirable 
place to settle, and was a patentee of that place in 
1674. It was his intention to remove thither, but 
he died in 1679, leaving a widow, Margaret. 

John \\'arner, a descendant of the John War- 
ner mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, was a 
captain in the Connecticut State Guards, and served 
in Gen. Waterbury's State Brigade, assisting in 
the defense of the sea coast in 1781. The long hill 
between Tlyniouth and the township, now known as 
Thomaston, was for many years called Warner Hill 
in his honor. From him our subject is descended 
through John Warner, Jr., .\bijah Warner and 
Gains Fenn Warner. Abijah Warner married 
Betsy Fenn, a sister of Elam I'enn, who lived and 
died at the place now occupied by his son Jason 
Fenn. 

Gains Fenn Warner was born in 181 1, in that 
part of the town of Plymouth known as Town Hill, 
in Litchfield county, and was the youngest of three 
children. He was but six years old when his father 
died, and until his marriage remained at home with 
his mother. At the age of twenty-one he wedded 
Harriet Jackson, of Bethlehem, that county, and the 
young couple settled in their own home on the same 
road as his mother's, a little to the south. F'or about 
three years Mr. Warner worked the farm, a small 
one, and then moved to Waterville to take charge of 
a large boarding house for the employes of a button 
factory there, continuing thus two years. His two 
daughters, Helen and Harriet, were born during his 
residence in Plymouth, his son, Henry A., in Water- 
ville. During the two years of the boarding house 
experiment Mr. Warner built for himself a com- 
modious house (near his former home), into which 
he moved, and again took up a small farm, also tak- 
ing charge of the turnpike road between Waterbury 
and Plymouth. Evidently farming was not to his 
mind, for in 1843 he moved back to the town of 
Plymouth, locating in Terryville in the eastern part, 
where he kept a temperance hotel, a novelty at that 
time, which he maintained, however, in the face of 
all opposition, at the same time carrying on, in an 
extended ell of his house, the manufacture of um- 
brellas. But it was not until about the year 1847 
that he found his life work. In his capacity of host 
at his hotel he met a man who was in the business 



498 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of manufacturing malleable iron castings, and who 
so urged him to enter this work that he finally de- 
cided to return with him to Straitsville and inves- 
tigate for himself. lie soon moved his family to 
that place, and so well succeeded in the new venture 
that when the buildings were burned to the ground 
he removed the works to New Haven, many of the 
principal workmen going with him. In this line he 
had the monopoly, and his was the largest concern 
of the kind in the country. Mr. Warner passed the 
remainder of his long life in that city, active alike 
in commercial, religious and benevolent circles, and 
widely known and beloved. 

It was during Mr. Warner's residence in Terry- 
ville that the Congregational Church in that village 
was built, and he threw his superb energies and 
strength into that enterprise. lie hauled much of 
the timber from the woods to the mill, and from 
there to the church lot. At "raising day" all the 
town turned out to help, and afterward all were 
served, as was the custom of the time, to dough- 
nuts, raised cake and cider. When he removed to 
Straitsville, at that time a very small village, Mr. 
\\'arner greatly deplored the fact that no regular 
church services were held there, and he very soon 
made arrangements whereby theological students 
from New Haven should preach in the small chapel 
each Sunday for the sum of ten dollars and their 
board. His house was freely opened for their ac- 
commodation, and very often the compensation also 
was largely given from his own pocket. As he grew 
in prosperity he was ever ready to respond to num- 
erous calls for benevolence, both public and private, 
which were made upon him, notably that of Home 
and Foreign Missions, growing stronger each year 
of his life. Mr. Warner was a man of few words, 
wliile ever friendly to those who were so fortunate 
as to possess his love and confidence, and he showed 
a true and loyal heart, to be relied upon in any ex- 
tremity. In his family he was the faithful husband, 
the kindest of fathers, and his house was ever open 
to all his friends. 

In the year i860 Mr. Warner decided to build a 
house for himself, and chose a lot of one and one- 
half acres in the center of the city, opposite Yale 
College, where he erected the substantial house now 
occupied by the Lhiion League Club, in the rear of 
which is now the Hyperion theatre, and on the 
western side Warner 1 tall and the apartment build- 
ing for students, erected and managed by his son, 
Henry A. Warner. It was characteristic of him, 
when questioned quite anxiously by a member of 
the college faculty as to his venture so carefully to 
lay out this acre and more of ground, slocking it 
with fruit trees, a grapery and ornamental shrubs, 
lest he should suffer invasion by mischievous boys 
of the college, to reply: "I shall not molest them, 
and I don't think they will trouble me," and they 
never did. After moving to his new home he gave 
his best Christian efforts to the welfare of the 
College Street Church, which building joined his 



land on the eastern side, and was an earnest helper 
and exemplary member until his death, in October, 
1870. He died as he had lived, in full trust and 
faith in his Saviour and God, since when, in 1837, 
during a strong religious movement throughout the 
entire country, he and his young wife united with 
the Church in Plymouth Center. 

Henry .\. Warner was born March 10, 1842, at 
Waterville, in the town of Waterbury, and was 
six years old when the family settled in New Haven. 
There, in the public and private schools, he received 
his education, and was prepared for a business ca- 
reer. For many years he was an iron manufacturer, 
and he has since dealt in vitrified drain and sewer 
pipe, in which line his eftorts have met with de- 
served success. Returning East after the Chicago 
fire, Mr. Warner stopped at Akron, Ohio, and there 
found a make of pipe which had not been introduced 
East, where imported Scotch pipe and a slip glaze 
pipe from New Jersey were in use. However, they 
were soon superseded by the Ohio pipe, which Mr. 
W'amer introduced and sold throughout New 
England. For many years Mr. Warner received 
royalty on all pipe made from this clay. He has 
also dealt extensively in real estate, and is the pro- 
prietor of the Warner Hall Bachelor .\partments, 
at No. 1044 Chapel street, designed to furnish select 
apartments to college students and others. 

Mr. Warner was united in marriage with Miss 
Gertrude E. Morton, daughter of Horace J. Mor- 
ton, long a prominent carriage manufacturer and 
wealthy citizen of New Haven. Air. and IMrs. 
Warner's religious connections are with the Ply- 
mouth Congregational Church, of New Haven, 
which was formerly the College Street Church, of 
which he was a deacon. Mr. Warner's political 
affiliations are with the Republican party, but while 
ever interested in politics and public atf'airs he has 
kept aloof from party warfare, and has never held 
public office. He is a member of the Union League 
Club (formerly the Republican League), Sons of 
the American Revolution, Chamber of Commerce, 
Country Club, and has served as a member of the 
Second Company, Governor's Horse Guard. 

HENRY T. WTLCON (deceased), for many 
years a leading citizen of Aleriden. was born in 
Westbrook, Conn., Feb. 7. 181 1. His early educa- 
tion was obtained at the district schools of his na- 
tive town. Being the second member of a numerous 
family of children, he was obliged to seek his own 
living at an earlv age ; and when less than twelve 
years old was employed on the farm of his grand- 
father, Joseph Bushnell, who died in 1824. After 
that event Mr. Wilcox was for a time a sailor; but 
in 1820 he came to Meriden to take a position in the 
comb factory of Julius Pratt & Co., which he held 
for several vears. That same year he united with 
the Congregational Church, and as long as he lived 
was numbered among its devoted and efficient mem- 
bers. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



499 



On May 9, 1832, ^Ir. "Wilcox was married to 
Elizabeth White Scovil, of Meriden, and their son, 
Henry Scovil Wilcox, was born in Meriden, Jan. 
4, 1835. The following year Mr. Wilcox bought 1 
piece of land of Lewis Hotchkiss, on the Old Col- 
ony Road, and this has been the family home- 
stead to the present time. About 1845 ^^''- Wilcox 
built a small shop a short distance south of his resi- 
dence, where he manufactured coffee mills, steel- 
yards, spring balances, door knockers and bit 
braces. This shop was destroyed by fire in 185 1, 
aad a second shop on the same site was burned two 
years later; whereupon Mr. Wilcox sold his coffee 
mill business to Charles Parker, and associated him- 
self with the Meriden Hardware Co., then estab- 
lished on the site of the present plant of M. B. 
Schenck & Co. For a time Henry T. \Vilcox was 
president of this company, and Henry S. (his son) 
the secretary and bookkeeper. They severed their 
connection with it, and in 1855 bought a grocery 
store in the building now occupied by Campbell's 
Pharmacy, where they conducted a prosperous busi- 
ness under the name of H. T. Wilcox & Co. In 
1857 they brought the business down town, and lo- 
cated it in a brick block which had been built by 
James F. G. Andrews about 1S47, which was also 
occupied by the Almon Andrews flour and feed 
store. This building was consumed by fire Alarch 
9, 1864. H. T. Wilcox & Co. bought the land and 
ruins of the old building and erected the present 
brick block, which H. S. W'ilcox sold to Mcrriam 
Post, G. A. R., in 1895. The north store of this 
block was occupied by Hart & Foot, drug and hard- 
ware merchants ; and the south store by H. T. Wil- 
cox & Co., grocers. 

Early in 1867 Hart & Foot sold their business to 
H. T. Wilcox & Co., who then had the oldest drug 
business in the town. Ten years later they sold the 
hardware business to Church & Sprague, but re- 
tained the drug store, together with paints, oils and 
manufacturers' supplies. After the death of his 
father, in 1885, Henry S. \\'ilcox continued in the 
same business until he was compelled to dispose of 
it on account of his own ill health, E. A. W'atrous 
succeeding him March 15, 1899, in the store where 
Mr. Wilcox had carried on an unbroken business 
for thirty-two years. 

In the public aft'airs of the town the Wilcox men, 
both father and son, took an important part. Henry 
T. Wilcox was town treasurer from 1863 to 1874, 
and Henry S., from 1878 to 1879. Some years later 
the latter served as councilman, as assessor, and 
was a member of the board of compensation and 
the board of relief. 

While a school boy, Henry S. Wilcox used to 
work in his father's shop, making jjacking boxes, 
and doing various kinds of work out of school 
hours. After securing a good education at the Old 
Road district school and the West Meriden Insti- 
tute, the latter kept by Henry D. Smith and David 
N. Camp, he became his father's bookkeeper and so 



continued until the shop burned in 1S51. His place 
in the business world in connection with his father 
has already been described, as has also his place in 
numicipal affairs. 

Henry S. Wilcox to<ik an active interest in fi- 
nancial affairs, and in 1886 was made trustee of the 
^Icriden Savings Bank, becoming a director of the 
same institution the following year. Mr. Wilcox 
was quite as zealous in the church as he was in busi- 
ness. He became a member of the First Congrega- 
tional Church in 1852. and from time to time was 
entrusted with important offices, being the secretary 
and treasurer of the Sunday-school, and of the Ec- 
clesiastical Society. In 1889 he was honored with 
the office of deacon, which he filled until his decease. 
He was the last clerk of the Old hxclesiastical So- 
ciety, and assisted in the incorporation of the 
Church, his son. Albert H. Wilcox, afterward 
becoming clerk of the re-organized Church. Al- 
though of a quiet and retiring nature, Henry S. 
Wilcox was widely known anrl respected. He was 
at one time a member of the Sons of the American 
Revolution, his maternal great-grandfather, Amos 
White, having been a soldier with \\'ashington at 
the crossing of the Delaware. Some four years prior 
to his death, his health began to decline, by reason 
of blood and liver troubles, which caused his death, 
Dec. 8, 1900. Mr. W'ilcox married Jane E., a 
daughter of Ira Mcrriman. who, with his son, Albert 
H., survives him. 

The Wilcox family l>egins its history in New 
England with John Wilcox, who was an original 
proprietor of Hartford in 1639. He held the posi- 
tion of surveyor of highways and died in 165 1, his 
widow surviving until about 1668. Their children 
were: John, who married Sarah Wadsworth, 
Catherine Stoughton, Mary (surname not known), 
and Esther Cornwall ; Sarah, who married John Bid- 
well, of Hartford; Ann, who married John Hall, 
then of Hartford, but later of Middletown. 

John Wilcox, Jr., noted in the preceding ])ara- 
graph as having had four wives, moved from Hart- 
ford to Middletown, where he died May 24, 1676. 
His children were as follows : Sarah, born in 1648 : 
John; Thomas; Israel, born June 19, 1656, married 
-Sarah Savage, about 1677, and died Dec. 20, 1689; 
Samuel, married Abigail Whitmore; Ephraim mar- 
ried Silence Hands ; Esther and Mary. 

The children of Israel and Sarah (Savage) Wil- 
cox were as follows; Israel, horn in 1G80, married 
Mary North ; John married Mary Warner ; Samuel 
married Hannah Sage; Thomas, born July 5, 16S7, 
married Ann North, June 28. 1716, and died Jan. 
20, 1726-7; and Sarah. Mrs. Israel Wilcox died 
about Feb. 8, 1723-4. 

The children of Thomas and .Vnn (North) Wil- 
cox, of Middletown, were as follows: Martha; 
Thomas, born Oct. 5, 1720. married Freelove Brad- 
ley, May 16, 1744, and died Nov. 9, 1778; Jonathan; 
and Hannah. 

The children of Thomas and iM-eclove (Bradley) 



500 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Wilcox, of Guilford, Conn., were as follows: Clo- 
tilda, the wife of Samuel Hoyt, died in 1795, at the 
age of fifty years; Tanison, born in 1747, married 
Elizabeth Do'wd, and died Sept. 15, 1820; Edmund, 
born in 1748, married Elizabeth Scranton, and died 
J\larch y, 1795; Billy, born in 1750, married Rebecca 
Hoyt; Jonathan, born in 1753, married Elizabeth 
Todd, and died in 1818; Samuel Dodd, born in 1756; 
Benjamin J'.., born in 1759, married Alary Todd, 
and died in 1805. 

The children of Jonathan ami Elizabeth (Todd) 
Wilcox, of Madison, Coini., were as follows: Cur- 
tis, born March 9, 1775, married Wealthy Hill, and 
died Aug. 15, i8j(): Ji)hn, born April 5. 1777, mar- 
ried Electa rioo'.lrich"; .\mos Todd, born 1779, mar- 
ried Cvnthia Ihishnell, and died in 1849; Elizabeth, 
born Eeb. 22. i78_'. married David Nash; Henry, 
born Julv 22. 1783, married Janet Bushnell Dec. 
31. 1808^ and (lied in May, 1 8*42 ; Matilda, born in 

1788, died Oct. 22, 1809; Sarah, born Feb. 20, 

1789, married ( ieorge Pratt; Jonathan Samuel, born 
Nov. 1, 171;!, married Chloe Hand, and died Feb. 
10, 1875; -Augustus B., born Oct. 4, 1794, married 
Clarissa Jewett, and died Alay 19, 1844. Mrs. 
Jonathan Wilcox dietl Sept. 29, 1833, at the age of 
seventy-nine }ears. 

The children of 1 lenry and Janet t Bushnell ) Wil- 
cox, of Westbrcxjk, Comi., were as follows: Will- 
iam Titus, born Aug. 23, 1809, married Minerva 
Caylord, and died in 1868; Henry Truman, bom 
Eei). 7, 181 1, married Elizabeth White Scovil, and 
died Jan. 7, 1885; Jonathan Samuel, bom in Janu- 
ary, 1813, married Dolly A. Southworth, and died 
Sept. 24, 1900; Emily Patience, born in 1815, had 
three husbands, John W'ilmarth, Ransom Gaylord 
and Charles Sjiencer, and (lied about 1881 ; Curtis 
Nash, burn in 1817, married l^izabeth Hall, and 
died .\pril 3, 1874; Benjamin Bushnell, born Sept. 
28, 18 19, married h'liza A. Brainard, and died 
March 19, 1900: George Frederick, born in 1830, 
is su]>posed to have died in the western regions of 
the I'nited States. 

TIk- Mc-rriman family presents an interesting 
Iiistory which begins with Nathaniel Merriman, who 
was born in t'ounty Kent, England, in 1613, one 
of three sons of Theo])hilus and Plannah Merriman, 
the other two bc-ing C'aleb and AIoscs. Nathaniel 
Merriman settled in New Haven, Conn., in 1663, 
and was married to .Abigail Olney, and subsequently 
to Jane Fines. He was one of the original settlers 
of Wallingford, Conn. .where he ajapeared as early as 
1670, and became a captain of the troops five years 
later, and a deputy to the (jeneral Coiu't in 1685. 
When he died in Wallingford he was about eighty 
years of age. and was the father of the following 
children: Xathaniel ; John; Hannah, the wife of 
J(jlni Ives; (irace; .Mjigatl, the wife of John Hitch- 
cock ; Sarah ; Mary, the wife of Thomas Curtis ; John 
married Hannah Fines; Samuel married Anna 
]-"ields: Caleb, mentioned below, who died July 9. 
1703: Miwc-;, who married Judith Beach; Elizabeth, 



who married Ebenezer Fewis ; Anna, who died 
young. 

Caleb Merriman, son of Nathaniel, was bom 
in Ahiy, ir)'')5. and on July 9, 1690, married Mary 
Preston. Their children were as follows : Moses, 
born in 169 1 : Elizabeth; Eliasaph ; Phoebe, de- 
ceased in infancy; Phoebe, married to Waitstill 
Munson ; Fydia ; Fydia ; Elizabeth ; and Hannah. 

Eliasaph Merriman, known as Captain Elia- 
saph, was born May 20, 1695, and on Dec. 10, 1719, 
wedded Abigail Hulls, who bore him children as 
follows: Eunice; Eunice (2) ; Eunice (3) ; Sarah; 
Caleb, mentioned below; Titus; Amasa ; Elizabeth; 
Esther ; Elizabeth ( 2 ) : Turhand ; Abigail, who was 
killed b}' lightning, with her mother, Aug. 4, 1758. 
The husband and father died fifteen days later. 

Caleb Alerriman was born Sept. 13, 1725, and 
married. May 12, 1747, Alargaret Robinson. Their 
children were : Josiah ; Christopher ; Reekab ; Jesse ; 
Caleb; Enoch; Jesse (2) ; and Howell. Caleb Aler- 
riman died Aug. 6, 1797, at the age of seventy-two 
years; his wife in Jul_\-, 1795, at the age of sixty- 
six. 

Ics-ie- Merriman. son of Caleb, married Dolly 
Ives in 1784, and to their union were born: Joel, 
born in 1784, died in 18 19; Salina, born in 1786, 
married Femuel Butler in 1810, and died in 1842; 
one uimamed ; Ira, born Dec. 25, 1789: Ives, born 
in 1792, died in 1825; Sally, born in 1795, married 
Fewis Hotchkiss, and died in 1870; Eunice, born in 
1798, married John Hubbard in 1816, and died in 
1837; Howell, born in 1801, married Harriet Yale 
in 1830, and JNlary A. Cowles, in 1843, and died in 
1858; Charles, born in 1807, married Susannah Fet- 
tenhoof in 1832, and died in 1876. 

Ira Merriman married Elizabeth Hubbard, and 
their children were as follows : Two died in early 
infancy; Susan, born March 12, 1819, died July 
31, of the same year; an unnamed infant died March 
28, 1820; Ira Hubbard, born Jan. 31, 1824, married 
Hannah Baldwin Oct. 22, 1863, and died Dec. 16, 
1875 ; Elizabeth, born May 19. 1830, died March 21, 
1833; Eliza Ann, born May 28, 1834, married F. P. 
Chamberlain, April 5, 1859: Eli Ives, born Jan. 21, 
1837, married Alary E. Aliller, Jan. 19, 1870, and 
died April 22, 1900; Jane Elizabeth, born April 12, 
1840, married Henry S. Wilcox Dec. i, 1869; Henry 
Stiles, born April 21. 1846. 

AUGUSTUS AIIFO BFAKESFEY is an old 
and prominent citizen and a leading business man of 
the city of ^Vaterbury, and has been identified with 
its financial and commercial interests for many years. 
He was born in Plymouth, Conn., March 4, 1830, 
where, too, had been born his father and grand- 
father. 

Tradition says that one Simeon .\. Blakeslee is 
the first of that name of whom there is any record. 
He was one of the English gentry, and went with 
King Richard, "Coeur cle Fion." in his crusade. Also 
that Sanniel and John Blakeslee, brothers, came 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



501 



from England in the carl\- days of the Massachusetts 
colony, and bought a narrow strip of land called 
"lioston Neck," where for several years they car- 
ried on blacksmithing. I'rom this place they re- 
moved, Samuel locating in Xew Haven, and John 
going still farther west. 

Public records state that Samuel r.lakeslee was 
a planter in Guilford, Coim., in 1650, and was mar- 
ried on Dec. 3 of that year to Hannah, daughter 
of William Potter, of Xew Haven, to which place 
he removed, and where he died in i()j2. Their chil- 
dren in the order of birth were John. Mary. Sanuiel 
and El>enezer. 

John Blakeslee, son of Samuel and Haiuiah 
(Potter) Blakeslee, was born Oct. 22. \(^^\, and 
lived in Xew Haven. He died in 1713, leaving three 
children, John, Hannah and Moses. 

Moses Blakeslee, son of John, married Sarah 
Benton, of Hartford, Jan. i, 1702. He reniovetl to 
Waterbury about 1739, and settled on land previ- 
ously "laid out" to him on what is now called "town 
hill," in the east part of the present town of Ply- 
mouth. He was appointed a deacon of the church 
at its organization in 1740, and was an active and 
influential member. He also took a prominent part 
in the affairs of the town. His chililren, as re- 
corded in Xew Haven, were, in order, as follows: 
Moses. Aaron, Abner, Sarah, Dinah, Job, Jesse, 
Job (2), Aaron (2), Hannah, Phebe, John, Marah, 
and IVIoses (2). 

John Blakeslee, son of Moses, was born Dec. 
15, 1723, and settled in the Xorthcast Society near 
his father. He married Olive (born June 3, 1728), 
daughter of Samuel Curtiss, March 14, 1745. Their 
children were as follows : John, born March 3, 
1746; Amasa, Jan. 15, 1748; Joel, Aug. 19, 1750; 
/Enos, July 12, 1752; Obed, Aug. 29, 1754: Olive, 
JNIarch 29, 1758; Lettis, April 4, 1760; Lettis (2), 
March 27, 1763; Jared, July 8, 1765: Sallie, Aug. 
20, 1768: and Curtiss, Feb. 16, 1770. 

Joel Blakeslee, son- of John, was married to 
Sarah, daughter of Samuel Scoville. in 1775, and 
their children were: Linus, born in 177''): Ranson, 
born Sept. 10. 1781 ; Betsey; Erastus : and Amanda. 

Linus Blakeslee was married to I'anny Fenn 
Nov. 4, 1794. Their children were: Jacob, who 
moved to Dayton. Ohio, where he died: Milo, men- 
tioned below : and Erastus. 

Milo Blakesley, the father of .\ugustus Milo, 
was born Xov. 16, 1804, and sjicnt his entire life 
in Plymouth. He was the first to spell the family 
name "Blakesley," and he made the change at the 
suggestion of a writing teacher who thought the let- 
ter "y" made a better finish to the name. This 
branch of the family have continued to spell it after 
the "reformed" method. At the age of twenty, 
Milo Blakesley entered the cmjiloy of Eli Terry, 
and engaged in the manufacture of clocks. Later in 
life he was in co-partnerslii]) with Mr. Terr\-, and 
so continued imtil the business was closed up, when 
he moved to his old farm, an extensive dairy place, 



and lived there until his death, July 8, 1871. Mr. 
Blakesley was a devout Congregationalist, and a 
deacon in the church at Terryville. .\s an old line 
Whig he naturally became identified with the Re- 
publican party, and held some local offices in the 
i prime of his life. The abolition movement found in 
i him an early friend, and he would never admit tiiat 
human slavery had any possible justification. On 
Oct. 26, 1826, Mr. Blakesley married Miss Dorcas 
McKee, a native of liristol, and a daughter of 
Samuel .McKee, who was a cooper by trade, and 
probably of Scotch lineage. Her father married 
Electa Andrews, daughter of Judah Andrews, wlib 
was born in 1777. J\Ir. and Mrs. Blakesley were 
the parents of five children: (i) Theron. born 
Dec. II, 1827, died April 24, 1852; (2) .Augustus 
Alilo; (3) Fanny, born Jan. 18, 1832, died the same 
year; (4) Fanny Jane, Ijorn .\ug. 2;},, 1833, died Sept. 
II, 1885 ; married Burr S. Beach, and lived in Terry- 
ville, Conn; (5) Linus, born Dec. 16, 1837, was 
graduated from Vale in i860, and for twenty-eight 
years was pastor of the l-'irst Congregational 
Church of Topeka, Kansas. He was a trustee and 
the secretary of Washburn College for twenty-eight 
years, and was the first to receive the degree of 
Doctor of Divinity bestowed In- that College, in 1893. 
Dr. Blakesley was a director of the Kansas Medical 
College, president of the Topeka Congregational 
Club, and president of the Topeka school board. He 
now resides in El Paso. Texas. 

Augustus Milo Blakesley passed his boyhood 
days at Plymouth, remaining on the farm until he 
was fifteen years of age. He attended the district 
school, and prepared himself for an honorable and 
useful career. The first work he did was in the store 
of Andrew Terry, where he served as a clerk, and 
following this, he clerked for Allen Hemingway. 
In 1849 'is came to Waterlniry and was employed by 
J. M. L. and W. H. Scoville, in their mercantile 
business, remaining with them about three years, 
and leaving to take the position of teller in the Wat- 
erbury National Bank in February, 1852. On Xov. 
29, 1864, he was apjwinted cashier of that institu- 
tion, and is still holding that position. This makes 
a record of nearly fifty years with the bank, and 
during that long period he has been associated with 
the inauguration of a number of the most import- 
ant commercial enterprises whicli have found room 
in Waterbury. The American I'in Co. has found 
in him a stanch frientl and sujiporter, and on the 
death of T. 1. Driggs he was elected its president, 
in which office he is still serving. The \\'aterbury 
Hospital has made him its treasurer, and he has 
filled other positions of a similar character. The 
name of this gentleman appears among the fifty 
original members who united in the formation of 
the Second Congregational Church in 1852, and he 
has been treasurer of the Society and SimdaT-school 
ever since. The musical service was in his hands 
until 1874, when iiis son succeeded him as organist 
and choir master, but he sang in the choir until 



502 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1896. In 1879 he became deacon, and his connec- 
tion with the Church has been singularly helpful 
and inspiring. 

.Mr. Blakesley and Miss Margaret Orr Johnson, 
of Cadiz, Ohio, were married Sept. 5, 1853. Mrs. 
lilakesley died July 12, 1885, leaving two children: 
( I ) Albert Johnson, born April 30, 1858, has been 
connected with the Waterbury Bank t\venty-seven 
years. lie has been twice married ; his first wife, now 
deceased, was Fannie F. At wood, daughter of L. J. 
Atwood. His present wife was Miss Marie D. 
Mitchell, of New York, a granddaughter of Mrs. 
Feler Darlington, mother of^Dr. James H. Darling- 
ton, for many years pastor of the Bedford Street 
Church in Brooklyn; they have one child, Freder- 
ick Darlington. (2') Jennie Elizabeth, born Aug. 25, 
18C5, is now the wife of Dr. John M. Benedict, for- 
merlv of Bethel, Conn. ; they have two children, John 
Blakesley and Ruth. Augustus M. Blakesley has 
been a Republican since the formation of the party, 
and a number of years ago was treasurer of the 
town. 

1).\XA A. BRADLIA' (deceased) was born 
Dec. 15, 1824. on the old Kradley homestead in East 
Haven (where George C. Bradley now lives), and 
was a son of Dana Bratllcy, Sr. He was educated in 
the common schools of his native town and Fair 
Haven, and reared upon the home farm, remaining 
with his parents until his marriage. 

Un April 28. 1857, Mr. ISradley wedded Miss 
Caroline L. Tuttle. who was born Dec. 6, 1835, in 
the house at b'air Haven now occupied by William 
G. Tuttle, and is a daughter of William and Harriet 
(Andrews) Tuttle, the latter a daughter of Nathan 
Andrews. William Tuttle was a native of East Ha- 
ven and son of Frederick Tuttle, who was also born 
in that town and after his marriage to Polly Frost 
removed to the farm and built the house where his 
son William was horn. Mrs. Bradley is the oldest 
in a family of eight children ; Cornelia H., the next 
in order of birth, is the wife of Henry Landcraft, 
of l'"air Haven: Hester tlietl at the age of nineteen 
years; Annie died unmarried at the age of thirty- 
four }ears ; William G. is a resident of Fair Ha- 
ven; Sadie IC. is the wife of George Holt, an oys- 
ter dealer of New Haven; Edward died at the age 
of three years ; and lulwin, twin brother of Edward, 
married Lizzie Bradley, daughter of Warren Brad- 
ley, and makes his home in New Haven. The 
father of lliis family died March 26, 1899, aged 
eighty-six years, the mother April 10, 1891, aged 
seventy-nine years. They were highly respected and 
esteemed by all who knew them. 

In 1859 Dana .\. Bradley removed to the farm 
in East Haven where his widow now resides, and 
throughotit the remainder of his life successfully 
engaged in dairying and farming there. Two chil- 
dren came to brighten the home: (i) Frederick 
W., a dairy farmer, living with his mother, com- 
pleted his education in the Hopkins grammar school. 



He has taken a prominent part in local affairs as a 
member of the Republican party, was a member of 
the New Haven council in 1890, and served on the 
Building Committee. He is a member of the Con- 
necticut Grange, has served as assistant secretary 
of the State Grange, and is a member of the I. O. 
O. F. (2) Henry Dana, who was graduated from 
Yale College in 1893, is now a civil engineer, sur- 
veyor and real estate dealer of New York City. 
JMr. Bradley was killed by a train at a railroad cross- 
ing at Fair Haven, Nov. 21, 1890, and his death was 
deeply mourned by the entire community, for he was 
well and favorably known, and had a host of warm 
friends in East Fiaven and the surrounding towns. 
He was a member of the Episcopal Qiurch of Fair 
Haven, to which his widow also belongs, and his 
upright, honorable life gained for him the confi- 
dence and respect of all with whom he came in con- 
tact. In politics he was first a Whig, and later a 
Republican. 

JOHN KAHL was bom Jan. 30, 1839, in Prus- 
sia, a son of Nicholas Kahl, a native-born Prussian, 
who w-as engaged in buying and shipping coal to 
F'rance in ante-railroad days. As the proprietor 
of a large farm, Nicholas Kahl was a man of con- 
siderable prominence in his community ; he belonged 
to the Lutheran Church, and was much devoted to 
his home. His wife, Louisa Aultmeyer, of Prussia, 
was a daughter of Cornelius Aultmeyer, and she 
died in May, 1898, having long survived her hus- 
band, wdio passed away in 1850, at the age of sixty- 
one. They were the parents of the following chil- 
dren : George, who came to the United States, and 
died in New Y'ork City ; Henry, who died in Ger- 
many ; Louise, who died in the city of New Y'ork; 
Kate, who died in Germany; and John. 

John Kahl attended the Prussian schools up to 
the age of thirteen years, when he became an ap- 
prentice at the locksmith trade in Sanet-Johann, 
Prussia, where he worked for two years. In 1854 
he left his old home and came to the United States, 
arriving in New Y'ork via Havre. For about four 
months he was engaged in Simms & Blund's gun 
factory, and for several years afterward was em- 
ployed' in the Dr. Andrews' Bank Lock F"actory at 
Perth Amboy, N. J. Mr. Kahl then went to New 
Britain, Conn., where he worked in the Stanley 
Hinge Factory for a long period, and was employed 
for a year and a half with Russell & Erwin. He 
was with the Stanley Level & Rule Company for a 
time, and in 1859 removed to Y'alesville, where he 
was working in Sanford's Auger Factory at the 
breaking out of the Rebellion. True to his adopted 
country, he enlisted, in 1861, becoming a member 
of Company C, 2nd N. Y'. Harris Light Cavalry, 
and was mustered out June 5, 1865, in the city of 
New York. He received a flesh wound in his left 
leg in the skirmish at Liberty Mills, \'a., where he 
was taken jtrisoner, and incarcerated in Libby 
Prison, where he remained four weeks, was then 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



503 



removed to Eelle Island, where he was kept five 
months before he was exclianged. When he was 
captured he weighed 169 pounds, and when released 
only 90 pounds. 

After receiving his honorable discharge he re- 
turned to resume his work in the auger factory. In 
1867 he began work as a tool maker with R. Wal- 
lace & Sons, becoming foreman of the department 
two years later, and he holds this position at the 
present lime, now having about twenty men under 
his direction. 

Mr. Kahl is a member of Accanant Lodge, I. 
O. O. F.. and of Arthur H. Button Post, No. 36, G. 
A. R. With his family he belongs to the Episcopal 
Church. He is a Republican, but has never been 
an office-seeker. 

In 1856 -Mr. Kahl was married to Miss Christ- 
iana Schropp, of Bavaria, Germany, who died in 
Yalesville in 1866, leaving the following children: 
Alfred, employed with his father, married Louisa 
Wetzel, of Wallingford, and is the father of one 
child, Fred : Edmund, employed with his father, 
married Miss Annie Gibbons, of Wallingford, and 
is the father of five children : Christina, Bertha, 
John, Edmund and Roger : George, employed with 
R. Wallace & Sons as a silversmith, married Miss 
Lydia Broedlin, of Xew York, and is the father of 
Oscar and Alesia. 

In 1867 yir. Kahl married I'Yedericka Roselaus, 
of Hartford, and this union has been blessed with the 
following children: Louisa married John Broedlin, 
of Wallingford. and is the mother of Caroline, 
George and Rudolph ; and Louis, employed with his 
father, married Esther Lawrence, and has three chil- 
dren : Louis, Jr., \\'alter and Ernest. 

ELSWORTH ALBERT BRADLEY, a leading 
dairyman and general farmer was born Dec. 29, 
1838, on the Bradley homestead in Centreville, 
Hamden, where he still resides, and he belongs to 
an old and highly respected family of that part of 
the county. His grandfather, Lyman Bradley, the 
son of a Revolutionary soldier, was born in the wes- 
tern part of the town of Hamden, where he was 
reared u])on a farm, but when about sixty years old 
he came to Centreville, antl purchased the farm now 
owned and occupied by our subject. He made many 
improvements upon the place, and continued to en- 
gage in its cultivation throughont the remainder of 
his life. He was a supporter of the Whig party, 
a consistent member of the Congregational Church, 
and was well-known and highly respected. He mar- 
ried Miss Betsey Ives, who also belonged to one of 
the oldest and most esteemed families of Hamden, 
and both died on the farm in Centreville, their re- 
mains being interred in the Centreville cemetery. 
She, too, was a member of the Congregational 
Church, and was -a most estimable lady. Their chil- 
dren were Harriett: Lyman A.: William; E. Ives, 
father of our subject; and Betsey, wife of Merwin 
Foote. 



E. Ives Bradley was born ilarch 15, 18 11, in 
the old homestead in the western part of the town. 
When twenty-five years old he came to Centreville 
with his father and there spent the remainder of his 
life successfully engaged in farming, dairying and 
stock raising. His political support was given first 
the Whig and later the Republican parties, and as 
one- of the prominent and inthiential men of his 
community he was called ujwn to fill several local 
offices, lie was a public-spirited citizen, and was 
an active and consistent member of the Congrega- 
tional Church. He married Miss Charlotte B. (,iil- 
bert, a native of Hamden, and a daughter of Daniel 
Gilbert. By this union two children were born : 
Mary Jane, who died at the age of five years; and 
Elsworth A., our subject. The father died Jan. 11, 
1893, aged eighty-two years, the mother Feb. 7, 
1899, aged eighty-two years, and both were laid to 
rest in the family burying ground in Centreville. 

During his boyhood and youth Elsworth A. 
Bradley attended the district schools and the acad- 
emy of Hamden, and upon the home farm became 
familiar with all the duties which fall to the lot of 
the agriculturist. He now owns the old homestead, 
consisting of seventy-five acres under a high state 
of cultivation and improved with good buildings, 
and is devoting his time principally to general fann- 
ing and dairying with gootl success. The Republi- 
can party finds in him a stanch supporter of its 
principles, and he is now efficiently serving as a 
member of the school board. He is well known and 
highly respected in the comnnmity where he has so 
long made his home. 

JOHN LEWIS DISBRUW, who in his lifetime 
was one of the highly esteemed business men and 
honored citizens of New Haven, was born in that 
city March 28, 1839, a son of John Lewis Disbrow, 
Sr., the veteran hat manufacturer. 

John Lewis Disbrow, Sr., was born in Xorwalk, 
Conn., in 1816, a son of John and Priscilla (Mall- 
ory) Disbrow, the former a native of Saugatuck, 
this State. At the age of fourteen Mr. Disbrow 
learned the hatter's trade, and coming to New Ha- 
ven followed same as a journeyman until about 
1835, when he started in business on his own ac- 
count, and for some years was the only hat manu- 
facturer who conducted a store for himself. He con- 
tinued thus for thirty years, his death, in 1864, cut- 
ting short a prosperous business career. He mar- 
ried Mary R. Miller, who was born in Norwalk, 
daughter of a sea captain in the West Indies trade ; 
his vessel and crew were all lost at sea. When, a 
few years after Mrs. Disbrow"s birth, her home was 
broken up, she was given a home with friends, and 
became the adopted child of Capt. Shipman, of New 
Haven. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Dis- 
brow, but one, John Lewis, Jr., grew to maturity. 
The mother died in the faith of the Congregational 
Church, in 1878, at the age of sixty-four years. 

John Lewis Disbrow our subject, was rcarcil in 



504 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



his native city and was educated in the Lancasterian 
School. In iiis youtli he learned the hatter's trade 
with his father, and engaged in business \vith him 
continuously until the father's death, with the excep- 
tion of four years, when, under appointment by 
President Buchanan, he served as railway mail 
clerk from New Haven to Uellows Falls, Vt. In 
1864 he assumed control of the business, and 60 
continued until his own death, Jan. 17, 1897. He 
erected the building in State street, which he oc- 
cupied for many year.-, and for many years con- 
ducted another store, in the same line, in Church 
street. 

.Mr. Dislirow was a very [uiblic-spirited man. 
For thirty-five years he was a member of the tire 
department, acting as assistant chief under Chief 
Hendricks, and for twenty-six years was secretary 
and treasurer of the Firemen's Benevolent Asso- 
ciation. When he retired the department passed a 
set of resolutions and ])resented him with a hand- 
some pedestal. In his political faith he was a Demo- 
crat, as was his father before him, and he at one 
time represented the Third Ward in the city coun- 
cil. Fraternally he was a Mason, identified with 
W'ooster Lodge; antl in his religious views he w'as 
a Congregationalist. As a man his integrity was 
imassailable, his reputation was untarnished, and 
he was justly beloved by all who knew him for liis 
many gifts of head and heart. 

On June 2(), 1839, Mr. Disbrow was united in 
marriage with .Mary Russell, who w'as born in New 
Haven, a daughter of Calvin Russell, and a great- 
great-granddaughter of Samuel Russell, in whose 
liouse Yale University was incorporated. Of the 
five children born to this marriage, three are now 
living: (i) Nellie, who is Mrs. Treat, of No. 12 
Ciill street, has two children, IJisbrow and Marion. 
(2) Mrs. William b'osketl, whose husband is a mem- 
ber of the firm of h'oskett & Bishop, has one child, 
Miklred. (3) James R., who, under his mother's 
supervision, is running his father's store, is one of 
the [irominent young men in New Haven. He ranks 
liigh in fraternal orders, being a thirty-second-de- 
gree Mason, member of the Modern Woodmen, the 
Naval Reserves and the Governor's Foot (jnards. 
Henry and John L. are deceased. For twenty-five 
years Mr. Disbmw li\ed uii Howard avenue and in 
1896 he completed the excellent home at No. 24S 
Sherman avenue, where his death occurred, and 
where his widow resides. 

Mrs. Disbnnv is a lady of muisual executive 
ability and good I>usinc.'-\s judgment, and was her 
hu.sband's confidant and adviser at all times. She is 
broad-minded, and charitable to the faults of others, 
and endeavors at all times to live up to the faith she 
professes — that of the Congregational Church. 

Calvin Russell, father of i\lrs. Disbrow, was 
reared in New llaven, and here learned the black- 
smith's trade, which he followed for a few years. 
1 fowever, his ambition souglit a wider field. He 
embarked in the wholesale confectioner\- business in 



Water street. New Haven, for some years, and was 
successful. Later he founded the wholesale butter 
and cheese business now conducted by his son Cal- 
vin. He accumulated a large property, retired from 
business when about fifty-four years old, and lived 
to the age of nearly eighty-six. Mr. Russell mar- 
ried Mary Smith, a daughter of John Smith, a pen- 
sioner of the war of 1812. and twelve children 
blessed this union, all of whom reached maturity. 
The mother died in 1876. 

JOSEPH DOOLITTLE PAYXE. For gener- 
ations the Paynes have been residents of tlie town of 
l^rospect. Conn., and of the territory out of which 
that town was formed. Watcrbury and Cheshire. 
The name is of record frequently in the towns of 
Prospect, Waterbury and Naugatuck, in the latter 
of which was born, July 6, 1829, and reared the late 
Joseph D. Payne, wdio for many years w^as a prom- 
inent business man of New Haven. The family 
is of English origin. Our subject was a grand- 
son of Joseph D. Payne, wdio was born in Cheshire, 
and a son of Stephen H. Payne, of that town, and 
later of Prospect, who w-as a manufacturer of but- 
tons and matches, and conducted a general mer- 
cantile business. Stephen H. Payne's wife, Abigail, 
W'as a daughter of Joseph I. Doolittle. a man uni- 
versally beloved and respected. 

Joseph D. Payne was a child when his parents 
moved from Cheshire to Prospect, where he attended 
the public schools, and he was later a student in 
Everest Academy. At the age of nineteen he came 
to Westville, now a part of New Haven, entering 
the store of Joseph Hale, as clerk, and from 1850 
until his death, which occurred April 16, 1894, he 
remained an active business man and a useful citi- 
zen. In about 1852 he became associated in business 
as a merchant with Edwin W. Cooper, the style of 
the firm being Cooper & Payne, and the partnership 
lasted about ten years, after which Mr. Payne con- 
ducted the business alone until 1870. when he with- 
drew from mercantile life and engaged in the manu- 
facture of nuts in Westville. in which line he con- 
tinued until some three years prior to his death, 
when, owing to failing health, he retired from ac- 
tive business. 

Mr. Payne was a man of excellent judgment, 
a careful fi'nancier. industrious and energetic, and 
prospered in his undertakings, becoming a very suc- 
cessfid business man. He was possessed of a high 
sense of honor and great strength of character, was 
just and strict in all his business dealings, inflexi- 
ble in his purposes and firm in his friendships. He 
WMS ever interested and active in all measures and 
movements which he deemed beneficial to the com- 
munity. He had managed his own affairs so well 
that he was several times called by his fellow towns- 
men to positions of trust and responsibility, serving 
for a quarter of a century as a member of the school 
board of his district, of which he was treasurer. 
Flis political synqiathies were with the Democratic 





'2n^^ 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



505 



party. Mr. Payne was a Mason of high standing, 
and for many years was treasurer of the local lodge. 
With his wife he attended the Westvillc Congre- 
gational Church. 

On ^lay 17, 1852. Mr. Payne was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Amelia F. Cooper, who was horn 
in Westville, a daughter of Jeremiah and Fanny 
(Warner) Cooper, and one child was horn to them, 
Adelaide, who is unmarried, and with her mother 
occupies the beautiful Payne home at Xo. 106 
I-'ountain street, Westvillc. 

]\Irs. Pavne comes from old Connecticut stock 
in both paternal and maternal lines. Amos Warner, 
her maternal grandfather, was a farmer at Hamden, 
Conn., where the family has long been located, and 
was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. 
Pavne's parents were both born in Hamden. ' The 
mother moved first to Xew Haven, thence to West- 
ville, where she was married, and where Mr. Cooper 
followed his trade, that of cooper, until he was 
drowned, which occurred when his daughter Amelia 
F. was but one year old. Mrs. Payne is the youngest 
of a family of four, Edwin W., Caroline, Zenas and 
Amelia F. The Coopers are of English extraction. 

THE FOSTER FA^HLY was. throughout the 
past century, one of the leading families of New 
Haven, as it was also one of the old and historic 
families of Xew England. It has given several men 
to the legal profession who have graced the Bar of 
Connecticut, and who have elevated the social life 
of the city in which their honorable and useful ca- 
reers have passed. Especial reference is made to 
Hon. Eleazer Foster, and to his son, Hon. Eleazer 
Kingsbury Foster, who in turn were conspicuous in 
New Haven for many years. John P. C. Foster, 
son of the latter, is now one of the leading physicians 
and most prominent citizens of the community. 

Samuel Foster, the emigrant ancestor of the fam- 
ily, was born in England in 1619, and came to 
New England in its very early settlement. He was 
married, at Dedham, JMass., in 1647, to Esther 
Kemp, and moved to Wenham three years later. In 
1655 he removed to Chelmsford, Mass., where he 
became an honorable and representative citizen of 
the town. .\ deacon in the Church, he was also a 
deputy to the (Jeneral Court. From him Dr. Fos- 
ter, of Xew Haven, is a descendant in the eighth 
generation, the line of descent being through 
Samuel (2). Edward. Edward (2), Edward (3), 
Eleazer and Eieazcr K. 

Samuel Foster, son of the emigrant, was born 
in Chelmsford in 1650, and when twenty-eight years 
of age was married to Sarah Keyes. He died in 
1730. Edward F'oster, his son, was born in 1689, 
in Chelmsford, was married to Remembrance 
Fletcher. I'.ilward Foster (2), son of Edward, was 
born in Chelmsford in 1714, and with his wife, Ra- 
chel, resided in Sturbridge, Mass., where he died 
in 1775. Edward Foster (3), was born in Stur- 
bridge in 1749, and married to Rachel Xewell ; he 



saw active service in the war of the Revolution, and 
after its termination bought and settled on a farm 
in the town of Union, Conn., where he spent the 
rest of his life, dying in 1818. 

Hon. Eleazer Foster, son of E<lward Foster (3), 
was born in 1779, in the town of Union, Conn., and 
was married in Xew Haven, in 1806, to 2^Iary 
Pierrejxjnt, who was born in 1780, a lineal descend- 
ant of Rev. James Pierrepont, a settler of Xew 
Haven in 1684, and one of the founders of Vale Col- 
lege. She is also a descendant of Mary Hooker, a 
daughter of Rev. Samuel Hooker, of i'armington. 

Mr. Foster was graduated from Wale College in 
1802, and became a lawyer. Soon after his admis- 
sion to the Bar he gave such decided proof of his 
industry, capacity, integrity and discretion, that he 
was cjuickly called to responsible and delicate po- 
sitions. In 1817 he was representative from Xew 
Haven in the State Legislature, where he led a 
brilliant career. He stood so high in the public con- 
fidence that he was fretiuently called on to admin- 
ister estates, to be assignee for debtors and agent for 
creditors. His practice was largely al<;ng the line 
of probate business, and such was his ability and 
integrity that he uniformly received the approbation 
of all interested. l*"or the duties of a magistrate 
he was guided by that integrity and impartiality 
which fully evinced his love of justice and his 
sacred regard for the true interests of the public. 
A man of higli character, he was kind and attentive 
to the poor, courteous to all, and in every sense a 
desirable neighbor. He was an exemplary member 
of the Church of Christ. His death occurred in Xew 
Haven May i, 1819; and his widow, who lived many 
years thereafter, died in 1852. 

Hon. Eleazer Kingsbury Foster, the son of the 
foregoing, and father of F)r. Foster, was born May 
20, 1813, and was graduated from Yale in 1834. At 
New Haven, and in Auburn, X. Y., he made his 
preparation for the law. and was admitted to the 
Bar in his native city, where he practiced law all his 
life. Shortly after his entrance upon his profes- 
sion he was appointed grand juror of the town. 
From 1845 to 1849 '^<-' ^^''i* probate judge of the 
Xew Haven district. In 1854 he was appointed 
State's Attorney for Xew Haven, and in 1867 was 
nominated registrar in bankruptcy by Chief Justice 
Chase, holding both positions as long as he lived. 
In i860 he was a member of the Reiniblican conven- 
tion that nominated Abraham Lincoln. I-'or si.x 
vears he was a member of the city council of Xew 
Haven, and was a member of the State Legislature 
in 1844, 1845, 1855 and 1865, when, he served as 
Speaker of the House. In 1861 he declined a nom- 
ination for Governor of Connecticut in favor of 
Gov. P)Uckingham. 

At the Bar, in public and private life. Judge 
I'oster was a man of mark. The eminence which he 
attained at the Bar was not due to study and ajiplica- 
tion alone. A noble presence, a grand voice, the 
graces of oratory, often becoming eloquence, wit 



5o6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and humor, a thorough knowledge of human nature, 
and a quick sympathy, with all ranks of men — these 
were the gifts that always secured to him a place 
in the front rank of his profession. As a specialist 
in criminal law he frequently dealt with important 
causes and encountered the ablest of his professional 
brethren. To these demands he was always equal, 
and was regarded as a most formidable antagonist 
before the jury, wlierc he was especially successful. 
As a cross-c.xaminer he was remarkably skillful, 
and many an unhappy culprit has seen the secrets 
of his breast laid bare l)y him, even while believing 
that every avenue of approach had been securely 
guarded. As State's Attorney he sought for jus- 
tice, never demanding the "pound of flesh," and 
mitigating where circumstances would allow the 
penalties of crime which took on in many cases the 
character of ignorance and slu[)idity. Courteous 
and considerate in his demeanor toward his antag- 
onist, he often made friends of those upon whom 
he brought the i)enalties of violated law. He was 
the last survivor, save Hun. Alfred Blackman. of 
that brilliant circle of lawyers whose fame in the 
past is already becoming a lraditi(jn to the lawyers 
of this generation. 

In politics, judge h'osfer was a Whig in his earl- 
ier life, and became a Republican on the organization 
of that party. (_)n the "hustings" he was very popu- 
lar, and often appeared to defend what he deemed 
right and true. He was a man of deep religious con- 
victions, and firmly held to the fundamental doc- 
trines of the Episcopal Church, of which he was 
a devoted member. His Christian faith and hope 
were a great comfort to him in his last illness. For 
more than thirty years Judge Foster was a resident 
of New Haven, and his death was felt by many of 
its people as a personal loss. 

Judge Foster was married Jan. 2, i83cS, to Miss 
Mary Codrington, who was born in Jamaica, Brit- 
ish West Indies, I'^eb. 9, 1818, on one of her father's 
plantations, but was educated in England. To this 
union were born four children: \Villiam E., the 
editor of the Buffalo ( N. Y.) Commercial ; Eleazer 
K.. a lawyer in b'lorida ; Dr. John P. C, a resident 
of New Haven ; and Mary, who died in 1864, at the 
age of twenty-one \-ears. Judge Foster died June 
n. 1877. his wife having passed awav Sept. 25, 
1872. 

\\ illiam E. I'oster, noted above as editor of the 
Buffalo Commercial, was married in 1861 to Sarah 
E. i'lCtts, a daughter of Judge Betts, of the city of 
New York. He enlisted in the United States navy 
in 1861. on the first call for troops, and served 
throughout the war. He was appointed assistant 
quartermaster general, and Aug. 4, 1861, was made 
a paymaster in the navy, serving in that capacitv, 
and as a signal officer, during his term of service. 
For thirty years he has Ijccn chief editor of the Com- 
vicrcial, and is a man of unusual literary attain- 
ments. Eleazer K., the other brother of Dr, Foster, 
died Dec. 8, 1899. For years he had been a district 



attorney in Florida, and had been judge of the cir- 
cuit court, and also State Superintendent of Pub- 
lic Instruction. He was one of the founders of the 
Agricultural College of Florida, and one of the new 
buildings recently put up for that institution bears 
the name of " Foster Hall" Mr. Foster also served 
as one of the trustees of the University of the 
South, located at Sewanee, Tenn. Mary Benedict, 
who became his wife, was born at Philadelphia, Pa., 
and was a daughter of Dr. Nathan and Emma (Har- 
ris) Benedict. They had three children, Eleazer 
K., Emma Harris, and Mary Benedict; all reside in 
Gainesville, Florida. 

Dr. John Pierrepont Codrixgtox Foster was 
born IVIarch 2, 1847, ■''' New Haven, and i)repared 
for college in the school of George Russel. In 1869 
he was' graduated irom Yale, and from the Medical 
School connected with that College in 1875. The 
fall of the following year he began his practice at 
New Haven, and from the first his career has been 
singularly successful. Many of the characteristics 
of his father and grandfather reappear in him, and 
his ability, close application to his w-ork, and general 
manly qualifications have won him a wide practice. 
Among the students of Yale he is especially popular. 
In connection with Prof. Chittenden of the Yale 
Biological Laboratory, he conducted a series of ex- 
periments with Koch's Tuberculin, which were after- 
wards summarized and given to the world. Dr. Fos- 
ter was the first American to administer (Dec. 3, 
1890) the famous tuberculin of Prof. Koch. He 
has been surgeon of the United States Marine Hos- 
pital Service since 1880, and in 1877 was appointed 
instructor in anatomy in Yale Art School. He is a 
member of the American Medical Association, and 
of the Society of the American Anatomists. At 
Yale he belonged to the famous "Skull and Cross- 
bones Society," as did his father before him. In 
1884 he was instrumental in the organization of 
the Young Men's Republican Club of New Haven, 
of which he was the first vice-president. At the 
present time he takes no active part in politics. 

On July I, 1875, Dr. Foster was married to 
Josephine Bicknell, a daughter of Joseph I. and 
Theresa (Pierrepont) Bicknell, and they have had 
the following children : Margaret Codrington, who, 
on Feb. 8, i8(X). married Rev. George H. Thomas, 
rector of All Saints Church in ]\Iinneapolis ; John 
Pierrepont Codrington, Jr., who died Aug. 30, 1882; 
Josephine Bicknell: Allen F.varts ; and William Ed- 
ward. 

NATHAN THOMPSON MORSE, a well- 
known photographer of Derby, is an artist of wide 
experience, and stands at the head of his profes- 
sion in that town. He was born in New Haven Nov. 
7, 1836, and belongs to a family of English origin, 
which was founded in America by seven brothers 
who settled in this county. Many of its represent- 
atives have embraced the learned professions, be- 
coming eminent as doctors, lawyers and preachers. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



507 



Our subject's paternal great-grandfather was a 
soldier in the Revolutionary war. His grandfather, 
Samuel Morse, was born in Danbury, Conn., but in 
early life went to Savannah, Ga., where he success- 
fully engaged in the practice of law. He died there, 
of yellow fever, and, being a member of the old 
Chatham Artillery, then, as now, a noted military 
organization of the South, he was buried with mili- 
tarv honors. There were other iirominent members 
of the family in the South, including Judge Morse, 
of Mobile, Ala. The grandfather edited the first 
Jeffersonian newspaper ever published in America, 
called the Son of Liberty. 

Orville Curtis IMorse, father of our subject, was 
born in Danbury, and went to Savannah, Ga., with 
his parents when a child, but after the death of his 
father he returned North with his mother and the 
other members of the family, and spent some time 
in the towns of Huntington and Monroe, Fair- 
field Co.. Conn. Throughout his active life he 
was a teacher, following that profession for 
the last twenty years of his career. He mar- 
ried ]\Iiss Charity Thompson, of Huntington, 
daughter of Abraham and Sarah (Blackman) 
Thompson. The first of the Thompson fam- 
ily to come to this country was a passenger on 
the "Mayflower." To Mr. and Mrs. Morse were 
born four children : Samuel, a painter by trade, 
who died in Stratford; Charles T., a retired mer- 
chant of Cliicago, 111.; Sarah J.; and N. Thompson, 
our subject. In his political views the father was 
first a ^Vhig and later a Republican. 

During his infancy our subject removed with 
his parents to Derby, where he grew to manhood. 
During the dark days of the Rebellion he enlisted in 
Company B, 4th Conn. V. I., which was the first 
three-years regiment enlisted in the country, and 
which afterward became the 1st Connecticut Heavy 
Artillery. After receiving his discharge Air. Morse 
returned North and went to Chicago, where he 
clerked in liis brother's store for some time. Learn- 
ing photography, he engaged in that business in 
Cliicago for seven years, and then went South, where 
he carried on the same occupation in Jacksonville, 
Fla., and Savannah, Ga. Later he engaged in 
photography in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New 
York State, and finally, in 1887, returned to Derby, 
Conn., where he opened a studio and has since been 
busily engaged in his art. He thoroughly under- 
stands his ])rofcssion and his work possesses high 
artistic merit. 

Mr. Morse married Miss Annie S. Massey, a 
native of Philadelphia, Pa., and a daughter of 
Thomas Massey. She is a prominent member of 
the Derby chapter of the Daughters of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, which she was instrumental in or- 
ganizing, and has the finest record in that chapter. 
Mr. Morse is also of Revolutionary stock, his ma- 
ternal grandfather, Abraham Thompson, having 
aided the Colonies in achieving their Independence 
as a soldier of the Continental army. Our subject 



and his wife are both members of the Episcopal 
Church, and he also belongs to the Grand Army of 
the Republic and King Hiram Lodge, F. cS: A. M., 
of Derby, having first united with the Masonic fra- 
ternity in Chicago. Politically he is a stanch Re- 
publican. 

EDMUND CARRIXGTON WARNER, one 
of the best known fruit growers of the State of Con- 
necticut, has transformed an ordinary piece of prop- 
erty into one of the best farms in North Haven. Be- 
ing descended from an old family of Connecticut, 
prominent in the history of the State and nation, our 
subject is very proud of his ancestry. Isaac Warner, 
his grandfather, was a native of Hamden, Conn.., 
where he carried on farming extensively and where 
he died. He had the following family: Louisa, 
Ira and Rufus. 

Rufus Warner was born Sept. 15, 1808, in Ham- 
den, received a common school education, and pur- 
sued the vocation of a farmer all his life, dying in 
Hamden when seventy-two years old. His wife was 
Harriet Dorman, a native of Hamden, and daugh- 
ter of Edmund Dorman. To this couple were born : 
Sarah, Rachel, Eliza, Isaac, Edmund C, Amos, 
Charles, Elizabeth, Eber and William. 

Edmund Carrington Warner was born Nov. 16, 
1840, in Hamden, near Hamden Plains. He re- 
ceived but a limited education, and remained on the 
home farm until 1866, being engaged in farming and 
in hauling wood from Hamden to New Haven. 
Succeeding in this work, Mr. Warner was enabled, 
in 1866, to come to North Haven and purchase the 
Col. Blakeslce farm, a tract of seventy-five acres. 
Not possessing the full amount of purchase money 
required, Mr. Warner mortgaged a {xjrtion of 
the land and then cut and hauled timber from 
his property, and, in connection with dairying 
and fruit growing, soon paid off the debt, be- 
ing ably assisted by his wife. When he lo- 
cated upon the farm he decided to embark in 
the culture of fruits on a small scale, and be- 
ing very successful he gradually branched out in 
this line, in 1878 purchasing the Chauncey Blakes- 
lee farm of fifty-six acres, which adjoined his 
own. Most of this property Mr. Warner has brought 
into a high state of cultivation, growing fruit and 
berries ; he has about sixty acres in fruit, thirty acres 
of which are in peach trees. So excellent is the 
quality of his products that he took first premium 
with his exhibit at Wallingford, in 1898, and again 
in 1899, his competitors being some of the best 
fruit growers in the State. He has recently added 
fifty acres of land to this farm, one part of which 
is now planted to fruit trees. 

In 1866 Mr. Warner was married to Miss \'es- 
tina Wooding, of Hamden, daughter of Vinus and 
]c.ne (Tuttle) \\'ooding, farming people of that 
town. To this marriage have been born: Wilson, 
who is at home. Herbert, who is a graduate of 
Storrs Agricultural College, and is now residing in 



5o8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Xorth IIavi.li: lie inarried .Mattie Colbuni, and re- 
sided li\-e year^ in Battle Creek, Mich., where he 
was stiijerintendent of an agricultural institution. 
Alice married Emanuel Smith, a farmer of North 
Jlaven. Elton, a typewriter and stenographer, is 
iPi business in .Mexico. Jane, a teacher, was em- 
(iloyed three _\ears in Battle Creek, Mich., and is 
now at home. 

jMr. Warner is a stanch Republican in political 
sentiment, was elected selectman in 1888, serving 
four years, and was assessor in iSy" and 1898. So- 
cially he is a charter member of North Haven 
Grange; a charter member of Pomona Grange; a 
member of the State Pomological Society, and in 
all well known and active. Mr. Warner and his 
family are attendants of the Congregational Church 
of North I laven, and are generous supporters of 
same. By earnest, faithful effort Mr. Warner has 
steadily worked his way to the front, made a place 
for himself among the honored citizens of the town, 
and he has reared a family which does credit to 
his name. 

ORRIN MCXSOX is not only one of the en- 
terprising and progressive agriculturists- of Ham- 
den. New Haven Co., Conn., but is also one of its 
respected and honored citizens. He was born in that 
town on the farm where Charles H. Munson now 
lives, July 10, 1832, and there grew to manhood, re^ 
maining upon that place until twenty-six years of 
age. 'l"he following si.x years were passed upon the 
farm just opposite his present home, and at the 
end of that time he moved across the street into 
the house which he had previously erected, and 
which has since been his home. Here he owns fifty 
acres of land, which he has converted into one of 
the finest fruit farms of the town. When he pur- 
chased the place it was a wild and rocky tract of 
land, and all of the improvements found thereon 
have been made liy him and stand as monuments to 
his thrift and industry. He has set out orchards 
which now rank among the best in the State, and 
in 1899 he raised between fifteen hundred and two 
thousand bushels of apjiles, besides peaches and 
other fruit. He also carries on general farming 
and is quite extensively engaged in the wood busi- 
ness, buying tracts of land, the timber from which 
be converts into cord wood. 

In 1S38, Mr .Munson was united in marriage 
with Miss Mary '\\. Warner, a daughter of Abner 
and Mary Warner, and to them were born three 
children: Clifl'ortl 1!., a fai'mcr and market gar- 
dener of Hamden, has two children — Hazel :\., and 
Yensie M.; Robert .\.. a farmer, who is now with 
his father in business, has one child — ( )live J.; and 
Nora A., wife of Wilbur Bcnham, a market gqr 
dencr of Hamden. 

Mr. Munson gives his ])olitical sujiport to llic 
men and measures -of the Democratic parlv, but 
takes no active part in politics aside from voting, 
and has never sought or desired office, although 



the highest official positions of the town have been 
offered him. Religiously he is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. His business inter- 
ests have been so managed as to win him the confi- 
dence of the public and the prosperity which should 
always attend honorable effort, and he is held in 
high regard liy all who know him on account of his 
sterling worth. 

J^EUBEN H. TUCKER, member of the As- 
sembly from Ansonia, is one of the most valued 
citizens of that town, and his influence is felt as a 
potent factor in political, business and social life. 

Mr. Tucker was born in Ansonia .A.ug. 9, 1847, 
the first boy born after the town was named, and is 
one of the few men who have watched the full de- 
velopment of the place. His family is of good Con- 
necticut stock. His father, Lyman Tucker, was 
born in Oxford in March, 1799, and, after spending 
his early years in farm work, learned the trade of 
a.x and auger maker, which he followed there until 
he reached the age of forty. He then removed to 
Ansonia, where he continued this work in the em- 
ploy of David Bassett, but his last \-ears were spent 
in retirement upon a farm, his death occurring in 
1861, when he was aged si.xty-two. His wife, 
Mary E. (Hotchkiss), a native of Derby, died in 
1869, aged sixty- four. While residing in Derby 
they were identified with the Presbyterian Church, 
and later they assisted in organizing the Ansonia 
Congregational Church, and were among its lead- 
ing mentbers. They had two children, but our sub- 
ject is the only one living. 

.^.s a boy Air. Tucker worked at farm work on 
the homestead within the city limits, and he still 
owns several houses on the site. .-Kfter receiving a 
common school education, he was engaged in brick 
making for a time, and for two years was a clerk 
in the Ansonia Savings Bank. He had already be- 
come prominent in local affairs, and his election to 
the office of clerk of the town of Derby, which then 
included Ansonia, was but the beginning of an ac- 
tive and successful career as an official. He held 
the position named si.x years, and after the separa- 
tion of the two towns served four years as town 
clerk of Ansonia, until 1893, having been re-elected 
nine consecutive times. He was elected and served 
five temis as warden of the borough of Ansonia, 
before it became a city. Mr. Tucker has served 
as justice of the peace twenty years, during which 
time many cases were submitted to his judgment; 
was tax collector of the borough of .\nsonia for 
five years, and for the town and city from 1898 to 
1902: and also served some years as school collector 
and assessor. For ten years he was a member of 
the town Republican committee. Our subject was 
elected to the Legislature in 1894, 1896, 1898 and 
1900, to serve until January, 1903. His committee 
work in that body includes service as member of 
the finance committee, in 1895; chairman of the 
committee on fisheries and game, in 1897: clerk of 






, (/x^^e/ce^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



509 



the finance committee in 1899; and in 1901, chair- 
man of that committee. His interest in local im- 
provement is shown in many ways, and for eight- 
een years he has been a director in the Pine Grove 
Cemetery Association, of which, since 1883, he has 
been secretary, treasurer and manager. 

In 1867 Mr. Tucker married .Miss Adelia L. 
]!uughton, a native of Woodbury, and one of three 
children of John Boughton, a well-known black- 
smiih. Three children have blessed this union, name- 
ly : Reuben H., Jr., who became connectetl with the 
predecessor of the Coe Brass Manufacturing Co., 
and is now a clerk there; Miss Abbie M.; and Miss 
Jessie B. The family is esteemed socially, and all are 
members of Christ Episcopal Crurch. ^Ir. Tucker is 
a 32d-degree, Scottish Rite Alason. He was elected 
to a lodge on the first meeting after his twentv- 
first birthday ; is a member of the \'eteran Masonic 
Association ; George Washington Lodge, No. 82, 1*". 
& A. M., in which he passed all the chairs; Mt. Ver- 
non Chapter, Xo. 35, R. A. M., in which he is past 
high priest ; L'nion Council, Xo. 27, Derby, in which 
he holds the rank of past thrice illustrious master ; 
the Grand Chapter of the State, in which he is past 
grand high priest ; the Grand Council of the State, 
being a past most puissant grand master; and the 
Xew Haven Commandery. At present he is the rep- 
resentative in the Connecticut Grand Lodge of the 
Cjrand Lodge of Xebraska ; the Grand Cha]:)ter of 
the State of Georgia; and the Grand Council of the. 
State of Xorth Carolina; is chairman of the com- 
mittee on By-laws in the Grand Chapter of the State 
of Connecticut, and chairman of the committee on 
Ritual, in the Grand Lodge. 

HORACE W. MERCHAXT, who entered into 
rest in September, 1880, in X'ew York, was for 
many years a well known resident of Xew Haven. 
He was born in the State of Xew York, and there 
learned the blacksmith trade, becoming a very ex- 
pert workman. .-Xs a journeyman, he came to Xew 
Haven, Conn., in about 1842, and opened up an es- 
tablishment in his line in this city, continuing in the 
same business until his death. 

In 1845 ^^^- Mercnant was united in marriage 
with Mary E. Thomas, who was born in Wood- 
bridge, a daughter of General .'\mos Thomas. One 
son was born of this union, Wellington, who mar- 
ried Mary Dagle, of Alontreal ; by trade he was an 
expert carriage painter, and followed this trade un- 
til his death at the age of fifty years. 

The paternal grandparents of Mrs. ^Merchant 
were John and Sarah (GilbertJ Thomas, the former 
of whom was a successful farmer, and the latter 
was a native of Litchfield, who lived to the advanced 
age of eighty years. She was the mother of six chil- 
dren (including one ])air of twins), and both she 
and all her children have long since passed out of 
life. 

Gen. .\mos Thomas, the father of Mrs. Mer- 
chant, was reared in Woodbridije, and in 1S28, when 



about twenty-five years of age, came to Xew Haven, 
and opened up a store on Broadway, continuing in 
business there for a number of years. Later lie em- 
barked in the carriage business and followed in this 
line for a number of years, but late in life sold this 
and bought a farm near Westbrook, where he lived 
until his death, at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. 
Thomas took a great interest in military aft'airs. and 
when a militia company was iVirmed he entered in 
the ranks and was promoted until he was made a 
brigadier general and had command of all of the 
State militia and was well known and much es- 
teemed. In politics. Gen. Thomas was a very stanch 
Democrat, and acceptably served as chief of the po- 
lice department of the city of Xew Haven, and in 
every situation of life came up to the expectations 
of his friends. He married Lucretia Baldwin, who 
was born in \\'oodbridge. a daughter of George 
Baldwin, a fanner of that locality, who later moved 
to Huntington, where he died; his wife died in 
middle age. The children born to Gen, and Mrs. 
Lucretia Thomas numbered eleven, these being: 
John, who died in Derby, Conn.; George, the 
father of a family, lives in Waterbury ; Mary. 
E., the widow of -Mr. Merchant: William Wallace, 
a resident on Xorton street, in Xew Haven; Tran- 
ces Jane, deceased; Silas Mix, resides in California; 
Sarah L., widow of Edward E. Bowns ; Grace A., 
the widow of Edward Lines, lives in Xew Haven ; 
Charlotte Adele married Henry \\'. Munson, of 
Hamden. The others died in infancy, and the 
mother died in 1879. The father was a consistent 
and worthy member of the Cniversalist Church. 
Airs. Merchant was still young in years when 
her parents came to New Haven, and she was edu- 
cated in the city schools. Siie is a lady of winning 
manners and pleasing personality, and enjoys the 
esteem of the residents of this city, her pleasant 
home being at Xo. 289 Dixwell avenue. 

ELTHU HCMISTOX. a representative citizen 
and successful famier of Hamden, Xew Haven 
county, was born Nov. 15, 1820, on the farm where 
he still resides, and which was also the birthplace of 
his father, Justus Humiston, it being the home of 
his paternal grandfather, Joseph Humiston. The 
father spent his early life upon the farm, engaged 
in agricultural pursuits, but later turned his atten- 
tion to the carpenter's trade, which he followed for 
some time in Xew Alarlborough, Alass. While there 
he met and married Miss Elizabeth Harmon. .V 
few years later he returned to the old homestead and 
took charge of the farm, which he successfully 
operated until called from this life in 1855, at the 
age of seventy-five years. In political sentiment he 
was a Democrat, and he was honored and respected 
wherever known. His wife died in 1848, at the 
age of sixty-two years. To this worthy couple were 
l)orn six children, and the birth of all occurred on 
the old home farm in Hamden, where our subject 
now resides. Svlvia, the oldest, marrieil Elihu 



5IO 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Dickerman, and died in August, 1899, when past 
the age of ninety-four years. Eliza married Sydney 
Benham and died in 1889, at the age of seventy- 
three. Harmon is living in Hamden, at the age of 
eighty-three years. Elihu, our subject, is next in 
order of birth. Maria S. is now seventy-seven years 
of age. Austin married Julia Bradley, and died at 
the age of thirty-seven years. 

During his boyhood, Elihu llumiston attended 
the common schools near his home, and assisted his 
father in the operation of the farm until twenty-five 
years of age, when he commenced teaming with 
oxen for the rubber factory at Centerville, and 
Churchill Brothers' auger factory, being thus em- 
ployed for many years doing more of such work 
than any man of his time in Hamden. During this 
time he made his home on the old farm, and when he 
gave up teaming he turned his attention to the dairy 
business upon that place. He has met with marked 
success in this undertaking and was one of the sub- 
stantial and prosperous dairy farmers of Hamden 
until he gave up that work, as well as one of its 
highly esteemed citizens. He is the owner of forty 
acres of land, including the old homestead, which 
consists of twenty-five acres under a high state of 
cultivation and well improved. He is a member of 
the Congregational Church of Whitneyville, and 
his life has ever been in harmony with his profes- 
sions. 

W. CECIL DURAXD, secretary and treas- 
urer of the Milford Savings Bank, is a native of 
Milford, born June 15, 1851, and he belongs to one 
of the oldest and most honored families of that 
town. 

William Durand, his grandfather, was born in 
Milford, and he and his wife, Mary Baldwin, were 
both interred in the old Milford graveyard. Of 
the thirteen children of this worthy couple, we have 
record of the following: Calvin (i) died in in- 
fancy; Calvin (2) is niiCntioned below; William, 
who died in Milford in 1865, was the first Demo- 
crat ever elected to the Legislature from Milford, 
and for many years was prominent in public life, 
serving as judge of probate, town clerk, surveyor 
of the port of New Haven, and as an official in the 
custom house in that city; Nathan L. ; Mason .■\., 
a merchant, died in Bombay, and was buried there ; 
David H. was a merchant in London under the lirm 
name of Durand & Farland, but was buried in Mil- 
ford ; Julia and Charlotte never married ; and ATary 
married Francis Trowbridge, a nurseryman in New 
Haven. 

Calvin Durand, our subject's father, was born 
in 1802, at the old homestead in Milford, and died 
in the same house in 1884. In early manhood he 
took a position as a clerk in the commission house 
of Goodhue & Co., No. 64 South street, New York, 
and after serving in that capacity for ten years, Mr. 
Durand became a partner. Seventeen years later 
he assumed the entire business as proprietor, and 



conducted it in his own name twenty-nine years, 
making fifty-si.x years in all of mercantile life in 
New York City. During this period he carried on 
business with all parts of the world, but for the 
latter part of the time he confined it to Central and 
South America. In politics he was a Democrat, 
being an ardent believer in free trade. He married 
in April, 1847, Miss Sarah Cecil Hunter, of Sa- 
vannah, Ga., a daughter of Col. James Hunter, a 
merchant of that city. Col. Hunter was born in 
Ireland, and his wife, Eliza Cecil, was a native of 
England. Our subject's mother died in June, 185 1, 
leaving W. Cecil, our subject, who was but twelve 
days old when his mother died. 

Although born in Milford, W. Cecil Durand 
spent his boyhood mainly in New York, and on 
completing a course in the schools of that city he 
entered Shefiiekl Scientific School, Yale College, 
where he was graduated in 1871. He traveled ex- 
tensively with his father, going abroad three times, 
and in the fall of 1871 he engaged in business with 
him, the firm continuing until 1878 when they sold 
out. On Feb. 12, 1891, Mr. Durand was chosen 
secretary and treasurer of the Milford Savings 
Bank, and since that time the deposits have in- 
creased from $200,000 to about $295,000. Politi- 
cally he is a gold Democrat, and as representative 
from Milford he served three years in the Legisla- 
ture in 1883, 1884 and 1889, and from 1889 to 1891 
he was one of the State Auditors. He is also treas- 
urer of the Taylor Library, and a member of the 
Society of Colonial Wars. His public spirit has 
been shown in many ways, and he was one of a 
committee of five on the Stone Arch Bridge, built 
in Milford in 1889, to commemorate the 250th an- 
niversary of the settlement of the town. 

On fan. 15, 1885, Mr. Durand married Eliza- 
beth C. Ford, of Mifford, who died Aug. 18. 1888. 
Her father was killed in the Civil war. On June 17, 
1890, Mr. Durand married Miss Claia Baldwin 
Clark. 

HENRY B. CARTER, late a prominent and in- 
fluential citizen of Wolcott.is a worthy representative 
of an old and honored family of this State. The first 
of the name to come to Connecticut was Jacob Car- 
ter, who was of English descent and came from 
Southold, Long Island, locating in Branford, where 
he spent the remainder of his life as a farmer. He 
was married Dec. 4, 1712, to Dorcas Tyler, who 
died in 1735. They had three chidren : Sarah, born 
Feb. 4, 1714; Jacob, born Nov. 26, 1716; and Abel, 
born June 4, 1718. 

Jacob Carter (2) was born in Branford, and 
when a young man removed to SoiUhington, Hart- 
ford county. Upon a farm in the southern part of 
that town he made his home until called from this 
life July 6, 1796, his remains being interred there. 
He wedded Marv Barnes, who was Ix)rn in 1726, a 
daughter of Stephen Barnes, and died in Southing- 
ton, Oct. 23, 178S. The children born of this union 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



5" 



were Jacob, May i, 1745; Sarah, Sept. 16, 174"; 
Steplien, July 11, 1749; Jonathan, May 20, 1751 ; 
llhiel, Aug. I, 1753; Isaac, May 12, 1737; Levi. 
Sept. 23, 1762; and Ehhu, baptized March 18, 1759. 
Jacob Carter (3) was born and reared in South- 
ington, but when a young man located on East 
Mountain, W'olcott, New Haven county, being tlie 
first of the name to take up his resilience in that 
town. There he engaged in farming until his death, 
and he was buried in the Wolcott cemetery, llis 
wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Hitch- 
cock, was killed by being thrown from a wagon, at 
Bccket, Mass., in 1818. Their children were Pre- 
serve, born Feb. 24, 1773; jMarcus, born July 28, 

1774, removed to Michigan; Rhoda, born Nov. 6. 

1775, married Washington Upson; Mary, born Feb. 
16, 1781 ; Uri, born June 15, 1782; and Gains and 
Loami, twins, born Dec. 2, 1785. 

Uri Carter was the grandfather of our subject. 
He spent his entire life as a fanner in Wolcott, and 
was well-known and highly respected throughout 
the town. He married Lue S. Baxter, who died 
^larch 17. 1867, and he departed this life Feb. 6, 
1835. both being laid to rest in the old Wolcott 
cemetery. In their family were six children, whose 
names and dates of birth were as follows ; George 
W., Jan. 18, 181 1 ; Henrv J., Feb. 17, 1813; John 
M.. Oct. 2, 1815; Mary'E. (wife of William W. 
Steele), ^larch 12, 1818; L. Salina, Feb. 25, 1820; 
and Cyrus H., Oct. 19, 1822. 

George W. Carter, tlie oldest of thi.s family and 
the father of our subject, pursued his studies in the 
district schools of Wolcott, but was mostly self-edu- 
cated. While still in his teens he traveled in the 
South, selling clocks, and later engaged in farming 
and stock raising in Wolcott, taking special pride 
in his oxen, steers and horses. He was deeply in- 
terested in public alYairs, and was a stanch supporter 
of first the W hig, and later the Republican party. 
He was quite a prominent man of his community, 
and was elected to the State Legislature and Senate, 
to the latter from the 5th district. For many years 
he was a deacon in the Congregational Church, and 
also served as clerk and treasurer of the church for 
over twenty years. Upright and honorable in all 
things, he commanded the confidence and respect 
of all with whom he came in contact. He died 
March 3, 1884. and was buried in Wolcott Centre 
cemetery. I"or his fir.st wife he married Sarah A. 
Bronson, a daughter of John and Hannah (Root) 
Bronson. She was born in Wolcott, April i, 181 1, 
and died March 12, 1868, being laid to rest in the 
old cemetery. She was a good Christian woman 
and a faithful wife and mother. The father was 
again married. May 10, 1871, his second union be- 
ing with Mary P. Baldwin, who was born March 
27, 1823, and died Oct. 9, 1900. Of the six chil- 
dren born to the first marriage, our subject is the 
eldest; Mary M. and Sarah S. (twins), born May 
23. 1842, died Sept. 23, 1894. and .'\ug. 24, 1866, 
respectively (Mary j\I. married George W'alker 



of Saybrook, Conn.) ; Hannah J., born Jan. 26, 
1844, married Elmer Hotchkiss, and died .\pril 7, 
1900; Frederick W., born Oct. 27, 1845. lives in 
Wolcott; and Walter S., born Dec. 3. 1853, died 
:\Iay 8, 1855. 

Henry B. Carter was born in Wolcott, Dec. 2, 
1839, and was educated in the district schools. At 
the age of seventeen years he l)egan life for Jiimself 
as a farm hand, working at $13 per month, and later 
located on a small farm, which he successfully 
operated, at the same time engaging in light and 
heavy teaming. In 1895 he located on the Hotch- 
kiss farm — tlie home of his father-in-law — which 
comprises 187 acres o^ well-improved land, and en- 
gaged in dairy and general farming, also following 
teaming to some extent, until his death, Feb. 15, 
1900. Mr. Carter always took quite an active part 
in local politics, and was chairman of the Republican 
town committee. He served his fellow citizens in 
the capacity of assessor, road commissioner, super- 
intendent of highways, member and chairman of the 
school board, selectman five terms, and a member of 
the State Legislature in 1883 and 1884, during which 
time he served on several important committees. 
His last term of office as selectman expired Oct. i, 
1899. He was a member of Mad River Grange. 
No. 71, P. of H., and was president of the Wolcott 
Agricultural Society fifteen consecutive years. He 
was a deacon in the Congregational Church, to 
which office he was appointed after his father's 
death. He was a member of the church committee, 
and for many years superintendent of the Sunday- 
school. For seventeen years Deacon Carter was 
superintendent of a Sunday-school in an out-dis- 
trict, and was rarely absent from his post of duty. 
He was a man of industrious and temperate habits, 
popular and highly resjjected, and took a deep inter- 
est in everything calculated to advance the moral or 
material welfare of his town or county. In i860, 
in Wolcott, Mr. Carter was united in marriage with 
Miss -Mary Rufina Hotchkiss, a native of that town 
and a daughter of Stiles L. and Mary Ann Hotch- 
kiss. By this union was born one child, Charles 
Hotchkiss, a merchant of Wolcott, who died in 1888. 
Fie married Lois Alcott, and had one child, .Sarah 
Lois. Our subject and iiis wife ado])ted a daughter. 
Mabel. Mrs. Carter is a lady of character ancl cul- 
ture, who takes an active and prominent part in 
church and temperance work and is a talented 
writer, contributing many able articles to such papers 
as the Nezv England Homestead, the Connectieut 
Farmer, the Nczv Britain Herald, the Jl'aterbitry 
Republican and the IVatcrbury American. 

The Hotchkiss family to which Mrs. Carter be- 
longs was one of the first to locate in New England, 
and the name was originally spelled Hodgkis. The 
first to cross the Atlantic was Samuel Hotchkiss, a 
native of Essex, England, who located in New 
Haven as early as 164 1. On .^cpt. 7, 1642. he mar- 
ried Elizabeth Cleverly, and died in New Haven. 
Dec. 28, 1663. His children were John, born in 



5i: 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1643; Samuel, 1645; James, 1647; Joshua, Sept. 16, 
1651 ; Thomas, \ov. 30, 1654; and David, March 

John Ilotchkiss, son of Samuel, was married, 
Dec. 5, 1672, to Elizabeth Peck, daughter of Henry 
Peck, of New Haven, and died about 1O88 or 1689. 
In his family were si.x children whose names and 
dates of birth were as follows: John, (Jet. 11, 1673; 
Joshua, 1O75; Joseijh. June 3. 1(178; Josiah, July 24, 
i(:)8o; Caleb, CJct. 18, 1(184:" and l-;iiz:il)eth, |idv 18, 
1686. 

Josej)!] Hotchkiss, son of John, was born in New 
Haven, and when a youn<;- man removed to (juilford, 
Conn., where he followed the weaver's trade until 
his death, which occurred July 31, 1740. He was 
marrieil, in .\pril, idyy, to Hannah Cruttendon, a 
native of (_iuilford and a daughter of Isaac Crutten- 
don, of that place. To them were born seven chil- 
dren, namely: Josejih, born .Sept. 3, 1700; Isaac, 
Dec. 25, 1702; Wait, Jan. 18, 1704; Hannah, Sept. 
13, 1707; Deborah, Jan. 18, 1710 (died young); 
Miles, July 28, 1712 (died young) ; and Mark, July 
I, 1714. 

Wait 1 1(5tchkiss, son of Joseph, was born in 
Guilford, and in 1777 removed to Wolcott, where he 
ilied July 30, 1778, being buried there. He was 
marrietl, .\ov. 2, 1730, to Sarah Bishop, of Guil- 
ford, where she died April 24, 1761. In their fam- 
ily were four children: Wait, born Nov. 18, 1733; 
Pois, who was born Oct. 5, 1735, and died May 9, 
1818; Sarah, who was born June 5, 1738, and died 
Feb. 5, 1745; and Selah, born Dec. 24, 1742. 

Wait J hjtchkiss, Jr., a son of Wait, removed to 
the town of Wolcott in 1764, and there he followed 
farming until calleil fruni this life in 1799. On 
CJct. i(), 1759, he married Pydia Webster, of Bolton, 
Conn., who died .April 12, 1776, and he was again 
married. Oct. 10, I77(j, his second union being with 
Deborah Twitchell, who died June 18, 1831. By 
the first marriage there were five children: Joel, 
born .\ug. 8, \'/(m; Lydia, Aug. 28, 1762; Sarah, 
March 2J. 17(^)5; Abner, .May 24, 1771 ; and a twin 
sister of Abner, who died in infancy. The children 
of the second union were Luther, born Dec. 9. 177^1 
-Miles, July 2},. 1783; and Isaac, ( )ct. i(). 1787. 

l.mher Hotchkiss, son of Wait, Jr., was a life- 
long resident of Wolcott and one of the best known 
citizens of the town, lie was a large land owner, 
a \Vell-to-do farmer and a highly respected citizen, 
one who had considerable inlluence and was a good 
church worker, lie was known as .Major Hotch- 
kiss. On Xov. 24, 1800, he married Anne Jlall, 
daughter of Curtis Hall. She died March 3, 1864, 
and he de])arted this life .April 14, 1863, both being 
laid to rest in Wolcott cemetery. They had five chil- 
dren : ( )live Ann, born Xov. 22, 1801, married 
Walter Webb and died in Aleriden, in November, 
1835; Sarah Elizabeth, born Sept. 24, 1805, married 
Ira b'risbie ; Lucas Curtis, born ( )ct. 14, 1807; 
Thomas (jholson, born Feb. 6, 1811; and Stiles 



Luther, the father of Mrs. Carter, completes the 
family. 

Stiles Luther Hotchkiss w-as born near the cen- 
ter of Wolcott, March 25, 1817, and died Nov. 30, 
1894. He made his home on the farm now occupied 
by our subject's widow, his time and attention being 
given to agricultural pursuits. He was one of the 
strongest supporters of the Congregational Church, 
and was kind and benevolent ; not only in his home 
but in the entire commimity, was he loved and re- 
spected. 

He was married, Oct. 12, 1836, to Alary Aim 
Holt, who died Sept. 9, 1863, and on March 3, 1864, 
he married Annis E. Bassett, of Plymouth, Conn. 
He had three children by the first union, namely: 
Martha Anna, who was born July i, 1837, and died 
Sept. 9, 1842; Alary Rufina, who was born Alarch 
29, 1840, and is now the widow of our subject; and 
Elmer, born Alarch 17, 1846. 

THOMAS PRESTON, one of the prosperous 
retired business men and property owners of New 
Haven, is a native of Ireland, born June 20, 1818, 
in County Fermanagh, a son of Thomas Preston, 
who never came to America. 

Thomas Preston, of whom we write, was the 
only child by his father's second marriage to Sarah 
Kelly. He remained at home upon the farm, at- 
tending school and assisting his parents, until tw-en- 
ty-one, when he crossed the Atlantic and located in 
St. John's, New Brunswick, where he learned the 
trade of ship carpenter. After serving a portion of 
his apprenticeship there. Air. Preston came to New 
York, later removed to New Orleans, and in 1843 
journeyed to New Haven to see a friend. Being 
well pleased with the locality, he settled in the city 
and followed the trade of joiner for several years. 

During the Civil war. Commodore Gregory, a 
friend of Air. Preston, induced him to locate in Bos- 
ton, and while there he worked upon the famous 
"Alerrimac." After fifteen months, he went to the 
New York navy yards, where his skill obtained him 
employment for five years, under Admiral Foote, a 
friend of Commodore Gregory. F'eeling, however, 
that New Haven suited him better as a place of 
residence. Air. Preston removed to this city, and 
until his retirement followed his trade, working 
upon ships. Being a man of prudence, he carefully 
saved his earnings and wisely invested in real es- 
tate, which so increased in value as to make him a 
man of means. 

On Nov. 8, 1843, Air. Preston was married to 
Aliss Alargaret Bannon, a native of the same county 
as himself, who died Alarch 22, 1889. To this 
marriage were born six children : John died when 
about twenty years old ; Margaret, widow of John 
Waddock, lives in New Haven ; Rev. Thomas Pres- 
ton, a Catholic priest, of Thompsonvillc, Conn.; 
Joseph, a resident of New Haven, is a real estate 
agent. Charles, of the firm of Preston Bros., dry 









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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



513 



goods, died ill June, i8<S0; Mary Catherine is the 
wife of Michael Loughery, of New Haven. 

In politics, Mr. Preston is a Democrat. He was 
the tirst of his nationality to be put on the police 
force of New Haven. Religiously he is a member 
of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Pleasant and 
genial in manner, ?^Ir. Preston has made many 
friends, and is highly respected by all who know 
him. He is a remarkably well preserved man, and 
his good memory and jovial manner together with 
a ready wit, make him an entertaining companion. 
Pic has an extensive acquaintance in the city. 

SOLOMoX MK.M). The -Mead family has 
a coat of arm.'i, and the name is of ICnglish origin. 
Its members iiave been known in America since 
1642. and amojig them have been many distin- 
guished men, who in times past have done much 
toward the development and advancement of their 
respective localities. The present generation 
worthily represents this old and honorable name. 

The records tell that John Alead located in 
Greenwich, Conn., in 1O42, and our subject has 
descended from him through John (2), John (3), 
Ebenezer, Ebenezer (2j, Solomon, Clark and 
Richard. His great-grandfather, Solomon Mead, 
was born in Greenwich, Conn., in 1725, and died 
m 1812, in South Salem, N. Y. ; he was the I'lrst 
pastor of the South Salem church, and remained 
in charge there for forty-eight years. His son 
Clark was born in South Salem, as was also his 
son Richard, the birth of the latter taking place 
Oct. 26, 1795. During the period of the Revolu- 
tion Rev. Solomon Mead was an eloquent and 
stirring preacher. His first wife was Hannah 
Strong, and his second Hannah Clark. They 
reared a family of five children. 

Clark Mead, the grandfather of our subject, was 
reared on a farm, but was of a mechanical turn 
of mind, and is said to have made the first practical 
electrical machine in his locality. Cndoubtedlv 
he was a fine workman. His death occurred Jan. 
8, 1832, when he was aged si.Kty-three years. He 
married Lois Gilbert, who was born in South 
Salem, X. Y., and d'ied Jan. 21, 1851, at the age 
of seventy-nine years ; she was a consistent mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church for more than forty 
years. They reared a family of seven children. 
A relative of the grandfather, also irf the name 
of Solomon Mead, was a well-known man in mili- 
tary afTairs, and held il'.e position of colonel of the 
militia. 

Richard Mead, the father of our subject, was 
reared on the farm in South Salem, N. Y., and re- 
ceived ])art of the old homestead as his portion. 
He lived to be over ciglity years of age, and 
throughout life followed farming. I'"or a num- 
ber of years he held the rank of orderly sergeant 
in the militia, and he was a well-known and highly 
esteemed citizen, and .\ov. 9, 1825, married Han- 
nah Keeler, who was born in South .Salem in 1805, 
33 



daughter of .\mnii and Phoebe (Strang) Keeler, 
the former of wliom li\ed until about eighty, and 
the latter also reaching tliat age. They had two 
children, Hannah and Henry. The son Ijecame 
one of the leading men of Westchester county, was 
president of the County .Agricultural Society, and 
was noted as the introducer into the county of all 
kinds of improved farming machinery : he died 
at the age of sixty-three. The maternal great- 
grandparents of our subject were Jeremiah and 
i'llizabeth (Weed) Keeler. Five sons were born 
I to the parents of our subject, all of whom survive: 
I Solomon, subject proper of this sketch : Clark, a 
resident of .South Salem, who is engaged in farm- 
ing, contracting and road construction ; Linus, 
president of the Crystal Ice Co., who is mentioned 
elsewhere; Henry, a resident of Xew Haven: and 
Stephen S., residing in South Salem, who for twen- 
t\-iive years was the leading man in the finn of 
Robert P. I'radley & Co., agricultural implement 
dealers, of New Haven. The mother is still liv- 
ing in South Salem, at the age of ninety-seven, 
most remarkably well preserved, and is a beloved 
member of her son's family. I'.oth she and her 
I'lUsband became connected with the Presbyterian 
Church about 1832, and she is the oldest member 
of that body. During their earlier years both par- 
ents took a very active j)art in church affairs. 

Solomon Mead, our immediate subject, was- 
burn in South Salem, X. Y., Xov. 10, 1829, and 
spent his years until he was eighteen, under the 
])arental roof. He received his education in the 
common schools and at the Ridgcficld Academy,. 
and then taught school for three winters, in Xew 
Canaan, South Salem and Pound Ridge. Follow- 
ing this experience he went to Albany and entered 
the State University, where he finished the course,, 
and in 1852 came to Xew Haven, where for three- 
seasons he attended the Scientific Dei^artment ot 
Vale. His tastes were in the line of agriculture 
and horticulture, and in the fall of that year he 
purchased fifty-two acres of land Ixing in the west- 
ern suburban ]jart of Xew Haven, near where he 
still resides. At that time the nearest house was 
nearly half a mile away. Here he engaged in 
raising fruits and vegetables for the Xew Haven 
market, continuing thus until 1863. Mr. Mead lias 
always been interested in mechanics, and in 1863 
invented the celebrated conical jilow, which he in- 
troducetl, and in the manufacture of w in'ch he was 
engaged from 1864 to 1879, at which date the 
lilant was destroyed by fire. ,Mr. .Mead then sold 
part of his interest to S. F. Olmsttad & Co., of 
Xorwalk, Conn. In connection with his oilier work, 
he had also dealt to some extent in ice. having or- 
ganized the Crystal Ice Company. 

In 1880 Mr. Mead was called to go to Mans- 
field to establish the Storrs Agricultural School, 
the first school of its kind in the State. When 
Augustus Storrs offered a farm to the State to 
cstal)lish an agricultural school the committee 



SH 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



came to Mr. Mead to take the iiosition of principal 
and professor of agriculture, and he accepted the 
trust. John M. >lall, now president of the New 
York, Xew Haven & Hartford R. R., was the 
treasurer of the institution. Thus the foundation 
of the Storrs Agricultural ScIiodI or College of 
to-day was laid. There were from thirty to forty 
students at first. Mr. .Mead returned to Xew 
Haven, where a large contract fur straightening 
West river was jjlaced in his hands. This work 
recpiired several years, and was acct)mplished with 
a dredge of his own construction, and which was 
moved' by rollers on the surface of the meadow. 
Later he built a tloating dredge, which he used 
from 1881, doing an immense amount of work with 
it. Jn lyoo he sold the dredge, and since then 
has lived somewhat retired from active life._ He 
has invented and received patents for five different 
devices, all in the line of his own needs, and he 
has invented other useful things in the line of agri- 
cultural and mechanical appliances. In 1856 Mr. 
Mead built his lirst house, which he sold, builduig 
-another, which he also .sold, coming then, in iSijJ, 
to his present place, which he has since rebuiltand 
remodeled. Mr. .Mead has sold ahnost all of his 
land, which is now covered with residences. 

In lanuarv, 1855, Mr. .Meail was united in mar- 
r-age with IC'lizabeth I hapin Deining. a daughter 
of 'William Deming, who was born in Derby. His 
last davs were spent in Xew Jlavcn, where he 
(lied at' the age of sevent\-ti\e years. ^Ir. Dem- 
ing married I'liebe Munsun, a daughter of Joseph 
K. Munson, :i |in)ininent man in this section, who 
was connected with David Humphrey, who intro- 
<luced the culture of sheep in this locality. Mrs. 
Deming died at the age of eighty years, at the 
home i)f our subject. One son, William F., died 
at the age of thirty-five. .Mr. and Mrs. Mead 
had seven children: h"raukliu Uaeon, wdio died 
aged eight years; Suphia. who died when five years 
old; William D., .-m engineer in the city, who mar- 
ried Anti;i I'ri.e and has two children, Esther E. 
and Kenneih Whitney; h'anny V... who married 
Claudius 11. I'ost, an engineer in Xew Haven, and 
has one ehihl, H.-imld Deming; Charles 15. and 
(jeorge Walker, twins, the latter deceased, the 
former married to Maggie Post (he has been en- 
ga.ged in vari(.)us linesj ; and Mary .\., who re- 
sides with her sister in Xew Haven. Tlie mother 
of these died .\pril 23, i8(jo, at the age of fifty- 
nine _\ears, and in 1894 Mr. Mead married Miss 
C'. .\delc Green, daughter of Switzer and Joanna 
K. (ircen, oi Cambridge, Xew Vorlc. 

As a ])art of Ivis wetlcling tour and visit, in 
1855, to his native town. South Salem, X. V., Mr. 
Mead .gave a course of scientific lectures, embrac- 
ing several on the primary principles of geology, 
and others on the practical ap])lieatit"in of chemistry 
I' the interests of agriculture: and he also gave 
the address at the Westchester County .Agricultural 
Society's annual e.\hibition. While practically 



and especially interested in agriculture, he became 
a life member of the New England Agricultural 
Society. In politics Mr. Mead has long been a 
Republican, although in his earlier years, during 
the time it flourished, he favored the Free Soil 
party. Fie was president of one of the principal 
societies of the Sheffield Scientific School, of Yale. 
In 1854, in connection with others, he started what 
was named the Y'oung Men's Association, for the 
improvement of young men, much on the order of 
the Y. M. C. A., which organization continued 
several years. Later he was at the founding of 
the Young Men's Christian Association, and he and 
his family have always been in sympathy with its 
Vv'ork, and prominent in church work. Formerly 
they attended the First Church in New Haven, 
but for the past twelve years have worsliipped 
and Iieen connected with the Dwight Place Church, 
in which Mr. Mead has long held the oilice of 
deacon, and has been both Sunday-school teacher 
and librarian, having been identified with some 
religious work ever since his youth. He is a life 
member of the American Sunday School Union, 
and he is a well wisher of all causes for the ad- 
vancement of the human race. 

WILLIAM HEXRY PLUMMER was born 
in Xew Y'ork City Oct. 4, 1825, on the site where 
A. T. Stewart's famous store was built. Losing 
liis father when quite young, he remained with his 
mother in the city, receiving a good practical edu- 
cation. In 1850 he removed to Ansonia, Conn., 
and for a few years was associated with Josiah 
Pierce in the manufacture of clock cases. He left 
manufacturing to engage in mercantile business. 
Purchasing a clothing and shoe store, he carried 
on the business alone for a time, and later, as the 
business increased, he built the large store now 
occupied by W. A. Fellows. W'illiam D. Galpin 
became his partner, and the business was success- 
fully conducted for several years, IMr. Plummer 
retiring and Mr. Galpin continuing the business 
until succeeded by W. A. Fellows. Honesty, 
economy, industry and temperance always bring a 
good and honorable harvest. 

Politically Mr. Plummer was a Republican, and 
lie always took a great interest in the growth and 
prosperity of the town, and was privileged to see 
manv improvements during the fifty years of his 
residence here. Naturally of a modest disposition 
he declined to accept public office, but served as 
a member of the town school committee and on the 
board of assessors for several years. Although 
luiptized and reared in the Episcopal Church, he 
attended the Congregational Church, w^ith which 
his family was prominently identified, giving it 
financial support. 

( )n Oct. 14. 1852, ^Ir. Plummer was married 
tci luigenia IT. Ailing, only daughter of Zenas and 
Sarah H. Ailing, a descendant of Roger .Ailing, 
in the eighth generation. Two daughters were born 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



515 



of tlws union, Sarah Dwight and LiicUa. Mr, 
PliniTmer departed this life Feb. 2, 1901, and his 
wife joined him in the land that knows no care 
-Vug. 15, following. 

CHARLES AUSTIN WARREX was horn 
Jan. 12, 1826, in Cedar Hill, now part of Xew 
Haven, and is a son of Dr. Sparrow Warren, of 
the Ashfield, Mass., family of that name, who were 
in the same line of ancestr}- as Gen. Joseph War- 
ren, of Revolutionary fame. Dr. Sparrow Warren 
■was one of a family, of seven children. The ekiest 
daughter, ^lercy, died at the old home when near- 
ly ninety years old. The youngest son, Lewis 
W'arren, tlied at the age of forty years, but his 
widow survived to the age of ninety-eight, pass- 
ing away Sept. 3, 1901, at the old Warren home. 

Dr. Sparrow Warren was born in Ashfield, 
^lass., and with his elder brother, Joseph, early 
in the century studied medicine at Cunnnington. 
2\Iass., under the well-known Dr. Peter Uryant, 
lather of the poet, William Cullen Bryant. Tlie 
class comprised six students, who made the jour- 
r.eys to and from the Doctor's on. horseback, over 
the Cumniington hills. Dr. Joseph Warren com- 
menced his practice as village doctor at Middle- 
field, Mass., a few years later returning to his na- 
tive town, Ashfield, where he continued to follow 
his profession until late in life, d\ing at the age of 
eighty-five years. After his graduation Sparrow 
\\ arren removed to Xew Haven, locating at Cedar 
Hill, in the same neighborhood where his sister, 
.\lrs. Jonathan Maltbie, resided; Mr. Maltbie was 
ii brother of Holme Maltbie, the old book ])ub- 
ii.'-her of Xew Haven. Dr. W'arren followed his 
profession in Xew Haven and adjacent towns un- 
til his death, March 6, 1836, at the age of forty- 
five. He married Harriet Converse, and they had 
three children, William Cullen, Julia Ann and 
Charles Austin, William Cullen Warren repre- 
sented his district in the Massachusetts Legisla- 
ture; he died March i, 1892, at the age of seventy 
years, and his home, ]\Iaple Grove Farm, passed 
into the ])ossession of his only son, Mrs, Harriet 
(Converse) Warren was the eldest of ten children 
born to Amasa and Sina Converse, of Windsor, 
Mass., and died Feb. 14, 1856, aged fifly-.seven 
years. Three of her brothers married Connecticut 
women, Dr. William and Darwin marrying sis- 
ters, members of the old Monroe family of (iuil- 
lord ; and the younger, Albert, marrying Maria 
\ale, daughter of Xathaniel Yale (who died in 
Xew Haven in 1843), -^ great-great-grandson of 
Flliiiu Yale, of Xew Haven, through whose gen- 
•erosity in 1718, by ''books and money," Yale Col- 
lege was established. The eldest brother, Dr, 
A\'illiain Converse, who was the second in order 
of birth in the family, practiced medicine in North 
r.ranford. Conn., until impaired health induced 
liim to return to his native State. Albert Con- 
verse engaged in mercantile business in the lower 



l)art of Xew Haven, bin the coast climate im- 
]iaired his health, and necessitated his removal 
to an interior town in .Massachusetts, where he dieil 
in middle life; his widow lived to an advanced 
age in Taunton, Mass., where their grandchildren 
still live. The youngest sister, Sarah Walker Con- 
verse, was married l3ec, 11, 1850, to Rev, J, Gay- 
Dana, a Congregational minister then located in 
-Atlams, Mass., who preached in Ilousatonic and 
adjoining towns as suppl\- until his sudden death, 
which occurred June 18, 1899, at Flousatonic, 
when he was eighty-seven years old. Airs. Dana 
died Aug. 28, 1895, '■'' Housatonic, aged seventy- 
four years. Their only son, Ste[)hen Dana, is a 
prominent divine in I'hiladelphia. where he has 
been settled for over thirty years as pastor of the 
Walnut Street Presbyterian Church. 

Charles Austin Warren received a practical ed- 
ucation, attending the Lancastcrian School, of 
whicli John Lovell was teacher. He also studied 
at the evening sessions, conducted by George 
Beckwith, of Almanac fame. Thrown on his own 
resources at the early age of twelve years, he 
worked his way upward until, when twenty-one 
years old, he started in business for himself, open- 
ing a market and dealing in provisions. Some fif- 
teen years afterward he engaged in the real-es- 
tate business, Mr. Warren has been identified with 
the grovv'th and development of his native city, and 
many of the streets along the line of his real-es- 
tate sales are beautified by trees of his own plant- 
ing. \'arious religious and secular enterjjrises 
have been strengtliened liy his willing response 
if the appeal met his approval. ]\Ir, W'arren's 
home place, on the west side of .State street, near 
the junction of Middletown avenue and h'erry 
street, contained over forty acres, two-tliirtls of 
which were sold to .S. L. Blatchley and his two 
sons, Mr, Warren retaining his interest. From 
this point on State street tlic Cedar Hill & Xew 
Haven Horse Railroad was started, in August, 
1870. Mr, Warren was the second j)resident of 
this road, serving in that office twenty years from 
Xovemlier, 1870, The directors were P, Foster, 
S, AL Stone, F, Donnelly, ^\■. J, Atwater, S. R, 
Blatchley, Charles I'dalchley and C, A, Warren. 
Mr, Warren was the jiresident of this and tlie 
Whitney Avenue Horse Railroad (which had 
been bought) for over twentv years, at the end 
of wdiich period the road was sold to a Boston and 
New York electric syndicate. Mr, Warren was 
made vice-jircsident and director of this electric 
line, which later was absorbed l)y the l-"air Haven 
Electric Railroad, now (1902) controlling all the 
electric lines in the town. 

On Sept. 9, 1850, Cliarles .\usiin Warren mar- 
ried Emeline Cm'tiss, who was born Dec. 22, 1828, 
a daughter of I'hilo and Rachel Curtiss, These 
Curtisscs are descended from the earliest settlers 
of the name in Stratford, Conn. Two of the fani- 
ilv settled in .Nuffield. I'hiK.i Curtiss was born in 



Si6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Stratford, the eldest of eleven cbildrcn, was a 
gunsmitli by trade, and died in I laniden Feb. 22, 
1805, at llie'agc of seventy-six. J'hilo Curtiss was 
a commissioned officer in the war of 1812, and 
his company was stationed on Groton Heiglits, 
New London, Conn. ; lie was granted a pension 
for life, which, on his death in 1SO5, was renntted 
to his widow, Rachel, and was convinned until her 
death in the last decade nl the nhieleenth century, 
when there were few survivors of that war. Mrs. 
Rachel Curtiss was horn in llamden, and died in 
liast I'air Haven, at the age of ninety-three years, 
a daughter of TinKnhy and Martha (Turner) 
] 'otter, and was a descendant on both sides of old 
Colonial stock, the earliest settlers of Uuinnipiac, 
her parents being in the fourth generation from 
the settlers in \ew Haven, in 1O33. who were 
signers of the original Plantation Covenant and 
prominent in the early military organizations. Mr. 
and Mrs. Warren had two children: Mina, the 
youngest, died Seiit. 8, 1H63, at the age of eleven. 
Julia A. became the wife of Rev. Dr. .Andrew W. 
Archibald, May 18. 187O. Ur. Archibald, who is 
an author of note, is ])astor of the I'urler Congre- 
gational Clnircli in lirockton, Mass. His earliest 
work, -The Kible \erified" (of which there have 
been several editions), was translated into both 
Spanish and Japane>e. His la>t bunk, the "Trend 
of the Centuries," was dedicated in commemora- 
lion of the tiftieth anniversary of the marriage of 
his wife's jjarents. Dr. Archibald and his wife 
have three sons, the eldest, Warren, married and 
engaged in mercantile business in Brockton, Mass. 
"J"he other two, Keinietb and Cecil, arc students at 
Dartmouth College, in the classes of iyo2 and 
1905, respectively. 

.Mr. and Mrs. Charles .\. Warren have lived 
in or near State street. New Haven, all their lives, 
anil ihev ha\e occupied their present residence for 
lhirt\ vears. In .V.alional p<.)litics Mr. Warren is 
a l\e|)ublican, in local aH.iirs independent. He is 
retiring in ni.-mner, genial and companionable by 
nature, domestic in his h;il)its, catholic in sympa- 
thies for fellow null, and linn in opinion, and now 
as the years advance he enjoys the well earned re- 
pose of a life of industry. 

i'Rl'lDblKIC WII.COX (deceased), who was 
ior a long time in business as a druggist in the 
Apothecaries 1 lall Co., at Waterbury. was born 
June 26, 1844, in I'ortlaiid, I'onii., and dieil .\])ril 

7. i8y7- 

Horace Hint and I'lavia C. (Mcintosh) Wd- 
cox, his parents, lived in rortland, and there young 
]"rederic spent the lirsl fourtem years of his life, 
attending school, .and in.aking a f;iir start in educa- 
tional matters. .\t that .age he came to Water- 
bury, where he grew up in the famil\- of his uncle, 
Dr. Henry !■". l-'isli, the manager of the .\])otlie- 
carics J lall Co, Here he finished his general 
studies, ami ;il the New ^'ork I'li.armacentical Col- 



lege prepareil himself for a career as a chemist, 
spent a little time in the Waterbury Apothecaries 
Hall Co., and then went to Xevv York. i'Tom there 
he went on a trailing expedition to New Granada, 
South America and went up and down the AtratO' 
river, gathering ivory, nuts and rubber from the 
natives, shipping same to the conipan_\- in Eng- 
land ; he continued thus aljout live years. In 1869, 
Mr. Wilcox came back to Portland, Conn., where 
he spent some time in the recuperation of his 
liealtli, which was badl_\' shattered. He then en- 
tered the eiii[)loy of the Scovill Manufacturing 
Co., in Waterbury, as chemist, and remained with 
them about a }'ear. Returning to Apothecaries 
Hall, he was instrumental 'in establishing the large 
wholesale Inisiness of that concern, ami at the time 
of his death was its manager and secretary. 

On May 23, .1871, .Mr. Wilcox married Lucy 
Hodges, who was born in Torrington, Conn., a 
daughter of Levi and Delia C. (Drake) Hodges, 
of Winchester, Conn., the former of whom, a farm- 
er at Torrington, died in i860; the latter is still 
living. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wil- 
co.K settled in W aterbury, where they lived until 
his death. They reared a family of three children : 
William H. is a chemist with the Benedict & Burn- 
ham Manufacturing Co.; Levi is in the Apothe- 
caries Hall Co. as a clerk; Al'ice J\L is at home. 
Mr. Wilcox was a l\e])nblican, served as council- 
man for one year, and always took an active part 
in all matters of public interest. He was one of 
the leading citizens of his day. 1 le was State 
chemist for several years, and a man of consider- 
able prominence in the business world. l'"raternally 
he was a Freemason and an Odd F'ellow, being, 
connected with the local lodges of these orders at 
Wateiiniry. He was a member of the old Scien- 
tific .Society, was iirominent as a chemist, and his 
judgment was always highly valued and almost 
invariably corret't. I'oi- many years he was sec- 
retary of the Pharmaceutical Association. The 
family attend the Second Congregational Church. 

HON. .XLl'.l'-.RT CCSHM.XN 1 IICXDRICK. 
The ancestry of the subject of this biograpliy reaches 
liack to Holland and Scotland. Grandfather Coe- 
Hendrick was born in Compo, W'eslport, C"onn., and 
later removed to New Haven where be died. He- 
served his country in the Revolutionary war both on 
land and on sea. |oel Dennis Hendrick, his son, 
was Ijorn in New Haven, and married Maria Mc- 
Duel, a native of Stamford, Conn., whose father was 
lost at sea. The McDuel family came from Scot- 
land. Joel Dennis Hendrick and wife reared a 
family of nine chiUlren : John McDucl, now living 
a ri'tired life in New Haven; Caroline married Ed- 
ward McNeil, and is deceased; William D. resides 
in .New Haven; ]\Laria married Norris B. Mix. a 
prominent resident of Hamden, Conn.; Eliza mar- 
ried L. .\. Dickinson, of Hartford, and is deceased; 
Joel, deceased; ]\Lary married William Stuart, and 




^/^^C^^^ ^''^C^'^'^''^^ /r^^^i'^^-^<: ^/P 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



517 



both are deceased ; Charles B., is a resident of Xew 
Haven ; Albert Cushman. Mr. Hendrick was a 
shoemaker by trade, and followed that occupation 
all his life. A good and pious man, he was one of 
the founders of the First Baptist Church, in New 
Haven, the first meeting being held under his roof. 
Both he and wife died in New Haven. 

Albert Cushman Hendrick was born March 7, 
1833, was reared in New Haven and attended the 
old Lancasterian school of that city. After leaving 
school he learned the coach trimming trade, serving 
an apprenticeship and then went to Alemphis, Tcnn., 
where he remained one year, when he returned to 
New Haven. Until i860 he was employed contin- 
uously at his trade, but the outbreak of the Civil 
war caused a change in his future. At this time 
Mr. Hendrick was twenty-seven years old, and for 
five years he had belonged to the New Haven Grays. 
He enlisted with them for service for three months 
in the 2d Conn. V. I., serving as first sergeant. A 
commission as first lieutenant was tendered him by 
Gov. Buckingham in Company C, of the 12th Conn. 
\'. I., and this he accepted, and with his regiment, 
the first to arrive at New Orleans, served in the De- 
partment of the Gulf for nearly two years. In No- 
vember, 1863, he was promoted to be captain of 
Company E, same regiment. On Sept. 19, 1864, he 
was wounded at the battle of Winchester, \'a., his 
regiment having been sent North into the Shenan- 
doah Valley under Gen. Sheridan. Capt. Hendrick 
was mustered out of service in December, 1864, 
by reason of the expiration of his term, and returned 
to New Haven. 

On July 24, 1865, Capt. Hendrick was appointed 
chief of the fire department of the city of New 
Haven, having been one of its efficient officers pre- 
vious to the war, and continut-d in the oflice until 
Feb. I, i8g2, when the position of general inspector 
of the National Board of Fire Underwriters was 
offered him, which he accepted, holding that position 
for two and one-half years. He resigned on ac- 
count of the travel the office required, the business 
extending from Maine to Texas. Upon his retire- 
ment from the fire department, with which he had 
so long been associated, he received many valuable 
testimonials from the fire department, the city, and 
from private citizens, one of these being in the form 
of a book with four hundred autographs of the city's 
most prominent citizens, the work on which valuable 
testimonial was done by Tiffany, at an expense of 
$1,000. 

In 1869 Capt. Hendrick was chosen as command- 
ant of the New Haven Grays, Cempany "F," Conn. 
National Guard, serving as such for six years, when 
he was promoted to the office of brigade adjutant, 
with rank of lieutenant-colonel, serving efficiently in 
that capacity for the two following years. In the fall 
of 1894 Mr. Hendrick was honored by his fellow- 
V, citizens with election as mayor of the city of New 
Haven, serving two years. Although the city is 
considered Democratic bv 2,^00, Mr. Hendrick was 



elected by 1,700 majority, llnis proving the confi- 
dence and esteem in which he was held by the whole 
community. 

Mr. Hendrick has been prominently identified 
with many of the public enterprises in New Haven 
since the Civil war. In 1872 he was one of the 
founders of the National Association of Fire Engin- 
eers, serving as its president for one year and as its 
treasurer for fourteen years. During his adminis- 
tration as mayor of the city many needed improve- 
ments were carried out and the city was well man- 
aged as to its government and finance;. hVater- 
nally he is connected with the Masons, Wooster 
Lodge, No. 79; City Lodge, No. 36, I. O. O. F. ; 
and is a charter member of Admiral Foote Post, No. 
17, G. A. R. He is also a member of the Military 
Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, 
Commandery of the State of New York, and also 
of the -Army and Navy Club of Connecticut. 
During the many years that Mr. Hendrick has been 
before the public his services have been efficiently 
and cheerfully given, and in his native city he is 
deservedly esteemed. 

BENJ.\MIN ADOLPHUS HOSLEY, a pro- 
gressive farmer of Branford. was born June i, 1823, 
Oil what is known as the Samuel Bcacli homestead, 
in the borough of Branford. Tradition has it that 
the family came from England, and settled in Gill. 
Mass. The name was originallv spelled "Horsley," 
and that spelling is still retained by certain branches 
of the family. 

Loring Dwight Hoslcy, the father of Benjamin 
A., was a native of Vermont, anfi about 1815 came 
from Ciill, Alass., to Branford, where he worked for 
a time at blacksmithing and moulding, and later at 
farming, in 1827 coming into possession of the 
farm on whicli his son Benjamin is now living, and 
where he died in 1855, at the age of fifty-five years. 
He married Anna Aritta. daughter of Samuel Beach, 
of Branford, who married a ladv named Barker. 
.Samuel Beach was a son of Samuel and Anna 
(Sheldon) Beach, the former a son of Elnathan and 
Lydia (Hamilton) Beach. Elnathan Beach was a 
son of David, a grandson of Nathaniel, and a great- 
grandson of John Beach, the emigrant, who settled 
in New Haven in 1647. The children of Loring D. 
and Anna \. (Beach) Hoslev were: ^^'illiam B. : 
Benjamin Adolphus; Mary, wlio married Clark Bur- 
wcl! : Charlotte, wife of F.lisha Ludington : Melin- 
tha; David B. ; George T. B. : .•\)bigail, wife of 
I-llizur Johnson ; and Thaddcus. 

Benjamin A. Hosley was reared on the farm, 
and with the exception rf fifteen vears which he 
spent in East Haven he lias made Branford his 
home. He received a good common-school educa- 
tion, and was reared to farniinc:. Mr. Hosley was 
married April 2, 1849, to Lois Ward, a daughter of 
William and Judith (Shcpard) Ward, residents of 
Wrmont. This union has been blessed by the birth 
of the following children: Iknjamin Forest; Anna 



518 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



M., now Mrs. Geortjc W. Dorev : Judith 'Si.: Carrie, 
Mrs. (Jeorgc VV. .\JcClure; John" II.; \\'lll)am H., 
and Edward K. 

Be.\j.\min Forest Ho.slev, the eldest son of our 
suhject, was born in East Jrlaven Aug. i, 1852. 
Reared at East Haven ami in liranford, he received 
a good common-school education, and learned the 
carpenter's trade, beginning his apprenticeship at 
the age of ei;;hteen. In ISranford he had his> first 
Iniilding contract, the erection of a bakery, and since 
that time he has led a successful career as a con- 
tractor and builder in that city. In 1891 he put up 
the four-storv building known as the Ilosley block. 
In the upper three stories of this building is con- 
ducted the "Deleven Hotel,"' which is pronounced 
the leading h(jlel of the ])lace. He has successfully 
carried out a large mnnbcr of other important build- 
ing contracts, including many private buildings in 
Branford and adjoining regions. Besides his home 
in Branford .Mr. Ilosley owns several buildings in 
that place, as well as a cottage at .Sunset Beach, In- 
ilian .\'eck. 

-Mr. Ilosley has been married twice, his first wife 
being Idella I'ond, of I'.ranfonl, who died Jan. 5, 
iS<j_^. His second wife to whom he was married 
Jan. 17, i8()5. was Ixniisa A. Zink. daughter of Dr. 
Walter and Carrie Zink, of Branford. By this 
tmion he has two children, Carrie and Flora. 

Mr. ilosley is a member of W'oodlawn Lodge, 
No. 39, K. of 1'., and also belongs to the K. H., the 
N. E. (). 1'. and the Woodmen of the World. In 
jiolitics he has taken an independent ])ositinn. and 
on the strength of his personal character and well- 
known business ability was elected warden of Bran- 
ford in 1900. 

FREDICRIC 1'.. HOADLEV, a retired business 
man of Waterbury, was born in Sheflleld, Mass., 
Se])t. 30, i8,S9. the elde.st of a family of four chil- 
dren born to ilenrv II. and jane (Callcnder) Hoad- 
le>-. 

Hial Hciadley, grandfather of dur ^uhject, was a 
farmer in Xaugatuck, Conn,, and was in all likeli- 
hood born in that town. He married Sena T'cnhani, 
and they at once settled on a farm in Xaugatuck, 
where were born to them four children, in the fol- 
lowing order: Henry II., father of Frederic B. : 
Mary, who married John Coc, the projjrietor of a 
tannery at I'eacon h'alls. Conn.; Augusta, who was 
married to Isaac Coe, superintendent of the .Amer- 
ican Pin Co, at Watei^hurv at the time of his death; 
and I'.ben, deceased, who was a lumber dealer in 
Waterbm\v, and had been a >ard superintendent for 
many years. 

Henry H. lloadley was born in Xaugatuck .•\u,g. 
19. 1816, and was reared in Sheffield, to which place 
he had been taken when ten years of age. He be- 
came a farmer and surveyor. To his marriage with 
Jane Callender, who was horn in Sheffield, daughter 
of Aaron and Xancy (Keep) Callender, were born 
four children, towit : Frederic B>., the subject of 



this sketch ; Mary E., who became the wife of A. N. 
Cowles, of Sheffield ; George A., who is a professor 
of physics in Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania ; 
and Alfred H., a physician in Northampton, Mass. 
The father of this family died in Sheffield, Sept. 6, 
i88o, and the mother survived until Feb. 7, i8gi. 

I'^ederic B. Hoadley remained on the Sheffield 
farm mitil twenty years of age, and was educated in 
the meantime in the district and high schools. On 
March 12, 1860, he came to Waterbury from Massa- 
chusetts and entered the American pin factory, 
where he remained twenty-four years, working up 
to the responsible position of foreman of the stick- 
ing department. In 1884 he ventured into the fire 
insurance business. Some time afterward he was 
appointed foreman of the pin department in the 
Plume & Atwood factory, but did not relinquish his 
insurance interests, and for twelve years continued 
in both. About that time Mr. Hoadley was ap- 
pointed president and treasurer of the Washburn 
Manufacturing Co., which position he filled with 
consummate ability until called upon by the New 
England Pin Co., at Winsted, who wanted an ex]jert 
to aid in the sticking department and offered the 
position to Mr. Hoadley. He accepted and held the 
situation eighteen months, at the end of that time 
retiring to Waterbury to care for his rents and other 
private interests. 

On Jan, i, 1867, Mr. Hoadley married Miss 
Elizabeth C. Cowles, a daughter of Corral Cowles, 
of Sheffield, and they have had five children, viz. : 
Carroll, who died in infancy; Mary L., who also 
died young; Henry A., who is a teller in the Fourth 
National Bank of Waterbury ; Bessie N., still under 
the parental roof; and Miriam G., who passed away 
at a very early age. 

Mr. Hoadley has always taken an active and 
deep intercut in religious and fraternal societies. In 
i860 he joined the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation, of which he was treasurer for many years 
and president one year. He was treasurer of the 
First Congregational Benevolent Contributions for 
thirty years, and in i88q was elected a deacon of 
the church. He is a member of the A. O. U. W., 
for two years in succession was master workman, 
has filled all the offices, and was for eight years 
financier. He is also a member of the Royal Arca- 
num, and has been or is prominent in work in all 
these orders and societies. In politics he is a Re- 
publican. 

BOOTH. Throughout the last century the 
name of Booth has been prominent in the com- 
mercial world of New Haven, and in his day for 
fifty years no man in the city's history stood 
higher in business circles than Nathaniel Booth, 
whose name is still identified with the business he 
established and built up. Some of his descendants 
and their families allied by marriage are still resi- 
dents of the city. 

The Booth family is an old and prominent one 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



519 



in Xl-\v linglaiul. Tradition lias it that tlircc 
brothers, sons of Richard iiooth, of C'liesliirc, luig- 
land, came to Xew lui^land 1)el\veen 1O30 ancl 1640, 
lanchntj at Xew Haven. Richard, the eUlest. set- 
tled in Sitratford. Conn., in 1640, oi-.e year after the 
settlenieiU of that town; John settled in Sonthold, 
L. 1.; and the \oitiiger brother went to the .\orth. 
Of these. Richard was the pros^enitor of many of 
the Conncctictit Booths. His father, says tradition, 
was the fifth sjn of Sir W'ilhf.m Iiooth. KniLdit, 
who died and was bnrieil in r):)wdon, Cheshire, 
lMi.i;land. in .Septemlier, 1578. Richard Iiooth, son 
of Sir William Iiooth, and the fattier of the three 
brothers who came to America, died in Decemlx-r, 
1628. Richard Iiooth, of Stratford, Conn., mar- 
ried I'^lizabeth, sister of Capt. Joseph Ilawley, who 
was the first town clerk of Stratford, in 1640, and 
the jiriiqenitor of a mmieron.s family. Richard 
liooth's name appears often in the town records of 
his day as townsman or selectman and in other 
commissions of office and trust. Jle had a lars^e 
estate. He was probably twice married, his first 
wife being- the mother of his children, who were: 
Elizabeth, ,\nne, Ephraim, Eljenezer, John, Jo- 
seph, llethiah and Joanna. The last mention oi 
Richard Iiooth e.xtant is in March, 1688-89, when 
he was in his eighty-second year. 

X.\rii.\xii.i. liooTii, of Xew Haven, was born 
in Stratford, Conn., and with his family removed 
to Woodbury at the age of two years. His line 
from Richard is through ( 11 ) Joseph, ( 111 ) James, 
(1\') James (2), and ( \' ) Hezekiah. (,l\'j Janu-s 
Booth was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He 
formed a company at the time of Tryon's invasion, 
and the Histtjrical .S(jciety at liridgeport has his 
])ay-rol!. Miss Iiooth, the daughter of our subject, 
has a photograph copy c)f same. While yet in his 
'teens Xathaniel Iiooth came from Woodbury to 
Xew Haven, entering as a clerk the drug store of 
Xathaniel Lewis, in Chapel street, where stands the 
Lewis building, and there he obtained a thorough 
knowledge of i)hariiiaceutics. He finally embarked 
in the drug business for himself in 1825, and, as- 
sociated with the late John llromham, established 
the well-known firm of Tiootli & llromham, in 
State street, which continued until dissolved .March 
5. 1847. Mr. liimth continuing the business until 
January, 1841J, when lie was burned out. L'pi)n the 
old site he erected a brick Iniildiiig, which later he 
rented to Cowles & Leete, to whom be .sold the 
drug business. He then Iniilt on the corner of 
Olive and Water street, where he carried on the 
manufacture of varnish, to which he gave his close 
personal attention, soon winning for this commod- 
ity an extensive sale. The oiit])Ut from his estab- 
lishment stood high, and ranked among the stand- 
ard jiroducts of the kind througliout the country. 
Mr. Iiooth was a man of great energy and industry, 
and ai)i)lied himself continuously to active business 
long after he had reached the meridian of life. 
During the latter \ear.s of his active life he asso- 



ciated with him in the business his sons, Xathaniel 
and Lewis, under the firm name of X. Iiooth & 
Sons. Later Lyman M. Law was taken into the 
partnerslvii), the firm becnming liuoth & Law, un- 
der which name the business is still carried on. Ik- 
was a most excellent citizen, a man of the strictest 
honor and integrity, one whose business career fur- 
nishes an excellent example for the young man. 
He was a regular attendant and member of the 
Trinitv Church, in which he was a vestryman, and 
ga\e liberally to church and benevulent work. He 
was a bVeemason in his earlier years, but although 
kindlv to all and sociable in disposition, was most 
attracted by home life. He was a man of large 
plivsique, and a typical gentleman of the old school. 
On Mav 8, 1825, Mr. Iiooth was married to 
.\nn liromiiam, sister of John and daughter of 
Capt. John Liromham, a sea cajnain, who was born 
in Bristol, England. He died Feb. 2h, l86(). aged 
S'i.xtv-ninc vears, and his wife passed away March 
27, 1880. Their remains rest in Evergreen ceme- 
tery. Their children were: Anna, who married 
Lvman M. Law; Xathaniel, who was in business 
with his father, and died in 1858; Lewis, who was 
also engaged in business with his father, and died 
in 1875: Julia; Emily Lironiham, who died m 1896; 
John; John (2) ; and Mary Lewis, of Xew Haven, 
Conn. Julia and .Mary Lewis are tlie only sur- 
vivors. They reside in the old homestead, which 
was built in 1800, and bought by .Mr. Iiooth in 
1844. lioth sisters are members of the D. A. R. 

D.WID L. DURAXl). for many years a well- 
known and highly esteemed citizen of Derby, was 
born in liirmingham, Oct. 18, 1841, and is a worthy 
representative of one the honoreil old families 
of Xew Haven county. .\niong both his paternal 
and maternal ancestors we find tlie names of many 
associated with positions of trust and rcs])onsibil- 
iiy, both in cliurch and State. They were well rep- 
resented in the Revolutionary army. His great- 
great-grandfather and four sons, among them the 
great-grandfather of our subject, were in tiiat 
army and did g(5od service for their country. They 
were also rej^resented in the second war with Creat 
Britain in 1812. 

David Durand, our subject's paternal grand- 
father, was l)irn in 1700, and engaged in farming 
throughout life. He married Maria Leavenworth, 
a native of the town of Huntington, b'airfield Co., 
Conn., and a daughter of Edmund Leavenworth. 
By this union were liorn four children, namely: 
William L., father of our subject: Elizabeth .\L, 
wife of Xelson M. R.eacli, now of Derby; .Martha. 
wife of l-'H Xicliols, of liridgeport. Conn.; and 
h'rederiek, who has been a teacher for many years, 
and lives in Shelton, Connecticut. 

William L. Durand was born in this count}' in 
1814, and in early life went to Xew Haven, wl'.erc 
he learned the harness maker's trade, which he sub- 
sequently followed ill Derby, but was finally ol)liged 



520 



COMMEMORATIl'B BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



to gi\'c it 111) <in account of ill hcahli. lie worked 
in various places, but in uSOo relumed to Derby, 
wbere he died .May 2, i8ij8. In 1S31S he married 
Miss Ruth Cue, who was born in lieacon I'alls, 
Conn., in 1817, a (lau.i,dner of Jnhu Allen and (irace 
Coe. Jler lather was hdin in l)crli\ in iJ'jJ. and 
was a son of John Coe, Jr., a resident nf that town, 
and a g'randson of John L'oe, who came to this 
count)' from Stratford, Comi. Mrs. Durand died 
Dec. 10, lyoo. She was ihe mother of four chil- 
dren: (Ij Mary, who died l-'eb. -'7. 1856, at the 
age of sixteen years. (2) l)a\iil L. is our suliject. 
(3) Cynthia J. died I'd). _>5. !85fi. ai ihe age of 
ten years. (4) \\ illiam \- . was liLirn in 1851J. and 
was graduated v.i the .Xnnapdlis Xaval Academy in 
1880, second in a class of about eighty; he served 
for ten years in the p.a\y and then weiU to Lansing, 
Mich., wheri' lie was a jiriifessor in the State Agri- 
cultural College' fur a time. .After going abroad 
lie was made [)rofessor of naval architecture and 
marine engineering at Cornell L'niversity. with 
which he has imw been cmnncled Inr aliLJiit seven 
yea.r,-. He m;irrieil Mi^s t'liarlcjitc Kiuen, who is 
of J'jiglish descent. 

When only a _\ear old David I,. Durand was 
taken by his parents to lieacon l'"all>. and in that 
place and \ew llaven he grew tn manhiiinl. He 
comiileted his education in the .\aiigaliicl< high 
school at the age of eighteen years, and ihcii >er\ed 
iin apprenticeship to the macbinisl's trade in the 
b'arrell l''oundry and .Machine to., of Ansonia, 
Conn., where he reiii;iined a year and a half. In 
September, l8()i. br enli^led in the loth C'onii. 
V. 1.. and was stationed .'ilnng the coast much of 
the time he was in the army. I'.eing a skilled ma- 
chinist, his services wt-re xaluable lo the govern- 
ment, and for a time he bad ch;irge of a repair shop 
for a military railroad at Xewbern, .\. C. He was 
ill active scrxice on .Morris Island, when b'ort 
Sumter was rediicrd by the Cninn .-irnn, in 1803. 
He was wounded at Drury's I'.lutf .Mav 14, 18(14, 
aiul on the exiiiraliou of his term of eiilislnient was 
lujiiorably discharged in Se]ilember of that \ ear. 
Returning- Xorlli, he Inciteil in Waterbury, Conn., 
where he was ideniified with the brass business un- 
til 1884, and then came to Derlu', being made gen- 
eral sii])eriiUendint nf ibe ( ).sbnrn I'beesemail 
Brass Works. L'pon the organization of the Bir- 
mingham J'.rass Co. he was made secretary, treas- 
urer and general manager, which position he lield 
for five years, and under his able management the 
business steadily prospered. He left that company 
when the jilaiii came into the possession of other 
parties, and fur a lime held a responsible i)ositioii 
with the Coe llrass .Mt'g. Cik, uf .\nsoiiia. In Oc- 
tober, 1901, Mr. Durand and family removed to 
Los Angeles, Cal., where they now reside. 

In 1869 Mr. Durand married .Miss Caroline S. 
Bishop, who died in 1883, leaving no children. For 
Ins second wife he married Miss Mary W. Chccse- 
maii, of Derljy, by whom he has one child, Georgia 



C. George Weeks Cheeseman, the father of Airs. 
Durand, was born in Xew York in 1822, a son of 
George Cheeseman, also a native of New York, 
who tiled when his son was a mere child. The lat- 
ter continued bis residence in New York until six- 
tei'ii year^ of ag'c, when he came to Stratford, Conn., 
and comjileted liis education in the schools of that 
j.'Iace. Subsequently he served as bookkeeper for 
Edward N. Shelton, of Birmingham, for two years, 
and then engaged in the dry-goods and grocery 
business with John W. Osborn, under the firm name 
of (Jsborn & Cheeseman. They also manufactured 
hoop skirts, etc., and later engaged in the brass 
business, erecting factories at Shelton and An- 
sonia. In politics Air. Cheeseman was a Republi- 
can. He died in 1891, aged sixty-eight years. He 

I was a leader in the work of the Al. E. Church, was 
liberal to the poor, and always interested in prac- 
tical benevolences. Mr. Cheeseman married Sarah 
A. Durand, a sister of Charles Durand, of An- 
sonia, and to them were born four children: Alary 
\\'., wife of our subject; George 11., who died at 
the age of twenty-five years; Charles D., who re- 
sides in Los Angeles, Cal; antl Wilbur 1'., who 
died in infancy. 

^ The Republican party finds in Air. Durand a 

stanch supporter of its principles, and during his 
residence in Waterbury he was a prominent and 
infiuential member of the town committee for 
many years. He was also master of Harmony 
Lodge, E. & A. .M. ; eminent commander of Clark 
Commandery, No. 7, K. T. ; and is an honored 
member of the Grand Army of the Republic. 

GILBERT liENJAAHN H O T C H K I S S. 

Among the prominent dairy farmers and worthy 

citizens of Waterbury, New Haven county, none 

stand higher in public esteem than the gentleman 

whose name introduces this sketch. He was born 

j in the town of Prospect, this county, .\ug. i, 1833, 

and belongs to one of the oldest and best families of 

I the Naugatuck \'alley. The name has been various- 

j ly spelled Hodge, I'loskins, llodgkins and Hotcli- 

kiss. 

S:imuel Hotchkiss, of Essex, lingland, the 
founder of the family in America, and supposedly 
the brother of John Hotchkiss, who .settled in (\m\- 
ford. Conn., was one of the first to locate in New 
Haven, where he spent tlie remainder of his life, 
dying there Dec. 28, 1663. He was married in the 
New Haven Colony, in 1642, to Elizabeth CIeverl\, 
and they had si.K children, namely: John, born in 
1643, married IClizabeth Peck; Samuel, Imni in 
1645, married Sarah Talmadge ; James, born in 
iC)47, died unmarried; Joshua, born Sept. (), i()5i, is 
mentioned b^-low ; Thomas, born .-Vug. 31, 1654, mar- 
ried Sarah Wilniol ; and Daniel, born June 8, 1657, 
married Esther Sperry. 

E.nsign Joshua Hotchkiss, son of Samuel, was 
born in New Haven, and became one of the leading 
men of that colony, where he spent his entire life. 



f 



4 



-^iJJL^ rS ^.fi^^^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAFIIICAL RECORD. 



521 



■dying at a ripe old age. On Nov. 27, 1677. he 
wedded Alary Pardee, and they had seven children, 
whose names and dates of birth were as follows: 
Marv, April 30, 1679; Stei)lien, Aug. 12, 1681 ; Mar- 
tha, Dec. 14, 1683: Priscilla. Dec. 30, 1688: Abigail, 
Oct. 12, 1C95 ; and Thankful and Jesse, twins, Jan. 
15, 1701. .\lartha married Thomas limcks and set- 
tled in Cheshire, Connecticut. 

Deacon Stephen llotchkiss, son of Ensign 
Joshua, was born in Xew Haven, and from there re- 
moved to what is now Cheshire, then W'allingford, 
in 1706. He was deacon of the church at that place 
for thirty-one years, and was quite prominent in the 
affairs of the town. He died there .March 5, 1753, 
and was buried in Cheshire cemetery. C)n Dec. 12. 
1704, he married Mlizabeth Sperry, daughter of John 
Sperry, and to them were born twelve children : 
Joshua, born Xov. 2(1, 1705; Elizabeth, born I'\-b. 
15, 1707, and died young; .Mary, born Jtdy I, 1708, 
marriecl Dr. .Xathan I'.urns ; Hannah, born Jan. 10, 
1710, married Stephen .Vtwater; I'.lizabeth, born 
Feb. 18, 1712; Gideon, born Dec. 5, 1716; Stephen, 
born Dec. i, 1718; Silas, born Xov. 22, 1719; Han- 
nah, born Feb. 23, 1722: l!athshua. born .Sept. 7, 
1726: Benjamin, born b'eb, 1. 1728, married Eliza- 
beth Roberts; and Xoah, born Xuv. 24, 1731, died 
Jan. 13, 1760. 

Deacon Gideon Holchkiss, son of .Stei)]ien. was 
born and reared in the town of Cheshire, and when 
a young man moved to what is now Prospect, then a 
part of W'aterbury, where he bought a tract of land 
and engaged in farming throughout the remainder of 
his life. He was quite prominent, and was one of the 
best known citizens of the Xaugatuck valley. He 
was deacon of the church at Salem, now Xauga- 
tuck, of which he was une nf the organizers, and 
was also one of the principal men who founded the 
Congregational Church at Prospect, then Columbia, 
of which he was deacon for many years, serving in 
that office from 1783 to 1807. He was ensign in 
the French and Indian war inider Capt. Edward 
Lewis, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. 
During the Revolutionary war he was captain of a 
company in the Continental army. He died (Jet. 
3, 1807, at the age of ninety-one years, leaving 105 
grandchildren, 155 great-grandchildren, and four 
great-great-grandchildren. On June 16, 1737. he 
married Anne Brockett, daughter of John llrockett, 
of Cheshire, then a part of Wallingford. By this 
imion were born thirteen children; ( 1 ) Jesse, burn 
Oct. 9, 1738; (2) David, liorn .\pril 5, 1740, was 
the great-grandfather of P.erkley S. Hotcldciss, men- 
tioned elsewhere in this volume; (3) Abraham, who 
was born May 3, 1742, and died the same day: (4) 
Abraham, our subject's grandfather, born March 
-5. 1743; (5) Gideon, born Dec. 3[, 1744, wedded 
Mary Scott, and died Jan. 6, 1819; (6) Hulda, who 
w-as born June 27, 1747, and marriec! Josejih Payne ; 
(7) Anna, who was born Oct. 22, 1749, and married 
Reuben Williams; (8) Amos, born Xov. 24, 1751, 
(his grandson Julius llotchkiss, born July 11, 1810, 



married Malissa, daughter of Enoch Perkins, of 
O.xford, Conn. Julius was the original mamitac- 
turer of suspentler webbing in W'aterbury, and the 
first mavor of W'aterbury, and afterward removed 
to Middletown) ; (9) Submit, who was liorn June 
-' 1753- •"'<! niarried David I'ayne ; (10) Titus, born 
June 26, 1755; (11) Eben, Dec. 13. 1757: (12) 
Ashel, b'eb. 15, 1760; and (it,) Benoni, July 2/, 
1762. The mother of these children died Aug. 1, 
1762, and on Feb. 22, 1763. the father married Alabel 
-Stiles, daughter of Isaac Stiles, of Woodbury, 
Conn. She died Sept. 3, 1807. By the second mar- 
riage there were seven children : ( i ) Mabel, who 
was born May 23, 1764, and married Chamicey 
Judd; (2) Phebe, born Aug. 29, 1765; (3) Han- 
nah, who was born Oct. 14, 1766, and died Xov. 2O, 
1766; (4) Stiles, born April 31, 1768; (5) Olive, 
-Xov. 21, i/Uj; (6) Millicent, May 16, 1771; and 
(71 .\mzi, July 3, 1774. Jesse, a son of (]i(leon, was 
also a soldier of the b'rench and Indian wars, and 
the following letter was written to him by his fa- 
ther while in the service; 

Sak.\toga, \. v., Aug. IG, 17.J7. 
Mv Di:.-\K .Son: 

After my tender regards to you, hoping these Hnes may 
find you in good health as I am at present, and so was your 
mother and brothL-r and sjsters and all your and our friends 
when I came from honu'. 

Vou will hear the melancholy news of our fort. 

I understand you were well the last I heard from you 
and of the welfare of all our friends. Ciive my love to 
Lieut. Beebe and Col. Weed, and tell Col. Weed thai I 
would not have him send me any letter but what he is will- 
ing e\ery one should see, for they break almost all open that 
come. S'ou will hear the reason of our being here. 

I have not time to write for the men are now agoing 
and so 1 must conclude with a word of advice to you 
beseeching of you to seek of iliiii that is able to deliver you 
and to sanctify and cleanse you from all sin. O my son I 
beg (f God to fit you fora dying hour; this is the only time 
now while you are in health. 

GiDKON HOTCHKISS. 

Jesse, then a young soldier of idneteen years, 
lived to return home from that war, but lost his life 
in the Revolution, dying Sejjt. 29, 177'). 

Abraham llotchkiss, grandfather ol our sub- 
ject, spent his entire life in that ])art of W'aterbury 
now known as Prospect, and was buried in Prospect 
cemetery. He was a land owner and farmer. On 
Dec, 28, 1767, he married Hannah Weed, daughter 
of John Weed, and they had six children whose 
names and dates of birtii were as follows: John, 
Xov. 16, 1768; Ezra, March 2, 1772; Lois, Jan. 2, 
1773; Hannah, July 5, 1775; Joel, Xov. 29, 1781; 
and Benjamin, June 18, 1786. Joel died in Penn- 
sylvania. 

Benjamin llotchkiss, oiu' stibjecl's falher. was 
reared and educated in Prospect, ami in later life 
owned and operated a farm there. In ])olitics he 
was a W'hig. Both he atid his wife were active and 
influential members of the Congregational Church, 
and they were among the first Sunday-school 
teachers in the town of Prospect. He died there, 
Feb. I, 1842, and was bmied in Prospect cemetery. 



522 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



He was married, July 2G, 1807, to Hannah Beacher, 
daughter of Licnjamin I'cacher. She was born 
June J, 1789, and (hed in Union Mills, La Porte Co., 
Jnd., Oct. 12, 1854. In their family were six chil- 
dren: (i) Horace, born Sept. 29, 1809, was a 
school teacher and seitlcd in the town of Burton, 
(ieausi[a Co., (Jhio, where he died leaving his chil- 
dren, Lester and Alary. His wife also is deceased. 
(2) Lyman, born June 4, 1812, was a carpenter and 
joiner, and settled in Delaware county, Ohio. He 
married Sarah .\nn .Scotl, and at his (.leath left two 
children, Flora .Amelia and .Adeline. (3) Harriet, 
l)nrn \ov. Kj, 1815, engaged in teaching school and 
married Julius Way. 'J'liey first settled in Union 
Mills, La I'orte Co., Ind.. thence removed to Illi- 
nciis. and fnially In t'nlnrado, where they both died. 
Their childirn were, l.\nian, .Maria, Amelia, Ellen 
and Dwight. (4) Lmeline, born Dec. 14, 1818, was 
married I'eb. 28, 1850, to David Pieal. They first set- 
lied in Ibipedale. .Mass., and later in Mendon. Tliey 
had line child, Rnfus, who inarried and became the 
fatb.er of live children, Ariliur. L'arrie (who died 
.\pril, i<)()M, Lillian, Walter and Bertha. (5) 
Kdsainia, Imni Jan. 10, 1824, married Whiting V>. 
Dudley, and they sc'ltled I'lrst in Cheshire, later in 
I'rospect, and lastly in Walerbury, where they died. 
Their children were Linily Ahiria, deceased; Alary 
Louise, wife of Lmerson llolchkiss, mentioned else- 
where in this volunu- ; and Rose, who married John 
Hermann, and li:is three children, Ruth, Hazel and 
Dudley, (d) (iilhert I'.enjamin, who completes the 
family. 

During his boyhood Cilljcrt B. Hotchkiss at- 
tended the district schools of Prospect, and a public 
school of Naugatuck. At the age of fourteen years 
he went to L'nion Mills, Ind., v.here he engaged in 
farming initil 1856, when he disposed of his inter- 
ests there and retm-neil to W'aterbury, Conn. He 
located on the Ste])hen Hotchkiss farm, where for 
the past forly-tive years, he has successfully engaged 
in dairy farming and stock raising. Jrle has made 
many improvements upon the ]ilace, and now has a 
valuable and desirable farm. lie is quite a ])rom- 
incnt and inlluential man in his connnunitv, and is 
highly res])ecte(l by all who know him. Politically 
he is identified with the Reiniblican party, and fra- 
ternally is a charter member of Alad River Grange, 
and a member of the ( Jdd b'ellows Lodge of AVater- 
bm-y. A sincere and consistent Christian, he takes 
a deep interest in church affairs, and has served as 
deacon of the Prospect Congregational Church since 
1865, and with the e.\ce])tion of two years, as super- 
intendent of the Siniday-school since 1864. Pie is 
also a member of the .American Tract Society, and 
his life has ever been in harmony with his profes- 
sion. 

On Jan. 7, i85r), Air. Hotchkiss was united in 
marriage with Aliss I'.mma Chatfield, a native of 
W'aterbury, a daughter of Jose])h luhvard and Phelic 
Irene (Hotchkiss) Cb.-ittield, a granddaughter of 
Joseph and Polly ( Payne) Hotchkiss; and a great- 



great-granddaughter of Gideon Hotchkiss, who was 
also the great-grandfather of our subject. They 
have two children: (i) Hattie Rosanna, born Jan. 
10, 1864, is the wife of William S. Strong, born 
April 2J, 1865, and has one daughter, Emma l^hoda, 
born Nov. 29, 1893. (2) Jennie Irene, born Aug. 
19, 1866, was married Oct. 25, 1894, to George Eph- 
riam Nettleton, of Hartford, Conn., born Jan. 22, 
187 1, and they have three children, Grace Elizabeth, 
Irene Gilbert and Gilbert Henry. 

The Chatfield Family, to which Mrs. Hotch- 
kiss belongs, was founded in this country by three 
brothers, F'rancis, George and Thomas Chatfield, 
who came from England in 1639 in Rev. Henry 
Whitfield's company, and located in Guilford, Conn., 
where F'rancis died in 1647. Thomas removed to 
New tlaven, and later to liast Hampton, Long Is- 
land, where he was quite a prominent man: he 
served as magistrate under the Connecticut juris- 
diction. George Chatfield, from whom Mrs. Hotch- 
kiss is descended, was a resident of Guilford from 
1639 to 1663, and then moved to Killingworth, 
Conn., where he sfjent the remainder of his life, dy- 
ing there June 9, 1O71. His remains were interred 
there. F'or his first wife he married Sarah Bishop, 
who died Sept. 30, 1657, leaving no children, and 
for his second wife he married Isabel Nettleton, 
daughter of Samuel Nettleton. They had three 
children: John, born April 8, 1661; George, .Aug. 
18, 1668; and Mercy, April 26, 167 1. 

John Chatfield, son of George, was but two years 
old when the family moved to Killingworth, where 
he grew to manhood. In 1684 he removed to Derby, 
Conn., where he received a tract of land, and where 
he spent the remainder of his life. On F"eb. 5, 1684, 
he married Anna Harger, daughter of Jabez Har- 
ger, of Derby, and to them were born the following 
children: Sarah, who was born Dec. 5, 1686, and 
was married, July 15, 1706, to John Davis, Jr.; 
Alar\', born .Ajiril 21;, 1O89; .-Abigail, who was born 
Sept. lO, 1093, and married Gideon Johnson; Han- 
nah, wdio was married to John Coe ; Lieut. John, 
born Feb. 21, 1697; Samuel, who is mentioned l)e- 
low ; Ebenezer, who was born July 4, 1703, and was 
married in 1728, to Abigail Prindle ; and Solomon, 
wdio was born Aug. 13, 1708, and married to Han- 
nah Pierson. 

Samuel Chatfield, son of John, was born in 
Derby, Aug. 28, 1699, and from there rcm(.)ved to 
Oxford, Conn., and later to W'aterbury. Pie was a 
member of the church at the latter place. During the 
Revolutionary war he ser\ed as a soldier of the Con- 
tinental army from July 9. 1780, until the 8th of the 
following December. He died in 1797. He was three 
times married, his first wife being Ann ( surname not 
given); his second, loanna Gunn, died -Aug. 20, 



83: he married, third, widow Lydia P 



ecK, on Jan. 

I, 1784. lie had seven children: Alary, born Jan. 8, 

1750, died Sept. 8, 1751 ; .Aliraham was Ijorn Dec. 

29, 17(11 ; Joanna born May 21, 17()6, married .Abel 

i Gunn; Sarah, biirn .Ajiril 21. 1768, married .Andrew 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



523 



Mi 



Osborn ; Jofcpli, Ijorn June 18, 1770, was the grand- 
father of -Mrs. Hotchkiss; Josiah, born Dec. 10, 
1775. married OHve Tucker; and Rachel, horn Dec. 
8, 1778, married Stephen Tucker. 

Joseph Chatfield, Mrs. Hotchkiss" grandfather, 
passed his entire Hfe as a farmer arid shoemaker in 
Waterbury. He married Polly Payne, daughter of 
David ami Submit (Hotchkiss) Payne, ancl to them 
were born the following children: Joseph Edward, 
father of Mrs. Hotchkiss. was the eldest: Annie 
married David Wooster : Fanny, born May 27. 1803. 
married Edward Russell ; Rebecca was married in 
1828 to R. M. Wheeler and settled in Michigan: 
Mittv, born July 13, iSofi, married .-Mbert Wooster: 
Burrelt wasborn Feb. 27, 1808: Mary died unmar- 
ried; Dennis was born July 3. 1812: Henry was 
born Sept. 10, 1816; Samuel was next in order of 
birth: and Jane, baptized Oct. 14. 1821. was adopted j wa 



Mun?on, was born Oct. 10. I7''>i, and died 
Feb. 20, 1815. His first wile was Sarah hVost, 
who bore him two sons and one daughter. Thomas, 
John and Sarah. On April 22, 1801. he married 
Rosanna Hull, who died h"eb. 3. 1846. To them 
were born five children, namely: Ebenezer, born 
March 17, 1802. who weddcil Mary .\nn Rogers; 
Kosanna. baptized June 21, 1812: Martha, who 
married George L. Thorpe: Hiram, who was bap- 
tized Mav 0. 1810: and James. 

Deacon Thomas Smith. Mrs. Munson's lather, 
was born in North Haven, Scjjt. 20. 1798, and died 
Dec. 10, 1874. He was married Jan. 24, 1819. to 
Hannah Tutlle, daughter of Jude Tuttle. She 
was born Jan. 4, 1802. and died Dec. (h 187^). To 
this wortliv couple came the following children: 
Julius, born Dec. 6. 1819, wedded Mary I'rost ; he 



by Lyman Bradley, and married Dr. P)lakeslee. 

Joseph Edward Chatfield, the father of Mrs. 
Hotchkiss, was also a lifelong resident of Water- 
burv, where he followed his trade of carpenter 
and joiner, and where he died Oct. 20, 1830. in 
middle life. On Nov. 24, 1823. he married Nancy 
Scoville, daughter of William Scdvillc. She died 
Dec. 26, 1828, leaving two childri.n. Jane and 
George, who were baptized July 6. 1828. ( )n Dec. 
I, 1829. he married Phebe I. Hotchkiss. who was 
born Nov. 3. 1800, and died .April 2},. i860, daughter 
of Stephen and Tamer ( Richarclson ) Hotchkiss. 



s engaged in the butcher business in l-"air Haven 
and Hartford, and died in 1894. George R., horn 
Jan. 18. 182 1, married Emeline Mun.son, and fol- 
lowed farming near the old homestead, where he 
died Sept. 13.' 1885. Sarah Louisa, born .April 20, 
1824, died at" the age of fifteen month.-. Thomas .\., 
born Tan. 9. 1827, is a resident of North I'.ranford. 
Tames Franklin, born Dec. 31, 1830. married Fran- 
ces E. P.rockett, and also followed farming near 
the old homestead, where he died .April 10, i8c;t). 
Jane Frances. Mrs. Munson. is a twin sister of 
Tames F. John W., bom Jan. 14. 1835, first mar- 
ried .Anna Fowler and second Ida Bradley: he is 

Tulia A., 



The wife of our subject was the onlv child born of ' engaged in farming in Sevmoiir, Conn 
this union. In 18^8 her mother again married, her born Aug. 20. 1844. married Henry Ha 



second husband being Humj>hrey Nichols (whose I 
first wife was her sister. Esther), and by this mar- I 
riage she had a son, Franklin, who was horu in 
August, 1842. and died in 1848. Her parents. 
Ste[jhen and Tamer (Richardson) Hotchkiss, were 
the parents of the following children : ( I ^ Joseph : 
(2) Clarissa; (3) Esther, who became the first wife 
of Humphrey Nichols, and died leaving eleven 
children, Stejihcn, Isaac. Harriet, Emeline. William. 
Ann. Nancy. Ely, Noyes, Esther and David; (4) 
Chloe, who married William Baldwin, and had five 
children. Joseph Ives. Tamar Elizabeth. \\'illiam. 
George Noali and Rebecca; (5) Lois, who died un- 
married; (6) Irene, who died in infancy: and (7) 
Phebe Irene, who first married Josej^h Edward Chat- 
field, and second Humphrey Nichols. 

MRS. J.\NF F. (S.MlTlli .MLNSON. of 
North Hranford. is a representative of an old and 



rnson. ot 
Northford, and died in New Haven, -April 12, 1901, 
leaving two daughters. Hattie and Edith. 

On Dec. 31. 1877. Miss Jane F. Smith was 
united in marriage with William S. Munson, who 
was born Oct. 8,' 1826, and died Jan. i, 1892. He 
was an extensive farmer of Wallingford. but since 
his death Mrs. Munson has .sold the old homestead, 
reserving the right to a part of the house as her 
residence. She also owns a cozy cottage at "The 
Beach." where she spends the summer months. 
She is held in high regard by all with whom she 
comes in contact, and is loved and respected in the 
community where she has so long made her 

home. 

In maternal lines Mrs. Munson is also con- 
nected with a branch of the Smith family. Thomas 
Smith, the first of whom there is authentic record, 
married, in 1662. Elizabeth Paterson. only child of 
Edward Paterson. and their children were: John. 



honored familv of New Haven countv. At one born March. 1664 ; Anna. April 6. iTiCis: John (2L 

June 14. 1669; and Thomas. Jan. 31. i'>73- 

Thomas Smith. .Mm of Thomas, married Sarah 
Howe. They had Thomas. Josejih, Samuel. D.nv 
and Benjamin. 

Thomas Smith, son of Thomas and Sarah, mar- 
ried .Abigail Good.scll. and became the father of 
Thomas, born July 27. 1719: David, born Nov. 15. 
1721 : and Stephen, born Nov. 28. 1724. 

Thomas Smith, of the fourth generation to bear 



time the Smiths owned a large |)ortion <if the north- 
western ])art of North P.ranford and eastern North 
Haven: in fact, the village of Clintonville was 
called Smithtown. on account of the large number 
of that name residing there. They have always been 
numbered among the useful and valued citizens of 
the community, and have given their support to 
everv enterprise for the public good. 

Thomas Smith the paternal grandfather of 



524 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



that name, married Eunice Russel, Alarch ii, 
1741. Their children were: Thomas, born Dec. 
10, 1742; Enos, Nov. 2, 1744; Abigail, Feb. 3, 
1747, who married Stephen Pardee in 1768; Jacob, 
July 7, 1749; Eli, Nov. 8, 1751 ; Elizabeth, May 
21, 1754, who married Jesse Upson in 1775. 

Thomas Smith, son of Thomas, was married 
Nov. 20, 1766, to Anna Smith. Their children 
were as follows : Betsy, who married Oliver Todd 
in 1786; Louisa (grandmother of Mrs. Munson), 
who married Jude Tuttle; Lament; and an infant 
that died unnamed. 

Concerning Thomas Smith, mentioned above as 
of the fourth generation to bear the name, the 
"East Haven Record" gives the following: 

"In the war of Independence, which began 
19th of April, 1775, the following persons were 
lost: In 1776 Elijah Smith was killed in battle on 
Long Island; Thomas Smith conducted a fire ship 
to the enemy, but was badly burnt, and, the attend- 
ing boat having left him too soon, he had to swim 
ashore, where he was found three days after in a 
helpless state; he was brought over to Rye, and 
there he died." 

FREDERICK F. SCHAFFER, secretary of the 
Goodyear's India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Co., 
ajid superintendent of the works at Naugatuck, is 
one of the most popular and influential citizens 
of that town. He was bom June 12, 1853, in 
the Kingdom of Prussia, son of William E. and 
Dorothy SchafTer. Our subject's father, who was a 
tailor, emigrated to America with his wife and in- 
fant son when young Frederick was scarcely a year 
old, settling in Milltown, N. J., where he carried on 
his trade. Two other children were born to Will- 
iam E. Schaffer and his wife, Josephine and Ernest, 
the latter of whom is dead, as are also the parents. 

Frederick ¥. Schaffer attended school in Mill- 
town and New Brunswick until he was thirteen 
years old, when he entered the employ of the New 
Brunswick Rubber Co., with which concern he re- 
mained some six years. He then began work in the 
New Jersey Rubber Shoe Co. The burning of the 
plant in 1876 necessitated his seeking other employ- 
ment, and going to Naugatuck he found a situation 
with the Goodyear Co. He soon showed that he 
was endowed with intelligence, capability and fidel- 
ity, and his promotion in the company's service was 
merely a question of time. He rose, gradually, until 
he now fills the responsible position absve named. 
Over and again lias he demonstrated his innate 
executive capacity, and the three thousand employes 
subordinate to his commands love him no less than 
they respect and admire him. His course has ex- 
hibited the possession of that rare combination of 
seemingly diverse qualities — forccfulncss with sym- 
pathy, firmness with gentleness. 

In politics Mr. Schafifer is a Republican, yet such 
is his personal popularity and such the esteem and 
confidence entertained for him bv his fellow towns- 



men that even in a Democratic stronghold he might 
be elected to any office within the people's gift. 
OfHce-holding, however, is naturally distasteful to 
him, and, while he has consented to fill various local 
positions, involving considerable responsibility, he 
has persistently refused what might be termed high- 
er political honors. He has consented to serve as 
selectman, member of the school committee and 
warden; in 1891 he was elected first selectman of 
the town, in spite of former adverse political ma- 
jorities. Socially he is a Freemason and an Odd 
Fellow, and holds a high place in the affection and 
respect of his brethren of both fraternities. 

It is such men as our subject that add luster to 
the town or municipality in which they live. Never 
self-asserting, he never forfeits self-respect; while 
benevolent and kindly, he never loses; sight of exact 
justice; and while always ready to cloak the failings 
of others with the mantle of charity and silence, he 
seeks to make his own life free from blame as the 
natural imperfections of human nature will permit. 

In December, 1877, ^I''- SchafTer married Miss 
Minnie Perkins, a daughter of Wales Perkins, of 
Naugatuck. They had three children : Frederick 
W., born Dec. 18, 1878; Winnibel May, born Oct. 
20, 1879; and losephine Hazel, born Julv 13, 1882. 
Mrs. Schafifer "died March 7, 1888, and 'on Oct. 8, 
1889, Mr. Schaffer led to the altar Miss Melicent A. 
Nichols, who was born in Roxbury, Conn., daugh- 
ter of Richard and Almira (Wheeler) Nichols. 
Their union has been blessed with one daughter, 
Dorothy Almira, born Ajiril 10, IHilL All the 
children survive, and the domestic life of the fam- 
ily is singularly happy and interesting, Mr. Schaffer 
being a generous husband and a kind and indulgent 
father. Mr. and Mrs. Schafifer are communicants 
of the Episcopal Church, Mr. Schaffer being a mem- 
ber of the Naugatuck Church, of which he is a 
vestryman. 

BENJAMIN C. wbODIN, an honored vet- 
eran of the Civil war and a well-known market 
gardener and fruit raiser of Hamden, Conn., was 
born on the farm where he now resides, Jan. 29, 
1828, a son of Charles; and Betsey (Cooper) 
Woodin, and grandson of Abraham Woodin. The 
father was also born upon that farm, and there he 
died at the ripe old age of eighty-two years. He 
was an earnest member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal (Shurch, and was highly esteemed throughout 
the community. In his family were four children, 
namely : Eunice R., widow of John L. Spcrry ; 
Rhoda M., wife of Jared Benham, of Hamden ; 
Benjamin C, our subject; and William II., a farm- 
er of Flamden. 

Benjamin C. Woodin remained upon the home 
farm with his parents until nineteen years of age, 
when he commenced working in the rubber mills 
of Hamden, where he was employed for four years. 
The following three years he worked in auger mills 
at Chester, Conn., and then returned to Hamden, 




^ 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



525 



where he held a position in the Churchill auger 
factory for two years. At the end of that lime he 
went to New York State, where the following two. 
years were passed, and on his return to llamden 
resumed work in the same factory, where he was 
employed until after the Civil war broke out. 

I'rompted by a spirit of patriotism, Mr. W'oodin 
enlisted Sejjt. 16, 1861, as a private in Company ]•', 
/th Conn. \". 1., which was assigned to the loth 
Army Corps. The regiment was mustered into 
the United States service at New Haven, and was 
stationed at Washington, D. C, for several weeks. 
On Sept. I, 1862, he was promoted to corporal. 
With his regiment he iiarticiiJaled in several en- 
gagements, among them being the following: Fort 
]'ulaski, (ia., April lo-u, 18O2; J'ocolaligo, S. C, 
Oct. 22, 1862; Morris Island, S. C, July 10, 1863; 
Fort Wagner, S. C. July 11, 1803; Chester Sta- 
tirm, \'a., -May 10, 1864; Bermuda Hundred, \'a., 
May 10-17, 1864; Bermuda Hundred, V'a., June 
2, 1864; ijermuda Hundred, Va., June 17, 1864; 
Deep Bottom, \'a., Aug. 14-15, 1864; and Deep 
Run, \'a., Aug. 16-18, 1864. At the battle of Deep 
Run Mr. Woodin was wounded in the wrist by a 
minie ball, both bones being broken. The first 
amputation was made on the field. He was sent to 
the hospital at Hampton Roads, where he remained 
six weeks, and was then taken on transports with 
800 other wounded soldiers to Willets Point, New 
York. Through neglect of the physicians on this 
trip, gangrene set in, necessitating a second am- 
putation. A few weeks after coming home lie went 
to the hospital in Xevv Haven, as amputation was 
again necessary, and this time the operation was 
performed above the elbow. Since returning from 
the war Mr. Woodin has lived on the old home- 
stead where he was born, and is now successfully 
engaged in market gardening and fruit growing. 

In 1850 Mr. Woodin was united in marriage 
with Miss Anna Beckwith, by whom he had two 
children: Betsey, now the wife of Frank Gorham ; 
and Hattie, who died at the age of five years, ile 
was again married, in 1869, his second union being 
with Miss Julia A. Shipman. J le has ever taken an 
active and i)rominent part in ])ublic affairs, has filled 
the office of assessor two terms, and was a member 
of the Legislature from Hamden in 1887. The Re- 
publican i)arty finds in him a stanch supporter of 
its princii)Ies, and he is as true to his duties of 
citizenship in times of peace as in time of war. He 
is now an honored member of Admiral I'oote Post, 
G. A. R., of Xew' Haven. 

MOXSOX. For 2O0 and more years members 
of the family bearing this name have resided in 
Xew Haven, and have liecn prominently identified 
with its lustor}-. Especially conspicuous has been 
tlie line of the late Dr. .-\lfred S. Monson through 
several generations from just before, through and 
following the war of the Revolution, among them 
the honored Dr. Tineas, Dr. Fneas (2) and Dr. 



Alfred S. Monson. Several of the sons of the lat- 
ter are yet in active life in the city, among them 
Charles C. and Capt. Frank .\. Monson, substan- 
tial citizens ol that comnumity. These two gentle- 
men and the other children of Dr. Alfred S. Mon- 
son are descendants in the eighth generation from 
Thomas Monson, of Stratford and Xew Haven, 
tlieir lineage appearing in order in the following 
generations : 

(Ij Thomas Monson, born about 1O12, first ap- 
])ears in Xew Fngland at Hartford, in 1637, in 
which year he was in the Pcquot war with rank of 
cajjtain. ]n about 1640 he cast his lot with the 
Ouinnipiac settlers and was at Xew Haven. Mr. 
Monson was a carpenter by trade, held public office, 
was a Congregationalist in religion, and was an 
important and prominent man in the settlement. 
His death occurred May 7, 1685, and that of his 
wife Joanna, Dec. 13, 1678. 

ill) Samuel Monson, son of Thomas the set- 
tler, baptized Aug. 7, 1643 niarried, Oct. 26, 1665, 
Martha, daughter of William and Alice (Pritch- 
ard) llracUey. Mr. Monson was a shoemaker and 
tanner Ijy trade, and resided respectively in Xew 
Haven, \\'allingfor(l and Xew Haven. JIc was a 
Congregationalist in his religious belief. His 
death occurred in i()y3. 

(HJ) Theophilus Alonson, son of Samuel, born 
.Sept. I, 1675, married Esther, daughter of John 
Mi.x. Mr. Monson was a locksmith by trade. 
Like his ancestors he was a Congregationalist in 
his religious belief. He held public trusts in Xew 
Haven, and there resided on the southeast corner 
of College and Wall streets. He died Xov. 28, 
1747, his wife Sept. 16, 1746. 

(IV) lienjamin Monson, son of Theophilus, 
born March 28, 171 1, married in Jime, 1732. Abi- 
gail, daughter of Deacon John an.l Abigail (Ail- 
ing) Punderson. Mr. Monson was a schoolmaster, 
and resided for a period in York street, Xew Ha- 
ven, and in the town of Branford, Connecticut. 

(\') Eneas Monson, son of Benjamii>, born 
Jan. 13, 1734, married (first), March 15, 1761, 
Susannah, daughter of Stephen and Susannah 
Howell. She died Ajiril 21, 1803, and lie married 
(second), Xov. 24, 1804, Widow Sarah Perit. 
His children were born to the first marriage. Mr. 
Monson was graduated from Yale College in 1753. 
He became a niinisler, tliough not a pastor, and 
later a physician. He was Chaplain to Lord Gard- 
ner in the I-'rench war of 1755. In 1736 he began 
the practice of medicine in I'edlord, X. ^'.. and 
he became an eminent physician, was distinguislied 
in science and was celebrated as a wit. He. too, 
was a Congregationalist, and in politics a \Mii,g. 
He was j)roniinent in public aft'airs, holding manv 
important trusts. During the war of the Revolu- 
tion he was chosen seven times to represent Xew 
Haven in the Legislature. His death occurred 
June \C). 1826, at Xew Haven. 

(\'l) JMieas Monson, M. 1). (2), son of Eneas, 



526 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



horn Sept. ii, 1763, married, May 6, 1794, Mary 
Shepherd, born April 28, 1772, daughter of Levi 
Shepherd, of Nortliampton, Mass. Eneas Monson 
was graduated from Yale, and soon thereafter (in 
1780) was commissioned surgeon's mate in Col. 
Swift's Seventh Conntcticut Continental Line 
J)uring the winter of 1780-81 his regiment was 
"hutted" with the Connecticut division on the Hud- 
son, opposite West i'oint. In June following he 
was detached to assist Surgeon Thatcher, of the 
^lassachusctts Line, in Col. .Scammell's Light In- 
fantry Corps, which after engaging in one or two 
sharp skirmishes in Westchester county, marched 
in August with the army to Yorklown, \a. There 
it took a leading part ni the siege, and was placed 
with the other select troops under Lal'^ayette, whose 
jjosition was on the right of the besieging line. Dr. 
Monson returned North and rejoined his regiment, 
which in 1781-82 was the lunirth Connecticut, un- 
der Col. Butler, and served until the disbandment, 
in June, 1783. Returning after the war to New 
Haven, Dr. Monson became prominent in the 
affairs of the town and city. Later he turned his 
attention to other ami more lucrative pursuits, be- 
coming a merchant and banker. Mi's. Monson 
died l-'eb. 0, 1848, and Dr. .Monson Aug. 22, 
iS:;2. 

(^\I1) .Alfred S. .Miiiison, .\1. 1)., son of Dr. 
Lneas, born Sejit, 23, 1793, married, .May 22, 1822, 
Mary Ann, daughter of Xatlianiel fatten, of Hart- 
ford. Mr. .Monson was graduated from Yale College 
in 1815, and took the degree of M. 1). at the Univer- 
sitv of Tennsylvania in 1819. He located in the 
])racticc of medicine in New Haven, but retired 
from the profes.slon many years before his death. 
His transactions in real estate were many, and he 
was a good liuancier, leaving a large estate. At 
one time he was offered the jirofessorship of bot- 
any in N'ale College, but declined it owing to the 
state of bis lu'alth, and he was also offered a pro- 
fessorshi[) in \'ale .Medical School. Himself and 
wife wvre members of the Congregational Church. 
He died at his home in .\ew Haven, No. 145 l^lni 
street, .May 22, 1870, ;ind his wife passed away in 
.■\])ril, 1887. Six children were born to them, of 
whom we iiave the following record: 

(1) Alfred fallen Monson, M. D., was born 
June 20, 1823. In 1847 he was graduated from 
^'.'de .Medical t'ollege, but his health was such that 
he did nut practice much. He resided in New 
Haven, in b'lorida and in Colorado, and died in 
1894. He married Harriet Mygatt. 

(2) Sarah fatten Monson, born Nov. 17, 1823, 
married, Jan. 9, 1843, Thomas N. Dale, a silk man- 
ufacturer of New \'ork. lioth died in 1880. 

(31 David Daggett Monson, born Jan. 13, 1837, 
married, at Somervillc, N. J., Mary J. Wilson, and 
both are now deceased. 

(4) Charles Clayton Monson, born Oct. 3, 
1838. was married at Chicago, June 27, 1872, to 
Stella L. .Slu-i)herd, and Ihev reside in Hillhousc 



avenue, Xew^ Haven. Their children are Stella E., 
ICdith D., Charles S. and Ethel. 

(5) Fr.\nk Augustus Monso.m, born Dec. 9, 

1842, was married May 15, 1873, to Charlotte M. 
liishop, of .\'ew Haven, who was born Sept. 6, 
1852. They have one daughter, NelHe Florence 
.Monson. .\t the breaking out of the Civil war 
}oung .Monson was a student at a boarding school. 
His patriotism was aroused, and on July 19, 1861, 
lie became a private in the ist New Y'ork Lincoln 
Cavalry, sharing the fortunes of the army of the 
f otomac for over three years, and receiving an hon- 
orable discharge July 12, 1864. On May 3, 1862, 
he received ])romolion, becoming a second lieuten- 
ant in the 5lh New Y'ofk Col. Cav. ; on Oct. 24, 
same year, was made first lieutenant ; and on Sept. 
14, 1863, was made captain, uhicii rank he held to 
the close of his service, being linally discharged 
on account of disability caused by wounds. Capt. 
IMonson returned to civil life with an honorable 
war record. He took part in eighty-uiie engage- 
ments, great and small, being in nearly every bat- 
tle fought by the ,\rmy of the f otomac during his 
cemnect.on therewith, with (iraiil through the Wil- 
derness, at Spoltsylvania and White Tlouse Land- 
ing, where he was sent to the rear on account of 
reo|.teiiing wounds, lie was wounded at Chancel- 
lorsville, .May 3. 18(13, and suffered inlenscly from 
his injuries, .\mong other important engagements 
m which Capt. Monson saw active service may be 
mentioned i'"redericksburg, h'air Oaks and McClel- 
lan's feninsular campaign. Capt. Monson has had 
an lumoi-able and successful career in New Haven, 
engaged princi]ially in looking after his real estate 
interests, lie has built a number oi houses, for 
years Capt. Monson was secretary of the New Ha- 
ven I'lre Lhiderwriters Association. He has effi- 
ciently served bis fellow citizens both as a council- 
man and as an alderman. The Captain and his 
family are prominent in the social life of New Ha- 
ven, and he is an active member of .-Vdmiral Foote 
I'ost. (1. .\. R. ; of the Loyal Legion; the Army and 
.\avy Club; the Society of the Army of the fo- 
tomac ; the Connecticut Sons of the .American Rev- 
olution; and Hiram l_.odge, 1'. & .\. M. In relig- 
ious connection he unites with Trinity Church. 

(6) Frederick Eneas Monson, born Sept. 18, 

1843, was a student wlien he enlisted, Sept. 18, 
1861. becoming a corporal in Company K, 10th 
Conn. \'. 1.. in. the United States service in the 
t'i\il war. lie was discharged Jan. 16, 1862, and 
re-enlisted, becoming a sergeant in Company H, 
271I1 Conn. \'. 1. .\t the battle of Frederick.sl'nirg, 
\'a., Dec. 3, 18(12, he received a wound which crip- 
pleil him for life, and he was honorably discharged 
.\pril 2, 18(13, with a record for duty well done. 

Cll.\RLb:S 11. flNNEY, ?>1. 1)., in his life- 
time a prominent and successful physician of 
Derby, was a man of exceptionally high scientific 
and [trofessional altainnunls. beloved b)' his pa- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



527 



liLMits and universally esteemed l)y the conumiiiiiy 
at large. He was of English descent, and one of 
his American ancestors was a soldier under Wash- 
ington. 

The first of the familv to emigrate from Great 
Britain to America was Humphrey I'imiey, who 
settled at Dorchester, Mass., in i()3o, while he re- 
turned the following year to iMigland to attend to 
some matters connected with the settlement of the 
paternal estate; he became a permanent resident of 
Xew England in 1634. He married Mary, a daugh- 
ter of George Hull, who, like himself, was a pio- 
neer settler from the mother countrw llumithrey 
I'inney, on his return from ICngland, established 
himself at Windsor, Cnim. He was the father of 
six children: Sanuiel. Xathaniel, Isaac, Abigail, 
Sarah and Mary. 

Samuel Pinnev, eldest son of Humphrey, was 
the great-great-great-grandfather of Dr. Charles 
H. I'inney. He married Joyce Jlisscli, daughter of 
John Bissell, of Windsor. They settled in that 
part of \\'indsor which one hundred years later 
was called Ellington, Conn. Tin"ee children were 
born to them : Mary, Samuel and Josiah. 

Samuel I'inney. son of Sanniel, became the hus- 
band of Sarah Phelps, daughter of George Phelps 
( l)rother of William, of Windsor). They lived in 
Edlington, at that time part of Windsor, Conn., 
where were I)orn their six children, who were 
named Samuel, Jose])h, JSenjamin, Sarah, jNIary 
and Hannah. 

Captain IJenjamin Pinnev, third san of Samuel, 
and J)r. Pinney's great-grandfather, married 
Susanna Lalhrop, who bore nim nine children, 
ICli/.abeth, Efris, Benjamin, Jedediah, Eleazer 
(born I'^bruary, 1753}, Lcnuiel, Ruth. Chloe and 
Ebenezer (a ])hysician, who tlied July (), ijcSO). 

Lieut. I'^leazer Pinney, son of lienjaniin, was 
born in I'^-bruarv. 1753, and was present at the sur- 
render of Burgoyne. His first wife was Eunice 
King, who died July 6, 1789, leaving five children, 
namely: Lydia, Persis, ISenjamin. IClizabeth and 
i'armcHa. Jn 1792 he marrietl as his second wife, 
-Anna McKinney, daughter of Andrew McKinney, 
who invented tlie mechanism to weave talile linen 
in patterns of llowers, etc., instead of being plaided 
or striped, as was the method previous to his in- 
vention; he was of Scotch descent. The children 
of Lieut. Eleazer and his wife Anna were Eleazer, 
J'".benezer, Eunice, Loring, Xelson and -Andrew. 

Ebenezer, seventh child of Lieut, b'leazer, was 
])orn Sept. 24. 1796. He married Mary .Ann Lee, 
(laughter of Dr. Henry TuUy Lee, of Hartford, 
Conn. Of their nine children, two, Hem-y and 
Mary, died in early childhood. Those who reached 
mature years were Charles Hitelieock. Henry Lee, 
Caroline, Alary (2), Ellen, Elizaljelh and Cath- 
erine. 

Dr. Charles IL Pinney, the subject of this 
sketch, was born at South Windsor ( tlien a jiart of 
East Windsor), .'April 25, 1831. His college prep- 



aration was received at Rogers .Academy, at East 
Hartford, and he matriculated at Harvard L'niver- 
sity near the close of his third year. Repealed and 
profuse hemorrhages from the lungs matle it im- 
prudent to longer to brave the violent east winds 
of that locality, and his professional studies w'erc 
pursued at the College of Physicians antl Surgeons, 
of Xew York City. Graduating with honor in 
1853, he at once located in Derby, Conn., where for 
forty years he was an ornament to his profession, 
taking part in matters of general interest as a pub- 
lic-spirited citizen, leading a life without reproach. 
\\ hen on his way to attend the Xaiicjnal Aledical 
Convention, which was held at ALlwaukee, Wis., 
he died at Evanston, HI., May 13, 1893, having 
rounded out a useful life of sixty-two years. In 
[jolitics he was a Republican. Professionally he 
was a member of the local, county. Slate and na- 
tional medical societies, and was for many years 
the Coimecticut State .Xecrologist of the Xatitinal 
Association. 

On April 4, 1854, Dr. Pinney married ALiria 
Wats in, of Xew Hartford, Conn., daughter of 
Royal Isaac and Sally (Seymour) Watson. Ro\al 
I. \\ atson was a descendant of John Watson, an 
earl\- settler of Hartford, who was a juror at Ilart- 
forcl in 1644, and died there in 1650; his mother, 
Sarah (Phelps) Watson, descended from William 
Phel]is. an early settler of Windsor. 

Mrs. Sally (Seymour) ^\'at.son was a daughter 
of Chauncey Se\niour (always called "'riie 
Squire;"' see "Xew Hartford Past and Present," 
published in 1883), who held a commission in the 
war of 181 2, and was the son of Capt. Uriah Sey- 
mour, who was lieutenant in a company of 
"mounted men" in the Lexington Alarm, and who, 
as captain of a company of "Lighl-horse,'' was 
with Washingt(;;n on his retreat through Xew 
Ni.rk, and was at A'alley Eorge. The Seymour 
line is traced back into England, to Sir I-ldward 
-Seymour, whose sister, Jane Seymour, -was the 
third Oueen of Henry ATIl and the mother of King 
Edward \ I, during whose minority he (Sir Ed- 
ward -Seymour) was acting Regent, and was 
created "Lord Protector of England." His previous 
titles were "\iscount Beauchamp," "Earl of Hert- 
ford" and "Duke of Somerset." 

The mother of Airs. Sally (Seymour) Watson 
was Isabel Sedgwick, a descendant of .Major Gen- 
eral Robert Sedgwick, a distinguished oflicer un- 
der Oliver Cromwell. l'"or several \ears he com- 
manded "the -Ancient and Honorable .Artillery 
Company," and in 1641 "Tlie Castle." and was 
made major-general of a Massaehuselts regiment 
Alav 26, 1652. On July i, 1634, having previously 
visited England and engaged in the service of 
Cromwell as commantler of contemplated expedi- 
tions, he sailed with a lleet of four vessels and cap- 
tured "St. I<ihns," a "strong I'rcnch fort," also 
■ Port Royal" and others, which was so acceptable 
to Cromwell that the next year he was appointed 



528 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



lo important service in the West Intlies; he sailed 
from I'lymouth July ii, 1655. and was appointed 
tc command the army of the West Indies, but soon 
fell a victim to the climate, dying at Jamaica, W. 1., 
Mav 24, 1(150. 

Dr. I'inney left one son, Royal Watson I'innev, 
a practicing physician in Derby. Mrs. Pinney is 
still living in her beautiful home, containing many 
treasures of art and mementoes of her departed 
husband. She is a member of the .Mary Washing- 
ton .Memorial Association, of Washington ; of the 
Society of New England Women, of New York; 
of the Order of Descendants of Colonial Gover- 
nors; of the Jluguenot Society of .\merica; of the 
National Societv of Daughters of Founders and 
Patriots of .America ; and she is regent of the Derby 
Chapter of the Daughters of the .\merican Revo- 
lution. 

SAMUEL .\. S'l'lA'ENS, a worthy representa- 
tive of an old and honored family of New Haven 
county, has passed a busy life in the commercial 
world and can look with pride over the record of a 
])ast that has no stain. 

Thomas Stevens, his great-grandfather, built, in 
1735, the old Stevens homestead, now standing on 
Elm street, at the head of Savin avenue. West 
Haven, Conn., now nearly one hundred and seventy 
years old; it is to-day in a good state of preserva- 
tion, and still retains its old original red color 
paint. There Thomas Stevens lived and died. His 
son, Jesse, was born in that home in 1744, and died 
there in 1826. 

New-ton Stevens, son of Jesse, was born in 1784, 
and married i'olly Reynolds in 1809, by whom he 
had twelve children, all of whom lived to maturity: 
Julia Ann, who married James Tolles ; h'.dwiii ; 
Emily, who married William H. Talmadge; Lucius; 
Sarah, wdio married Jonathan l-'ootc, Jr.; H. Au- 
gusta, wdio married S. G. Hotchkiss ; Sherman ; 
Francis N. ; Jesse ^L ; Mary E., who married Capt. 
Frederick S. Ward; Samuel .\.: and James R. 
After fifty- four years of wedded life, the mother 
died in 1863, at the age of seventy-four; the father 
died in 1866, aged eighty-two years. 

Samuel .\. Stevens was born at the old home- 
stead, Juh- ! I, i8jO, and came to New Haven when 
ten years of age, to live with his brother-in-law, 
William H. Talmadge, who had a shoe store on 
Chapel street, ne.xt to the City Bank. Young Sam- 
uel opened and closed the store, ran errands, and 
attendetl the Lancasterian School, taught by John 
E. Lovell (now the Hillhouse High School), and 
was a student for a year in the school of S. A. 
Thomas, located in a building at the corner of 
Wooster and Ulive streets. In looking back to his 
boyhood days, .Mr. Stevens recalls the jilaying of 
marbles with his school mates on the site of the 
home in which he has lived for forty-otic >ears. He 
returned lo his father, and W'orked on the home farm 
for about three years. In 1S42 he went to New 



Haven a second time, to enter the hat, fur, and shoe 
store, as clerk for his brother-in-law, J. Foote, Jr., 
at No. 816 Chapel street. With him he remained 
eight Nears, leaving July 11, 1851, to enter into the 
same kind of business for himself, at No. 856 Chapel 
street. He began business Oct. 6, of that year, un- 
der conditions most flattering, as about this time, 
a gentleman friend whom Mr. Stevens had known 
for some time and who was much interested in his 
future business prospects, had very unexpectedly 
offered the loan of fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500) 
without security, for the purpose of starting him in 
a business. While the proposition was a surprise 
he had not been long in availing himself of this 
most beneficent offer, and soon secured the store 
above mentioned, wdiere in a few days the friend 
advanced him fifteen one-hundred dollar bills. With 
this fund in his stockings, eight of them in one 
stocking and seven in the other, Mr. Stevens had 
gone to New York City and there bought the nec- 
essary goods for "stocking" the store, thus prac- 
tically beginning his business career. Having a 
large circle of friends, to whom he had commended 
himself both by his personal and business character- 
istics, he naturally won a good degree of success. 

After about twelve years he found his accommo- 
dations were too small for his increasing business, 
and in 1863 he rented one of the stores now occu- 
pied by HoW'C & Stetson, on the north side of 
Chapel street, between Orange and State streets. 
Entirely remodeling the store, he started out in his 
new quarters, by receiving congratulations from his 
many friends upon having the most attractive shoe 
store in the State. About two years after he very 
unexpectedly sold out his very lucrative business to 
I. T. Banks, who had carried on the same kind of 
business in Atlanta, Ga., but who w^as compelled to 
vacate when Gen. Sherman's army entered the city 
during the Civil war. As he had been closely con- 
fined by his business for fourteen years, Mr. Stevens 
determined to rest before again entering the com- 
mercial world, and at the close of the Rebellion, 
made a tour through the devastated portion of the 
Southern States. Soon after his return, he formed 
a copartnership, under the firm name of Joyce & 
Stevens, for the purpose of manufacturing ladies' 
and misses' fine shoes. 

At the end of twelve years he withdrew from 
this firm with the intention of not entering into any 
permanent business again. Some two years after 
an old friend of his, P. S. Crofut, who had been in 
the hat, cap and fur trade on the north side of 
Chapel street, near Orange street, for many years, 
was compelled to go into bankruptcy, and Mr. 
Stevens was appointed receiver. In closing up the 
estate he sold tlic stock to J. N. Collins, who con- 
tinued tlic business. In 1878 Friend E. L'rooks and 
Mr. Stevens formed a copartnership, under the 
style of .Stevens & Brooks, and bought out Mr. 
Collins. The new firm continued the same business 
for about ten vears when ^.Ir. Stevens w'ithdrew 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



529 



from the firm on account of impaired health. Soon 
after he took a pleasure trip through Southern Cali- 
fornia, and upon his return, tliree months later, he 
was appointed secretary and treasurer of the West 
Haven & Xew Haven Horse Railroad Co., to which 
he devoted a share of his time for about two years. 
When the road was sold to a JJoston syndicate he 
sold his interest and resigned his position. When 
in California, Mr. Stevens was so delighted with the 
country and climate, that in the winter of 1893 he 
went out a second time, spending the winter in Red- 
lands and -Moreno, and while there became so fas- 
cinated with the culture of oranges that he pur- 
chased four acres in Redlands and forty in .Moreno, 
set out to orange trees.. 

In 1894 Air. Stevens" daughter, who hatl grad- 
uated from Rye Seminar)-, Xew York, accompanied 
him for the second time. The ne.xt year, 1895, he 
had planned to go, but was taken critically ill and 
was obliged to remain at home, going out the three 
successive winters. He came home June i, 1898, 
not feeling well, and very unexpectedly foimd his 
daughter sick, and she passed away July 24. From 
that time Mr. Stevens has been a confirmed invalid. 

On Sept. I, 1859, -^^''- Stevens w;ts married to 
Miss Ellen M. Ives, at her home on W'all street, 
New Haven, Conn. Her father, Henry Ives, man- 
ufacturer of carriage axles in Mt. Carmel, Conn., 
died about si.x months prior to the marriage of his 
daughter. Airs. Stevens was the mother of three 
children, two of whom died in infancy: liliza Ives, 
born May 6, 1861, died Aug. 8 of the same year; 
Nellie, born Sept. 12, 1862, died Sept. 20 of the 
same year; and Mabel Ives, born Nov. 25, 1873, 
died July 24, 1898. The mother of these three girls 
died June 30, 1880, at the age of forty-seven years. 
Mr. Stevens is now in his seventy-sixth year, and 
througli all his eventful career he has endeavored 
to live a consistent Christian life, but he says he is 
fully aware of his short comings and, to his regret, 
he can only present to his Maker a few withered 
leaves instead of the great sheaves of wluat which 
he should have brought. 

JOSKl'H CO-AN (deceased). The Coan fam- 
ily is of German descent, and has long been estab- 
lished in New Englaml. In 1715 three brothers 
came from Worms, Cermany. Their parents ac- 
companied them on an emigrant ship, but died on 
the way, and consequently the boys were landed on 
the American shore in a destitute condition. The 
two older boys were ajjprenticed to Deacon Mul- 
ford, of East Hampton, L. I., where they were mar- 
ried when they reached adult years. After their 
marriage they removed to Guilford, where they 
passed the remainder of their lives and died. The 
other brother, Abraham, left no record of his career 
in life. 

I'etcr Coan, one of the brothers reared by Dea- 
con Mulford, and the progenitor of the line in 
which we are especiallv interested, was born in 

£4 



Worms, in 1697. In East Hampton he married 
Hannah Davis, and died in North Guilford, Oct. 
31, 1799. Their children were: John, born in 
Decemlier, 1729; Lucretia ; Rebecca; Jacob, born 
in 1734: .Mabel; .Abraham: J lannah ; Martha, 
married Cieorge Dudley; IClislia ; William, born 
b'eb. 24, 1747, died Jan. 28, 1748; .Mar)-, born JiUy 
30. 1750, married Jacob Kimbcrly. 

John Coan, noted above, was born in I'.ast 
Hampton, and came with his i)arents, in 173O, 10 
Guilford, where he passed the remainder of his life, 
and died ()ci. 18, 1795. In 1752 he married Mabel 
Chittmden, who was born Nov. 5, 1737, and died 
Mav 12. 1787. I'or his second wife he married the 
Widow Francis. He was the father of the follow- 
ing children: [i) Olive, who married William 
Fowler, and died Feb. 12, 1849; (-) Alabel, born in 
1758, who married Robert Kimberly ; (3) Josiah, 
born Nov. 20, 1760, who married Carrie Graves; 

(4) John, who will be mcntionetl in full below; 

(5) Rebecca, born in ij(>^. who married Samuel 
F. Loper, and died .Aug. 3, 1848: (0) Simeon, who 
married Parnell I'^owlcr, and died Nov. 5, 1815; 
(J) Submit, born Dec. 7, 1769, who married .-Varon 
Chittenden, and died July 24. 1849; {&) Lucretia, 
who married .Abel Chittenden; (loj -Abraham, 
liorn X(iv. 9, 1774, who married Martha Linds- 
ley. and died l-'cb. 14. 1863: (ii) Davis, born in 
1785. who married Catherine h'owler, and died July 
27, 1822. 

John Coan, son of John, was born at North 
Guilford in January, 1763, and there died in No- 
vember, 1845. He married Hannah Stevens, w'ho 
was born in 1767, and died Nov. 27, 1820. Their 
children were as follows : ( i ) Hannah, born in 
1787, married Joseph Fowler; (2) John, born -Aug. 
22, 1789; (3j Henriettta, born in June, 1794, dietl 
Sept. 24, 1795; (4) Abraham, born -Aug. 2, 1797, 
married Eunice Cook, and died Jan. 4, 1875. 

John Coan, noted above, married, in October, 
1S09, I'hcbe .A. Fowler, who was born Feb. 22. 
1791, and died Sept. 19, 1821. For his second 
wife he married, Sept. 22, 1829, Betsy Hart, who 
v/as born Aug. 24, 1803, and died March 15, 1873. 
'J"he children by his first marriage were : One that 
died unnamed; Jerome, born in 1816, died July 26. 
1829; Abraham, born June 11, 1817, died in 1848 ; 
and Julia Ann, born in 1821, married Rev. .Seth L. 
Chapin, and died Jan. 21, 1876. I'.y the second 
marriage were horn : Phebe, born June 6, 1830, 
married Orrin Potter ; Jerome and Joseph, twins, 
born June 19, 1834. Joint Coan, the father of this 
family, was a farmer and large land owner. 

Joseph Coan (deceased), whose nan-ie introduces 
this sketch, was educated in the district schools of 
his native town, and remained on the farm with 
his parents until after his marriage, when he re- 
moved to Guilford, where he lived until the break- 
ing out of the Rebellion. He enlisted Sept. 7, 
1862, in Company E, 15th Conn. V. I., under Col. 
White, and died of tyjjhoid fever, Nov. 7, 1862; 



53° 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



his remains were interred in Alderbrook cemetery, 
rolitically he was a Democrat, but without official 
aspirations. Quite jKipular in the community 
where he was r'eared, he had many friends, and was 
a man of character and stanthns,'-. In rehgious 
connecliuti he was a comnuuiicant of tlie Episcopal 
Church. 

On .Mav 7, 1856, Mr. Coan was married to 
Lvdia E. Hall, who was l.wrn Jan. 29, 1836, a 
daughter of Georse G. and I'hebe A. (Griswold) 
Hall, and died Tuh 4, iqoo. This union was blessed 
with' one child, '.Maria Elizabeth, born Feb. 23, 
1857, now the wife of Clifford F. Bishop. Mrs. 
Coan was a woman of much character and was of 
a religious disposition. I'or forty-eight years she 
had been a member of the Third Church, and was 
an active worker in its various organizations. In 
the community her inlluence was marked, and in 
the many associations in which the ladies of the 
town sought the public good, her presence and her 
work were always ready and appreciated. 

The H.\ll l\\.\ni.v, of Guilford, of whom ]\Irs. 
Coan was a descendant, traces its history in this 
countrv back to William Hall, who was born in 
Kent, 'England, a son of Gilbert Hall. William 
Hallcame'to America March 22, 1649, and located 
in New Haven, where he died March 8, 1669. 
Hester, his wife, died in 1683; she was the mother 
of John and Samuel, of whom the latter married 
Elizabeth Johnson. 

John Hall, son of William and Hester, was bom 
in 1648. and was but one year old when his parents 
settled in Guilford, where he died Jan. 8, 1704. On 
Nov. 13, 1668, he was married to Elizabeth Smith, 
and they became the parents of seven children: 
(i) Elizabeth, born Nov. 22, 1670; (2) Mary, 
born Oct. 30, 1672, died Dec. 7, 1755; (3) John, 
born Feb. 28, 1675, died September, 1724; (4) 
l''benezer : ( 5 ) Silence married .M)raham Morri- 
son ; (6) Eliphalet, born Jan. 15, 1682, married 
Abigail BushncU ; (7) Nathaniel, born December, 
168^, married Rebecca i\lallorv, and died Julv 27, 

1758- 

I'.henezcr Hall, who was born March 3, 1678, 
was engaged in farming in (iuilford, his native 
town and died there in December. 1723. Deliorah 
Highland, who became his wife April 11. 1700, was 
born in i'i74, and died Oct. 27, 1758. Their chil- 
dren werr: (i) b'.benezer, born Jan. 30, 1701, 
marriecl l'~l;zabelb Crittenden, and died Sept. 9, 
1734: 12) Daniel, born April 10, 1702, died June 
9. 1741 ; (3) Deborah, born Oct. 26, 1704, married 
Ebcnezer Field, and died April G, 1753; (4) John; 
($) Joseph, born May 26, 1710. married Mary 
Crittenden, and died Dec. 11, i7'')4; (6) Benjamin, 
born Ma\- 2J. 1712. married Judith Hall, and died 
Dec. I. iSu2: (7) Esther, born May 27, 1717, mar- 
ried Jehiel Johnson, and died Sept. 9, 1779; (8) 
Timothy, born Nov. 10, 1721, married Sarah Bris- 
tol, and died July 29. 1771. 

John Hall, .son of Ebcnezer, was born in Guil- 



ford, Dec. 2j, 1706, and died Feb. 9, 1742. He 
was married to Jerusha Johnson, Nov. 2, 1737. 
She was born Oct. 31, 1720, a daughter of Isaac 
and I'hebe (Bristol) Johnson, and a granddaugh- 
ter of Isaac and Mary (Hotchkiss) Johnson. For 
her second husband she married, Nov. 15, 1744, 
Ebcnezer tlotchkiss. By her marriage to Mr. 
Hall she became the mother of two children : Han- 
nah, born Aug. 14, 1738. died Nov. 30, 1738: and 
Miles. 

Miles Hall, son of John, was born in Guilford, 
Oct. 23, 1740, and died there Oct. 26, 1801. On 
Feb. 3, 1762, he was married to Sarah Bishop, who 
was born Aug. 18, 1736, daughter of David and 
Deborah (Stanley) Bishop, and died April 8, 1792. 
This marriage was blessed with the following chil- 
ilren : (i) Sarah, born Sept. 12, 1763, married 
Samuel Evarts ; (2) John, born 1765, died Oct. 6, 
^7(V< (3) Nathan, born 1767, died Oct. 14, 1771 ; 

(4) Jerusha, born Aug. 10, 1771, married Luther 
Stone; and (5) John (2). 

John Hall (2), born May 21, 1775, in Guilford, 
died there Juh- 2/, 1807. He married Hannah 
Griswold, who was born May 26, 1771, a daughter 
of Thomas and Hannah (Cruttenden) GriswoUl, 
and died Nov. 10, 1840. Thomas Griswold was a 
j private in Capt. Daniel Hand's company in Col. 
Talcott's regiment in 1776. The children born 
to this union were: (i) Amos, Jan. 18, 1795, mar- 
ried Betsey Graves, and died June 11, 1847; (2) 
Sarah, born Jan. 22, 1798, married Ammi G. Fow- 
If; (3) Jolin, born April 15, 1799, married Bet- 
sey Davis, and died Aug. 16, 1870; (4) Betsey, 
born July 28, 1801, married Christopher B. Davis; 

(5) Caroline, born Aug. 29, 1803, married Joel 
Bullard, and died June 17, 1S42; and (6) George 
Griswold. 

George Griswold Hall, father of Mrs. Lydia E. 
Coan, was born in Guilford, Feb. 2, 1806, and 
there died Sept. 11, 1887. On Oct. 4, 1830, he was 

I married to Phebe Ann Griswold, who was born 
Nov. 27, 181 1. They became the parents of the 

1 following children: (i) George Hiram, born 
April 30. 1833, married Mary E. Morse; (2) Ly- 
dia Elizabeth, born Jan. 29, 1836, married Joseph 
Coan; (3) Edward Douglass, born .April i, 1840, 
married Fannie Barstow Hyde; (4) Charles Au- 
gustus, l)oni Sept. 8, 1841, married Lucretia Da- 
vis. 

Miles (iriswold, great-grandfather of Mrs. 
Coan, was born Jan. 2, 1736, a son of Thomas 
and Ann (Graves) Griswold, and a brother of 
Thomas Griswold, who served in the Revolutionary 
war. He died March 20, 1821. On June 14, 1758, 
he married Sarah ( Chitten<len), who was born 
lul\ I), 1737. a daughter of Samuel and Susanna 
(llisho])) Chittenden, and died June 23, 1766. 
One child blessed this marriage, Ruth, born Nov. 
2^. i7f>o, who married James Davis. For his scc- 
onfl wife i\lilcs Griswold married, Jan. 4, 1769, 
Ruth Bartlett, who was born Oct. i, 1738, a daugh- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



531 



ter of Capt. Joscpli and M indwell (Crullendcn ) 
Bartk-tt, and died Dec. 31, 1831. Their children 
were: {i) Sarah, born Feb. 9, 1774. died Oct. 15, 
1780; (2) Joy; (3) -Mindwell, born Aug. 4, 1780, 
died Sept. 18,' 1845. 

Joy Griswold, son of Miles, wa.s born Oct. 27, 
177O, and died -May 15, 1851. On Xov. 22, 1798, 
he was married to Juliana Saxton, who wa.s l)urn 
April 30, 1777, and died April 26, 1833, a daugh- 
ter of Simeon ami Sarah Saxton, the former of 
whom was a i>rivate in the Revolutionary war. 
For his second wife Joy Griswold married, Aug. 
-7- '835. Hannah Woodruff, a widow, born Jan. 
13, 179O, died June 3, 1872. The children, all of 
whom were born of the first marriage, were : ( i J 
Sarah, born May 24, 1800, died April 5, 1845, """ 
married; (2) ]\lyrta, born Sept. 26, 1802, married 
Louis Griswold, and died May 22, 1837; (3) Sher- 
man Saxton, born Xov. 26, 1805, married Alma 
I'owler, and died Xov. 2, 1882; (4) Russell Bart- 
lett, born Sept. 24, 1808, married Mary Jones; (5) 
Phebe Ann, born Xov. 27, 181 1, married George 
Griswold Hall; (6) Mary Elizabeth, born Dec. 16, 
1817, married Edward T. Moore; (7) Juliet, born 
Xov. 19, 1820, married John Parmelee. 

The Bishop Family has long been represented 
in New England. Its first progenitor in this coun- 
try was John Bishop, whose son, Stephen, was a 
farmer, and died in Guilford in June, 1690. 
Tabitha \Vilkinson, his wife, whom he had mar- 
ried May 4, 1654. died Dec. 21, 1692. Their chil- 
dren w-ere: (i) Stephen, born Dec. 20, 1655, mar- 
ried Hannah Bartlett ; (2) Tabitha, born Sept. 14, 
1657; (3) Caleb, born June 24, 1660, married 
Lydia Evarts, and died Aug. 19, 1752; (4) Daniel, 
born Dec. 8, 1663, died young; (5) Mehitable, born 
Dec. 12. 1668, married John Whiteham ; (6) Han- 
nah, bom :\Iarch 27, 1671 ; (7) Josiah, born June 
30. 1674; (8) Ebenezer; (9) James, born Aug. 18, 
1678, married Thankful Pond, and died July 2, 

1739- _ . . 

Ebenezer Bishop, who was born in (_7UiItord. 
Aug. 5. 1675, died in February, 1744. Ann Lati- 
mer, his wife, whom he married Xov. 3, 1699, died 
Oct. 6, 1752. Their children were: (i) Ann, born 
April 10. 1701, died Oct. 15, 1761 ; (2) Josiah, 
bom Xov. I, 1703, married Hannah Chittenden, 
and died April 12, 1745; (3) Joshua, bom 1704, 
married Silence Crampton, and died Xov. 13, 1777; 
(4) Ebenezer, born 1707, married Sarah Stevens, 
and died Oct. 27, 1747; (5) Caleb; (6) Experi- 
ence, lx)m Feb. i, 1718, died Feb. 25, 1718; (7) 
Samuel , born Oct. 28, 1719, and (8) Elisha, born 
-Aug. G. '^722,, both died young. 

Caleb Bishop, who was bom in East Guilford 
in October, 1714, engaged in farming all his life, 
and died Feb. 16, 1785. In 1744 he married Abi- 
gail Parmelee, who was born in June, 1719, and 
died Feb. 8, 1780. Their children were: (i) Bud- 
well, bom Xov. 3. 1745, died Oct. 5, 1820; (2) 
Linus, born ^[ay 10, 1749; (3) Russell, born Dec. 



12, 1752, married .\bigail Barlleti, and died Oct. 
20, 1825. 

Linus Bishop, who was born May 10. 1749, died 
Sept. 14, 1830. He was married to Sarah Hill, 
June 29, 1785, and she died June I, 1822. She was 
a daugliter of I'elcg and Dorcas (Tucker; Hill, and 
by her marriage with Mr. Bishop became the 
mother of the following children : (i) Sarah, born 
Dec. 19, 1786, died Jan. 11, 1871; (2) Richard, 
born March 8, 1790, married I'olyanthus Scranioii ; 
and (2,) I'Vederick. 

b'rederick Bislio]) was Ixjrn Dec. 17, 1792. in 
Madison, and there died Oct. 3, 1855. He was 
married Dec. 24, 1818, to Olive Bassett, who was 
born June 30, 1799, a daughter of Xathan and 
Olive (Clark) Bassett. of (iuilford, and died I-'eh. 
9, 1842. Eleven children were born of this imion, 
as follows: (ij l-"rederick William, born Oct. i, 
1819, died Feb. 9, 1822; (2) Henry, born Oct. 
12, 1821, died Oct. 0, 1844; ii) Edward, born 
April 20, 1823, marriecF IClizabeth F. Stannard ; 
(4) George, born Dec, 1824. married Xancy M. 
Evarts; (5) William Frederick (2), lx3rn May 27, 
1827, married Sarah A. Chittenden; (6) Albert 
I'^erdinand, born May 11, 1829, married Eliza J. 
Farnham; (7) Samuel R., born Oct. 22, 1831, mar- 
ried Catherine E. Blatchley ; (8) Joseph Richard, 
born April 15, 1834, died Xov. 2, 1834; (9) ALiry 
Elizabeth, born Feb. 21, 1836, married George W. 
Jacobs; (10) Joseph Richard, born Feb. 28, 1838, 
married Louisa Baldwin ; (11) Xancy Clarissa, 
bom June 27, 1842, married Birney Buddington. 

Edward Bishop, who was born in Madison, 
April 20, 1823, was married Aug. 23, 1855, to 
Elizabeth F. Stannard, who was born in 1834, and 
died Feb. 27, 1862. Edward Bishop was a sea- 
faring man, and engaged in the coasting trade be- 
tween Madison, Guilford and Xew York. He was 
captain of a vessel for many years, when he retired 
from active life, and made his home in New Haven, 
where he died June 19, 1898, and his remains were 
interred in the cemetery at Madison. He was the 
father of two children: Clift'ord Forrest; and Min- 
nie B., bom Feb. 10, i860, became the wife of 
James Young. 

Clifford Forrest Bishop was born in (juilford, 
Sept. 17, 1856, and received his education in the 
district schools and at Lee's Academy in INfadison. 
He learned the sheet iron and plumbing business 
with Robinson & Co. In his jiolitical faith he is 
a Rc])ublican, while in his religious belief he is a 
Congregationalist. He married Maria ICIizabcth 
Coan, daughter of the late Joseph and Lydia E. 
(Hall) Coan. 

EDWTX W. l'(iTTl''.K. one of the representa- 
tive citizens and successful business men of Ham- 
den, New Haven county, w-as born on the farm 
where he now resides, I'el). 3. 1833. He is a de- 
scendant of John Potter, who was born in Eng- 
land in 1607, died in Xew Haven in 1643; he was 



53: 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ihe founder of the family in the Xew \\ orliL 
Philemon {4), a descendant I nun the above John, 
was born March 31, J735. 

Justus Potter, son of Philemon and grandfather 
of i)ur subject, was bom in Jlamden, Conn., m 
\j-2. an<l married Anna .M. Hunt, who was born 



Dei 



'///■ 



Their son, Horace Potter, was born 
in ilie sa'n'ie town, Dec. 14, i/yS, on a farm our 
subject now owns, and died .March 8, 1869. He 
was married .Mav 7, 1821, to l'"nima Ikckley, who 
was born in i!erl'in. Conn., July 17, I799.- 'i"'^ ^i^^ 
Nov. 14, 1847. Their remains rest in the East 
Plains cenieterv in Haniden. Horace I'otter was 
but a boy when his father died, and he was thus 
(.arh thrown uimiu his (jwn resources, but he be- 
came a successful man in the face of adversity and 
lack of opportunities in his youth, and was a citi- 
zen of no little- inllumce. In early life he learned 
the shoemaker's trade in i'.crlin, and it was there 
that he became acquainted with his future wife. 
Almost imme<liately after 'his marriage he located 
in the place in llamden where he ever afterward 
lived, in later vears devoting his time and attention 
to market gardening. He' was a very prominent 
and intluen'tial man -in his community, one whose 
integrity was never questioned, and he was called 
u|)on ti) serve as selectman of Hamden several 
\ears, and twice as member of the Legislature. 
lie was a Democrat in political sentiment. Relig- 
iouslv he was a member of the F.piscopal church of 
]-'air Haven. I'li\>ically .Mr. Potter was short in 
stature and .stnutly built. Mr. and Mrs. Potter 
liad horn to them a family of twelve chil- 
dren, the others besides lulwin lieiiig as fol- 
lows: Amelia M., born May 4, 1822, married 
Charles Tultle, and died J'uly 3, 1887; Henry J., 
born Nov. 17. 1823, died April 29, 1829; Samuel 
J-'., born .\ug. 11. 1825, died in North Haven, 
June f>. 1874; Horace 1!.. born July 28, 1827, is 
living retire<l in .Muscatine, Iowa; Henry S., born 
Sept. 30. 1821;, makes liis home in Detroit, Mich.; 
I'.dwin I'.., born l"eb. 13. 1831, died Sept. 29, 1832; 
iuiiily M., born .Aug. 28. 1834, died July 2, 1852; 
.'^arah 1".. born .March 30, 1838, died March 23, 
1853; Catherine A., born July 12, 1841, died March 
(1, 1852: one s:in died the dav of his birth; and 
.uinott (.'., born .\pril 3, 1843. '* '' resident of 
i lamdeii, 

ICdwin W. putter parsed his earlv life upon the 
farm \\-liere he now resides, and he obtained his 
literarv education in the common schools of the 
localitx-, attending the little old brick school at 
I'.ast Plains, Hamden. and a short time at Center- 
ville, at Rev. C. W. bAercst's school. On leaving 
home, at the age of twenty-two years, he moved 
to the farm now occu[)ied by b'lihu Davis, and upon 
that ]ilace lived for seven years. In 1861 he began 
the erection of his present residence u])on the old 
Home farm, and upon 'its completion, in the spring 
of 1862, took \\\) his abode there. Here he owns 
forty acres of land, and also has i)roperty elsewhere. 



his landed possessions aggregating 125 acres, a 
part of wdiich is valuable clay adapted for brick 
making, which he utilizes in that way. Formerly 
in connection with the manufacture of brick he also 
engaged extensively in market gardening, planting 
thirty acres of his land in vegetables of all kinds, 
and he raises considerable small fruit upon his 
place. He successfully carried on his brickyard 
from 1870 to 1898, and in all his undertakings has 
steadily prospered. 

On Oct. 21, 1857, Mr. Potter was united in 
marriage in P'air Haven with Miss Eveline M. 
New^tou, who was born in Winchester, N. H., on 
Christmas Day, 1836, and at the age of thirteen 
years came to Fair Haven, Conn., with her parents, 
Norman B. and Mary (Alexander) Newton, mak- 
ing her home there until her marriage. To this 
union came three children, namely; Burton D., 
born in October, 1864, is engaged in business with 
his father and resides at home. Evelyn N., living 
at home, graduated from the New Haven high 
school in the class of 1890, and later attended St. 
Agnace School at Albany, N. Y. Edwin ]\L died 
at the age of sixteen months. 

The Democratic party finds in Air. Potter a 
stanch supporter of its principles, and he has been 
honored with public office, having served as a mem- 
ber of the State Legislature in 1874, the last ses- 
sion held at New Haven, during which he was a 
member of the committee on Cities and Boroughs. 
In the fall of 1900 he was again elected to the 
Legislature. Plis majority of 163 in a town where 
the normal Republican majority is 300, speaks for 
his esteem. During his last term he was a member 
of the committee on Humane Institutions. Mr. 
Potter has been selectman of Hamden for ten con- 
secutive vears, and thirteen years altogether. Fra- 
ternally lie is a member of Day Spring Lodge, F. 
6L a. M., of Hamden ; and religiously both he and 
his wife are active and prominent members of St. 
James Episcopal Church, of Fair Haven, of which 
he has been a member for forty-five years, and 
warden for over twenty-five years. Wherever 
known he is held in high regard, and has many 
friends throughdut the county. The familv stand 
high socially. 

JUDGE SAMUEL J. BRYANT, one of the 
prominent citizens of New Haven county, is a na- 
tive of Massachusetts, born June 26, 1851, in West 
Stockbridge. 

Rev. Sidney Bryant, father of our subject, was 
born Dec. 15, 1812, in Sheffield, Mass., where he 
lived enjoying, until the death of his father, in 1830, 
the advantages and discipline common to farmers' 
sons in those days. In the spring of the follow- 
ing year he went to New Lebanon, N. Y., to learn 
the trade of mason, intending to remain there three 
years; but during the summer, while attending a 
four days' religious meeting, he was converted, and 
soon united with the Presli\-terian Church, .\fter 





^^^h^u^yrt^^ 





COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



i33 



teaching school for a time, he commenced to study 
for the ministry, and in 1833 he entered the Oneida 
Institute at VVhitesboro, X. V., graduating there- 
from in 1837. From \Vhiteshoro lie went to Troy 
and joined a class in theology under Dr. Ueman and 
Prof. Larned, his second year in theology l)eing 
spent at New Haven. On Aug. 6, 1839, he was li- 
censed as a preacher by the Hartford South Asso- 
ciation, and he preached in various places. In 1841 
he was installed in West Stockbridge, Mass., re- 
maining there twelve years, and from 1855 to i860 
he served the Church in East Granby, in the fall of 
the latter year locating in Twinsburg, Ohio, where 
he remained eight years. He then spent a year in 
Oberlin for the educational ailvantages of the i)lace ; 
preached two years in York, five in \'ermilion and 
two in Waterford, Pa. In the spring of 1877 he 
retired from active work and remained so until his 
death at Middletown. He was a faithful and zeal- 
ous servant of the Master, and a member of the 
Litchfield South Association. 

On Feb. 23, 1841, Rev. Siilney Bryant was mar- 
ried to Harriet Warner Lord, who was born in 
Canaan, N. Y., one of the ten children of Deacon 
Joshua and ^lary (Douglas) Lord, farming people. 
Rev. Sidney Bryant died Xov. 3, 1885, aged seventy- 
three years, and his wife in 1886, when seventy-one 
years old. To their union were born three children, 
two of whom survive: Judge Samuel J., our sub- 
ject, and Mrs. Harriet L. Burke, of W'allingford. 

Judge Samuel J. Bryant was graduated from 
Oberlin College in 1873, and from Yale Theologi- 
cal Seminary in 1876. In the winter of 1869-70 he 
taught his first school in York, Ohio; winter of 
1870-71, taught at Briar Hill, Ohio; winter of 1871- 
^2, taught at Brownhelm, Ohio; winter of 1872-73, 
tauglit in winter school at Oberlin ;winter of 1873- 
74, taught at Weston, \'t., this last teaching being 
while he was a member of the Theological school at 
, Yale University. From July, 1876, to July. 1884, 
he was pastor of the Congregational Church at 
South Britain, Conn., at the latter date moving to 
West Haven, Conn., in the following November be- 
coming identified with the Maltby, Stevens & Curciss 
Co., of Wallingford, Conn, \\'hile a member of 
Yale Theological Seminary, lie spent the summer 
vacation of 1874 in supplying a Congregational 
Church at Braintree Hill, Vt., under appointment of 
the \'ermont Home Missionary Society. The vaca- 
tion of 1875 he spent in sup])lying the Congrega- 
tional Church at Weston, \'t., where he had for- 
merly taught school, and during his last year at 
the seminary, he preached every Sabbath except 
three in Connecticut churches. Thus by teaching 
and preaching, and in other ways, he paid a large 
part of the expense of his education, and to 
his credit be it said that while in college he 
earned some money by sawing wood and work- 
ing in gardens. He says he ahvays found time 
for and greatly enjoyed athletic sports, espec- 
iallv baseball. He found it easv work in his 



studies, but not until he reached the seminary did 
he apply himself assiduously and try to improve his 
opportunities. His college honors were confined to 
the literary society and the athletic field. In one 
annual contest between three college societies, he 
was one of two to represent the society of which he 
was a member. 

The first ambition of our suljject was to be a 
farmer, later, however, deciding to bectjine a physi- 
cian, which choice he held to until the second term 
of his senior year in college, when he resolved on 
the ministry for his life w^ork. The one wlio most 
influenced hini to study for the ministry was, he 
avers. Doctor Noble, of Oberlin, with whom he lived 
during the winter of 1872-73 for the i)urpose 
largely of becoming initiated in the study of medi- 
cine ; and yet a greater influence was that of Alex. 
.\lexander, an alumnus of Yale, himself preventeil 
by poor health from preaching, but, as Mr. Bryant 
says, the most enthusiastic and devoted man he ever 
knew, in respect to the ministry. 

When Rev. Bryant resigned his pastorate it was 
at the time a necessity on account of his aged and 
infirm parents, and for the same reason he was at 
a loss to know when he could resume the work ; so, 
rather than be dependent, he chose to accept a favor- 
able opening in business (with the Maltby, Stevens & 
Curtiss Co., 1884, previously mentioned), to which 
at that time (Nov. 10, 1884) he thought he was 
better adapted than to a professional life. 

In 1892, having finally decided to take up the 
profession of law. Judge Bryant entered the law 
department of Yale University, and was admitted to 
the Bar in June, 1895, immediately opening a law 
office in New Haven. The position he had accepted 
in 1884 he held up to 1891, when he went into part- 
nership with Walter A. Main, in the insurance and 
real estate business in West Haven, Conn., and this 
continued until 1896, in which year, on account of 
I his increased practice of law, the partnershi]) was 
dissolved. It may lie added that his [iractice is 
mainly in the Probate Court. 

In politics Judge Bryant is a Rejiublican and 
takes an active part in the affairs of the ])arty. In 
j November, 1888, he was elected to rejircsent the 
town of Orange in the Legislature of 1889-90, and 
while serving there he was chairman of the commit- 
tee on contested elections and clerk of the committee 
on humane institutions. In April, 1895, he was ap- 
pointed judge of the Orange Town Court. He was 
delegate from the Town of Orange to the constitu- 
tional convention. While a resident of South Brit- 
ain he was a member of the school board, and has 
since for several years held a similar position in 
West Haven ; was also member of the board of 
wardens and burgesses, was chairman of the Re- 
publican town committee, and served as assessor. 
In the Congregational Church he takes an active 
interest. On Aug. 3, 1888, he was elected deacon 
in same at W'est Haven; in January, 1891, was 
elected superintendent of the Sabbath-school ; at 



534 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



present he is chairman of the board of deacons, and 
is also treasurer. 

Fraternally Jiulgc i'.ryant helongs to the F. & A. 
jNI., having been made a l-'reemason in January, 
i8yi : in June, 1S9J, joined .\ew liaven Com- 
niandcry, No. 2, Knights Templar; ]\larch, 1896, 
was elected to 32d degree ; is ])ast master of Anna- 
wan Lodge, No. 115, New Haven, and has been 
district deputy for New JIaven county; is member 
of the Chapter and Council, and in the Commandcry 
has held the office of eminent connnander, and h: 
the Grand Commandery of Connecticut is scmor 
warden. He is a charter member of the United 
Workmen Lodge at New iia\en, of which he was 
the first financial secretary, and was also at one time 
identified with the Knights of Honor; and he is 
a member of the Samoset Club, of West Haven ; of 
the Knight Templar Club, of New Haven; and Adi- 
rondack League Club, of New York, a club organ- 
ized for forest preservation and hunting and fish- 
ing, owning 88,000 acres and capitalized at $500,000 
— the largest club of its kind, and it contains a dis- 
tinguished membership, 2O5 at jiresent. 

In 1876 Judge liryant was married to Ellen Ty- 
ler, who was born in New Haven, the only daugh- 
ter and only living child nf the famil\- of Dr. Da- 
vid A. .-md i'.lizabeth ( Akiltl))) Tyler, the former of 
whom, bcjrn at Northford, was for forty years a 
practicing physician in New Haven, the latter be- 
ing now deceased, b'cnir children, all born in South 
L'.ritain, came of this union, the eldest of whom, 
Robert \\'., died at the age of thirteen, and Ellen T. 
at the age of seven, both being drowned ; Harriet 
E., born .March 1 1, 1877, is the wife of Howard W. 
Thompson, cashier of the National Tradesman's 
Bank, New Haven (they have one daughter, Doris) ; 
and Douglas L., born Nov. ly, 1881, member of 
Sheffield Scientific Schdul. 

HIRA.M W. RANDALL (deceased) was born 
at Lridgepnri Sf]jt. 0. 18,^1. His father, who also 
bore the name nf lliram, died when his son was 
an infant in arms; he married Sally Pritchard, 
whose birthplace was Seymour, and who was a 
daughter of Levcrelt I'ritcbard, who died on ship- 
board during the war for independence. 

After the death of bis father (jur subject was 
tenderly reared by his widowed mother. He en- 
joyed such educational advantages as were af- 
forded by the common schools, and while yet a 
youth entered the store of Lucius Tuttle as a clerk. 
He was industrious, ecnnoniieal and far-sighteil, 
and it was not many years before he was able to 
purchase his em])loyer's business. He was emi- 
nently successful as a merchant, being at once keen 
and n[jrigbt, sagacious and liberal. He was re- 
puted to be one of the best buyers in the Nauga- 
luck \'alley, and being satisfied with reasonable 
profits, his trade grew apace. He was public-si)ir- 
ited and ])opular, and for more than a quarter of a 
century was the most prosperous dealer in his sec- 



tion. He died at the age of fifty-six, enjoying an 
unblemished reputation, esteemed by his fellow 
men, and sincerely mourned by his friends. 

In 1854 Mr. Randall married Aliss Martha 
Al. Gilbert, who is yet living in the house where 
she was born, which was erected by Gen. Hum- 
phrey, of Revolutionary fame, and bought by her 
father. She comes of a long line of distinguished 
ancestors, many of whom — in both direct and col- 
lateral lines — gained renown as patriot soldiers 
during the struggle wdiich began in 1776 and 
was terminated by the recognition of American in- 
dependence after a seven-years' struggle against 
overwhelming odds. Her genealogical record is a 
most interesting one. Her grandfather, Thomas 
(Gilbert, served in the army of the Revolution. 
While in the service he contracted that dread dis- 
ease small-pox, which resulted in totally depriving 
him of his sight. His home was in Huntington, 
but later in life he removed to Derby, where he 
died after rounding out a well-spent life of ninety 
years. He married Abigail Holbrook, whose fa- 
ther, as well as several of whose brothers, were also 
followers of General Washington. She, too, died 
a nonogenariau, and was the mother of eight chil- 
dren. 

The father of Mrs. Randall was Ezekiel Gil- 
bert, who was born and grew to manhood' in Hunt- 
ington. His early life was spent upon a farm, but 
in 1830 he removed to Seymour, where for several 
\ears he was engaged in trade, enjoying the dis- 
tinction of being one of the town's earliest mer- 
chants. He established his son in business in New 
Haven, and returning to Seymour died there, in 
his fifty-sixth year. His wife's maiden name was 
Sarah Hurd. Her father, Wilson Hurd, was a resi- 
dent of Oxford, where she was born; she died ai 
Great Hill. He, too, served in the war of the Rev- 
olution, and was a man of no little prominence in 
the community, his fellow citizens choosing him to. 
lepresent them in the Legislature, and elevating 
him to the office of selectman. IJoth he and his 
wife were confirmed in the Episcopal Church, and 
were devout members of that eoninuinion until 
their death, Mrs. Ezekiel Gilbert passing away at 
the ripe old age of seventy-five, while her husband 
i)receded her to the grave, in his fifty-sixth year. 

Mrs. Hiram W. Randall has spent her life in 
Seymour. She is one of five widowed sisters : 
Esther A. (Mrs. Stoddard); Catherine (Mrs. 
Minot F. Osborne); Sarah (Mrs. Wilcox); and 
Charlotte (Mrs. Osborne). She is the mother of 
five children, three of wdiom are yet living, (i) 
lulward, the eldest surviving son, is a resident of 
Seymour. He was educated in the common schools 
and at Cheshire Academy. For some years he was 
employed in his father's store, but subsequently 
became connected with the .Silver Plate Co., of 
Shelton. He married Ehzabeth Steinmetz, who 
was born in New York City, and two children have 
been born t" them, Kate and lliram. (2) Walter 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



535- 



Randall, the next son, was for several years super- 
intendent of the Silver Plate Co., of Shelton, and 
is now bookkeeper fur the Whitlock Manufactur- 
ing Co., of that town, lie married Olive X'oulette 
Whitlock, whose father, H. Sturgis Whitlock, was 
one of the founders of the Whitlock Machine Co., 
of Shelton, and the inventor of the press they 
manufacture. Mr. and Mrs. Walter Randall have 
one child, Gilbert E. {2,) Cilbert, the youngest of 
Mrs. Randall's three living children, graduated from 
the Xorwalk Military Institute, and has been in the 
employ of Price, Lee & Co., of New Haven, as a 
pressman. 

.Mrs. Randall, as were her i)arents, is a member 
of the Episcopal Church, and is a communicant at 
Trinity, in Se)mour. She is a member of Sarah 
Ludlow Chapter, Daughters of the American Rev- 
olution, of Seymour, and was for many years a 
member of the Woman's Club of that town. Mr. 
Randall was a Democrat jwlitically, but he voted 
independently, supporting the best man. 

EGBERT E. PARDEE, ex-deputy judge and 
clerk of the town court of Orange, was born Dec. 
16, 1840, in West Haven, and belongs to one of 
the pioneer families of that section. His grand- 
father, Silas Pardee, was a native of the town of 
Orange, where he followed farming during his ac- 
tive years. His death occurred in middle age. 
■This worthy citizen married Elizabeth Ailing, and 
they had twelve children. 

Wyllys Pardee, our subject's lather, was born 
and reared in Orange, and as the eldest of a large 
family, he was early trained to hard work. He 
possessed much intelligence, and although his edu- 
cation was restricted to the common schools he be- 
came well informed by private reading. When a 
young man lie learned the cooper's trade, which he 
followed in his town for some time, and afterward 
in the South and in New Haven. Later he bought 
a small farm in the village of \\'est Haven, to 
which he retired, and there spent a good old age, 
d_\ing at seventy-seven. He married Isabella 
lirockett. a native of the village of West Haven, 
and daughter of Capt. Benjamin Brockett, master 
of a vessel, who was lost at sea. Her mother, 
Rachel (Clark), who lived to the age of seventy- 
six, was a member of an old and respected family 
of the village of W^est Haven. Benjamin and 
Rachel I'rockett had six children, but none are now 
living. Our subject's mother, who was the only 
daughter, died at the age of seventy-seven. The 
Clarks, Brocketts and Pardees have usually been 
identified, with the Congregational Church, and our 
subject was reared in that faith. He was the 
voungest of a family of four children, the others 
being: George W^, of North Haven; Alfred B., 
who served in the Civil war, being a member of the 
I4tli Conn. W . I., and who died at the Soldiers' 
Home in Noroton, Conn., in .\ugust, 1898; and 
Silas S., a carpenter in West Haven. 



Egbert E. Pardee was educated in the common 
scnools of his native town and in Brown's Male 
Seminary, attending until he reached the age of 
nineteen. He then assisted his father for some 
_\ears, and at twenty-seven left home and engaged 
in the house painter's trade, which he followed un- 
til 1887. Since that time his public duties have de- 
manded all his time. On Dec. 21, 18O8, he mar- 
ried ^liss Maria L. Kclscy, and they had two chil- 
dren : Bertha Isabel, who died aged si.x years ; 
and Martha E., who was educated in the public 
schools of West tiaven, and at a private school in 
New Haven, and died Aug. i, 1899, aged twenty- 
four years. Mrs. Pardee was born in Croiuwell, 
Conn., daughter of William Kelsey, a farmer, who 
died in early manhood; his wife, Elizabeth (Teal), 
was a native of New York City. To William and 
Elizabeth Kelsey were born children as follows : 
Mrs. Howard Smith, of W'atertown ; Mrs. William 
A. Waterbury, wife of the superintendent of the 
Shore line division of the Consolidated Railroad, 
residing in New Haven ; Mrs. Pardee ; David, re- 
siding in CromweU ; Revilo, a well-known mer- 
cnant of Middletown, Conn.; and William W ., 
cashier in the freight office of the Consolidated 
Railroad at Belle Dock, New Haven. The mother 
is still living, at the age of eighty-two years, and 
is a much respected member of tlie .Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

The Judge is an ardent Republican, and from 
an early age has been iuHuential in public matters, 
bis wide jjopularity making liim a most desirable 
candidate. He has served on the board of town- 
ship assessors fifteen years, being chairman of that 
board except during the first year, and for ten 
years he was on the borough board. In 1886 he 
was elected justice of the peace as wxll as assessor, 
and he continued as trial justice of the town until 
the establishment of the town court in 1895, when 
he was appointed to the position of deputy judge 
and clerk of tlie town court. This appointment 
was for two years, and at the end of that time he 
v>-as reappointed, serving until 1899, when he was 
again reapjwinted, to serve until 1901. During the 
time of his service as trial justice he did a large 
amount of work, and had a great number of cases, 
and the duties of his late incumbency he dispatched 
with marked ability. The appreciation of the pub- 
lic is shown by the fact that he has been success- 
ively elected at yearly elections since 1886, making 
fifteen years in all. He was one of the building 
committee of the new town hall. When the new 
Cnion school building was erected he was on the 
school committee, and was the ins])cctor of build- 
ing from start to finish, overlooking all the work. 

EDWIN FR.WCIS Ml'.RSlCK, who died 
April 8, 1898, was throughout his active life prom- 
inently identified witli liusiness interests in the city 
of New Haven, where he matle his home from 
boyhood. P)\- diligence and ]u-rseverance he 



536 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



gained a high standing in tlie commercial world, 
where as a successful man of affairs his judg- 
ment was sought and highly valued. 

Mr. Mersick was Ixirn in Xew Vork City Jan. 
8, 1838, son of John C. and Sarah (Daggett) Mer- 
sick, the former a native of ISoston, Mass., the 
latter of New Haven. John C. Mersick lived re- 
tired in Xew IJaven for some years jjrior to his 
death, which occurred in that city in January, 1887. 
His wife lived to the atlvanced age of eightv. 
J hey were the parents of two children, Edwin 
Francis (our subject) and Charles Smith. 

Edwin 1'". Mersick was reared in New Haven, 
and in his early years attended both public and 
private school.s. lie commenced liusiness life as 
a clerk with luiglish, Dickman & English, and 
finally formed a ])artnersliip with James G. Eng- 
lish, continuing in business up to the time of his 
death. J It; was a director in the Mechanics Bank, 
treasurer of the i\aitan Chair Co., and connected 
Ml various other ways with the most important in- 
dustries of the citv, taking also an active interest 
in public affairs and improvements. 

Mr. Mersick was twice married, his Hrst wife 
having been F.niily Augusta Cannon, by whom he 
had one daughter, Sarah Emily, who is now the 
wife of I'^ederick T. Bradley. I-"or his second 
wife Mr. Mersick wedded Mary Emma Lewis, 
who survives him. Mr. Mersick was an active 
member of Trinity C lunch, in which he served as 
vestryman, and socially he belonged to the Ouinni- 
piac Club and oilier organizations. He took 
especial deliglit in bnoks. and was an unusually 
well-read man. 

ORLANDO JCJXES. Among the reliable, 
substantial and prosperous farmers of Hamden, 
New Haven county, there is probably no one who 
stands Ifigher in the public estimation than the 
gentleman wliose name introduces this sketch. He 
was born in the town of Meredith, Delaware Co., 
N. \., April n;, 1827. a son of Edward and Nancy 
(Churchill) Jones. When he was five years of 
age the family removed to Wayne county. I'enn., 
where they lived initil 184.^. and then came to 
Hannlen, Conn. Here the father died at the age 
of sixty-six years. He had eight children, of 
whon^ our subject is the oldest; Almira (Mrs. D. 
C. Stel)bins) is now a resident of Vergennes, Vt. ; 
Edwin is deceased ; Willis lives in Buffalo, N. Y. ; 
Charles makes his home in Bristol, Conn. ; Malinda 
is the wife of Edward Jones, of Hamden; Emma 
is deceased; and I'-liza is the wife of Harry Davis, 
of Wallingford, Connecticut. 

Orlando Jones was educated in the public 
sciiools of Pennsylvania, where he made his home 
until seventeen years of age. On coming to Ham- 
den, lie entered the auger factory of his maternal 
uncles, Joel N. & Levi Churchill, which is now 
owned by the Hamden .Manufacturing Co., at 
Augerville. and there he learned the trade of 



auger making. After working for that firm eight 
years, he went to Westville, Conn., where he was 
employed in Wales French's auger factory from 
1852 to 1857, and then entered the iron foundry 
of Guv Hotchkiss, manufacturer of axles, and was 
in his eniplov until 1869, since which time he has 
been engaged in farming and market gardening 
iipon the farm in Hamden where be now Hves ; 
and he has built all the buildings thereon, the home 
being erected there in 1862. 

On April 18, 1855, Mr. Jones was united in 
marriage with Miss Sylva J. Thomas, daughter of 
Caleb and Hattie Thomas, and by this union two 
sons were born: (i) Lester O., a market gardener 
of Hamden, married Miss Alabel Ripley, of Paris, 
Me.; he is one of the selectmen of Hamden. (2) 
Burton T., also a market gardener of Hamden, 
married Miss Alice Woodcock, a native of Eng- 
land, who came to the United States when a girl. 
I'raternally Mr. Jones affiliated with Day Spring 
Lodge, No. 30, 1". & A. M., and politically is identi- 
fied with the Republican party. As a citizen he 
has the good of the community at heart and gives 
his supiKirt to those enterprises calculated to ad- 
vance the general welfare. He is a self-made man 
in the fullest sense. His start in the world was 
his own ambition and his energy, and his life has 
been a busy and active one, but withal he is a very 
well ])rcservcd man. 

Jll-.XRV HOMER OLDS, deceased. For al- 
most sixty-four years Henry H. Olds, of New Ha- 
ven, lived a life of industry and uprightness, and at 
his death June 16, 1888, he left behind him a rec- 
ord of honorable dealing and Christian conduct. 

The 'birth of Mr. Olds occurred July 6, 1825, 
in New Haven. Homer Olds, his father, was a na- 
tive of Southwick, Mass., and his mother, Clarissa 
(Avery) Olds, was born in Wallingford, Conn. The 
Olds family is an old one in the State of Massachu- 
setts, the early records telling of five brothers of 
the name coming over in the "Mayflower"' and set- 
tling there. Homer Olds was a cigar maker by 
trade and followed it in New Haven until his death, 
when he left two children: Henry H., the subject 
of this biography ; and Ann, who married a Mr. 
Stout, also a cigar maker, who removed to the State 
of New Jersey. The mother passed away at the 
residence of her son in New Haven. 

At the age of fourteen, Henry H. Olds began 
his business career as a farmer boy on the estate of 
Capt. Samuel Thompson, in East Haven, leaving 
there to go to New "S'ork, to act as errand boy in a 
livery stable for his uncle. Erastus Beach. Two 
years later he returned to New Haven and first 
learned the blacksmith and boiler making trade, and 
later the brass molding trade, following tJie latter 
until 1851. We arc not infomied what turned his 
attention to the pic-making 'business, in which he 
so signally succeeded, and by which he accumulated 
a large fortune, but it was in 185 1 that he first began 




"cC 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



537 



it. For cii;lu years Mr. Olds studied every method 
of the pie-making trade, becoming tliorouglily ac- 
quainted with all its details and a competent judge 
of all ingredients. In 1859 he established a pie 
bakery in Providence, R. I., for a short time, but 
the competition was great there, and in iSTir he re- 
turned to New Haven and built the large cstaljlish- 
mcnt at Xo. 403 Chapel street. From the first it 
was a success, for Mr. Olds was its conscientious 
manager himself, and he held his goods to the high 
standard he inaugurated; and before long his trade 
doubled, and continued to grow, until his business 
represented the second largest house of its kind in 
the United States. 

On July 6, 1855, Mr. Olds took to himself a 
wife, fitted in every way to be his capable and con- 
genial companion, this estimable lady still residing 
in New Haven. She was Miss Elizabeth Camp- 
bell, a native of County Down, Belfast, Ireland, a 
daughter of Robert and Sarah (Clemens) Cani])- 
bell. both natives of Ireland, where they spent their 
lives. No children were born of this union, but 
Mrs. Olds takes great interest in charitable and 
church work. Both she and her husband were much 
attached to the Universalist Church, to which Mr. 
Olds contributed freely, even giving a church edifice 
to the society, but his gifts were given so quietly 
that of the major number of them the world knew 
nothing. 

In speaking of the lamented death of Air. Olds, 
the New Haven Palladium said: "Mr. Olds led a 
pure and benevolent life. Patriotic and honest, he 
stood by his country in the dark days of the war, 
and was a friend of the poor and oppressed. He 
was early guided by Christian principles, though not 
until late in life did he make a Christian profession." 

CHARLES L. NORTHROP was born Feb. 
26, 1828, in Bethany, this county, and despite his 
seventy-four years is hale and hearty, and well 
])reserved in both mind and body. 

Bela Northrop, his grandfather, was a native 
of the same town, and followed the occupation of 
a farmer, also running a saw and gristmill. He 
married Betsey Johnson, and to their tniion were 
born five children: Marvin (the father of our 
subject), Allen, George, Clark and Rebecca. 

Marvin Northrop was born in I'ethany, and 
followed farming throughout life, dying at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-one years. He married Mary 
Sperry, who was born Sept. 26, 1805, daughter of 
?\iicah Sperry, a farmer of Bethany, and is still 
living, having passed her ninety-si.xth milestone. 
Eight children were lx)rn to Marvin Northrop and 
his wife, three of whom are deceased, the others 
being as follows: Charles I,, is our subject; Delia 
married David Smith, of W'oodbridge ; Elizur A. 
resides in Brooklyn. N. Y.; Sarah is the wife of 
Julius Merwin. of New Haven; and Marshall is 
associated in business with his lirother Charles. 
Both parents were devout members of the Episco- 



pal Church. Mr. Northro]) was regarded as one 
of the most energetic and successful farmers of 
his day. 

Charles L. Northrop, after reaching manhood, 
bought a farm in W'oodbridge, but subsequently 
learned the carpenter's trade and was for fourteen 
vears a successful contractor and builder. In ad- 
dition he engaged in the manufacture of matches 
at W'oodbridge for twenty-five years. In 1896 he 
disposed of his interest in Bethany and \Vood- 
bridge, and removed to West Haven, at first oc- 
cupying a house not far from his present location. 
It was not long, however, before he secured the 
very desirable proi)erty which he now occupies, 
and' to which he has given the very appropriate 
name of "Fairview," inasmuch as it overlooks a 
wide and fascinating marine landscape. Here he 
entertains boarders, and the house has already be- 
come a popular resort for pleasure seekers. 

On July 14, 1850, Mr. Northrop was married 
to Adeline F. .\ndrew, a daughter of Nehcmiah 
and Phinctt (Sperry) .Andrew, prosperous farm- 
ing peo])le of Bethany. I'ive children have 
blessed their union, and three are yet living: (i) 
Mary married William H. Beecher, a successful 
ice dealer of New Haven, and has one daughter, 
Addie, who is now the wife of Burt Dickerson, 
superintendent of a trolley line in .Salisbury, Mass., 
and has one daughter, Lila. (2) Elmer was form- 
erly a blacksmith in Bethany, where he is now in 
tne carpenter business ; he married Lucia North- 
rop, and is the father of four children, Clara 
(Mrs. Louis Sandland), Viola, Sadie and Charles. 
(3) William, the youngest, is his father's partner in 
business; he married Marv Moody, who died Sept. 
28, 1899. 

Politically Mr. Ndrthroj) is a Democrat, and 
was an efficient member of the board of relief in 
W'oodbridge. He commands universal respect, 
alike for his qualities of head and heart. 

STEPHEN CL'V GILl'.ERT is a representa- 
tive merchant as well as one of the substantial 
and thorough business men of the town of North 
Haven. His ancestors were old and honored set- 
tlers of Connecticut, and' his grandfather, Stephen 
Gilbert, was a native of Hamden, where he fol- 
lowed farming on the old place now known as the 
Pickett farm. He is remembered as a quiet man, 
who lived a typical rural life, farming e.Ktensively 
and dealing justly by his neighbors, the only prom- 
inence he desired being in the Episcopal Church, 
of which he was a devout member. He married 
Betsey Fowler, of New Haven, and they had two 
children : Chloe and Stephen C. The daughter 
married Alfred Bassett, and lived in Hamden, 
later in New Haven, where Mr. Bassett held an 
important office in the Customs House. 

Stephen C. Gilbert was born May 7. 1802, in 
Harrington, where his father owned a farm and 
was living at that time. His education was only 



538 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



that afforded by the district schools, but he so 
apphed himself to liis Ijooks that he was able to 
teacli, through the wiiiurs, and worked on a farm 
during the summers. After his marriage he 
opened a general store in Centerville, town of 
Hamden, which he conducted several years. Dis- 
posing of his mercantile business in 1830, he came 
to North Haven, where he opened a general store 
in the basement of his house, which is located 
next to the store of his son, and remained until 
mcreasing business made necessarv the erection of 
the present building used as a store. ^Ir. Gilbert 
was an energetic and intelligent man, and but for 
the lack of ' early education might have become 
prominent in many lines, his natural ability mak- 
ing him a leader m many things in spite of disad- 
vantages. His accomplishments as a penman were 
well known. .\Imnsi any local position of honor 
was open to him, and during 1875-/6 he repre- 
sented the town m the Legislature ; for a number 
of years he served as town clerk. Many sought 
his advice in business, and he was always ready to 
assist any wlio came to him. His death, which 
occurred in h'ebruary, 1886, was mourned by the 
whole connnuniiy. His devoted and estimable 
wife, Luanna 1'. .\bbott, was born April 3, 1810, 
in North Haven, a daughter (if John Ablx)tt. a 
merchant there. Iler death occurred in Decem- 
ber, 1891. .Slie was a kind and charitable neigh- 
bor. Cliildren were born of this union as follows: 
Stephen G. ; George Edward; Anna l\Iaria, who 
married F. K. Ives^of Mt. Carmel ; John Pierson ; 
and Mary, who married A. E. Austin. 

Stephen (1. Gilbert was born July 18, 1829, in 
the town of Genterville, came with his parents to 
North Haven when he was but a year old, and 
received his education in the district schools. 
When old enough he left home and entered the 
eni])l()y of 1 5. Douglass & .Son, confectioners of 
New Haven, as traveling salesman o\er the State 
of Connecticut, and remained with them twenty 
years, at the expiration of that lime returning to 
North llaven and entering the sture of his father, 
where he was needed. After his father's death he 
took charge, of the business ami has successfullv 
conducted it ever since. ]""rom 1885 to 1889 Mr. 
(iilbert was postmaster, under President Cleve- 
land, i)ut has never been willing to accept local of- 
fices. Commereiallv and socially he is one of the 
representative citizens of North Haven. 

Air. Gilbert married Celia Louise Fish, a na- 
tive of Grand \"iew, N. Y., and a daughter of Asa 
N. and Harriet (Crossett) Fisli. .Mr. and Mrs. 
Gilbert have one of the most desirable residences 
in the town. They are members of St. John's 
Episco])al Church. 

CHARLES SAMCEL GILLETTE, one of 
the most progressive citizens and prominent agri- 
culturists of Cheshire, was bcirn in I'ulchestcr, 
New London Co., Conn., July 15, 1840. and traces 



his ancestry back to the first Puritan settlers in 
New England. The family was originally from 
France, but removed to England during the days 
of William the Conqueror, and from the latter 
country came to America, first locating in Alassa- 
chusetts, and later in Windsor, Conn. Descend- 
ants of these pioneers are now widely scattered 
over the American continent. 

Sanuiel S. Gillette, the father of our subject, 
was also a native of Colchester, and a son of Sam- 
uel Gillette, a farmer and land owner of New Lon- 
don county, where his death occurred. The fa- 
tner received a good common-school education, and 
for several years successfully engaged in teaching 
in the district schools of his native county. Sub- 
sequently he located upon a farm in the town of 
Colchester, and devoted the remainder of his life 
to general farming and stock raising and dealing. 
He was a Whig and later a Republican in politics, 
was an active member of the Congregational 
Church. an<l was quite a prominent and highly re- 
spected man in his community. He married Jose- 
phine llabcock, a native of East Haddam, Middle- 
sex count}-, and a daughter of Samuel Babcock, 
one of the old and respected settlers of that place, 
and a descendant of an old Rhode Island family. 
Py this union were born four children : Charles 
Samuel, subject of this sketch; Oscar, who died in 
New C)rleans while a soldier of the Civil war; 
Dwight, wdio lives on the old homestead ; and 
Selden L., a resident of Ken-t, Ohio. Both par- 
ents died on the old homestead, and were buried 
in Colchester cemetery. The mother was also an 
earnest member of the Congregational Church, 

The primary education of Charles S. Gillette 
was obtained in the district schools near his boy- 
hood home, and was supplemented by a course at 
the Colchester Academy. He remained under the 
parental roof until attaining man's estate, and 
learned the carpenter's and joiner's trade, at which 
he worked for several years, and then bought a 
farm, which he operated for two years. At the 
end of that time he removed to the town of Meri- 
den, where he followed farming until coming to 
Cheshire, in 1874, when he purchased the Anson 
Tuttle farm nf fifty-three acres, which he has 
since greatly improved. In. connection with farm- 
ing he contiiuied to work at his trade in the town 
of Cheshire and other sections of the county for 
several years, and in 1890 embarked in the feed 
and agricultural implement business. He now 
represents several different manufacturers of fami 
machinery in the L^nited States, and is also agent 
for fertilizers. He is a man of good business and 
executive ability, is enterprising and progressive, 

I and upright and honorable in all his dealings. 

I Mr. Gillette was married, in Stroudsburg, Pa., 
to Miss Emma Laing, a native of Johnsonburg, 
Warren Co., N. J., who is well educated and is a 
talented musician. Mrs. Gillette is a daughter of 
Joseph C. and Phiebe A. (Bunting) Laing, na- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



539 



lives of the same vicinity. Her grandparents were 
Samuel and Editli (Lundy) Laing, natives of 
New Jersey and New York, respectively. The 
family has been traced back to Aberdeen, Scot- 
land. To Mr. and Airs, (iillette have been born 
two children : Charles, deceased ; and Dwight 
Laing. They have taken three girls to rear, one 
of whom is deceased. The eldest, Minna Bunting, 
is now the wife of AV. Percy Bristol, of IMeriden ; 
tiie youngest. Amy. is now a student in the public 
schools. Dwight L. Gillette was educated in the 
Episcopal Academy of Cheshire, and holds a di- 
])lonia from the Amherst (.Mass.) Agricultural 
College. Air. and Airs, (iillette are members of 
the Congregational Church, and he is a Republi- 
can in politics. He is a charter member of the 
Grange, and has served as chaplain of the same ; 
and has been elected to several local positions of 
honor and trust, having served as selectman of 
Cheshire and also assessor and justice of the peace, 
the duties of which offices he most capably and 
satisfactorily discharged. 

GL.\D\\TX. This family, of which Gilbert A. 
Gladwin, one of .Meriden's highly respected citi- 
zens, and the late Hon. Russell S. Gladwin, were 
descendants, is one of the oldest and most respect- 
ed in Middlesex county, and is of English origin. 

Joseph Gladwin, the grandfather of Gilbert A., 
was bom in Saybrook, Middlesex Co., Conn., in 
1763, was a farmer, and served as a soldier in the 
war of the Revolution. His life ended in Saybrook, 
May 3, 1823. His four sons were Silas, Elisha, 
Alva and Joseph. 

Joseph Gladwin (2), son of Joseph (1), was 
born Dec. 22, 1791, in .Saybrcnak, and was engaged 
through life in agricultural pursuits. His death 
occurred at an advanced age, and ne rests in Deep 
River cemetery. In politics he was an Old-line 
Whig, anu for many years he was a leading mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church. Joseph Gladwin was 
married in Saybrook to Sally Doane, who was born 
June 3, 1796, a daughter of Edmund and Sally 
(Bushnell) Doane, and died Feb. 6, 1874. Chil- 
dren as lollows were born to them : Chapman, 
born June 2, 1819, resides in-Essex, Conn.; Almira, 
born March 6, 1821, married William L. Jones 
and died April 29, 1887; Russell Samuel and Gil- 
bert A., both mentioned below; Juliet, born Dec. 
27, 1828. dietl Alarch 3, 1829; Joseph S., born 
Alarch 2, 1830, served in the 15th Conn. V. I., dur- 
ing the Civil war, and is a painter in Westbrook, 
Conn. ; Juliet, born July 30, 1832, married L. E. 
Dennison, of Saybrook, and died I'^b. 16, 1857; 
Augustus T., born Alay 19, 1835, "^'^'"^l April 15, 
i8f)2; and Ecford H., born July 16, 1838, is a 
blacksmith in Essex. 

The late Russell S.\mui;i. Gi.adwix was born 
in Saybrook Aug. 23, 1823. grew up on the farm, 
was educated in the district and private schools. 
He learned blacksmithing, and coming to Meriden 



engaged in work at his trade, with Lucius Smith 
as a partner, later becoming a foreman in the forg- 
ing department of the I'arker Bros, gun factory, 
in which he was a director. Still later he became 
a member of a stock company which engaged in 
the manufacture of steel shears, this concern after- 
ward being known as the Aliller Bros. Cutlery Co. 
After disposing of his interest in this company, 
Mr. Gladwin engaged for a number of years, in- 
dependently, in the same line of work. In 1849 
he joined the gold seekers in California, and re- 
mained three years. Late in life he became an 
invalid, and was kindly cared for by his brother 
Gilbert A., who also looked after his business in- 
terests. For many years Mr. Gladwin was a prom- 
inent Republican, was a member of the city coun- 
cil, and the second mayor of Meriden, holding the 
office with credit and ability ; the first mayor was 
the venerable Charles Parker. Air. Gladwin was 
a prominent member of the Baptist Society, a good 
Uian, an excellent citizen, beloved by his family 
and the community. Socially he had long been a 
member of Center Lodge, No. 97, A. F. & .A. AL, 
of Aleriden. The death of this prominent citizen 
occurred May 15, 1900, and his interment took 
place in Walnut Grove cemetery. In 1847 1'^' was 
married to Eunice A, Averill, who was born in 
Branford, Conn., daughter of David and Polly 
Averill. Two children were born to this union, 
both of whom died in infancy. Airs. Gladwin 
passed away April 15, 1895, at the age of seventy- 
two years, and was buried in Walnut Grove cem- 
etery. She, too, had been a consistent member of 
the Baptist Church. 

Gilbert A. Gl.adwix was born on the old 
homestead in Saybrook, Sept. 12, 1826. His edu- 
cation was obtained in the district and private 
schools, and until early manhood he worked on 
the home farm. Possessed of business ability and 
mechanical genius, while still a young man he be- 
came a manufacturer of joiners' tools, carrying- 
on a successful business in Winthrop until 1861, 
at which time he accepted a position as pattern- 
maker in the l^arker gun shop, in Aleriden. Mr. 
Gladwin and Philo Hart were the makers of the 
pattern for the first printing-press in Aleriden, 
which was used by Tlic Recorder, established by 
the well-known Luther Riggs. Until 1865 Air. 
Gladwin remained with the Parker Co., and then, 
in association with H. R. Tooley, he embarked 
in the furniture business, the firm style being 
Tooley & Gladwin. This partnership lasted until 
1869, when Air. Gladwin bought the interest of 
Air. Tooley and continued with Choate Howard 
until 1879, and with others of the Howard family 
until 1884, when he sold out this enterprise, which 
is now conducted by the Howard Brothers, on 
Colony street. For the past sixteen years Air. 
(iladwin has emplo)-ed his time in looking after 
his own and his brother's real-estate interests. 
For many years he was a very prominent factor 



540 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



in the business world of Meriden, in which lie was 
well and favorably known. 

On Nov. 6, 1848, Mr. Gladwin was married in 
Winthrop, town of Saybrook, to ^larietta E. 
Jones, who was born in Winthrop. Jan. 12, 1827, 
a daughter of Capt. Zina Jones, of .Sa\hrook. Her 
death occurred April 18, 1851, and she was in- 
terred in Winthrop cemetery. Tiie only child of 
this marriage, .Marietta E., was born April 14, 
185 1, and married Edwin P. Hall; their three 
children are Arthur (i.. a newspaper man of New 
York City: Al)liic; and Mabel, the latter engaged 
in the art and embroidery business in Meriden. 
On March 31, 1852, he married for his second wife 
Abigail W. Loomis, who was born May 9, 1826, a 
daughter of Simon and Lydia (Willir.ms) Loomis, 
and a granddaughter of Simon and Sallie (Hol- 
brook) Loomis. Her death occurred in Meriden 
Aug. 6, 1898, and she was buried in Walnut Grove 
cemetery. Mrs. tilaiiwin was a consistent member 
of the iJaptist Church, a lady of Christian charac- 
ter, gracious presence and winning personality. 

Eor over tliirty years .Mr. Gladwin has been a 
deacon in the Main Street Baptist Church, and for 
many years has been an cfificient Sunday-school 
teacher. In his earlier political life he was an 
advocate of the princi]ilcs of the Free-soil party. 
In 1839 he was elected to the Legislature as a 
non-partisan, from the town of Saybrook. At 
present he is a stanch supporter of the Prohibi- 
tionist party, conscientiously believing its princi- 
ples to be the best for the country. He is one of 
the best-known and most highly respected men of 
his community. 

SAMUEL A. CHAPMAN. In the death of 
this gentleman, b'eb. 13, i8g6, the city of Waterbury 
lost one of her best citizens, and his family a most 
indulgent head. 

The coining of the Chapmans (one of the early 
New England families) to Connecticut dates back 
to a period beyond two and a quarter centuries ago, 
and to the territory of the present town of Tolland 
to approximately one and three-quarters centuries ; 
the various members have been eminentlv distin- 
guished in both civil and military life. 

Edward Chapman, the first American ancestor 
of one branch of the 'ioUand Chapmans, came about 
1660 to Windsor from England, where he married 
Elizabeth Fox. He .settled in Simsbury (then a 
part of Windsor), and lost his life at the storming 
of Narragansett Fort in December, 1675. 

Simon Chapman, a son of Edward, born in i66(). 
lived in Windsor, but held lands in Tolland, of which 
town he was one of the great proprietors. He mar- 
ried about 1692, and his son, 

Capt. Samuel Chapman, born in i6g6, married, 
in 1717, Hannah Strong, and became the progenitor 
of ail the Ciiapmans in the western part of the town 
of Tolland, which town began to be settled about 
1725. He was the only justice of the peace in Tol- 



land for nine years, and was selectman for eleven 
years. He died in the service of his country during 
the French war. Capt. Samuel Chapman's several 
sons and daughters all married and also settled in 
Tolland, where the sons became the wealthiest men 
in the town and were among the most active, pulilic- 
spirited and influential. 

Col. Samuel Chaptnan, son of Capt. Samuel 
Chapman, fcorn in Windsor a few years prior to his 
father's settling in Tolland, married, in 1750, Sarah 
White, of Bolton, Conn. He was a very remarka- 
ble man, and a very eminent citizen of Tolland. He 
served as captain in the French and Indian war, and 
as colonel of the 22d Connecticut Militia during the 
entire war of the Revolution. His was the master 
spirit that brought the citizens of Tolland into unan- 
imous and energetic action in the Revolutionary 
contest. His personal courage and astonishing 
hardihood were proverbial among his soldiers. 
Few men could be found so unflinching in mo- 
ments of danger, and his fimmess and energy never 
faltered under any circumstances. He was rather 
under the middle stature, had blue eyes, and his 
voice was remarkable for its loudness and energy. 
He was a great reader, taciturn and of studious hab- 
its. He never laughed, and it is said a smile sel- 
dom lighted his countenance. Col. Chapman was 
elected to the General Assembly from Tolland forty- 
three times, when the election was held twice a year, 
and attended fifteen special sessions of that body. 
He was a member of the convention in 1788, and 
voted for the adoption of the present Constitution of 
the United States. He was several years a select- 
man, and for twenty-six years (1772-1797) served 
as justice of the peace. 

Among other prominent men of the name in 
Tolland were: Deacon Elijah Chapman, elected 
several terms to the General Assembly, and also 
served as selectman; Gen. Elijah Chapman, who 
several times was a member of the General Assem- 
bly, and for twenty-three years served as sherii? 
of Tolland county ; and Capt. Ashbel, who was also 
several times in the General Assembly, and a mem- 
ber of the convention, in 1818, which framed the 
Constitution of the State. 

Of the five children of Col. Samuel Chapman, 
Samuel, born in 1757, settled in Ellington, Conn. On 
Oct. 24, 1782, he married Mary Carlton, and be- 
came the father of ten children, among whom was 
Chester, the father of our subject. 

Chester Chapman grew to manhood and March, 
1832, married Abigail Loomis. who bore him four 
children: Samuel A., our subject; Mary Carlton, 
born Dec. 19, 1834; John Melvin, born Dec. 23, 
1836; and Emily Elizabeth, born Jan. 17, 1839. On 
Dec. 29. 1840. Chester Chapman wedded Elizabeth 
Bull, of Ellington, Conn., and five children came 
to this second marriage: Eustace Chester, born 
Sept. 30, 1841 : Florence .\licia. Oct. 25, 1842; Les- 
lie Clarence, Feb. 16, 1845: Randolph Butler, Nov. 
16, 1848: and luKvin Dayton, July 15. 1851. 





6^ 



<^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



541 



Samuel A. Chapman, the subject propei' of this 
sketch, was born Dec. 25, 1832, in the town of 
Ellington, the eldest in a family of nine children. 
While \et a boy he left home and began his business 
career in Hartford, Conn. In 1858 he came to W'at- 
erbury as a contractor with Rogers & Bros., with 
which tirm he remained about seven years. At the 
end of this period he accepted a position with the 
Holmes, Booth & ilayden Co., as superintendent, 
in which capacity he served that company for eight- 
een years, becoming after a time one of the chrcctors 
of tile company, in 1883 he organized the Chap- 
man & .Vrmstrong Manufacturing Co., of which 
he himself was chosen president; he was al>o 
president of the Hammond Buckle Co. .\s a 
brass manufacturer Mr. Chapman was considered 
one of the best in the comitry. I-'or several 
years he was a member of the board of com- 
])ensation in W'aterbury, and was also at one 
time police commissioner of the city. On the ques- 
tion of values of property he was considered an 
e.xjjcrt, and his advice was frequently sought in a 
public capacity. Mr. Chapman, witliout being at 
all demonstrative, was exceedingly public-spirited, 
and watched with keen interest all public matters, 
and ofttimes, without appearing to do so, exerted 
considerable influence. He was a councilman for 
many years, and in every way was a man of prom- 
inence, highly respected by all. As an employer of 
large numbers of men, he was considered to be just 
and considerate, winning the esteem and confidence 
of those who were associated with him. Fraternally 
he was a member of Harmony Lodge, F. & A. M., 
and of Clark Commandery. K. T., of W'aterbury. 
In politics he was a Republican, In addition to 
his other interests he owned an extensive dairy and 
sheep farm in Madison, Conn., on which were to 
be found all modern improvements, and he was also 
the proprietor of several seaside cottages. 

On May 25, 1858, Mr. Chajjman married Miss 
Mary E. Lancey (also spelled DeLancey 1 , who was 
born in Springfield, Mass., a daughter ui William 
and Betsey (Herrick) Lancey, and to this imion 
was born JNIarch 26, 1859, a daughter, Florence 
MaJbel, who is living at home. Mr. Lancey was a 
native of Weston, \'t., born March 10, 1801, and 
died in 1840. He was a son of Zachcus Lancey, 
who settled in Weston. Mrs. Lancey was born in 
Chesterfield, X. H., a daughter of Silas FIcrrick, 
and died Sept. 17, 1865. The first of this DeLancey 
family in America came from F'rance and settled 
in one of the Xew England States some time in the 
eighteenth century. Mrs. Chapman, the wife of 
our subject, was one of a family of six children, 
as follows: William J., a dentist in Centralia, 111., 
who always writes his name DeLancey; Helen M., 
mimarried ; George, who died in infancy; Sarah J., 
wife of Leroy S. White, of Waterbury, Conn. ; Mary 
E. (Mrs. Chapman) ; and John L., who died at the 
age of two and one-half years. 

Mr. Chapman died I'eb. 13, 18c/). at Water- 



bury, and a local paper of the time pays him the 
following well-merited eulogy: "In the death of 
Samuel A. Chapman, Waterbury loses one of its 
representative citizens. The news of his death came 
with startling and shocking suddemiess, and to the 
many who loved him for what he was, it is experi- 
enced as a personal attliction. He was a noble and 
generous man, whose many unostentatious kind- 
nesses and gracious deeds causctl him to be held in 
high regard." 



DWUiHT J. DOWNS is a well-known l)n>i- 
ness man of Ansonia, where he is engaged as a 
butcher and a dealer in hides and skins, also 
h.andling fertilizers. He has quite a large estab- 
lishment in Division street. 

Mr. Downs was born in Seymour, Xew Haven 
county, Dec. 3. 1839, a son of James Downs, who 
was born in Huntington, this State, and was one 
of a family of nine children. The mother of these, 
-Mrs. Lydia (Patterson) Downs, lived to her nine- 
ty-second year. The father was a farmer in 
Huntington, where he was marrietl and died at 
the age of fifty years. James Downs was reared 
on a farm and educated in the public schools. On 
reaching manhood he purchased a farm in Mon- 
roe, and spent his life in its cultivation. He 
died at the age of seventy-three years. He 
married Carrie Johnson, who was born in Seymour 
(then known as Derby), daughter of B.eccher 
Johnson, who hail three children. The Johnsons 
were early settlers in this part of the State, and a 
grandchild of Mr. Johnson still occupies the old 
h.omestead. Of the live children born to Mr. and 
^Irs. Downs, two are still living: Beech J., who 
was the third child; and Dwight J., our subject: 
one daughter died at the age of eighty years, and 
one son at the age of eighty-one. Mrs. Downs 
died when sixty-eight years old. Both parents 
were members of the Congregational Church. 

Dwight J. Downs spent the first thirteen years 
of his life under the parental roof. He then went 
out to work by the month, doing a man's work. 1 le 
was in Southbury three years, after which he took 
up the butcher business, running a wagon in Ber- 
lin for three years, when he sold out. In i8()8 
he came to Ansonia and started a retail meat mar- 
ket, which he carried on for seventeen \ears. l''or 
two years he was also engaged in a "cooler" at 
Derby, which then passed into the luuuls of the 
Derby Beef Co. At the present time he is doing 
a wholesale business in beef and rendered tallow, 
and also deals largely in fertilizers, collecting and 
preparing from fifty butcher shops. Mr. Downs 
is among the oldest business men in this section, 
and his career has been marked by singular integ- 
lity and honesty. lie has a fine home, and built 
his present house in 1879, on the site of one that 
was 175 years old. He has extensive real-estate 
interests, and has bought and now owns several 
valuable houses and a factorv. 



542 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Mr. Downs was married in 1867 to Annie E. 
Grav, of Southburv, where she was born, daughter 
of in-ederick H. and Harriet E. (Tuttlej Gray. 
The father is a farmer, and has passed all his life 
in Southburv, where he owns a tine farm; he has 
another in Iowa. He is a vigorous and energetic 
man for one of his years. Mrs. Downs is the 
eldest of a family of five children, and to her union 
with .Mr. Downs have come three children: (i) 
Harriet married P.enjamin Porter, general_ man- 
ager of the electric Hnc between Ansonia and 
Derby, and also manager of the National Box & 
Paper Co., one of the largest institutions of the 
kind in the country. (2) Ruth A. is a graduate 
of the high school, and resides at home. (3) 
Eredcrick D., also at home, is employed in the 
office of the Derby Street Railway Company. 

Mr. Downs is a Republican politically. He be- 
longs to King Solomon's Lodge, V. & A. M., with 
which he has been connected since he was twenty- 
one vears old. He and his wife and daughter be- 
long' to the Methodist Church. Mrs. Downs and 
her two daughters belong to the D. A. R. The 
maternal great-grandfather of Mr. Downs, whose 
name was Clark, served in the American Revolu- 
tion, was captured by the luiglish, and died while 
in prison. 

CYRUS W. TUTTLE, for half a century an 
honored resident of West Haven, now living retired, 
is a native of Brooklyn, X. Y., born March 10, 1844. 

James Tuttle, the first of the family in New 
England, came in 1638 from England with Rev. 
John Davenport. Bela Tuttle, the great-great-grand- 
father of Cyrus W., was killed while serving in the 
Revolutionary war in 1777. 

Jesse Tuttle, son of Bela, and the great-grand- 
father of Cyrus W., was a lifelong farmer of Wat- 
ertown, Connecticut. 

Isaac Tuttle, son of Jesse, and the grandfather 
of Cyrus W., was a native of Watertown. He was 
a farmer and clockmakcr, being one of the first em- 
ployes in the Seth Thomas Clock Works at Thom- 
aston ; in fact, he assisted in building the factory 
there. In i860 he removed to New Haven and lived 
retired until his death, which occurred in 1867, when 
he was eighty-one years old. He married Chloe 
Bidwell, daughter of Alexander and Chloe Bidwell, 
of Farmington, and four children were born to 
them. The mother died in 1880, aged eighty-nine 
vears, a member of the Congregational Church. 

George W. Tuttle, father of Cyrus W., was born 
in Watertown, Jan. 14, 1814, and received his edu- 
cation in part at the common schools there, and at 
Litchfield Academy. After leaving school he fol- 
lowed mercantile pursuits in New Haven, Conn., 
P.rooklyn, N. Y., and South Carolina, until 1851, 
in which year he removed to West Haven, where, in 
1855, he assisted in organizing the buckle business 
in West Llaven and was a director up to his death. 
In the twentv vears he lived in West Haven he did 



much to' promote the interests of the place, and in 
addition to the buckle works he was the organizer 
of the kev business, which he carried on some five 
years, or until his decease. He was one of the pro- 
moters of the New Haven and West Haven Horse 
Railway, in 1867, and in every way gave his best 
efforts toward assisting the town. In politics he 
was independent ; he held the office of selectman, 
was a member of the school committee, and in main- 
ways showed the interest he had in the welfare of 
the community. George W. Tuttle married Saloma 
Andrews, daughter of Timothy and Saloma (Grid- 
ley) Andrews, the former of whom was a farmer 
of Hamden, this county. Mrs. Tuttle's grandfather, 
who was an elder in the Methodist Church, married 
Sybil Eaton, of Hamden. To Mr. Tuttle and his 
wife were born five children, two of whom survive, 
Cyrus W., our subject; and Edward, in California. 
The father died Aug. 5, 1871, the mother in 1890. 
Both were members of the Congregational Church, 
in which they took an active interest. 

Cyrus W. Tuttle, the subject proper of this 
sketch, was seven years old when the family re- 
moved to West Haven, and he received his education 
there at the common schools and the academy, after 
which he worked in his father's key factory, and 
for a time was a clerk in New Haven. In October, 
1862, he enlisted in Company A, 27th Conn. V. I., 
in which he served nine months, during which 
period he participated in the battle of Fredericks- 
burg. 

in 1868 Cyrus W. Tuttle was married to Jean- 
ette Hale, who was born in Greenfield Hill, Conn., 
daughter of Hiram and Mary (Morehouse) Hale, 
the former of whom was a blacksmith in the town 
of Fairfield. Five children have been born to this 
union, three of whom are living, viz.: ( i ) Georgia 
1. is the wife of Edwin A. Lettney, a plumber of 
West Haven ; they have three children, Eleanor, 
Jeanette and Edwin A., Jr. (2) Ida May is the 
wife of James W. Young, who is in charge of R. (}. 
Dun's Commercial Agency, at Richmond, \'a. (3) 
Harry E. died in December, 1900, in California. (4) 
Elsie Morehouse is at home. (5) Alice died in in- 
fancy. The mother of these died in 1892. at the 
age of forty-one years, a member of the Congrega- 
tional Church. 

1 1 ILLHOUSE. During much of the eighteenth 
and through the greater part of the first half of the 
century just closed, the family bearing this name 
was a conspicuous one in the annals of Con- 
necticut and the city of New Haven. We refer to 
the descendants of Rev. James Hillhouse. and es- 
pecially to the line of the Hon. James Hillhouse, 
the illustrious statesman, and his son James .\bra- 
ham Hillhouse, the distinguished poet and scholar, 
both of New Haven, where one of Jibe Litter's daugh- 
ter Miss Isaiihene Hillhouse, continues to make 
her home. 

Rev. lames Hillhouse, the progenitor of the 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



543 



Montville and Xew lla\en Ililllioiiscs, lioni aljuni 
1687, came from a distinguished family, he being 
the son of John Ilillliouse of Free Hall, and the 
grandson of Abraham Hillhousc, whose residence 
was at Artikclly, the latter being among the signers 
of an address to King William and Queen Mary on 
the occasion of the relief of the Siege of London- 
derry, dated July 29, 1669; while James Ilillliouse, 
an uncle of Rev. James, was one of the commis- 
sioners to treat with Lord Mountjoy in the me- 
morable defense of Dcrry against the forces of 
James IL and was mayor of Londonderry in 1693. 
Rev. James liillhouse was educated at the famous 
University of Glasgow, in Scotland, and later took 
the divinity course in the same institution, being 
ordained by the Presbytery of Londonderry in 
Ireland, and ajjpears to have resided at or near the 
ancestral home until the death of his father in 17 16. 
Not long after his mother's deatli, in January, 1717, 
he is supposed to have come with other Presbyterians 
from the Xorth of Ireland, who in 1719 established 
themselves in New Hampshire, where the towns of 
Derry and Londonderry, and the Londonderry 
Presbyter)' are the permanent memorials of that mi- 
gration. At the close of 1720, Rev. Hillhousc ap- 
peared in Boston, when Cotton INIather spoke of 
him as "a worthy, hopeful and valuable young min- 
ister lately arrived in America." He was installed 
as pastor of the North Parish of the Church in 
New London, Conn., in about 1724, and sustained 
such relations with it until his death in 1740, a 
period of about si.xteen years. Rev. Hillhousc mar- 
ried, in 1726, Mary, daughter of Daniel, and grand- 
daughter of Rev. James Fitch, the first minister 
of Norwich, Conn., and she died in 1768. From this 
couple, the late James Abraham Hillhousc, the poet 
of New Haven, was in the fourth generation, his 
line being through Hon. William and Hon. James 
Hillhousc. 

(in Hon. William Hillhousc, son of Rev. James, 
the emigrant settler, born in 1728. married in 1750, 
Sarah, born in 1728, daughter of John Griswold 
and sister of the first Governor Griswold of Con- 
necticut, and settled on the paternal estate in Mont- 
ville, which was his place of abode until his death. 
He was greatly trusted and honored by his fellow 
townsmen and was probably the most prominent 
man of his day in his native town ; was a leading 
patriot in the war of the Revolution ; was many 
times a deputy of the General Court, and in 1785 
was chosen as assistant in the Senate. For years 
he was judge of county and i)robate courts ; was 
major in the 2d Regiment of cavalry raised in Con- 
necticut for service in the Revolution. Judge Hill- 
housc had a distinguisbetl personality. His wife 
died on March 10, 1777. and in 1778, he married 
Delia Hosmer. His death occurred in 1816. 

Of this same second generation, Hon. James 
Abraham Hillhouse, a brother of Judge William, was 
born May 12. 1730, was graduated from 'S'alc in 1749. 
entered the legal profession at Xew Haven about 



1756, soon becoming distinguished at the Par by his 
forensic abilities as well as by his learning. In 1772 
he was elected one of the twelve assistants, who 
with the governor and lieutenant-governor, were the 
council or senate. His Christian life and conver- 
sation were truly exemplary, adorned with graces 
of meekness, charity and humility. His wife died 
in 1822 and he in 1775, leaving no issue. 

(Ill) Hon. James Hillhouse (2), son of Hon. 
William, born in 1754, married (second) in 1782, 
Rebecca Woolscy. He had been adopted by his 
uncle, James Abraham Hillhouse, of New Llaven, 
where he was graduated from Yale in 1773, which 
institution, in 1823, conferred upon him the degree 
of LL. D. During the war of the Revolution he 
served his country, and in 1779 he was captain of 
the Governor's Foot Guard at the time New Ha- 
ven was invaded by the British under Tryon. Later 
he practiced law in Xew Haven ; sat in the gov- 
ernor's council and was then elected to Congress 
as a Federalist, taking an active part in the debates 
of that body during 1791-95. In 1796 he was ap- 

I pointed United States Senator to succeed Hon. 
Oliver Ellsworth, who had resigned his seat in the 
I'nitcd States Senate to become Chief Justice of 
the United States Supreme Court. On the with- 

j drawal of Thomas Jefferson from the Senate, after 
his election to the Presidency, Senator Hillhouse 
was appointed president pro tern of that body. In 
1810 he resigned his seat in the Senate to become 
Commissioner of School Fund of Connecticut, and 
held the office until 1825, during which period he 
is credited with saving that fund from destruction, 
and with adding, by judicious investments, the sum 
of $500,000. In 1782 he was chosen treasurer of 
Yale College, and from that time until his death, 
a period of fifty years, continued in such relations. 
Much of the natural beauty of Xew Haven had its 
origin in the acts of .Senator Hillhousc. Mrs. Hill- 
house passed away in December, 1813, and the Sen- 
ator in December, 1832. 

James Abraham Hillhouse, son of Hon. James 
Hillhouse (2), was born Sept. 26, 1789, in Xew 
Haven, married Xov. 23, 1822, Cornelia, daugh- 
ter of Isaac Lawrence, of New York. Mr. Hill- 
house was graduated from Yale in 1808, and later 
went to Boston, Mass., where he remained for three 
years preijaring for a mercantile career. Later he 
engaged in business in New York City, and in 1819, 
he visited Europe. Returning to this country, he 
retired after his marriage, to his country seat, "Sac- 
hem's Wood." New Haven, Conn., where he passed 
the rest of his life, giving liis time to literature. 
While in Europe Mr. Hillliouse became acquainted 
with a number of distinguished men. The father 
of Macaulay. the historian, referred to him as tiie 
most accomplished young man with whom he was 
acquainted. Mr. Hillhousc delivered a poem be- 
fore Yale Chapter of the Plii lieta Kappa Society 
which was published in New 'S'ork in 1822. This 
was entitled "The Judgment." In 1819 he pub- 



544 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



lished in London, "Percy's Masque," a drama, which 
was reprinted in New York, with additions, in 1820. 
"Hadad," a sacred drama, was published in New 
York in 1825. Others of his published works were 
a collected edition of his writings containing the ad- 
ditions of '"Denietria," an Italian tragedy, written 
in 1813; "Sachem's Wood," and several discourses 
under the title of •'Dramas and Discourses and 
Other Pieces" (2 vols,, Boston, 1839J. Mr. Hill- 
house was a poet of merit and a man of high lit- 
erary attainments. Mr. Hillhouse died at New 
Haven. Jan. 5, 1841, and Mrs. Hillhouse passed 
away in" 1874. Their children were: Cornelia 
(who married William Hillhouse j, Mary, Isaphene 
and James. 

HUDSON P.. FORBES. Among the old and 
honored famihes of East Haven, none enjoy more 
fully the esteem of the community, which has known 
them so long, than the Forbes family, of which 
Hudson B. is a most worthy representative. 

Great-grandfather Samuel Forbes married 
Mary Thompson and they had these children: 
Samuel, Jehiel, Levi, Isaac, Sarah (who married 
Jared Porter), and Mary (who married Charles 
Jiishop). Levi Forbes, the grandfather, married 
Sarah Tuttle and had these children : Anna, bom 
in March, 1770: Mary, born in February, 1772; 
Sarah, born in May, 1774; Levins, born in July, 
1776; Timothy, born in 1778; Lydia, born in 1780; 
Anne, born in 1782; Levi, born in 1785; and Bela, 
the father of our subject. 

Bela Forbes was a farmer in IList Haven. When 
a boy he had seen some service on a revenue cutter, 
and during the war of 1812 he held some military 
office. Fie died in New Haven in 1873, aged sev- 
enty-eight years. The family attended the Epis- 
copal Church. His wife was Abigail Bradley, a 
daughter of Joel Bradley, a farmer of East Haven. 
She died in Januan,% 1857. A family of seven chil- 
dren were born to this marriage: Louisa, who mar- 
ried Abram Thompson, of ]£ast Haven, a sea- faring 
man (both deceased) : Lavisa, who married Joseph 
Thompson, a brother of the above: Jane, who mar- 
ried Ji)hn .\. DibbcU, lived in Xew Haven (both 
are deceased) ; Minerva, who married Jared Wed- 
more, an oysternian of East Haven; Ellen, who 
married Joel Bradley, a carpenter in New Haven ; 
Lester, who married .Mary Willard, was a mason 
constructor; and lluilscm P.., our subject, the fifth 
of the family. 

Hudson B. Forbes was born in East Haven, or 
Morris Cove, May 2, 1832, and spent his early days 
on the farm, and attended the district schools. 
Then he commenced a life upon the water, continu- 
ing tills until he was twenty years old ; before he 
was fifteen he was mate of a vessel. The first mar- 
ria,ge of Mr. Forbes took place in September, 1853, 
to ICmily Ludington, of East Ilavcn, a daughter of 
Caleb Ludington. Her death occurred in januarv, 
i8:;8. and none of her children reached maturitv. 



On Sept. I, 1858, Mr. Forbes was married to Ellen 
K. Hotchkiss, who was born in East Haven, a 
daughter of Joseph I. and Sarah Ann (Bradley) 
Hotchkiss. Ever since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
h'orbes have lived on the fine old farm, and a large 
family of fourteen children have been born to them, 
the survivors being: F'anny E. married William 
Johnson, who came from Iowa, and they had one 
child, Quincy E., who died at the age of five ; Lillian 
J. married FVederick \'an Sickle, and has four chil- 
dren, Frederick, Mildred, Edith and Edna; and 
Nellie A. married Everett L. Wright, and has two 
children, Raymond F^orbes and Aladia Nellie. 
Maude Adele is unmarried. Fred H., who died at 
the age of twenty-four, married Amelia Selk, and 
they had one child, Harry Hudson. 

In 1878 Mr. Forbes built the "Forbes House," 
at Morris Cove, now called the "Morris Cove 
House," which he ran for fourteen years, commenc- 
ing in 1882. Like his father, Mr. Forbes has al- 
ways been in sympathy with the Democratic partv, 
and has held many of the local offices, having been 
selectman in both East Haven and New Haven, town 
agent of East Haven, and a member of the board of 
education. His religious training was in the Epis- 
copal Church. 

ALGERNON O. BEACH, a prosperous and 
progressive agriculturist of the town of Hamden, 
is a native of Connecticut, born in New Have;i, 
April 29, 1826, of New England ancestry. 

Oliver Beach, his father, was born in 1788, in 
Woodbridge, Conn., was a mason by trade, and died 
in New Haven in 1850. By his wife Elizabeth Ann 
(Allen) he had a family of ten children, named re- 
; spectively : Louisa A., Laura, Edward, Laura (2), 
Elizabeth, Edward A., Henry O., Algernon O., 
George E. and Wallace A. 

When ten years of age Algernon O. Beach was 
taken to live with Jeremiah Gilbert, a farmer of the 
town of Hamden, who w^as childless, and remained 
with him until his death, our subject being then but 
fifteen years of age. He continued to live with Mr. 
Gilbert's widow, havjng entire charge of the farm, 
until her death in 1850, at which time he went to 
Centreville and entered the employ of Mr. Willis 
Churchill, in the auger shops ; thence he went to 
Mt. Carmel and worked for Henry Ives in the axle 
shops for some fourteen years, during the latter 
])art of which jjeriod he was foreman of the room in 
which he was employed. Returning now to the Gil- 
bert farm he remained thereon until 1890, in that 
year coming to his present place in the town of Ham- 
den. 

On Jan. i, 1847, Algernon O. P.each was mar- 
ried to F'rances Hitchcock, daughter of Leveritt 
Hitchcock, and two children were born to them, 
Elizabeth and Margaret E., both of whom died 
young. The mother of these passed away .-Xpril 29, 
i860, and Feb. 20, i86r, Mr. Beach wedded Julia 
S. Tuttle, of Middlebur\-, Conn., who entered into 





^ 

^ 




I 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



545 



rest Feb. 22, 1901, aged sixly-lliree years. One 
child graced this union, Frances E., now the wife 
of Wilson E. Goodsell, of North Jlaven; they have 
two children. Flora L. and Eillian F. 

Mr. 1 leach is a member of the Congregational 
("hurch, as was also his wife. In politics he is a 
Kcpublican, and has been elected to various positions 
of honor and trust, such as assessor several terms, 
justice of the peace some twenty years, trial justice 
a good many years, and has served as grand juror. 
Air. IJcach is remarkably temperate, never having 
chewed tobacco, nor smoked more than one cigar 
in his life. 

CHAREES HEXRV V(JUXG, a leading rep- 
resentative of the agricultural and business interests 
of that part of the town of W'allingford which is 
known as Yalesville. was born in the Xorlh Farms 
District Jan. 4, 1839. 

William Young, the great-grandfather of 
Charles II., was a land owner and an extensive and 
successful farmer of Middlesex county, Conn. Syl- 
vester Yoimg, his son, when a young man, came to 
W'allingford and located at East Farms, where he 
married Pattie Alattoon, a native of Wallingford. 
There he engaged in agriculture, spending his life 
on the farm. He was a Democrat, a good citizen, 
and a well-known business man. He and his wife 
had five children: Sanuiel and Harley, who died at 
Liberty, Sullivan Co., X. Y. ; Horace, who died in 
Bradford county. I'a. : Urimell : and Fenelon, who 
was a merchant in Alabama, where he died. Mrs. 
Sylvester Y'oung died on the farm and was buried in 
the' Center Street cemetery with her husband. 

OrimcU Y'oung, the father of Charles Henry, 
was born in the East Farms District, where be at- 
tended the local school and grew up after the 
fashion of the farm lads of his day. As a _\oung 
man he was engaged in buying and selling cattle, 
making trips to remote points in Vermont and other 
regions. Eater on he combined with his buying and 
selling the wholesale butcher business. When he 
was married he gave up road work and settled down 
to farming on the old homestead, where he I)uilt a 
fine dwelling house and made many improvements, 
including the erection of a mill, where he manu- 
factured cider and brandy. Mr. \'oung was widely 
known as one of the best judges of cattle in the 
State. A hard worker, he was noted for his indus- 
trious habits, but intense devotion to Ijusiness 
somewhat clouded his niir.d at the time of his death. 
Sept. 5, 1884. In polities he was a Democrat, and 
in religion held to the ( iolden Rule. He married 
Fanncy M. Rogers, who was born in Stony Creek, 
this county, daughter of Cerris Rogers, of that town. 
To this union came children as follows : Charles 
Henry; Lewis, who is a butcher of Wallingford; 
I'Vank, living on the family homestead ; I'anney, 
who died young; Mary, who died when seventeen 
years old; and Cornelius \'., living on part of the 
homestead. Mrs. Orimcll Young died I'cb. 14. iSy^, 
35 



in Wallingford, and was buried in llie Centre Street 
cemetery. She was a memlK-r of the .\dvent Church, 
and was known as a good Christian woman, of kind 
heart and strong domestic virtues. 

Charles Henry Young attended the district 
school in the East Farms District, and when lie 
reached manhood engageil with his father in the 
cattle business, presently settling down on the old 
Mattoon farm, where he remained five years. At 
the expiration of ihis ])eriud he sold out and re- 
moved to the town of Guilfnrd. where he located on 
the Murry farm. In \i^yj he came to Yalesville 
where be has bought layd, and he has also bought 
in Cheshire, his two purchases making a farm of 137 
acres of fruitful and valuable land. In addition to 
his other interests he has also liandletl lumber, and 
has built up (|uile a trade in that line. 

Mr. Young was married in Wallingford Oct. 
25, 18G0, to Julia T. nine, a native of Litchfield, 
Conn., and a daughter of .Sylvester and Sally 
(Churchill) Hine. She is a lady of marked e.X'- -1- 
lence of character, and is especially gifted as a 
business woman. To Mr. and Mrs. "S'oung have 
come eight children : ( i ) Cassius ( ). is engaged as 
an iceman. He married Xellie Terrill, and they have 
had three children — Claude. l)(jrn Oct. 8. 1888; 
Charles i!.. .\ug. 8, i8(;o; and Harold ]'>.. May 2, 
1893. (2) Wilber V. resides in Sjiringfield. On 
June 22, 1887, he was married t(j Sadie Wilco.x 
Feck, who died Xov. 22, 1891. On Nov. 16. 1892, 
he married for his second wile Miss Ida M. Steven- 
son, and they have two children — Sarah Stevenson, 
born Oct. 26, 1893 ; and Wilber bYnelon, born 
Feb. 13, 1898. (3) Jennie Phemilia was married 
April 17, 1895. to John b".. Blakeslec, of l)ridge])ort, 
and has one child, Jennie Isabelle, born Sept. 23, 
1897. (4) Ida I!elle graduated from the Yalesville 
high school, and is engaged as a bookkeeper. (3) 
I'Vank Charles is in the otYice of the judge of i^ro- 
bate at New Flaven. ( 6) I'anny .Sarali was mar- 
ried Oct. 19, 1898, to ]•■. 11. Warner, of Walling- 
ford, and has one child, Irene C'oni, born Xov. 18, 
i'*^99- (7) Cora Julia graduated frnni the Walling- 
ford high school in 1894, and from the Xormal 
School at Xew Haven. She has taught school one 
)ears in Wallingford and three \ears in ('in.)lon. 
Conn., and has been very successful. (8) I-"lora May 
married Richard M. R. R,-iymonil May 16, 1895, 
and has one child, Cjladis May, iHirn .\]iril 2J!,. 1897. 

Mr. Young is a Democrat and has served on the 
school committee at \'alesville. lie is a memlier of 
Hancock Lodge, at .Soulb Meriden, and of the 
Wallingford .Agricultural .Society. Mrs. Young l)e- 
long.s to the Episcopal Church and is a good woman, 
a faithful mother and a devoted wife. 

rd-,XJAMlX b". L1-:ACH, D. D. S.. comes of a 
familv of I-inglish origin, its first American progeni- 
tors liaving been two brothers who emigrated from 
the mother country in Colonial days. One settled 
in .\ew York State, the other in Massachusetts. 



54G 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



The Doctor's father and qrandfather were Ijorn in 
-Massachusetts, in the town of Wendell, of which 
he, too, was a nati\-e. hurn .\|iril io, iS_|.2. 

(iardiner Leaeli, his i^rrandfather. was a jjrosper- 
<nis fanner, enjoved the universal respect of the 
coinnuunty, and was a man of coiisideralile puhlic 
])roniinenee. lie was elected to various minor town 
offices, and also represented his district in the Leg- 
islature. He was a man of keen intellect and sterling 
moral worth, as well as of tried fidelity to important 
trusts. He married Miss Maconiber, ami was the 
father of five children, of whom the elde.st. Chester, 
was the father of Dr. lienjamin V. Leach. The 
others were Whitman. v>ho ])asseil his life on the 
old homestead I'arm : Tamotliw who married Na- 
thaniel Alaeomher, and settleil in Shuteshury, .Mass. ; 
Susan, who heeame the wife of Smith Orcutt, a 
shoemaker; and .Salonie. who was married to Hawles 
Williams, a farmer. 

Chester Leach was a tiller of the soil, and spent 
most of his days in the town of his birth, dying in 
Worcester, Mass.. in iS()i. surviving his wife for 
eighteen years. I le was fir>t a Whig and later a 
J\ej)ul)lican. 1 le ni.irried Mary < )reutt, who was 
also horn in Wendell. .Mass. Her father, Samuel 
( )reiUt, was a siildier in the Rexolntionary war, and 
was one (jf the gallant hand of patriotic heroes whom 
h'tli.an Allen led at 'l"ic(jnderoga. The children of 
(.'lie-ter Leach were live in number. The youngest 
died in infancy, and one son, Lucian L.. at the age 
of seven years. Those who grew to manhood were 
llnm])hrey S.. X'alette W. and I'lenjamin F. The 
eldest son, llum])hrey, was an officer in the Civil 
war and died in iSqX in Worcester, Mass. \'alette 
is practicing dentistry in k'eene, .\'ew Hampshire. 

The first nine years of Dr. Leach's life were 
l)assed in Wendell, when with his parents he moved 
to Levcrett, .M.ass. .\t the ;ige of eighteen he lie- 
gan the study <if dentistry nniU'r the tutelage of 
his cousin. Dr. D. W. Le.ach. at Randolph, in his 
native -State. He completed his professional studies 
in three \ears, and in iH')_^ began the ]5ractice of his 
])rofession at .\nsonia. t'onn. That was an epochal 
year in Dr. Le.aeh's life. It not oidv marked his 
atfunmenl of his majority and the commencement 
of his profession.al career, but was also the year of 
his marriage to Miss Lniina 1\ I'.ontwell. of Lever- 
iit, .Mass., a daughter of Charles lloutwell, a farmer 
of that town. 

The Doctor remained at .Xnsonia onlv a vear, 
going from there to .Amherst, Mass., where he was 
engaged in active and successful jiractice for ten 
years. .\t the end of that period he removed to the 
town of Derby, Conn, (which has since become a 
city I, within whose confines he has since lived, in 
i88j purchasing a home in Shelion. where he \et 
resides. Dr. Leach is a skillful i)ractitioner, kee])- 
ing fully abreast of every new discovery and fresh 
;idvance in his profession. He has a large practice 
and is universally held in sincere esteem, not only 
for the high order of his attaiinnents, but as well 



tor his pure life and unblemished character as a 
citizen, a Christian and a man. He is a Republican 
in politics, a member of the Masonic fraternity, and 
an earnest worker in the cause of religion. For 
thirty-five years he has been a consistent member of 
the r.aptist Church, having united with that bod)' 
while living in Amherst, Mass. His family are also 
of the same communion. He takes especial interest 
in Sunday-school work, having been a superin- 
tendent of Sunday-schools almost during the entire 
time of his church membership, first at Amherst and 
later in Ansonia. He is also one of the deacons of 
the b'irst IJaptist Church of that city. 

Reference has been already made to Dr. Leach's 
marriage to JMiss Boutvvell in 1863. She died in 
1887, leaving no children, and on June 4, 1889, he 
\vas united to Miss Mary C, a daughter of Austin 
Fastman, of Amherst, and a niece of Hon. Zebina 
Fastman, U. S. consul at Bristol, England, for eight 
years, part of the time under I^resident Lincoln. 

THFODORF XELSOX HOTCHKLSS, a rep- 
resentative of a well known family, was born in 
J'lethany Dec. 20, 1811), a son of Harvey and Sarah 
(.\llingi) Hoichkiss, who were the parents of 
eleven children, of wdiom only one, Harpin, a black- 
smith in Bethany, is now living. Theodore N. 
Hotchkiss remained in Bethany until he was fifteen 
years old, acquiring his education in the local school, 
and then went to Westville, where he learned the 
tiiason's trade: and when he became established in 
life, married Eliza Smith, and followed his trade 
for a number of years. Coming to New Haveii in 
middle life, he built the home where his daughter 
Katie .\. is now living, and engaged in the Ijuilding 
and contracting business on an extensive scale, hav- 
ing at one time some seventy men in his employ. 
l'"or a time he was associated with Flizur H. 
.Sperry, who learned the trade under iMr. Hotchkiss, 
and then selling out his interests, bought a tract of 
land ou Kensington street and Edgewood avenue, 
whtre he built homes for some twenty-five families. 
'1 hese he rented, liecame noted as one of the verv 
successful men of his day, and had the name of be- 
ing one of the most extensive and ])rogressive Iniikl- 
ers of the timt'. What is now known as the L'ni- 
versity Club, and the Cutler fiuihling. and manv 
other fine structures were jntt u]) by him. .Mr. 
Hotchkiss was a member of the Light (Suards, and 
was an enlightened and ]>ublic-s])irited' man, but 
under no condition would he accept office of any 
kinil. He died b"eb. 27, 1888, at the age t)f sixty- 
eight. 

.Mr. 1 lolchkiss was twice married, his second 
wife, Lncia Sjierry, was born in Beth;iny. a daugh- 
ter of .\l\in and .^ally Sperry. the former a car- 
l)enter in Bethany, where he was a man of much 
repute, and was known as "Col." S])errv. Jle was 
a man of much religious feeling, and often preached, 
and lived to be seventy-six years of age. He had 
fleven children, of whom fom- are now li\ing: 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



547 



Sarah : ( Irace and Gracia, twins ; anil Marion. Mrs. 
Lucia liotchkiss was ihc mother of fonr chihh'on — 
tlircf of wliijin are Uving': ( i ) K.\i[i-; .\.. who ro- 
iides at Xo. 400 Ehii street. .\ew Haven, where the 
family has had its home for many years. (J) Lillie 
.M., who was the wife of I'rank E. I'risbie, and died 
in less than one year after marriage. (3) l-"annie 
C"., wiio married l'"rani< S. I'latt, seedsman and flor- 
ist. (4) Charles S., a grocer in the city, married 
tirst .\nnie L. Mann, and had one son. Harry Theo- 
<lore. who is the only grandchild of Theodore X. 
Hotchkiss : he married (second) Lydia (."lark. Mrs. 
Lucia liotchkiss dietl at the age of sevenly-lhree. 

MISS .MI-:LISS.\ M. METCALFE, a highly- 
esteemed resident of West Haven, is a native of .Au- 
gusta, (Jneida Co., X. V., and a descendant of a 
well-known family. 

Her father, the late Eleazer Metcalfe, was horn 
in (joshen. Conn., Jan. 31, 1779, and was reared 
upon a farm. He learned the car])enter"s trade, and 
in the spring of 1799 he went to Augusta, Oneida 
Co., X. \'., to build barns (jn contract, which he did 
with marked success, kee])ing a large force of men 
<_'m])U)yed. .\t that time ( )neida county was an ini- 
broken forest, the public higliways being marked by 
incisions in the trees. Mr. Metcalfe was only twen- 
ty years old. and that year erected twenty liarns. 
.\t one "raising" he heard some men talking, and 
one of them said "That boy will never get that build- 
ing up."' The young contractor, noting thai his 
critics were the idlers present, told them to go home 
if they could noi work like the others. lie also 
owned a carding mill and .grist mill, and ground 
wheat and corn, and later had a large farm and fat- 
tened cattle lor market, l-'or about a quarter of a 
century he served as justice of the [jeace at Augusta, 
His death occurred Jan. 5, i860, when lie was aged 
eighty-one. 1 Ic was active in religious work as a 
member of the Congregational Church; all of his 
family have taken keen interest in chiUTh work. He 
married Huldah Yale, of Lenox, Mass., who was 
born l"el). 4, 1781, and lived to the age of eighty- 
one. ( )f their twelve children the subject of this 
sketch was the youngest and is now the only sur- 
vivor. 

.Miss .Metcalfe is noted for clear foresight and 
executive ability in business atl'airs, and her warm 
tilial devotion was proven by the excellent care 
which she bestowed upon her parents in their old 
age. She left school in order to minister to their 
needs, and also saw four sisters die. in 1877 she 
removed to West Haven to care for her youngest 
brother whose wife had entered into rest. .Miss 
.Metcalfe has invested extensively in real estate: she 
has sold two houses but still owns three in the town 
and four houses have been built by her, including 
the handsome residence adjoining her own. Her 
own home at Xo. 175 Elm street has lately been 
much imj^roved by a steep roof and hot water ser- 
vice. .She is most hospitable, and delights in gather- 



ing her friends within her pleasant home for social 
recreation. She is jiopular among her actpiaint- 
anccs, and is one of the active metubers of church, 
having brought her letter from .\ugusta to the 
\\ est LLiven society. While in .Augusta she taught 
in the Sunday-school, and assisted in various branch- 
es of church work, giving both lime and means. 

Her brother, tJie late Judge Ceorge W. Aletcalfe, 
remained at home in early manhood while leaching 
in .Augusta and vicinity. In 1845 he removed to 
West Haven, where he taught for a number of year.'^ 
and also followed the carpenters' trade for a time. 
l'"or more than twenty years he held office as justice 
of the peace, and was judge of the jiolice court, his 
sound judgment and iniiiartiality making his service 
of recognized value to the community. In ])olitics 
he was a Republican and throughotu his life he ad- 
vocated strict temperance ])rinciples. He was a 
prominent member of the ( ). L". .\. .M., and was 
always a leader in religious and philanthropic work 
in his locality. He gave the interest on $500 to the 
AL E. Church of West Haven and was a member of 
the Congregational Church, where he sang in the 
choir for a number of years. He married Mrs. 
Allies, now deceased, and his own death occurred at 
West Haven at the age of seventy years. 

1)A\1S WATSOX SMITH, a jirosperous 
farmer in East River District of the town of Madi- 
son, was born May 8, 1840, in that ])art of the town 
locally known as the Xeck. 

The Smith family, of which he is a worthy rep- 
resentative, is an old one in Aliddlesex county. Conn. 
His gTcat-grandi)arents, William and .Martha Smith, 
resided man\- years ago in Haddaiu, that countv, in 
the old house just south of the jail. William Smith 
w'as a seafaring man, owning and commanding ves- 
sels engaged in the West Indies trade : he lost his 
life at sea when only forty years of age. We have 
the following record of his eight children, five sons 
and three daughters: ( i ) Jonathan and (2) I'.zra, 
both of wdiom died unmarried, rend(,'red honorable 
service in the Revolutionary war : they were pri- 
vateers, were captured about forty miles off Sandy 
Hook, and after untold suffering died on tlie noted 
prison ship "Jersey,"' in Wallabut IJay: they were 
biu-ied in the banks of the l)ay. One of the Ijrolhers 
was a commissioned officer, and his commission, 
signed by G<in. (ieorge Washington, is now in the 
possession of a distant relative of our subject, in 
■Higganuni, in a good state of ])reservation. (3) 
Lucy married Ezra P.rainerd, of Haddam, and lived 
to be 106 years old : she had two or three sons wiio 
lived and died in Haildani. (4I .Simon married a- 
-Miss Shailer, of Haddam. (5) William was twice 
married, and his wives were sisters of Dorothy Hub- 
liard. who married his brother JefTrev. (6) Es- 
ther married Luther llordman, of Haddam. (7) 
ALarlha married George Kelsey, of Haddam. (8) 
Jeffrey was the grandfather of our subject. 

Jcfifrey Smith, grand;father of Davis W., was 



548 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



born in 1763, in llic town of Haddani, and there 
grew to nianiiuod, and learned blacksniithing. When 
he had mastered that trade he moved to Madison 
and loeated in the Neck, where he bought a small 
farm, which he cultivated in connection wath his 
work in the smithy. He built a tine dwelling house 
on this tract, and' spent his life there, dying i-'eb. 
I, 184O. During the Revolution he drove cattle 
across the Hudson river on the ice for Washing- 
ton's armv, and he drew a pension until his death. 
As may be inferred, he was a public-spirited antl 
patriotic citizen. He married Dorothy (Dolly) 
Hubbartl, who was born in Haddam, and died in 
Madison July 13, iS3'i, Their childreri were : (i) 
Jonathan was Ix'irn Jan. 4, 1785; (2) Daniel Hub- 
bard, born March jt,. 1787, married Content Fow- 
ler; (3J I'^zra, lioni Dec. 16, 1788, married Martha 
Stone"; (4) J'lstber, born Uct. 16, 1790, married Dud- 
ley JJrahiard ; (5) Austin, born in 1793, died in 
Novemlier of the same year; (6) Austin (2), born 
Feb. 9, 1794. died Aug. 8, 1820; (7) JNIarvin, born 
in 1796, married Wealthy Shailer; (8) Davis, liorn 
in 1798, died .Xjiril 25, 1827; (9) Samuel, burn 
Aug. lO, I79«;. married Lucinda, daughter of Gideon 
Watrous, of Chester, and lived and died in Madison 
in the house where he was born; (10) Junius was 
born March 25, 1801 ; (11) Helena, born Xov. 29, 
1802, died ( )ct. I I, 180O. 

Junius Smith was born in the Xeck District, 
and followed farming all his life in Madison, on the 
fann now owned and occupied by his son Davis 
Wat.son, where he made many improvements. There 
he died March 20, 1882. He was a stanch Demo- 
crat, bin had no thirst for office. In religion he 
was a member of the Congregational Church, and 
he was a well-known and highly res])ected citizen, 
always honest and upright in his liusiness and per- 
sonal relations, and had many friends. Mr. Smith 
married Amanda, daughter of Israel Southworth, 
of Deej) River, C'oini. She died in 1897, in the 
home of her son Davis \V., a good Christian woman 
who was nnich respected in the neighborho(.>d. 
'J'heir only child was Davis Watson. 

Davis W. Smith was educated in the Madison 
schools and in l.ee's .\cademy. Having lieen the 
only child he never kd't home, but remained to care 
for his ])arents as the infirmities of age crept up. mi 
them. The old homestead has passed into his pos- 
session, and under his mtmagement many substan- 
tial and elegant improvements have been made. 
Mr. Smith has also been engaged in oyster fishing. 

In 1872 .Mr. .Smith was married in New ^'ork 
('ity to Miss Melvena Tnthill. who was born in 
Highland, .\'. \'.. daughter of John and Catherine 
(Kose) Tnthill. .She is a lady of refinement and 
cultm-c of deep character. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are 
the parents of two children: i \) F.dith. liorn 
March 25. 1873, was educated in the Madison 
schools and in ^'ale lUisiness College, and is now 
engaged as a stenographer. (2) Ralph Davis, born 
March 4, 1875, is with the Standard Oil Co. in 



Springfield, Mass. In politics Mr. Smith is a Dem- 
ocrat. Fraternally he is a Mason, affiliating with 
Madison Lodge, b'. & A. M. Mr. Smith has never 
seen fit to connect himself with any church, but he is 
a man of fine character, kindly spirit and exalted 
devotion to wdiat is good and true. The family at- 
tend the Congregational Church. 

AMBROSE H. WELLS. There are no rules 
for building character ; there is no rule for achiev- 
ing success. The man wdio can rise from the ranks 
to a position of eminence is he who can see and util- 
ize the opportunities that surround his path. The 
essential conditions of human life are ever the same, 
the surroundings of individuals ditter but slightly ; 
and, when one man passes another on the highway 
to reach the goal of prosperity before others who 
perhaps started before him, it is because he has the 
power to use advantages which probably encom- 
pass the wdiole human race. To-day among the most 
prominent business men of \\'aterbury who have 
made their own way in the world unaided is Am- 
lirose H. Wells, manufacturer of seamless tubing. 
He was born in Newtown, Fairfield Co., Conn., 
March 26, 1837, and is a grandson of David W^ells. 

Emory \\'ells. father of our subject, was also 
a native of Newtown, and was a shoemaker by 
trade. In 1841 he moved to Lockport, N. Y., 
where he engaged in the manufacture of shoes 
throughout the remainder of his life. Politicallv 
he affiliated with the Democratic party, and re- 
ligiously was a consistent member of the Episcopal 
Church. He was one of the honored and highly re- 
spected men of his community. He married Miss 
Maria, daughter of Isaac Gilbert, and to them w-ere 
born three children: Jennette, deceased wife of 
Henry Jackson ; Isaac, a resident of Fairfield county, 
Conn. ; and Ambrose H., our subject. Mrs. Wells 
died in Newtown and was buried there. She was a 
true Christian woman and a model wife and mother. 

Ambrose H. Wells was reared in his native town, 
and acfiuired a limited education in the district 
schools. At a very early age he commenced earning 
his own living by working at farm labor, and later 
learned the blacksmith's trade, wdiich he followed 
mitil coming to W^aterbury, in i8r)2, when lie en- 
tered the brass mills of Drown lirotlu'rs as foreman 
in their tube (lc[)artment, remaining there nineteen 
years. He then engaged in the Hour and feed busi- 
ness on Harrison alley near South Main street, 
Walerbm-y, for two years, but not meeting with suc- 
cess in that venture, he sold out his business and 
again entered tlie eiuploy of F)rown Brothers as fore- 
man. A year later he started in business for him- 
self on the W\atcrtown road, in Waterbury, and in 
i8()3 liuilt a large factory, wdiere he has since en- 
gaged in the manufacture of seamless tubing, it 
being the only manufactory of the kind in the town. 
He has a well-e(|ui]i]ied ])lant. costing him over 
$25,000, and furnishes employment to more than 
twenty men. I'",nter[)rising, energetic and indus- 




.J^iirrMao 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



549 



trioiis, he has acliicved a wcll-iiieritcd success in Hfe, 
and is now enjoyintj- a coniforlahle competence. 

In Newtown, Conn.. Mr. Wells was united in 
jnarriage with .Miss Eveline Judson, a native of 
that place, and a daughter of Zenas J. Judson, and 
to them were born five sons, all of whom are witli 
their father in business. Samuel, who is foreman 
of the factory, married first Jemiie Marie Mscher, 
and second. Mary Schurlke : and I'^ank married 
AmeHa J. Schurlke. The others are single. I'ather 
and sons are all charter members of the l'ef|uot 
Chib,/jf Waterbnry; Samuel, I'rank and Julward 
are members of the Knights of I'ythias fraternity; 
and Frank is also connected with the Imimned 
Order of Red Men. Mr. Wells is a menvber of 
King Solomon Lodge, V. &i A. .M., of Woodbiu-y ; 
and is identified with the Democratic party and is a 
jnember of the board of finance of the city of Water- 
burv. lie attends religious services at l.hiion 
Chapel, of which he is a trustee, and he and his 
family occupy an enviable position iit the best social 
circles of the community in which they reside. 

Mrs. Wells belongs to an old Xew England 
familv founded here in if)34 by William Judson, his 
wife and three sons. Josejih, Jeremiah and Joshua, 
natives of England, who located in Xew TIaven, 
<"onn., where he died in i6fjj, and where his re- 
mains were interred. His son Joseiih ma<le his 
home there throughout life, and died in i(k/). He 
married Sarah Judson, and reared a large family. 
One of their children, James Judson, was born in 
1050 and died in i/i". He was a land owner and 
farmer. Among his several sons was David Judson, 
■who was born in 1693, and married Phoebe Stiles. 
He died and was buried in Xew Haven. Tn his 
family were four children: David, born in 1715; 
riioebe, wife of Matthew Curtis, in 1717: Abel in 
1721 : and Agnes in 1724. Abel Judson moved to 
Stratford, Fairfield Co.. Conn., where he owned 
and o])crated a farm. ( )n Alay 7, 1744, he mar- 
ried .Sarah lUirton, by whom he had four children: 
John, born in 1745. who married Patience b'air- 
man ; Abel, torn in 174'!; .Sarah, 1740. wlni mar- 
ried Asher Peck; an<l Ruth, 1752, who married 
J lenry Fairman. 

.\bel Tudson, Jr., the grandfather of .Mrs. Wells, 
was born in Stratford in 1746 and became a leading 
farmer of Newtown, Fairfield county, where he 
owned over 200 acres of land on Mile Hill, now 
occupied by Daniel G. Beers, lie was a man of 
independent thought and action, and an active mem- 
ber of the Sandemanian Church. He married Ann 
J'.ennett and they became the parents of fifteen chil- 
dren : Ruth, born Nov. 17, i7''xj, married M. Hard 
and had a son, who was a i)hysician among the 
Catskills, at Hunter. N. \.: I'.ennett was born Ftb. 

L-d Mr. 
74. removed to 



22. r 



12. 1771 ; P>etsey, born Det 

Prindle; Rufus, born Dec 

Ohio; Abner, born Oct. 17, i77''i, married first a 

Miss Plard, second, Miss Judson, and third. Miss 

Slu'ijliard ; Abel was born in 1 77S : Marcus was 



born Feb. 3, 1780; Laura, born Dec. 8, 1781, mar- 
ried Zcra Blackman ; Jtru.sha, born Sept. 22, 1783; 
was married to Eleazer Starr ; Silence, born April 
3. 1785, married Daniel Wells, a shoemaker of 
/oar. Conn.; Lsaac, born Feb. 3, 1787; John, born 
I"el). II, 1789, was a physician; Martin, born h'eb. 
17. I7<>i . was a miller at Sandy Ho(_)k ; Zenas J., lx>rii 
.March 28, I7<)3, was the father of Mrs. Wells; and 
.Vnna, born Jan. 6, 1795, married Thomas Seelcy, 
a shoe maker and hotel keeper of Newtown. Mrs. 
Wells' father was a tailor by trade, and made his 
home in Newtown. He married l-'anny Torrence, 
and of their eleven chiku-en, the youngest, Eveline, 
became the wife of Ambrose H. Wells, our subject. 

TH().\L\S McEVOY, for nearly thirty years 
proprietor of a prosperous grocery business in 
Waterbnry, is a native of Irelaml, born in Queen's 
county in 1831. 

Patrick McEvoy, father 01 our subject, was of 
the same nativity, and fi.illowed fanning in the old 
countrv. He came to this comitry and in 1851 set- 
tled in Waterbin-y. where he died. He married 
IClizabeth Terrell, also a native of (Jueen's county, 
Ireland, and seven children were l)orn to them, viz.: 
John came from Ireland to Waterbnry, and died 
there; Patrick was a farmer in .Middlebury, Conn., 
and died there; Thomas is our subject; Christopher 
is a Catholic priest in i'hilatlelphia ; Mary is the de- 
ceased wife of Patrick Dwyer, of Simmonsville, 
Conn.; Elizabeth and Jlridget died unmarried in 
Ireland. 

Thomas McEvoy remained in Ireland until he 
was nineteen years old, in 1851 c(iming to Water- 
bury, where he has since made his home. For 
seventeen years he worked as a farm laborer, and 
then opened his present grocery business, in which 
he has been very successful. 

In 1858 Mr. McEvoy married Ann .Mulhall, who 
was Imrn in Queen's county, Ireland, and died in 
Waterbnry about twenty-eight years ago. She was 
the mother of eight children, three of whom are de- 
ceased ; those living are ; Mary, Sarah, Joseph, Lib- 
hie and Thomas. Mr. MclAoy is a member of St. 
Patrick's Church, \\'aterl)ury, and has been identi- 
fied with that ])arish some twenty-eight years. In 
politics he is a Democrat. 

CALEB SMITH, a veteran of the Civil war 
and a well-known resident of Milford, was born at 
his present residence J\Iarch 10, 1840, and is a rep- 
resentative of an old anil respected family of that 
locality. 
i Caleb Smith (i), our subject's great-grand fa- 
1 ther, was horn in the town of Milford. 1 lis brotlier, 
Hezekiah, was the grandfather of Edgar H. .Smith, 
now a resident of that town. Caleb Smith ( 2), son 
of Caleb (i), was a farmer by ()CCU])ation, as were 
other members of the family ; and he built the house 
now occupied by our subject. He married Sarah 
Carrington, and had three children: Charles, men- 



5 50 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



lioned below : Adeline, who married Lazarus N. 
Smith, a fanner of Milford: and Garrett, a shoe- 
maker, in Alilford, who was also agent for the New 
York, Xew Haven & Hartford Railroad, at Xauga- 
tuck Junction. 

Charles Smith was horn at the present homestead 
July \(\ i.Soi. and died l'"eb. lo. 1891. in religious 
faith he was a Congregationalist. and in politics he 
aftiliated with the \\ hig and Ucpnhlican parties. He 
married .Maria .Xellleton, ol .Milfurd, who was born 
A])ril 15, 1808. and died ( )ct. 2(1. 1865. Her father, 
Thaddeus Xettleton. was a farmer of .Milford. 
'I'welve children were born to Charles and Maria 
Smith, as follows: Lucius, a carpenter and joiner, 
will) died in Milford Dec. 18, 1870; (_)tis, who died 
Jan. 2y, 1838. aged eight years; .\deline. who died 
in .August, 1855. aged twenty-four; .\Latilda, who 
married Dr. Dwight Luinin. a physician in Percival, 
Iowa: Caleb (11, who died b'eb. 28, 183(1: Charles, 
a farmer in .Nebraska, who married .Sarah .^kid- 
more; Caleb (2), our subject: Lmily, who married 
(i. Truman Smith, of .Xew Haven: Harriet E., who 
married ( hrst ) Caleb Dnell, .and (second) A. .\. 
r>r;ulK-y : Isabell.a (I., who died .Aug. 2t,. 1845, ""' 
m.arrieii : .Ann .\1., who niarrietl Wallace Parker, of 
Kew Haven: and one who died in infancy. 

Caleb Stuith spt'Ut his boyhood in his native town 
and received a district school education, attending 
imtil he reached tlie age of si.xteen. In September, 
]802, he enlisted in C'ompany C, 27th Conn. A'. 1., 
and during his term of service he was taken prisoner 
at Chancellorsville, ,and .s])ent two weeks in Libby 
l)rison. He was nni.stere<l out July lO, 1863, and 
returned to the old Iiomestead where he has since 
iK'en engaged in general farming. The farm, which 
comprises seventy acres, is locateil two miles from 
Milford, and affords an o])portunity for two of his 
.sons to carry on the ice business successfully. In 
]K)litics Mr. Smith i- a Republican. Fraternally he 
lielongs to the ( ■. A. I\.. and religiously to the Con- 
gregational Church. 

< )n bell. id. 18(15. .Mr, .Smith married Aliss 
Marion C, lU-.-ird. and they ha\e had twelve chil- 
dren: i,uci;i I'".., who )narried .Arthur J. I'latt, 
of .Milford, and died .M.irch 20, i8gC): t'aleb A., who 
died Jan. 2. 18711: b'.gbert L., a physician in Hotch- 
kissville, Coini.. who married .Altliea .Allen, of that 
town : Robert i\., who died .March 24. 1873 ; Sunnner 
C; Wallace 1'.; Mabel C., who died .Xov. 13, 1880: 
(Jrace I.: bllwood W. ; Xi'Ison C. ; Clifford M.; and 
Charles .A. 

The lieard family is \\v\\ known in Milford, and 
Andrew I'.eard, Mrs. Smith's grandfather, was a 
resident of the town. His brother was the grand- 
father of Joseph T. Heard, of .Milford. .Allen C. 
JleanI, Mrs. Smith's father, was born in Milford, 
Jan. 28. 1813, and died .Aug. 2(), 18(^7. ( )n Alarch 
22, 1840, he married .Abigail Smith, of Milford 
(daughter of Willi.am Smith, and his wife, .Susan 
Heard), who died Jan. 20. 1870. This union was 
blessed with a large family of children, the names 



Abigail 



and dates of birth being given as follows : 
A., Se])t. 7, 1841 ; Susan, Sept. 9, 1842: Marion C, 
Dec. 22, 1844, in Bethany; an infant, May 23, 1847; 
Andrew A., May 22, 1848; Kate S., Sept. 3, 1850: 
Sarah M., July 14, 1853: Flora G., Nov. 24, 1855; 
and William, July 17. 1858. All are living except 
Sarah M., who died Nov. 28. 1896; William, who 
died Oct. 17, 1858; and one that died unnamed. 

JOHX KDWLX TOWNER, a machinist by 
trade, but now engaged in agricultural pursuits, is 
a well-known, prosperous citizen of Branford. A 
native of Connecticut, he was bom Jan. 21, 1840, on 
the farm whereon he now resides. 

Richard Towner, the first of the family to settle 
in Connecticut, tradition says was a native of the 
Isle of Man, that he was impressed on board a lirit- 
ish warship and put ashore sick at Charleston, S. 
C, where he married. His wife's name was De- 
borah. From there it is said he and his family came 
to Connecticut, settling in i68y in Branford, where 
he died -Aug. 22, 1727. Richard Towner, his son, 
bajJtized in 1700, was a fanner in Branford. He 
marrietl Elizabetii T\ler Sejit. 28, 1720. and died 
March i, 1753. His son Jonathan, born in Bran- 
ford Nov. 16, 1 72 1, married Mary Darrow Nov. 10. 
1743. He died Feb. 20, 1804, she on Feb. 15, 1806. 

David Towner, son of Jonathan and Alary ( Dar- 
row ) Townef, and the grandfather of John Edwin, 
was born in Branford in 1768. He was a farmer 
by occupation, and also for a time kept a tavern on 
the Guilford pike, although he was a scythemaker by 
trade, which he learned of Ezekiel Hayes, great- 
grandfather of Rutherford B, Hayes, ex-President 
of the Cnited States. Air. Towner would carry on 
his back the scythes he made, and sell them through- 
out the county. He married Betsey I'lisho]), of Beth- 
lehem, and liy her had the following children who 
grew to maturity: John, Harriet, Xancy (Mrs. 
Henry Rogers) and Davis ( wdio married .Almira 
Brooks). The father of these died Sept. 24, 1851, 
the mother April 4, 1853. 

John Towner, son of Da\id and Betsey ( Bishop) 
Towner, and the father of John Edwin, was horn 
Sept. 15, 1794, at Branford. and died June 20, 1853. 
He was a lifelong farmer, ( ):i l"eb. 6. 1825, he mar- 
ried Martha Tyler, who bore him three children: 
Harvey K., born ( )ct. 21, i82fi, married Grace E. 
.Auger, b'.mily S.. born Dec. 15, 1834, was married 
June i(), 1855, to John R. Holcomb, who died .Aug. 
7, 1899; she has one son, Frank 1{. John E. is our 
subject. The father was a Whig in politics, as was 
also Ids father. John Towner volunteered for ser- 
vice in the war of 1812. ;ind served as coast guard. 

John Tylei-. the m:iternal grandfather of John 
I'.dwin Towner, was a n:itive of Branford, where he 
carried on farming. During the Revolutionary war 
he serve<l in tlie army, and was wounded in battle. 
His wife .Ann (Rogers), wiio was also bom in 
Branford, was a descendant of Thomas Rogers, who 
came over in the "Alayllower." tieorgc Tyler, father 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



551 



of John, married Lxilia l^aynore. He also was a 
farmer. 

John Edwin 'I'owner. the sul)ject proper of these 
lines, was reared on the old homestead, and educated 
in jiarl at the common schools of the neighhorhood, 
in part at the iSranfnrd .\cadem\'. lie then served 
a four-years api)renticeship in .\'e\v Haven at the 
trade of machinist, which he afterward followed for 
years in the railroad shojjs of that city. Diu-in^t;- the 
I'ivil war he was a member of Company L', 15th 
L'onn. \'. J., enlistins;- in July, uS()2, and was mus- 
tered into service Aiit;-. 15, i8()2. He particijjated in 
the battle of hVedericksljur^:;, the siejJ:e of Suffolk, 
and in several minor engagements, was wounded at 
Kinston, X. C, March 8. 1865, taken prisoner and 
incarcerated in Salisbury prison fifteen days, also for 
a few days in the jail at Danville. X. C, after which 
he was sent to Richmond, taken through the lines 
to Annapolis, and honoraljly discharged Jmie 1. 
1865. Since 1870 he has been engaged exclusively 
in farming. 

Un Xov. 16, 1872, -Mr. Towner married Susan 
1). Hoadley, daughter of Charles and Elizabeih 
((iunn) Hoadley, of liranford, and three children 
were born to them: Anna 1'.. Merle E. and Laura 
E. Anna I', died Jidy ly. 1899; she was a graduate 
of the State Xormal School at Xcw I'ritain, from 
which she held an honorary diploma, and followed 
teaching until ill health comiielled her to resign. 
Mrs. 'lowlier passed away March 21, i8(-)7. The 
family attend the services of the Congregational 
Church. In politics Mr. Towner is a Republican. 
Socially he is a member of Wooster Lodge, .\o. 7<), 
l'. & A. M.. hTanklin Chapter, and Harmony Coun- 
cil, R. A. M., all of Xew Haven, and is affiliated 
with the (i. .\. R., Mason Rogers Post, Xo. 7. De- 
partment of Connecticut, of wjiich he is the jiresent 
adjutant and a [jast commander. He was com- 
mander when the soldiers' monument was dedicated. 

Il(_)\. CEoRtih: (JTTO SCHXELLER. In 
sketching the life of Cicorge Otto Schneller, late of 
.\nsonia, a mere list of the large number of organ- 
izations with which he was connected, and which 
felt his guiding hand, woidd lie wholly inade(|uate 
to give a correct idea of the man and his methods, 
for as a cajjtain of industry he was a Xapt)leon. the 
ablest general of his State and time. The names of 
the institutions which felt his ])ower may ])erish with 
the years, but his methods and genius will ever re- 
main an inspiration. 

Horn in .Xuremherg. (jermany. June 14, 1843, 
of an aristocratic family, and educated in the schools 
of his native land, al the age of seventeen Mr. 
Schneller left home and family, and, unaided by 
money or inlluence, started his business career in 
.\'ew York. His love of home had not lessened, 
Inn his love of independence was greater. Self- 
reliance was the key to all his actions. Loving his 
faniilv with that strong passion which showed itself 
in his healthful dreams, and which had n:il faded out 



in the delirium of his last sickness, he cut loose from 
family ties and learned the language and manners of 
his adopted country while engaged in occu])ations 
which brought him renumeration barely sufticient 
til pay the cost of board and clnthes. 

"The Sim set, but set not his hope. 
Stars rose, his faith was earlier up." 

.■\s an elegant i)enman and accurate accountant 
Mr. Schnelk'r obtained a |)osition with t ). \\ . Ilird, 
of Xew York, who was a commission man, doing 
business for ( )sl>orn & Cheesman, of Ansonia, Conn., 
and thence drifted to Ansonia as an accountant for 
that firm. Rapidly rising until he commanded the 
largest salary obtainable in that position, he left his 
money well invested and visited his ancestral man- 
sion with the l)est wishes of his employers. Hut, 
though his stay was long, he wrote that he "fell like 
an eagk' in a hen con])." and again came to this 
country. While waiting for something to turn up 
he made an engineer map of Ansonia and Derby, on 
the plan of the engineer maps of the (ierman Empire, 
which he considered a model for the .State. 

In 1876 Mr. Schneller purchased a spectacle fac- 
torv at .Shelton, Conn., and, applying his inventive 
genius to the ini]jrovement of the mechanical process, 
resold it in six months to a competitor f(.>r three 
times its original cost, lie then turned his attention 
to the manufacture nf eyelets. The usual pro])or- 
tion tif eyelets had been only about one hall of the 
metal employed, and the process had been slow and 
com])licated. In three years he had invented ma- 
chinery which saved more than sixty ])er cent, of 
the sera]) wasted even by the best known jirocess. 
To enable him to surjjass the cheap hand labor of 
Eiiro])e he inveiiteil and patented a machine which 
turned out seven thousand eyelets per minute. I'.y 
the process em])loyed for setting eyelets only one at 
a time was handled. He invented a machine for 
setting every eyelet in a corset at one stroke, which 
revolutionized the industry both in this country and 
in Euro])e. Mis inventions ranged from buttons to 
water meters ami multiplex telegraphic ajjijaratus. 
In addition to attending to his manufacturing inter- 
ests, he rei^resented his town on the board of edu- 
cation, and in the State Legislature from i8(ji to 
1893: was one of the leading s])irits ill the electric 
street railroad of Derby: and when the rubber co,ii- 
])anies of the Cnited States formed a gigantic cor- 
]xiration he was a leading director and master 
si)irit. 

When the dam which furnished ])ower to the ex- 
tensive mills of his former emijloyers was carried 
away, Mr. .Schneller ])urcliased and reorganized the 
textile branch of the business under the style of the 
Ansonia C). & C Co., and became director and jiresi- 
dent of the I'irniingham Urass Co. At the solicita- 
tion of friends he sometimes invested in outsirle 
schemes, but they never ])ros])ered as did those under 

' his own "uidin<r hand. 1 lis theorv was that difificul- 
... . ' 

ties existed in all kinds of business, but were not ajit 



55: 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



to 1)1' recognized in those oiieratioiis carried on at a 
distance. 

"A score of airy miles will sninolli 
Rough Monadnoc to a gem." 

\\v believed that distant venlnres were of liitle ac- 
count, but used to say that evt-ry y<inng man had a 
gold mine under his feet if he could only see it. 

Mr. Schneller loved the fresh sea breeze and had 
liis lovely summer cottage l)y the seashore. The 
last }-ear of his life ( iS(>5) he determined, in the 
spring, to build a new factory for his increasing 
business, and when it was completeil to enjoy an 
ocean trij) with his family to the home of his youth ; 
but before this could be realized he felt the breath of 
eternal morning on his brow. Just as his factory 
was completed, he caught a severe cold, which set- 
tled in the region of his heart, ;uid he never re- 
covered. 

In 1S-3 .Mr. Schnellei' was married to Clarissa 
Ailing, of .Vnsonia, and to the union si.x. children 
were Ixjrn. 'I'lie eldest, .Marie Eloise, called by her 
classmates "liirdie," easih- won first honors in 
ji.er class, and in her nunmrx a wimlow has been 
placed in the high school building at .\nsonia. The 
only son, (icorge Otto, born in iSjS, who evinces 
much of his father's spirit, determination and busi- 
ness ability, succeeds by the terms of the will to the 
care of his father's various enlerjjrises. 

(OL. WALTI'.K j.\.\li:S Li-;.\\ b:.\\\i )RT}[, 
No history of the Slate of (."onnecticnt would be 
com])lete without sjiecial mention nf the Leaven- 
worth family, who from a very earlv (l;i\- were con- 
spicuous among its earlier settlers, and have borne a 
I)r(jminent part in the growth and |>i-i)speritv of the 
several portions of the .State where the various 
branches have I'jcated. 

The first (if the family in ibis countrv o\ wdiom 
we ha\e mention was ( 1 ) Thomas Leavenworth, a 
native of Lnglaml, in which count i-\ he married 
Grace (surnaiue imknown). .Some liiuc after \()(i^ 
(as learned only by tradition, howt^ver) they emi- 
grated to .Vmerica. and he died in W'oodburw Conn., 
Aug. 3, i'hS^. .Vn inventory of his personal estate 
was taken .\ug. 20. the same year, showing valua- 
tion to be ^225, 2s, id; this appears on the probate 
records of h'airfield district, also that he left two 
sons and one <lauglner, to-wil : Thomas (doctor), 
a sketch of wdi(jm follows; John, born probahh- in 
Woodbur}-, Litchfield t'o.. Conn., possiblv in luig- 
land, died after 1718; record of birth and death of 
daughter not given. The father of this familv was 
a farmer and settled, no doubt, on ( lood Hill, in the 
Western part of the present town of W'oodburv, not 
far from the line of Ro.xbury, and there and in that 
vicinity the family have continued, being now quite 
numerous. A tradition in the family is that Thomas 
landed at Xew Haven, doubtless having come from 
England. 

In Russell's ''Lives of hlccentric rersonages," 



p. 96, in the record of the life of Sir Gerald Massey, 
reference is made to Sir Lewis Leavenworth as liv- 
ing in London, and to a ball given by him about the 
middle of the eighteenth century, (irace, the wife 
of (1 ) Thomas Leavenworth, survived him, and re- 
mained in Woodbury for a time (perhaps perma- 
nently), and was there in ]'"ebruary, 1686, owning 
land in "Hosky Meadow," about a mile from the 
village of Woodbury. It is supposed that she died 
in 1715. The execution of bonds by his wife, after 
his decease, with London persons, to wdiich was at- 
tached the Leavenworth arms, would indicate that 
Thomas had formerly been a resident of London. 
Little is known of him, however, and no headstone 
bearing record of him is to be found in any of the 
cemeteries of Woodbury, lint he was evidently a 
prosperous man in his affairs, judging from the 
property that he left, and from the way in which he 
brought up his children, viz. : in habits of industry 
and frugality. Unfortunately few data are pre- 
served from wdiich to form definite opinions of his 
character, save what may have been inherited from 
him. Of the character of the Leavenw^orth family 
there is little to be said that cannot with equal truth 
be applied to the good and early families of New 
England. They brought with them from the 
mother country the pure and rigid principles as well 
as the stern and unyielding spirit wdiich had char- 
acterized the Puritans of Juigland for a century 
previous. 

(II) Dr. Thomas Leavenworth, son of (i) 
Thomas, was born in 1673, perhaps in Woodbury, 
possibly in England, and died Aug. 4, 1754, in 
kipton, Conn. About iCmjH, at StratfortI, he mar- 
ried Mary Jenkins, a daughter of David and Grace 
Jenkins, born in 1680, died at Ripton, in June, 1768, 
and she and her husband were buried at Ripton 
Center. In 1697-98, Dr. Thomas Leavenworth was 
received into communion with the .Stratford Church, 
having on the 1 itli day of January, that year "owned 
the covenant," and in 1724 he and his wife laecame 
original members of the Church at Ripton, of which 
he was one of the founders. In 1726 he was deacon 
of the church, and a member of the society's com- 
mittee. In 1 73 1 he was one of the promoters of 
and interested parties in a copper mine in Woodbury. 

Dr. Thomas Leavenworth was a man of posi- 
tion, influence, energy and wealth. He had the 
proper appreciation of the value of learning, and 
educated his son Mark at Yale, wdiere he was grad- 
uated in 1737. Dr. Thomas evidently gave to 
all his children every advantage usually en- 
joyed at that period, as all of them became active, 
useful and prominent men in after life, in the places 
where they resided. On July 6, 1748, he made his 
will which was offered for ])robatc by his widow, 
June 12, 1754, and was i>roved three days later. 
I it can be found in Liook 1754-1757, pp. 41-44.] He 
left a large property for those times. The Doctor 
lived in Stratford as early as 1695, and probably re- 
moved to Ripton about 1721. llis residence was di- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



553 



rcctly oil the bank of the Ilousat'inic river, about 
two miles above the village of Binningham, and a 
short distance below the site of the "Leavenworth 
Bridge," built originally (1768-69) by his son Capt. 
lulmund, and his grandson, (iidcon, and subse- 
quently rebuilt by the latter. Here he had a large 
farm fronting on the river for more than a mile; 
but not a vestige of his dwelling now remains. This 
])ro])erty has remained in the family for over joo 
years. 

Dr. Thomas Leavenworth and his wife arc, no 
doubt, the common progenitors of the whole familv 
now living in the L'nitcd States. 'l"he headstones at 
their graves still remain in good condition in the 
old cemetery, near the Ripton Church, of which he 
was one of the founders. A brief record o{ the cliil- 
tiren of this pioneer couple, all born in Stratford, 
Conn., is as follows: James, born Sept. i, \(x/), 
died Aug. I, I7()0. David, bcirn ( )ct. 1.2, 1701, died 
^'\l)ril 10, 1735. Ebenezer, burn .\pril 7, 1706. died 
in 1834. unmarried. Jiilm is fully spoken of farther 
on. Zebulon, horn about 1710, died May 2, 1778. 
JNIark, born about 171 1, died Aug. 20, 1797, in the 
cighty-si.xth year of his age and the fifty-eighth year 
of his ministry; in March, lyfM. he was appointed 
chaplain of the 2d Connecticut Regiment, com- 
manded by Col. Nathan \\'hiting. Thomas, born 
about 1713. died in 1795. Mary, born in 1717, died 
in 1813. Hannah, born about 1719. was alive in 
I7()3. Sarah, born Xov. 6, 1721, was alive in 1758. 
Edmund, Ijorn in 1725. died July 17, 1785. 

(Ill) John Leavenworth, son of (II) Dr. 
Thomas, was born Xnv. 3, 1708, and was baptized 
in Bridgeport (then Stratford), Conn. He mar- 
ried (first), about 1737. Deborah Hurd, who died 
Jan. I, 1746; he married (second), Jan. jcj. 1747, 
jNIary Bronson, who was born July 21. 1719. a 
daughter of Ebenezer B. and Marv Mann. He re- 
sided in Ripton in 1733. [Book IV, p. 164, Wood- 
bury Records.] His father deeded to him lands on 
Good Hill, in 1733. and he received a part of the 
estate of his brother Ebenezer, as well as part of the 
estate of his father. He died about the year 1783. 
and his will was proved in W'oodlnirv Eeb. 17, 1785. 
[Mil I'rob. \'ol., ]i. 164.1 His son.-. .Xnios and 
Elihu, w'ere his executors. He had a number of 
slaves with their families, which he dis]K)sed of bv 
his will. During his life he was one of the leading 
men of Woodbury, and he lived on Good Hill, near 
the residence of the late Jolm Leavenworth, and on 
or near the veiy gromid where his grandfather 
Thomas first settled. The children liorn (all in 
Woodlniry) to John and Deborah (Hurd) Leaven- 
worth were as follows; David (Capt.) is fully 
spoken of farther on. .Abigail, born about 1739, 
died March 4, 1782. Joint, born in I73<). died in 
June, 1802; served in the war of the l-ievolution. 
ICothren, p. 783.] Lemuel, born Oct. 9, 1743, died 
April 30, 1825 ; he took up arms to resist the inva- 
sion of Burgoyne, and was at tiie battle of Bemiing- 



ton. Deborah w^as baptized May 8, 1745. The 
children born (all in Woodbury) to John and Mary 
(Bronson) Leavenworth were as follows: Sybil, 
born in 1747; Amos, baptized Aug. 9, 1753. died 
Sept. 2, 1828; Avis, born in 1754; Elihu, born Oct. 
3, 1756, died Dec. 25, 1756; Elisha, ba])tized July 
3- ^l^'lJx Ji'^tl early in life; b-lihu, born June to, 17O3, 
itied July I, 1817. 

(1\') Capt. David Leavenworth, eldest son of 
(III) John, was born about 1738 in Woodbury, 
where he passed all of his days, (King March 25, 
1820. In 1796 he w'as captain of the fourth com- 
pany, 13th regiment of the Colony of Coimecticut, 
and served in the army of the Revolution. [See 
Cothren, pp. 195-6-7 and 204-8-10-11.] His will 
was ]>roved .\pril 10, 1820. [XllI Vol., I'rob., ]3. 
4.] He was engaged heart and soul in the w-ar 
of the Revolution; was called out with his com- 
pany to New York, besides on various other occa- 
sions, and proved himself one of the active and ener- 
getic men of those trying limes. .Accounts of his 
services and ex[)enses at I'airfield in 1778, and on 
other occasions, are on file at the comptroller's office 
at Hartford. The account for militia service, etc., 
at Eairfield, amounted to ^36, 3s, ud; another ac- 
cuunt is £99, 3s, 4(1. 

Capt. David Leavenworth married, (first) Eeb. 
8. 1759, Olive Hunt. Children: Gideon, born Oct. 
-^'. ^759. dic'i Oct. 15, 1827, in Roxbury, Conn.; he 
served in the Revolutionary army [Cothren, p. 
y^il. and was a commissary under LaEayette. IJa- 
vid died in the s])ring of 1858; he was in the war of 
the Revolution. [Cothren, p. 783.] Morse is fully 
mentioned farther on. Anna, born Nov. 15, 1767. 
Capt. David married (second) Oct. 30, 1776, .Mary 
Downs. Children: Whitman, born .March 22, 
1778. Mary, born March 16, 1780, died young. 
Abigail, who is mentioned in her father's will, mar- 
ried Josiah Rinidle, and moved to Whilestown, N. 
Y. Olive married .Xathaniel Galpin, of Roxbury, 
Coiuiecticut. 

(\') Morse Leavenworth, son of ( 1\') Capt. 
David, was born in Roxbury, Conn., July i, 1764, 
i'.nd died there X(n-. 12, 1822. He married, Dec. 
25, 1783, Sarah Benedict, born in New Milford, 
Conn., Jan. 30, \J(yo, and died in Roxbury, Jan. 
29, 1856. She was a daughter of Squire Jonathan 
Benedict, who was born in 1723. Morse was a 
highly respected farmer, and through energy and 
perseverance, which has been characteristic of the 
name even down to the present generation, he accu- 
nuilated consider;ible pro]iertv. His will \vas 
proved Dec. 3, 1822. [XllI, i'rob. \'ol.. p. 138.] 
He was a soldier in the army of the Revolution. 
[Cothren, p. 783.] He built and lived and died in 
the house now owned by his grandson, Jolm IL, 
who is a teacher and farmer, living in i<oxl)ury. 
Children born to Morse Leavenworth; Martin, 
born Jan. 12, 1785, died I'eb. i(), 181 3. Truman, 
born Aug. 18, 1786, died March 26, 1852. I'hilo, 



554 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



born Oct. 3. 1789, died l-'cb. 11, 1S35; he served 
in the war of 1812. Wait is fully spoken of farther 
on. Harriet, born Oct. 30, 1796. Morse, born July 
2J, 1805, died Nov. 23, 185J. 

(X'T) Wait Leavenworth, son of (V) ^Nlorse, 
was born Sept. 12, I7i;2, in Roxbury, Conn. On 
Marcli 30, 1812. he married AnK.>retta Patterson, 
daughter of James and Clara Patterson, of Roxbury, 
Comi. He was a farmer, a good citizen and highly 
esteemed, was pleasant, sociable and of a generous 
disposition. Me was a large man, weighing some 
200 pounds. In 1838 he served in the Legislature, 
and for many vears held various town offices, in- 
cluding that of selectman. His children, all born 
in Roxbury, were: James Martiii, born I''eb. 2^1, 
1813, died Jan. 26, 1814. James .Martin (2) is 
fully s])oken of farther on. William, born July 23, 
181'). (ieorge, born .Sept. 13. 1820, died May 12. 
J847. Wait. ])orn May <), 1827. Edwin, born .\pril 
21, 1831, died in |8<>7. Charles Royal, born Dec. 
14, 1834, is living in Koxbnry. Two others died in 
infancy. 

(\'ll) James Martin L^eavenwortli, son of (\'l) 
Wait, and the father of Col. Walter James, was born 
in Roxbury, Conn., Sept. 28. 181 5, and died in 
Wallingford, Conn., in i88<;. 15y occupation he was 
a carpenter and joiner: for some time prior to bis 
death was millwright and carpenter for the R. Wall- 
ace & .Sciiis Mfg. Co., and superintended the erec- 
tion of several of the buildings belonging to this 
tirm. lie was not active in ])nlitical affairs, l)ut e.x- 
liibited great zeal in educational matters, and served 
as a member of the committee that had charge of 
the building of the public sclmnl in \\'allingfor(I 
(whither he had ciime in 1852). which was erected 
in 1870-71 at a cost of nearly $32,000, and is said 
to be one of th.- nmst comjilete liuildings of its kind 
in the State. Tie was a member of the Congrega- 
tional C'hurch. and was a (|uiet, unassuming man. 
A great reader, be took considerable pride and much 
delight in his lilirary, which was (|uite extensive for 
a ])rivate one, lieing replete with works of standard 
authors. 

On I'eb. 7, 1844. James .M. Leavenworth mar- 
ried Juh;i Hurd, daughter of jebiel and Deborali 
(I'ercy) Hurd, of Roxbury, Conn., and children as 
follows were born to them : Walter James, a sketch 
of whom follows; Julia Isabel, born Oct. 8, 184S, 
in Roxbury, who died .Ma\- 29, 1858, in Walling- 
ford: and .Margaret Perc\ , born M;i\- 21. 1851;, in 
Wallingford, now the wife >^\ Ch.-irles IC Moodv, 
of Honey drove, Texas. The nidther cif these died 
in Medford, Mass., in i8<)i. 

(\'lll) Col. Walter James Leavi. luvorth. son 
of ( \'ll I James M.. was burn b'eb. 20. 1845, in the 
town of Roxbury, Conn., where he rt'ceived, at the 
]-)rimary schools, the earlier p.arl of liis education, 
continuing his studies at the common schools oi 
Wallingford. where the family removed when he 
was seven years old. .\t the age of lifteeu \ears, be- 
ing desirous of following his f;ilher's tratle, he 



started to learn that of joiner; but at the end of a 
few months he gave it up and entered the factory 
of G. 1. Mix & Co., of Yalesville, New Haven 
count)-, manufacturers of Britannia ware. Here 
he remained but a short time, however, from there 
going to the Meriden Britannia Co.'s factory in 
Wallmgford, and he continued in its employ until 
1862. Heretofore he had no taste for office work^ 
but an opportunity presenting itself, he accepted a 
position as entry clerk with Hall. Ellon & Co., man- 
ufacturers of plated ware, which position he held 
until, owing to his marked ability, and the energy 
which he had shown in every minute detail of the 
business, he was promoted to the office of secretary 
of the company. This incumbency he held and the 
duties thereof he performed to the entire satisfaction 
of the company, until 1877, in that year resigning 
to accejjt the position of treasurer of the Wallace 
liros." factory. In 1879 '^h'* firm merged into the 
R. Wallace & Sons Mfg. Co., and Mr. Leavenworth 
was at the same time elected treasurer and general 
manager of the placing of the product of this mam- 
moth factory on the market. Erom his very com- 
j mencement in this capacity the business of the firm 
I was trebled, and is still increasing rapidly. The 
company are large manufacturers of all kinds, and 
in great varieties, of silver ware for talile use, and 
cnnployment is given to from 700 to 850 hands. 
They have branch houses in New York, Chicago, 
San Francisco and London, Englantl. 

In addition to his business relations just men- 
tioned. Col. Leavenworth was until reci?ntly presi- 
dent and director of the Wallingford Gas Light 
Co., of which he was one of the incorporators ; he 
is a director of the First National Bank of Walling- 
ford, also one of its incorporators, and on the death 
of Samuel Simpson ( late president of the bank ) 
in 1894, he was elected to succeed him. As a stanch 
Republican he is a recognized leader, and has served 
in various offices of trust and honor. In 1897 he 
represented the town of Wallingford in the State 
Legislature, and during his two years there was 
chairman of the military cmnmittee. 

In municipal affairs he was burgess of the bor- 
ough of Wallingford four years; chairman of the 
board of water commissioners, also four years ; and 
he is now president of the Wallingford Board of 
Trade, having held that position ever since the for- 
mation of the board. He is at present a member of 
the Central .'school District Committee, having taken 
office July 15. 1900, for two years, by the unani- 
mous vote of the ilistrict. 

Socially Lol. Leavenworth is a member of the 
Wallingford Club, of Wallingford, ;uid also of the 
Re])ublican League Clul.i, and the I'nion League 
Club, boib of New Haven. His religious connec- 
tions are with the First Congregaticjual Church of 
Wallingfiird, of which he is a liheral supporter. 

Ci)l. Li'avi'uworth enjoys a military record that 
covers nearly fifteen years. ( )n .Sept. 15, 1871, he 
enlisted in Company K, 2d Regiment, Connecticut 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



555 



National (luard:; was appointed first sergeant on 
the 19th of the same month, and promoted suc- 
cessively to second lieutenant (Dec. 14, 1871), first 
lieutenant (Aug. 25. 1873). and captain (Jan. 29, 
1874), resigning Jan. 17. 1877. On Xov. 11. 1880, 
he was again a])i)ointed to the captaincy of the same 
company, and again resigned June 16, 1882. ( )n 
July 26, 1882, he was elected lieutenant ci)lonel of 
the 2(1 Regiment .\ational Ciuard. and Vch. 16, 1883, 
was promoted to the colonelcy of same, which rank 
he held several years, resigning from the command 
June 22, 1889. He was highly esteemed as an 
efficient oiificer and a strict discii)linarian. 

On Oct. 23, i8f)7. Col. Leavenworth was married 
to Miss Xettie .\. Wallace, a native of Watertown, 
and a daughter of Rohcrt and Louisa Wallace, of 
Wallingford, and cliildren as follows have hecn 
born to them: Cliffi^rd Wallace, horn May 16, 18O9, 
a graduate from Yale in i8t)i, is now president of 
the X'alentine Linsley Silver Co., of Wallingford ; 
Isabel Wallace, horn in 1871. died m 1889: ISessie 
.\dele, born in 1874, was married in 1897 to Carl- 
ton H. Leach, son of the late Hon. Oscar Leach, of 
Middletown (they have one child, Walter Leaven- 
worth) ; and John Wallace, born July 20, 1882, is 
at present attending school at .Vndover, preparatory 
to entering Yale. 

It can truly be said that Col. Leavenworth has. 
during his business career, identified himself prom- 
inently with every interest of his town in the line 
of public im])rovenient, and has earned the reputa- 
tion which attaches to him — that of being an honor- 
able and highly useful, Io_\al citizen. .A repre- 
sentative self made man, his success in life is due 
\vholl\- to his untiring energy and indomitable per- 
severance, and he has in all respects proven himself 
to be a worthy scion of a worthy family. 

AUSTIX ALVX.^I'liaJX who was for many 
years a prominent business man of New Haven, 
came from a long and honorable line of Xew Eng- 
land families. Jesse Merrick Mansfield, his father, 
was in the seventh generation from Richard Mans- 
field, who came from K.xeter. Devonshire, England, 
and settled in Ouinni])iac (Xew Haven), in i('>39, 
being one of the first settlers of the Colony. Josejjh 
Mansfield, son of Richard, lived' on the part of his 
father's farm IfKated in what is known as llamden, 
and died in i<n)2. Joseph Mansfield (2), his son, 
born in 1673, married IClizabeth Cooper; he occu- 
pied the homestead and farm of his father and 
grandfather. Josejih Mansfield (3), born in 170S, 
married Phebe liassett in 1732, resided at the old 
place of his ancestors, and died about 1762, leaving 
a son, Titus, wdio married Maliel Todd, and lived at 
the old Mansfield farm. Jesse Mansfield, son of 
Titus and grandfather of our suhject, was born in 
1772, and was a car])enter by occupation ; he married 
Keziah Stiles, and lived in Hamden, Connecticut. 

Jesse Merrick Mansfield, the father of oiu" sub- 
ject, was Ix.irn Jidy 1 i, 1801, in llamden. Conn,, and 



was a farmer there during the early i^art of his ca- 
reer, but later engaged in the coal business in Xew 
lla\en, where his (leath occurred March 23, 1878. 
.Mr. .Mansfield was three tinus married, first on 
Oct. 2^1. 1825, to Charlotte Heatt)n, wlu> died June 

19, 1844. His second wife, Julia Tuttle, died in 
i84(), and on Xov. 3, 1850. he married Catherine ]\. 
Warner. His chihlren were: I'.llen. born in 182!'), 
died in i8C)o; Austin, born in 1829, died in 1831; 
.Austin (2), born .April 7, 1833, died .Xov. 24, 1898; 
Susan, born in 1837: Howard, born in 1849; and 
liurton, born in 1856. 

.Austin Mansfield was reared in the vicinity of 
I lamden, and attended the district schools, and later 
came to Xew Haven, where he began his career in 
the lumber business in association with (ieorge I). 
Cower. The death of Mr. Cower, in 1883, caused 
some immaterial changes, and for several years Mr. 
Mansfield continued the business alone and then 
took his son with him, making the firm .Austin .Mans- 
field & Son, this name continuing until ihe ileath of 
Mr. Alansfiekl, in i8(^. The first marriage of .Mr. 
Mansfield was to Emily Eord, wIk.) died in 1879, 
leaving one son, Louis .A., who carries on the hunber 
business established l)y his father. ( )n .Ma\' 14. 
1885, Mr. .Mansfield married .Mi>s Charldtle 1-".. Jud- 
son. 

'Hie family of .Mrs. .Mansfield came from old 
Revolutionary stock. Her father, Jerome T. J nel- 
son, was horn in Xewtown, Conn., Xov. 9, 1830, 
and died in .Xew Haven, July 16, 1872. He mar- 
ried Jane I'. Hall, who was born in Xewtown, June 

20, 1836. a daughter of Alexander Hall, l".s(i., of 
.Xewtown, who was born in I'utnam county, .\'. ^'., 
June 23, 1800, and Rebecca Collnirn Hall of .Xew- 
town. .Mr. and .Mrs. Jerome T. Judson were mar- 
ried and lived in Xew Haven, where he became well 
known as the senior memljcr (_>f the packing house 
of Judson r.ros. Mrs. Akuisfield was their only 
child, .\fter the death of Mr. Judson. his widow, 
in i87<;. became the wife of (Ieorge M. Crant, who 
is now also deceased. 

Jerome T. Judson was a son of Truman Judson, 
a farmer of Roxljury, Conn. He married .\ntoi- 
nette Hurlburt, and reared a family of ten children: 
Jerome T.. the father of Mrs. Mansfield was the 
eldest i.if the family. The others were Charles 1".., 
deceased: I'hilena; Warner D. : Henrietta: Antoi- 
nette; Martha: Uetsie ; (ieorge: and Ellen. • 

LCTill-.k WHEELER CC.M.MIXCS was born 
in .Montpelier, \'t.. July 6, 1841, son of ( )ren (.'um- 
mings, a native of the same place, who was born 
l'"eb. 20, 1801, and died at East .Mont])elier, .A])ril 

21, 1884. I'llisha Cummings, the father of Oren, 
was born in Sutton, Mass., and his father was Dan- 
iel (.'innmings. 

I'.lisha Cunnnings moved fruni Sutton to Mont- 
])elier, he and his wife making the journex' in an 
ox-cart, and settled in the wilderness, engaging in 
farming, and disputing a j^lace with the wild beasts 



■556 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



tliat aboundL'd at tlial time. At the time of his 
location the nearest neighbor was three miles away- 
Mr. Cumniings lived to the age of ninety-one. He 
and his wife reared a familv of nine children; 
Sophia, Joel, Uren (the father of Lnther W.j, 
,'\very, Lorenda, Almira, Amassa, and Lucius and 
Lunian (twins), all of whom were farming people, 
and settled in the same part of the State. 

Oren Cummings, the father of Luther \V., was 
a farmer all his life. He married I'.etsy Wheeler, 
who was born in ^tlontpelier in 1802, and died Fel). 
22, 1878. To them came five children: Henry 
j\l., b(_)rn in 1828; Albert ( )., burn in 1821;; Timothy 
S., born in 1S33; Elizabeth, lK>rn in 1837; and 
Luther W'., whose name appears above, llcnry AL, 
who was a farmer, died in I'.ast .Montpelier, \'t.,Aug. 
7, 1881. Albert ( ). is nnw retired from active la- 
bors, and i,-; living in Miim[)elier. Timothy S. is a 
farmer, and lives at Last Montpelier. l''.lizal)eth 
married Henry S. Town, a farmer in M(int|)elier. 
( )ren Cummings became a Repulilican when the 
])arty was organized. 

Airs. Ik'tsy (Wheeler) Cummings was a 
daughter of jerathmel I'.. Wheeler, who was born 
in 1768, and settled in .Montpelier, coming with his 
brother I'lenjamin from Massachusetts. They were 
great-grandsons of James Wheeler, who was l)orn 
in ICngland. Col. I'hilip Wheeler, son of James, 
was born in If>ij8, and died .'^ept. Kj, 1705. Cajit. 
I'hilip Wlieeler, son of Col. I'liilip, was horn in 
J733. W C li.ive the following concerning him: 

RKnoiioTii, Mass., Nov. 'I'l. 1774. 
The town of Relioboth, being legally warned and assem- 
bled on the 2Ist inst., made choice of Mr. Kphraim Stark- 
-wt-athcr, .Vlr. SamiR-l Peck, Capt. Ebenezer Peck, Capt. 
Phdip Wlieeler, and Ca[)t. I'homas Carpenter, a Committee 
for executing the Plans of the Continental and Provincial 
Congresses; and also gave Orders to the Constables and 
Collectors to pay Henry Gardner, of Stow, Escp, Monies 
which they then had or in fiitnre might have in their hands 
belonging to the Province, agn cable to a Resolve of the 
Provincial Congress, who have considered the late Treasurer 
•Gray unworthy of any further Conliiience, and an avowed 
Enemy to the Rights of .America. 

iM'oni the I'j-ovidencc Gazctlc and Country Jour- 
nal of Saturday, Dec. 3, 1774: 

Sunday Ni^ht last died at I'almer's River Captain 
Philip Wheeler, whose Death was occasioned by a Wound 
he received in the Leg at the Training of his Comiiany a 
few Days before, a young .Man having carelessly and con- 
trary to Orders, discharged his (inn which contained a 
double Charge of Powder. This fatal Accident should cau- 
tion all that are (-ngaged in lear g the Art military to sub- 
mit themselves entirely to the Orders of their ( )flicers. 

Ca])t. Wheeler has left a Wife, and a nuuier.uis Family 
of Children, to deplore his loss. 

l,nther W. L'uinmings grew to UKinhood under 
the parental roof, and remained on the home farm 
tintil he was twenty-one years of age, receiving his 
■education in the old district school. It was a mile 
from his home, and his father had to go three 
tiiiles. When he IkhI reached the age of twentv- 



0!ie it was time for him to strike out in life for 
himself. The first move he made was to come to 
Connecticut, where he worked as a laborer on the 
railroad near Hartford, which presently led him to 
the position of fireman on the Providence, Hartford 
& Plshkill Railroad; he served an apprenticeship of 
four }ears. Mr. Cummings came to Waterbury in 
1867, and took charge of the engine for the Steele 
& Johnson Co., and for twenty-five years was its 
operator. I-"or about seven years he has been re- 
tired from active work. 

On Sept. 15, 1874, Air. Cummings married Aliss 
Isabel A. 'Frost, a native of Waterbury, and a 
daughter of Jared Frost, who was born in North 
Haven, Comi., Sept. 18, 1820, and died in Water- 
bury June II, 1873. Jared Frost was with the 
Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Co., many 
years. He married Susan Lambert, who was born 
in Waterbury, Dec. 26, 1822. and died Jan. 29, 1883. 
They had two children : Charles X. and Isabel A. 
(Mrs. Cummings). Charles X. lives in Kenosha, 
Wis., where he is superintendent of the Chicago 
Brass Co., and president of the Badger Manufactur- 
ing Co. ^Villard Frost, the father of Jared, was 
born in North Haven, Conn., married Miriam Ives, 
Dec. 3, 1809, and died April 17, 1854. The fol- 
lowing children were born to them : Horace, 
Louise, William T., Jared (the father of Mrs. Cum- 
mings) and Alva. The father of Willard Frost 
was born in Xorth Haven June 18. 1748, and 
throughotU his life was a man of mark. His wife, 
Alabel Stiles, was a daughter of Isaac Stiles, and 
the niece of President Stiles, of Yale College. Their 
children were Polly, Titus, Julia, John, Samuel, 
Willard and Leverett. Ebenezer FTost, the grand- 
father of W'illard, was born in X'^orth Haven, and 
died about 1757. Damaris Ives became his wife, 
and they reared a family of eight children : Alary, 
Samuel, Sybil, Amos, Titus, Mary, Lucy and Eben- 
ezer. Ebenezer Frost, father of the Ebenezer just 
mentioned, was born in Xorth Haven .Aug. 15, i('i77, 
married Mary Tuttle. and reared the following 
children : I lannah, Ebenezer, Alary, Alary, Sarah, 
Alartha, John, Abigail, Amos, Thankful and I-'liza- 
l)eth. John FTost, the father of Ebenezer, was born 
in England, and settled in Xorth Haven. 

After their marriage Luther W. Cummings and 
his wife settled in Waterbury, where three children 
were born to them: Harry F"., July 26. 1875; Xor- 
man W., bcb. 27, 1881 ; and i'hi'lli]) 1.. Xov. 13, 
1892. Air. Cummings is an iiuleijendeiit in political 
matli'rs. He is a man of good character and stand- 
ing in the comnnmity. 

CHARLES AUGUSTl'S ATEIGS, born in Ox- 
ford, Conn., Alarch 6, 1825, has been prominently 
identified with the industrial and mercantile inter- 
ests of this county during the past half century. 

Samuel Aleigs, his father, was linrn in the town 
of Bethlehem, Litchfield Co., Conn., in 1791, a son 
of Dr. Phineas Meigs, a leading physician and prom- 





61 M^ 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



557 



incut citizen of that place who died in 1805. Samuel 
Meigs was reared and educated in his native town, 
and at the age of twenty removed to Oxford where 
he was employed by the Hon. David Tomlinson, 
grandfather of Charles A. -Meigs, as will appear 
later. -Mr. Tomlinson conducted a general mer- 
cantile business at Quaker Farms, a village in the 
town of Oxford, and was engaged in the West in- 
dies trade, owning vessels plying between Derl)y, 
New Haven and those Islands; was also largely in- 
terested in agriculture, owning 2.300 acres of land, 
mostly in the town of Oxford, and was a wealthy 
and influential citizen of that place, servin.g for a 
time as Senator in the State Legislature. Samuel 
Meigs married Lorena, daughter f)f David Tom- 
linson, and to them were born five children, namely : 
Sarah K., who married Charles Dick, and died in 
icS88: Jane C, widow of George Linii : ISenjamin, 
who died in childhood ; David T., who died in iSSij ; 
and Charles A., whom we are reviewing. Sanniel 
Meigs spent his last years upon the farm in Oxford, 
where he died in the spring of 1S55, at the age of 
sixtv-tive. He was a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, served in the State Legislature, and although 
not a lawyer, he was wt-11 versed in leg-d matters 
through extensive reading. 

Charles Augustus Meigs passed the early years 
of his life at the old homestead in Ouaker b'arms, 
and obtained his education in the common schools 
of the neighborhood. At the age of sixteen he went 
to Birmingham, Conn., where he served a five years' 
apprenticeship to the tailor's trade, but owing to ill 
health, was unable to follow that occupation. Re- 
turning to Oxford he taught school for one season, 
and in 1849 removed to Waterbury, Coiui., where 
he started the first bakery in the place. He con- 
tinued in the leaking business until the siiring of 
1852, when, accompanied by his brother David, he 
went to California by way of the Nicaragua route. 
On landing at San Francisco they proceeded to the 
b'eather River country, where they engaged in pros- 
pecting and mining until 1855, when they returned 
to Waterbury. There he a,gain engaged in the bak- 
ing business, and in 1857 took John T. Trott info 
partnership, under the firm name of Meigs & Trott. 
This firm continued for over thirty years and be- 
came well known throughout the State on account of 
its extensive business, especially in the mamifac- 
ture of crackers. In 1858, leaving the firm business 
to the management of his partner, ^Ir. Meigs again 
went to California, where he remained for seven 
years. Since his return to Connecticut in 1865, he 
has divided his time between Waterbury and Ouaker 
Inarms, having business interests in both places. He 
lias, however, during the ]iast few years d. voted 
most of his time to liis farming interests, and at 
jiresent resides at the old homestead where he was 
born nearly seventy-seven years ago. 

In 1857 Mr. Meigs was married to Miss Lucy 
"N'ale. of Canaan. Conn., who died the following 
vear. He was again married Jan. 3, i8C)7, ]?ernice, 



daughter of Ebenezer and Julia (Davis) Rig.gs, 
oi Oxford, becoming his wife. 

Lbenezer Riggs was a proiuinent citizen of thac 
town, served in tlie State Legislature, and was con- 
spicuous for his hospitality and kindly characteris- 
tics. Mrs. Meigs" ancestors inchnle many people 
l)rominently identified with the early history and 
develo])ment of New Haven county, among them 
being Sergeant Edward Riggs, one of the first two 
settlers of Derby, Comi. Of this second marriage 
have been born three children : David, who died in 
infancy; Mary, a resident of Waterbury; and 
Charles F., an attorney at law of that place, who 
is a graduate of the Scientific Department of Vale 
University, and was a student in both the Yale and 
Harvard Law Schools. In his political views, Mr. 
Meigs is a Republican, and religiously he is a mem- 
ber of the Protestant lipiscopal Church, to which 
his wife also belongs. .Ks a business man he is 
honorable, prompt and true to every engagemenT. 
He is a man who has lived and has been active dur- 
ing the world's greatest period of developiuent, and 
he belongs to the type of .\ew England family that 
i>i too fast disappearing. 

ALBERT CHATFllCLD. Among the ener- 
getic and successful farmers of (Jxford, wlio thor- 
oughly understand the vocation which they follow, 
and are consequently enabled to carry on then- call- 
ing with profit to themselves, is the subject of this 
review, lie is actively engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits on a fine farm of sixty acres. 

Mr. Cbatfield is a native of the town of Oxford, 
born on the farm now owned by Freston Ileniuan, 
March 14, 1824, and is a son of Lewis and Thirza 
(Ferry) Cbatfield. In early life the father engaged 
in mercantile business in Oxf(jrd, but later followed 
farming. He died in 1858, ;it the age of seventy 
years, and his wife jjassed away at the advanced 
age of ninety-three. In their family were only two 
children, antl .Martha, the older, is now deceased. 

Reared in his native town, .\lbert Cbatfield is 
indebtetl to its public schools for his educational 
advantages, and Ijeing the only son, he remained at 
home with his parents, aiding his father in the 
work of the farm aiul early acqtnring an excellent 
knowledge of the occupation which he has chosen as 
a life work. In i860 he removed to the farm where 
he now resides, and to its cultivation and improve- 
ment has since devoted his energies, being success- 
fully engaged in general farming. Foliiically be 
is a stanch Republican. 

STRl'.l-rr WlLI.iA.MS was born July 0. 1833, 
in Wallinglonl, where bis father, Julius Williams, 
was born ,\])ril 2^. 1801. and where he died Oct. 26, 
1881. The father was a N\'hi,g and became a Re- 
publican on the formation of the ]>arty. He was 
much interested in political affairs from principle, 
but was never an office seeker ; he was a hard-work- 
ing and an earnest member of St. Faul's Episcopal 



558 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Cliurch and served as warden for nearly twenty 
years, and as vestryman many years. Julius Will- 
iams was married, in 1827, to Miss lietsy Todd, 
■who was born in 180''), a daughter of Eliazer Todd, 
of .North Haven; she died Xov. 1 i, 1844. To their 
marriage were born : ( i ) Dwight, born Oct. 6, 
1828, and died May 7, 1874; he was a life-long 
farmer, and he married Miss Sarah A. Lamphier, 
of ISranford. (2) Street. (3) Juliette E., born 
May 8, 1841, married FCdgar Squires, of Bridgeport. 

Willoughby Williams, fatlu-r of Julius, was liorn 
in 1757, in W'allingfnrd, wlu-re he died in 1837. 
for many _\'ears he was seninr warden of St. Paul's 
Episcopal Church. In early life he was a Eederal- 
ist, and died a Whig. In matters of finance his 
judgment was regarded as gooil. and he was much 
employed in settling estates. He married Abigail 
Merriman, of W;dlingfiird, and was father to the 
following cliildrrn: ( 1 ) I'hild. who died in 1805, 
aged nineteen years; ( _' ) .Sallie, who married Jtjhn 
Street, of I lolyoke, Mass., a descendant of the 
famous Rev. Sanuiel Street, one of the first settlers 
of Wallingford ; (3) Eodema, who married Ira 
Munson, of Wallingford; (4) ilarry, who marritMl 
Ivebecca Todd, of .X'orlhford ; (5) Julius noted 
above; {(>) .\l)]iy, who married John 11. Johnson, 
t)f Wallingford; and 17) l.ucinda, who wedded 
Jesse Tutlle, of ilamden. 

Willoughby Williams, Sr., father of Willoughby, 
and great-grandfather of Street Williams, is sup- 
l)osed to have come from hjigland. where he was 
born in ]73('- He died in 177(1. Where he set- 
tled in Wallingford is still known ;is the "'Williams 
section," and is still occu|)ied by a large number of 
his descendants, lie was a weaver by trade, and 
was a very active man, and exceedingly athletic; 
he was able to put his great strength and emlurance 
to good use in the Im^micIi war, when he was taken 
])risoner at (Juebec, ;ind conlined by the bVencli on 
board a ship. In the night he dropped into the 
river, swam ashoi-c. ;uid reached the English lines, 
lie marrit'(l .\biL;:!il .\lkn. and li;id several children, 
among whom were \\ illoughli\ and Herman. The 
daughters went to the We^t, and all trace of them 
lias been lost. 

Street W illi.ams passed his boshood (kns in 
\\'alling"ford, .ind received \u> I'dncalion in the |)ub- 
lic schools and in private scbocjls taught 1)\' I^evi 
W''. Hart, a Mr. llaines. ;md Charles Cothreii. When 
he was eighteen years of age he entered the Slate 
Normal School at .Xi'w l!ritain, where he was well 
prepared for a career in the school room. After 
leaving the Normal he taught school for two vears, 
but circumstances turned his attention to farming, 
which he afterward followed during his active life, 
and made a decided success of it in the verv best 
sense of the word. In i8<)3 he sold the greater 
])art of his estate to hi^ nephew, Julius 1). Williams, 
and removed to .Vorth Main street, Wallingford, 
where he built himself a comfortable and attractive 
residence, and here he is S])ending his last \ears in 



the enjoyment of a rest for which he has richly 
paid in kjng and arduous }ears. 

.Mr. Williams is a Republican, and has filled 
various local offices. For seven years he served as 
assessor of the town, and for three years has been 
on the Board of Relief. Deeply interested in educa- 
tion he has been connected with the administration 
of the local schools for many years, for over thirty 
years was clerk of School District No. 7. For four 
years he has been justice of the peace, and is still 
active in that position. From his youth he has been 
a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, where he 
has been vestryman for twenty-five years, and for 
many years treasurer of the parish. He was super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school seven years, and 
still works earnestly for its success. 

On Sept. 28, 1864, Street Williams was married 
to Miss Julia A. Blackman, who was born Feb. 23, 
1838, a daughter of William Blackman, of Hunting- 
ton, Conn. .She is an excellent companion and help- 
meet, and Mr. Williams attributes much of the suc- 
cess ami happiness in life which he has enjoyed to 
the counsel and co-operation of his gifted wife. 
Mr. Williams has, in an eminent degree, the con- 
fidence and respect of his fellow citizens. 

CEORCE MARCUS ROCKWELL. A well- 
known business citizen of Meriden, Conn., is 
tieorge M. Rockw-ell, who is associated with the 
Charles Parker Co., in the gun shop department, 
engaged in his trade as contractor. 

-Mr. Rockwell was born in Lebanon, New London 
Co. Conn., March 23, 1840, a son of Jabez Rockwell. 
The latter was born in Norwich, \'ermont, where he 
was thoroughly educated, and later entered upon the 
profession of teaching. While in young manhood 
he came to Lebanon, Conn., ])urchased some land 
and during the winters taught school and followed 
farming in the summers. At a later date he re- 
moved with his family to Norwich, Conn., follow- 
ing the same lines, becoming one of the best known 
educators in the county, and a man who was uni- 
versally res])ected. During his later years he was 
an invalid, from a paralytic attack, his last days 
l)eing made as comfortable as possible by the care 
and attention of frieiuls. In political opinion, he 
was a Democrat, while his religious views made 
him a I 'niversalist. Mr. Rockwell was a valued 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and for many 
years was active in its work. Jabez Rockwell was 
a man of fine character and of literary ability far 
al)o\-e the awrage. .\n omnivorous reader, he was 
one of the ardent supjiorters of all educational and 
progressive measures in his town, and was for many 
years the most interested subscriber to the Hart- 
ford 'Fiiiu's. in Norwich. He was married in Leba- 
non, Conn., to lumice P>ailey, her death taking place 
in Norwich, where both she and her husband are 
interred. She was a devoted wife and mother, and 
a woman of high Christian character, for many 
\ears being a consistent member of the .Methodist 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



559 



Cliurch. She was known for her charity and kind- 
ness, and as the vears of lier hfe gathered, she grew 
in grace, and her gentle influence still remains as a 
lienediction to all who knew her. Xo trihute could 
he too great to honor a devoted mother. To .Mr. 
and Mrs. Rockwell was horn a large family, many 
of these having hecome valuetl and useful menihers 
of society, while others have joined the "great ma- 
jority." Their names were: .\ustin, deceased; 
John, also deceased; William, deceaseil ; I'.ailey, de- 
ceaseil ; Elisher, deceased ; Charles, deceased : h'red- 
erick .\ugustus, a resident of Providence, R. 1.; 
Jidia married Jedediah Maynard; Mary, deceased, 
married Henry Hasen ; James and (ieorge .M., twins, 
the former deceased; .-\rthiu-, deceased; and .\ellie, 
who married John \\'. Martin, of I'lorence, Mass- 
achusetts. 

George ^I. Rockwell, the eleventh child of Jahez 
and Eunice (Bailey) Rockwell, attended the dis- 
trict schools in Lebanon in his boyhood and was 
still a lad when the family removal was made to 
.Xorwich. Here he entered school again fur a lime, 
Init while still a youth, became a clerk' in the hat 
store of .Mr. J. M. Currier, remaining until he se- 
cured a more lucrative position in the clothing 
store of William Gardiner, of Norwich. Twn years 
were spent h.:re b_\' Mr. Rockwell as clerk, but his 
<lesire was to learn a trade, and after loi iking the 
ground over, he decided to enter tlu' tin shop of 
Koth & Dennis, and liecame skilled in that business. 
Here he spent three years, learning the trade thoi- 
oughly in all its branches, and then starie<l dut as 
a journeyman, working through the varunis towns 
in this capacity, for several years. b'inallv .Mr. 
Rockwell became associated with C. R. I'r\c)r, anil 
they opened up a business in Greenville, the firm 
styie being l'r_\or & Rockwell, this ])artnershii) last- 
ing about four years, antl .Mr. Rtickwell cnntinue.l 
alone, remaining there for a ])eriod of twelve years. 
krom (jreenville Mr. Rockwell then removed to 
W'oon.socket. R. I., where he found employment in 
a wringer factory, remaining there until iScS^, at 
wliich time he came to Meriden, Conn., and accejjted 
the position of inspector, offered him by the I'arker 
JSros., in the gim factory, two years later being made 
the contractor in the gun department, filling that 
])osition with efficiency for the last sixteen years. 
Mr. Rockwell is one of the most valued among the 
reliable and capable men that this great company 
has attracted to their works. 'Idieir name and 
product is widely known, a result of the employment 
of skilled men who manage so many of their import- 
ant departments. 

In Meriden, Mr. Rockwell is highly esteemed in 
social and business circles. In 1891 he pm-ch;ised a 
most desirable place on Oueen street, and with his 
own skill made improvements which have made his 
residence the most comfortable and attractive on the 
street. It is gracefully presided over l)y his most 
amiable and estimable wife, a lady of great charm 
of manner, and one of the cai>able housewives of 



Meriden. Mr. Rockwell was married in 1863, in 
.Middlctown, Conn., to Miss liessie Balch, who was 
born HI Colchester, Conn., a daughter of Ahimaaz 
and l"diz;i (Lee) I'alch. Socially Mr. Rockwell is 
connected with the 1. ( ). C). 1-'. L'ncas I^odge, .\'o. 11, 
of .Xorwich. In his ]X)litical sympathy, he is a 
strong supporter of the Republican i)arty, but he 
loves the (juiet and peace of his own fireside, with 
the companionshi]j of his wife and his books and 
papers, too nnich to resign them to enter into any 
contest for ])olitical preferment. .Although not 
connected with any religious body, Mr. Rockwell is 
a man of moral life, scru]3ulously faithful in per- 
forming his duties to his employers, broad in liis 
charities, and fullills every demand made upon him 
as a good citizen. 

|■:\■1•:L^'X l-:. SI'EXLXS, than whom few men 
in .Xew Haven are better known, comes of a long 
line of eminently res])ectable ancestry. Of his 
grandfather, I'.lias .Stevens, who served in the Revo- 
lutionary war, a more extended mention may be 
found elsewhere. 

Jedediah Chapman Stevens, son of Elias, was 
born on Cow Hill, nnw I'mspect Hill, in Clinton, 
Conn., May 5, 1807. His early education was ac- 
(juired in the district schools, and early in life he 
started out for himself, by wtjrking in a blacksmith 
sho]) nt'ar his home. He was first associated with 
his father, and afterward with his brother, Harvey. 
They carried on general blacksmithing, and made 
edge tools, Harvey having a secret method of tem- 
])ering the steel whereby he produced ati extremely 
high grade article. Their patrons came from miles 
around, and they shod many oxen that were brought 
in from distant towns. jedediah Stevens was of 
medium height, a hard- working man, and when 
he died the business practically died too. While 
mowing a field be received a stinstr(3ke from wlii,di 
his death resulted .\ug. 8, iHj(), and his remains are 
biu'ied in C'linlon. His home was erected under his 
supervision in 1853. Politically he was a Re|)ub- 
lican, but took only a voting interest in ])olitics. 
While he enjoyed hut meager educational advant- 
ages he was a thorough reader, his favorite authors 
being Scott and Longfellow. His keen wit and in- 
exhaustible fund of stories made him an entertain- 
ing companion, and his company was much sought. 
In his religious belief he was a Congregationalist, 
and was an active worker in that society. 

On Oct. 16, 1832, Jedediah Chapman Stevens 
was wedded to Analine E. Wright, who was I)orn 
in Westbrook, Oct. 28, 181 1, daughter of Jeremiah 
and Rachel ( Stamiard ) Wright, farming people of 
that town. She died Oct. ji, i8ijo. The children 
of this union were : ( i ) I-lvelyn E. is mentioned 
farther on. (2) .Melissa .A., born June 27, 1835, 
dieil Dec. 24, 1891, itnmarricd. (3) Effie !•"., born 
May 14, 1850, married Oct. 4, 1887, Julian Warren 
Cramer, who was born in Poughkec])sie, .X. \., 
Jan. 5, 1854, a descendaiU of (ien. Joseph Warren, 



560 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and when a year old was brought to Xew Haven, 
wliere he was educated in the public schools. Airs. 
Cramer is a graduate of the Xew Haven high 
school, and for several years prior to her marriage 
was successfully engaged in teaching in that school. 
They resitie in Clinton, Connecticut. 

Kvelyn E. Stevens was born in (..'linton, Conn.. 
Feb. 3. 1834, ami in the town of his nativity received 
his education in the public schools and the academy. 
I'or one year after leaving school he was with his 
uncle. enii>liiyed on a packet running to Albany. 
]n the fall of'1851 he came In Xew Haven, and hav- 
ing inherited the mechanical genius of his father, 
determined to learn the machinist's trade, which 
line of business he followed until the spring of 1861. 
In Clinton, Conn., .\ugust. i8()i, he enlisted in 
Company Ci, jlh C. \'., and was nnistered into 
the service of the government early in September, 
i8()i. He serveil unlil July, i8()5. In Xovember, 
180 1, he was detailed as .surgeon's orderly, which 
led to his warrant as hospital steward, non-com- 
missioned staff. In .March, i8()5, he was commis- 
sioned first lieuteiiani of Company G, but upon the 
earnest solicitatinn of the regimental surgeon he 
was induced tu remain as hospital stewanl, and was 
therefore nm mustered, .\fierwaril he was com- 
missioned Hrst linuenant and (iuartermaster, but 
again not mustered. 

After his return from the war Air. Stevens en- 
gaged in the mamifacture of coach lamps and trim- 
mings with Charles IC. Thompson, under the firm 
name of C. [■'.. Thompson eS: Co., which about twenty 
years later became Stevens & Sackett, which firm 
continued in that line until February, 1901, at which 
time Air. Stevens retireil from active business. 

On Oct. 2, 1878, Mr. Stevens married in Clinton, 
Conn., 'Sarah A. Stevens, daughter of Leander 
Stevens and widow (jf Everett Hurlburt. He has 
had a summer home in Clinton for a number of 
years, which he at present regards as his permanent 
home. Fraternally Air. Stevens has been a Mason 
since 1865, and belongs to Jeptha Lodge, I''. & A. 
M., of Clintiin; he is a member of .'Admiral Footc 
Post, G. A. K., the .Army and Xavy Club of Con- 
necticut, and many other clubs in Xew Haven. In 
his political affiliations he is an unfaltering Re- 
publican anil keenly alive to the interests of his 
party. He attends the t/bm-ch of the Redeemer in 
Orange street. 

r.lRDSEA'l",. The Ilirdseye family of Connect- 
icut is one of the oldest antl most honorable in the 
State's list of notable families. A writer of an ar- 
ticle, published in "Lipiiincott's Alagazine," July. 
1879, says: "The jjirdseye pedigree is the central 
stem of all Stratford genealogies." It is not within 
the province of this work to give an extended gen- 
calogv of the family at large, but it is inlemled to e>. 
pecial'ly refer to the line of the particular family of 
the late Thaddeus (iould Birdscye. lie and his son, 
'J'homas Shelton I'irdseye, ha\e been prcjinineiit in 



Derby's history for sixty-five years past, forty of 
wdiich they have served successively as secretary 
and treasurer of the Derby Savings ilaiik, in wdiich 
position the latter is still serving. 

John Birdseye, the progenitor of the Connecti- 
cut lamily. came from Reading, in Berkshire, Eng- 
land, in 1630, and died in 1049. ^^ h'^d two chil- 
dren, Joseph and John, of whom the former resided 
in Wethersfield. He had only one daughter. 

(\[) John Birdseye, born in England in i6i6, 
came to Xew Haven with his father, and the same 
year removed to Wethersfield. In 1O39 be removeil 
to Alilford, and in 1649 'o Stratford. He married 
(first) I'hillippa, daughter of Rev. Henry Smith, 
and (second) in October, 1683, Airs. Alice Tomlin- 
son, widow of Henry. Deacon Birdseye died April 

' 4, 1690, and his widow on Jan. 25, 1698. He was 

1 the first deacon in the Congregational Church in that 
town, and in those days the diaconate was an insti- 
tution of great power and dignity, the deacon being 
a conspicuous person, second only to the parish min- 
ister of the Established Church. 

From Deacon John Birdseye Thomas Shelton 
Birdseye, now of Derby, is in the eighth generation, 
his line being through John (3), Joseph, Rev. Xa- 
than, Joseph (2), David and Thaddeus Gould 
Birdseye. 

(Ill) John Birdseye (3), son of Deacon John 
by his first marriage, born Alarch 28, 1641. married, 
Dec. 11, iO(X), Phoebe, tlaughter of William and 
Alargaret W'ilcoxson, of Stratford. Mr. Birdseye 
was an esteemed citizen, held the office of selectman 
of the town, and died in 1697. His children were: 
Hannah, born Feb. 5, 1671, married, May 3, 1693, 
Isaac Beach, of Stratford, and died Oct. 15, 1750; 
Mary, born Nov. 10, 1675, died June 17, 1691 ; Sa- 
rah, born May 9, 1O78, died Jan. 21, 1679; Abel, 

i born Xovember, 1679, was a lieutenant in the French 
and Indian war, and died May 14, 1747; Joseph, 

I born Feb. 22, 1682 ; Comfort, or Elizabeth, born Oct. 
21, 1685, died in 1(392; Dinah, born in 1688, mar- 
ried (first) Benjamin Beach, of Durham, Comi., 
and (second) Samuel Norton, of (kishen. Conn., 
and died Sept. 17, 1765. 

(1\') Jo-sejih Birdseye, son of John (2). born 
I''el). 22. 1682. married, June 10, 1708, Sarah, daugh- 
ter of Ambrose and Sarah (Wells) Thompson, of 
Stratford. She died May 3, 1726. Mr. I3irdseye 
resided in Stratford, was a large land owner, and 
commanded the esteem and respect that his intelli- 
gence and moral character merited. Pie died June 
25, 1757. Plis children were: Hannah, born Aug. 
12, 1710, died unmarried; Dinah, born Oct. 18, 
1 71 2, died in June, 17 18; Nathan, born in August, 
1714; and Joseph, born Dec. 10, 1717, died Dec. 17, 

1738- 

(\ ) Rev. Xathan Birdseye, son of Joseph, born 
in .August, 1714, married, April 17. 1739, Dorothy, 
born b'eb. 27, 1719, daughter of Rev. Thomas and 
.Abigail (Gold) llawley, of Ridgefield, and grand- 
daughter of Xathan Gold, of h^airfield, l)ei)uty Gov- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



561 



ernor of Connecticut. Rev. Birdseye was college 
bred, and took his degree from Yale in 1736. lie 
became pastor of the West Haven Congregational 
Church in 1742; preached there sixteen years, and 
then removed to his [jatrimonial estate in Stratford, 
where he lived until his death, Jan. 28, 1818, aged 
103 years, 5 months and 9 days. His wife died 
Sept. 21, 1807, when eighty-eight years of age. 
Their children were: Joseph, born b'eb. 4, 1740, re- 
sided in Huntington, Conn.; Dorothy, liorn -Vug. 
10, 1742, married (first) John Brooks, and (second 1 
Thomas (or Norman) Ives, of Stratford, and died 
Sept. 12, 1834, at the advanced age of ninety-two 
years; Nathan, born May 29, 1744, died unmarried 
Aug. 5, 1832; Hannah, born Dec. 15, 1746, mar- 
ried Feb. 17, 1765, Silas Curtis, of Stratford, and 
died Nov. 24, 1812; Ezra, born Jan. 28, 1749, mar- 
ried Phoebe, daughter of Benjamin Curtis, and died 
Dec. 28, 1832; Helen, born July 17, 1751, married 
Josiah, .son of Nathan Peck, and died July 10, 1845 ^ 
Thaddeus, born April 18, 1753, married Helen, 
daughter of George Lewis, and died Feb. 22, 1800; 
Abigail, born April 28, 1755, and died unmarried 
Alay 4, 1827; Ebenezer, born May 13, 1757, married 
(first) Eunice, daughter of Capt. Beach Tomlinson, 
of Huntington, and (second) Sarah Bell, and re- 
sided in Cornwall; Lucy, born March i, 1759, died 
unmarried Dec. 24, 1823; John, born Feb. 16, 1761,1 
married (first) Phoebe, daughter of James Coe. 
of Stratford, and (second) Joanna Calhoun, and 
died Oct. 16, 1839; ^"d Sarah, born Aug. 26, 1763, 
married Rev. Payson Williston, pastor of the First 
Congregational Church organized in Easthampton, 
Mass., and died Aug. 19, 1845, aged eighty-two 
years. According to the family history, all the si.x 
sons of Rev. Nathan and Dorothy Birdseye ren- 
dered military service during the Revolution, but 
as military record of only Capt. Joseph, .Sergeant 
Thaddeus and Ezra has been found in the adjutant 
general's report at Hartford, it is presumed the 
others were in the skirmishes in defence of the coast 
during Tryon's invasion. 

(\T) Joseph Birdseye (2), son of Rev. Nathan, 
born Feb. 4, 1740, married Dinah, born Jan. 20, 
1744, daughter of James and Sarah (Frost) Black- 
man, and resided in the town of Huntington, where 
he died May 26, 1817. His wife died Oct. 4, 18 15. 
Their children were: Joseph, born Aug. 9, 1765, 
died Jan. 4, 1767; Joseph (2), born March lo. 17CK), 
married Hannah, a daughter of Moses and Hannah 
Piatt, and removed to I lopeville, N. Y., where he 
died Aug. 14, 1805; Ezekiel, born Oct. 26, 1771, 
died June 18, 1793; Nathan Gould, born Jan. 23, 
1774, married Polly, daughter of Moses and Hannah 
Piatt, and died May 24, 1846; James, born April 
9, 1776, married Phoebe Phelps, settled at Hope- 
ville, N. Y., and died Oct. 21, 1833; Sarah, born 
Nov. 17, 1778, married Philo, son of Ephraiin and 
Ann Curtis, of Stratford, and died Dec. 26, 1823; 
Dollv, born Jan. 30, 1781, married Svlvester Post, 

38 



lived in Huntington, and died there Aug. 15, 1852; 
and David, born April 3, 1783. 

(VH) J^avid Birdseye, son of Joseph (2), born 
April 3, 1783, married Rebecca, daughter of Eph- 
raim and Ann Curtis, and resided in Huntington. 
He died Aug. 19, 1866. Flis children were: Jos- 
eph, born Dec. 17, 1804, married .Vi^ril 4, 1830, Car- 
oline, daughter of Isaac and .Sarah (Hawkins) Flub- 
bell, of Derby, and resided in Huntington, where he 
died .April 5, 1847; Ephraim, born April 8, 1808, 
marricil Jan. 10, 1833, Jiliza .V., daughter of Isaac 
and Elizabeth A. (Curtis) Cummings, of Hunting- 
ton, was a merchant in Hunlinglun, Derby and 
Jjrooklyn, N. Y., and died Sejit. 17, 1855; Thad- 
deus Gould, born Sept. 9, 1810; Philo, born Oct. 24, 
1812, married Sarah, daughter of Anson and Betsey 
Tucker, of Derby, was a tailor and later a farmer, 
and died Feb. 17, 1874; Sarah R., born Mareli 13, 
1815, died April 17, following; Ann Rebecca, born 
May 29, 1816, died unmarried Aug. 2, 1891. 

Thaddeus (iould Birdseye, son of David and the 
father of Thomas .Shelton, of Derby, was born Sept. 
9, 1810, at the family homestead, a fann only a few 
miles from the now city of Derby, in the town of 
Huntington, Conn. There is in the home of his 
son and daughlL-r in Derby a large oil painting of 
great value, reproducing minutely the old home- 
stead. There is the ancient house, the well sweep, 
the servants, the horse, and the out buildings, all 
speaking of the home life of those early settlers. 
There Thaddeus G. Birdseye wa* born, and there 
he lived until, as a clerk with a New York whole- 
sale grocery house, he began his business life. Soon 
afterward he entered the postoffice at Bridgeport, 
Conn., where he remained some \ears. In the 
spring of 1836 he moved to Birmingham and was 
engaged successively in the grocery and dry goods 
trades. He became postmaster as the successor of 
Henry Atwater, ami held the office eight years; he 
was clerk also four years, and was then chosen sec- 
retary and treasurer of the Derby Savings Bank, a 
position he filled for twenty years, until his death 
at seventy years of age, Aug. 15, 1880. 

^Iv. Birdseye is described as a quiet, unobtru- 
sive, genial man, one who always minded his own 
business, a devoted member of the Episcopal 
Church, a faithful official, who gave great satisfac- 
tion in the discharge of his financial duties, a tried 
and trusted friend of the poor. There is an nmer 
history here, Iieautifid as rare. There arc manv in 
ever}- conununity who have but little of this world's 
goods, and who are in need of a faithful, wise, lov- 
ing counselor and friend, one who will kindly and 
discreetly help them, invest their money, counsel 
in its outlay, devise, make and be custodians of their 
wills, perhaps become administrators of their es- 
tates; and Air. Birdseye was the rare person to 
whom this considerable class ttuMied for that 
brotherly aid they needed. Without remuneration, 
he did for the love of man all the helpful things 



562 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



that only lliosc who so received can appreciate, and 
their nunil)ers were amazingly large. Mr. Birdseye 
was, in his political views, first a Whig, then a 
J^epuhlican. 

On Jul}- 25, 1S39, -Mr. r.irdsexe was married to 
Miss Rlary Ann, horn June 5, 1819, daughter of 
Alfred and Ruth (Beard'sley) Shclton, of liunting- 
ton. Mrs. Birdseye died Nov. 4, 1871. To this cou- 
ple were born children as follows : 

(1) Tmo.m.\s Shki.tox Bikusicve. l>orn Oci. 11, 
1840. in Jluntinglon, Conn., received his education in 
the schools of Derby. 'J'he same general, and many 
<jf the special, traits of the father appear in the 
character of his only son. The latter entered the 
]'>irmingham postoffice and served as assistant for 
eight years, and later acted as assistant town clerk 
<luring his father's incumbency. After the death of 
his father, in 1880, he was chosen his successor as 
secretary and treasiu-er of the Derby Savings Bank, 
a jiosition he fills with all the efficiency, fidelity and 
])opularity of his honored predecessor. Cautious, 
wise, faithful, loving, he has succeeded to all the 
respect and esteem in society wdiich his father 
held. 'J"he widow, the orphan and the aged all trust 
him and seek his comisel and his friendly service, 
and advice is given willingly and gratuitously to 
all. ft is needless to say that a man of such char- 
acter is held in high esteem antl loving respect. 

Mr. llirdseye married Miss I\Iary A., daughter 
of William and Eleanor Smith, of Birmingham, 
Conn. Their chiTdren are: Bessie Rebecca, Henry 
Shelton, Eleanor Louise and ALary Anna. • Henry 
Shelton Birdseye is the efficient teller in the Derby 
Savings Bank. 

(2) Mary Louise Birdseye resides at the Birds- 
«. \ e liumestead in Derby. She has been interested 
in the genealogy of the Birdseye family, and as a 
<liversion has done considerable work in that line. 
She is interested in historical matters pertaining to 
the town, county and State, and is now registrar 
of the Derby Chapter of the Daughters of the .Vmcr- 
ican Revolution, of which she is an active member. 

EL.\M JASOX DICKERMAN, leading mer- 
chant and progressive citizen of Mt. Carmel, town 
of Hamden, is a native of that village, born Aug. i, 
1843, a son iif ( )rin and I'.etsey ( (_ioodyear) Dicker- 
man. He comes of a stalwart New England family. 

(1) Thomas Dickerman, the first of the name in 
America, and supposed to have been a native of 
.England, came to Dorchester, Mass., about 1635-36, 
and spent the rest of his life there, dying June 11, 
1657. His widow (I'^llen) married John BuUard, 
and they went to Medfield, Ahiss., July 14, 1663. 
'J'he children l)orn to Thomas Dickerman were: 
(i) Thomas, born 1623, died September, 1691. 
(2) Abraham, a sketch of whom follows. (3) 
Isaac, born December, 1637. (4) John, baptized 
Oct. 26, 1644, died young. 

(H) Abraham Dickerman (son of Thomas, 
above) was born in 1634, and was a year old when 



taken by his parents to Dorchester, Mass., where he 
grew to manhood. From Dorchester he removed 
to New Haven, Conn., and there spent the balance of 
his life, dying Nov. 2, 1711. He held several public 
offices, and was one of the Colony's most respected 
citizens. He married, Jan. 2, 1653, Mary (Cooper), 
born 1636, in New Haven, and died Jan. 4, 1705, a 
daughter of John Cooper. Children as follows were 
born to them: (i) Mary, born May i, 1659, mar- 
ried Samuel Bassett. (2) Sarah, born July 25, 
1O63, married Nathaniel Sperry. (3) Hannah, 
born March 16, 1665, married Caleb Chidsey. (4) 
Ruth, born April 5, 1668, married Nathaniel Brad- 
ley. (5) Abigail, born Sept. 26, 1670, married 
Ebenezer Sperry. (6) Abraham, born Jan. 14, 
1673, married (first) Elizabeth Glover, and (sec- 
ond) Susanna Hotchkiss. (7) Isaac, sketch of 
whom follows. (8) Rebecca, born Feb. 27, 1679, 
married Isaac Foote. 

(HI) Isaac Dickennan (son of Abraham), born 
Nov. 7, 1677, in New Haven, was a prominent and 
influential citizen, holding many public offices. He 
died there Sept. 7, 1758. On June 30, 1709, he mar- 
ried (first) Mary Atwater, born Dec. 31, 1686, a 
daughter of Jonathan and Ruth (Peck) Atwater, 
and granddaughter of David Atwater. He married 
(second) Elizabeth Ailing, born November, 1691, 
and died April, 1767, a daughter of Sainuel and 
Sarah (Chidsey) Ailing, and a granddaughter of 
John Morris. Children born to Isaac Dickerman: 
(i) Isaac, born Alarch 31, 1711, died young. (2) 
Samuel, born Jan. 12, 1712, died young. (3) Ruth, 
born Dec. 13, 1713, married Eliakim Hall. (4) 
Isaac, born Jan. 31, 17 14, graduated from 'i'alc, in 
^736, with degree of M. A., and died in 1740.(5) 
Samuel, sketch of whom follows. (6) Jonathan, 
born July 4, 1719, married (first) Rebecca Bassett, 
(second) Hannah Leavenworth Moss, and (third) 
Deborah Todd. 

(I\') Samuel Dickerman (son of Isaac), born 
March 4, 1716, removed from New Haven to Mt. 
Carmel, becoming one of the pioneers of the town 
of Hamden, and owning a large tract of land, where- 
by he was one of the most extensive farmers in the 
town ; he died in Mt. Carmel May 10, 1760. Sam- 
uel Dickerman married, Dec. 6, 1739, Mary Ailing, 
born Dec. 28, 1717, and died Dec. 5, 1802, a daugh- 
ter of Jonathan and Sarah (Sackett) Ailing. Chil- 
dren: (i) Isaac, born Sept. 16, 1740, married 
Sybil Sperry. (2) Sarah, born Dec. 29, 1741, mar- 
ried Joel Munson. (3) Mary, born April 2, 1743, 
died Dec. 20, 1817, married Feb. 12, 1767, Phineas 
Castle. (4) Samuel, born April 20, 1745, married 
Lowly I'arde'e. (5) James, born June 24, 1747, 
married Lois Bradley. (6) Rhoda, born Nov. 24, 
1748, married Sept. 9, 1778, Mcdad Atwater. (7) 
Chauncey, born Sept. 28, 1750, married (first) Re- 
becca Bradley, and (second) Flannah Gill. (8) 
Jesse, a sketch of whom follows. (9) Ruth, born 
March 9, 1754, and died Oct. 2, 1840, married Samuel 
Atwater. (10) Susannah, born Feb. i, 1756, mar- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



563 



ried AN'ait Chatterson. (11) Lucy, born June i, 
1759, married Jesse Tutlle. 

(\') Jesse Diekeniian (son of Samuel) was Ixirii 
June 16, 1752, at Mt. Carmel, where he was all his 
life engaged in farming, dying there IMay 22, 182 1, 
and was buried in Mt. Carmel cemetery. lie was 
a deacon in the Baptist Church formed at West- 
wood, New Haven county, and he willed $100 to 
the Church, the interest on which was to go toward 
employing a minister. By his wife, Damaris (Ives), 
born Dec. 25, 1754, and died Jan. 11, 1839, '^ daugh- 
ter of James and Sarah (Tuttle) Ives, he had chil- 
dren: (i) Betsey, born Sept. 29, 1778,' died un- 
married Jan. 10, 1840. (2) Elam, sketch of whom 
follows. (3) Russell, born 1789, died March 10, 
1790. (4) Cephas, born Jnly 26, 1793, died Sept. 
18, 1796. 

(\'l) Elam Dickerman, son of Jesse, was born 
ilarch 21, 1782, and died July i, 1825. He mar- 
ried Charlotte Cook, born in 1785, and died March 
10, i860, a daughter of Cornelius Brooks and Louisa 
(Hotchkiss) Cook. Their children : (i) Russell, 
born ^larch i, 1804, died April 3, 1874; (2) Laura, 
born -Vug. 27, 1810, and died April 3, 1874, married 
Lebruary, 1827, Willis Perkins, born July 17, 1805; 
and (3) Orrin, a sketch of whom follows. 

(\'ll) Orrin Dickerman (son of Elam and the 
father of the subject proper of this sketch) was 
born Aug. 10, 1816, in jNIt. Carmel, and educated at 
the public schools of the town of Ilamden. l-"or his 
life vocation he followed farming, and was also en- 
gaged in the butchering business, as well as in stock 
dealing. He bought the old Dickerman homestead, 
and died there June 24, 1893. In church matters he 
was liberal, in politics, first a \Vhig, later a Repub- 
lican, and he was an honest, upright, loyal citizen, 
highly respected by all. In 1838 he married Betsey 
Goodyear, born Jan. 8, 1816, and died Nov. 15, 1891, 
in Alt. Canncl, a daughter of Samuel and Lucy 
(Candee) (joodyear. Children by this unidn : 
Cynthia Goodyear, born Sept. 21, 1842, married II. 
\\'. Collctt ; Elam Jason, a sketch of whom follows; 
Chloe Atwater, horn Aug. 19, 1848, married March 
14, 1867, Joel .\ugur Allen, of Wallingford, Coim. ; 
Lucy Elizabeth, born Aug. 13, 1839, is an active 
member of tlie Episcopal Church in llamdcn, where 
she is much beloved and respected. 

(VIII) Elam Jason Dickerman (.son of Orrin, 
and the subject of these lines) received his education 
in the district schools of the town of Hamden, and 
was reared on his father's farm. When a young man 
he worked in the Mt. Carmel axle shop, and then 
removed to Norfolk, Conn., where he spent a few 
weeks in an a.xle shop there. He then found em- 
ployment with Messrs. Ives, Woodruff Co., at Mt. 
Carmel, later in the axle shops, after which he was 
engaged with his father in the butchering and cat- 
tle-droving business. In 1874 he was appointed 
railroad agent at Mt. Carmel, a jiosition he held with 
eminent satisfaction to all for some seven years, and 
then embarked in his present general mercantile 



I)usiiiess in which he has met with gratifying success. 
Since 1896 he has been located at Andrew's Hall, 
where he keeps a full supply of general merchandise, 
and where, by strict attention to business, he has 
built up a profitable trade. 

On Dec. 27, 1876, Elam J. Dickerman married 
Emma Miller, who was born C)ct. 13, 1845, <it Avon, 
Conn., a daughter of Edward Miller, of that place, 
and one child, Orrin Miller, was born to them July 
4, 1882; he is employed on the railroad. The 
mother died July 20, 18S8, and Mr. Dickerman for 
his second wife married, June 12, 1889, Susan L. 
Smith, born June 25, 1846, a daughter of Garrett 
and Ruth A. Smith, of Milford, Connecticut. 

In religious faith Mr. Dickerman is a member of 
the Congregational Church, and was assistant super- 
intendent of the Sabbath-school. Socially, he is not 
affiliated with any society, exce])t the Alt. Carmel 
Ecclesiastical Society. In politics he is a Re- 
publican. 

GEORGE MILES GRANT, for many years 
one of the leading mason builders of New Haven, 
was born in that city Jan. 18, 1834. and his father, 
William (Jrant, was also a native of New Haven. 
William (jrant was one of the first regular police- 
men in the city, and was on the force altogether 
thirty-five years, being at the time of his death the 
oldest officer in service. He died in .September, 
1873, at the age of seventy. Mr. Grant was a man 
of irreproachable character, faithful in the dis- 
charge of every duty. He married Martha Miles, 
a native of Milford, and tliey had a large family, all 
now deceased. 

George M. Grant has always made his home in 
New Haven. He received his education in the 
]jublic schools and the Lancaslerian school, and 
learned the trade of mason, which he followed all 
his life, first as a journeyman, and from 1871 until 
his death as a contractor. In the year mentioned he 
was taken into the firm of Perkins, Chatfield & 
Co., which in 1875, by the retirement of Mr. Per- 
kins, became the firm of Chatfield & Cjrant. They 
dissolved in 1886, owing to Pliilo C'hatfield's retire- 
ment on accoimt of ill liealth, and Mr. Grant contin- 
ued the business imtil 1894, when a joint slock com- 
pany was formed consisting of Mr. ( Jrant, W. F. 
Gillette (who had previously been foreman) and 
I'Vederick Chatfield (who liad lieen connected with 
the business for many years). This comprises the 
history of Mr. Grant's association wiili his noted 
New Haven firm, which has erected a great mmiber 
of the principal buildings in the citv. 

George M. Grant was for seventeen years senior 
warden of St. John's P. E. Church, but on the 
removal of St. John's Church to its new edifice, on 
Orange street, he joined St. Paul's Churcli, it being 
nearer to his residence. He was a member of 
Hiram Lodge, I. O. O. F., and of the Knights of 
1 lonor, and was for many years president of tlie 
old Jeffersonian Club of tlie city. He also be- 



564 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



longed to the New Haven L'liainlKT nf Commerce. 
and tlie New Haven Historical Socieiy. l-'or a 
iiuniber of years he was a member of New Haven's 
board of jniljlic works, and he also served some time 
as a member of the city's board of health. He was 
a director of the Connecticut Savinjjs Bank ami of 
tlie Evergreen Cemetery i\ssociation. He alwa\s 
took an interest in the famous local institution of 
learning which he attended f(jr several years,' the 
Lancaslerian school, and was a memlxT of the Lan- 
casterian School Association. j\lr. Cjrant was first 
stricken with paralysis about two years before his 
death, but recovered and resumed business. He 
had a slight shock in IJecember, 1900, and the third 
proved fatal. He died at his home in Lyon street 
Feb. 3, 1901, leaving a widow and one adopted child, 
Mrs. Minnie E. Riddel, of Redlands, Cal. Mr. 
Grant was interested in orange groves in Redlands, 
and one of his chief diversions in his later years was 
to visit California in the winter; he had made a trip 
there annually for the last eight or nine years. 

Mr. Grant was twice married, first to Miss Julia 
M. Freeman, of New Haven, who died about twen- 
ty-five years ago. b'or his second wife he married, 
in 1879, Mrs. Jane i'. Judson, widow of Jerome T. 
Judson, and daughter of the late Alexander Hall, 
Esq., of Newtown, Conn. Mr. Grant was a man 
of much public spirit, keenly interested in all na- 
tional and local events of the day, and gave freely 
of his time and attention to the faithful discharge 
of the duties of the various public positions which 
he had occu])ied. He was a kind husband and fa- 
ther, benevolent in disposition, and a citizen whose 
tlcatli was indeed a loss to New Haven. The late 
Dr. Noah Porter once spoke of him as "radically 
honest," and it was a fair index of the sterling char- 
acter of the man. 

FRANKLIN L. CCRTJSS, one of the older 
and more prominent citizens and Inisincss men of 
Waterbury, was born in SouthbiuT, Conn., Jan. 19, 
1835, a son of Simeon Curtiss, Jr., who was born 
in the same place in 1808, and died in Waterbury at 
the age of eighty-seven. Simeon Curtiss. Sr., the 
father of Simeon, jr., was liorn at .Sonthbury in 
1768, and it is said that the first Curtiss who set- 
tled here got this land from the Indians. The Cur- 
tiss homestead was four miles from the Center, and 
the various generations of the family who have oc- 
cupied this farm have bei'n prominent and re- 
spectable ])eo])le. The Ih'st representative of the 
Curtiss family in lliis coimtry came from England 
in 1644 and settled at ( )ld Stratford, Connecticut. 

Simeon Curtiss, .Sr., married Miss Marv Brad- 
ley, of Hamden, and settled on the farm where they 
reared a family of si.x children: ]'".raslus, Reuben, 
Jason, William, Mary .\nn and Simeon, Jr. ( )f 
these, Erastus was a ph\sician, and received his 
medical education in ^'ale ; he located at Coopers- 
town, N. Y., where he practiced for about tlnriv 
years. Reuben B. was a farmer and kept a select 



school for boys ; he was a deacon in a church at 
Oxford, Conn. Jason was a farmer and served as 
a deacon of the church in Southbury. William was 
a farmer in Middlebury, Conn., where he died. 
Mary Ann married Josiah Hine, a farmer, who was 
very prominent, being first selectman many years 
in ^liddlebury. Conn. All the sons of Simeon Cur- 
tiss lived to be more than eighty-five years old, as 
did Simeon and his wife. He was a man of re- 
markable physical development, standing six feet 
two inches in his stockings, and finely proportioned ; 
he never had a doctor, and never was sick a day in 
his active life. 

Simeon Curtiss, Jr., the father of Franklin L., 
was a life-long farmer. He married Miss Hannah 
Bronson, who was born in Waterbury, and they be- 
came the parents of three children : Josiah, P^rank- 
lin L. and Hannah J. Josiah died in ]\Iiddlebury, 
Conn., at the age of thirty-five years ; he was en- 
gaged in the lumber business in W'aterbury and in 
Bridgeport. Hannah J. married Edward D. Tuttle, 
who was for years connected with the Scovill Man- 
ufacturing Co., later moving to Kenosha, Wis., 
where he w'as a quarter owner in the Chicago Brass 
Co. ; he died in that city in 1894, two years after 
the death of his wife. Simeon Curtiss, Jr., was a 
W'hig and a Republican. In religion they were Con- 
gregationalists. 

Franklin L. Curtiss spent his boyhood days on 
the farm in Southbury, Conn., where lie attended dis- 
trict school, and for two years was a student in the 
school of his uncle at Southbury. In 185 1 he came 
to Waterbury and attended the high school a year 
and then taught school in Watertown in the winter 
of 1851 and 1852. The next year he was a clerk in 
the postoffice at Waterbury, and in 1853, wdien the 
Citizens' Bank of Waterbury was opened by Fred- 
erick J. Kingsbury and Abram Ives, Mr. Curtiss 
entered as one of the operating force, and has been 
with the bank to the present time. He has been 
cashier since 1865, and has been assistant treasurer 
of the savings bank many years. 

On Sept. 28, 1858, Mr. Curtiss married Miss 
Mary Louise Hine, who was born in Naugatuck, 
Conn., a daughter of Richard Hine. Three chil- 
dren were born to this union: Henry N., Howard 
and ICdith L. Henry N., who was in the bank about 
fifteen years, is now deceased. Bloward, who was 
with the W'aterbury Brass Co. many years, is now 
comiccted with the American Brass Co: lulith L., 
the only daughter, married Dr. John R. I'oore, a 
resident jihysician in W'aterbury. ]\Ir. Curtiss is a 
Republican, but in local aftairs gives his vote to 
the best men regardless of party affiliation. In 
Masonry lie has risen to the Commandery Degree, 
and is a Mystic .Shriner. In 1859 he united with 
the I-'jiiscopal Church, and is to-day one of its ac- 
tive workers, h'or twenty _\ears he has been the 
treasurer of the parish, and is one of the active con- 
tributors to all religious enterprises in the commun- 
ity. Mr. Curtiss has been president of the Matthew 




^ (IjCu-^-^/t:^^ ^ ^y^^-^^y^^^ 



COMMEMORATIJ'E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



565 



& Willard Manufacturing- Co. for twelve years, and 
has settled some of the largest estates in \Vatcrl)ury. 
His ward has selected him as its representative in 
the city council. He is a large-hearted gentleman, 
who is active in helping everybody along, and sus- 
iains the respect of the community. 

JUlIX ROr.IXSOX POURE. .M. U., was Ix.rn 
in Roxbury, Mass., near Boston, June 3, 1864, and 
comes of one of the oldest families in Xew England. 
The past representatives of the I'oorc family in 
America came from England in 1628, and settled in 
Ipswich, Mass. Of these, there were four brothers 
and one sister. At first they were farmers, hut 
eventually branched out into mercantile life, h'ive 
Poore brothers took part in the Revolutionary war, 
fighting together in the patriot ranks at the liattle 
of Lexington, March ly, 1775. 

John A. Poore, the father of Dr. John R., was 
born in what was then called Danvcrsport, Mass., 
Sept. 10, 1843, a son of John R., and a grandson of 
Enoch, of that settlement. He became a member 
of the firm of Stickney & Poore, well known 
throughout Xew England. Mr. Poore married Har- 
riet P. Low, who was born in the city of Xew York, 
June 22. 1845, a daughter of Ariel Low, a native of 
Essex, Mass. They became the parents of six chil- 
dren : Dr. John Robinson ; Ariel Low, who is en- 
gaged in the paper business at Boston ; Edward 
\\'aldron, in the U. S. navy, and assigned to the 
new battleship "Kentucky" ; Alice Adelaide, who 
Tuarried George Sargent, an electrical contractor ; 
George Wilbur, who died in infancy; and Augustus 
Sprague, who was drowned in Ipswich Bay, Rlass., 
in i8y6, at the age of fourteen. Mr. Poore has been 
a Democrat all his life. In religious belief, he clings 
to the faith of the Established Church of F.ngland. 

John Robinson Poore spent his boyhood days in 
Somerville, Mass., and in Chicago, where he at- 
tended school. In 1869 he came back to Somer- 
ville and continued his schooling, and was also a 
pupil of Dr. Hixon, at "Eagles Xest," Xewbury- 
port, Alass., where he remained two years. Jn 
March, 1877, he went into the lousiness world as 
a clerk in the cofifee and spice house of Dwincll 
Hayward & Co., in Boston, and continued with this 
concern until 1891, with the exception of two years 
which he spent on his grandfather's ranch in the 
"West. From 1882 to 1889 he made his headcjuar- 
ters at Detroit, Mich., selling coffees, spices and 
similar goods for his house throughout that sec- 
lion of the country. In 1891 Mr. Poore entered 
Harvard Medical School and was graduated in 
1894. He had an excellent opportunity for s])ecial 
practice as resident physician in the Boston Lying- 
in Hospital, where he was engaged for some months 
Ix'fore ills graduation. As a medical attendant upon 
a wealthy patient he spent the )ear after gradua- 
tion in traveling through the South. Dr. Poore 
came to Waterbury in 1895 and opened an office 
for the practice of his profession in this city. His 



medical skill and professional character commanded 
(juick recognition, and he has come into a very flat- 
tering practice ; and he is surgeon of the police and 
fire departments. 

On Oct. 18, 1898, Dr. Poore wedded Miss Edith 
L. Curtiss, who was born in Waterbury, daughter 
of Franklin L. Curtiss. cashier of the Citizens' Bank 
of Waterbury. To this union there is one son — 
Franklin (Jurtiss Poore, born Xov. 25, 1900. Dr. 
lV)ore is a Re])ublican. He belongs to the Nosa- 
hogan Lodge, Xo. 21, 1. O. (J. h'., and the Har- 
vard Medical Association. At the present time he 
is the secretary and treasurer of the Waterl)ury 
Medical Association. In the State Medical Associa- 
tion and in the American Medical Association he 
is an active member. The Doctor also belongs to 
the Sons of the .American Revolution. 

HOr.AR T \". WELTOX. The Welton family 
has l)een settU-d in Connecticut for more than two 
centuries, and during that long period its representa- 
tives have, in every generation, been men of char- 
acter and standing in the community. Joiin Welton 
and his wife, Mary Cpson, came from England 
about i(>i)y. and two years later settled in \Vater- 
bury, Cnim. They were jiarents of the following 
children: .\bigail. .Mary. I'~lizabeth. John, Stephen, 
Richard (the great-great-grandfather of Hobart V. 
Welton), Hannah, Thomas, George and Elsie. 

Richard Welton marrietl and reared the follow- 
ing children : Richard, John, Mary, Thomas, Kesiah, 
Martha, Stephen, Eliakim (the great-grandfather of 
H. V. Welton), Eda and Tabitha. 

Eliakim Welton married and became the father 
of the following family : Eliakim, Eunice, Avis, 
Richard, Eli, Moses, Aaron, Benoni and Benjamin. 

Richard Welton, the grandfather of Hobart V., 
married, and in his family were the following chil- 
dren : Xoah. Richard, Richard (2), Margaret, 
Thomas. Lydia, Hamiah, Je)seph D. (the father of 
Hobart \'. Welton), and Itella. 

Joseph D. Welton married Miss Tomlinson, and 
to their union were born four children, namely: 
Julia M., Hobart \'., Joseph and Henry D. 

Hobart \'. Welton was Ix^rn in Woodbury, 
Litchfield Co., Conn., and came with his parents to 
Waterbury, where he grew to manhood. He mar- 
ried Mary .\. Richards, native of Vermont, and they 
became tlie [larents of four children: Edward D., 
Sarah C., Harriet .\. and Hodaut L. lulward is a 
tool maker, and is now leading a retired life in 
Waterbury; Sarah C. is Mrs. D. W. Pier[X5nt, of 
Cheshire. Conn.; Harriet married (ieorge Laub, of 
Waterbury, and died in 1873 ; and Hobart L. lives in 
Waterbury. 

Hobart \'. Welton was a man of far more than 
the ordinary endowment of brain and character, and 
held through his long life the mishaken resjiect and 
confidence of the coninnmity. .\fter his marriage 
he located on his farm near Wolcott. A good farmer 
and a wealthy man, he maintained his fine country 



566 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



residence beyond all possible criticism. The house 
was built in 1830, and is a lart;e, roomy structure, 
shadowed by two or three tall ])incs. The barn is 
an immense structure of s^ranilc, piU up in 1858, 
and an eagle is perched on the toj) of tlie granite 
facing. 

Mr. Welton had a gift fur carving, and with 
home made tools elTected some ex(|uisite designs in 
granite and marble. A curiously carved gate admits 
to the premises, and its decorations all done liy .\lr. 
Welton, represent alnuisl everything employed on 
the farm in his life. W'ilhin the frame of the gate 
are carved the plough, the harrow, the ox-yoke, the 
sickle, and it is one of the most interesting things 
to he found in many a da}'. Within the house are 
found many of his carvings still preserved, and they 
are carefidly kepi by his son. llobart L. Mr. Wel- 
ton had a remarkable enduwment nf mechanical in- 
genuity, and snme nf his Imyish carvings in wood 
still remain, and ar^■ kept by his son, who regards 
them as beyond price. 

Mr. Welton once said. "If I wvvv to write my 
own biography to jilease myself (inly, I should say, 
'With an inburn taste fur sculpture, but obliged to 
earn my own living from early _\nnth, 1 have been 
of some service to society in my day and generation. 
Had I not been placed luider some such limitations 
I might be nothing mure than a third-rate artist.' " 
Could there l)e a sounder ])hilosophy? Mr. Welton 
was a Republican, and served in the General As- 
semlily in 1852 and 1853. lie was a regular at- 
tendant at St. John's Church. He was one of the 
founders of the Watcrbury Brass Company, and 
one of its early directors, lie was employed by the 
mill owners on the Mad I'iver, to erect a system of 
water reservoirs, which proved to be a long and 
tedious task, occupying several years. ?ilr. Welton 
tiled in 1875. at tlie age nf eight\-three, and his 
wife died in September, 1873. 

DAVID ATW.VTl'K 'rVLb:R, M. 1)., by Ste- 
phen G. Hubbard. .\1. 1)., .\cw llaveu. — The mem- 
bers of the profession who distinguish themselves 
by brilliant discoveries, which confer upon mankind 
great lienefits, and make their names widely known, 
arc extremely few compared with the multitude of 
educated, skillful practitioners who give character 
and tone to the profession, and win for it the respect- 
ful homage of every comnniniiy. The subject of 
this sketch was one of these: and he illustrated in 
bis life and character ni;my of those sterling tjuali- 
ties wdiich all men admire, and which, in the physi- 
cian, endear him to those who are profited by, and 
can appreciate, his self-denying ministrations. 

Dr. Tyler was born in Xorlhford, .\ov. 10. 1818. 
Unfitted by a natural delicacy of constitution for the 
laborious occupations of the farm, and being strong- 
ly inclined to literary pursuits, he learned the trade 
of a printer as a means of gaining the necessarv 
funds for acquiring a liberal education. He was 
so far successful in this, that in I'lacon Academv at 



Colchester, he qualified himself to enter the Sopho- 
more class in \'ale College; but the indoor life of 
an academic student proved so unfavorable to his 
already feeble health that, by the advice of instruc- 
tors and friends, he reluctantly abandoned all hope 
of obtaining a collegiate education, and entered him- 
self as a student of medicine in the office of the late 
Dr. N. 11. Jves. 

He was a favorite pupil with Dr. Ives, and re- 
ceived from him many evidences of esteem in un- 
usual facilities for seeing practice, and for treating 
by himself considerable numbers of patients. He 
enjoyed, also, the advantage of didactic lectures and 
office instruction from the late Dr. Eli Ives, at that 
time the professor of practical medicine at Yale. 
Those who knew personally, or by reputation, those 
gentlemen, father and son, will not be surprised to 
learn that, while Tyler became, under instructors, 
thoroughly trained in all the elements of medical 
science then taught, he became also an expert and 
enthusiastic Itotanist, and acquired an intimate 
familiarity with our indigenous materia medica ; or 
that he used this class of remedies, as well as all 
others, in after years, with remarkable skill and suc- 
cess. On receiving, in 1844, the degree of the doctor- 
ate, he read' as his inaugural thesis, a "Dissertation 
on the Helianthemum Canadense et Corymbosum" 
(P'rost weed, or Rock rose), which received from 
the profession unexpected attention. 

The botanical description of these jilants corre- 
sponded of course, with that given by the accepted 
aiuhorities, but in describing at length the medic- 
inal properties and therapeutic value of these two- 
helianthems (speaking of them as one), he brought 
out, for the first time almost, an array of facts until 
then not generally known. Practicallv, he re-intro- 
duced the plant to the profession, not as a substittUe 
for any other remedy, but as entitled to a distinct 
])lace by itself, as a deobstruent of great pow-er in 
scrofula, in all its various manifestations as well 
as in secondary and tertiary syphilis. He supported 
its claims to pre-eminence as a remedy in these 
classes of disease, by full and detailed reports of 
cases treated with it by himself and others. He 
sent a cpianiity of the plants to Dr. Isaac Parrislu 
of I'hiladelphia, who used them among his [jatients 
in Wills' llospilal with very satisfactory results. 
The first public notice of the frost weed is to be 
found in "I'nited .States Dispensatory." edition of 
1849, in which Dr. I'arrish gives concurrent testi- 
mony in its favor, ;uid quotes from the dissertation, 
which by the advice of medical friends, was pub- 
lished in the same year. 

Immediately after his graduation. Dr. Tyler be- 
gan ])ractice in this city, where he continued to re- 
side until compelled by protracted illness to with- 
draw himself from active business. He suffered on 
many occasions from pulmonary hemorrhage, but 
continued faithfully to attend upon his patients 
year after year, under a load of painful and de- 
pressing disabilities such as I have seldom witnessed. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



567 



His love for botanical science kept him much in tlic 
open air, and to this he attributed bis prolonged 
life and the small modicum of health he enjoyed. 
There have lieen within the writer's knowled.^e sev- 
eral instances of persons who consulted him for the 
relief of sxinptoms of incipient tuberculosis, and 
whom he induced to begin the practical studv of 
botany, himself giving them their tirst lessons in 
the field. The result in each case was a restoratit)n 
to a comfortable degree of health while field work 
was continued: and in one case of pronounced tu- 
berculosis the gentleman lived for n\any years, and 
attained a degree of eminence as a botanist, whose 
name was known abroad. 

Dr. Tyler possessed a happy, cheerful tempera- 
ment. He was endowed with power of percejjtion, 
discrimination and analysis of a high order, and the 
intuitive sagacity with which his mind detectt-d and 
drew forth for critical examination the controlling 
facts and symptoms of a comjilicated case was re- 
markable ; and as might have been predicted of him, 
he developed early in life as a peculiarly successful 
general practitioner. If he made especial study of 
anything, it was of diseases of the lungs, the kitlneys 
and the skin. He was a man of profound religious 
convictions, and as such in his social and profes- 
sional life, he sepiared his actions by the ])rinci])les 
of the ■■(lolden Rule." and thus it was that, while 
his feeble health and modest estimate of himself 
kept him from such prominence as his great (|uali- 
ties would otherwise have forced upon him, he was 
universally esteemed as one of the most aljle, upright 
and honorable men in the profession. 

A wide and varied intelligence, combined with 
a gentle, assuring manner and exquisite tact, ren- 
dered kim a welcome visitor in every sick room, and 
gained for him the confidence and love of all with 
whom he was brought in contact. He died .March 
27, 1885. 

AUtlL'ST YO.ST, whose name is familiar to 
those acquainted with the business ijersonnel of the 
city of Meriden as one of the thoroughly success- 
ful and representative business men of his national- 
ity, was born in Xieder Eschbach, near k'rankfurt- 
am-Main, Germany, April 7, 1844. 

Frederick Yost, his fatlier, was a native of the 
same village, where he lollowcd the liaker's trade 
and where he married Katherine W'ehrhcim. They 
became the ]Xirents of ten children, and feeling the 
need of a better field for the rearing of such a fam- 
ily, they came to the United States, making the voy- 
age in 1855 on the sailing vessel "Julia." They 
were forty-two days on the ocean. On reaching 
New York they made their way to Hartford county, 
Conn., where the family spent some months at Ware- 
house Point, and in 1856 removed to Rockville, 
where the father obtained employment in a woolen 
mill. ' There he worked three years and was then 
able to buy a farm in the town of X'ernon, devoting 
himself to its cultivation verv successfullv for a 



number of years. Tlie last years of this honorable 
and worthy man were spent in retirement from ac- 
tive labor in the home of his son, August, who cared 
for him with a loyal devotion. He died at the ripe 
old age of eighty-six years, and was Ijuried at Rock- 
ville. In iMjJitics he was a Repulilican. He was 
a verv unassuming, genuine man, of good character 
and sound principles. The following children were 
born to .\lr. and .Mrs. Yost; Katherine, who 
is the widow of Abram Laubscher, of Rockville; 
Mary, who married |ohn I'.itzer, an<l died in t^ali- 
fornia : Rosa, who married Daniel .Saner and after 
his death became the wife of I'rederick Hoy; Eliz- 
abeth, wife of (ieorge Euchs ; Martin; .Margaret, 
who married John IJonmet, and is deceased ;. August; 
Lizzie, who married Louis Schreier; Frederick, de- 
ceased ; and Henry, who is a traveling man from 
New Y'ork. 

August Yost was only eleven years of age when 
he was brought to this country by his parents. In 
his (_!erman home he had good schooling, but he 
onl\- attended at Warehouse I'oint a short time when 
the familv removed to Rockville, where he eiUered 
the woolen mills at the age of thirteen years. He 
had a chance to attend school in the early mornings 
and late afternoons, h'or seventeen years he was 
working in the mills, after which he began business 
for himself as a baker in New Britain in company 
I with William Lang, the firm being Lang & Yost. 
Not long afterward Mr. Yost sold out and in 
1872 came to Meriden, where he again entered into 
a baking business with William Albrecht. Mr. 
Yost soon look the business on his own account and 
continued in Liberty street until 1875 when he re- 
'. moved to a better location in West ^Lain street. 
Here he carried on a good business for more than 
twenty years. In 1S93 he built a good brick block, 
with a brick bakery in the rear, the finest in Meri- 
den, costing over $50,000. He owns a good hou.se 
in Lindslev avciuie, and has become one of the most 
substantial and reliable men of the cit)-. In i8(;5 
he retired from active business, and his baker_\- in- 
terests and other enterprises have passed into the 
management of his son, though our subject still 
gives attention to his extensive real estate interests 
in Meriden. 

During his business career Mr. Yost consist- 
ently declined to take any political office, but on his 
retirement from business he took a more active in- 
terest in local affairs; served five terms on the lioard 
of relief, and is now filling his third term as a.s- 
sessor. In religious matters he is a believer in the 
Golden Rule, and in politics is a Re]niblican. Mr. 
Yost belongs to the K. of P., being a member of 
J. S. Stokes Division, Xo. 12, Unifornunl Rank, and 
is also a member of the Cosmopolitan Club of .Meri- 
den. He is a member of the German School .\sso- 
ciation and belongs to the German .\id Societv at 
Rockville. 

.Mr. \'ost was married in i8r)5, in Rockville, to 
.•\gnes .Xeadle, a native of Moessingen, Wurtem- 



568 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



berg, (Jcrmany. and a daus'litu- "f Cicorgc and \g- 
ncs Ncadle. .Mrs. Yosl is a lady of nnicli cultnrc 
and intelligence and fine spirit : and has been a 
great strength to her husband in his trials and strug- 
gles. To this tniion were horn : ]'"rederiek G., who 
now has charge of the baking business, married 
Mary Miller, and they have had two children, .Stan- 
ley and one that died in infancy; Lizzie is at home; 
Agnes married W. ('. ^liller, a lawyer of Meriden ; 
Bertha and Atigust died xouiig; Mnnna nbtained her 
education at the local schools and the .Meriden Iii.gh 
scliool, was graduated from ilu- .State Xormal 
School in Xew IJritain. (,'nnn., ;ind is now a school 
teacher at I'ristol ; one child died in early infancy. 

]j(j.\". LE\'b:Ri".rr .m.vrsuex iiubbard. 

Many of the Connecticut Hubbards of this locality 
descended from George Iiubbard, burn in i6oi, and 
probably in Southeastern England. I lis name ap- 
peared first in America in 1639 in a list of early set- 
tlers of Hartford. These settlers came overland 
from the vicinity of I'.ostun during the years 1635 
and i')3f), and located in the towns of Windsor, 
Hartfor<l and Wethersfield, Conn., also Springfield, 
Mass. George Iiubbard marriei], in ii'>40, Eliza- 
beth Walts, daughter of Richard and I-llizabeth 
Watts. He appears lo have removed with about 
fifteen t)ther families to Matlabessett, so-callerl un- 
til i''»53, when it became .Middletown- ( ieorge Hub- 
bard and his wife were buried in the Middletown 
Riverside cemetery. ,\mong the descendants of 
this emigrant ancestor may lie mentioned the Hon. 
Sanuu-I Dickinson Iiubbard, of Miildlrtown, Unite<l 
States Postmaster ( leneral under I'resident Fill- 
more ; Paymaster-General Xebemiah iiubbard, of 
the Revolutionary war, and of Middletown; and the 
late Gov. Richard D. Iiubbard, of Hartford. 

'i"he record of the lives of successful men who 
influence and mold llic events of life Iw subduing 
adversity, and shaping toward their personal goal 
each condition as it confronts them, is always in- 
teresting and instructive; but it becomes more so 
when such lives present in coml>ine<l view the ele- 
ments of material success blended with the com- 
pleteness of moral attributes and the attractions of 
an unblemished reiiutation. Such characters stand 
out as the proofs of human progress, as illustrations 
of hmnan dignity and worth, ;md as beacon lights to 
the generations which follow. The success of such 
men is not, as some woidd consider, fortuitous; 
it is not the result of a chain of fortunate accidents ; 
it is the logical result arising from the steady ap- 
plication of a nature into which are infused the 
characteristics of a strong will, keen ])erception 
and indomitable energy, which, properlv utilized, 
have made their possessor a successful man. 

Lcvcrett Marsdcn Iiubbard was born April 23, 
1849, in Durham, Conn., a son of Rev. ITi and 
Gcorgiana (Leach) LIubbard, the latter being the 
only daughter of L. \V. Leach (for many years a 



leading merchant of Durham), and a sister of Hon. 
L. M. Leach and Hon. Oscar Leach, of Middlesex 
county, Conn., both now deceased. 

Eber Hubbard, grandfather of Leverett i\L, 
was born in Massachusetts, Aug. 10, 1785. When 
a young man, and before marriage, he moved to 
Martin.sburgh, Lewis Co., N. Y., then a frontier 
region, wdicre he remained for many years carrying 
on a considerable sawmill business. Late in life he 
bought a farm near Alexandria Bay, X. Y., in what 
was known as Flat Rock, to which he removed, and 
on which he passed the remainder of his days, dymg 
Sept. 22, 1841. He was married Feb. 3, 1808, to 
Abigail Rumble, who was born April 28, 1789, and 
died June 23, 1843. Their children were: (i) 
Eliza, born b^eb. 14, 1809. died in 1891. (2) George, 
born July 6, 1811. (3) Eli, born Aug. 18, 1813, 
is mentioned below. (4) Diana, born Sept. 14, 
1815. (5) Betsey, born Oct. 12. 1817. (6) Itha- 
more, born Dec. 21, 1820. (7) Anna W., born 
b'eb. 25, 1822, died Sept. 24, 1823. (8) Anna W., 
born Alarch 20, 1824, died June 19, 1843. (9) Hes- 
ter A., born June 24, 1826. ( 10) Phebe, born July 
9, 1828. (11) Mary, born May 13, 1831. (12) 
Eber, born Oct. 11, 1833, married June 27, 1858, 
Desire G. Cole, born May 6, 1840, and they had 
children, as follows : Walter W., born July 2, 1859 ; 
Marshall E. born Dec. 22, i860; Charles F., born 
Aug. 27, 1874; Eber J., born Aug. 13. 1876; Edna 
M., born in the year 1879, died Oct. 10. 1879; Glen 
C, born Aug. 16, 1881 ; and Allen i\I., born Dec. 3, 
1887. 

Rev. Eli IIubl>ard, father of Leverett M., was 
born in Martinsburgh, N. Y., and died in 1868, in 
Macon, Miss. He graduated from Wesleyan LTni- 
versity, Middletown, Conn., and as an educator and 
minister of the Gospel had a long and noteworthy 
career in the States of Alabama and Mississippi, 
being especially distinguished for his eloquence 
and power as a preacher. By his first wife, Georgi- 
ana (born Sept. 25, 1825, and died Jan. 27, 1852), 
he had two children : Edward Melville, born Jan. 
12, 1847; and Leverett Marsdeii, the subject of this 
sketch. For his second wife Rev. Hubbard mar- 
ried, Aug. 19, 1859, Cornelia M. Aldrich, of Ful- 
ton, N. Y., and to this union was born a daughter, 
Zuilee, March 26, 1865. now the wife of Dr. J. T. 
liarker, of Wallingford. 

Leverett ]\L Hubbard, the subject proper of this 
biographical sketch, was three years old when his 
mother died, and from that time his home was made 
with his maternal grandfather, Leverett W. Leach, 
already spoken of, in Durhant, Conn., in the schools 
of which village he received his earlier education. 
He then entered Wesleyan Academy, at Wilbra- 
ham, Mass., later attending Wesleyan University, 
at Middletown, Conn., receiving from the latter 
the degree of M. A., and among wliose sons he holds 
a distinguished place. Llis legal studies were pur- 
j sued at the .Mbany Law School, Albany, X. Y., from 




^5 





COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



569 



■which lie graduated in 1870: and he also pursued his 
law studies under Hon. Charles Ives, of New Ha- 
ven, since deceased. 

In August, 1870, he took up his residence in 
W'allingford, Conn., and connnenced the practice of 
his chosen profession, soon establishing a reputa- 
tion at the Liar of New Haven county, and through- 
out the State, of being a young man of tine s[)irit 
and rare intellectual endowments. From the be- 
ginning of his practice he gradually grew in the 
confidence and esteem of the public, and for many 
years has ranked among the most highly respected 
and successful followers of J'llackstone, Coke and 
Littleton in his county and State. He has been 
frequently identified with leading cases, some of 
which secured for him special distinction, notably 
the Haydcn-Stanard (or Stannard) nunxler trial, 
and the trial of Anderson, who was indicted for 
the killing of Horatio G. Hall. From 1874 to 1877 
he was a law partner of Morris V . Tyler, now treas- 
urer of Yale University, and afterward, success- 
ively, the partner of John W. Ailing and F. i'. Ar- 
vine, Fsfirs., both ranking among tlie most eminent 
members of their profession. 

In 1872 Mr. Hubbard was a])])ointed by Presi- 
dent Grant postmaster at W'allingford, which office 
he held by successive re-appointments until the in- 
auguration of President Cleveland in 1885. when 
he resigned with an unexpired commission for three 
years. He tendered his resignation as postmaster 
in order that he might devote liis entire attention 
to his profession, whose increasing demands had 
for a number of years made this stej) an actual ne- 
cessity. It is almost superfluous lo add that he ad- 
ministered the duties of that office with his cus- 
tomary intelligence and fidelity, and to the universal 
acceptance of its patrons, who, without respect of 
party, tendered him upon his retirement, a compli- 
mentary banquet, remarkable for its elaborateness 
and the enthusiasm which accompanied it. The 
Hon. Charles D. Yale, well known throughout the 
State as one of the most prominent and zealous of 
Hemocrats presided at the banquet, and, at the con- 
clusion of a highly complimentary address, used 
these words: "The company has assembled that it 
may go on record, in an unmistakable manner, that 
]Mr. Hubbard is beloved and respected by every man 
in W'allingford whose good wishes are worth hav- 
ing." The Hon. George II. W'atrous, of Xew Ha- 
ven, president of the New York, New Haven & 
Hartford Railroad Company, in writing his regrets 
that he would be unable to attend the ban(iuet, said : 
"I share with you, sincerely, the desire to honor our 
esteemed friend. I have known him nearly as long 
as you have, I presume. I early learned to believe 
in liim as a man not only of superior intelligence, 
but of great integrity and trustworthiness. My 
knowledge of him has increased my faith in him. 
Mr. Hubbard has not only been a successful post- 
master, but he has been in every respect a very suc- 
cessful and highlv useful member of vom* connnun- 



ity. He has already carved his way to the front 
rank of his profession." 

Notwitlistanding his extensive law practice, and 
llie great demands it makes on his time and atten- 
tion, Mr. Hubbard yet manages to devote many 
hours to public matters. 1 le was one of the projec- 
tors of the First National liank of Wallingford, 
has been one of its directors since its organization 
in 1881, and for many years its vice-president, has 
also been a director in the Dime Savings Bank of 
W'allingford since 1884, and its vice-president from 
1890 to 1894, when he was elected the president, 
to succeed Sanuiel Simpson, deceased, and he is 
still holding that ofiice. Mr. Hubbard was one of 
the incorporators (1881) of the W'allingford Gas 
Light Co., and was a director of that company from 
the time of its organization up to 1899, when he 
withdrew from the company. 

In ])olitics Mr. Hubbard is an uncompromising 
Republican, and has filled many public offices in the 
gift of his party with characteristic ability and judg- 
ment. In local aft'airs he has been a member of the 
board of school visitors since 1874; was a justice of 
the peace from 1878 to 1881 ; has been borough at- 
torney, also counsel for the town almost uninter- 
ruptedly since 1870. On the establishment of a 
borough court for W'allingford by the General As- 
sembly of the State in 1886, at the earnest solicita- 
tion of friends in both political parties, and at some 
disadvantage to his business, Mr. Hubbard accepted 
the position of its first judge, having been elected by 
the unanimous vote of the Legislature. In a similar 
manner was he re-elected for each successive term, 
until 1897, when he retired, having been elected by 
the General Assembly as judge of the court of com- 
mon pleas for New Haven county, wdiich office he 
now administers, having been re-elected thereto by 
the General Assembly at its .last session. 

In 1886 Mr. Hubbard was unanimously nomi- 
nated for Secretary of State of Connecticut by the 
Republican ])arty at a convention of over ^(Xi dele- 
gates held at Hartford, and was elected by a larger 
popular vote than any other candidate on the State 
ticket. It is not too much to say that in dignity .ability 
and enterprise, Mr. Hidibard's administration as sec- 
retary during his two years' term has rarely been 
equalled, and never excelled in the history of the 
State. Among Jiis many noteworthy special services 
during that incumbency may be mentioned his prep- 
aration and publication of the first comprehensive 
and elaborate "Register and Manual for the State 
of Connecticut" ever issued, a model upon which all 
subsequent editions iiave been fashioned, one that 
is highly valued for the great variety and accuracy 
of its information, and easily ranking among tho 
most com])lete pulilications of its kind ever com- 
piled. He brought the workings of the office to 
such a precise system that, although public acts and 
special acts of the Legislature had rarely been 
printed and in circulation earlier than thirty and 
sixtv davs, respectively, after the final adjournment, 



570 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



he caused it to be done in seven and fourteen days, 
respectively. 

In 1881 Mr. Hul>bard was elected a trustee of 
the Wesleyan Academy, at Wilbraham, Mass., an 
office he has held to the present time, and to the dis- 
charge of the duties of which he has brought the 
same devotion, energy and capacity which have 
marked his career in all the various positions of re- 
sponsible trust which he has occupied. 

Air. Hubbard has long enjoyed a wide reputa- 
tion as a speaker of unusual force and eloquence, 
and has been nuich in demand as an orator, espe- 
cially on patriotic, commemorative and political oc- 
casions. He has stumped the State in even.' national 
campaign since the Hayes campaign in 1876, and 
his services have always Ijeen offered gratuitously 
to the committees of his jiarty. I'Vom the com- 
mencement of his career he has Ijeen actively inter- 
ested in politics and is a recognized leader in his 
town, county and State, .\mong the honors con- 
ferred upon him, and not ])reviously referred to, 
may be mentioned that of delegate-at-large to the 
National Convention (jf his party at Chicago, in 
1888, which udininated Benjamin Harrison for 
President. Mr. llul)bard was prominently named 
throughout the Secnnd Congressional District as a 
candidate for Congress in the same year, but de- 
clined the honor, preferring to reiuain in the active 
jjractice of his ])rofession. 

In the matter of religion Air. 1 lul)liard is a mem- 
ber of the l'"irst Congregational Church of W'alling- 
ford, of which he has been for many years a liberal 
su])])orter, and in the management of whose affairs 
he has been prominently identified. 

On May 21, 187:5, Hon. Leverett M. Hubbard 
was married to Miss Florence Gazelle Ives, who 
w-as born June 6, 1851, a daughter of Wooster and 
Kliza P>. Ives, of Wajlingford. C)n her maternal 
side .she is lineally <lescended from Roger Wol- 
cott, one of the Colonial ( iovernors of Con- 
necticut; also from the Rev. John Davenjiort, one 
of the settlers of the .\'e\v Ila\en Colony, and 
wdio was its first minister. h'our children, all 
yet living, have been born of this marriage, as 
follows: ( I ) (ieorgiana, born March y, 1874, mar- 
ried to Dr. I'rank I'lacon Hancock, who was a sur- 
geon assigned to tlic .Monitor "Puritan" during 
the recent war with Spain, and now a prac- 
ticing physician in i 'liil;idelphia, his native city. By 
this marriage there is one daughter, I'dorence, born 
Oct. y, lyoo. (2) Samuel \\'olcott, born March 
30, 1876. holds a resjjonsible business position 
with the .\'ew York. New Haven & Hartford Rail- 
road Comi)any. (3) Leverett Alarsden, Jr., born 
Feb. 15, 1882, has recently graduated from Wes- 
leyan .■\cademy at Wilbraham, .Mass.. and is about 
to enter tlu- freshman class of Trinceton I'ni- 
versity. (4) Kenneth Davenport, born Jan. 3, 18S5. 
Air. Huhbard is esteemed throughout the comnuui- 
ity as an lionorable and U|)right citizen, cnj()\iug 
tlie utmost popularity among ail classes. liis pleas- 



ant, genial disposition has won for him hosts of 
friends, and probably there is not in the State of 
Connecticut any one who enjoys the acquaintance 
of more men of national prominence than does 
Judge Hubbard. 

GEORGE H. MUNGER, a well known and 
highly respected citizen of North Branford, was born 
in Madison, Conn., Alay 26, 1827, a son of Gaylord 
and Dency (Stevens) Alunger. The Alunger an- 
cestry is traced from Nicholas Alunger who, when 
si.xteen years old, came in 1639 to America with 
William Chittenden. He settled in Guilford, now 
known as Aladison, as early as 1651, and died Oct. 
17, 1668. Of his two sons, John and Samuel, John 
was born April 26, 1660, and became the father of 
a son Josiah, who was born July 20, 1704. Tim- 
othy, son of Josiah, was born Sept. 5, 1735, and 
his son Josiah became the grandfather of George 
FI. Alunger. 

Josiah Alunger was born Oct. 2, 1760, and die<l 
Dec. 27, 1822. He married Hannah Alunger, who 
was born Dec. 9, 1765, and died in 1833. 

Gaylord Alunger, son of Josiah, was born in the 
town of Aladison, New Haven county, Sept. 25,. 
1797, and died June 15, 1871. Enterprising and 
public-spirited, he was identified with the best in- 
terests of the church and State. He married Dency 
Stevens, who was born June i, 1802, a daughter of 
Roswell and Submit ( Field) Stevens, and died Alay 
7, 1866. In their family were eight children, 
namely: Jane S., who was born Jan. 25, 1825, and 
married Washington Dudley, of North Branford ; 
George H., our subject; Selden D., who was born 
Alay 29, 1831 ; Lucy A., who was born Oct. 13, 1834, 
and is now deceased; Eliza E., who was born Jan. 
23, 1838; Judson, who was born Dec. 26, 1840, and 
is a deacon in the Congregational Church at North 
Aladison; Emily R., who was born June 11, 1843; 
and Alartha A., who was born Sept. 11, 1833, and 
died young. Airs. Submit (Field) Steyens'was de- 
scended from Zachariah Field, who, with his son 
Ebcnezer, settled in Aladison in 1720. l'"rom these 
are also descended the celebrated divine. Rev. David 
Dudley h'ield, and his son, David Dudley Field, the 
prominent New York lawyer. 

Throughout his entire life George H. Alunger 
has followed the occupation of farming with good 
success, and is the owner of considerable property 
in North Branford. He attended the district school 
until fourteen years old, and finished his education 
in a private school. On No\-. 14. 1852, he married 
Aliss Susan AL, daughter of Rev. Reuben Torrey, 
]jastor of the Congregational Church at North 
Aladison, who was born .April 3, 1781), and died 
-Sejit. 28, 1870. Rev. Torrey w;is a son of Dr. James 
and Deborah (Fitch) Torrey, of Weymouth and 
Nantucket, Alass., respectively, and for fifty years 
was prominent as a Congregational minister, hav- 
ing at different times charges at .\shford, Eastford, 
North Alansfield and X<irtli Aladison, Conn., and 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



571 



Elmwood anil Providence, R. I. His wife, Ann 
Eddy, was born July 5. 1796, a (lani;lncr of Ca])l. 
Moses and Hannah (Carpenter) l£ddy, and died 
Dec. 5, 1890. The Eddy family is descentled from 
Rev. William Eddy, A. M., vicar at Crainbrouk, 
England (1589-1616), whose sons came to .\merica. 
Capt. JNIoses Eddy was born March 26, 1766, became 
a prosperous merchant, running a line of packets 
between Providence and New York; he died May 
28, 1823. tlis brother, Samuel Eddy, was a judge 
of the supreme court of Rliode Island, and for many 
years was a member of Congress. Mrs. Hannah 
(Carpenter) Eddy was born Oct. 17, 1766, and died 
May 14, 1838. 

.Mrs. Munger died Jan. i, 1861, aged nearly 
thirty-eight years, leaving three daughters : Mar- 
tha C, wife of Erastus Dudley, a prominent citizen 
of Guilford; Ann Isabel, wife of Lawyer C. A. 
Harrison, of W'allingford ; Susan, widow of Clay- 
ton Thompson, residing in North Madison. On 
May 15, 1862, Mr. Munger was united in marriage 
with r^liss Emily Prances Russell. One tlaughter 
has blessed this union, Helen Russell, who is the 
wife of Charles M. Bergstresser, editor of the Wall 
Street Journal, of New York, and a graduate of 
Lafayette College, Pa., and they have one child, 
lube! Munger Bergstresser. ?klr. .Munger has taken 
a prominent part in public affairs, and has served as 
selectman and filled numerous ofHcial stations while 
living in i\Iadison. He resided in that town until 
April, 1888, when he came to North Branford to 
occupy part of the Russell ancestral estate. He has 
been superintendent of Sunday-school and choir 
master of the Congregational Churcli, but has stead- 
ily refused any political positions since coming to 
North Branford. He has been a staunch Re])ub- 
lican since the organization of the party, having for- 
merly affiliated with the Whigs, and is noted for his 
temperance principles and practice. 

The Russell family, to which Mrs. (ieorge H. 
Munger belongs, is an ancient and honorable one, 
and has rendered great services to church and State. 
Those who settled in North Branford gave 
monies to the Congregational Church for the 
establishment of a fund which to-day aids 
in its sup[jort. The American line is traced 
l)ack to John Russell, a native of England, 
who emigrated from London in the ship '■tik)be" 
Aug. 7, 1635, with his wife, Phcbe (family 
name unknown), and two sons, John and Phillip. 
He first located in Cambridge, Mass., but later re- 
moved to South Hadley. Li 1636 he was one of the 
])rominent citizens of the former town, was town 
clerk in 1645, ^^'"^ constal.ile in 1648. His wife died 
July 8, 1642. 

John Russell, son of John, the emigrant, was 
born in England in 1626, and was graduated from 
Plarvard in 1645. He was called to be pastor of the 
church at Wethersfield, Conn., and his father accom- 
panied him. In 1659 he moved to Hadley, Mass., and 



died there May 8, 1660. He gave shelter to the 
"Regicides." 

Sanuiel Russell, son of John, was born Nov. 4, 
i6f)o, and was graduated from Harvard in 1680. 
He moved to Branford, Conn., liecoming the second 
[)astor III the Congregational Church there Sept. 12, 
ifj87. In his study was founded Yale College, of 
wliicli he was lilirarian, and trustee from 1 70 1 
to 1731. He married .\bigail Whiting, daughter of 
Rev. John and Sybil (Collins) Whiting, of Hart- 
ford, and granddaughter of William Whiting, J-".sq., 
first treasurer of the Connecticut Colony. Rev. 
Samuel Russell died at liranford June 25, 1733. clos- 
ing a ])astorate of forty-three years. 

Jonathan Russell, Esq., son of Rev. Samuel, 
located in what is now North Branford, where he 
owned a large tract of land given to his father by 
the parishioners. He served as justice of the peace 
and held various other town offices. His lirother, 
Ithiel Russell, was the first deacon of the North 
Branford Congregational Church in 1754. Jonathan 
Russell married Eunice Barker, of Branford. and 
he died Jnlv 24, 1774, aged seventy-four years; she 
died Aug. 23, 1 781, aged eighty-five. 

Jonatiian Russell, Jr., son of Joiialhan. married 
Lydia Barker, who died I'"eb. 3, 1823, at the age 
o{ eight\--L'ight years, and he departed this life 
March 5, 1814, at the age of eighty-two. 

Deacon David Russell, son of Jonathan and 
Lydia (Barker) Russell, and the grandfather of 
j\lrs. Munger, was bom May 31, 1762, and died 
July 2, 1836. At the age of sixteen he volunteered 
for service in the war of the Revolution, and was 
ever a prominent and public-spirited citizen. I'or 
twenty-eight years he was a deacon in the Congre- 
gational Church. His wife, who bore the maiden 
name of Eunice Monroe, was Iwrn Jan. 30, 1770, 
and died in August, 1852. Jn their family were 
the following children : Samuel P., who was born 
]\Iarch 12, 1794, and died .\pril (>. 1803; Julia Eliz- 
abeth, who was born Jan. 14, 1796. and married 
Samuel Chatterton, a merchant taikjr of New Ha- 
ven ; Lydia l-'rances, who died in childhood ; Sanuiel 
Pactor, born Oct. 7, 1803, was a deacon of tlie 
church many years and died Jan. 7, 1884; Joseph 
Barker: Jonathan; David Andrew, father of Mrs. 
Munger; Lucretia, who married Charles Brown, 
a prominent man of New Haven, Nov. 25, 1825; 
and Jienjamin 1!., who died young. 

David Andrew Russell was liorn April 6, 1805, 
and was a life-long resident of North Branford, 
where he engaged in farming. I le was an active 
and pronnnent member of the Congregational 
Church, served as church collector. He was nearly 
all his life in the North Branford Congregational 
Church. In his political views he was a Democrat, 
and held the offices of constable, grand juror and 
other local positions of honor and trust. In tlie 
town of Madison, this coimt\', he married Miss 
Betsy Norton, the ceremony being performed by 



IT- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Rev. Judson Root. She was born Sept. 28, 1806, a 
daughter of Timothy Norton and his wife Polly 
(Hutchinson), of Southold, Lung Island. Mr. 
Russell died Nov. 4, 1881, his wife, Oct. 7, 1872. 
To this worthy couple were born six children, of 
whom the eldest died in infancy, Jan. 13, 1834; 
Jane Elizabeth, born b'eb. 14, 1835, married Elizur 
Foote and died Dec. 14, 1879; Julia Frances, born 
Jan. 19, 1836, died March 23, 1839: Fmily Frances, 
born Aug. 17, 1838, is the wife of our subject; Julia 
Augusta, born March 22, 1842, died Jan. 20, 1859; 
and Helen Louise, born April 18, 1847, died Sept. 
II, 1852. 

Timothy Norton was a prominent man in the 
town, and was engaged in the droving business, 
shipping horses and nuiles to the West Indies. He 
was a son of Noahdiah and Mabel (Ho|)son) Nor- 
ton; and his wife, I'olly Hutchinson, was born P\*b. 
24. 1779, a daughter of Samuel Hutchinson, of 
Southold, L. L, who was an early settler there. 
When Long Island was invaded by the British, he 
shipped his family and his belongings in a sloop to 
Guilford. 

RICHARD A. I'FCK, a well known citizen of 
New Haven who for many years was connected 
with the Reck & Bishop Co., of that city, comes 
from an old and prominent family. 

Jonathan Peck, his grandfather, was born in 
Fairfield coimty. Conn., where he married a Miss 
Lockwood, and then settled at Flushing, Long Isl- 
and, where he embarked in the transportation busi- 
ness, continuing same until the time of his death. 
He reared a large family: Cornell, born in i8og, 
was in the coal and lumber business in Flushing; 
Anna Fliza, born in 181 r, married William Fair- 
weather, who was in business with her brother 
Cornell; James, born in 1813, was in the fertiliz- 
ing business in Flushing; Richard was the father 
of i:nn- subject; Thomas engaged in the sash and 
blind business in Norwalk, Conn.; Carnliiic, born 
in 1819, married William Rowe, of I'"lnshing; Janet 
married Theodore DenKmt. of I'lushing, and still 
survives; Jc.mathan, born in 1825. was in the salt 
business, and died at 1 lem])stea<l. L. I.; Henry A., 
born in 1829, is in the fertilizing business in Flush- 
ing: William, born in 1831, is in the real estate busi- 
ness in New York City: .-uul .Susan .\., born in 
1823, married .\ugnstus Milcbell. of l-'lnsbing. and 
is deceased. 

Richard Peck, the father of oiu' sul)ject, was 
born in Mushing, Dec. 28, 18 15, and died April 18, 
]i)<x). His educational advantages were limited, 
(Illy such as the district schools of bis time and 
phu'e afforded. He seenu'd to inherit from his 
fathcT a desire for "following the water," and when 
but little more than a child had shown vnnisual 
ada])tation for that line of work. \\'h(;n a lad of 
twelve he left Flushing with his father to ."ngage 
in the steamboat business, and he was captain of one 
steamboat before he was eighteen, holding that po- 



sition in a highly satisfactory manner. In the early 
forties he located in New Haven, where from 1850 
to 1898 he managed the New Haven Steamboat 
Co.'s line of boats, one of these, the "Richard Peck,' 
a large passenger steamer running between New 
Haven and New York. During the last year of 
his life the "Chester W. Chapin" was added to the 
fleet. Sometime prior to his death a deal was made 
with the N. Y^ & N. H. Consolidated Road for 
the purchase of the New Haven Steamboat Co., and 
the transfer was made the day Mr. Peck died. The 
boats which he commanded on the New Haven line 
were the "Bell," Globe." "New York" and "Con- 
necticut," the last named being his last boat, having 
charge of her in 1850. 

In his time Mr. Peck built the "Granite State," 
of the Hartford line ; the "Elm City," the "Conti- 
nental" and the "C. H. Northam." Also under his 
supervision were built the "Richard Peck" and the 
"Eleanor F. Peck," the former of which was named 
for him, and was for years probablv the best known 
coaster steamer carrying the United States flag; and 
Mr. Peck, during his management of the New Ha- 
ven line, which extended over a period of nearly 
half a century, was probably one of the best known 
steamboat men ijn the Atlantic coast. He had 
grown up in the business, and retired in 1898 after 
over seventy years of active service in that line. 
For many years he was in positions of great re- 
sponsibility, the duties of which he always filled in 
a most efficient manner. His life had been a very 
busy one, and he was well known throughout the 
country and among all men, especially in his line. 
In politics he was a stanch Democrat. His life was 
without reproach, and he was a grand type of man, 
many kindly acts showing his true character. When 
but a young man he assumed responsibilities that 
were far beyond his years, displaying a keen sense 
of duty to his parents and others of the family who 
were less successful than he. While a disciplinarian 
in his business, and systematic at home, he was a 
kind-hearted, generous man, and an indulgent 
father. He was generous to a fault, finding pleasure 
in his home and family, in which he took great 
interest. Accumulation of property was certainly 
not his greatest desire, though he left a most com- 
fortable competence, and neither he nor his family 
ever lacked comforts or luxuries that his means 
permitted. His substantial kindnesses and gener- 
osity toward others were frequent and voluntary. 
At the time of his death the New York ^Marine 
Journal published the following : 

The fi>undc'rs of our successful sail vessel fleets and 
steanisliii> lines aie fast passing awav. The latest to pay 
tlie (lel)t whieli nature demands is Capt. Kicbard Peck, of 
New Haven, Conn., the founder of the New Haven Steam- 
boat Co., between this i>ort and New Haven, which has 
lu'en so eminently prosjierous throuixh his oversight in con- 
nection willi l^resident Chester \V. Chapin in liiiildin;; boats 
of a superior class, w^ith wliich ComtrKidore Peck was 
actively identified until increasing years forced him to give 
way to younger men. 

Mr. Peck was a native of I'lushing. L. I., and came to 




f^UKa^TO PcJ) 



s 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



573 



this city in 1842, in command of the steamer "Bell." A 
short time afterward he, together with C. H. Northam and 
Chester W. Clui|)in, of Springfield, Mass., ort;anized the 
New ^'ork and New Haven steaiiihoat hne, and he was 
made captain of the "Connecticut " of that line. 

In I80O he was made superintendent of the company, 
which position he held until 1895, when he resigned. After 
his resignation as superintendent, he became secretary of 
the company, and held the office up to his death. He was 
commodore of the company's line of steamboats, and one 
of their most famous ones is named after him. He is sur- 
vived tiy a wife, two sons and two brothers. 

It IS a great victory over temptation when a man in his 
85th year dies with a ciiaratteron winch there is not a blem- 
ish. Where is the man that can say that this veteran steam- 
boat man ever did him a wrong? .Such a one never lived. 
'I'rue to the hard and fast principles of doing as h(^ would i 
be done by, Richard I'eck died beloved, honored and 
respected by all who knew him. To he able to leave such a 
legacy to family and friends is worth an hundred times all 
the self-denial necess.iry to attain it. 'I'he exam])le is as j 
valual)le to his associates in social as well as in business life, 
as the ten cominandnients. 

On l"el). 21, fSjy, Richard Peck was married to 
Anna E. Haviland, who lived but one year, and on 
Oct. 16, 1842, lie married jMary A. Smith, who was 
born in Quakers Farms, Oxford, Conn., Dec. i, 
1818. Her father, Theodore Smith, born in Ox- 
ford, was a farmer there; he w'as a captain, 9th Co., 
2nd Keg. Riflemen, Connectictit Militia, in the war 
of 1812. ]Mr. Smith married Julia Bradley, who 
was born in Humphreysville, or Han:den, Conn., 
a daughter of Elephaz Bradley, a farmer of that 
locality, and his wife Betsey (Perry). The great- 
grandfather of our subject, John Smith, was a sol- 
dier in both the Revolutionary war and in the war 
of 1812. Soon after the marriage of Richard and 
Mary (Smith) Peck they settled in New Haven, 
where j\Irs. Peck lives. A family of four children 
came to them: (i) Frederick J., born in August, 
1843, li'i* been in the steamboat business at times 
being like his father, the captain of several boats ; 
his home is in New York City. (2) Richard A. 
is mentioned below. (3) Henry, born in April, 
1848, died Oct. 31, 1887; he was shipping clerk for 
the New Plaveii Steamboat Co. (4) Miles L., born 
in September, 1850, died July 31, 18S7; he was 
steward on a steamboat. The mother is well pre- 
served in spite of her eighty-three years. She is 
highly esteemed and is a consistent member of the 
Episcopal Church. 

Richard A. Peck, our subject, was born in New 
Haven, Aug. 21, 1845. and was reared in that city, 
receiving every educational opportunity. l'"or some 
titne he attended Russell's Collegiate Military 
School, where the training in every tlcpartnient was 
excellent. His first entrance into business w^as as 
clerk in a drug store, where lie remained for three 
and one-half years, and he then went to the New 
Haven Steamboat Co. This business was success- 
fully pursued by all bis family, and our subject was 
r.o exception, his energy and interest soon making 
him a valuable acquisition to the firm of Myers & 
Peck. Later he engaged in the business tuidcr the 
firm name of Peck & Bishop, which later cliangcd 



to the Peck & Bishop Co., of New Haven, and when 
Mr. Peck retired from the firm his name was re- 
tained. 

On Jan. 11, 1871, Mr. Peck was united in mar- 
riage with Nellie M. Terrell, who was born in New 
Haven, a daughter of Horatio and Sarah (Richard- 
son) Beecher Terrell, also of New Haven. In his 
political connections our subject votes with the 
Democratic party. Both he and his wife are val- 
ued and consistent members of the Episcopal 
Church. 

Hb:XRY C. Sl'-VBROOK, whose death oc- 
curred on Christmas day, 1901, was one of the im- 
portant factors in the business life of New Haven, 
Conn. He was born on the island of Nevis, West 
Indies, March 2, 1830, a son of William Seabrook, 
a native of London, luigland, who died in the West 
Indies. 

William Seabrook early in life was a steward in 
a prominent London family, as his father before 
him, but at the time of the birth of Henry C, his> 
son, he was conducting a large plantation in the 
West Indies. About 1835, during the slave troubles 
in the island, he went to Canada, btiilt a home in 
the wilderness and remained there one season. 
However, as he had become accustomed to the warm 
climate of the West Indies, he cotild not endure the 
extretne cold of his northern home, and returned to 
the island of Nevis, and there lived until his death. 
The maiden name of his wife was Martha bVeeman, 
and she was a native of London, England. iMftcen 
children were born to them, btit our subject knew 
nothing of his brothers and sisters, with the excep- 
tion of two sisters, Maria Dalley and Harriet .Vuld, 
late of Hamilton, Canada, btit who are deceased. 

Henry C. Seabrook spent the years from 1835 to 
1846 in London at school, and in Hamilton, Can- 
ada, where he learned the trade of carria.ge wood- 
working. In 184^) he came to Rochester. X. Y., 
and there remained until 1849, working at the trade 
of carriage painting and woodworking, and he was 
also employed on the canal and at other work. Dur- 
ing the Mexican war he was at \'era Cruz, not as a 
participant in the fighting, but loading vessels. On 
July 15, 1849, he came to New Ilaveti and followed 
his trade of carriage woodworking until 1855. when 
he went to New London in the employ of Mr. Cable. 
From there he went to Syracuse, where he remained 
until the fall of 1838, when he returned to New 
Haven and entered the eiuploy of George T. New- 
hall, where he remained until Oct. i, 1865. when he 
entered the business of carriage building with C. 
F. Dibble, who remained in the concern imlil 1868, 
wdien Mr. Seabrook formed a partnership with Ly- 
man T. Smith, and the style of the firm became the 
Seabrook & Smith Carriage Co. They manufac- 
tured a large number of carriages, and shipped their 
products to Texas, California, and in fact all over 
the United States. Their plant was well equij^ped 
and they gave employment to thirty-five men. 



574 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(Jn May 30, 1853, Mr. Seabrook was married to 
Lydia Beecher, of New Haven, a daughter of Hor- 
ace Beccher, also of New Haven. She died May 
3. 1885. Two children were born of this marriage: 
Charles H. and Ida. The son, who is in the livery 
business in New York City, is a Very promising 
young man ; he is married and has three children, 
Henry Hawley, Anna M. and Clara L. Ida is 
unmarried and at home. In politics Mr. Seabrook 
was a Democrat, but never sought political honors. 
In 1853 he joined Hiram Lodge, A. F. & A. M., 
and he was also a member of the Red Men. 
\\"\\.\\ his family Air. Seabrook attended the Episco- 
l)al Church. Upright in all his dealings, and self- 
made in the best .sense of the term, Air. Seabrook 
won a firm position for himself in the commercial 
life of New Haven, and too nuich credit could not 
be given him for his energy and enterprise in build- 
ing u]) his business and financial standing from such 
small beginnings. 

DAVIl.) B. WILSON, senior member of the D. 
B. Wilson Co., general hardware merchants. Water- 
bury, and one of New Haven county's most progres- 
sive and popular citizens, is well worthy of promi- 
ment place in the pages of this work. 

A native of Connecticut, Air. Wilson was born 
April I, 1848, in Harwinton, Litchfield county, a 
son of Charles M. Wilson and a grandson of David 
Wilson. The latter was born probably in Harwin- 
ton, and followed agricultural pursuits there. He 
tlied at the age of fifty-nine years. He married 
Betsey Miller, of Middletown, Conn., and had a 
family of five children, as follows : David A. was 
a farmer in Harwinton, antl died there; Russell died 
unmarried; Charles M. is fully mentioned farther 
on; Cornelia (now deceased) married Charles lin- 
sign, a farmer in Morris, Conn.; Elizabeth (now de- 
ceased) married Lemuel bmsign, a farmer. 

Charles .M. Wilson, father of David li., was born 
in 1822 in Harwinton, received his education tlicre, 
and followed farming until 1870, in which year he 
came to \Vaterbury. Here he conductetl a restaur- 
ant and confectionery business, but is now living 
retired. He married .Sarah E. I'.arbcr, also a na- 
tive of Harwinton, daughter of C )rren Barber, a 
farmer of that locality, who died at the age of 
eightv years. There was but one child liorn to 
Cliarles AI. and Sarah J".. Wilson, David B., (jur 
subject. The mother was called from earth in i8<p, 
aged sixty-six years. 

David B. Wilson jiassed his boyhood on the home 
farm where he remained until he was fifteen years 
of age, attending in the summer seasons the district 
school, afterward for two years he studied at Wil- 
braham Academy. After clerking a short time in 
the telegraph office at Winsted, Conn., he, in 1867, 
came to Waterbury and ])urchased a restaurant and 
confectionery business, wliich he conducted until his 
father took it off his hands. He then for two years 
was employed in the store of E. R. Sampson, liartl- 



ware, etc., at the end of that engagement embark- 
ing in his present mammoth business (probably the 
largest in the county), comprising hardware of all 
kinds, agricultural implements, sporting goods, bi- 
cycles, field and garden seeds, etc. Since 1880 the 
place of business has been at Nos. 13-15-17 Broad- 
way. In 1897 a stock company was organized under 
the firm name of the D. B. Wilson Co., D. B. Wilson, 
president and treasurer ; E. W'. Wilson, vice-presi- 
dent and assistant treasurer; and George Lee, secre- 
tary. 

On Jan. 5, 1869, our subject was united in mar- 
riage with Al. Christine Webster, who was born in 
Waterbury, a daughter of Elias Webster, a native of 
Harwinton, who for several years was a boot and 
shoe dealer in Waterbury. Two children have been 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilson; Edward W. (born 
March 20, 1871), member of the D. B. Wilson Co.; 
and Florence Zullette. 

In politics Air. Wilson is an independent Repub- 
lican, in religious faith has been identified with 
Trinity Church since its organization ; and 
socially is a member of the F. & A. AL, the I. O. 
O. F. and Carder of Red Men. An enthusiast in 
agricultural affairs, he is the owner of a fine 500- 
acre farm in Litchfield county, which he conducts, 
but not altogether for the profits his industry and 
good management bring from it. His essay on farm- 
ing entitled, "I Want to Buy a Farm," published in 
the firm's pamphlet of 1895, is well worth, not only 
careful perusal, but deep thought and close applica- 
tion. Mr. Wilson has never taken an active part 
in political affairs, caring nothing for the honors 
or emoluments of public office, preferring to give 
his attention to the pleasures of his home and his 
farm, and to the prosecution of his business interests, 
in which he is meeting with unbounded success. 

STEPHEN OLIN PARKER, one of the well 
known business citizens of Meriden, now holding the 
responsible position of foreman of the pattern de- 
partment of the Charles Parker Co., was born in 
Aleriden April 22, 1847, a son of the late Stephen 
L. and Martha Al. (Andrews) Parker. 

The Parker family has been identified with 
the history of New Haven county, Conn., for a 
period of nearly two centuries, and representatives 
in each generation have held honored places in the 
community. 

."Stephen Parker, the great-grandfather of Stephen 
( )lin Parker, of this sketch, was a son of Joel and 
.Susannali (Hotchkiss) Parker, and was born in 
1759- harming was his chief occupation and this 
he followed with much success through life. For 
some time he was a .soldier in the Continental 
army during the war for independence. His first 
marriage was to Sally Twiss and his second was 
to Airs, l^ebecca Stone, who was a daughter of 
Joshua Ray. The eight children of the first mar- 
riage were: Clarissa. Zcri and Stephen, two of 
whom died in infancy; Stephen; Sarah; Clarissa; 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



575 



Joel and Isabella. The second marriage resulted 
in four children : John, Betsey, Charles and Ed- 
mund, all of whom are now deceased, excej)! the 
\cnerable Charles Parker, one of Meriden's oldest 
and most respected citizens, a full sketch of whom, 
together with the Parker family, will be found else- 
where in this volume. 

Zeri Parker was born on the family homestead 
in Cheshire, where he grew to manhood and here he 
])assed the greater part of his lite engaged in farm- 
ing. His latter days were spent with his sons, 
Julius and Stephen. Liberal in his views, he found 
.good in all, and lived an honest, upright 
life, and held the esteem and respect of all 
who knew liini. flc was married in Ches- 
hire to Tryphena AInnson, wJio was horn in 
that town and who was a daughter of Peter 
IMunson, and two children came of this union : Jul- 
ius, who married Mary Richmond, is now tleceased, 
having had two sons, George Wallace, who died in 
1895, and Charles I., of Meriden ; and Stephen L. 

Stephen L. Parker was born in Cheshire Oct. 
12, 1824, and during his life was a well known and 
highly respected citizen. He passed his early days 
alter the manner of young men of the time, attend- 
ing the district school and working on the home 
farm with his father. Until attaining manhood he 
continued at home, going then to Meriden, where 
lie learned the trade of carpenter and joiner. Tliis 
he followed for a number of years, when he became 
foreman in the Charles Parker shop, where he spent 
a short time. His next venture was as a lock manu- 
facturer, in which he was successfully engaged for 
about five years, after which he accejHed a contract 
of making cofl'ee mill boxes for the Charles Parker 
Co., with which he continued up to the time <if his 
death, which took place in Meriden. Jan, 7, \Hjo. 
]lis remains rest in the West Cemetery. In ]:)oli- 
tics he was a stanch Republican, but never had any 
desire to hold public office; in religious belief a 
devoted Methodist, giving liberally to the cause he 
loved, and at the date of his death, lield the office of 
trustee. Sociallv he was identified with the I. O. 
O. F. 

On Nov. 23, 1845, in Meriden, Stejahen L. 
Parker wedded ^ilartha M. Andrews, who was born 
in Cheshire, Conn., a daughter of Iliram and Martlia 
M. (Hotchkiss) Andrews. Mrs. Parker was edu- 
cated in the district schools of Cheshire, and taught 
one term in Meriden. She is a noble, Cliristian 
woman, dearly beloved for her many good deeds 
and kindly disposition. To Mr. and Mrs. Parker 
were born five children: Stephen Olin, of Meriden, 
born April 22, 1847; Imogene, born .April 6, 1850, 
died in July the same year ; Martha Ella, born Aug. 
14, 1853, married (first) George .Ashdown, and (sec- 
ond) Henry Booth, and resides in Grand J'ia])ids, 
Mich, (she had two children by lier first marriage, 
Edmund Parker, born April 4, 1874; and Edna Ella, 
born Feb. i, 1878) ; Jennie, born Oct. 13, 1856, died 



in 1861 ; Annette May, born March 24, 1859, resides 
at home. 

Stephen ( )lin I'arker obtained liis education in 
tlie district scliools of .Meriden, also in the Meriden 
academy. .\t tile age of sixteen years, he began 
to assist his father in the making of colTee mill 
bo.xcs, continuing until his father's death, when he 
took charge of the business and successfully con- 
ducted it for one year. In 1871 he learned the trade 
of pattern maker, and for the past thirty years has 
Ijeen in the employ of the Charles Parker Co., filling 
the position of foreman of the pattern deiuirtment 
with great ability. 

On Aug. 8, 1871, Mr. Parker was married in 
Coventry, X. Y., to Algierose Wylie, w;io was born 
in Coventry, Chenango Co., N. Y., a daughter of 
ICrastus and Mary Wylie, of Coventry, of Scotch 
descent, a full sketch of the family being found in 
the sketch of Luinan l'. Parker, elsewhere in this 
volume. Mrs. Parker is a lady of culture and refine- 
ment and received a liberal education in her native 
State, where for one year she was a very acceptable 
teacher. Socially she is ])rominent in Meriden and 
is a luembcr ;if tlie <jrgaiiization of tht Daughter; 
of the .American Revolution, and has served on the 
official lioard of Ruth Hart Chapter. To Mr. and 
]\lrs. Parker has been born one daughter, Mal>el 
Claire, who has been educated very thoroughly, first 
in Meriden and then in Wilbraliam, Mass. Mr. 
Parker is a member of the Home Club, the Royal 
Arcanum and the A. O. U. W., of Aleriden. As a 
Republican he has long been prominent, and has 
represented the third ward in the city council, served 
, two years as alderman, being on the committees on 
License and Claims, of whicli latter he served as 
chairman, aiul for two years was clerk of the Police 
committee. The family attend the Alethodist 
Cluircli. By his pleasant, genial manner, good judg- 
ment and wise discrimination, Mr. Parker has won 
his way to the front in his business and enjoys not 
(ill) the high esteem of his employers, but also the 
respect and affcctinn of those over whom he is 
placed. 

' GEORGE C. PETTIS, treasurer of the Ilogg- 
son & Pettis Mfg. Co., manufacturers of "chucks'' 
and a large variety of small machinery in Xew Ha- 
ven, and also interested in several other manufac- 
turing concerns and enterprises, was born in 
Plymouth, March 8, 1833. 

George Pettis, his father, was born in Westville, 
Conn., where he spent his life engaged in farming, 
dying at Terryville at the age of fifty-two. He mar- 
ried Sally Ford, a native of Thomaston, Conn., 
where her father lived before the founding of that 
city. Seth Thomas, of the famous clock conipanv, 
bought the ground from liim on which to build the 
clock factory. Of the three cliildrcn born to George 
and Sally Pettis, two are now living: George C, 
whose name appears at the head of tliis sketch ; and 



5/6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Jane E., wife of Solomon Palmer, of Torrington. 
J\lrs. I'eltis dieil at the age of sixty-seven. She 
was long a devout member of the Episcopal Church. 

George C. Pcltis was reared at Plymouth Hill, 
where he received a very fair education. He early 
learned the machinist trade in the Eagle Lock Works 
at Terryville. When he was twenty-one he came 
to New liaven to enter the employ of the Davenport 
Mallory Lock Co., and remained there four years. 
In 1858 he took up contracting work with the Rus- 
sell Irwin Co., at New P.ritain, where he remained 
seventeen years, at the expiration of that time com- 
ing to New Haven to enter the employ of the firm 
with which he is still associated. Pour years later 
he formed a partnershij) with .Mr. Hoggson, and the 
business was converted into a stock concern. The 
patronage of the firm has been greatly increased of 
late years, and they now have a large number of men 
on their pay rolls, filling many orders from far 
away, even from Japan and China. The plant is 
fitted up with the latest machinery, turns out a great 
variety of products of interesting construction. 

Mr. Pettis was married in 1854 to Emily N. 
Welton, a native of Plymouth, and a daughter of 
Selden Welton, a clockiuaker in Terryville, who 
had four children, three of whom are living. Mr. 
and Mrs. Pettis have three children: Jennie is the 
wife of Dr. W. W. Hawks, of New Haven. Beulah 
married William Pcckley, of New York City, and 
has had two children, Gertrude and Margaret. Clin- 
ton is connected with his father in business. Mr. 
Pettis is a Republican, and wdiile in Terryville held 
various local positions. In New Britain he also took 
an active part in poHtical affairs, filling different 
ofiices and was a man of prominence. In the mem- 
bcrshiji rolls of the New Haven Union League 
Club the name of Mr. Pettis appears as a charter 
member. He is a member of Post No. 20, G. A. R., 
the Masonic fraternity and several social orders. 
With his family he attends Trinity Episcopal 
Church. 

MICHAEL P. RICE, general contractor and 
proprietor of a large livery and feed stable. Bran- 
ford, is a native of that town, born Dec. 23, 1866. 

Mr. Rice is the seventh son of the late Edward 
Rice, who came to this cotuitry from Glanworth, 
County Cork, Ireland, in 1848, being then a lad of 
si.xteen years. He first located in Albany, N. Y., 
and there worked at the trade of cooper with his 
brother, James Rice (now deceased), of Newark-, 
N. J., later securing employment in a lock factory in 
Albany. He and the late Alexander Van Wie were 
brought to this town by the late Thomas Kennedy, 
when the lock works were purchased by him, and 
Mr. Rice remained as an employe of the factory for 
the long period of thirty-five years, proving himself 
a skilled and competent workman. At one time 
lie was offered the superintendcncy of the works, 
but declined, as he did not care to assume the re- 
sponsibility attached to the position. In 1856, at 



New Haven, Conn., in St. Patrick's Church, Mr. 
Rice was married, by Rev. Eather Hart, to Miss 
Ellen Heelon, of Limerick, Ireland, and eleven chil- 
dren — nine sons and two daughters — were born to 
them, eight of whom are yet living. The father 
died Aug. 3, 1888, the mother surviving him. 

jMichael P. Rice, whose name opens these lines, 
received his education in the public schools, but 
when very young, commenced w'ork in the lock lac- 
tory, rather than attend school. He learned the 
trade of polishing, at which he earned good wages, 
and by his thrift and economy he saved sufficient 
money to purchase a horse and buggy, wdiich he 
let to his friends, continuing with his employment 
in the factory. He prospered gradually, and later, 
in 1886, he formed a partnership with John T. 
Carey and started a small livery stable in the rear 
of the "Griswold House.'' The partners continued 
to work in the factory and hired help to run the 
business. Later ]\Ir. Rice purchased his partner's 
interest in the concern and built a stable on the land 
owned by his father, at the foot of Veto street. The 
business grew so rapidly that Mr. Rice purchased 
adjoining property on all sides, and built on eight 
different additions to his building, until to-day he is 
proprietor of probably the finest equipped stable of 
any town in New England. In addition to his liv- 
ery business j\Ir. Rice engaged in contracting in 
1894, and formed a partnership with J. T. Sliney, 
under the firm name of Rice & Sliney. Included in 
the work done by them is the excavating, supplying 
of stone, and carting of the material used in the con- 
struction of the Blackstone Library ; also the ap- 
proaches and tunneling of the three railroad bridges 
on Kirkham, Rogers and Montowese streets, ex- 
cepting the south approach of the Kirkham street 
bridge. On the completion of the library the part- 
nership was dissolved by mutual consent, each mem- 
ber branching out for himself. In 1898 Mr. Rice 
bid for and was awarded the contract for putting in 
the water system in Branford, which included the 
laying of about ten miles of pipe. This contract 
was completed to the full satisfaction of the Water 
Company, and his reputation as a contractor was 
then established. 

In October, 1889, wdien j\Ir. Rice was entering 
into his twenty-fourth year, he was nominated for 
tlie office of first selectman by the Democratic party 
and was elected by a majority of six votes. The ofifice 
he held for four consecutive years. During his ad- 
ministration many improvements in the town were 
made by him, among them being the removal of 
the immense ledge on West Main street, and grading 
of twelve feet on Mill Hill. He was greatly compli- 
mented for this work by both press and public. The 
debt of the town was reduced by him to such an 
extent that during his second term the tax was re- 
duced from twelve to six mills, and during his ad- 
ministration it was never higher than ten mills. In 
1894 he was again nominated for the office by his 
party, but was defeated by C. H. Wilford, his op- 




^ y ^'- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



S77 



ponent on the Republican ticket. 1 lo was later 
elected on the board of burgesses of the borough. 
In 1899 Mr. Rice was again nominated for the 
office of first selectman by the Democratic part}-, 
and was elected by twenty-five majority in the face 
of a Republican majority of one hundred and 
twenty-five, which speaks well for his recoril as a 
"town father," as well as for his popularity. Me 
was again elected in 1900 and in 1901, and he is 
now serving his seventh term. On the organization 
of the fire department he was elected chairman of 
the board' of fire commissioners, which office he still 
holds. Air. Rice was also elected a member of the 
board of directors of the Branford Savings Bank, 
of which he was one of the incorporators, and 
served three years with that body. 

j\lr. Rice is now thirty-five years of age and one 
of the successful young business men of the town. 
he having accumulated considerable property and 
an immense amount of stock in his stables. In re- 
ligion our subject is of the Catholic faith, and a 
regular communicant of St. Mary's Church, to 
which, during its construction, he liberally contrib- 
uted. 

JOEL M. BRADLEY, a well known citi/.en and 
a representative member of the contracting and 
buildmg interests of Xew Haven, Conn., is kjcated 
at Xo. 182 Grand avenue. Mr. Bradley was born 
in East Haven, Conn., Jinie 7, 1834, a son of Jesse 
C. and Cynthia (Munger) Bradley. 

Joel C.Bradley, his grandfather, was born in East 
Haven, and there pursued an agricultural life, dying 
at the age of eighty-three years. In politics he was 
a Whig and took a leading part in the j)ublic affairs 
of his time. He married Lovisa Bratlley, a native 
of the same locality, and their children were : Abram 
Nelson ; Jesse C. ; Abagail ; Maliel ; and Amanda. 
Both Joel C. Bradley and his wife were members 
"of the Congregational Church, in wliich he served 
as sexton. 

Jesse C. Bradley was read in East Haven and 
attended the public schools of that section, later be- 
coming an engineer and receiving promotion in his 
line until he became a foreman. In the latter ca- 
pacity he acted both at stationary engines and as en- 
gineer on the boats plying between Xew Haven and 
New York. Through a long life, which reached 
to his eight\'-third year, he was well known in his 
department. In politics he was a Democrat. He 
married Cynthia Plunger, a daughter of Bela Mun- 
ger, a fanner by occupation, and a deacon in the 
Congregational Church in JMadison, Conn.; her 
mother, Mrs. Mimger, lived to the advanced age of 
eighty years. The children born of this union were 
as follgws: John L., Joel M., Xclson J., James K., 
and .Stephen J., who survived, the others dying 
in infancy; the mother passed out of life at the age 
of thirty-six. Jesse C. Bradley was a constant and 
consistent attendant of the Presbyterian Church, as 
was also his wife. 
37 



Joel M. Bradley was reared in East Haven and 
remained there until iiis tenth year, going then to 
-Xonh Haven where he lived for three years. For a 
life occupation he selected the carpenter trade, to 
which he applied himself closely at I'alls Village, 
working for four years after as a journeyman. In 
1861 he entered into contracting, and he has contin- 
ued in this line ever since, having previously made a 
reputation in Fair Haven as a builder of fine resi- 
dences. There and in East Haven he is regarded as 
the leader in his line, and he is one of the oldest in 
the business in New Haven. His work covers a 
wade territory and necessitates the employment of 
a large force of skilled workmen. 

Air. JJSradley was married on Jan. 12, i860, to 
JMiss Ellen L. Forbes, a daughter of Bela Forbes, 
extended mention of the Forbes family being found 
in another part of this volume. This union has been 
lilessed with one daughter, Cynthia May, who mar- 
ried Lauren Humiston, who was born in Cheshire, 
a son of b'rank T. Humiston, and one daughter, 
Lila May, has brightened their home; they live in 
New Haven. Mr. Humiston is employed by the Ives 
Investment Co., a sketch of this company being 
found in another part of this volume. Frank T. 
Humiston, who in earlier life was a keg manufac- 
turer, conducted the same business in Fair Haven 
for a time, and then entered the employ of Warren 
Crawford, an underta'ker and furniture dealer, re- 
tiring nine years later to Cheshire, where he died, 
at the age of fifty-eight years. He married Miss 
Ellen Lounsbiiry, also of Cheshire, their only child 
being Laiu'en Humiston, the son-in-law of Joel M. 
Bradley. 

In politics Joel M. Bratlley is a Gold Democrat, ^ 
taking an active interest in public affairs. While a 
resident of Fair Flaven he was a borough officer, but 
bis business interests in Xew Haven have given hini 
little lime for politics. Fraternally he belongs to the 
.\delphi Lodge, No. 63, A. F. & A. M., has been 
an official in all the Masonic bodies, and is also a 
member of the Golden I-^agle order. The religious 
home of the family is in the F.piscopal Church, 
where they are held in high csteenu 

PETER A. LU.XDOL'IST, a well known stone- 
mason and successful contractor of Stony Creek, is 
one of Branford's noted Swedish citizens. Born 
in I'ogdo, Sweden, May 27, 1846, he is a son of 
John and Anna B. ( Lindstrom) Lundc|uist, and was 
reared on the farm, receiving a limited education 
in the local schools, b'or three years he was an 
apprentice at the baker's trade, which was his occu- 
pation for some months afterward in Stockholm, 
Sweden. 

-Mr. Lunil(|uist crossed the ocean in 1872, and 
worked in the State of New York for about nine 
months, the following year coming to Connecticut 
and locating at Leete's Island, where he learned the 
stone cutter's trade, which was his occupation for 
five years. He then removed to Stony Creek, which 



57S 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



has been his home up to the present time. Here 
he has learned the trade of stone mason, which has 
Ix'cn Ills business in connection with contractintj 
and building of docks and bridges, culverts and sim- 
ilar constructions ; cellar wurk, as well as other stone 
work connected with stone masonry ; and well sink- 
ing and grading. 

Mr. Lnndciuist was married in 1S74 to Airs. 
Sophia Johnson, of Sweden, who has one daughter 
by a former marriage, J .ina, now Mrs. Robert 
Davis, in California. Mr. i^midiiuist is an adherent 
of the Lutheran Church, and is enrnllcd in Widows 
Sons Lodge, No. 66, F. & A. M. In politics he 
is a Republican. Since coming to this country he 
has achieved a marked success, and is numbered 
among the leading men of the town at the present 
day. 

WILLIAM A. KXOWLES, who for some thir- 
ty-two years has been in the employ of the Holmes, 
Booth & Hayden Mfg. Co., Waterbury, is a native 
of Connecticut, born Nov. 15, 1844, in Farmington, 
Hartford county. 

Henry S. Knowles, his grandfather, was born 
<jf English ancestry in Bristol, R. L, where he fol- 
lowed agricultural jnu'suits, thence late in life came 
to Connecticut, and died in East Hartford, wdiere 
his remains were interred. He married in Rhode 
Island and there reared a family of six children: 
Samuel, who lived and died in New Britain, Conn. ; 
Augustus, who was a mechanic in I^armington, 
Comi., and in Long Island ; Eliza, who marrieil 
Flarry Cadwell and lived on a farm in Farmington ; 
Mary Ann, wdio was blind, and died unmarried; 
Jane, who married a Mr. Powell, a mechanic, and 
lived in New liritain. Conn.; and William H., a 
sketch of whom follows. 

William IL Knowles, father of our subject, and 
a farmer by occupation, was born in liristol, R. 
L, removed thence to Connecticut, and died in the 
town of l'"armington, liartford county. He married 
Julia Hazard, a nati\-e of Avon, Conn., and seven 
children were born to them : Mary, wife of Ed- 
ward Converse, died in Collinsville, Hartford 
county; h'rances married John Alcott, of Thomas- 
ton, Conn. ; Julia married (first) William Ivobertson, 
of Tcirrington, and (second) a Mr. Beckwith; Isa- 
bella married Lucius Leonard, a tailor in Litchfield, 
Conn., and died in Torrington ; William A. is the 
subject of this sketch; Alice married C. lioflman, 
arid lives in Thomaston, Conn. ; Ella died unmarried. 

^\'illiam A. Knowles was four years old when 
his parents removed from Farmington to a farm 
in Burlington, and there the fannly made their 
home some six years, at the end of that time return- 
ing to Farnnngton. In these towns and in Thom- 
aston, Litchfield county, our subject received a lib- 
eral common school education, and in 1861, then 
seventeen years old, he took up his residence in 
the city of Hartford, where he worked for a short 
lime in Colt's Armory, thence removing once more 



Ic Farmington. After an interval, during which 
.Mr. Knowles was married, he made his home in 
Thomaston, wdiere he was employed in the Plymouth 
quarry until the year 1864, when he came to Wat- 
erbury and entered the employ of the Holmes, 
Booth &■ Hayden Mfg. Co., learning the trade of 
roller. In. course of time he became assistant fore- 
man of the rolling mill ; since 1864 he has had en- 
tire charge of the rolling department of the sheet 
metal division. 

On Oct. 3, 1867, in New York State, William 
A. Knowles married Juliette Farrell, who was born 
in the town of Waterbury, a daughter of Almond 
and Emma (Warner) Farrell, both natives of Wat- 
ertown. Conn. Two children have come of this 
union: (i) Georgiana B. married George Corn- 
stock, and lived in Waterbury, where she died in 
January, 1899; she had two children, Harry and 
May R. (2) Eleanor R. is also married. Mrs. 
Knowles is a sister of Franklin Farrell, of An- 
sonia, the largest manufacturer in the State, 
and one of the wealthiest. She is widely known for 
her ability as a painter and sculptress, being one 
of the finest in the country, and has studied under 
many of the most prominent artists in both branches, 
including John Gibson (sculptor to Queen Victoria), 
while in Rome, Italy, and others in New A'ork. Mr. 
and Mrs. Knowdes are members of St. John's Epis- 
copal Church ; in politics he is a Republican. 

MRS. CHAUNCEY ATWOOD. Prominent 
among the old residents and a lady who is held in 
high esteem in New Haven, Conn., is Mrs. Chaun- 
cey Atwood, the widow of the late Chauncey At- 
wood, of this city, although his place of birth was 
Woodbury. There his father, Stephen Atwood, was 
also born, and there became a well known man, be- 
ing interested in farming, also in teaching, his 
whole life being passed in that town. Will- , 
iam Atwood, the grandfather of the late Chaun- 
cey Atwood, was a carpenter in W'oodbury, where 
he followed his trade and died at the age of fifty 
years. 

Chauncey Atwood was reared in Woodbury, and 
was one of the leading agriculturists of Litchfield 
county, owning a large and valuable estate. For 
a long period he was town assessor and was promi- 
nent in public affairs. His marriage to our subject 
took place in 1892. His death occurred at the age of 
seventy-eight years. In her maidenhood Mrs. At- 
wood was Mary J. Summers, and she was a daugh- 
ter of David and Sarah M. (Upson) Summers, of 
Woodbury, the former being a farmer of that lo- 
cality, the latter being the only daughter bom to 
her parents. Three children W'ere born to Mr. and 
"Airs. Summers, of whom Mrs. Atwood is the only- 
survivor. The mother died at the age of eighty- 
three years. Both she and her husband were mem- 
bers of the Congregational Church. Mrs. Atwood 
was born in Woodbury and there grew to young 
womanhood. She first married Watson C. San- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPIIICAL RECORD. 



579 



ford, of Roxbury, who was a drover and also a 
carpenter, well known in his neighborhood. Three 
children were born of this union, the only survivor 
being Lillian A., who married J. H. Allen, a harness 
niaiuitaeturtr. and has three ebildren — Howard San- 
ford, who is a student of medicine at Yale College, 
class of 1904; Arthur S., a resident of Woodbury; 
and Marion F. 

After the death of Mr. Sanford his widow 
wedded George Atwood, a fanner and prominent 
citizen of Watertown, Conn., where he was well 
known in civic affairs, having served as selectman, 
and in other ways showed himself as a progressive 
and substantial citizen. The third marriage of Mrs. 
Atwood was to the late Chauncey Atwood. She has 
lost one son, Stephen Upson, who was a successful 
traveling salesman, and who died at Russell, Kans., 
at the age of twenty-two. Mrs. Atwood is a lady 
who is highly esteemed for her many charming traits 
of character, her charity and kind neighborliness, 
and she is a consistent member of the Presbyterian 
Church in Woodbury. 

GEORGE CARTER LIXSLEY is a well known 
and highly esteemed citizen of North Bran ford. New 
Haven county, whose entire life has been passed 
in that town, where he is now successfully engaged 
in agricultural pursuits upon the old homestead, 
and where he was born Jan. 24, 1842. 

Like a large number of the present residents of 
New England, and especially of the Nutmeg State, 
the Linsley family can trace their origin to England. 
Two brothers, John and Francis Linsley, came from 
that country, first locating in Branford, where 
Francis married Sarah Culpepper. Later he re- 
moved to New Jersey, and present resitlents of the 
name in the central part of that State claim to have 
sprung from this pioneer couple. John Linsley died 
in Branford, where he passed the greater part of 
his married life, though for a short time he lived in 
Guilford. His eldest son, John, died when com- 
paratively a young man. The latter's son, John, 
had two sons, John and Joseph. Of these, John 
Linsley wedded ]\Liry Harrison, of North Branford, 
where he had located upon reaching his majority. 
Records show that he administered his grandfa- 
ther's (John 2) estate, this leading us to conclude 
that the family were property holders in both Bran- 
ford and North Branford. He had several children, 
including Rufus, the great-grandfather of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, who was born in North Branford, 
and there engaged in farming tbrougbout life. 

Solomon Linsley, the grandfather of George C, 
was born Nov. 13, 1784, and died at the age of si.K- 
ty-eight years. On Sept. 15, 1807, he married Irene 
Stilson, of Litchfield county. Conn., who was born 
March 23, 1782, and died June 25, 1868. Their 
children were as follows: Edward Alonzo, born 
Jan. 30, 1809; Mary Flavia, born Nov. 26, iSio, 
married Philetus Montague; Abigail Rebecca, born 
July 20, 1813, married Jonathan Foote; Horatio 



Yale, born June 12, 1815, died in infancy; Eunice 
Stilson, born June 2(), 1816, married Henry Plum- 
bly; i'^Iizabetb, born Aug. 7, 1819, married George 
Walker; Irene, born April 28, 1822, was the wife of 
William Young, of iMiddletown, Conn. ; and Solo- 
mon Harvey, born March 23, 1824, married Julia 
Hayden. 

Edward Alonzo Linsley engaged in farming in 
North Branford throughout life, though when a 
young man he learned the trade of axe making, and 
when George C. was a child of six or seven years 
he began the manufacture of those implements in 
North iiranford, continuing to engage in the busi- 
ness until well advanced in years. He wedded Miss 
Mary Baldwin, who was born in North Branford, 
March 5, 1814, daughter of Josiah and Rhoda (Car- 
ter) Baldwin, and died Oct. 7, 1879. Mr. Linsley 
departed this life in April, 1874. In their family 
were four children, namely: Charles, who died at 
the age of twenty-four years; Levi, who died at the 
age of nine years ; George C. ; and Ellen A., now 
ilrs. Payson B. Orcutt, of North Haven. 

George C. Linsley, whose name introduces this 
sketch, was reared on the home farm, and his educa- 
tional advantages were such as the district schools 
of the neighborhood altorded. In early life he as- 
sisted his father in the operation of the farm and in 
the axe factory, but since the latter's death has de- 
voted his energies exclusively to agricultural pur- 
suits with good results. His political support is 
given to the men and measures of the Republican 
party, and for the past sixteen years he has served 
as junior deacon in the Congregational Church of 
North Branford. He takes a deep and commenda- 
■ ble interest in everything pertaining to the public 
welfare and has been one of the useful and valued 
citizens of his community. 

Mr. Linsley has been twice married. In Fair 
Haven he wedded Aliss Hetty Ball, who died leav- 
ing one child, Merwin B., who died at the age of 
twenty-one years, seven months and eleven days. 
On June 4, 1878, Mr. Linsley was married, in North 
Haven, to Miss Vernelia A. Smith, a daughter of 
Ebenezer and IMary Ann (Rogers) Smith. Her 
father was born March 17, 1802, and died Dec. 20, 
1872. The mother was born Alay 18, 1817, a daugh- 
ter of Ebenezer and Rebecca (Munson) Rogers, 
both descendants of old Colonial families. The 
Rogers homestead in North Iiranford has been 
owned and occui)ied by the family for 250 years, 
and the old house is still in a remarkable state of 
])reservation. Mr. and Mrs. Linsley have two chil- 
dren : Charles S., born IMarch 6, 1883; and Ernest 
C, born Dec. 3, 1889. 

FRANK SEWARD, president of the M. Seward 
& Son Co., manufacturers of carriage hardware, is 
one of the best known business men in New Haven, 
and the business he represents has been familiar to 
the people of the city for several decades. Mr. 
Seward was born in Hamden, Conn., Sept. 28, 1842, 



58o 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



a son of Aloses Seward, the foumlcr of ihe ])n.-sc'nt 
corporalion. 

Moses Seward was liorn in Durham, Conn., and 
passed away in New Haven, in March, 1S91, aged 
seventy-six years. His lioyhuod was spent on a 
farm in Durham, Conn., and early in life he went 
to WaUingford, where lie fuund employment in a 
blacksmith shop, and there thorougiil\- learned that 
trade. He later went to Xew Haven and opened 
a blacksmith shop there, in 1850 building a factory 
on Bristol street, which was the beginning of the 
present company, known as the M. Seward & Son 
Co. In 1803 the firm became M. Seward & Son, 
and as such continued until Mr. Seward died, at 
which lime a joint stock company was formed by the 
son, b'rank Seward, and the daughters. In ea.rly 
manhood .Moses Seward married Clarissa E. Col- 
burn, a daughter of Daniel Colburn, a foundryman 
and iron wurker in Hamden, Conn. Si.x children 
blessed this union, of whom two, Ellen and Ann, 
died in infancy. Uf the others, Frank is our subject ; 
Florence married George T. Culver, a native of 
Wallingford, but a resident of New Haven; Kate 
married George E. Hodson, of New Haven; and 
Carrie married Albert L. Colburn, who was born 
in Derliy, but now makes his home in New Flaven. 
Mrs. Clarissa E. (Colburn) Seward entered into 
rest in b'ehruary, 1892. Both she and Mr. Seward 
were faithful followers of the laws of the Methodist 
Church. Ill his political faith he was a Democrat. 

Frank Seward was but a child when his parents 
removed to New Haven, so that practically his en- 
tire life has bef'n passed within this city. His edu- 
cation was obtained in various private schools in the 
city, his first efforts towards a higher education be- 
ing gained in the school of Miss Ives and Miss Will- 
ard, after which he was under the careful tuition of 
Miss Jones, and a little later the Diswell Avenue 
School, and Gen. 1 'aimer's school. From the school- 
room he passed into his father's factory, and be- 
ginning on the lowest round of the ladder began to 
learn all the details of the business he was one day 
to control, lie paid careful attention to his work, 
and gradually jjassed u[)ward until in 1863 he was 
admitted as a partner, and when his father's death 
made another change necessary, he was chosen as 
president of the joint stock com])any, so eminently 
fitted was he by training and by natural ability to 
assume charge (if the extensive plan'. 

Mr. Seward has beeTi twice married. His first 
wife, Carrie Dyer, was a native of New Haven, and 
at her death left one child, Eva L., now the wife 
of Robert E. I'eek, M. D., of New Haven. In 1872 
Mr. Seward wedded his present wife, Minerva M. 
Parmelee, a daughter of \Villiam L. I'annelee. ( )ne 
child has been born of this uni(>n, Herbert E., who is 
liookkceper for his father, in ])iiblic affairs Mr. 
Seward has always taken great interest, and has 
served his fellow townsmen in a ininiber of offices; 
for one vear he was councilman from his ward. 
Fraternally he belongs to Harmony Lodge, No. 5, 



1. O. O. F., and Olive Branch Lodge, Westville, F. 
& A. M. ; while through his political affiliations he is 
a member of the Republican League. Religiously he 
is a Methodist, and is identified with the First M. E. 
Church. 

HOADLEY BRAY IVES (deceased). This is 
one of the old historic names of New England, and 
has been represented in Connecticut since the settle- 
ment of William Ives, the American ancestor of the 
family, in the Colony as early as 1642. The various 
descendants of this man have played a part in the 
.making of a great nation, and Hoadley Bray Ives 
was no unworthy representative of the name. Mr. 
Ives was born in North Haven, in 1814, a son of 
William Ives, Jr., and a grandson of William Ives, 
Sr., the latter a farmer of North Haven, where 
he spent his entire life. 

William Ives, Jr., was born in North Haven, 
and followed farming as an occupation. He died 
when about seventy-five years old. His wife was 
born in East Flaven, and died at the age of sixty- 
five. She became the mother of five children, of 
whom but one, a daughter who resides in Iowa, is 
now living. 

Hoadley B. Ives was reared in North Haven, 
and was early set to learn the tin trade, but he ran 
away from his employer, and was employed as a 
clerk in a grocery in New Haven until he was nine- 
teen. At that age he set up in the grocery business 
on State street, and after a few years moved to 
Church street, and there purchased two buildings. 
He was quite successful, and was so engaged for a 
number of years. Mr. Ives was one of the originators 
of the National Savings Bank, and filled a position 
in it as treasurer as long as he lived, his period of 
active work as treasurer and director covering some 
twenty-five years. Mr. Ives was president of the 
Fair Haven and Westville Street Railroad Co., and 
saw that enterprise grow in importance until it has 
become one of the important lines of this part of 
the State. His death occurred March 19, 1894. In 
his politics he was a Republican, and for three years 
was an alderman ; eight years a member of the 
1 Common Council, and he always took an active part 
in all the affairs of the city. He was a director of 
the Yale National Bank, and at one time owned 
noarlv half its capital stock, being intimately asso- 
ciated with all its important transactions. The 
house which was his home for many years was built 
long ago, and was recently thoroughly remodeled 
under his widow's ]5ersonal direction. 

On May 25, 1853, Mr. Ives was married to Mary 
li. Fisher, a native of the city of New York, a 
daughter of Daniel M. and Mary (Watrous) Fisher, 
prominent in old New York circles. Daniel M. 
Fisher was well known in business for many years 
in the metropolis, and died at the age of eighty 
vears. Mary (Watrous) Fisher was born in New 
York of b'reiich Huguenot extraction, and became 
the iiKJther of four cliildren, of whom three are liv- 




. ^/f y////r// ■ ^y /,</// • ^/'/.J 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



581 



ing: Mrs. .Mary E. Ivcs; William 11., of Orange, 
Conn. ; Anna, wlio married Charles lunerson. Mrs. 
Fisher died at the age of forty-one. ISoih she and 
her husband attended the Methodist Clnireh. Mrs. 
Ives attends the Christ Church. 

Mrs. Ives began a tour of the world i-\-l.i. 6. 
1895. and was away fron: home two and a half 
3-ears. She spent one month in Ce_\lon. tiiree 
months in India, three months in Japan, and made 
a prolonged stay in Italy, where her health was 
much improved. In 1895 .Mrs. Ives gave $10,000 
to Iniild the chancel of Christ Church, and in 1899, 
before her last trip to luirojie, gave ^j.ooo for tlu- 
furnishing of the new Maternity Hospital. In .\u- 
gust, 1901, she made a donation of $io,(X)0 to the 
Y. M. C. A. for the library, and the interest on 
$5,000 with which to buy books for the liiirary, 
this money to be given them at her death. She is 
a woman of high character and generous spirit, 
^and possesses a host of friends in the conmuniity 
who appreciate her good cpialities. 

ACCCST :MASCI1MEYF.K, one of the leading 
German-American citizens of Meriden and at the 
present time a member of the Cieneral Assembly, 
was born near Hildesheim, Hanover, Germany, Jan. 
14, 1843. son of Edward Maschineyer. The father 
was born in that place, and was there engaged in a 
general mercantile business very successfully until 
1854, in which year he disposed of his store and 
other property and sought a home for himself and 
family in the United States. He located in Hanover, 
in the southern part of the town of Meriden, where 
he was employed by the Meriden Cutlery Co., and 
later in the Parker shops at Yalesville. ^\.t the out- 
break of the Civil war he enlisted in Company 1 1, 
6th Conn. \'. 1., and was killed Sejjt. 3, 1862, by the 
bursting of a cannon ; lie was buried at Hilton Head, 
S. C. His good qualities, industrious habits and 
manly character won him the res]xx-t of his em- 
ployers and all with whom he came in contact. Mr. 
Maschmeyer never saw his wife and children after 
his departure for the United States. He was mar- 
ried in Hanover, Gemiany, to Augusta 1 lorre, who 
was born in the same province and was a daughter 
•of Carl Horre, surgeon. The widow'ed niotiier came 
to this country in 186C), two years after the arrival 
of her son, was cared for by her children until her 
death, and was buried in the \Vest Cemetery, Meri- 
den. A good Christian woman, she bore her many 
sorrows patiently and reared a good family all of 
whom are living in this country, as follows : Au- 
gust ; Hermine, who married .\ugnst Melchoir; 
Adolph, an engraver, of Meriden ; Johanna, who 
married Christian Fisher; and Eniilie, housckeei)er 
for August and Adolph. 

August Alaschmeyer receive<l a good education 
in Germany, attending public and jjrivate school. 
There he learned the trade of lilacksmith, and fol- 
lowed same until his coming to America. He was 
six weeks on the vovage to Xew York, which he 



made on the sailing vessel "Neptune." For about a 
month lie worked as a meclianic, securing employ- 
ment at once Ihrongh the intluence of friends. Mr. 
.Maschmeyer had relatives in Yalesville, and he 
made his wa\- to that point, where he was employed 
with the -Meriden Cutlery Co. six years. l-"or five 
years he was in the Charles I'arker factory, and in 
1877 began business as a wholesaler and retailer of 
bottled beer and other goods. This business he car- 
ried on very successfully for eight years, and then 
.sold out to retire from active business. Mr. Masch- 
meyer still takes an active interest in his property 
investments, and successfully handles h.is own af- 
fairs. He has a tine residence in North avenue, 
Meriden, where he is making his home at the pres- 
ent time. ] lis mother was cared for there and there 
also other members of the family have made their 
home. 

Mr. Maschmeyer was a Republican up to the 
time of Horace tireeley, and since that time has 
been a Democrat. In 1891 he was elected a member 
of the .Meriilen city council, and is now a member 
of the board ui education and is serving his 
second term as police commissioner. In 1900 he 
v/as elected to represent Meriden in the l leneral 
Assembly. Mr. .Maschmeyer is higdily respected in 
the city of his adopiion. At one time he was a mem- 
ber of the c;ermaii-.\merican board of education, 
and he is now a member of the German Aid Society. 
He belongs to German Order Harugari and to the 
Saengerbund. 

GEORGE A. ANDREWS, a prominent agricul- 
turist and influential citizen of Cheshire, is a worthy 
representative of one of the oldest and most highly 
respected families of New England. The first to 
come to America was William .Andrews, a native of 
Hampsworth, England, and a carpenter by occu- 
pation. He was one of the fifty-three persons who 
shipped with Capt. William Cooper on the ■"James," 
of London, from Hampton, England, in April, 1635, 
and landed in lloslon, where he was made a freeman 
the same year. He came to New Haven with Rev. 
John Davenport and others, and built the first meet- 
ing house there in 1644. He spent the remainder of 
liis life in this county, and died in East Haven, 
March 4, 1676. He was twice married, the second 
time, on Dec. 7, 1665, to Anna Gibbands, daughter 
of William Gibbands, who was colonial secretary 
in 1657. She died in 1701. There were six chil- 
dren born of the first marriage, but the names of the 
daughters are unknown. The sons were William, 
who was born in l-'ngland, and died Jan. 3, 1WJ3; 
Samuel, born in hjigiand in 1632. and died Oct. 6, 
1704; and .Xatlian, who was born in Uoston in 1638. 

(II) Nathan Andrews, son of William, accom- 
panied the family on their removal to New Haven, 
and in 1670 was one of the first to locate in tJie town 
of Wallingfortl, liis home being on Main street, 
where he owned a house and land. He was a good 
citizen and an upright, honorable man, who died in 



582 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1/12, and was buried in \\'allini;ford. On July 26, 
J 686, he married Elizabeth Miles, and for his sec- 
ond wile married Hannah Gibbons, lie was one 
of the twelve selected to lay the foundation for the 
church in W'allingford, and was one of its active 
members. His children were Elizabeth, born April 
8, 1688; Daniel and Tamar, twins, born Aug. 15, 
1690, the former of whom died the same day, the 
latter Jan. 11, 1727; Sanuiel, who was born Aug. 
15, 1691, and died Jan. 31, 17-7; iJaniel; Mary; 
Jonathan; and Abigail. TlRre was one child by tlie 
second marriage, \V illiam. 

(Ill) Jonathan Andrews, son of Nathan, spent 
his entire life as a farmer in W'allingford, and his 
remains were interred there, lie was an earnest, 
consistent Christian, and a well known citizen of 
his native town. On April 11, 1727, he married 
Jemima llotehkiss, and they had I'lve children, whose 
names and dates of birth were as follows; Abel, 
Jan. 28, 1728; Esther, May 9, 1730; Mary, Jan. 14, 
1734; JJaniel, June 4, 1737; and Jemima, Nov. 24, 
1740. 

(l-\ ) Abel Antlrevvs, son of Jonathan, was born 
and reared in \Vallingford, and when a young man 
came to Cheshire, where he owned land and success- 
fully engaged .in general farming and stock raising. 
He was a hard working man and a faithful Chris- 
tian. He died and was biu'ied in Cheshire. He 
was twice married, and liy the first wife had one 
child, Sarah, born b'eb. i, 1744. On Feb. 10, 1759, 
he married Lctitia Williams, who also died and was 
buried in Cheshire. ]!y this union there were i\vQ 
children: Sanuiel, Maria, Abel, Chauncey and Es- 
ther. 

(\') Abel, son of .Abel, Sr., and grandfather of 
our subject, was a life-long resident of Cheshire, 
where he owned considerable property and exten- 
sively engaged in farming and stock raising. He 
was a worthy member of the Congregational Church, 
and was a Deiuocrat in politics. His remains were 
interred in the old family burying ground in Chesh- 
ire. For his first wife he married Electa Ashley, 
and for the second Roxana lUmnell, widow of 
iMoses lilakcslee. liy the first Uiiion there were 
children: William; Edward; Maria, wife of Lem- 
uel Rice; Horace, who died young; and J^Iiza, wife 
of William J. Hubbard. Horace, the only child by 
the second marriage, is still living in Cheshire. 

(VI) W'illiam Andrews, father of our subject, 
was born, reared and educated in Cheshire, wliere 
he attended the district schools and aided in the oper- 
ation of the home farm. On starting out in life for 
himself he cliose the occupation of fanning, and 
bought 100 acres of land in East Cheshire, known as 
the George Stevens farm, upon which he spent the 
remainder of liis life, liis time and attention being 
devoted principally to farming and stock raising. 
He was a prominent Democrat of his town and held 
several local offices, including that of selectman. 
Religiously he was a member of the Congregational 
Church, lie died Nov. 3, i8yo, at the ri|)e old age 



of eighty-seven years, and was laid to rest in the 
family burying ground. In East Haven he mar- 
ried Emalinc Chiclsey, a native of that place and a 
daughter of Jacob Chidsey. She, too, was a mem- 
ber of the Congregational Church, and died in that 
faith in July, 1878, at the age of seventy-eight .years. 
The father possessed a rich voice and was a good 
singer in early life. His children were William H., 
a resident of New Haven ; John A., who died after 
his return from service in the Civil war; and George 
A., our subject. 

(VH) George A. Andrews was born April 12, 
1841, and has spent his entire life in Cheshire, his 
education being obtained in its district schools and 
the Cheshire Episcopal Academy. He remained 
with his parents upon the old homestead, and since 
his father's death has owned the same. He has 
made many improvements upon the place, and has 
always devoted his energies to agricultural pur- 
suits. He has been twice married, his first wife be- 
ing Emaline Tucker, daughter of Elisha Tucker, by 
whom he had three children : Georgie Etta, de- 
ceased; llattie M., wife of Dr. Joseph Seager, of 
Havre de Grace, Md. ; and Emma Louise. Lor his 
second wife he married Abbie J. Potter, a native of 
Hadley, Mass., and a daughter of Ephraim and 
i Delia (Smith) Potter, representatives of an old and 
prominent family of that State. She is a lady of cul- 
ture and refinement, and presides with gracious 
dignity over her home. She is a member of the 
Congregational Church, and of Cheshire Grange, to 
which latter Mr. Andrews also belongs. Pie affili- 
ates with the Democratic party but cares nothing 
for the honors or emoluments of public office. He 
and his wife are widely and favorably known and 
have many warm friends in the community where 
they reside. 

! 

ARTPIUR EDWIN HOBSON, superintendent 
of the Jnternational Silver Plating Factory at Aler- 
iden, was born in Birmingham, luigland, Feb. i, 
1857, son of Edwin Hobson, of W'allingford, Coim., 
whose sketch appears elsewhere. 

Mr. Hobson came to this country with his par- 
ents, attended the district schools at Wallingford, 
where they made their home, and was still a young 
boy when he entered the factory of Simpson, Hall 
& Miller to learn the die-sinker's trade under the 
instruction of his father. There he continued until 
1880 when he removed to Boston to spend a year 
and a half at die-sinking. At the expiration of that 
time he came to Meriden to follow his trade, having 
a ])()sition in the ISritannia Ware Co.'s factory. His 
next engagement was with a silver plating factory 
at Cromwell, where he spent three years. On going 
to I. J. Steane S: Co.. New York, he became super- 
intendent, wl'iich position he held until the organ- 
ization of the International .Silver Co., when he was 
retained to fill same position in factory A. This 
responsible position he fills with credit to himself 
and satisfaction to the corporation. Mr. Hobson is 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



S^3 



a man of much intelligence, niodcst, and, like his 
lather, possesses rare ability. A sclf-etlucateil man. 
he has attained iiis present position through his own 
efforts. 

ilr. Ilobson was married in Wallingford in 
1879, to Miss llattie Church, daughter of Uenjamin 
Church. She is a hid_\- of nuich cuUurc and reline- 
ment, and a devoted wife and mother. To them 
has come one child, Bertlia. who is a cliarming 
}oung woman, weH educated, and possessing many 
gifts and graces. She is at home, and is very popu- 
lar in the social circles of her native community. 

Air. Hobson is a member of Washington Lodge, 
No. 81, A. F. & A. -M., of Cromwell, and belongs to 
I'yihagoras Chapter, and W'ulcott Council, Xo. i.at 
Hartford. In politics he is a Republican, though in 
no sense a politician. lie served two terms in the 
conmion council at Hartford when he \.-as in busi- 
ness in that city. Domestic in his habits and tastes, 
Mr. Hobson finds nnich delight and comfort in his 
home. He takes much satisfaction in his automobile, 
owning one of the three in his city. Mr. Hobson 
is well known and nuich respected in the comnumity 
where his years are i)assing, as well as in Hartford, 
and other places where he has been employed. In 
1901 he made a trip to Europe, in which he com- 
bined business with pleasure. 

FRA.XKLIX !•:. SMITH has been engaged for 
the last twenty-tive years in the livery and sales busi- 
ness at W'aterhury, and in that time has won for him- 
self an enviable reputation as an u[nMght and honora- 
ble man. As a horse dealer he has bought and sold 
some of the best animals driven on the streets of 
Waterbury. He is a popular man with the public, 
and has long been favored with a good patronage. 
Mr. Smith was born in Middlebury, Conn., April 
25, 1842, and Horatio X'. Smith, his father, was born 
in Naugaluck, Conn., and died in Middlebury about 
thirty-hve years ago. Elisha Siuith, the grandfather 
of Franklin E., was a native of X'augatuck, and fol- 
lowetl the avocation of a blacksmith. 

Horatio N. Smith was reared in X'augatuck, 
where he learned the trade of a blacksmith under 
the instructions of his father, and when a young 
man followed his trade in Middlebury. There for 
a time he was engaged in the manufacture of car- 
riages, but when he died was doing a straight black- 
smith business. Maria Booth, his wife, was born 
in Middlebury, and was a daughter of Lewis Booth, a 
well known farmer of that conmiunity. She died in 
1898, the mother of seven children: Frederick L. ; 
iM-anklin E. ; Perry F.. ; Charles B. ; Horatio X'. ; 
Annie ; and Ennna. I'"rederick L. is a i>lacksmith 
in Seymour, Conn. Ferry is a farmer in Middlebury, 
where Horatio is engaged in the butcher business. 
Charles B. is dead. Annie married Ceorge Curtis 
and lives in Torrington. F,mma died unmarried. 

Franklin E. Smith spent his boyhood and youth 
on the farm in Middlebury until he reached the agL' 
of nineteen years. During these years he had at- 



tended the local schools and acquired a very fair 
preparation for an active lousiness life. At nineteen 
he went to X'ew Haven and drove stage to Ansonia 
for some four years, and he was driver for a 
Ixjttling firm at Seymour, Cunn.. for live years. 
At Woodbridge, Coim., the young man worked in a 
hotel for a year and was in the horse business at 
Meriden for another year. In 1875 Mr. Smith came 
to Waterbury, and this city has been his home to 
the present time. I'or some months he held the po- 
sition of foreman in a livery barn, and in 1876 he 
set up a livery barn for himself. In this enterprise 
he has been highly successful, and for almost a quar- 
ter of a century has kept one of the leading establish- 
ments of the kind in the city. His business is that 
of a livery, sales and boarding stable, but principally 
he does a livery and boarding stable trade. 

On Jan. 28, 1886, Mr. Smith and Mrs. Nettie 
L'mberfield were united in marriage. Mrs. Smith 
was born in Waterbury, Conn., a daughter of C'ajjt. 
James Grannis. To this union no children have 
been born. Mr. Smith is an independent in jjolitical 
matters, and he and his wife attend St. John's 
Episcopal Church, to which he is drawn by ances- 
tral ties. 

LAW"Ri:XCl-: BRUCE. The successful career 
of the snlijcct of the present review is pleasant to 
trace, as it is that of a worthy, upright and enter- 
prising citizen, always willing on the way to lend a 
helping hand to those more needy than himself, 
though never more deserving. 

Lawrence Bruce is a native of the Scottish High- 
lands, born in I''organdenny, Perthshire, Scotland, 
June 30, 1S40, a son of James and Anna (Bane) 
Bruce, the former of whom was born in Dnnkell par- 
ish, and after a whole life passed in agricultural pur- 
suits, died in I5urntisland, Fifeshire. Lawrence 
Bruce is fourth in a family of eight children, and 
his two brothers, Edward and James, also came to 
the L'nited States. Receiving only the limited 
schooling afforded in the local scliools. .Mr. I'.ruce 
early engagetl in work on liis father's farm, but the 
family grew beyond the needs of the farm and our 
subject sought other remunerative employment. 

h\ 1872, while looking for something of a per- 
manent nature, ;\Ir. Bruce was engaged by Simon 
Beatty to accompany a consignment of heavy draft 
horses to Canada. Mr. Beatty was a very large im- 
porter of these horses and young Bruce gladlv ac- 
cepted the offer, desiring, as every young and am- 
bitions man should, to see something of the world 
beyond the home environment. Safely making the 
trip, he landed at Ouebec, and then made his wav 
to the farmmg tlistrict near Toronto, where he was 
employed for a year in agricultural work. j)ursning" 
the same in the Province of Ouebec for the suc- 
ceeding four years. 

In 1877 ^'''- •Ijruce came across the border into 
the United States and went to Jasper county, Iowa, 
where he took charge of a large ranch, consisting of 



584 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1,240 acres, as fi)rcnian (this laml heiiiL; ntilizeil as 
a stock farnij, and rcMiiaiiiecl at this phicc some t\V(5 
years. His cxi)erience was such tlial lie liad no dit- 
liculty in securincj his next enija^enient, this lieing- 
with James J. Wchh, a larye dairy farmer of Ham- 
den, Conn., and as foreman here, witli a nnmher of 
men and the care of seventv-live cows. Air. JJrnce 
remained four years, .tjivin^ to .Mr. Wehh tliis faith- 
ful service whicli insured tlie success of the model 
farm U])on wliicli its owner ])rided himself. T'ollow- 
ing this engagement Air. IJruce came to North Ha- 
ven, where he rented the Col. W'arner farm, adjoin- 
ing his [iresent place on the north. This farm he 
conducted until he i)iu-chased his home in 1882, with 
lour acres of land, this Jieing locally known as the 
Dr. Stillman place. In 1883 he added twenty-seven 
acres to the original jjurchase, from the Col. War- 
ner farm. This makes a \ery charming home, lint 
Air. llruce is S(.) husy with his other line of work- 
that he devotes hut little time to its cultivation. In 
1881 Air. liruce hegan contracting, and is the oidy 
one in his line in North Haven, and has most suc- 
■cessfitlly ]nirsued it for the ])ast tV\-enty-onc years, 
liis motto being lirsl class work at lowest possible 
price, the work consisting of the building of mac- 
adam roads, bridges, culverts, excavating, etc., and 
his men and teams are never idle. The macadam- 
ized road in North Haven from ( )ld Lemetery to 
State street, which is considered ])\ exjierts to be 
one of the linest jjieces of \voil< in the State, is an 
cxamjjle of his skill. 

Air. liruce was married in the Province of Que- 
bec, Canada, to Jane Uufif, a native of Canada, and 
Ivvo children have- Ix-en born of this union: Jennie 
Maud, who is a bookkeeper for the American Agri- 
cultural Chemical Co., .North Haven, Conn.: and 
Lawrence W'., a student (jf civil and electrical en- 
gineering. .\ stanch keiniblicin, when approached 
w-ith offers of i)olitical preferment, he answers that 
he is too busy to hold oftice, the only one he has con- 
sented to fill being that of highway surveyor. So- 
cially Air. lirnce is connected with the North Haven 
Grange and is a member of the .Ancient Order of 
United Workmen, jlis religious views are liberal, 
and he is one of the most highly esteemed men in 
North Haven. His word is as good as his bond, 
and his generosity and lilu'rality to liis emploves have 
endeared him to them all, although he is a man of 
thorough business habits. 

EDW.\K1) riloAlAS TCRNh'.R (<K-cea-ed) \ 
was horn in Northfield, Conn., .March 21. i8_^;. lie 
was the youngest of the eight childri-n born to 
Eber and Alelita (W'ilmot ) Turner, both natives of 
Connecticut, lie siieiit his youth upon the farm 
and attended the schools of his native town. Early 
in life he learned the shoemaker's trade, l>ut did 
not think it profitable enough to follow, ,mj went 
into manufactin-ing at Xorthfield. Three vears 
later, in comijany with a party of several young meti, 
he started for the gold fields, but returned after be- 



ing out three months. Eor a short time he was en- 
gaged in the dry goods business in Plainville, and 
in 1863 went to Waterbury, wdiere, in company with 
\\ illiam Newton, he engaged in the same business 
in the old Arcade building under the firm name of 
Newton & Turner. .At the end of two years, Mr. 
Turner purchased his partner's interest, and re- 
moved to the Lathrop block on Bank St., where his 
business steadily increased, until it necessitated a 
removal to more commodious cjuarters. According- 
ly, in 1874, he purchased from Benedict & Burnham, 
the Ijuilding formerly occupied by them as a dry- 
goods store, and removed to that building. The 
firm was later known as E. T. Turner & Co., Air. 
H. A. Skidmore being admitted as a partner in 1881, 
remaining in it until 1894, and Charles E. Turner, 
Air. Turner's only son, was admitted into the firm 
in Alay, 1890. 

Air. Turner was presiilent of the Fourth Na- 
tional Bank of Waterbury, treasurer of the Con- 
necticut Electric Company and member of its board 
of directors. He always took a deep interest in 
public aiifairs, and did much to advance the welfare 
of the city of Waterburw Air. Turner was a zeal- 
ous Republican, and served the city as councilman 
and alderman. He was elected in 1883 to represent 
the Fifth district in the State Senate, ancl there 
rendered efficient service as a chairman of the com- 
mittee on Banks. Deeply interested in Masonry he 
had been advanced to the Knig'ht Templar and 
Scottish Rite degrees, and he was a trustee of the 
Alasonic Temple of Waterbury. 

( )n June 4, 1856, Air. Turner married Aliss Jane 
E. Hubliardi. a native of Watertown, Conn., by 
wdiom he had two children : Charles E., who mar- 
ried Kate E. Seyinour, and Edith, married to George 
A. .Ailing, of New Haven. 

Air. Turner died Dec. 2, 1891. A man of ster- 
ling worth, he was deeply mourned in the commun- 
ity in wdiich he was so well known. 

FREDERICK ^^•UTER1CH, agetit for the 
Henry Ellis Brewing Co., of New York, and bottler 
and wholesale dealer in beer, is a well known busi- 
ness man of Meriden, and possesses the esteem of the 
community. He was one of the first of his country- 
men to locate in this city, and is prominent in many 
successful German organizations. 

Mr. Wuterich was born in the town of Aleziugen 
( ). l'>. I'rach, Wurtemberg, (icrmany, I'eb. 29, 1837, 
son of Jacob Frederick Wuterich, a native of the 
s.imc ])lace. The latter's grandfather was a soldier 
mider Napoleon at the siege of AIoscow, sm-vivcd 
that memorable campaign, and received a gold medal 
wliich he cherished until his death and which is an 
heirloom in the family. Jacob F. Wuterich was a 
machinist by trade, operating his own shop, which 
he successfully managed until his death, in 1852. 
Like all the fainilv he was a Lutheran, and was a 
good and worthy man. 1 le married Alary Kacchele. 
a native of his locality and they had eight children, 





^^^^^-^^^t^^o^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



5S5 



all of whom have followed her to the other world 
except three : Frederick : Katie, who married Fred- 
erick Beerinan, and resides in Webster City, Iowa : 
and Christian, who lives in Meriden. 

l-'rederick Wiiterich received an excellent educa- 
tion in the public schools of (jermany, and engai^ed 
in work in the machine shop of his father, in the 
year following the latter's death, when only sixteen 
years old, he left Germany, crossing the ocean in 
the sailing vessel "Rhine," with 800 other passen- 
gers, and landed in New York after a voyage of 
forty days. Although a stranger in a strange land, 
voung \Vuterich soon found some of his own coun- 
trymen, and being most willing and energetic suc- 
ceeded in finding work at his trade, remaining in 
Xew York six months. On going from there to 
Connecticut he located at Glastonbury, in Hartford 
county, and a short time later, .April 1. 1S54, came 
to Tracv, in the town of W'allingford. There he 
entered the auger factory, where he remained hard 
at work until the outbreak of the Civil war so dis- 
turbed business that the factory was closed. .Mr. 
. A\'uterich then went to I'ittsburg, where he was em- 
ployed in a gun shop, going thence to the govern- 
ment shops in Yonkers, X. ^'., and from there six 
months later to Meriden. Here he entered the auger 
factory of the Jennings (iriffin Hardware Co., and 
continued with that firm for a long time, being for 
twcnty-five years the foreman in the finishing de- 
partment. He gave complete satisfaction, and left 
only in order to enter another business. 

After closing his long and profitable connection 
with the factory, Mr. Wuterich bought out the in- 
terest of John Bario, bottler and wholesaler, in 
East Main street, and conducted that business four 
vears, selling it to take charge ( f the "P.yxbc House" 
cafe and saloon, which, four years after, he also sold. 
He then Ixjught the interest of Mr. Oefinger in the 
bottling and wholesale trade, and accepted the 
agency of the Henry Ellis Brewing Co., of Xew 
York, which he still conducts with excellent success. 

Mr. Wuterich was one of the first (ierman set- 
tlers in Meriden and vicinity, and was one of the 
prominent movers in the organization of the (ier- 
man Mutual .\id Society, and also in the establish- 
ment of the German schools and the Lutheran 
■Church, to all of which organizations lie has 
given largely, both of time and means, and much 
credit is due him for his liberality. I'lefore the 
Civil war he was a Democrat, but since that 
struggle he has been an ardent Ke])ublican, and 
is very active in the councils of the party, hav- 
ing unbounded influence with his fellow-coun- 
trymen, who regard him with perfect confidence. 
!Mr. ^^'uterich is of a genial, social nature, and en- 
joys membership with various clubs and orders, be- 
ing one of the oldest members of the Elks in this 
community; has been a member of the I. O. O. I", 
since 1868: and is prominent in the Germ.-.n social 
clubs, the Saengerbund and the Turnverein. 

Air. Wuterich's marriage took place in East 



Hartford, Conn., the bride being Miss Frederika 
Handel, who was born in Germany, daughter of 
Philip A. Handel, a prominent farmer of East Hart- 
ford. To this union have I>een born twelve children, 
seven of whom died in infancy, the survivors being: 
i'aulina, a dressmaker by trade, married Louis 
Schlaver, of Southington ; Emma married Stanley 
Jarvis, of Tracy, Conn.: I'bilip .\. occupies the po- 
sition of paymaster with ihe Charles Parker Co.; 
Josie is a popular nnisic teacher of Meriden; Min- 
nie is a student at the State Xorman School. Our 
subject enjoys the esteem of the public generally, 
and he is regartled as one of the substantial citizens 
of Aleriden, where he is respected for his public 
spirit and his acknowledged integrity. 

Philip A. Handel, Mrs. Wuterich's father, was 
liorn in W'urtemberg, (iermany. in 1813, son of 
Philip Handel, a hotel proprietor and prominent man 
in his locality. His early training was all in the 
line of farm work. On reaching man's estate he 
married Christina Decker, who proved a noble help- 
meet. Accompanied by his son, Christian, and 
daughter, Frederika, Mr. Handel came to .America, 
and the mother followed two years later, after the 
father bad found steady emi)loyment. In January, 
1854, he went to Glastonbury. Conn., where he 
worked for a time in a shoddy factory, and in 1856 
he located in Xaubuc (then called Curtisville), 
where he found employment in a spoon and spectacle 
factor}- for some time. In 1857 he ])urchase(l a farm 
in East Hartford, eight years later built the dwell- 
ing thereon, and he also put up the barn and 
other outbuildings that improved the place to the 
extent of making it one of the finest in the town. 
There he made his home until his death. Jan. i, 
1880. In 1863 Mr. Handel made a ten months' visit 
to his old home in ( iermany. In politics he was a 
Democrat. In business, honorable, industrious and 
upright, he left his wife and family well provided 
for by the lalwrs of his own hands. He was pro- 
gressive and public-spirited, and an.xious to see his 
town well abreast of the times. His good wife, who 
survived him but six months, bore him the follow- 
ing children: (i) Frederika is the wife of Freder- 
ick Wuterich, of .Meriden. (2) Jacob. (3) Chris- 
tian a well-to-do farmer of Hockanum, Hartford 
Co., Conn., who now owns the large tobacco farm of 
bis father, P. \. Handel : be married Paulina Wuter- 
ich, since deceased, and has nine children, Edward, 
P)ertba, Rosa, Mary, Christian F.. .Albert, Pauline. 
William and I'lorence. (4) Paulina is the wife of 
Charles Sorries, of South Meriden. (3) Louise 
married Charles A'ouch, of Hockanum. (6") Gott- 
Icib lives in Ivast Hartford. (7) Emma married 
Joseph Hirtb, of Hartford. (8) Bertha. (0) Katie 
is the wife of I!enjamin I'ulton, of Hartford. 

C.APT. I'.DdAR S. DOWE has been promi- 
nently identified with marine interests during his 
residence in Xew Haven, which now covers a period 
of over twcntv-two \ears. Quite naluralh- be has 



586 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



also been interested in liarbor facilities and im- 
provements, and lie is equally well known as harbor 
inspector and as president of the New Haven Tow- 
ing Company. 

The Captain is a native of North Carolina, born 
Dec. 12, 1858, on Roanoke Island, where the family 
has long held valuable property. His grandfather, 
William Dowe, was b(jrn in the same place, and 
passed all his life in the cultivation of his large es- 
tate, being one of the well known planters of that 
section. He owned slaves, all of whom returned to 
him after the Civil war. William Dowe lived to 
the age of sixty-si.x years. He and his wife, Alice, 
had a family of eight children, two of whom still 
survive, Walter (father of our subject) and Chester. 
Three died while serving in the Civil war. Airs. 
Dowe was a member of the Haptist Church. 

Walter Dowe was born on Roanoke Island, 
where he is still living on a farm. He became a 
sailor, was master of a vessel i)lying to the West 
Indies, and followed marine life until 1861, when 
his vessel was used tu help form a blockade, and he 
retired from that calling. Mr. Dowe owned the 
territory on which I'ort Raleigh (established by Sir 
Walter Raleigh) was located, and recently sold it 
to a historical society. He is a Democrat, and has 
throughout his entire life been a leader in local poli- 
tics and public affairs generally, serving as county 
commissioner and justice of the ])eace. Always a 
great reader, he has become well informed and in- 
creased the capabilities of a natiu'ally intelligent 
mind, and his .services have been highly acceptable. 
Walter Dowe married Miss Margaret Meekins, who 
was born on Roanoke Island, one of the two chil- 
dren of William Meekins, a farmer, who spent his 
entire life there: he died of cholera. Three chil- 
dren came to this unitin, lilanche (who married 
William b'orbcs, at present in the South), Edgar .S. 
and Thomas. The mother died at the age of thirty- 
eight. She attended the Baptist Church, as does 
also Mr. Dowe, and both were interested in the 
work of the church, and very hospitable to its min- 
isters. 

Edgar S. Dowe ])assed his early life on Roanoke 
Island, and received his education there. During 
his youth and early manhood he began ma- 
rine life as ' engineer, in which capacity be 
was engaged three >c-ars, finally receiving 
promotion to captain. Capt. Dnwe early began tow- 
ing, and has been engaged in that particular 
line ever since coming to New Haven, in 
1879. .Since iSSo he has been connected with the 
New Haven Towing Company, entering their em- 
ploy as engineer, and two years later became cap- 
tain. In 1882 he was made jiilot, buying an interest 
in 1887, and he has also run the "J:unes H, Ilogan." 
Capt. Dowe has been active in promoting every en- 
terprise for the l)cneiit of vesselmen, and improve- 
ment of the harbor. He acted several vears as 
deputy harbormaster, served two years as member 
of the board of harbor commissioners, bv appoint- 



ment of the governor, and was elected inspector by 
that board, which position he still holds, giving emi- 
nent satisfaction in every incumbency. Though in- 
terests affecting his business have received special 
attention, the Captain has shown himself just as 
ready to give his time to afifairs affecting the gen- 
eral welfare of his adopted city, and his fellow citi- 
zens have honored him by choosing him as their 
representative more than once. He was councilman 
from 1S95 to 1898, and served a two years term as 
alderman, during which time he was aldermanic 
member of the board of finance three years, a fact 
which speaks highly for his judgment, ability and 
integrity as a business man. Our subject gives his 
political allegiance to the Democratic party. 

On June 29, 1881, Capt. Dowe married in New 
Britain, Conn., ]Miss Edith Augusta Church, who 
was born in East Haven. Her father, Daniel J\I. 
Church, now deceased, was a steeple builder, and 
put up fourteen steeples in Connecticut. Mrs. 
Church is also deceased. They had a family of 
five children, four now living: Sarah Frances. 
widow of William H. Thompson; James, of East. 
Haven ; Allie J., wife of John P. Hemingway, of 
New Britain, Conn. ; and Edith A., Mrs. Dowe, who 
is the youngest. The Captain and his wife are 
members of the Congregational Church at East 
Haven, and at one time were identified with the 
Christian Endeavor Society. Capt. Dowe is a mem- 
ber of the New England Order of Protection. He 
formerly affiliated with the I. O. O. P., and 'was a 
member of the Engineers Association. 

DRYDEN WILLIAAI PHELPS. The Phelps 
genealogy is traced as follows : (I) William Phelps, 
son of William and Dorothy, of Tewkesbury, Glou- 
cestershire, England, born there in 1599, with his 
wife, Elizabeth, and six children, and his brother, 
George, then unmarried, sailed from Portsmouth, 
England, in the spring of 1630 in the ship "Mary 
and John," 140 passengers, for New England, where 
the company settled. They were the founders of 
Dorchester, Mass. William Phelps took an active 
part in the new settlement, and held a number of 
offices, being several times a deputy to the General 
Court. In the fall of 1635 he and his family, with 
his ])rolher George, went with the company headed 
by Re\-. Mr. Warham, and settled Windsor, Conn. 
Airs. Phelps died that year, and in 1638 Mr. Phelps 
married Mary Dover, who died Nov. 27, 1675. Mr. 
l'lieli)s died in Windsor July 14, 1672, one of the 
most ])rominent and highly respected men in the 
C'olony. 

(II) Joseph Phelps, son of William the settler, 
born in England about 1629, marrietl (first) in 
i(/>o Hannah Newton, who died in Simsbury. Jos- 
eph resided in Windsor until his death, in 1684. 

(III) Joseph Phelps (2), son of Josenh, born 
-Aug. 2, 1667, married (first) Alary Co"lIier, born in 
Hartford, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (San- 
ford) Collier, and died in 1697 in Simsbur\'. Air. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOCRAPlllCAL RECORD. 



58; 



riiclps settled in Simsbury and was one of its most 
intluentiid citizens, was justice of llic peace many 
}ears and served in the General Assembly from 1 701J 
to 1727. He died Jan. 20, 1750. 

(IV) Joseph Phelps (3), son of Joseph ( 2), born 
Oct. y, 16S9, married (^tirsi) in 1714 Rebecca Xorth, 
Ijorn in iCh)3, who was the mother of his children, 
and died Xov. 8, 1732. He was a farmer and set- 
tled in Turkey Hills, near Kast Granby. lie died in 
June, 1763. 

[V ) Elijah riielps, son of Joseph (3), born May 
II, 1720, married Esther, born in 1718, daut,diter of 
Daniel Kent, and settled in Turkey Hills. He died 
in 1795, and his wife in 1797. 

(\T) Judah Phelps, son of Elijah, born May 12, 
1750, married in 1778 Abigail ISishop, born Aug. 
18, 1758, settled in Suffield, and probably lived for 
a time in Granby. He died in Suffield Oct. 6, 1818, 
and his wife died there Dec. 17, 1S45. Mr. Phelps 
served in the war of the Revolution, enlisting Oct. 
23, 1775, in the 7th Company, Capt. .Vbel Pettibone, 
Col. Josiah Spencer's Regiment. 

(\ II) Israel Phelps, son of Judah, born Oct. 20, 
1782, in Granby, Conn., married May 28, 1S06, 
Mercy Stevens, born Feb. 26, 1785, in Sufi'ield, 
Conn., a daughter of Phineas and Mercy (Root) 
Stevens. Mr. Phelps settled in Granby, Conn., re- 
siding there up to 1815, when he removed to Suf- 
field, Conn., and there died Jan. 3, 1827. The chil- 
dren born to him were : ilercy Maria, born Aug. 
7, 1807, died July 23, 1843, unmarried; Emily, born 
June I, 1809, married Josiah Rockwood, and died 
March 5, 1900; Israel Cromwell, born July 3, 1811, 
married Teresa Rising and died July 10, 1855 ; Julia 
i\nn, born April 26, 1814, married Josiah Parsons 
Kent, and died Aug. 19, 1882; Rev. S. Dryden, born 
May 15. 1816, is mentioned below; Judson Root, 
born July 17, 1818, married Frances Lovisa Noble, 
and died April 10, 1861 ; Newell, born y\ug. 15, 1820, 
died Sept. 16, 1822; ApoUos Newell, born Aug. 2, 
1822, married Sarah A. Ketcham, and died March 
10, 1886. 

(VHI) Rev. Sylvanus Dryden Phelps, D. D., 
the fifth child of Israel and Mercy Pheljjs, was a 
man of great prominence and was closely identified 
with educational as well as theological matters 
throughout Connecticut. Mr. Phelps taught the 
Connecticut Literary Institution at Suffield, Conn., 
and in the academy of Southwick, Mass. After be- 
ing graduated from Brown University he pursued 
the study of theology, and was graduated froiu the 
Yale Divinity School in 1847, receiving his license 
to preach, however, in 1840. After supplying the 
First Baptist Church in New Haven for about a 
year he was ordained pastor there, Jan 21, i84r), 
a relation that closed Dec. 7, 1873. During 1874-76 
he was pastor of the Jefi'erson Street Church, in 
Providence, R. I. In 1876 he became editor and pro- 
prietor of the Christian Secretary, which was pub- 
lished in Hartford, Conn., continuing so for twelve 
years ; and also published several books of poems 



and other literary works. He spent some time trav- 
eling abroad through the Holy Land, Egypt and the 
East, in connection with which he published "The 
Holv Lai)d, with Glimpses of luirope and I'-gypt, A 
Year's Tour." In 1879 Rev. Dr. Phelps became a 
trustee of Brown University, from w^iich lie had 
graduated in 1844. Finally he returned to New 
Haven, living at No. 44 High street, where he died 
Nov. 23, 1895. He married Sophia Emilia Linsley, 
a native of Stratford, Conn. Their children were 
all born in New Haven, as follows: Sophia Lyon, 
born May 24, 1848, died Feb. 21, 1871, unmarried. 
Drvi)i:.\ \\ iLLi.x.M, born March lO, 1854, was 
educated at Yale College ; was licensed to jireach in 
1876; graduated from Brown University in 1877; 
passed two years in the Hartford Theological Sem- 
inary, and for several years was assistant editor of 
the Christian Secretary, published by his father ; 
on I-"eb. 16, 1887, he was settled over the Baptist 
Church of Wilmington, Vt. ; graduated from the 
Y'alc Divinity School in 1892, and now resides in 
New Haven. Jaiues Linsle_\-, the third child of 
Rev. Mr. I'helps, was born April 8, 1856, and died 
Jan. 27, i860. Arthur Stevens, born Jan. 23, 1863, 
married Blanche Stroud; graduated from Yale Col- 
lege in 1886, and from the Yale Divinity School in 
18S9; was ordained June 5, 1890, in Colorado. Will- 
iam Lyon, born Jan. 2, 1865, married Annabel Hub- 
bard, and now resides in New Haven, being a pro- 
I lessor in Yale L'niversily, from which he was grad- 
1 uatcd B. A. with the class of 1887, receiving the 
degree of I'h. D. in 1891, the same day that of M. 
! A. was bestowed upon him by Harvard. 
I Mrs. S. Dryden Pheljis is a lady of culture and 
' refinement, and in early life published an able and 
touching memoir of her father. Re\'. lames PI. Lins- 
ley. 

i \MLL1.VM LOUXSliURY, the genial proprie- 
tor of the "Owcnego House," at Indian Neck, one 
of the most popular summer resorts on Long Isl- 
and Sound, was born in Branford Nov. 10, 1843, a 
son of David and Ann (Spencer) Lounsbury. His 
paternal grandparents were Calvin and Betsy Louns- 
bury, of Bethany, Conn. His maternal grandparents 
were Belah and I'olly (Bradley) Spencer, of Bran- 

j ford. 

David Lounsbury was born in Bethany in July, 
1815, and for some fifty-three years was a resident 
of Branford. He first began taking boarders at In- 
dian Neck in what is now tlie ".Annc-x" of the "Ow- 

^ enego House," in 1847, but the demand was so great 

j for accommodations that in 18(17 he put up a much 
larger house, the ''Owcnego, ' from the name of a 
son of an Indian chief locally celebrateil. Mr. Louns- 
bury continued in this business until his death, in 
1898. William Lounsbury was associated with his 
father for a period of twcnty-si.x years, beginning 
witji i8()7, and since his father's death, has con- 
ducted the business very successfully alone. 

This well known summer resort was among the 



588 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



very first l)uil(linq-s to l.)e used for the purpose. It 
is loeated at the i)oint where the Souiul reaches its 
widest dimensions, and looking- soutli tliere is a fine 
view of Long Island Sound, with Thinib.le Island 
in the distance, while to the north is obtained a fair 
view of the country, with its invitiuL:; roads for cy- 
cling and driving. Indian Xeck is fast becoming one 
of the most popular summer resorts on the coast. 
The hotel is noted for its fine location, pleasant 
rooms and sliperb table. 

Mr. Lounsbnry has been a lifedong resident of 
Indian Neck. He was e<liicated in the i)iiljlic schools 
and in Branford Academy, beared in the hotel busi- 
ness, he is a master of its every detail, the knowl- 
edge having come to him by practical exjjerience, and 
its possession, together with his genial and courteous 
maimer toward his guests, makes the "Owenego" 
one of the most po])ular resorts of the ])resent day. 

I\Ir. Lounsbury has liecn twice married, the first 
time in November, 1873, to Elizabeth I'almer, who 
died June 2, 188O. (Jn I'"eb. 26, i8qi, he married 
Bertha M., a daughter of Elizur and Abigail (Hos- 
ley) Johnson, of Branford. Mr. Lounsbury belongs 
to the N. E. O. P., and is also a Mason, being en- 
rolled in the Widows Sons Lodge, No. GG, and hi.s 
genial ways endear him to memliers of the frater- 
nity ; in politics he is a Republican. 

BEACH. 1"ln' name of I'.each has l)een a 
familiar one in the manufacturing annals of New 
Haven county for many \ears. /\ndrcw Yale Beach 
and Sharon Dayton Beach, of the S. Y. Beach Paper 
Co., of Seymour, trace their descent from David 
and .Ann \'ale, who came from England to America 
in 1637, settling in New Plaven, Connecticut. 

Thomas Yale, their son, born in 1616, in England 
or Wales, came with his parents to New Idaven. In 
i'i45 he married .M.ary Turner, and the\- had a 
family i>f nine children, of whom Capt. Thomas 
Yale, born in ii>47, in .W-w Haven, married three 
times, and had eight children, one being named 
Nathaniel. Nathaniel N'ale, born Dec. 31, 1702, 
married Ruth Bishop, of New Haven, and (second) 
Thankful I'.assett, on Jan. 15, \j2'>>-2^). and had four 
children: Alary, born Dec. 17, I72<); Nathaniel 
James, born July 31, 1731 : Nathaniel, born Aug. 
29, 1732; and Rebecca, born Oct. 0, 1737. Of these 
Mary Yale married Capt. Jonathan Dayton, of 
North Haven, Conn., and Ihey had children, as fol- 
lows: ( )ne that died when young. Thankful, Jona- 
than, .Nathaniel, Cornelius, Mary, liezaleel, Miriam, 
Bedotha and Darlin. Of these, 

Mary Dayton, born Sept. 4, 1765. died March 
18.1829. She married (iiles lieach, of .North Haven, 
and they had eleven children, namelv: (i) Beda, 
born .\pril i, 1790, married Samuel llemingwav, of 
]\ast I laven, and died :it the age of ninety-nine years 
and four months. (2) .\nccy, born March 5, 1792, 
died Oct. 1, 1794. (3) Joscjjh Dayton, born" Jan. 8, 
1794. married Julia Curtis, of Sharon, Conn., and 
had live children, Dayton, L'ni'lis (deceased at the 



age of seventeen years), Eranklin, David and Lor- 
enzo. (4) Amelia, born Oct. 6, 1795, died same 
day. (5) Benjamin Hubbard, born Sept. 21, 1796, 
died Oct. 7, 1855; he served in the war of 1812; he 
married Hannah Shannard, of New Marlboro, 
Alass.. and t'hey had children — twins, born and died 
-Aug. 17, 1826: a son, born and died Nov. 27, 1828; 
John I'Vancis, born May 20, 183 1 ; a son, born and 
died Sept. 4, 1835: and Mary Jennett. born Alay 28, 
1838. who married Oct. 2, 1855, William A. Dixon, 
of New Boston, 111. (6) and (7) twins, born Eeb. 
II, 1799, died Eeb. 2G. 1791). and March 4, 1799, re- 
spectively. (8) Mary, born Jan. 11, 1800, died 
April 19, i8cKj. (9) Abraham, born Dec. 24, 1801, 
died Aug. 23, 1832; he married Rhoda Dorathy, of 
Eair Haven. Conn., and they had two sons — Henry, 
who dial in 1832, when six years old: and Cyrus, 
living in Eair Haven, Conn. ( 10) Ancey, born 
June I, 1803, died in 1887 in North Haven, Conn. 
( II ) Sharon Yale, born May 21, 1809, died March 
17, 1899; he married, Oct. 4, 1832, Adeline Sparry, 
and had c'hildren : George W., Andrew Y., Emeline 
E., Stiles D., Sharon D.. and Theodore B. George 
W. is president of the S. Y. Beach Paper Co., and 
Theodore B. is secretary of that concern. 

Andrew Y. Be.\ch. born Oct. 27, 1836, in the 
village of Humphrevsville, town of Derbv. New 
Haven county, was first engaged with his father in 
the paper making business at Seymour, imder the 
name of S. Y. Beach, from 1852 to 1856, and then 
entered the employ of the Hartford & New Haven 
Railroad Co., as clerk at Springfield, Mass. In 1858 
he left this position to accept that of agent 
at Naugatuck, Conn., for the Naugatuck Railway 
Co.. but soon thereafter moved: to Seymour, and 
again entered his father's employ in the paper mills. 
In 1861 he becaine agent for the Naugatuck Rail- 
way Co. at Seymour: in 1867 he was appointed gen- 
eral ticket agent for the same company, with office 
at Bridgeport, but resigned in November, 1872, to 
accept the position as agent at Siiringfield, Mass., 
for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- 
way Co. This he continued' to hold until July i, 
1887, when he resigned, owing to impaired health 
through hard work, and returned to Seymour. He 
is again interested in the S. Y. Beach Paper Co., of 
which he is now vice-president, and he is also en- 
gaged in the coal, grain and grocery business. 

Mr. r)each is a stanch Republican in politics, and 
while a resident of Springfield, was elected to the 
board of aldermen three terms, president of the 
board in iSSf). h'or six years he has been trying 
justice at Seymour, now serving his fourth term in 
this office. In religious faith he is a C<jngrcgation- 
alist, and chairman of the Church .Society, being a 
power in the work of that society. 

In 1857 Andrew ^'. lieach was united in mar- 
riage with Mary Cordelia Woodford, of Springfield. 
Mass.. a daughter of P>enjamin Barber Woodford, 
one of the first agents there for the Hartford & New 
Haven Railroad (1856-1862). To this union was 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



589 



born one child, Addie, wife of Giistav J. Faber, of 
Seymour, and they have tliree children, l''rederick 
Woodford, Mary Alice and Margery. ^Irs. Mary C 
iJeach died Dec. 17, 1885, and on March 17, 1888, 
Mr. Beach married Mrs. Alice M. (Hilton) Spencer, 
a native of Seymour, and a daughter of John and 
Maria (Molthropj Hilton. Mrs. Beach had two 
chiUlren by her first marriage, Lewis H. and Otis 
(j. Spencer, both of whom are married and live in 
New Haven. 

Sii.\uo.N D.WTO.v Be.vch was born Xov. 23, 
i84(), in the village of Humphrey sville, town of 
D^rby, Xew Haven county, and since leaving school 
has been engaged in the paper business established 
by his father in 1843. Since 18S0 he has been man- 
ager and treasurer of the concern, which is known 
as the S. Y. Beach Paper Co. The lirm manufac- 
ture colored paper almost exclusively ; it is shipped 
to all parts of tlie United States, and there are no 
two pajK'r makers that use the "stock" in the same 
way. Mr. Beach is a stock-holder in the Valley 
National Bank, of Seymour, and in the New Haven 
County National Bank, of New Haven. 

( )n his .21st birthday, Nov. 23. 1870, Sharon U. 
Beach married Mary E. Rider, a native of Sey- 
mour, and a daughter of Stephen R. and Mary 
( Meeker) Rider, the former of whom was from 
Danbnry, and the latter from Reading, 'i'hree chil- 
dren have graced their union, viz.: Sharon M., 
Ralph S. and J. Mabel, both sons being employed 
in the paper mill of which their father is manager. 
Sharon M. married Eva Gray, and they have one 
son, Albert Gray, born July 16, i8y8. 

Fraternally Sharon D. Beach is a member of 
the F. & A. M., Morning Star Lodge, No. 47, Sey- 
mour, and of Mount Vernon Chapter, No. 35, An- 
sonia; is also affiliated with the L O. R. M., Non- 
nawauk Lodge, No. 9, Seymour; with the A. O. 
U. W. Lodge, No. 60 (of which he has been "re- 
ceiver") ; and with the N. E. O. P., No. 100, Sey- 
mour. Mr. Beach and his wife arc both members 
of the Order of the Eastern Star. Politically he is 
a Republican, and for the last two years has been a 
member of the board of relief. He has been otter- 
ed other offices, but always declined, having no 
desire for political preferment. 

CH.\RLES AHiRRlAM W'lLLLXMS. the ef- 
ficient superintendent of the Connecticut School for 
Boys, and who for twenty and more years has been 
a teacher in the public schools of the city, is one 
among the leading educators of the Slate. Mr. 
Williams was born Nov. 13, 1851, in the town of 
Rockv Hill, Conn., son of the late Deacon Thomas 
Danforth and ;\Lary Jane (Boardman) Williams, 
and is a descendant of a sturdy New England an- 
cestry. 

Thomas Williams, the first of his paternal ances- 
tors of whom we have record, liought land in Wctli- 
ersfield, Conn., in February. ]()(n. and in the same 
year received a grant of twelve acres, along the 



river and near the landing at Rocky Hill, where he 
settled about 1670, and dieil in 1693. He is believed 
to have been one of the very earliest settlers at 
Rocky Hill. He and his wife, Rebecca, had ten chil- 
dren. 

Jacob Williams, son of Thomas. was born in 1OO4. 
and made his home in Stepney Parish. He was a 
sea captain and owned a home near the landing in 
Stepney, now Rocky Hill, and died there in 1712. 
He married Sarah Gilbert, wlio was born in 16O1, a 
daughter of Josiah Gilbert, who died in 1688, and his 
wife, Elizabeth, who was born in 1632, and died in 
1682. 

Epiiraim Williams, son of Jacob Williams, was 
born in lOyo and resided in Wethersfield, Conn., 
where he died in 1761. He was a merchant, and 
from 1748 until his death we have account of his 
shipping "oynons" (onions) from Stepney to New 
York and the \Vest indies, and importing sea coal 
and protlucts of the West Indies. 1 le married Eliza- 
beth Russell, born 1695, died 1765. She was a 
great-granddaughter of John Russell, the emigrant; 
and also of Stephen Terry, one of the first settlers of 
Windsor, Conn., afterward of Hadley, Mass., who 
was married in Dorchester, Mass., about 1O35, and 
died in 1668; his daughter, Elizabeth, born Jan. 4, 
1641, married Jan. 10, 1665, and with her son, 
Stephen, was slain by the Indians Sept. 19, 1677. 

Elias Williams, son of Ephraim, was born in 
Wethersfield, Conn., Feb. 10, 1718, and about 1750 
located in Stepney Parish. Both before and durmg 
the Revolution he was a man of much prominence in 
both parishes. He was a member of the Board of 
Safety of the town. In June, 1774, he was chosen on 
the committee to receive contributions to send to 
Boston. In the following December, he was a mem- 
ber of another committee, in 1795, with Jacob, and 
probably his sons Eliel and William, he owned the 
schooner "Industry," and is sometimes spoken of 
as a sea captain. His death occurred in Stepney 
Parish Dec. 5, 1798. Un April 29, 1742, Elias Will- 
iams married Prudence RoDbins, who was born in 
1723, and died in 1799. She was a great-grand- 
daughter of John Robbins, the settler. He had a 
conveyance of land at Wethersfield as early as 
1638, and was a member of the General Court in 
1644. It is supposed that his father, John, came with 
him to W'ethersfield, and tlied soon after, as he 
(John, the settler) mentions land owned by his 
father (John). I'llias Williams was a captain in 
the 6th Conn. Militia in 1777. This regiment was 
com])osed of companies from Wethersfield and Glas- 
tonbury. 

Eliel Williams, son of Elias, was born in Stepney 
Parish Jan. 30. 1746, and died there Aug. 2, 1819. 
He was second of the four corjjorals, enrolled under 
Capt. John Chester, and sent by Wethersfield. Conn., 
when the Lexington alarm in April, 1775, reached 
them. He also parlici])aled in the battle of Bunker 
Hill. On Jan. 26, 17O9, he wedded Comfort Mor- 
ion, born in 1747, died in 1811. Through her ma- 



590 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ternal ancestors she was sixth in descent from 
Thomas Wells, governor of Colony of Connecticut 
in 1655 and 1658. Her mother, Sarah Robbins, was 
a sister of Abigail, who, for her second husband, 
married Hon. Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Con- 
necticut. Her father's great-grandmother. Honour 
Treat, was a sister to Robert, governor from 1683 
10 i6y8 (fifteen years), and wife of Hun. John Ueni- 
ing, one of the lirst settlers of Wethersfield. 

Merriam Williams, son of Eliel, was born in 
Stepney Parish July 3, 1785, and made his home in 
Rocky Hill. He was a tanner and currier by trade, 
and also carried on shoe making, giving work to 
a number of his townsmen. Later in life he turned 
his attention to agriculture. Among old papers he 
left a bundle of deeds, fifty-two in number — convey- 
ances of land to Elias, ICliel and Alerriam, father, 
son and grandson — the oldest bearing date 1753. On 
March 25, 1819, he wedded Elizabeth Danforth, who 
was born Aug. 23, 1789, and died March 29, 1852, 
a ilaughter of Thomas Danforllr, a partner in a 
large manufacturing business in Rocky Hill and 
Philadeli)hia, later establishing a large trade in 
Rocky Hill, where he included every possible kind of 
hardware of the period. Merriam Williams died 
May 10, 1857. 

Thomas Danforth Williams, son of Jilerriani 
Williams, was born Doc. 4, 1811;, in Rocky Hill, 
Conn., and there passed away Dec. 4, 1S81. He 
united with the Congregational Church, in his na- 
tive town, in 1837, was one of its deacons from 
March, 1852, until his death, and was an earnest 
worker for its prosperity and welfare, and forward 
in many works lor the well-being of the community. 
He was married on i\\m\ 6, 1842, to Mary Jane 
Boc.rdi.an, who was born in Rocky Hill, March 20, 
i8~ 'd died Aug. 7, 1S88, the last survivor in 
tl .vn of the twelve children of Capt. Jason 

Roardman, for lifty years a prominent ship builder, 
owner and captain of Wetherslield, or Rocky Hill. 
"Mrs. Williams," says one who knew her well, "was 
a most estimable woman, and well filled her part in 
every relation of life."' To the marriage of Deacon 
Thomas Danforth and Mary Jane (Boardman) 
Williams were born children as follows : ( i ) Lu- 
ther Boardman, born June 7, i844, married June 
27, 1872, Addie Boardman, and they ha\-e four chil- 
dren. He is a machinist by traile, and for some 
fourteen years acleu as superintendent ol the loom 
room, much e>f tlie time in the employ of H. & 
G. W. \\'ard, manufacturers of twine and netting, 
at Boston, Mass., and Kennebec, Me. Since 1885 he 
has resided in Rocky Hill and been occupied in gen- 
eral and dairy farming. He has been honored a 
number of times by election to offices of trust and 
honor, serving in 1897 and 1898 in the State Legis- 
lature. (2) Caroline Elizabeth, born Xov. 6, 1847, 
lives at Rocky Hill, Conn. (3) Charles Merriam 
is the suljject of this sketch. (4) Annie Jane, born 
April 17, 1858, died Aug. 19, 1877. '-Ibomas Dan- 



forth Williams was a plain, unassuming man, who 
was engaged throughout life in the pursuits of agri- 
culture. He was a deacon in the church and was 
held in high esteem by the community, who for 
twenty years, though not consecutively, honored him 
with the office of town assessor. 

On his mother's side, Charles JNL Williams is in 
the seventh generation from Samuel Boreman, who 
was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, bap- 
tized there in 161 5, son of Christopher and Julia 
(Carter) Boreman. He came to New England in 
1638, appearing first as a settler in Ipswich, Mass., 
and disposing of his property interests there about 
1641 or 1642, settled in Wethersfield, Conn. He 
married about this time Mary, daughter of John and 
Mary Beets who were living in Claydon, England, 
in 1627. From this emigrant settler Mr. Williams' 
line is through Jonathan, Jonathan (2), John, Capt. 
Jason and Mary Jane (Boardman) Williams. 

Capt. Jason Boardman, from his prominence 
among the men of his day, is deserving of more than 
simply the mention of his name. His birth occurred 
in Rockv Hill Jan. 16, 1762, and on July 7, 1784, he 
was married to Hepzibah, daughter of Deacon 
Thomas and Dorothy Bulkley Curtis, of Rocky 
Hill, the latter a daughter of Dr. Thomas Hastings, 
of Hatfield, Mass. Jason's father was a sea captain, 
and was lost at sea when Jason was eighteen years 
of age. The latter succeeded the father in the old 
homestead, and as a sailor and sea captain, and later 
became prominent as a ship builder and ship owner. 
He owned, it is said, a line of packets which sailed 
regularly from the Connecticut river to Richmond, 
Va. He was also connected with vessels in the West 
Indies trade. Mrs. Boardman died Jan. 4, 1807, and 
Capt. Boardman married Jan. 3, 1808, Lydia Dem- 
ming, who died Feb. 11, 1842. He died Feb. 6, 1844. 
b'our of his twelve children were born to the second 
union. Two of his sons were sea captains, making 
three generations in succession sea-faring men. 
Capt. Boardman was a man of fine appearance, 
courteous and dignified in manners. 

Charles M. Williams passed his boyhool on the 
home farm in the manner customary to the sons of 
the general farmer of that day, at school in the win- 
ter, and at work on the farm in season. He fur- 
thered his schooling at Williston Seminary, East- 
hampton, Mass., and made his debut as a teacher 
as principal of the Railroad District School in Meri- 
den. Conn., in 1874. He was later made principal of 
the Center School, and still later was appointed 
principal of the W^est District school, now the 
second largest school in Meriden. The West 
District included the Lewis Avenue school and 
gave him in all about 500 pupils. The grad- 
uates fi'om his district showed excellent train- 
ing and attained creditable scholarships at the 
high school. When the schools of the city were con- 
solidated in 1895 Mr. Williams was advanced to the 
position of superintendent of the Meriden schools. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



591 



In 1898 he was appointed superintendent of the Con- 
necticut School for Boys by the board of trustees of 
the school, which position he still holds. ' . 

On June 17, 1881, Mr. Williams was married to 
Emeline McFarland, and to this union lias come 
one child, Stanley Thomas, born Oct. 25, 1889. So- 
cially Mr. Williams is a member of Meridcn Lodge, 
No. 7J, A. F. & A. M., and St. Elmo Commandery, 
A'o. 9, Knights Templar. He also belongs to the 
Sons of American Revolution, and to the Home 
Club, of which latter he was treasurer for twelve 
years. Though not an active politician, he sustains 
the principles of the Republican party. 

FRANCIS S. HAAHLTOX, chief clerk in the 
office of the New York, New Haven & Hartford 
Railroad Co., at Belle Dock, and registrar of voters, 
is one of the active and successful business men of 
New Flaven. He was born in Bridgeport, May 12, 
1846, a son of Starr and Frances (Hyde) Hamilton. 

Starr Hamilton was a native of Bridgeport, 
where his father was a merchant. He attended the 
Lovell school at New Haven, and adopted the mer- 
cantile profession, the business of his father, con- 
ducting for many years a dry goods store at Apal- 
achicola, Fla. He married Frances Hyde, a daugh- 
ter of Richard Hyde, and six children were born 
to them: Frances Jane; Isabella Jane; and Adeline 
English ; all three died in infancy ; John F. ; Cather- 
ine A. E. ; and Francis S. John b". served in the 
Civil war, enlisting at Brooklyn, N. Y., in the 14th 
regiment. He was for many years a tea broker and 
died Nov. 5, 1900. Catherine A. E. married Major 
William L. Hubbell, of Bridgeport, an officer of the 
j/th Conn. V. I. In politics Starr Hamilton was a 
Whig. Fie died in New York in 1854. 

Francis S. Hamilton, the youngest of the sur- 
viving children, was a boy of only eight years when 
his father died. He spent his boyhood days in 
I'.ridgeport, attending the public schools there, and 
ilso FVench's military school on Staten Island, and 
the school at Greenfield Hill, Conn. As his parents 
died when he was young, he was thrown early in life 
upon his own responsibilities. He began his career 
as cashboy in a store in Bridgeport. Later he was 
salesman in a dry-goods tore at St. Louis, JNIo., for 
three months, but returning to Bridgeport, he be- 
came office boy and messenger for the Adams Ex- 
press Co., continuing in the service of that company 
for seven years. In 1872 he came to New Haven, 
accepting a position as waybill clerk in the office of 
the N. Y., N. FI. & H. R. R. Co.. at 15elle Dock, and 
he has since been continuously in their service, oc- 
cupying all the desks successively to that of chief 
clerk, which position he now holds. 

}klr. Hamilton married, in 1872, Mary E. Lewis, 
of Bridgeport, daughter of George L. Lewis, of that 
city. By this marriage there were six children, 
namely : George Lewis, Francis Starr, William 
Hubbell, Edward Waterman, Elsie Hyde and Clar- 
ence Hinman, the last named dying in infancy. Mrs. 



Hamilton, the wife and mother, died in 1884, and 
four years later our subject married Addie E. Howe, 
a native of Granville, Mass., daughter of Chaun- 
cey P. and Clara A. (Hubbard) Ilowe. Chauncey 
P. Howe died in the military service of his coun- 
try during the Civil war, leaving four children: 
Lucelia N., Bion E., Lottie T. (deceased) and Addie 
E. By his second wife, Addie E., our subject has 
one child, Hubert Howe Hamilton. Mr. Flamilton 
and family arc members of tjie Episcopal Church. 

In politics Mr. Flamilton has always been a Re- 
publican, and he has been one of the active and in- 
fluential workers in the county organization. F'or 
six years he was chairman of the ward committee 
of the Eleventh ward, and for two terms he served 
as councilman and as alderman for the same length 
of time. Removing to the Fifth ward, a Democratic 
stronghold, he was made chairman of the ward com- 
mittee and was elected one term as alderman of the 
ward. He was elected registrar of voters in 1896 
and is still serving in that capacity. Mr. Hamilton is 
a member of the Royal .-\rcanum, the Improved Or- 
der of Ilcptasophs, Knights of the Golden Eagle, 
Patriotic Sons of America, Home Circle, and also of 
the Second Company, Governor's Foot Guards. He 
has an extensive acciuaintance throughout the city, 
and is one of New Haven's most popular citizens. 

FRANKLIN R. WHITE, master mechanic in 
the factory of Piatt Bros. & Co., Waterbury, is a 
native of Connecticut, born Aug. 26, 1854, in Hart- 
ford. 

Lewis White, father of our subject, was born in 
Springfield, Mass., a son of Preserved White, and 
a brother of Leroy S. White, a sketch of whom ap- 
])ears elsewhere. Lewis, after his marriaj^.v.-. ft'as 
employed in the Colts gun factory, and on lijig 
there went into the manufacture of sundry si'.^ :r.- 
ticles, receiving a medal for the invei'.tion of a 
shield (patented) for the protection of women's fin- 
gers when sewing. For a time, during the Civil war, 
he was inspector of army guns at Sjjringfield, Mass. 
In 1866 he came to Waterbury, and for some thirty- 
one years was employed by the Rogers & Brother 
Silver Plate Co. Fie died in July, 1897, a Republi- 
can in ])olitLcs, and a Congregationalist in religious 
faith. By his wife, Mary (Wakefield), he had four 
children, viz.: Charles L., Franklin R., Mary R. 
and Maud. Of these, Charles L. died in Waterbury 
in 1876; Mary R. and Maud are single. 

Franklin R. White, our subject, was educated 
partly in Springfield, partly in Hartford, Conn., and 
was twelve years old when the family came to Wat- 
erbury, the public schools of which place he also at- 
tended. On completing his studies he went to learn 
the button tool-making trade with the Waterbury 
Button Co., remaining with that firm five years, and 
be passed the succeeding five _\ears in the silver plate 
factory of Rogers & P.rotliers. Leaving these, his 
next employnient was with the While Machine Co. ; 
but in 1883 he disposed of his interests in that con- 



592 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



cern to enter the emplo_v of I'latt Bros. & Co., as 
master luechanic and foreman, his present position. 
FrankUn K. White was twice married, first time 
Oct. 27, 1875, to Emma IJreedon, of Waterbury, a 
daughter of 'Robert Breedon, and by her has one 
daughter, Emma, now the wife of Charles Curtis, 
a civil engineer with residence in Waterbury. On 
Alay 7, 1879, -Mr. While married (second) Emma 
H. Fields, a daughter of Judge George S. Fields, 
of Waterbury, and four children were born to this 
union: Charles (deceased at the age of eight 
months), Edna C, Elsie 11., and Ethel S. The en- 
tire family are iilentified with the First ^l. E. Church 
of Waterbury, Mr. White being steward of the offi- 
cial board. In politics he is a Republican, and is 
now serving his second term as alderman of the 
First ward, Waterlniry. He served eleven years in 
the Connecticut National (niard, retiring as cap- 
tain of Company A, Second Regiment. Socially he 
is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Uniformed 
Rank, Endowment Rank and 1). O. K. K., and has 
been grand chancellor of the State : also affiliated 
with the Imjiroved Order of Red ]Men, the A. O. 
U. W. and the (lohlen Cross. 

GEORGE W. SOAIERS has, since 1889, held 
the position of New lingland Freight Agent at New 
Flaven for the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and 
he is well known in that city, both in his business 
connection and in fraternal circles. Tilr. Somers 
comes of a family which has long been identified 
with New 1 faven county, being a great-great-grand- 
son of Henry Somers, and a great-grandson of Abel 
Somers. His grandfather, Benjamin Somers, was 
born July i, 1762, and engaged in farming in the 
northern part of the town of Alii ford. He marrietl 
Mary Marks. 

Enoch Somers, father of our subject, was born 
Aug'. 4, 1799, in Milford, was reared in that town, 
and learned the trade of shoemaker, which he fol- 
lowed for a time. Later in life he settled on a farm, 
and continued agricultural [Kirsuits to the close of 
his earthly career, in January, 1863. He married 
Mary Piatt Jnhnson. burn March 12, 1S06, in the 
northern part of the town of Orange, daughter of 
Nathan and Kat\- ( lieers) Platl. who had ten chil- 
dren, all now deceased. Mr. Piatt was a son of 
Josiah Piatt; Mrs. PLatt was a native of Great Bar- 
rington, Mass. By her first marriage with Enos 
L. Johnson, l\Irs. Mary (Piatt) Somers had five 
children, one of wdiom, Mrs. P. M. Cady, now a 
widow, is a resident of West Haven. By her union 
with Enoch Somers she had but one child, our sub- 
ject. Mrs. Somers ])asscd away July 23, 1889. She 
and her husband were members of the Congrega- 
tional Church, of West Haven. Mr. Somers served 
as captain of a company of militia. 

George W. Somers was born Feb. 17. 1854, in 
West Haven, town of Orange, and spent his earlv 
years in that town, receiving his education in the 
public schools near his home and a boarding school 



in W^est Haven. At the age of twenty he com- 
menced his business career, taking a position with 
the New Haven Steamboat Co., with whom he re- 
mained a few years. His next employment was with 
George R. Kelsey, for whom he ran a mail steamer 
on the St. John's river in Florida four years, serv- 
ing as captain. For a short period following, in 
1884, he was with the New York, New Haven & 
Hartford R. R., and he was again with them as 
clerk in the freight office previous to his appoint- 
ment, in 1889, to his present incumbency. Mr. 
Somers is now Southern New England Freight 
Agent for the Central Railroad, of New Jersey, and 
Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co., and his office 
is in the First National Bank block, New Haven. 
The exacting and multitudinous duties of this posi- 
tion require constant oversight, judgment and sys- 
tematic management, but our subject has proved 
himself eminently qualified to fill the position, and he 
has won high praise from his superiors. 

Mr. Somers is prominent in Masonic circles, be- 
longing to Annanon Lodge, F. & A. M., of West 
Plaven, in which he has held many offices : Franklin 
Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M., of New Haven; Llarmony 
Council, R. & S. M. ; life member of New Haven 
Commandery, K. T., of New Haven, in which he 
was sword bearer a number of years ; Lafayette Con- 
sistory ; Pyramid Temple, Nobles of the Mystic 
Shrine, of Bridgeport ; and the Scottish Rite Ma- 
sons, 32d degree. For a number of years our sub- 
ject has been a member of the Second Company, 
Governor's Foot Guard, of New Haven, and he is 
now assistant quartermaster of the company, on 
Major Clark's staff, \vith the rank of first lieuten- 
ant. His first office was that of commissary ser- 
geant, from which he has advanced steadily, by 
merit, to his present important position. Mr. Som- 
ers is popular among all his associates, and his ac- 
tivity in social and military circles has brought him 
a wide ac((naintance in New Haven. 

AT-BERT W. PHILLIPS. M. D., of Derby, 
traces his descent from the hardy race of English 
yeomen farmers to wdiom Great Britain owes, in no 
small degree, her prosperity at home, and the steady 
deveUjpment of her power abroad. Plard-headed, 
strong-armed, of tireless industry and stern integ- 
rity, they are at once the bulwark and the pride of 
their native land. The Doctor's father, whose 
baptismal name was George, was born in Worle, 
Somersetshire, where he married Betsey Clegg, a 
maiden of his native place. He was a farmer, as 
was also his father, and emigrated from England 
to the United States in 1833, settling on a farm in 
Onondaga county, New York, where he died in 
1842. The wife of his youth survived him until 
1884, when she. too, entered into rest. Both had 
been members of the Established Church in Eng- 
land, and naturally connected themselves with the 
Eiiiscopal Church on reaching their new home. 
George Phillijjs was a man of keen intelligence and 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



593 



sturdy purpose, and a loyal citizen of his adopted 
country. He was a bitter opponent of human 
slavery, and naturally afliliatcd with the Whig- 
party in politics. Four children were born to him, 
of whom Albert W. was the youngest. The others 
were Eliza, Edward and (leorge. Eliza married 
Ralph McKinii;y, a contractor and builder of Au- 
burn, X. v.; Edward is a farmer in South Dakota; 
and George is a court clerk in Montezuma, Iowa, 
having been for some \ears a mercluuu of I'.rooklvu, 
that State. 

J)r. .Mbert W. PhiUips was born at Marccllu-, 
Onondaga Co., X. Y., July 2(\ 1838. His boyhood 
was passed on his father's farm, and his rudimen- 
tary education obtained at the district schools and 
at a private school in Syracuse, X. Y., where Ik; 
spent two years. Having reached the age of eight- 
een years, and chosen the medical profession as his 
vocation, he entered the office of Drs. Cator and 
Morgan as a student. He remained with these in- 
structors for four years, demonstrating at once his 
intelligence as a man. his aptness as a jnipil, and 
his capability as an assistant. Later he matricu- 
lated at the Hahnemann College, in Chicago, gradu- 
ating therefrom in the class of 1861. Returning to 
Syracuse, he was taken into ])artnership by his 
former jirec.ptcir. Dr. Morgan. Their business 
connection, however, was of .-hort tluration. The 
outbreak of the war of the Rebellion stirred yoimg 
Phillips' blood, and on May I. 1861, he enlisted in 
Company .\, ijth X. 'S'. V. L, resjionding to the 
first call of the President for men for two years' 
service. Because of his jarofessional training, he 
was made hospital steward at Washington ; and 
after serving in that ])Osition until OctoliLr. 1862, 
he was promoted to be assistant surgeon, being as- 
signed to the 149th X'. Y. Volunteers. He serveil 
with the Armies of the Potomac and the Cumber- 
land until May, 1864, when his term of eidi-tmcnt 
havitig ex])ircd, he was honorably discharged. ( )n 
leaving the army he went to Derl)y, Conn., in 
which city he still resides, having built up an cxiin- 
sive and lucrative practice. 

Dr. Phillips' acquaintance extends over llie en- 
tire State, and the respect and alTection fell for 
him are co-extensive with his acquaintance. Those 
who best know his sterling worth appreciate him 
most highly. He has attained nearly every honor 
which the IVTasonic fraternity can confer. He is a 
member of King Hiram Lodge, Xo. 12, of Derby, 
of Solomon Chapter, Xo. 3, of New Haven Com- 
mandery. No. 2, K. T. lie is also a member of 
Dusatonic Lodge, No. 6. of the T. ( ). ( ). V. .\'or 
has he at all lost si,ght of hi^ conu-aile^hip with the 
veterans of the war of i8()i-5. He is ;i past com- 
mander of Kellogg Post, No. 2Ct. C A. K.. and an 
honored member of the societies of the Army of 
the Potomac and the Army of the Cumbn-land, as 
well as of the Army and Navy Club of Connecticut, 
and of the New York Commandery of the Military 
Order of the Loyal Legion. During the years 



1896 and i8()8.he was surgeon general on the stafT 
of Gov. Cooke. The Doctor is a director in the 
Derljy Savings ISank. J fe is a Republican, and sev- 
.ral limes has been the nominee o*^ his party for 
office, and in the face of the overwhelming Dem- 
ocratic majority to be overcome he was elected for 
nine consecutive years as burgess of P)irminghani, 
niiw Derby, and in Xovember, 1900, was elected 
mayor of Derby. He has also been made registrar 
of vital statistics in recognition of his emin;nt fit- 
ness for the position. 

In October, 1862, Dr. Phillips was married to 
Miss Xaucy Pratt Owen, of Syracuse, a daughter 
of Augustus H. and Maria (Pratt) Owen, of that 
cit_\. Mrs. Phillips lost her father when she was 
but foiu- years old, and her mother one year later. 
Dr. Phillips and his wife have one child living. El- 
len P., who married I'Tauk E. Piradley, a lawyer of 
.\'ew ^'lu•k City, in 1897; ""'^ child. Xancy, has been 
born of this union. Tn 1893 Mrs. Phillips organ- 
ized the Sarah Kiggs liumiihreys Chapter. Daugh- 
ters of the .\merican Revolution (the twelfth chap- 
ter in the .State of Connecticut), and was its first 
regent, continuing to fill that ofifice for three years. 
Mrs. Philli])s is a comiuunicant of the Episcopal 
(.'hurcli. 

THOMAS L. RE.TLTA', city editor of the ^feri- 
dcn Daily Jotinial. and secretary of and stockholder 
in the Joiu^nal Publishing Co. of that city, is one of 
its well known citizens. 

John Reilly, the father of our subject, was a na- 
tive of Cootehill, County Cavan, Ireland, whence he 
came to America. Locating in Xew Britain, Conn., 
he followed his trade of iron molder there until 
1877, when he moved to Meriden, again engaging in 
his trade for several years. From Meriden lie went 
to Hamilton, Ontario: thence to Buffalo, on tlie offi- 
cial statt, in the Erie county penitcntiarv, and he 
efficiently filled that office until Oct. 3. 1901, wiien 
his death occurred. He was married in New Brit- 
.•lin to Catherine h'agan, wlio was born near his old 
home in Ireland, daughter of Lawrence Fagan. Her 
death, in 1878, was the result of an accident, and 
she was buried in the Catholic cemeterv in .\ew 
Britain. 

Thomas L. Reilly was born in New I'ritain, 
Conn., Sept. 20, 1858, and received liis early educa- 
tion there in the parochial school of .Si. .Marv's 
Church, or "Town School," as it was called. In order 
to fit himself for the jjrofession of teacher he attend- 
ed the .State Xormal School, from which he graduat- 
ed with honor in 1876. but instead of teaching he 
took the position of town clerk's assistant, spending 
about a year in the office wiiii John Walsh, when that 
citizen was the incumbent. .Soon after this he en- 
gaged as a reporter on the Hartford SuinUix Globe. 
In the fall of i877hecanHMo Meriden with his par- 
ents and entered the law oiilice of Judge D. J. Dona- 
hoe, now one of the leading jurists of Middletowu. 
Conn,, remaining a student there for one vear. Dis- 



594 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



liirhcd by the sad doatli of his moth. r. and the remov- 
,'d of his mentor, Jiidi^e Donahoe. to Middlelo\vn,Mr. 
Jvcilly found circumstances unfavorable to the con- 
tinuance of his leijjal stuches and took a position as 
l)ookkeeper with the firm of J. F. fUitler. continuing 
with them until 1.S80, when he became the JNIeriden 
correspondent of the Kew Haven Union, which then 
had no circulation in .Meriden, I lowev.r.it soon after 
leached a circulation of i,()Oi). Later our subject 
became connected with the .Meriden Penny I'rcss. 
under J. 11. Alabbett. tillino a reportorial position, 
and stiil later was associated in a like capacity with 
W. F. (Irahani, on the .Meri<lcn k'l-l^nblicau. remain- 
ing with this latter journal until December, 1885, 
wiien he went to the Xew Haven /v\\i,'/j7t'r. He was 
the paper's legislative reporter during the session 
of 1886. In April, 1886, with F'rancis Atwater, Lew 
Allen and F". K. Sands, he formed the Journal Pub- 
lishing Co., and was made secretary of the company 
and city editor of the i)ai)er, which positions he has 
since filled. An active Democrat, he has been one of 
the leaders in his ])arly in iMeridcn, and in the Pre.s- 
idt-ntial campaign of i(>>o he was elected chairman 
(if till' town comniittc'e, and had the satisfaction of 
reducing the Re])iil)lican majority frotii 1.477 i" 
i^qf) to 54 in ii)0(). 

-Mr. Rcilly has t.ikeii an active part in all pro- 
gressive movements in Meriden, is a member of the 
school board, a director of the .Meriden Public Li- 
brary, and ecpiallv ])roininent in social and fraternal 
organizations, being a member of Meriden Lodge, 
Xo. 35, benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, 
in which he filled the ofticc of exalted ruler for two 
terms; of the Amaranth C'lnb, in which he has filled 
the office of jjresident for _\ears ; a charter member 
and organizer of Silver City Council, No. 2, Knights 
of C'olumbus; one of the organizers of the Catholic 
CI11I1; a member of the Ro\al .Arcanum; the ilacca- 
bees: and of the Silver C'ity Lodge, A. O. U. W. 
Much is due to Mr. Ri-illy for the stand he has taken 
in regar.d to sports in .Meriden. 

In 1884, in lUackstone, .Mass., was celebrated 
ihr marriage of our subject to .Maria I£. Rowen, a 
])cjpular vf)ung schoul ifaeher of that town. To this 
union lia\e lieui b irn seven clnldreii, Robert, Kath- 
u'iix-, .\lar_\', Louis, .\rlhur. Rose and .\gnes. The 
religious connection of the family is with the Cath- 
olic Church. 

I'RA.Xlv ]':L1!F:RT smith, secretary, treas- 
urer, superintendent ami general manager of the 
.Stonv Creek Oyster Co., was born in New Haven, 
|ul\' 31, 1854, son of ( liles (iriswold and Tsmily 
( Potter) Smith. The parents were natives of Mid- 
dlesex and .\ew Haven counties, respectively. The 
])aternal grandfather w.as David Smith, a fartiur 
and shoemaker by occupation, lived many years in 
.Madison, where he died. He married .Merc\- (iris- 
wold. 'J"he maternal grandfather. William Potter, 
was a merchant of .\'cw Haven. He married Miss 
Marv Bills. 



Giles Griswold Smith was reared in Aladison, 
anfl for twenty years was engaged in the oyster and 
fish business at Stony Creek, where he died .Aug. 31, 
i8<-;i, at the age of fifty-eight. The following chil- 
dren were born to him and his wife : F'rauk Elbert ; 
Charles E. ; Jennie Louise, who married Charles 
I luntley ; Mary A., wdio is the wife of Anderson 
Cook ; and Ethel E., who married Robert Rowe. 

F'rank Elbert Smith was reared in Madison and 
Stony Creek, received a common-school education, 
and served his apprenticeship to the business in 
which he is engaged with the Stony Creek Oyster 
Co., beginning this work at the early age of six- 
teen years. 2\Ir. Smith has been associated with 
this company continuously since the first day he be- 
gan work, is now the largest owner in the com- 
pany, and has held his present position since 1885. 

Mr. Smith was married Nov. 11, 1876, to Helen 
E., a daughter of Nathaniel H. and Adeline (Doo- 
little) Bishop, of Stony Creek. They have two 
children, Gertrude A. and Maude H. E. Mr. 
Smith and his family are members of the .Stony 
Creek Congregational Church, and he is a member 
of Seaside Lodge, No. 84, L O. O. F. ; Binder 
Lodge, No. 65, A. O. LI. W. ; and the N. E. O. P. 
Mr. Smith has served on the Board of Education, 
and has proved himself a man of public spirit and 
good character. His business ability and energetic 
nature commandi respect, and' have jnished him 
rapidly to the front. He is a Republican in politi- 
cal faith. 

ARTHUR NETTLETON FARNHAAI is 
widely known in and around New Haven as pi-Q- 
prietor of the Crescent Gardens, at Westville, where 
for almost twenty-five years he has carried on a 
thriving business in market gardening in all its 
branches, and on an extensive scale. He is one of 
the substantial business men of the city, and in all 
the relations of life has proved himself a worthy 
scion of a famih' which has been established in Con- 
necticut since early Colonial days, and whose mem- 
l>ers have always been among tlie most respected in 
the community. 

(I) Ralph Farnham, the first of this branch on 
.\merican soil, came from England, and settled in 
.Xorth .Andiiver, Mass. He died Jan. 8, 1691. He 
married Elizabeth Holt, who died Oct. 14, 1710, and 
their children were Sarah, Ralph, John, Llenry, 
Hannah, Thomas and Ephraim. 

(II) Ralph Farnham, son of Ralph, the settler, 
married Sarah Sterling Oct. 9, 1685, and their chil- 
dren were Sarah, Llenry, Ralph, Daniel, Abigail, 
William. .Xathaniel, Barachias, Benjamin, Joseph 
and Zebediali. 

(IH) Nathaniel Farnham, son of R;ilph, moved 
from .Vndover. Mass., to C'onnecticut, settling in 
FLunpton, town of Windham, where he died July y, 
1760, aged sixty-five. On May 19, 1719, he married 
TIannah Preston, and they had the following named 
children : Nathaniel, Hannah, Sarah, Anne, Solo- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



595 



nion, Rebecca, Asa, Jcremiali, John, Marllia and 
Aaron. 

(I\") Jeremiah Farnham, son of Xathanic!. was 
born July 31, 1733, in Hampton, and dieil March ly, 
1827. On Nov. 9, 1774, he married Lucy Durkee, 
who died Sept. 2, 1809, aged sixty-two \ears. Tlieir 
children were Rufus, Aaron, Lucv, leremiah and 
Asa. 

(\') Aaron Farnham, son of Jeremiah, was liorn 
Nov. 15, 1776, in Hampton, was a farmer, and died 
April 30, 1853. On Aug. 11, 1803, he married 
Sarah Abbott, who died Sept. 25, 1815, and chil- 
dren as follows were born to them: ^\aron, Will- 
iam H., Henry A., Sally F.. William Holt, I'.lisha, 
Betsey, and one that died in infancy. 

(VI) William Flolt F\Tndiam, father of the gen- 
tleman whose name introduces this sketch, was born 
Aug. 6, 1 810, in \Vindham, Conn., and after his 
marriage settled in Seymour, this state, wdiere he 
was engaged as an a.K maker. He was married in 
Seymour Sept. 18, 1841, to Miss Orilla Xcttlelon, 
who was born May. 8, 1822, and survives him. His 
death occurred April 2T). 1878, in Westville, whither 
he had removed, and where his youngest child was 
born. 'J'he others are natives of Seymour. ( 1 ) 
Sarah married Charles E. Gorliam, a farmer and 
milkman of Westville, and they have two children, 
Fena J. and Myrtie O. (2j William II. is men- 
tioned more fully below. (3) Julia .X. married 
Sergt. Henry M. Crocker, of Xew Haven. (4) .\r- 
thur N. is mentioned more fully below. 

It will not be lout of place in this connection to 
give a brief record of the Nettleton family, to which 
Mrs. Orilla F'arnham belongs : Her emigrant an- 
cestor, Samuel Nettleton, came from England in 
1639, was in Wethersfield, Conn., for a time and in 
1644 settled in Branford. He died in F'airfield, 
Conn., in 1655-56. He and his wife, Maria, whom 
he married in England, had children as follows: 
John, Martha. Mary, Fsabelle, Flaimah, .Sarah, Fet- 
tice and Samuel. Some of these were born in I'.ng- 
land. 

(II) Samuel Nettleton, the ne.xt in the line we 
are tracing, was born in Milford, Conn., and married 
Martha Baldwin, of that town, wdio was born April 
I, 1663. Their children w-ere Elizabeth. John. Sam- 
uel, Nathan. Martha, Joseph, Theo]jhilns. .^ylvamis 
and Elizabeth (2). 

(HI) John Nettleton, son of Sanuiel (j), was 
born in Alilford Sept. 18, 1689, and <lied in March, 
1767. He married Sarah Bryan, and their children 
were John, 'I'heophilus, Sarah, Joseph, Mary, Isaac 
and Nathan. 

(IV) Nathan Nettleton, son of John, was born 
in Milford May 4, 1734, and died in 1782. On Nov. 
3- 1757. lie married Sybil Buck-ingham, who was 
born .Sept. 13. 1737, and their children were Nathan. 
Eli. Jolui, Sybil. 

( \' ) John Nettleton. son of Nathan, was born 
in Milford Oct. 9, 1765, and died Aug. 8, 1842. On 
Nov. 29, 1785, he married Comfort Iline. He was 



a private under Capt. Davidson in the Revolu- 
tion. 

( \'I ) Oliver Xeltleton, son of John, and father 
of .Mrs. i'arnham, was born in .^Iilford .March 3, 
1787, was a farmer by occupation, and died Jan. 31, 
i8fi4. He married Sarah Treat, a native of Milford, 
Comi., and si.x children were born to them: Min- 
erva, Sanuiel T., Sarah E., Orilla (Mrs. F"arnham), 
Clarissa A. an<l John I'. 

\\'ii.i.i.\.\i II. l•'.\K.^•II.\^t was born '\Ia\ 26, 1S46, 
in Seymour, Coim.. and was reared in Westville, 
where he received his eilucation in the public schools. 
During his earlier life he remained on the farm 
with his father, and he has for some \ears been in- 
terested in business with his brother. Fie is a man 
of considerable executive ability, active in various 
lines, and has become well known in the city of his 
residence. I le was the first alderman elected from 
the Thirteenth ward after the consolidation of the 
town and city, and was re-elected to that incum- 
bency, which he filled two years. Fie is a Republican 
in i)olitical sentiment. Always interested in mili- 
tary affairs, he commenced as a private in the Sec- 
ond Company, Governor's Horse Guard, and was 
promoted steadily imtil advanced to the rank of 
major, which, however, he refused to accept. Mr. 
F'arnham is a fine horseman, and when the Guard 
attended the Buffalo Exposition he was selected to 
carry the colors. F'raternally he is a member of the 
v. & A. M., Olive Branch Lodge, and the A. O. i;. 
W. In religion .Mr. F'arnham is a devout Method- 
ist, and he has been an earnest worker in the church 
over thirty-five years, during which time he has effi- 
ciently filled many official positions in that body, and 
he served faith f idly twenty years as superintendent 
of the Sunday-school. On I\Iarch 30, 1870. Mr. 
F'arnham married Miss Flelen J. Smith, of Milford, 
a daughter of Edward and Electa (Clark) Smith, of 
that place. Two children have blessed this union, 
Mae P. and Jjemiett W. The latter received a thor- 
ough education, attending the public school in West- 
ville, Hopkins Grammar School, and Yale Scien- 
tific School, from which latter he was graduated in 
June, 1897; he was (piite prominent in athletics <iur- 
ing his college career; he married, Nov. 27, 1895, 
Mary Dana Eoote, of W'estville. 

.Aktiiuu N. F.\i^\-ii.\M was born Oct. 16, 1854, 
in Westville, as previously stated, and there has 
passed his entire life. He obtained a good literary 
education, attending the Westville public school, the 
Dwight school, and Gen. Russell's Military Insti- 
tute, and conuiienced work with S. FI. ^lerwin & 
Son, ]X)rk packers, in the office, remaining with them 
four years. On Jan. 18, 1877, he embarked in the 
business whicli has since engaged his attention, and 
in which he has met with such abundant success. 
His farm, which is located in Westville. comi^rises 
five hundred acres, all under cultivation, and eni- 
|)loyment is given to from one hundred to two Inm- 
dred hands, according to the season. Fruit, plants 
and vegetables in great varietv are raised, and .Mr. 



596 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Farnhaiii also gives his attention to the breeding of 
liigh class land and water fowl, and to some extent 
to fine stock, always keeping a number of new 
milch cows. J lis products are shipped to various 
places. In addition to all this he takes contracts 
for teaming in New Haven, and, as mav well be sup- 
posed, is a very busy man, all the numerous branciies 
of his large business bein.g under his personal su- 
pervision. The Crescent (lard-ns are famed for 
the quality of the products raisetl, and the success 
which -Mr'. Farnham enjoys has been won in a con- 
stant endeavor to do the best he can, and to give his 
patrons the best value, a fact which they have not 
been slow to recognize and appreciate. 

Mr. Farnham has found time, with all his multi- 
farious interests, to concern himself aljout the wel- 
fare of his locality, and his public spirit has ])een 
specially evident in his active connection with the 
Westville Imjirovement .Society, of which he is presi- 
dent. He served twelve years on the Westville 
school board, and the character of the man is suffi- 
cient key to the nature of his services. He is a Re- 
publican in politics. Like his brother, he is a zeal- 
ous worker in the Methodist Church, and he has been 
associated for about thirty years with the Westville 
M. E. Church, of which he has been a trustee for 
twentv years. He has served as i)resident of the 
hoard', and was chairman of the building committee 
at the erection of the new church, in 1893. Socially 
he is a member of Ulive llranch Lodge. F. & A. M.. 
and of \\■e^t Rock Lodge. Xo. 48, A. U. I'. W.. of 
which he has been treasiu-er since its formation, 
about ten vears ago. b'or about twenty-eight years 
he lielonged to the (icjvernor's Florse Guard, and 
he held all the offices in that organization up to 
cai)tain, in which rank he was serving at the time 
the ( 'luarcl tlisbanded. 

( )n .\'ov. 3. 1880, .Mr. I'arnham married Miss 
Jennie B. Austin, daughter of John X. j\ustin. of 
Westville, and they have lia<l live children, riir<lse>- 
A.. .Selletta C)., ,\nni'va .\1.. Jnhn Royden ( deceased ) 
and .Myrlon .\. 

.\LI'd'".R'r A. IRI( ).\'. retired, for over a quarter 
of a centnr\- a resi)e>ned resident of \\'aterl ury. and 
a well-known l)uilder and contractor, is a nativ,; of 
Massachusetts, born at Creat Larringti.n Ajiril i^ 

^845; 

(icorge Ii'ion, his lather, was liorn at Haden- 
Raden, (iermany, and came to this country when 
thirty-si.x years of age. evenluallv settling in Great 
H.-irringU m, .Mass.. whrre I'.e followed the business 
of eonlractor and builder, lie there married Hen- 
riitta lilentz. also a native of ( lermaiiv. born in 
Hessen-Harmstadt. whence the familv caiue to Great 
Harrington, where her father was engaged in the 
tanning busines.'^. .\ family of si.x ebiblren w.re 
born to George Irion and his wife, as follows: Ma- 
tilda is the deceased wife of Charles I'uller. a 
machinist in Lee, Mass.; .\ugustus is a sewing- 
machine agent in Long Island Citv ; Albert A. is our 



subject ; Edward, a cigar merchant in Xew York, 
died in Colorado; ]\Iina died unmarried; Colena is 
the wife of Edward Morree, and they live in the 
W'est. The parents of this family both died in 
(jreat Harrington, the father in 1879, the mother in 
1867. 

Albert A. Irion, whose name opens this sketch, 
received a liberal education at the schools of Great 
Harrington, and at the age of fourteen years com- 
menced w^orking in a woolen-mill. After four years' 
experience there he learned carpmtry, a trade he fol- 
lowed all his life, together with a considerable 
amount of contracting and buihling in Waterbury, 
to which city he came in 1868. In 1898 he retired 
from active business. 

On Sept. 27, 1869, ;\Ir. Irion married Geimette 
\'an ;\lstyne, who was born in \\'est Stockbridge, 
Mass.. a daughter of Thomas L. \'an Alstyne, who 
was de.-cended from old Dutch stock. Six chil- 
dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Irion, all sons: 
George, Julius, Burton, Roley, Albert and Edward ; 
Julius and Roley are deceased. The family in re- 
ligious faith are Episcopalians ; in politics Mr. Irion 
is independent. For a number of years he .•^erved 
in the Doard of public works in Waterbury. 

OR\TLLE HAR\'EY STE\'ENS. long an 
honored and respected citizen of Waterbury, was 
born in Clinton, Conn., !March 31, 1824, antl ditd 
Nov. 17, 1894, at the age of seventy. 

Capt. Elias Stevens, his grandfather, was born 
in Clinton Sept. 20, 1762, and died June 6, 1852. 
In the war of the Revolution he served at West 
Pomt. Priscilla Chapman, liis wife, was the daugh- 
ter of Deacon Jedediah Chapman, and was born at 
West Brook, Conn., in lyM). They were mar- 
ried in 1785, and became the parents of ten chil- 
dren: Kiel, Polly, Henry, Charles, Elias, Harvey 
(father of Orville Harvey), Samuel L., Louisa, 
Jedediah and Nathaniel. 

Harvey Stevens was born in Clinton .March 31. 
1799, and died April 19, 1888. He married Betsy 
Kilbourn, who was born in Clinton, Conn., a daugh- 
ter of Jonathan Kilbourn. a representative of an old 
English family. Jonathan Kilbourn was born in 
Hast Hadidam. ,-ind was descended from Thomas Kil- 
bourn, who was born in England in 1578. John, 
son of Thonia.s was born in England in 1624. and 
had a son John (2), born in Waterford. Jonathan 
Kilbourn ([), son of John, was born in Glaston- 
bury, Conn., and his son, Jonathan (2), was born 
in Colchester, Conn., and became the owner of sev- 
eral mills. Jinalhan (2) was of an inventive turn 
of mind, and the iron screw is the product of his 
thought ; he was a politician, and reprc>cnted his- 
district in the General Court. Capt. Jonathan (3), 
son of Jonathan (2), was born in Colchester, and 
served in the Revolutionary war, and his son, Jona- 
than (4). was born in East Iladdam, and became 
the father of Jonathan (5), the father of Mrs. 
Betsy (Kilbourn) Stevens. To Mr. and Mrs. Ste- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



597 



vens were Ijorn two children : Orville Harvov and 

Elizabeth, the latter the wife of S. \^'ilcox, of Clin- 
ton. 

Orville Harvey Stevens was reared to early man- 
hood en his father's farm anil ha<I the i)riviles;e nI 
an unnsnallv g'ood edneation. When a young man 
he worked on the farm ilurint; the summer, and in 
the winter taught school. In early manhood he went 
to Hartford, Conn., where he was engaged in the 
.grocery business for sonic two years, and in 1S52 
made his first appearance in W'aterlitiry. Here lie 
promptlv became established in business, and was 
associated with tlic commercial interests of the cit.\' 
as long as he lived. The I'lake iS; Jnhnson Co. owes 
Tiot a little of its extended business to his anluous 
labors as its president for many vears. .At one tinu- 
he was treasurer of the I'arringtdii .Manufacturing 
Company. 

On Slay 5. 1833. Mr. Stevens was united in 
marriage with Harriet 1^. h'.lton, who was born in 
Hartford, a daughter of Calvin and Jerusha (Cad- 
wcll) Elton, the former a son of William Elton. 
John Elt< n was the first of the family to come to 
this country, and he settled at liranford. Conn., later 
moving from there to Tiristol. l^benezar Elton, his 
son, was liorn at Middletown, Conn., was the father 
of a nunurous family, of wlmm Nathaniel Elton 
was the father of \Villiam, whose name appears 
above. The union of Mr. and .Mrs. Stevens was 
hlessed with two children : Charles E. and Jennie 
E. Jennie E. became the wife of William K. Mayo 
(deceased), who was a commodore in the navy; she 
is still living. Charles E. graduated from Erinceton, 
was a mining engineer in the western country, and 
is now a hotel keeper at Readheld, Maine. Mr. 
Stevens was a Reiiuhlican, and was closcl)- associated 
Avith munici]jal politics, serving as selectman and 
Toad commissioner many years. He had other im- 
portant nominations, but suffered the fate of his 
party and was not elected. He filled a long term as 
water commissioner and another as. police commis- 
sioner. Mr. Stevens was a courteous gentleman, 
of a kind heart and a gracious manner. Honesty, 
integrilv, breadth of view, a high sense of honor 
and a deep religious feeling were strongly marked 
characteristics of the man. 

GEORGE M\'1'".RS. master mechanic for the 
Goodyear India Rubber Glove Co., and a highly es- 
teemed citizen of Xaugaluck, is a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, born in Lycoming county, Nov. 22. 1845. 

George Myers, .Sr., his father, was born and 
1 eared en a farm in the same count\', and there spent 
his entire life engaged as a farmer and lumber 
dealer. He wedded Mary Snydi^r. who was born 
in New Jersey, of (!erman ancestry, and to them 
were born twelve children, namely: Lucy married 
(.). Ramsdale. a lumberman from Massachusetts, 
now deceased; .Andrew is a fanner of Jersey Shore, 
]'a. ; Barbara and Eliza both died young: Harriet 
married John Gast, a meat dealer of Lock Haven. 



Pa.: Catherine (deceased) was the wife of G. P. 
Smith, a railroad man from .Massachusetts; Rc- 
1 ecca married Edward .Messer, a lumberman of 
Williamsporl, Pa.: Mary died unmarried; L\-dia 
is the wife of Robert Easlon, a machinist of Will- 
iams]iort. Pa,; ^Michael is a lumber dealer of tliar 
place : (ieorgc, our subject, is next in order nf birtii ; 
Robert died voung. The father died when our siib- 



__. _, J,. . 'U our SI- 

ject was only four years old, and the mother dc- 
partedi this life in iSt;2. Roth were earnest nieni- 
liers of the Methodist Church, and he was a Whig 
in ])olitics. 

The first sixteen years of his life George Myers 
spent upon the home farm in Lycoming county. Pa., 
aiding in its operation anel attending the district 
schools of the Ii cality. He then left home, and for 
thirteen years was engaged in railroad construction 
in difl'erent sections of the c.iuntry, devoting two 
years to the building of the .\'ew F.ngland railroad. 
He then went to Carniel. Putnam Co., N. Y., where 
he worked on the railroad for the same length of 
lime. While there Mr. Myers was married, Dec, 24, 
1870, to .Miss De Ette Nichols, a daughter of Lsaac 
Nichols and a sister of 1'. S. Nichols, of Nauga- 
tnck. On leaving Carinel they went to Pleasant- 
\ille. Pa., where cur subject ran an oil pumping en- 
gine in the oil region for about six momlis. He 
was next engaged in railroad work at ririghton, 
-Mass., for one year, and at Zoar. Mass.. for the 
same length of time, after which he went to Plain- 
field. \'t., and was similarly employed until coming 
to Naugatuck. Conn., in 1875. , Here he has since 
made his home. For six years he was engineer for 
the (joodyear India Rubber Shoe Co., and at the 
end of that period entered the employ of the Good- 
\ear India Rubber Glove Co. as machinist, remain- 
ing with them up to the jsresent time. He is now 
one of the most trusted employes of the firm, hav- 
ing their entire confidence and respect, and has held 
the responsible position of master mechanic for the 
past twelve years. His son, Charles S. Mvcrs, has 
lieeii bookkeeper for the (kiodyear Metallic India 
Rubber Shoe Co. for ten years. Mr. and Mrs. 
Myers have had two children ; the daughter, Kather- 
ine, is iU!W deceased. 

Politically .Mr. Myers is identified with tiie Re- 
publican party. He was chief of the Naugatuck 
fire ilei;artment for about three years, and has always 
taken a deep and commendable interest in | u!)lic 
afTairs, lie. is a prominent and active member of 
several civic .societies, including the Improved Car- 
der of Red ;\len, the h'oresters of .America, Ih.e An- 
cient Order of I'nited Workmen and She])hard 
Lodge. No. 78, F. & .A. M., of Naugatuck. With 
his wife he also ludongs to the Eastern .Star Chapter 
and the .\maranth of Waterbury, and both hold 
membershi]) in the Episco])al Church. 

GUST.AV .A. P.ECEER is an intelligent, indus- 
trious citizen of German birth, who has coiitribnted 
his mite toward the material and intellectual growth 



598 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of Xew Haven county. His family has been among 
the most respected in Frankfurt, on tlie River Oder, 
in Prussia, in which city he was brou.^ht up. He 
was born in Koenigslierj;. .\ug. (j, 1S34. His pa- 
ternal grandfather was John brederick, and his fa- 
ther's Christian name was Carl b'rederick. The 
latter was for many years a clerk in the employ of 
the government, retaining hi^ pnsiticm until his 
death, July i, 1851; he married Jnhanna Melchert, 
whose birthplace was New l!randenbnrg, Mecklen- 
burg, Germany, and she died at the age of seventy- 
six. Six children were burn to them, of whom three 
are yet living: A(klheid ami Johamies reside in Ber- 
lin, Germany: and Gustav A. The father and 
mother were both nu-nibi'rs of the Evangelical 
Church. 

Mr. Becker remaini'd in the b'atherland until he 
was twenty-six years nld. In 18(10, he crossed the 
ocean with the familv nf his intended to hnd a new 
liome among |)ei)ple whose customs and s])eech were 
to him new and strange. He brought with him, 
however, what was better than fortune — good health, 
a sound constitution, sturdy purpose and rugged in- 
tegrit_\'. He had learned the trade of brass work- 
ing in his native cnuntry. but after reaching these 
shores he found his way to Kentucky, and went to 
work ujion a farm. 1-fnni that .'^tate he went to 
Cincinnati, ( )hio. ami thence drifte<l back to Xew 
York. In iXh^ he went to Seymour, where he en- 
tered the employ of .Austin (i. Hay. Har<l Rubber 
Works, which in time changeil to the H. P. and E. 
Day Manufacturing Co., as a turner of hard rubber. 
He soon demonstrated his skill as a workman, and 
in 1872, nine years after beginning his new experi- 
ence, he was proiuoted to a responsible jwsition, 
and has continued to discharge the arduous and 
responsible duties of that important post with signal 
ability and unswerving fidelity. His technical 
knowledge is sujierior to that of any man about the 
works; and this, joined to his long practical experi- 
ence, makes him a most ca])able and efficient su])er- 
intendent. Naturally endowed with mechanical 
genius of a high oriler. he has lieen al)le tn devise 
and perfect many iniijmvements in the machinery 
used in the plant. The fnree of employes not infre- 
(|uently numbers one hundred, and all are under his 
direct personal suiiervision and control. During his 
long connection with the estalilishment, he has seen 
many changes in its management, one generation 
succeeding an earlier one, and sons taking the i)l;ices 
once filled by their fathers. 

Mr. I'.ecker has been twice married. I lis lirst 
wife was .Vuguste S. Trost, a (ierman maiden, who 
died within a year after their union, in 1867. His 
second wife was Elizabeth, a daughter of Coiu-.ad 
and a sister of John N. Po])p, a biographical sketch 
of whom may be found u])on another page. She 
was born in liavaria, .March 27, 185J, ;md de])arted 
this life June 24, 1901. after a happ\ uninn of twen- 
ty-three years. 

Like most men of his race and temperament, Mr. 



Becker is genial, whole-souled and generous, faith- 
ful to his friends and charitable toward human frail- 
ty. He built his present handsome residence in 
1895, and here he loves to dispense a liberal hos- 
pitality. He is a member of Morning Star Lodge, 
No. 47, A. F. & A. AL, of Seymour, and formerly 
belonged to the Concordia Society. His political 
creed is that of the Republican party, while in relig- 
ious faith he is an Episcopalian, and was for many- 
years a vestryman in that communion. 

SHERMAN W. CPHPMAN, D. D. S., who for 
the past twenty-two years has been practicing den- 
tistry in Waterbury, has won for himself a reputa- 
tion in the profession second to none in the State. 

Dr. Chipman is a native of Connecticut, born 
( )rt. 2, 1852, at the old W'heaton place, on the edge 
of the town of Waterbury, a son of William Chip- 
man, who was born in Waterbury Aug. 13, 1811. He 
was apprenticed to the trade of shoemaker, but be- 
coming dissatisfied ran away from home, eventually 
reaching Mobile, Ala., where he learned the car- 
jjcnter's trade, and followed same there several years. 
Returning to Connecticut, he, in coinpany with his 
brother George, purchased a farm in Watertown, 
Litchfield county, at which time he was in the em- 
ploy of the Seth Thomas Clock Co. After a time 
he removed to Middlebury, Xew Haven county, pur- 
chased the old Wheaton place, and there for several 
years conducted a milk route. Retiring from that 
business, he went to Cheshire, New Haven county,, 
and in his later years bought and sold farms, at the 
same time carrying on the carpentry business. He 
died in Cheshire April 21, 1893, a Republican in 
politics, and a member of the Congregational 
Church. 

On A'lay 6, 1840, William Chipman was married 
to Rowena Baldwin, who was born April 11, 1816, 
of Scottish lineage, and died Jan. 27, 1894, in Che- 
shire, Conn. Four children came to this union: 
Miss Jane E., born Sept. 17, 1842; Susan N., born 
Nov. 23, 1845, died April 26, 1886; Timothy L., born 
June 14. 1850, a jeweler by trade, but now conduct- 
ing the old homestead in Cheshire ; and Sherman W. 

Sherman W^. Chipman, whose name introduces 
this sketch, received his education in Cheshire, at- 
tending the Episcopal Military .\cademy. He then 
taught school two terms in his native town, also one 
term in Somerville, X. J., and upon returning to- 
Ciinnecticut contmenced the study of dentistry with 
Dr. .Austin B. Fuller, of New Haven. At the end 
of about one year with Dr. Fuller our subject at- 
tendcHl the Pennsylvania Dental College, at Phila- 
delphia, and dissected at the Jefferson Medical Col- 
lege, then returned to Cheshire and opened a dental 
parlor which he continued for two years. During^ 
this time, as he had made himself i)roficient in medi- 
cine and surgery while in Philadelphia, he was called 
in to assist at a post mortem examination. On I'eb. 
28, 1874, he graduated from the Pennsylvania Den- 
tal College. The Doctor then oi)ened a dental office- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



599 



in Torrin_s;ton. Litchfield county, the first of its kind 
in tlie place, and here he practiced three years, mean- 
time o])enini; a l)raiicli otifice at Tlioniaston. same 
county, attendinjj; to both for a time. In 1879 he 
abandoned the Torrin<;ton office, and opened a 
branch in \\'alerl)nry. New Haven conniy, in course 
of time siviuij up the Thomaston office and movinti' 
to W'aterbury. wliere he has for a poritnl of twenlv- 
two years, been enj;aged in the continunus ]iracticc' 
of his profession. 

The Doctor in pohtics is a Republican. l)ut not 
active in the affairs of the party. l!y his own in- 
dividual efforts he has risen from the position of a 
poor boy (who had to teach school in order to si'cure 
the means of taking him through college) to that of 
a man of wealth, accunndatcd by ability in his pro- 
fession, assisted by industry and indomitable per- 
.severance. not to speak of the popularity he has so 
justly earned. 

WAI.TI'.R CLARK LEWIS, one of the esteem- 
ed and well-known citizens of the town of Madison, 
is a descendant of an ohl and honored family, origin- 
ally located in luigland. 

George Lewis, the first of the name to locate in 
Xcw England, came, about 1633. from East Cireen- 
wich, Kent Co., luigland, where he had married 
Saraii Jenkins, and located at l-'lymouth. ^L^ss. A 
year later he removed to Scituate, and there joined 
the church, later removing to Barnstable, where he 
died in iCj<)3. His children were: ^Lary, who mar- 
ried John IJryant, of Scituate. Alass. ; Thoiuas : 
George, who married Mary Lombard, of Scituate: 
James, who married Sarah Lane; John; i-^phraim : 
Sarah : Xathaniel ; and Joseph. 

Thomas Lewis, son of George, came to .\merica 
with his parents. He was a surveyor of highways. 
He married Mary Davis. 

Thomas Lewis, son of Thomas, was born in 
r.arnstable in iC)56. lived in l-'almonth. later in l-'.ast- 
ham, where he died. His fifth son, Zel)ulnn, was 
the direct ancestor of our subject. 

Zebulon Lewis removed to Haddam. Conn., in 
1723, from Salem. Mass. He became the father of 
six sons: Zebulon, Xathan. Eleazer. Levi, Elisha 
and Thomas. 

Xathan Lewis, son of Zeljulon, married and in 
his family of children was a son. l-'rancis. 

Francis Lewis grew to manhood, married an<l 
became the father of three sons, Ansel, Milton and 
Levi. 

Levi Lewis, ihe grandfiuher of our subject, was 
born in Haddam, where he engaged in agricultural 
])ursuits. He married .^arah Doane, and moved 
with his family to Madison, wliere he located on the 
Kelsey place, near the count\- line, continuing to 
farm. A stanch Whig, he upheld the principles of 
that ])arly throughom life. Ills death occurred in 
Ahidison. In his family were three children: I'liil- 
ander; John E., and I'hilona. wh(j married Joseph 
Doane, of Clinton, Connecticut. 



John Erastus Lewis, the father of our subject, 
was born in Haddam. Eel). 9, 1815, and came with 
his ])arents to Madison, where he grew to manhood. 
His life was a busy one. He engaged in farming 
and the manufacture of lumber, was also in the prod- 
uce l)nsiness, and he was i)art owner of a vessel. 
Endowed with considerable energy and business 
ability, Mr. Lewis became a prominent man in the 
community, was noted for the correctness of his life, 
and was spoken of as one who lived up to the pre- 
cepts of the Golden Rule. 

( )n l-"eb. 13, 1854, he was married in ILaddam. to 
Drusilla Clark, daughter of Cisleman and Betsey 
( I'ellon) Clark, granddaughter of .\sher Clark, and 
great-granddaugliter of Aaron Clark, a soldier of 
the Revolutionary war. Three children were ])orn 
of this union: Walter Clark, the sultject of this 
sketch ; Wallace ; and Catherir.e. who married Ralph 
Burr, of Middletown. Mr. Lewis died Hec. 2^, 
1893. Mrs. Lewis, who still survives, resides on the 
old homestead. 

Walter C. Lewis, the eldest son of the fa:nily, 
W'as born April 24, 1855, at the family homestead, 
where he was reared, and attended the district school 
and Lee's Academy. His life has been occupied with 
farming, and he has taken a dee]) interest in the 
cultivation of the land, making his place, yearly, 
more attractive and valuable. ( )n May 14. 1879, 
Air. Lewis married Mary Xellie Bristol, a daughter 
of Charles and Alary (i'armeleej Bristol, and a 
granddaughter of Uriah Bristol and Albert I'ar- 
melce. Three children have come to this union : 
Catherine Erancelia, born Sept. 12, 18S6; Wallace 
Erank. born Jan. 24, 1895; and Ravmond Bristol, 
I)orn Dec. 22, 1896. In politics Air. Lewis adheres 
to the Republican party. The family is identified 
with the Congregational Church. There are no 
more highly esteemed residents of Aladison than om- 
subject and his wife. 

EUGEXE R. HL'r.I'.ARD. one of the well- 
known residents of Xew Haven, connected with the 
prominent firm of Reynolds & Co.. and serving the 
c'ty as president of the lioard of Aldermen, is one 
of the solid and substantial citizens who are de- 
voted to the advancement and jjrogress of this city 
and hi r industries. 

Air. Hubbard is a product of Xew Ha\en. burn 
here Sept. 2j^, 1852. a son of Russell Hubliard, who 
was born in Aliddlesex county. Dec. 6, 1807, and 
died in June, 1887. Russell Hubbard married Aliss 
Ahdiala Wright, also of Aliddlesex county, l)orn 
April 17, 1813, and she died April, iSijq. .After 
marriage, Russell Hnbl)ard. who was a carpenter and 
joiner, came to Xew Haven, about 1835. and here 
reared in comfort his family of six children: Alahala 
wdio married Theodore b'. Lamb, of Xew Haven; 
Chauncy R.. who went to Itrazil. where he died 
when about twenty years of age: Ralph, who died 
in 1877; Willard. a dealer in brass goods, resides in 
Boston, Alass.; Herbert L., wlio is with Reynolds 



6oo 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



& Co., of New Haven : and Eugene R. During his 
whole Hfe, Air. Hul)l>ar(l was a consistent Demo- 
crat, and liotli he and wife were nienil)ers of the 
Universahst Church. 

luigene K. lluhhard spent his hoyhnod <lays in 
New Jlaven, and attended hotli ciwnnion and high 
school there. After he had passed his I'durieenih 
year, lie went to work in the New 1 laven Clock Co., 
where 'he remained three years, and then hecame an 
employe of the Reynolds Company, screw manufac- 
turers, where he continued fer two years, going 
thence to Danhiu-v, Conn., remaining one year. He 
then worked with' I'eck l!r(js. & Co., of New Haven, 
one year, and in March, 1874. he hecame shipping 
clerk with Reynolds & Co., and has continued with 
that firm e\er since. 

On Sept. 17, 1874, .Mr. lluhhard was married to 
Miss lunma J. I''rench, of New Haven, a daughter 
of Snnth and I'.melie I'rencli, and two children have 
been horn to them, Maud 1. and luigene \\. Mr. 
Hubbard has always l)een a Demncrat, and has taken 
an active interest in politics. In 1895. he was elected 
councilman in the l^leventh ward, which is regarded 
as a Rei)uhhcan ward, and he was the only one on 
the Democratic ward ticket that was elected, this 
tcstifving prelly strongly to the confidence and es- 
teem in which he is held by the community. In i8()6, 
he was nominated for alderman of ilie same ward, 
but in the city convention, he was nomina'ted lor the 
])Ositi(>n (if police commissioner, and thus was 
obliged to resign the previous ncjinination, in the 
following December being elected to the office, for 
three x'cars, a Keiiublican mayor being elected at the 
same time. A short time after his term began, a 
new citv charter was 1. uined ;mil ibis ihrew Mr. 
Hubbaril out of office by legislation, but the ma\or 
appointed him police commissioner, for one year. 
Jn April, k/k), he was elected alderman of the Si.xth 
ward, and has served most accejitably ever since, 
and has recently been made president of the lioard, 
and acting mayor in case of the absence or disability 
of the incumbeiil of that office. 

Fraternally, .Mr. Hulibard is connected with 
Hiram Lodge, No. I, A. V . & .\. iM.. and with 
Montowese J.odge, Ko. 15, ]. O. O. !•'., and is a 
member 01 lhe( )dd l'"ello\\s .Mutud ;\id .Association 
iiaving ])assed through all the cliairs in ihe 1. ( ). 
O. F., and has been its secretary. .Mr. I lubbard has 
the resi)ect and esteem of all classes, in New Haven, 
irrespective of party, and may be justly called one 
of her representative men. 

EDWJ.N RUSSELL WJHTIXG. For three 
generations the Whiting family have been promi- 
nently identified with the indusfies of C"onneclicut. 

Jacob Whiting, the grandfather of J'.dwin R., 
was born in Danlniry, Conn., Dec. 27, 1770. He 
moved to Whitney ville, where for many years he 
was closelv identified with F.li Whitney, the manu- 
facturer, and as the right-hand man of Mr. Whit- 
ney aided greatly in the devcloimient of hi> inven- 



tions and factory. Jacob Whiting married, Feb. 11, 
1791, Sarah Blake, wdio was born Feb. 17, 1769. 
Their family of seven children were as follows: 
Sally, born Sqjt. 28, 1791 ; Nathan, born April 11, 
1794; Jacob, father of our subject, born Alarch 5, 
1796; Jane, born Dec. 31. 1798; Daniel, born Aug. 
I, 1801; Daniel (2;, b^irn Jul_\- 8, 1803; Eveline, 
born jMay i, 1805. 

Jacob Whiting, the father of Edwin Russell, 
was a life-long resident of Hamden, Conn. . He ac- 
quired the trade of gunsmith, serving an eleven years 
apprenticeship with Eli Whitney, Sr., and for many 
>ears worked in the Whitney factory. He married, 
in October, 1816, Rebecca Ailing, a native of Ham- 
den, daughter of a farmer and butclur of that town. 
To Jacob and Rebecca ( Ailing j Whiting w'cre born 
seven children, as follows: Maria, born June 10, 
1818, married James F. Wilcox, of Westville, and 
died in 1898, leaving two daughters, Angelina 
(widow of Frank Cummings) and Ella (wife of 
Edwin Payne, of Llartfordj ; Jared, born in 1820, 
married Susan Leek, and died in the town of Ham- 
den in 1895, leaving a widow (who resides in 
Whitneyville), ami seven children, Ellen (de- 
ceased), Dennis, Isabella (deceased), Frederick 
(deceased), Putnam, Hayden and Isadora; Russell, 
born in 1822, died in infancy; Grace, born in 1824, 
is the widow of Frederick Thomas, of Westville; 
Mary, born May 4, 1827, died April 10, 1847, leav- 
ing one son, Burton L. Umberfield, now a prom- 
inent member of the police force, Hartford, Conn. ; 
Edwin R., subject of this sketch, born May 20, 
1830: Ellen, born in 1838. died Oct. 5, 1840. Re- 
liecca, the mother of these children, died in New 
Haven .April 7, 1880, aged eighty-three years. 
Jacob Whiting, the father, died in Hamden June 2, 
1866; he was a Democrat in politics, and in his re- 
ligious \iews independent. 

ICdwin K. Whiting, the subject of this sketch, 
passed his boyhood days at Whitneyville, attend- 
ing the public schools of the town until the age 
of fourteen years, when, on .Sc])t. 18, 1844, he came 
to New Haven, and at that age began a service at 
two. dollars jier week in what are now the works of 
C. Cowles Co., manufacturers of carriage trim- 
mings, but wdiich was then Judson, Cornwall & 
Cowles, \\iiich extende-d through the long jjeriod 
of thirty-five years. 

This long term of service was broken by Air. 
Whiting's military service during the Civil war. 
Il'i enlisted at Centcrville, Conn., Aug, 9, 1862, in 
C 1. 1, 24th Conn. \'. 1. The regiment was assi.gned 
to ( leu. Banks and ])artici[)atetl in his Louisiana 
campaign, ])erformiii.g an im])ortant ])arl at the 
sici'e of Port Hudson. Air. Whiting was taken ill, 
and was confined in the hospital from May 20, 
i8f>3, until August, when he was sent home. He 
was in the .service thirteen months and was mus- 
tered out at Middlctown, Conn., Sept. 30, 1863. 

Returning to New^ Haven Air. Whiting resumed 
his position with the C. Cowles Co., ami during the 





/A^oLuyi 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



60 1 



latter years of his connection witli tlie company did 
work on contract for tlicm and lastly as jupcrin- 
ttndent. In 1880 he retired from active work in 
the factory to devote his time cxchisively to his real 
estate interests, of which he now possesses consid- 
■erahle. 

On July 4, 1849. -^f''- ^^ hiting married Louezer 
A. liickox, of W'oodbridge, who was horn July 28, 
1828, daughter of Henry and Lucy (Ailing) 
liickox, farming per>[.)le, and great-granddaughter 
of Reuben Hickox, who, as an English emigrant, 
settled in Durham, Conn. The maternal grand- 
father of Mrs. Whiting was Justice Ailing, of 
W'oodbridge. Of these families Henry liickox is 
the only one left in Woodbridge. To our subject 
and wife were born four children, \-iz. : Jennie 
A., who died at the age of thirteen; K. Park, who 
died at the age of seventeen; Howard E., of New 
Haven, who married Marguerite O'Xeil, and has 
three children, Ceres Belle, Henry and Edwin; Lc- 
roy I'"... proprietor of the hosiery manufacturing fac- 
tory known as the White Knit .Alills, Xew Haven, 
and who married t'arrie Anna Elder, of Hartford. 

In jjolitics Mr. Whiting is independent. He is 
one of the charter mendiers of the \'ew Haven Cre- 
mation Society, which has about one hundred mem- 
bers. Possessing business sagacity of a high order, 
he is a typical citizen of the city of Xew liaven. in- 
terested in its splendid progress, and contributing 
not a little during his residence of more than a half 
century within iis limits. Mr. Whiting has de- 
signed and arranged the plans of the houses he has 
built and, with the aid of his faithful wife, he has 
ornamented and furnished the handsome house on 
Dixwell avenue, so that probably no house in the citv 
of equal value is its superior. Mr. and Mrs. Whit- 
ing began married life poor, and from their united 
and well directed efforts, coupled with nuich har'i 
work, their well deserved success has come to them 
in their declining years. 

TRM\T (Line of .-\. P.. Treat). l''rnni the 
earliest settlement of Connecticut, at llartfnrd, 
Windsor and Wethersfield, the Treats have been 
residents of the Common v.-ealth and i)rominent in 
its annals. I'or generations the town of ()range 
has been the home of many of the name, an<l nf a 
numl.)er in the line of Isaac. Isaac Plait and .\rtlnn- 
P. Treat — father, son and grandson — the lat- 
ter of whom for years has been a jirominent and 
one of the leading mason builders and contractors 
in Xew Haven, and of him and his lineage it is the 
pnr])ose of this article to treat. 

pirn .■\i)ril C>. 185,^ in Orange, smi nf Isaac 
Piatt and Mary J. ( Parnes) Treat, Arthur I'.arnes 
Treat is descencled in the ninth generation from 
'd^ichard Treat, who was born, in 15S4. in Pitminister, 
Somersetshire, England, was married there .April 
27. ifJi^S. to Alice Ckiylcird, baptized in 1 51J4, and 
with wife and nine children left England about 
1^)38 for the American colonies. Mr. Treat was 



among the early settlers in Wethersfield, Conn., 
where he is on record as among the freemen of 1669. 

h'roni this emigrant settler .Vrlhur P>. Treat's 
lineage is through Cov. Robert Treat, CajJt. Joseph, 
Jose|)h (2), Deacon Joseph (3), Isaac, Isaac (2), 
and Isaac Piatt Treat. 

( 11 ) ( iov. Robert Treat, son of Richard the set- 
tler, born in i()24-5, '" Pitminister, married (first) 
Jane Tapp. She died in 1703. Mr. Treat located 
in the town of Milford where Xov. 20, 1639, at 
ll:e first meeting of the planters, he was one of the 
nine ap])oiined 10 survey antl lay out the lands of 
tl;e town, h'rom the very beginning Mr. Treat took 
a prominent jiart in the public affairs of the town, 
and through a long period of years was a conspicu- 
ous character in the colony of Connecticut. Mr. 
Treat was town clerk in 1640. His ])nblic career can 
be thus summed U]); first a dejiuty from IMilford to 
the Cencral Court six years; five more years from 
Xcwark to the .Assemblv of Xew Jersey; magistrate 
in .\ew liaven ( leneral Court and assistant in that 
nf Ciinneeticut for eight years; and twentv years 
in the halls of legislatiun ; seventeen years as deputv 
governor: and thirteen years as governor. He and 
his wife were earlv received into the church in Mil- 



lord 



( iov. Treat died pdv 12, 



'/ 



10. 



(Ill) Capt. Joseph Treat, son of (iov. Robert, 



born Sept. 17. if/)2, in Milford, continued to live 
there. He married (first) Erances, daughter of 
Richard and Mary (Pantry) Pryan. Mr. Treat 
rose successively from sergeant to captain, and ren- 
dered good service to his country in the Indian 
troubles. He was deputv from Milford in 1707 and 
1708 to the (ieneral Court; and a justice of the 
jieace for Xew Haven county, 1702-19. Capt. 
'I'reat was one of the original proprietors of the 
town of Xew Hartford. He died Aug. 9, 1721, and 
his wife, I'rances, who was born Eeb. 13. 1668, died 
Sept. 21, 1703. 

(1\') Ca])t. Josejjh Treat (2). son of Capt. Jos- 
eph, born March 21, i'i()3. in Miliord. married first, 
June 9, 1720, Hannah Puckingham. who tiied May 
-5- 1733- Capt. Treat, like his father before him, 
served successively as ensign, lieutenant and captain 
in the train band of .Milfi::rd. He was de]nUy to the 
General Court for five years between 1748 and 
1756. and served as selectman in 1771 and 1772. 
His death occurred Mav 17. 1772. 

(\') Deacon Joseph Treat (3), son of Capt. 
Joseph Treat (2), born Xov. 28, 1727. in Milford, 
married Mary Merwin. and resided in Xorth Mil- 
ford, now the town of Orange. Deacon Treat <lied 
July 27. 1791. and Mrs. Treat, July 2^^. 1803. 

(\'l) Isaac Treat, son of Deacon Josejih (3), 
born in Xofth Milford (Orange"), .\\ivi\ 7. 175''), 
married l-"eb. 9, 1785, Mehitabel Piatt, born March 
5, 1762. Mr. Treat was a farmer on Crassy Hill. 
He died Oct. 9, 1822, and Mrs. Treat died Sept. i^, 
1836. 

(\ II) Isaac Treat (2), son of Isaac, born .\pril 
8, 1795, in Orange, married Oct. 20, 1820, Martha 



6o2 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



T^r. Piatt, and residcMl in ( )rang'c where he was a 
fanner and a weaUhy and inlluential citizen. He 
died Oct. i(), 1861, and .Mrs. Treat died Nov. 4, 
1876. aged seventy-four years. 

(\"JII) Isaac riatt treat, son of Isaac (2), 
I;orn Xov. 8. 1826, in ( )ranL;e, married (lirst) Jan. 
27, i<85o. Alary Jane liarnes. who died Jan. 31, 1857. 
]lc married (second) Jinie 15, 1858, .Sarah Bootli. 
who died in 1881, and (third) in 1885, he wedded 
I.ytUa M. ()sl)orn. Slie died in Alav. igoo. Air. 
Treat was formerly a farmer of Orange. He held 
various town oftices, among them member of the 
hoard of school visitors, selectman, assessor and 
grand juror. 1 lis children, all born in Orange, were : 
I'jnma J., born .May 23, 1851. married Xov. 28, 1872, 
Henry C\ -riecrs, and is a resident of New Haven; 
Arthur I'.arnes is referred to more fully farther on; 
Howard Piatt, born Jan. 20. 1857, married Dec. 22. 
1880. .\lfreda Isabel Rogers. Mora P.., a daughter 
by the second marriage, married W. .M. .\n<lrew. 

AkiiirK r>AK\i:s Triiai'. son of Isaac Piatt 
'I real, received bis scboni training' in tlie neighbor- 
hood district school and the high school, then for a 
]icriod in iSfK) attended ( )herlin College, at Olierlin, 
( 'hio, taking the iirejiaratory course in that institu- 
tion. Returning to ("onnecticut in 1870 he learned 
the mason building trade, serving an ap])renticeshi]) 
iif three years with the firm of Smith & S]3errv, and 
ior six years fdllowing was in the employ of that 
lirm. during that jieriod working on a number of the 
\ale College buildings and others of importance in 
(lie city of Xew Haven. It is of note to state that 
young Treat early began to be self-reliant, and at 
fourteen midertook .-md successfullv completed a 
contract be niadie with Ihe Derby Railroad to supply 
it with stmie. At t went\-tive, in 1877, ATr. Treat- 
began a business career on his own account, which 
lias been most hou<iral)le and successful, following 
the line in which he had served an api)renticesbip. 
He was first associated for a short time with Hill- 
;iril P. I'enn. who dieil a few months thereafter. 
He then lor years conducted the Inisiness alone, 
later Iiccoming a member of the firm of Smith, 
S])erry & Treat, with the senior member of which he 
had previously beiii iilentified. Still later the firm 
!)ecame as it has since remained. Sperrv 61' 7 teat, 
whose office is at Room 308 Washington Cuilding, 
No. 39 Church .-treet. The indi\-idual n'.emhers of 
the firm — Hon. X. 1). Sperry and Arthur P.. Treat 
— need no introduction to the people of Xew Hnveti, 
nor of the State of Connecticut, as both are well 
and favorably known throughout the State, in nearly 
every section of which their Iniilding operations 
have been carried. Then Air. Sperrv's long and 
I'.onorablc public career, which is kno\vn to even 
cvcrv schoolboy, makes the firin do:;l>lv well known. 

l-'or a (piarter of a century Air. Treat has been 
prominently identified with the building interests of 
New IFaveu especialp-. and has figured cc^nspicu- 
cusly in the erection of scores of the modern dwell- 



ings, business and public buildings that have gone 
up in the city. He has also done much work in var- 
ious other localities and in other cities of the State, 
He built the Crockett X'arnish Works at P>ridgeporc» 
and the Bridgeport Hospital, the mason w-ork of 
which alone was, apjiroximately, $40,000. lie built 
Christ's Church edifice in \\T'stport ; the graded 
school building in .Stratford; and a handsome resi- 
dence on the Sterling estate ; and the Fairfield 
county court house in Pridgeport. For a time, 
through the middle eighties, he had a branch es- 
tablishment and a jiartner in liridgeport, and in 
that citv erected nian\' structures not named in the 
foregoing. Among the mariv buildings erected by 
!iim in New Haven, as a j)artner in Smith, Sperry 
& Treat, are: The P.urrett Alanville block on East 
.Chapel street, and the carriage works of that gen- 
tleman ; the .\. P.. Dodge block; the F. S. Pradley 
dwelling on West Chapel street ; the large brick 
ihvelling of Robert lirown on th'- A'ale Observa- 
tory lot; the Ceorge C. Pettis dwelling on High 
street: the brick block of Aiaj. T. .\twatcr Barnes 
on P.radley street; the block owned by Airs. Alary 
.A. Treat on Si. John street; the Henry Kelsey 
I'.lock on State street: the Gregory street school 
building: the llumphrcv street church e(Hfice. 
S])erry iS; Treat built twenty-six of the new uni- 
versity buildings, including all the dormitories ex- 
cept one. They are now constructing the follow- 
ing: Fayerweather Dormitory: .Administration 
laiilding; Clinical building for the medical depart- 
ment ; addition to the Kent laboratory; new memor- 
ial building for the scientific de])artment of Yale : 
rebuilding and remodeling the old "commons" into 
a laboratory. These six buildings alone will cost 
$450,000: and all this is under Air. Treat's manage- 
ment. Tliex are working under ten difTerent archi- 
tects, and are employing about one hundred and 
twenty-five iiKii, besides si.x or seven sets of sub- 
contractors, who eniplov about three hundre'd men. 
I'esidcs these buildings for the unixersitv. they are 
constructing other public buildings in the city and 
a few private houses. Owing to the many monu- 
ments to their handiwork in the university ground.s 
ihev are often called the "College Ihiilders." .As- 
Air. .Sperrv's duties as congressman necessitate his 
being in Washington, D. C., a great deal of the 
time he knows but little of the business, and the 
burden of the management naturally falls u])on Air, 
Treat's able shoulders. 

Air. Treat and Prof. H. L. Wells, of Yale, are 
mamifaclurers and dealers in antihydrine, a prep- 
aration they originateil. This is a material made of 
a high grade of as])lialt. carefully jirejiared in com- 
bination with several chemicals, which give it the 
]X'culiar ])ro])ertv of forming (without heating) 
a continuous gloss\- and imiiervious coating upon 
p.orous surfaces, it does away with wood furrings. 
render; walls damp proof, and prevents staining of 
]^lastering on walls and on fire-]iroof work, and pre- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



603 



vents staining of limestone. Ijrick facinijs. etc. Tliev 
have agents all through the United States and are 
doing an e.xtensive business. 

Arthur B. Treat owes his success to his own in- 
domitable will and untiring energy. He began life 
without a dollar and has. by good management and 
careful Ijusiness methods, won a substantial forttme. 
Politically he is a Republican and belongs to tiie 
"^'oung Men's Republican Club. Fraternally he is 
a 32d degree ^lason. being a member of \\'oostei" 
Blue Lodge. Xo. 79. F. & .\. M. : Xew Haven Com- 
mandery : Pyramid Temple. Mystic Shrine, of 
Bridgeport. Conn. : also the Consistor\- at that ])lace. 
and the Knights Templars Club, of Xew Haven. 
He also belongs to the 2d Company, Governor's I'oot 
Guards, having served first as a private for five 
3'ears. then for two years as corporal, and for one 
year chief of engineers with rank of cajitain on the 
major's staff. He is a member of the Sons of the 
American Re\'<jIution. his riL;ht to nKMiibership be- 
ing through maternal lines. Merritt ISarnes. grand- 
father of ou.r subject, was a cajjtain in the war of 
1812 and lived to the age of nmetv-four : his wife 
lived to be ninety, and their wedded life lasted over 
stventy-one vears. Jonathan Banies. father of Mer- 
ritt. was in the Revolutionary war and fought at 
Monmouth and \'alley Forge. 

Mr. Treat is one of the trustees of the 1 loward 
Avenue Congregational Church, where he was tenor 
soloist eight years, and he is now chairman of the 
music committee. In the same church he is also 
chairman of the committee on church jjroperty. and 
he is one of the most prominent sup]iorters of that 
church. He belongs to the "(iounod" singing so- 
ciety, in which he had been on the board of govern- 
ment seven years, and he is the third oldest mem- 
ber of that lx)ard. 

Mr. Treat is owner of a large farm of two 
hundred acres in the town of Orange, which farm 
has been in the family ever since (]ov. Treat bought 
ii from the Indians, except for a period of about 
ten years, when Mr. Treat, the jjresent owner, 
bought it back, and he is the ninth to own it. 1 le 
is at present building an excellent new home on 
\\'hitney avenue. Mr. Treat married Leona Weeks, 
and thev had children as follows: Fannie, who is 
at home; Arthur B., Jr., who died in infancy; 
George Arthur, born Oct. 19. i<S83; and Morence 
B. For his second wife Mr. Treat married .Mrs. 
Catherine (Chapman) Stanley, widow of Herbert 
S. Stanley, and they have one child, Roljcrt Sperry, 
born Oct. 15, 1898. 

GEORGE M. GRISWOLD. one of the leading 
business men and prominent citizens of Xew Haven, 
was horn April 10, 1848, in South Glastonbury, 
Conn., son of Anson and Samantlia ( Tryon ) Gris- 
wold. The Griswold family is one of the oldest in 
Connecticut, and on the maternal side our subject is 
a descendant of the Tryon family, one of the very 
oldest in Glastonbury. 



AnS( n (M'iswold. father of George M., is sup- 
])osed to have been born at firiswoldville, where 
there is a record of his haying been "bound cut" to 
a farmer. Later lie was ajiprenticed to the trade of 
Macksniith for a short time, and then to tliat of car- 
]-enter. working at the latter f:.r some years in Glas- 
tonbur\. liis latter da\ s. however, were spent upon 
;• farm in Soutli ( ilastonbury. where lie died aged 
sixty-one. His wife was a daughter of Jesse Tryon, 
who was a farmer, builder of ves.sels, shad fisher 
and also owned and operated a sawmill, accumulating 
comfortal)le means. Jesse Tryon married Wealthy 
.^haler, a native of Middle Haddam. Conn., who 
iived to be eight}-, and they had a family of five chil- 
dren, two of whom grew to maturity. Samantha 
(Mrs. .\nson (Iriswold) and lulmund. Three chil- 
dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. .\nson Griswold: 
Hudson, wild is in California; Jesse, on the farm; 
and (jeorge M.. our subject. .Mrs. Griswold died 
in i8()9. aged ninety-one. a member of the Episco- 
pal Church. Politically he was a Democrat. 

(jeorge ^L Griswold spent his boyjiood days in 
South (ilastonbury, and in Seiitembcr. 1861. entered 
the general store at East Berlin. In the spring of 

1862 he returned home, sjient the suiumer on the 
farm, and during the winter of 1862-63 attended the 
Xaubuc Academy, wdiieh was his last schooling. 
In the spring of 1863 he went to Meriden with less 
than five dollars and worked for a short time wiih 
X. C. Stiles at tlie trade of machinist, and from 

1863 to 1871 was in the employ of Charles Parker. 
He was then for a short time employed by the Meri- 
den Britannia Co. Later he was engaged as a tool 
maker by the Whitney Arms Co. and the Pratt & 
Whitney Co., of Hartford. There were many fine 
workers in metals in those days, and Mr. (Griswold 
formed many very pleasant ac(iuaintances, which 
friendshi]is have been retained to this day. 

In 1875. having been frugal and saved his money, 
Mr. (Iriswold was enaliled to locate in Xew Haven 
as a machinist. .Although his capital was small, but 
$800. by his industry and the excellence of his work, 
l;e built nj) a fine trade, and in 1898 Iiuilt his pres- 
ent building on Union and Fair streets. Previous 
to his removal to this location he was in the .Atwatcr 
buildine for twentv-threc years. He manufactures 



dies audi too! 



fine u'.elal working, aiiil the i)rod- 



nct of his factory is sem to all parts of the civilized 
world, even to .\frica, China. Japan aiul tlie Sonth 
American states. He makes all kinds of special ma- 
chinery from designs or suggestions of inventors. 
The concern also clesigns a great deal of machinery. 
'• The plant is a large one. covering an area of 48x85 
feet, and the structure is four stories high. .Ml 
the most Improved machinery is used, and employ- 
ment is given to thirty men. Mr. Griswold's thor- 
ough ac(|uaintaiice with, all the intricate details of 
tbic business enal)les him personally to superintend 
the work of manufacture and to give to the product 
of liis establishment an excellence that gains for 
the goods a ready and high-])riced market. Our 



'6o4 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



subject is a self-maile man in the fullest sense of 
the term. h'roni boyhood' hei has had practical 
knowledt^'e of hard work. Jle started in life with 
no resources but his natural ability, and he has suc- 
ceeded well, not only in accuinidating worldly 
j^oods, l.)nt in securing- a ])osition as a citizen in the 
best ranks. 

-Mr. ( Iriswold was marrie<l in iSSS to Aliss Edna 
JC. Cookf, born in Brooksvale, claus^hter of Lorin E. 
Cook, a fanner and keg- and furniture manufacturer, 
who is still living; his wife, wlm died in 1899. was 
a lady of high intelligence and she was deeply 
iiiourned. Mrs. Griswold was one of a family of 
five children. .She and her husband have one daugh- 
ter, Lura Ednas. They are prominent members of 
St. Paul's Church, of \e\v Haven, and are influ- 
tntial in church and social circles. Mr. Griswold is 
a memlier of the .Missionary and llenevolent So- 
ciety of St. Paul, in which he is aNn an official. 
The familv reside in a \erv jileasant home in \\'est- 
\ ille, built in 1895. 

In ])oIitics Mr. (Iriswold is a Democrat, Init has 
never sought for political distinction, iK'ing so oc- 
eui)ie<l with his own affairs that, aside from cast- 
ing his vote for the candidates of his jjarty, he has 
left the management of ci\ic affairs to ijthers. He 
has taken an active part in the Masonic fraternity, 
being a member of Trumbull Lodge, A. !•'. & A. M., 
in which he has held oflices : be is also a member of 
Pyramid Lodge, .\. n. \\ \\ ., .-md of the ( lolden 
Cross, being treasurer of the latter. 

EDWARD LAUREXS ERISBIE, son of 
Laurens and: Artemisia ( W'elton) Frisbie, was born 
in W'aterbitry Aug. 22, i<Sj4. He is a descendant of 
Edward Erisbie, who came from Waks and settled 
in the Hartford Colony soon after its establishment, 
and who, in 1644, was one of a party that purchased 
Totoket (now Branford), and organized a town 
government there. About 1750 fClijah Erisbie, a 
descendant of Edward, left I '.ran ford and settled in 
Waterbnry. 

Julward Laurent I'lisbie was educated in the 
common schools of his native town. He was em- 
ployed chiefly in farming until 1847, when he en- 
tered the kettle department of the W'aterbury Bras? 
Ca., continuing in this situation until the summer 
of 1848, when the old method of manufacturing ket- 
tles by stamping was superci'ded b\- a machine for 
s])inning them. In the s]iring of iS4() he engaged 
in casting brass and German silver at the factory 
of I'.rown & E.lton, and remained in the ser\ice of 
that firm until the organiztition of Brown & 
Brothers. Lie entered the employ of the new com- 
pany to take charge n\ its casting (ki)artment, and 
remained with it for thirty years (until Januarv, 
18831, bobling ])ositi ous of responsibilit v and inllu- 
cncc in connection with the management of the con- 
cern. In 1834 he jutrchased an interest in it. 

Mr. Erisbie represented the town in tli.' Legis- 
ktture in 1854, and again in 187J. He has held the 



offices of justice of the peace, selectman, and as- 
sessor, and has served as a member of the board of 
relief for the town. In the city government he has 
served as a councilman and as a member of various 
boards and committees. He is the president of the 
\\'aterbury Savings Bank, has been a trustee of the 
Dime Savings Bank since its formation, and is a 
director in the ^Manufacturers' National Bank. He 
has been from the first a director of the Waterbury 
Hospital. When St. John's Episcopal Church was 
divided, he became connected with the new enter- 
prise, and has since that time been a member of 
Trinity parish, and a vestryman, or warden, in it. 
On Feb. 11, 1850, Mr. Frisbie married Hannah 
A., daughter of Hershel Welton, of Wolcott, She 
died July 10, 1857. The children by this marriage, 
besides two daughters who died in infancy, were 
Marv A., who married Ellis Phelan, and Edward 
Laurens, On Jan. 12, i860, Mr. Frisbie married 
Josephine, daughter of Abner Deming, of Derby. 
She died Oct. 14, 1872, leaving one daughter, Jose- 
])hine. On (3ct. 2, 1884, he married Emily J., third 
daughter of George W. ^^'elton. 

DAXIEL J. AIAHAXEV, a popular hotel 
keeper in Waterbury, and formerly a well known 
contractor aiul builder, was born in .-Vnsonia, this 
county, March 16, 1850. 

Andrew Makaney, father of Daniel J., was born 
in County Cork, Ireland, in Julv, 1816, a son of 
Daniel Mahaney, a landholder. Andrew Mahaney 
married Honora Ryan, and their marriage was 
blessed with seven children, of whom three are still 
living, viz.: Michael is an itinerant bricklayer; 
Xorah married Thomas Sherlock, of Waterbury ; 
and Daniel J. is the suljject of this sketch. The 
father of these children died in 1889, and the mother 
in 1892. 

Daniel J. Mahaney attended school in Ansonia 
until quite a lad, and in .August, i8()7, was a]jpren- 
liced to the l'"arrel Foundrv Co., at .Ansonia. .At 
the termination of seven weeks, however, he ran 
away to Xew Haven and worked on a bench as mol- 
der for five months. On March 29, i8fig, he was 
apjirenticed to Railley & Beiiham to learn bricklay- 
ing; he worked for this firm six months in Xew 
iiaven and then went to Bridgeport and worked for 
them tmtil the spring of 1871. I le then began work 
in tli.it city on his own account, and so continued 
tmtil June <i, when he went to Cle\'eland, Ohio, and 
worked on an asylum in Xewburg, then in the course 
of constrtiction. from June to October, Returning 
to Connecticttt he worked at Shelton the remaining 
two months of 1871, and on Jan. i, 1872, went to 
.Xew iiaven, where he worked until ^L^rch 16. He 
then made a short visit to his home in .\nsonia, 
in March J.v 1872, going to Chicago, 111., in which 
western metrt^polis he worked as foreman en the 
"Palmer House" until Dec, 25, when he returned to 
W'aterbury. He remained there until April, 1873, 
at which time he went to Boston, where he worked 





1 / 







CkOjP^^^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



C05 



until the following- winter. Upon his retinn to 
Waterbun , tjic same year, he married Miss Mar- 
garet Casey, a native of Bellikhcm, Conn., and a 
daughter uf Timothy Casey. After marriage .Mr. 
and Mrs. .\lahaney went to Liostcn, where he fol- 
lowed his trade until March, 1875. I'or a ftw 
months he was engaged in various places, including 
Waterhury, Holyoke, Mass., and Hartford, Conn", 
and in 1876 began contracting and building in Wat- 
crbur}-, in which he ccntinucd for five years, meet- 
ing with nattering success. In 1S76 Mr. Mahanev 
engaged in the retail litiuor business and hotel keep- 
ing, and is still thus engaged. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Mahancy have 
been born fourteen children, of whom ten still sur- 
vive, as follows: Xora, Ellen, Mollie, William, 
Catherine, Daniel, Jr., John, Agnes, Alice and Mur- 
garct. .Mr. Mahaney "has always worked hard for 
the Dcmccratic parly wherever he has lived, and 
has wielded considerable influence in its councils, 
being himself quite jjojuilar in its ranks. He is at 
present representing his parly as alderman from 
the Fourth ward, is al.so a member of the board of 
public works, and has served on the board of fire 
commissioners, h'raternally he is a member of the 
B. r. O. E. and the l-"oresters of America. He is 
one of those genial, whole-souled, public-spirited 
men who make friends ever\ where, and he is "as 
honest as the day is long." 

WILBUR I'lSK ROGE.RS, a member of C. 
Rogers & Bros., and secretary of that company, was 
born in the old town of Saybrook, Conn., July 18, 
1841. While still young he came with his parents 
to Meridcn, becoming a pujiil in the local schools, 
and at the age of twelve years began for himself, 
securing work with the Charles Parker Co. at fifty 
cents a day. He attended school during the winter 
season. This relation continued for a number of 
years, and young Rogers liecame an adept at the 
business of silver plating. His second employment 
was with the Mcriden Britannia Co., wdiere lie was 
given a place in the plating department. At New- 
ark, X. J., he became manager of the plating depart- 
ment of A. J. Towner, who was engaged at job 
plating. There Mr. Rogers spent a year and then 
returned to Connecticut to work at his trade for 
Rogers & Bros., at Watcrbury, beginning on the es- 
tablishment of the concern. In New York he was 
afterward emjiloyed by his brother, Gilbert Rogers, 
wdio was associated at that time with A. H. & G. 
Rogers Silver Plating Co. This business was sus- 
pended on account nf the opening of the Civil war. 

While in New York W'illuir [•'. Rogers was fired 
with patriotic fe\-er of the hour, and joined the mob 
in its attack on the New York Daybook, a. paper then 
supposed to be in sympathy with the South. Ai that 
time all the newspaper offices were compelled to 
make a display of the .Xmcrican flag. On the day 
following President Lincoln's first call for trooos 
Mr. Rogers put down his riame and was nnistered 



into the State service April 22. On May 2. 1861, he 
was mustered into the United Stales service as a 
member of Company E, 4th .\. Y. \'. I., Col. Tay- 
lor and Capt. Camp commanding. This regiment 
was known as the 1st Scott Life ( luard, as the com- 
mand was formed out of the old < rganization of vet- 
erans of the Mexican war residing in Xew York. 
Il'.is splendid regiment gave true and loyal service, 
made a fine record for itself, and never failed to re- 
sjKind bravely to the call of diUy. It was in the 
l^attle of Big Bethel, among the first of the war, 
and from that lime on Mr. Rogers jierformed guard 
duty with the regiment at Xewport Xews, \'a., l-ort 
-Mcllenry, I'erryville and Black River Bridge, .Md.. 
and Suffolk, \'a. In 1862 the regimeni was trans- 
ferred to the 2d Corps, Army of the Potomac, and 
took jiart in the battles of Antielam, h^edericksburg 
an<l Chancellorsville. At the last place the regiment 
volunteered to go into the fight, although its two 
_\ ears' term of enlistment had expired. l-Yir this 
conduct the regiment received a magnificent recep- 
tion from the city of Xew York after its arrival 
I'lOine, and the honor of a review I)y Gen. Scott, who 
threw kisses to the wounded of tl'ie regiment from 
the balcony of the "Fifth Avenue Ih-tel'' as they 
passed in carriages. Mr. Rogers was with his com- 
mand from the first to the last, took jiart in all its 
battles and became third sergeant of his comjianv 
and right general guide of the regiment. On .Mav 
5. 1863, he was nuistered out of tlie service. He re- 
turned to his home in Meriden, and after three 
months re-enlisted in Company G, 35th Xew Jersey 
Zouaves, under Col. Clark and Capt. Ilelmer, be- 
ing made sergeant and general guide of the regi- 
ment. This command was sent to the west, be- 
came a part of the army under Gen. .Sherman, and 
was with him on his famous expedition across 
Mississip])i from \'icksburg. Then it became a 
I'art of the 17th Corps of Gen. Sherman's army 
and took ])art in the battles of the .Atlanta cani]xugn, 
as follows: Resaca, Xew Hope Cluirch, Dallas, 
Big .Siianty, Kencsaw Mountain, RoswelTs Mills, 
Xickajack Creek, Ruff's Mills, Decatur, the siege of 
Atlanta, Ezra Chapel, Joneslx)ro and the ^Iarch 
to the Sea:, thence through South Carolina to Ral- 
eigh, X. C. ; was at the surrender of Johnston, and 
from there to Petersburg, Richnn nd anil Washing- 
ton, where Mr. Rogers participated in the (irand 
Review, lie was mustered out of the service at 
Trenton. .\. J., July 20, 1865, receiving a discharge 
that reflected credit on his devotion to his country. 
After his return home Mr. Rogers worked at 
his trade with th.e Charles Parker Co. until the form- 
ing of the firm of Rogers & i>ros., of which he be- 
came a memlKT. The first jjlating room estal)lished 
was superintended l)y him f( r fifteen years. .\ full 
accfunt of this interesting and historic com|)any is 
found elsewhere. Mr. Rogers began life as a poor 
boy, worked hard from early youth, and acquired his 
education as best he could. His manly character, 
honor, integrity and genial disposition have secured 



6o6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



for him the confidence of his employers and the 
respect of the pubhc. 

Jn 1895 Mr. Rog-ers was elected alderman on 
the Republican ticket from the Fourth ward and 
served four years, druing which time he was ap- 
])ninted chairman of several important committees. 
While a Republican, he is not a i>olitician, and only 
consented to serve the city because it seemed to 
h.im a duty he owed liis neis^hbors. A public-spirited 
nan. he takes jjride in the service he has been able 
to render his friends and neighbors. Mr. Rogers 
;ind his family belong to the First Methodist Church, 
in which he' is a member of the official board, a 
steward and teacher in the Sunday-school. He be- 
longs to the .\rmy and .\avy Club, of Connecticut, 
the Sons of the .\nu-rican Revolution and is a char- 
ter member of the I'acilic Lodge, Xo. S7, I. (). i). 
F., at Alcriden, in which he has passetl all the chairs. 
As might be expected, judging from his fine militarv 
record, Mr. Rogers takes much interest in the for- 
tunes of the (i.'.A. R., holding membership in Mei- 
riam Rest, Xo. S, at Meriden, and has filled all the 
oflices uj) to and including State commander. _ In 
i<X,So he was appointed aide-de-camp on the staff of 
Xaticjnal Conunander-in-Cliief Wagner. In 1886 he 
filled the office of inspector of the Department of 
CounecticiU, and was a delegate to the Xational En- 
campment held at St. Louis. In 1891 he was hon- 
ored bv election to the office of junior vice comman- 
der and was ])rom(>ted to .senior vice commander 
of the Department at the luicampnicnt held at Dan- 
liury in i8()2. In i8<;,^ he was elected department 
conimander at Willimantic. During his army days 
Mr. Rogers was never oil duty, wounded or sick in 
the iKisi'ntal through his entire term, and these quali- 
ties of rugged health and hardihood have made his 
assistanct'in the (1. .\. \i. very valuable. He agrees 
ne\'er to ask the government for a pension or any 
other favor for his services in the war. 

.Mr. Rogers is domestic in his tastes and has a 
fine home, beautifully located on .\kron street, where 
he displavs alike the (|ualities of a devoted husband, 
thoughtful and kind father, a good citizen and an 
abstemi( us and U])right man. Mr. Rogers and r\Iiss 
]\larv J. Corbin were marrii-d |;ui. 1, iSfij. She is a 
daughter of the late llezekiaii II. Corbin, and be- 
longs to one of the nldest families in Xew England, 
wdiosc ancestral history runs far bade into the annals 
of old Fnglaud. 

The name of C'orbin appears on the rt)lls of the 
armor-bearers of Suffolk and other English coun- 
ties as earlv as \2J>. Thev came from Xormandy, 
wdicrc the familv is mentioned in ii8o. The first 
of the familv to come to this cnuiUry was Robert 
Corbin, who came from luigland, settling in the 
Casco l'>av tt'rritorv, near Portland, Elaine, and 
''Corbvn So\md" perpetuates his name. James Cor- 
bin. born at Ro.xbm-y, Mass., in I'ltij. is supposed to 
be a remote ancestor of Mrs. Rogers. He married 
Hannah I'.astman in 1687, and among their children 



was one Philip, who married Dorothy Piarstow, in 
1731. Among their children was Lemuel, who 
married a lady from Dudley. Their son, Philip, 
who married Rody Healev, was the father of Philip 
Corbin, Jr. He married Lois Chaffee, and became 
the father of Hezekiah H. Corbin and the grand- 
father of Mrs. Rogers. 

Hezekiah H. Corbin was born X'ov. 29, 1821, 
and' by his industrial activity, commercial genius 
and high manliness made his name an important 
element in the historv of Xew 1 Britain, to which 
point he came in the early forties. In 1866 he en- 
tered into partnership with T. W. Loomis and en- 
gaged in the manufacture of jiaper bo.xes. This 
partnership came to an end at the expiration of 
about a year, and Air. Corbin and his son, Frank E., 
joined their energies and built up a large bo.x manu- 
facturing business under the name of H. H. Cor- 
bin & Son. In i8go Frank E. Corbin retired from 
the business and was succeeded by his brother, Wil- 
lis 1'. Hezekiah H. Corbin died X'ov. 6, 1897, and 
left the memory of a good man, a straightforward 
and reliable person in the business world and a 
genial companion and obliging neighbor. He was 
married I'eb. 16, 1844, in the town of \Villington, 
to Alaria l'>. Ryder, a daughter of Byers and Abi- 
gail (Eldridg^ej Ryder, and born in V\'estford, Jan. 
C), 1825.. To this union were born four children: 
Mary jane, bom at Willington, June 13. 1845, 's the 
wife of Wilbur F. Re^gers. of Meriden. Frank 
Eugene was born at Hartford, Dec. 13, 1849. Homer 
Montrose. 1)orn Hampden, Ohio, died Oct. 13, 1853. 
Willis I'., born in Xew Britain, Feb. 20, 1856, since 
the death of H. H. Corbin has been in entire charge 
of the immense box manufacturing business already 
mentioned. Hezekiah H. Corbin was a man of 
much intelligence and wide reading. As a leader 
in the .\dvent Church he was known throughout 
the State, and was one of the i)rincipal organizers of 
the church of that faith in Xew Britain. 

.Mrs. Wilbur F. Rogers is a lady of refinement, 
of wide information and is a very enthusiastic ad- 
vocate of the cause of woman suffrage. Though 
domestic in her tastes, she takes a deep interest in 
matters of local interest, and for several years has 
been president of the Meriden Political Equality 
Club, which she heli)ed to organize. She was elected 
a mcml)er of the high school committee of Meriden. 
and was chairman of the board several years, en- 
joying the distinction of being the first woman 
elected to such a position in the State. Mrs. Rogers 
was a graduate of the high school and the State 
Xornial School at Xew I'.ritain, and for several 
vears was a teacher in the schools of Meriden. As 
a wife and mother she is all that could be desired, 
and in her home the utmost happiness and content- 
ment prevail. In the First Methodist Church she 
is. and has been for several years, the efficient presi- 
dent of the Ladies .Md Society. She is a prominent 
member of Susan Carrington Clark Chapter, D. A. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



607 



K., of Meriden. A great reader and well posted 011 
all the issues of the day. her words command atten- 
tion, and her conversational powers are marked. 

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Koncrs has been 
brightened by three children: ( i) Zula Elizabeth, 
burn Sept. 21, 1874, graduated from the Meriden 
high school and from the Wesieyan I'niversity, in 
rviiddlctown, with the degree of JJ. S.. in 189S; then 
becoming a teacher, she taught at Mordentown a 
_\ear, and is now one of the force of instructors con- 
nected with the high school at Meriden, thcugh at 
llie present time abroad on a trip through luiro]x\ 
She pursued post-graduate courses at Harvard and 
Yale, is a student of microscopy and a linguist of 
no mean ability, reading and soeaking readily the 
J-'rench, German, Italian and otlier foreign tongues. 
She is a young' woman of exceedingly modest char- 
acter. (2) Burton Ce[)has is a graduate of the Mer- 
iden high school, and for two years was a student 
at the Wesieyan University, Ijut met with a foot- 
liall accident which prevented I.im from completing 
the course. ]~or a time he was shipping clerk for 
C Rogers & Liro., and is now at Danbury as director 
and secretary of the Russell-Tomlinson Electric Co. 
A young man of al)ility and ]jromise. he is ])opular 
in the circles in which he moves, where liis worth 
and modest character are known and a])])rovcd. (3) 
J Inward Wilson, born Dec. 27, 1870, died Mav 30, 
1.S83, 

The I'Jogcrs family, to which Wilbur V . Rogers 
belongs, is traced back to John Rogers, the mar- 
tyr, who was born in 1505. James Rogers, Ihe 
first of the family in America claiming tn be a de- 
scendant of John Rogers, the niartyr, brought o\er 
the latter's Bible, which is now in Alfred I'nivcrsitv. 
in Xew York. James Rogers was born in id 15 in 
[•-ngland. and came to America in 1635, making the 
voyage in the ship "Increase" from Londi n. lie 
niad'e his home in Stratford, ("onn., and there ni;ir- 
ried Elizabeth Rowland, a daughter of .Saniticl Row- 
land. They afterward removed to Xew London, 
where he ilicd in 1688. Their family consisted of 
tb.e following children: Samuel, who married 
]\Iary Stendon : Joseph, who married .Sarah Will- 
iams : John, who married Elizabeth Ciriswold. a 
<laughter of Mathew Ciriswold; Bethsheba. who 
married Richard Smith and .Sanuiel b'ox. respect- 
ively; James, who married Mary Jordan, a daughter 
of Jefferson Jordan; Jonathan, who married Xaomi 
l>enedict; and Elizabeth, the wife of Samuel lieljce. 

James Rogers, son of James, was bnrn in Mil- 
ford, Eeb. 15. 1652. married .Mary Jordan in ir)73. 
and died in 1713. To him and his wife were born: 
James, who married Elizabeth Harris; Mary, who 
married Thomas Prentiss; Elizabeth, who married 
Samuel Rogers, son of Joseph Rogers; Sarah, who 
married Jonathan Haynes, and on his death became 
the wife of Stephen Gorton: .Samuel, who died 
young; Jonathan, who died in 1714; Richard, who 
married Mary Raymond, a daughter of Joshua and 



Mercy Raymond ; William, who married Elizabeth, 
daughter of Samuel Harris. 

James Rogers, eldest son of James, was born 
l\b. 2. 1674, and married Elizabeth Harris. He 
made his home on Town Hill, near Xew London, 
where he owned a windmill. }ilrs. Rogers died in 
1713, when lie removed to Xorwalk, Conn., and there 
died in 1733. Ereelove, daughter of Stephen Hurl- 
bun, who became his second wife, died in 1739, at 
the age of forty-six years. James Rogers was the 
father of the following children: Edward; James; 
Jetlediah; I'riah ; Mary, who married Jonathan 
Chester; Xehemiah; Stephen; Piloses; and Aaron. 

James Rogers, second son of James, was born 
.\ug. 20, 1704, and married Mary, daughter of Peter 
Harris. 'I'hey had the following family: Samuel 
married Love Richards; Peter married Grace Rog- 
ers; Ichabod married Ruth Shapley; .Mary married 
John Griffin ; ICdward ; Uriah married Mary Howell 
(their son. Dr. Howell Rogers, settled in Colches- 
ter, Conn.) ; Jeremiah married Mary James; James; 
I^lizabeth married Robert -Manwarring, the grand- 
father of Miss Calkins, the historian of Xew Lon- 
don. 

Ichabod Rogers was Ijorn in I't-bniarv, 172S, 
Mid in 1731 married Ruth Shapley, daughter of 
.\dam Shapley. Mr. Rogers was a seafaring man, 
and was widely known throughout the colonies. To 
him and his wife were born: Benjamin; Rebecca, 
who married D. Lathrop; Ichabod; and Ruth. 



Ichabod Rogers (2), born 



754, in 1778 mar- 



ried -Mary Hall, daughter of John and Susan 
( lloblis) Hall, and lliev had the following familv: 
.\ancy. Mrs. Silsby ; Ichabod (3) ; .Mary, who mar- 
rieil :\athaniel .Middleton: Sarah, who married John 
Kibbe; .Seabury, who married Betsev Daniels; Eliz- 
abeth, who married John Hanley: and Esther, wife 
of Thomas Riley. Ichabod Rogers (2) served as a 
soldier in the Continental forces during the Revolu- 
tionary war, and in his time was a prominent citizen. 

; Icl'.abod Rogers (3), son of Ichabod and Mary 
Rogers, was born Sept. 2. 1781, in Xew London, in 
that (|uarter of the town that was locallv known as 

! Hog Xeck, and is now Winthrop Xeck. In 1801 he 
married Rhoda lilakeslee .Souihworth. born March 
18. 1785. in Deep River, daugliter of William and 
Rhoda (lilakeslee) .Southwortli. Mr. Rogers served 
in the war of 1812 at b'ort Saybrcxik. Most of his 
life was spent at Dee]) River, where he died in 1843. 
His cliildreii were: I'resideiit Merritt, born April 
21;, 1802, married Harriet M. Tryon ; Ruel Chaun- 
cey. born Xov. 23, 1803. married Susannah Bailev ; 
IClam llervey, born Jan, ig, 1803: .\slier, born Sept. 
2t), 1807, died June 11, 1808: Artemas, born Jan. I, 
i8o(;, dietl young; .\chsali. born July 2~. 1810. died 
.April 28, 1842; Rhoda Blakeslee. born March 11, 
1811, married Jeremiah Jones Tryon, and died X'ov. 
23. 1828: Julius Chapman, born July 28, 1813, died 
June 23, 1818; Betse\-. born Dec, 15. 1813, died 
April 20, 1841 ; Luciiida, born ( Vn. 23, 1S17, died 



6oS 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



I'eb. i8, iB^f): Julia .\u<;iista, born Jan. 2. 1819, mar- 
ried Frank X. J). Rot^e-rs ; Julius \V., born Xov. i, 
1822, married Estlier Culver Aleigs, and on her 
dealh wetlded .Maria Howe; Mary So|)hia, born 
April 13, 1827. 

Elani liervey Rogers, the tbird child of the above 
marriage, and the fatlier of the Rogers brothers, was 
born in .Middletown, married I'Jizabeth Ann Tryon, 
daughter of Jedediah and i'.eiinda (Jones) Tryon, 
of Old Saybrock, Comi.. Xov. if>, i82(), and died 
Ivlarch 13. 1881. Mrs. Rogers was born June II, 
1807, and died I"eb. 2J. 1886. Their children were 
as follows: Cieorge Washington, liorn Aug. 11, 
1827: liervey. Jan. 18, i82<); Watson Krewer, June 
23. 1831 (lost at sea in 1856); Cepha,s Erainard, 
Dec. 30, 1836; (iilbert. July 4, 183S: Wilbur Fisk, 
July 18. 1841 (the subject of this article) ; Isabella 
Virginia (1), May 14, 1844 (died March 21, 1846) : 
Isabella \irginia (2), June 21, 1846 (married Eg- 
bert J. \'ouug); Xathaniel Burton. July 6, 1848. 
The last named, who resides in Ilanbury, is the larg- 
est stockholder of the Russell-Tomlinson Electric 
Co. of that city. 

XljRRl.*-^ P). MIX, a prominent agriculturist 
and former ice dealer uf llamden. New Haven 
county, has all his life been one of the most public- 
spirited residents of his locality. He has taken an 
active and effective part in the public aft'airs of the 
conununity. its religious and political interests, and 
bv a lifo of integrity has won the high esteem of all 
he has met, in whatever capacity. 

Mr. Mix was born in Haniden Feb. 3, 1826, a 
son of Renjamin and lietsey ( Potter) Mix. llie 
former of whom was born on the same farm. In 
their family were ten children, namely: Ethil P., 
who is now deceased ; Grace, who married Alfred 
Haworth. and is now in her ninetieth year; Eliza, 
wife of George W. P)radley, of Hamden. aged 
eighty-five years; Penjamin, who died in California; 
Henry, who died in Hamden; Dwi.ght W., who re- 
sides on the old homestead; Frances B., widow of 
William Potter; Xorris i>. ; James P., deceased; 
and Rebecca. Mrs. Walter Nichols, deceased. 

.Xorris P). Mix attended the common schools of 
his native town, and later the Eancasterian .School 
in New Haven, and upon the home farm early be- 
came familiar with all the duties which fall to the 
lot of the agriculturist. .\t the age of ten years 
he went to Xew I laveii to live with Judge Dyer 
White, with whom he rtiuained two years, and the 
following two years he cK rked in the store of 
George .Abbott, in Chapel street, Xew Haven. He 
next went to West]iort lo learn the tailor's trade, 
at which he worked for six months and then spent 
about five years at the cabinetmaker's trade, in the 
same place. Returning to Xew Haven at tlie end of 
that ]X'riod, he worked in Chancy Jerom's clock fac- 
tory for two years, and was engaged in the shops of 
tlie Xew York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad at 
that place for eleven years as a mechanic on wood 



work. During the succeeding five years he was em- 
ployed as a carpenter in New Haven, and at the 
end of that time, November, 1863, came to Ham- 
den and purchased the farm on which he now lives 
at .She])herds iJrook. In 1866 he embarked in the 
ice business, which he successfully carried on in 
connection with farming until March, Kjoo. He 
erected the ice house upon his farm which he filled 
each winter with ice from Shepherds Brook, which 
is fed by mountain springs. The ice being of a su- 
perior quality, found a ready sale in the market. 
For some years before our subject's retirement, the 
lousiness was carried on under the tirm name of N. 
Mi.x & .Son. 

On Sejjt. 13, 1849, Mr. Mix was tmited in mar- 
riage with Miss jNIaria N. Hend'rick, who was 
born May 23, 1826, in New Haven, the daughter 
of Joel li. and Maria (McDuel) Hcndrick, and sis- 
ter of ex-mayor A. C. Hendrick, of New Haven, a 
sketch of whom appears elsewhere. Mrs. ^lix was 
one of nine chiklren, and is the only daughter sur- 
viving. Mr. and Mrs. Mix have had six children, 
of whom three died in infancy. Those living are : 
(i) Arthur H.. who was engaged in business with 
his father, resides in New Haven; he married IMiss 
Minnie Rawling, of New Haven, and they have 
two children. I\Iarion Rawling and Emelia Jepson. 
(2) Cora M. first married William Terrell, who 
died .\ov. 16, 1896: she afterward married, Dec. 9. 
igoe). Eewis E. Wilcox, of New Haven; she had 
two children by her first union, Warren H. and 
Irene M. (3) Anna M. is the wife of Clarence 
Englehart, of Philadelphia. Pa. lujr over fifty-two 
vears ^Ir. and Mrs. Mix have traveled life's jour- 
ney together, sharing its joys and sorrows, its ad- 
versity and prosperity, and on Sept. 13, 1899, they 
celebrated their golden wedding. The aftair was 
one of the largest of the kind ever held in Hamden. 
and evidences of the esteem in which they are held 
were numerous. There are no more highly re- 
spected residents of the town than this venerable 
old couple, and now, in their declining years, they 
are surrounded by a large circle of friends and ac- 
(|uaintances who esteem them highly for their sterl- 
ing worth and many excellencies of character. Both 
are remarkably well preserved. Norris P.. Mix is 
one of the best known citizens in his town. As a 
citizen and as a public official his record is clear, for 
he has been conscientious in all the relations of life. 
an.l his career has been a long, busv and helpful 
one. In his active period he was a most useful citi- 
zen. Mr. Mix affiliates with the Democratic party, 
but he has enjoyed the friendship and support of 
many not of his political faith. He was a member 
of flic school board seveial years, first selectman of 
HanuU-n six vears, and a member of the State Leg- 
islature in 1878, and again in 1879. For over half 
a centur\- he has been a consistent member of the 
Methodist P2piscopal Church. He is a member of 
Day Spring Lodge, F. & A. M.. of Hamden, hav- 
ing first joined \\'ooster Lodge, No. 79, of New Ha- 






TAKEN SOON AFTER THE CELEBRATION OF THEIR GOLDEN WEDDING. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL. RECORD. 



609 



ven, in 1853 ; Franklin Chapter, Xo. 2 ; Harmony 
Council, No. 8; and New Haven Comniandcry, No. 
2. On July 5, 1848, he joined City Lodge, No. 36, 
I. O. O. 1'"., of New Haven. 

" JAMKS .Ml\-OTT .\rC,L'R (deceased) be- 
lonjred to the old New Haven family of that name, 
which is of Husucnct descent. The earliest rep- 
resentatives of the family in the colony were Dr. 
Nicholas Augur, who ai>peared in 1640, his sister, 
ilester Coster, and brother, Robert. From the last 
named: the Augur family in this vicinity is de- 
scended. 

(I) Koliert Augur married Mary Cilbert Nov. 
20, I ('-'73. She was the daughter of Deputy Gov. 
Matthew (iilbert, who, frum the settlement of the 
colony until his death, held a lugh position in the 
settlement, "l^'rom an earl\- ])eri(Kl, and for a long- 
term of years, he was in civil affairs second only to 
Gov. I'laton. No name except that of Gov. Eaton 
appears more frequently in the records in connec- 
tion with important public business and high and 
difficult trusts than that of Matthew Gilbert." Of 
Robert Augur we know but little. In 1689 he was 
allotted lands on the east side of the town ( ivast Ha- 
ven). 'i"he tradition is that he moved' to his laneh 
in I'.ast Haven, and the destruction of the early rec- 
ords of that town accomits for the lack of informa- 
tion c(.;ncerning liim and hi.s son, John. 

( 11 ) John .Augur, si n of Roliert, married Eliza- 
beth Ilradlex' July i, rjio. She was the daughter of 
Isaac ISradley, of East Haven, whose house is still 
standing and has lately been remtxleled. "It was 
built of material obtained on the sjiot, viz. : Bould- 
ers of granite and trap rock, with mortar com- 
pounded of sand, clay and lime from shells burned 
r.nd taken from the river and meadows close by. 
The interior is constructed from the neighboring 
forests, and to-day this colonial house stands forth 
a remarkal)le example of the skill of the owner, who 
was a carpenter, a good architect and a most valu- 
aljle acquisition to the town." 

(HI) Abraham Augur, son of John, married 
]\Ia\' 21, 1746, Elizabeth liradley, of Amity J'arish 
('A'oodbridge). It seems a matter worthy of note 
that this man married a woman whose maiden 
name was the same as that of his mother. For a 
time he made his home in Amity with his father-in- 
law, Mr. Bradley, tlu- cellar of the house in which 
they lived is still to be seen at the Old ( )aks Cor- 
ner. .About 1760 Abraham Augur moved to New 
I lavcii. He took an active part in the affairs of the 
town and was elected to many positions of honor 
and trust, serving on the committee of inspection 
i" 1775- ''"'^l in 17^4' when the town became the 
city of New Haven, he was chosen one of the coun- 
cilmeii. "Though many honorable and talented in- 
dividuals have been connected with the city govern- 
ment since then, there has probably never been a 
time when so manv remarkable men were united 
in its various offices and boards, as was the case in 
39 



the first year of its operation. They will be rec- 
ognized as the principal men of New Haven at that 
period." Mr. Augur was one of the selectmen of 
the town for seven years. I'or twenty-five years 
he was deacon of what is now called the United 
Church. His family Bible, jjrinted in 1752, is still 
in existence and cherished by some of his descend- 
ants. He was married twice, and raised a large 
lamily of children, most of whom were daugiiters. 
His daughter Lydia married Dr. Levi Ives in 
1771; another daughter married Timothy Atwater; 
and \et another married James Howell. Abraham 
Augur died May 31, 1798, and was laid to rest in 
the old burying ground upon the Green ; his tomb- 
stone was removed to the Augur lot in the Grove 
Street Cemetery. 

(I\') Ilczekiah Augur, son of .\braiiam, was 
born in 1750, and was a Revolutionary jjatriot. His 
trade, which he learned in the city of Iloston, was 
that of joiner and carpenter. .As a mechanic of ac- 
knowledged skill and talents he was often employed 
in forming the models and machinery of inventors. 
"Ilezekiah Augur was a sensible and thoroughly 
practical man, respected for his virtues and excel- 
lence of character, as well as for his mechanical gen- 
ius and skill." I lis first wife, who was Susan Alinot, 
of the famous Minot family, of Boston, died leav- 
ing IK) children. He then married Lydia Atwater, 
youngest child of James and Elizabeth (.Ailing) At- 
water. Of their eight children one daughter mar- 
ried ICIi Osborn, another Benjamin Thompson, and 
a third Joseph Barber, wdio was the first editor of 
the New Haven Rcii^istcr. Ilezekiah .\ugur, Jr., 
the noted sculptor and inventor, was one of the son,-; 
of Hezekiah and Lydia .Atwater. He devoted the 
leisure hours of his boyhood to the device of ma- 
chinery of various kinds ; several articles constructed 
l-)\' him before he attained the age of twelve vears 
were procured by the jiroprietors of museums as 
curiosities. His father wished him to be a merchant, 
hut he was not successful in trying to be what he 
could not be. His sole amusement was in carving. 
I'rof. Morse urged him to change his wood for mar- 
ble carving, and he made a marble iiead of Wasii- 
ington, a figure of Sap])lio, and' a bust of Chief Jus- 
tice Fllsworth. which latter is now in the room of 
the Supreme Court at Washington. But his most 
elaborate work was the statuette group of Jephthaii 
and his daughter, which is now in the Vale .Art 
School. These are not copies of other statues,- but 
wrought from an original conception, and are re- 
markable considering that their author had received 
no artistic education and practiced only wuod carv- 
ing. In 1833 he was made an honorarv member of 
the Alumni of Yale College. In point of time he 
may be called the first Connecticut sculptor. 11 j 
was an inventor as well, and one of his most imi)ort- 
ant inventions was a machine for carving. He was 
the designer of the massive gateway at the entrance 
tr, the Grove Street Cemetery. The bronze medals 
of 1838, for the commemoration of the two hun- 



6io 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(Irc'ilili annivcrsarv of the seuleiiient of New Haven, 
were his work, "lie was a man of rare genius, 
]-eeuhar leniperanient, and was religiously honest." 
'I he liome of Hezekiah and L\-(Ha Augur was at 
the junction of W'hallev avenue and ( ioffe street, 
facing the ( Ireen on llroadwa}-, his shoji was at the 
rear of the dwelHng anil faced on Whalley avenue. 
Some years ago tlie house was mo\ed to Ehii street, 
wliere it now stands ne.xt to Christ t_'hurch, and it 
is now (1901) owned and occujjied liy the church 
as a ])arish house. It hears tlie marks of British 
hidlets, for ISroadway was the liattle ground at the 
lime of the i'.ritish inv.ision in 1 77<j. Hezekiah 
.\ugur was one of the original niemhers of the Sec- 
end C'ompanv, (jovernor's hOot liuards. and 
marched with that company under ('apt. I'lCnedict 
.\rnold to r.oston in response to the Lexington 
Alarm. He also participated in the then famous and 
r])proved march of seventy-live young men from 
New Haven to New X^rk city, under the leadershiji 
of "King Sears," to destroy the iirinting of^ce of the 
Torv Worthington, whose jiamphlets of seditious ut- 
terances were causing patriots nuich annoyance and 
alarm. The tyi)e was molded into hullets and re- 
turned lo the liritish with interest. Mr. Augur 
died \ov. 7, 181!^. after a long ami jiainful illness. 
.\ co]n- of the Rclii^ioiis /j//c///;^(-;;(-(T, under date 
of Jan. 2, iSii), presi'rved hy the family, contains 
his ohituary. which sjieaks of him as an exemplary 
Christian. He is liuried in the ( irove Street Ceme- 
tery. 

( \' ) lames .Augur, son of Hezekiah, spent his 
youth in the home of his jiarents and worked with 
liis father at the carpenter's tr,-i<le. .At the age of 
lwenty-< ne he went to work in the .\rmory at W'hit- 
neyville. lie had a military turn of mind, and al- 
though never actively engaged in warfare, belonged 
for many years to the (lovei'uor's h'oot Cuards and 
aided in fortifying l!eacon Hill during the war of 
1812. ( )n Ma\' <>. i8ig, he married .Almyra .A. l'"ord, 
granddaughter of Heacon .Moses h'ord, and thev 
were s])ared to celebrate their golden wedding. He 
built a house in \\'hitne\- avenue and li\ed there until 
1850, when they moved to the f;irm on the northern 
slope of Mill Rock, which he had honght and cleared 
.Mjme years before, .\fter that his attention was 
devoted entirely to fruit raising and the nursery 
business, in which he was \-erv successful. Politi- 
cally he was an ardent Refiulilican and took part in 
every presidential election from the time of Mon- 
roe to Grant's second term. 1 le was a member of 
the Xorth Church (so-called at that time), for 
many years, until he withdrew to the W'hitnevville 
Church, which he had materially aided in erecting, 
and of which he was a pi-ominent and efficient mem- 
ber until his death, wdiicli occurred .Aug. 19, 1873. 

James Minott .Augur, who was for many years 
a shoe dealer in CbaiX'l street, N'ew Haven, was a 
man in his day honored for his sterling integrity 
and his genial manner won for him hosts of friends. 
He was born in Whilneyvillc Oct. 16, 1821, and 



obtained his education in the Lancasterian School 
in Xew Haven. On Nov. 15. 1850. he was married 
tc Esther Morrell, of Northampton, a lady of re- 
markable beauty of character. In 1864 and 1865 
he was a councilman of the city of New Haven. 
He was a member and deacon of the Church of the 
Redeemer, and as superintendent of the Sunday- 
school of that church ( which office he filled for a 
number of years) was highly esteemed. At one 
time he belonged to the Second Company, Gov- 
ernor's Horse Gtiards. and held office in the com- 
],any. He died in New Haven Dec. 27, 1875, leav- 
ing a widow and five children : Frederick Minott, 
James Morrell, Nellie Newkirk, Alartha Elizabeth 
( Mrs. lUirton A. Davis ) and Esther Helena. Mr. 
-\ugiir was buried in the W'hitneyville Cemetery, 
in the .Augur lot, with his brothers, George and 
Charles, and his parents, James and' .Almyra A. 
Augur. 

THE DA\TS FAAHLA'. For more than fifty 
years this has been a noted family, not only in 
Meriden, but conspicuous in the professional activ- 
ities of the State, where father and sons have held 
high rank in both the practice of medicine and the 
law. 

The late Timothy Fisher Davis, the sen of Eli- 
[ihaz and Hannah (Sawyer) Davis, was born March 
13, 1810, in Marlboro, Mass., and was in the sixth 
generation from Dolor Davis, one of the original 
settlers at Barnstable, Mass., in 1634. Timothy F. 
Davis attended the common schools of his native 
town and was then apprenticed to a trade in Spring- 
field, Mass. In 1837 ^^ began the study of medi- 
cine in the office of Dr. Riley, of Goshen, Conn., 
and as he had a wife and a family, he continued to 
work at his trade wdiile engaged in his preparation 
for the career of a physician. Subsequently he en- 
gaged in practice at Goshen and Litchfield, and in 
184(1 removed to Plymouth, where he built a home 
and bought a drug store. There he obtained a fine 
and extensive practice in the town and about it, be- 
ing frequently called to Wolcott, Bristol, Bethle- 
hem and Watertown, and the adjoining towns. On 
the death of his old friend, Dr. Allen, of Meriden, 
the widow of that gentleman urged him to come to 
that citv and take the practice which her husband 
had had. This he did. beginning in Ateriden in 1850, 
and bringing his family in the following year. For 
more than seventeen years he was a successful prac- 
titioner in Meriden, "a prudent audi skillful opera- 
tor, a careful and discriminating prescriber. ever im- 
proving by the les.sons of cx]5ericnce." 

Dr. Davis received in 1843 a diploma from the 
Botanic Medical Society of Connecticut, and in 
1850 an honorary diploma, being at that time the 
vice-president of the society. Afterward he was 
its president. Dr. Davis was one of the founders of 
the State Eclectic Medical Society and was at dif- 
ferent times its secretary, treasurer, vice-president, 
president and one of its censors. Socially Dr. Da- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



6ii 



vis was a genial, kind and companionable gentle- 
man, lilieral in money matters, with a profound con- 
tempt for money hoarding, enjoying tjie jjassing 
moments and believed in getting the most out of 
life, r.y a great number of the best peoi)le of the 
community he was personally esteemed both as a 
friend and as a physician. Not a man of llueni 
speech, and somewhat reticent, he was a close lis- 
tener and would attend with eagerness and deligiit 
to hear men of sense and information talk. FoikI of 
horticulture, he evinced much skill in the cultiva- 
tion of his land, and exemplitieil the old >aying, ,i 
••little land well tilled. ' 

Dr. Davis died Feb. 24, 1S70, as the result of a 
cancer on his upper lip, and "diu'lng his long and 
distressing illness not a shadow of distru.-l or fear 
])assed over his soul. lie felt that his life was with 
Christ in (.!od, and death would not disturb it. Al- 
ways his language was, "Fam ready.'" Dr. Davis 
belonged to the Masonic fraternity and was buried 
luider the auspices of that society. 

Dr. Davis was married in Xovemlier, 1S32, to 
Miss Mary I'arsons, who died April i, 1834, in 
Fleasant N'alley, Conn., leaving a daughter. .Mary 
X. M., who became the wife of Fdward Miner in 
1853. Dr. Davis was married, second, in 1S3') to 
^liss Moriva Hatch, of Springfield, Mass., and to 
them were born the following children: ( i ) Julia, 
born in Ai)ril, 1838, died in infancy ; (2 ) Charles I i. 
S. ; (3) Julia M., l>orn in July, 1844; (4) \\i|])ur 
Fiske, born in Seiitember, '1846, died the following 
July; (5) Wilbur Fiske (2). 

Cit.\KLES Hexrv ST.\xi.KV D.wis, M. D., born in 
tioshen, Conn., March 2, 1840, is of the seventh 
generation from Dolor Davis, wdiose name aj)- 
pcars in the opening of this review, and accpiired 
liis education in the Meriden public schools, ])re])ar- 
ing for college under private tutors, intending 10 
enter the Sophomore year and to bring the b'reshman 
studies U]) to the requirement. On the breaking 
out of the Civil war he was for two years in th- 
service of the United States government. After 
a lirief I)usiness experience succeeding this in .\'ew 
"^'ork. he entered the office of Dr. William I'.aker. 
where he prepared for entrance to the medical 
school, in the meantime officiating as a teacher in 
one of the night schools. In due time he was gradu- 
ated from the Medical Department of the I'niver- 
sity of Xcw York, and spent the year followinu' in 
P.oston, where he took a special course in Ihology 
and Microscopy at Harvard. The following win- 
ter he attended lectures at the University of Mary- 
land, and then located at Meriden. succeeding his 
father in his extensive practice. After two years 
of hard work Dr. Davis went abroad to study and 
travel, visiting England, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, 
Belgium. France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. 
I'or several months he followed hospital jiraclice 
in Paris and London. Returning to Meriden he 
has since had a large and lucrative practice, ex- 
tending to the surrounding towns. 



Dr. Davis was one of the founders of the City 
.Medical Society and tcjr many years served as its 
secretary. He l)elongs to the New Haven county 
as.sociation and the Connecticut Stale Medical So- 
ciety. For eighteen years he has lieen the attend- 
ing physician of the Curtis Home for Old Ladies 
and ( )ri)hans, and for five \ears was the attending 
|)hysician of the State School for Poys. When tlic 
City Hospital was organized he was apiwinted one 
of the attending physicians. Inn was obliged to re- 
fuse the position. During his j^ractice Dr. Davis 
has been ])resent at the birth of over five hundred 
children, but for want of time has been obliged to 
give up that branch of his jjractice. He has exam- 
med over one thousand a])plicants for life insur- 
ance. Dr. Davis has been a frequent contributor to 
the n\edicai ])ress, 

When Dr. Davis first went to New ^'ork he en- 
tered into partnership with Charles H. Thomas, a 
well known philologist and translator, and opened 
a book store for the sale of Oriental and classical 
books, they being the only firm at that time which 
made a specialty of ]jhilol()gical works. Several 
gentlemen interested in philology were accustomed 
to gather weekly in a back room connected with 
this store, and here the Philological Societv was or- 
ganized. Dr. Prdwn. who translated the TSible into 
.Assamese, was the president. Dr. Scott, afterward a 
missionary to P.urmah, was vice-president, and Dr. 
Davis was corresimnding secretary. Under Dr. 
Prown's guidance. Dr. Davis took up the study of 
Hebrew and Syriac. which he followed in after 
_\ears w-ith Arabic, .Assyrian, ancient Egyptian, the 
old Persian tongues and the Celtic dialects, always 
being an onuiivorous reader. I'.efore his eighteenth 
year Dr. Davis was the owner of over five hundred 
volumes. 'Jdiis library now exceeds six thousand 
volumes and is very complete in Oriental languages 
and literature. In his eighteenth _\ear he contrib- 
uted every week for a year a colunm of literary notes 
to the Xew "^'ork Clironidc. He was also a con- 
tributor to the Round Tabic p^nA the Saturday Press, 
the only distinctly literary jiajiers of tile time. In 
1870 he ];ublished a history of Wallingford and 
-Meriden, an octavo volume of nearly a thousand 
].ages, and containing some sixty genealogies. 
Shortlv after was ])ublished his wtirk. "The \'oice 
as a Musical Instrument," and also his work on the 
"Classification. Training and Education of the Fce- 
ble-Minded, Imbecile and Idiotic." Many articles 
on this subject were translated into Spanish and 
were ])ublished in /:'/ Rcf^ctario Medico. 

Dr. Davis has for eighteen years been the secre- 
tarv and corresponding secretary of the Scientific 
Association and has edited its eight volumes of 
"Transactions." He has attended to the exchange 
with over three hundred home and foreign societies. 
b'or fifteen years he has edited Biblia. a journal of 
I'.ililical and ( )riental archaeology, the- organ of the 
l'"gvi)ti;m i".xi)loration Inmd, the Cir:eco-Roman 
Inuid an<l the Palestine Exploration Fund. In con- 



6l2 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



nection with the Rev. Dr. t'oldini. Dr. Davis wrote 
a "History of Ancient I'-Rvpt in tlie Liiiht of Mod- 
ern Discoveries." witli an introthiction 1)y the Rev. 
Dr. WiUiani C. Winslow. Tlii.-; is the finest worlc 
(;ii the siihject ever piihHshed, cnntainin<;- srane four 
hundred foHo pages and nearly one thousand iUus- 
trations. In i8q4 Dr. Davis pulilished an edition 
<'f the "ICijyptiaii P>o(jk of the LX-ad." 'J'his miiqiie 
work contains the seventy-nine pages of the great 
lyouvre I'apyriis and the twenty plates of the great 
Turin Pai)yrns, with a comi)lete translation of one 
hundred and sixtv-sexen chapters, with full intro- 
diictory notes. Dr. Davis has written a Grammar 
of the old I'ersian language: an Tntnidnctory (jram- 
niar of the New Testament (Ireck; "Lucretius, Poet 
and Epicurean"; a work on Roman Stoicism, with 
selections from F.pictetus. ?\Iarciis Anrelius and 
Seneca, and several other works. l"or some years 
he has been engaged in a translation of the Koran 
from the .\ral)ic. and has nearly completed a 
(iranimar of the lri,-h language. The Doctor has 
done all this work while foll.iwing a laborious pro- 
fession, wdiich demands nearly all his time, but he 
also ketjjs abreast of the times and receives all the 
principal monthlies and (]narterlies published in this 
conntrv and in Tairoix' devoted to medicine, litera- 
ture, science and art. 

Dr. Davis has never greatly interested himself 
in jKilitics beyond the ends of good government, but 
he has filled nearly all the town and city offices. Tn 
1873. 1885 and 1886 be rejiresented the town in the 
State Legislature, where be served on important 
committees. In 1887 he was nominated for State 
Senator. but failed of election bv tbirty-fotir votes. Tn 
his own town he was 200 ahead of his rival. In 1887 
he was elected mayor of the city by a large majority, 
and again the following year, and declined a third 
nomination. During bis first term in the office he 
was instrumental in the organization of three liuild- 
ing and loan associations, serving as ]iresidcnt in 
two and trustee in the third. Over a th' ti>and ])er- 
sons became members of these associations. In 1872 
Dr. Davis was elected a nn'ml.ier of the board of edtt- 
cation, and has continued a member of that Inward 
to the prt'seiit lime, h'or (be greater part of this 
long ]ieriod he has been chairman or jiresident of 
the lioard. .Since the organization of the high school 
he has been chairman of the school comnn'ttce. lie 
has also purchased the librarv of over 3.000 vol- 
umes with funds fnrnislu'cl for that ])ur])ose. In 
i8()T Dr. Davis was ap|) inled bv ( "lov. (."offin a trus- 
tee of the S-"hool for l'.o\s, and lor live \ears wa■^ 
treasurer of the institution and secretary of the 
l-.oard of trustees. In i8i)8 be was elected citv treas- 
urer, which included the handling of the monev 
belonging to the water fmid ; he declined a second 
nomination. 

h'raternallv Dr. Davis is a tbirty-second-degree 
Alason and a Shriner. a member of the ( 'dd Fellows, 
the Knights of Pythias, ]*llks and a number of 
other secret and benevolent societies. lie also Ijc- 



longs to some twenty-five scientific archsological. an- 
thropological, literary and historical societies in this- 
country and in Europe. He is one of the local hon- 
orary se.'retaries of the Egyptian E.xploration Fund,, 
and at the Chicago World's F'air he was appointed 
a number of the Au.xiliarv Committee on Archre- 
ology and Egyptologv. Tn addition to his travels- 
in Europe he has visited Xew Mexico, Arizona, Cal- 
ifornia, Xew lirnnswick. British Columbia, Nova 
Scotia. Prince Edward' Island and a great part of 
the L'nited States. On Sept. 23, 1869, Dr. Davis 
was married to Caroline Elizabeth, daughter of 
George ^^^ Harris, and has one son, Henrv Winter 
Davis, who married Annie Laurie, daughter of 
J-Ioward I^. Hine, Esq., of T'runswick. Georgia. 

jt'LiGE Wilbur Fisi-:i: D.wi.-;. son of the Tate Dr. 
Davis, was born July 25, 1848, in Plymouth, Conn., 
and received his literary edticaticn in the public 
scltools and the academy at Meriden. where he be- 
gan tlie studv of law in the office of Judge Smith. 
This was in 1868, and he spent a year after this in 
the Yale Law School. On the death of Judge Dut- 
ton, then at the beadi of the Law Department of 
Yale, Tie retired from Yale and entered the Harvarrl 
Law School, from wdiich he was graduated in 1870. 
In September of that year he was admitted to the 
Bar in Xew Llaven. Conji., at once opening air 
office in Meriden. For nearly a decade, beginning 
with 1873, Mr. Davis served as clerk of tlie ]\Ieri- 
den City Court. For the civil business of the city 

, of Meriden he was attorney from 1887 to i8go. In 
the latter vear he was elected Judge of Probate for 
the district of Meriden, which office he held until 
1893. He is a successful lawyer, and as a citizen 
is held in high esteem. For five years he w'as cor- 
poration counsel of Meriden. 

Judge L^avis was married ^lay 29, 1874, to 
Miss Adelaide Stevens, a daughter of Joshua and 
Jabe (Morris) Stevens, of Cliicopee Falls, Mass. 
Their children are as follows: Wilbur F., Jr.. and 
Robert S. Judge Davis belongs to St. Elmo Com- 

' mandery. Xo. 9, K. T., of Meriden. 

CAPT. DAXIEL GOFFE PHIPPS, retired, of 
Xew I laven. not oidy descends froiu a distinguished' 
and historic family, but in his own life has a rec- 
ord of uiuisual interest and full of stirring inci- 
dents. 

T^.orn June 20, 1820, in Xew Haven. Capt. 
Phipps is a son of Caiit. Solomon and Esther (Peck") 
Phipps, and a descendant in the sixth generation- 
from Deacon Henrv Peck, who was one of the orig- 
inal settlers of Xew Haven in the spring of 1638. 
Capt. Soloiuon Phipps was a descendant of Jame;- 
Phi])ps, who settled at Pemacpiid (now Pbipps- 
Iniry), Maine, about iCui. Of this family was Sir 
William Phi])i)s. governor of Massachusetts under 
the charter of William and Mary. Our subject's line 
is through iILl .Solomon, of Cbarlestown, Mass., 
wdio was liorn in 1619, and died July 25. 167T. His 
children : Elizabeth, born April 23, 1643 ; Solomon,. 





1^ 




l<3 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



613 



.born in 1^)45: Samuel: an<l Joseph. Ixirn in 1661. 
[ Uoslcn rcc.J 

(III) Solomon Phipps. born in i'>45. niarricil 
JMary, dangliter of Deinity Ciov. Dant'orih. Ciiil- 
drtn : .Mary, born July 3. 1670; Solomon, Jan. 10, 

i^'JS'- Tbomas. Nov. 22. lOjO (Ik- i^radnatcd from 
Harvard College in 1695) ; Elizabeth. Jan. 27. iCiSi 
(died Feb. 27, 1681) ; Jonathan, Jan. 7, 1683; VAiy.- 
aixnh (2), June 5, 1684. 

(IV) Solomon Phipps, born Jan. 10, 1675, ^^'''^ 
married Oct. 13, 1720, to Catlierine House, a sister 
of Capt. John Rouse, of the English navy, who did 
notable service in the Colonial wars. 

(\") Capt. Solomon Phijjps, their son. born 
Xov. 10, 1721, was married Sci^t. 3, 1747, to Abi- 
gail Ciotte. granddanijhter (jf Christopher CofTe, 
gent. [ Suffolk rec.]. and they had two children: 
Elizabeth, l)orn June 10, 1741;; and Daniel Goffe. 
born July 13. 1751. The (ioffe family came to 
America early in the seventeenth century, and has 
been very prominent in Xew England. Thomas 
Goffe, of this famil}', was the owner of the "May- 
flower," and a magistrate of the Massacliusetts Col- 
ony in 1629. In the English and .American expedi- 
tion against Cartagena in 1740, Capt. Daniel (joiTe 
connnanded one of th: Massachusetts companies, 
and in the 3d battalion with him was Capt. Lawrence 
\\'ashington, of X'irginia. | Harper's, ( )ct. i8</). j 
Capt. Solomon Phipps was very active in the Co- 
lonial wars, being with Sir Peter Warren at tlie 
siege of Louisburg, and in 1756 he was conmiander 
of the "Monckton," [Murdoch's hist.] twenty gnus, 
named after (jcn. Monckton, governor of the Col- 
onies. He met his death March 26, 1758', in the fol- 
lowing tragic manner: His majesty's frigate, 
^'Sutherland,'' was firing a salute in the harbor of 
Halifax, and one of the English officers present was 
Capt. Phip]3s, who was a nephew of John Rouse, 
the conmiander of the frigate. Capt. Pliipps, while 
standing on the shore waiting for a boat to take 
him on board, was accidentally shot, in the i^rescnce 
of his seven-year-old son, Daniel Goffe Phipps, the 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch. The ac- 
cident was the result of the neglect of the gunner to 
withdraw the ball from one of the guns, as was the 
•custom on entering port, and this ball struck and 
instantlv killed Capt. Phipps. [Wyman's Gen.l 

(VI) Capt. Daniel Goffe Phipps, son of Capt. 
Solomon Phipps, was bom July 13, 1751. in Boston, 
and early began a sea-faring life. He was one of 
that mob of men and bovs who defiul the English 
troops under Capt. Preston. He heard Capt. Pres- 
ton give the order to fire, and was near "Crispus 
Attucks," the first man killed in the Revolutionary 
■war, when he fell. From the time of the 'Tioston 
Massacre" to the end of his life he was a warm sup- 
porter of the cause of the Colonics. When a boy 
he was one of the crew of that historic sloop "Lib- 
erty," belonging to John Hancock. He was twice 
taken prisoner by the English, and was carried to 
Boston three davs after the battle of Bunker Hill. 



He was sent aboard the '"Wallace" again, after 
nu;ch alms: ; was on the "Defence" in the severe 
battle with the "Sirius" ; and then took command of 
the brig "Xancy," of fourteen guns. At this time 
he writes to .\braham Livingstone, of Charlestown, 
that "with a blessing and my good stout crew, I 
h i]je to capture a prize before the moiuh is out." 
He succeeded and brought to port the English ship 
".Maccarone." One of the "Xancy's" guns is now 
in pos?ession of the Xew Haven Historical Society, 
where it was placed by the present Daniel GofFe 
Phi|)ps, grandson of the commander. Ca]M. Daniel 
Got'fe l'hii)])S was the first of the family in Xew Ha- 
ven, coming to that city in 1769. lie became in- 
terested in the W'est India trade, and the owner of 
a number of vessels, one of which, captured by him 
from the Briti.-^h, he fitted out for the West India 
trade. He married .\nna Townsend. sister of Eben- 
ezer Townsend. the owner of the "Xeptune,"' 
which made the famous sea voyage of 1796-99. 
i Children: Daniel Gofl'e, born in 1777; Elizabah, in 
1781 : and Solomon, in 1784. Of these, Daniel 
(lOtTe married ICsther Peck, daughter of Henry and 
I Hannah (Lewis) Peck. 

( \'l! ) Capt. .S<]loni( n Phipps. son of Capt. Dan- 
iel Goffe Phipps, and the father of Capt. Daniel 
Goffe Phipps (2), was born in 1784, married Mrs. 
l-".sther (Peck) I'liioDS. widow of his lirotl'cr. Dan- 
iel Goffe Phipps. They had seven children. Capt. 
Phipps became a master and owner of vessels, and 
engaged in the West India trade. Later in life he 
o|)cne(l a school an Mea(knv street, which attained a 
high standing in Xew Haven, where he taught navi- 
gation, surveying, drawing and French. 

Daniel Goffe I'hipps (2). son of Capt. Solomon 
and the subject proper of this sketch, followed in 
the footsteps of his ancestors, becoming a sailor and 
sea captain. Owing to the death of his father and 
family reverses, he was obliged at an early age to 
leave home, and for thirtv years his life was 
crowded with adventure and varied experiences in 
all parts of the world — too many to be here given 
in detail. He began his seafaring life at the age of 
fifteen, rn the bark "Condor." He was next on the 
ship "Illinois," from Xew 'N'ork to Trieste, thence- 
to Smvrna, where the vessel lay for three months, 
through the prevalence of the plague then raging 
there. While enrnute home the shi;> was dismast- 
ed ofl' the Western Islands, and the crew sub- 
jected to suffering for want of water and provisions. 
Following this experience he received, through the 
influence of his uncle, then Lieut. Peck, an appoint- 
ment as master's mate in the U. .S. navy, and was 
ordered aboard the brie;- "Dnlnhin." which carried 
ten guns and cruised, during the winter of 1839-40, 
on the coast in aid of di. tressed vessels. Later, 
on the same vessel, on which he remained two 
rears, voung Phipps served in the Gulf of Mexico. 
While on the "Xorth Carolina," he was a messmate 
of midshipman Spencer, son of the Secrctarv of 
War, who was afterward hanged for suspected in- 



6i4 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



tcnlion of mutiny on board the brig "Soniers." 
l^roin the "Dolphin" Mr. Phipjw was transferred 
respectively to the old fri<;-ate "Constitution," the 
"Pennsylvania. ".a line of battle shij) of I20 i^uns.and 
to the V. S. brig "Truxton," then fitting out at the 
J'hiladelphia Xavy Yard, under Commander Bruce, 
for the west coast' of Africa, to assist in suppressing 
the slave trade. The "Truxton" arrived in the early 
part of i(S43 ^t Monrovia, where, in addition to his 
regular duties, Mr. ,1'hipps was a.- signed to the duty 
on" the coast of obtaining meteorological data in be- 
half of the Connccticut^Academy of Arts _and Sci- 
ences. The English sloop-of-war "Ardent" and the 
brig "Truxton"\tnited to capture two slavers, which 
lavioo miles up the Kio I'ongo, at Cordon's barra- 
coons. Arriving at the ninutli of tlu- river, they sent 
up a boat cxpeditinn with thirty men from the 
American vessel and litty from the hjiglish. and 
wert- successful in making the capture. Mr. Thii)ps. 
who had command of the third cutter, was the tir^t 
to board tjie prize "Spitfire," and the person nearest 
at that ninment with his back toward him. he 
.struck with tlu flat <>f his swurd: as the man 
whirled they recognized v:\ch inhcr. lie was a 
mulatto bin by the name nf jacksiiii. wlmm Mr. 
Phipus had often seen en the streets of \e\v IlavcU. 
The climate up the coast rivers was then deadly, 
and all Init two of the thirty sailors who accompan- 
ied Philips u]) the i-tio Pougo to.ik the coast fever. 
The associates atid friends ni Mr. Phi]iiis on board 
the "Truxtnn" fnrmed liv coincidence rather a nota- 
ble group. The midshiinnen's mess, to which he 
l)elongc<l, contained Creighton, son of Commodore 
Creigiiton; Truxton, the grandson of the old Revo- 
lutionary commodore of that name; and Selim 
Woodwiirth, son of the author of the "Old Oaken 
Kucket." .\mong the officers of the ward room 
were Decatur Hurst, nephew of Com. Decatur; and 
McDonough. son of another of the old heroes of 
1812. On the return of the "Truxton," in 1^46, 
Capt. Phipps resigned and took command nf a ves- 
sel running between Xcw Orleans and the Spaui>h 
l\Iain. and during a voyage to St. \'incent encoun- 
tered tlve great hurricane nf Se])t.. iS4d. and was 
in its vortex, .\gain. ou tin night nf Dec. iS, iS4('. 
he was wrecked ou 'lie coast of Maine, the cnld be- 
ing so severe on this occasion that seventeen jiersons 
froze to death during the night. .Another of Capt. 
I'hipiis' experiences was th.at of 184T. while cruis- 
ing for pirates on the V. S. brig "Doljihin" on the 
south coast e)f Cub.a. lie was in sight of Cape Ni- 
cola Mole, at the tinu' that Inwn, ;i ])lace of 3,000 in- 
habitants, was partially engulfed liy the great 
earthquake of that year. In 1843 -^f''- Phijips aided 
in the suppression of the "Know-nothing" riots, be- 
ing ordered froui the Norfolk Navy Yard to take 
shore duty at Philadelphia. 

When it was announced in 1S48 that gold had 
been discovered in California, Capt. Phipps left New 
^'ork in December on the steamer "Crescent City," 
for Chagres, and thence walked across the fsthmus 



to Panama, wdierc he took passage on a Guayaquil 
coaster with forty passengers ; they sailed for San 
hYancisco, and the hardships of that four months' 
cruise up the Pacific may be imagined. Capt. Phipps 
I^asscd two years in mining on the forks of the 
American river, and was successful. He returned 
to the East in 185 1, crossing Central America from 
Kealejo on the Pacific to Lake Nicaragua on foot, 
and in a desperate encounter with brigands, near 
the old .volcano of Masaya, he came near losing his 
gold dust, and barely escaped with his life. In 1861. 
he became identified with the New^ Haven Water 
Companx . and later engaged in hydraulic engineer- 
ing, and building water works. The Captain is 
president of the Sa>brook \\'ater Co., which was 
chartered in 1885. In following the records of this 
family — which are unusually complete — a rather re- 
markable similarity of life and character, and the 
repetition of names ma\' be noted. The sea has been 
the chosen profession of the majority, with a life 
of great activity and adventure ; and very marked 
traits — determination, courage, great reserve, a 
high .sense of honor — have followed through the 
line from the earliest time. The family is thor- 
oughly id'entified with Harvard, nine of the name 
having grachiated between 1695 and 1832. [Sav- 
age Diet.] 

Mr. Phipps married Mary Elizabeth Hunt, 
daughter of Capt. James Hunt, a prominent West 
India merchant, whose family has been in New Ha- 
ven since about 1774. She was born in the famous 
old house on Water istreet built and occupied by 
Benedict Arnold in 1771, and since owned by Noah 
Webster, arid Mrs. Phipps' grandfather and father. 
Her mother was a Cutler, belonging to that Tory 
family living at the time of the Revolution in the 
old homestead, corner of Chapel and Church streets, 
where the office building known as Cutler Corner 
now stands. During the invasion of New Haven 
in 177Q it wais under British protection. This prop- 
ei-t\- is still in possession of the family after nearly 
140 years of ownership. Airs. Phipps died in June, 
i8rj6. Of Capt. Phipps' six children, only the two 
\(>ungest. Edward Hunt Phipps, Yale Scientific, 
and Lina Mary Phijips, are now living. 

HARRlSt )\ WF.ED (deceased), who was born 
in wdiat was then the tnwn of Newtown, Conn., and 
is now Bethel, Ma\ 11, i8_'7. died in New Haven, 
Nov. 27. i8ij8. 
I Levi S. Weed, his father, was born in the 

! s;nne place, a smi nf .Sniomon Weed, a farmer there, 
and fnllowed agricultural jmrsuits all his life. He 
m.'irried Rachel Barnuni. b\- whom he had a family 
of nine children: ( 1 ) leliza .\nu ; (2) I^dwin ; (3) 
.\ustin J.; (4) (iranville: (5) Ira; (61 Emily; (7) 
Harrison: (8) Henry R. : (g) John S. Eliza Ann 
married first. Charles Shern'an. a farmer, and sec- 
ond. P.ooih Blackman. F.ilwin was a harness maker 
in Clinton Corners. N. \'., where he died. Austin 
(. was a merchant in New lla\-eu. and is now de- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



61; 



ceased, (iranvillc. also deceased, was associated 
with his brother, Austin I. Ira was a silver plater. 
Emily died single. Henry R. was a farmer on the 
old lioniestead. John S. was a harness maker, and 
sold carriages in the South. 

Harrison Weed grew up on the farm in Bethel, 
where he remained until he was nineteen years of 
age, attending school and helping on the farm, lie 
then went to Xew York, where he learned the car- 
penter trade of his brother, (iranville, though re- 
maining with him but a short time, when he went to 
r>ridge|)ort, L'omi., and there engageil in the sasii 
and blind business. After twelve years in farming 
in.Derbv and Xew'lown, Conn., he located in Xew 
Haven where he entered the wholesale harness 
business with his brother, (iranville, the firm name 
lieing Weed & Co. 

On Xnv. 27, 185 1, Harrison Weed was married 
to Elizabeth E., the daughter of Levi S. and I'atty 
( Hawley ) Piatt, of the town of Washington. To 
this union were born foin" children: Ira D., who 
belongs to the firm of \\'eed & Co.; Lorin E., who 
died when twenty-six years old: Henry H., who is 
comiected with the Sargeant Manufacturing Co.; 
Elizabetli married Aro 1. Ward, the secretary uf the 
Winchester Repeating .Arms Co., of Xew Haven. 
I'oliticallv Harrison Weed was an in(lei>endent 
Democrat, and with his family he attended the 15a])- 
tist Church. 

Eevi S. riatt, father of Mrs. Weed, was born 
Jan. 6, 1787, a son of Xathan Piatt, a native of Xew- 
tcwn. Conn,, and a wdicelwright liy trade. This line 
of the Platts is the same as that of the Platls of 
Milford. Levi S. Piatt, like his father, was a wheel- 
wright by trade, and he died March 2C1. 1845. His 
wife, Patty (Hawley) Piatt, was born in llrook- 
iield, Conn., Xov. 14, 1790, and died Oct. 9, 1851). 
She was a daughter of Liverus Hawley, who served 
in the Revolulionarv struggle, as did also the grand- 
father of Harrison Weed, who witnessed the burn- 
ii'g of Danbury. 

THOMAS J. SLIXEV, chief engineer cf the 
Winchester Rei)eating Arms Co., was born in (iene- 
va, X. Y., Oct. I, 1839, of Irish descent. 

William Sliney, his father, was born in County 
Cork, Ireland, and came to the United States while 
still a boy. He was reared to manhood at (leneva, 
X. Y., wiicre he became an engineer of a passenger 
boat on Seneca Lake : his death occiu-red in ( ieneva. 
Alice Duggan, his wife, was burn in the same coun- 
tv in Ireland, and was reared tn womanhood in 
(ieneva, where she. too, passed away. To William 
Sliney and his wife were born six children : John 
is an engineer, and has charge of the electric light 
plant in (ieneva: Marv resides in Xew Haven; 
Thomas J.; Catherine married b'rank .\. Paulson, 
and lives in l'.?-ooklyn: .Alice married I'rank Smyth, 
and lives in .Augusta, (ia. ; and William is a machin- 
ist in Xew Haven. The parents of William Sliney 



located in Canada, where they were engaged in 
farnn'ng. 

Tiiumas J. Sliney lived in Geneva, Jiis native 
town, until he was twenty years of age. and learned 
engineering on Seneca Lake, being afterward em- 
ployed on boats in the river and harlior in Xew 
\'ork. During the Civil war he was on the (jovern- 
meni boat "Cossac." In 1868 he became connected 
with the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., while 
that companv was still established in liridgeport. and 
when it was removed to Xew Haven in 1870, Mr. 
-Sliney came with it as its chief engineer, a position 
he has held to the present time with credit to him- 
self and satisfaction to the management. 

Mr. Sliney was married in 1866 to Miss Mary 
Taylor, of IJritlgeport. a daughter of Thomas B. 
Taylor: she died in i8(;_'. Mr. Sliney is a Demo- 
crat, and sociallv. is a member of the .\, (J. U. W,, 
and the X, E. O. P. 

JOllX 1'. r..\KXh:TT, M. D., is one of West 
Haven's oldest, most successful jiractitioners and a 
valued citizen. His grandfather, Samuel, was born 
in Xew Haven, and the family — which is of Revo- 
Intionarv fame — is among the oldest in the county. 
Sanniel I'.arnett was a shoemaker by trade, and 
died in his native city at an advanced age. 

William X. ]'>arnett. son of Samuel, was born 
in the same town, but while yet a young man went 
South, .settling in Charleston, S. C. where he en- 
gaged in the wholesale book trade. In 1845 he re- 
turned to his native State, taking up his residence 
in West llaxen. The first house which he built in 
that town is still standing, adjoining the town hall. 
He bought nuicli real estate, and was recognized as 
one of the most prominent citizens. In politics he 
was a Demcicrat. and in religious faith an Episco- 
palian, serving for man\ years as a warden and 
l)arish clerk, lie died in Morida, in 1878, at the 
age of sixty-eight years. While living in South 
Carolina he was married to Mary S. Pritchard, a de- 
scendant of the Huguenots. Her father, Paul 
Pritchard, was a shi]) builder, and she was one of 
a large family of children. Of the four sons bora 
to William .\. Parnett and his wife, three are yet 
living: Dr. John 1'".; William E.. who holds the 
jicsition of third vice-president in the Consolidated 
Railroad office at Xew Haven; and the Rev. E. \\ . 
r.arnett. of South (ilastonburw 

Dr. John !■". I'.arnelt was born in West Haven, 
fune 26, 184(1. He was educated in the connnon 
schools of the town and at Prown's ])rivate school, 
gradnating fr( m the Hopkins (irannnar school in 
Xew I laven. In i8()7 he entered the medical school 
of ^'ale L'niversity, and received his diploma and 
degree from that institution in i8'i(j. The follow- 
ing vear he devoted to study in the Hartford Hos- 
I'ital, and then for some months was surgeon on an 
emigrant vessel phing l)etween Xew \in\\ and 
Liverpool. In 1871 he went to the West Indies, 



6i6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



where he practiced his profession for alwut six 
months. This experience afforded him an achnirable 
opportiniitv in Ijeeome famihar with the character 
and conditi(jns of hfe in the troi)ics, wliich a man 
(if his native talent and pnwers of nl)?ervation was 
not slow to inijinixe. Relurnini;- tn the I nited 
States in 1872, he cstabHshed liimself in iirooklyn, 
N. Y., where he remained for three years. IJis 
jirofessional ahiht\- was soim recoi;nized. He was 
appointed on the staff of the (Central Dispensary, 
and made a member of the i\in.t;s C'ounty Medical 
Society. Jn 1875, liowex'er, he turned again to- 
ward his birthplace, and from that vear until the 
present he has made his Imme amoiio- the scenes of 
liis childhood, in .\ui;iist, 1897, lie built his pres- 
ent home on Church street, fronting the "green," 
and there he lnves Id disjjense a generous, refined 
I'.ospitality. 1 ie is a member of both the N'ew Ha- 
ven Coimty and .State Medical .Societies and has 
l)een a "I-'ellow" of the fi inner. I'.oth he and his 
wife are members <if the X'ew Haven Historical So- 
ciety, in whose work- Dr. Harnett takes a deep in- 
terest. He is a charter member of the Samosett 
Club, and was at (iiie time cimnected with the 
Knights of I'ythias. Tor many years he has lieen 
a member of the vestry of Christ Episcopal Church, 
and was formerly a teacher in its Sunday-school. 
While by natiu'e averse to holding pulilic office, he 
has consented, at the lu'gent solicitatiim (d his fellow 
townsmen, tn serve in such positinns. .Since 1882 
he has been, except for two \'ears, treasm\'r of the 
borc.ugh, having been elected seventeen times, and 
for a longer jieriod school visitor, while for about 
sixteen _\ears he has filled the statutory office of 
medical examiner fnr the coroner. 

In 18S7 Dr. r.anielt was married to Miss Mary 
E. Keelev. of Kingstun, Canada, whose fatlier, Will- 
iam, (lied in Canada, aged forty years. The maiden 
name of her mother, who is still living, was Julia 
Cjilliard. Mrs. I!arnett was one of a famih^ of six 
children, of wlidm three besides herself arc yet liv- 
ing, \\'illiam J.. Rubert and David H. Dr. and 
Mrs. IJarnetl have h;id two children, onlv one of 
whom, Ercderick II., is living. 

JAME.S REILL^', one of the notalile and rep- 
resentative citizens and business men of New Haven, 
was born in Countv Cavan. Ireland, June 24, 1835. 
He came to New Haven when he was ten years of 
age, where he attended .Smith's .\cademv (How- 
ard avenue), and other schools milil he was set to 
learn the mason trade under .\sa \\n\i. l"or three 
years he worked with him. and followed Ins trade 
until 1866. That year he began for himself as a 
contractor and builder, and met with such suc- 
cess that he was encouraged to persevere in that 
line to the jiresent day. Many important buildings 
in New Haven have gone up under his ])ersonal 
care and direction, and he has strongly impressed 
himself upon tlic city as a tlioroughly reliable and 
trustworthy man. 



Mr. Reill)- is a Democrat, and for two terms 
was an alderman from the Seventh Ward. For 
six years he was a member of the board of public 
w(jrks, and when a young man was captain of a 
company of independent militia, called the Emmet 
(iuard. Out of this organization grew the 9th Conn. 
\'. I. audi the 24th Conn. \'. I., both of which made 
noble records in the Civil war. ]\Ir. Reilly belongs 
to St. Patrick's I'arish of the Roman Catholic 
Church, and is one of the most genial and estimable 
gentlemen of the city. A man of wide reading and 
much intelligence, he has a fine library in his beauti- 
ful home at No. 21 iiradley street. Aluch property 
is held by him in the city, and his long and honor- 
able career shows the worth of his sterling manhood 
and unflagging industry. 

DA\TD THOMAS WELCH ' (deceased) 
was for twenty years a leading resident of West 
Haven, wdiere his death occurred, March 7, 1897. 
Coming of good old Colonial stock, he well repre- 
sented the best blood of the country, and the founda- 
tion for his successful career was laid in inherited 
traits of character. He w-as born April 19, 1838, 
in Milton, Litchfield Co., Conn., the son of Garrett 
P. Welch. 

INLajor David W^elch, his great-grandfather, 
served in the Revolutionary war. and was appointed 
Captain of 4th Company, later major of the First 
Connecticut Regiment, of which Cien. David W^oos- 
ter was colonel ; he represented the town of Litch- 
field from 1770 to 1780. His later years were spent 
in Milton, wdiere he owned a large estate and 
passed an honored old age. 

Judge John Welch, our subject's grandfather, 
graduated from Yale in 1778, entered the Continen- 
tal army as lieutenant of sappers and miners, serv- 
ing five years ; he participated in the battles of Sara- 
toga and Yorktown. He was one of the founders 
of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of 
Rhode Island. His talents brought him to the 
front in public life, and he became judge of the 
county court at Litchfield; wais a member of the 
famous Constitutional Convention of 1818: repre- 
sentative of Litchfield, 1799-182-2; State Senator, 
1825; judge of qunrum, 1819-1820; judge of 
countv court, 1820-1829. He married Rosanna 
Peebles, of Albany, and his sons were: William, 
a graduate of Yale, and later a captain in the U. S. 
army; Hugh, a lieutenant in the U. S. army; David 
Thomas, a lieutenant and later a captain in the 15. 
S. army; William Henry, a graduate of Yale in 
1827, and after governor and chief justice of Alin- 
ne.sota : and Carrett 1'. 

Garrett P. Welch, the father of the late David 
Thomas, was born and reared in Milton, receiving 
a good education. He engaged in the manufacture 
of iron and in mercantile business in early manhood. 
He inherited a large amount of real estate, includ- 
ing a number of farms which were operated for 
him. He was a man whose iniluence could always be 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



617 



counted u])on for any worthy cause, and for many 
years he and liis wife were leading members of the 
Episcopal Church at Mihon. He died in Milton, 
aged fifty-two years, and his wife, whose maiden 
name was Clarissa Marsli, died at eighty-six. She 
was l)orn in Litchfield, the daug'htcr of Rev. Tru- 
man .Marsh, a native of that town, and fur more 
than forty yeans a popular and beloved minister of 
the Episcopal Church, and for several years rector 
emeritus. Her mother. Clarissa Seymour, a woman 
of pronounced beauty of face and most attractive 
personality, was a daughter of Major Moses Sey- 
mour, an intluential citizen of Litchfield, who served 
with distinction in the Revolutionary war. (See 
Hollister's History of Connecticut.) On his ma- 
ternal side Mr. \\'elch was also a lineal descendant 
of Gov. John Webster, one of the early Governors 
of Connecticut. 

David Thomais Welch spent his _\outh in Mil- 
ton, receiving the b.st educational opportunities 
that Litchfield afforded, and before he was twenty- 
one he engaged in business for himself. At twenty- 
five he went to Michigan and took charge of sev- 
eral stores bdonging with the copper mines, but 
after five years he returned to the East, locating in 
Elizabeth, X. J., where he was engaged for himself 
in the drug business for two years. ITis health 
failed, and for five years he was employed by A. T. 
Stewart in Xew York Citw and finding another 
change advisable he removed to West Haven in 
^<>JJ. In iH/g he laid the foundation for the large 
coal 1 u-iincss. which still liears his name. He t;ave 
employment to a large number of men, the business 
as a single industry being the most extensive of any 
in that locality. His office was located on the shore, 
near the Winchester avenue power house. While 
?.[r. Welch tjok nuich interest in 1 )i.-al attairs he 
f!(. dined to run for nffice wlien urged, as he pre- 
ferred the peace and quiet of domestic life after his 
business cares were over for the day. Soon after 
his removal to West Haven he united with Christ 
Episcopal Church, and ten years latir was elected 
senior warden. He was one of the liberal suppor- 
ters of the church and a regular attendant at all 
church services. "I shall never forget bis cheerful 
face and cordial handclasp," says one man. Lie al- 
ways welcomed newcomers to the church, and it 
will be long before his accustomed presence will be 
forgotten. His deeds of charity were many : greater 
than the public were aware. His minister, the Rev. 
R. 11. Gcsner, gives testimony to this fact, and 
speaks warmly of the siilendid cliaractcr and the 
unostentatious trcnerosit\- of his friend and parislv- 
ioner. Mr. Welch belonged to the Masonic order 
and was a member of the Amiawan Lodge, in which 
lie lield the office of treasurer, but he was not linried 
with Masonic rites, i)referring to have his obsec|uies 
concluctedi in the "dear old T'lpiscopal form." 

Rich and poor, old and young, mourned for him 
and there was not a man in his employ that did not 
feel a sense of personal loss at the news of his 



death. In 1892 he wrote a letter of instruction to 
be opened after his death, and Airs. Welch, found, 
on breaking the seal, that it expressed his wishes 
with regard to his funeral. It was reepiested that 
carriages be provided for all the workmen in his 
em])loy, and tliat the bearers should be his as.sociate 
officers in the church. Six of these tenderly bore 
the casket, the remaining five acting as honorary 
bearers. The funeral services were held on March 
ID, at 2 :30 P. M. at Christ Church, the rector, R. 
H. Gesncr, being assisted by the Rev. E. S. Lines, 
of St. Paul's, New Haven. The interment took 
place in Oak Grove cemetery. West Haven. 

Mr. Welch married Miss Sarah E. .S. Bradley, 
of Woodbury, and their life was one of much hap- 
])incss. Mrs. Welch presided over their home, a 
pleasant residence at the corner of First avenue and 
Main street, with grace and hospitality ; they had 
no children of their own, and they elelightcd to 
bring about them the voung people of the borough, 
an(i frefjuently gave nnisicales and other enter- 
taiumeiUs. Airs. Welch is a member of the D. A. 
K., an;! was an alternate and regular delegate, al- 
ternate years to the national congress at Washing- 
ton, D. C., in 1896, '97, '99, '00. In the local branch, 
the Mary Clap Wooster Chapter is one of the larg- 
est in the State. She is a leading worker, and is 
now serving her third vear as treasiu-er. She is 
also a member of the Kalmathcan Club, of West 
Haven, and has been active in religious work as a 
member of Christ Church. She is descended in 
different lines from some of the earliest colonial fam- 
ilies of the State and her ])aternal grandfather. Col. 
Aner r)radley, was prominent in the militia, serv- 
ing as sergeant, ensign, lieutenant, and retired as a 
colonel of militia in the Revolutionary war. In the 
Goxernor'ii Foot Guards. Benedict Arnold, Captain, 
be was one of the original members, liaving joined at 
an carlv age: and was one of the sixty who marched 
from New Haven to Lexington in less than twenty- 
four hours after the news reached this ])Iacc of open 
hostilities. He was also at TiconiJcrciga. and was 
commissioned sergeant. He was born in Xew Ha- 
ven but spent much of his life in Watertown, Conn., 
where he was engaged in business as a silversmith. 
He filled the office of town clerk for twent\'-seven 
consecutive years. His death occurred at the age 
of seventy-one and his wife, Anna (uurnsey, sur- 
vived him several years. Of their nine children, 
none are now living. Phineas Sherman Bradley, 
Mr.-. Welch's father, was born at W;Uertown, but 
settled in Woodbury, as a leather manufacturer in 
early manhood. He lived to the advanced age of 
ninety years, his last years being ])assed in retire- 
ment. For many years he held a leading place in 
]nibiic riffairs in his section, serving ae- selectman for 
a number of terms, and as representative in the 
Legislature in 18^2-43. He was known as one of 
the pillars of St. Paul's Church at Woodbin-y. and 
held the office of senior warden for many year?, 
greatly beloved by all. His wife. Sarah Scoville 



6i8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Porter, who died aged seventy-six, was one i<\ 
three children born to Dr. Stephen Porter, of Wat- 
ertown, who married Lydia Manville, a lady of 
French Huguenot descent. 

DR. THEODORI'. S.MITII RUST, one of the 
leading dentists, and well-known men of Aleriden 
comes of one of the oldest families in Xew Eng- 
land, the ancestry being traced back to Henry Rust, 
who came from England in if\vV.i5' 'i"f' settled in 
Hingham, Mass., making the irip in the ship "Dili- 
getit," of Ipswich, Capt. John Martin. He re- 
mained at Hingham initil about 1651, when he re- 
movedi to Boston, where the remainder of his life 
was spent, and where he became a man of property 
and influence: he died about 1685. Six children 
were bf.rn tn him: .Sanniel. bajjtized in Hingham, 
.Vug. 5. I'l.S'^. married Elizabeth Rogers: Xatlianiel 
was baptized h'eb. 2. l(>V). and married Mary War- 
dell : Hannah was hajjtized Nov. ", I'')4I, and mar- 
ried Robert J-Iarle : Israel was baptized Nov. 12'. 
I '143, anfl marrieil Rebecca Clark: Renjamin was 
baptized .\|)ril 5. ifqf); and Renoni died Oct. 23, 
1647. 

( II ) Israel Rust, son of Henry Rust the settler, 
removed from Hingham to Northampton, Mass., 
when a voung man, and there, Dec. Q, 16(19, married 
Rebecca Clark, a daughter of \\'illiam Clark. On 
Dec. 8, 1678, Israel Rust took the oath of allegiance, 
and March 30, \<x)0. look the freeman's oath in 
Northampton, ilis death occrn'red Nov. II, 1712, 
and his wife died l'\'b. S, 1733. Their children 
were: .\ son, who was born Sept. 12, 1670, and 
died on the 25th of the same month and year; Na- 
thaniel, who was born Nov. 17, i''i7i, and who mar- 
ried Mercy .\tkinson ; Samuel, who was born Aug. 
6, 1673, and died in January, 17()[ : Sarah, who was 
born Alay 29, i('>75. and married in Northampton 
1-eb. 20, iC>g(), to l)eacon Samuel Allen, who diied 
March 27. 1730: h"x])erience, who was liorn July 
30, T'')77, .and <Iic(l young: Israel, who was born 
July 15, 1 671), and married to Sarah North, .-\pril 3, 
1704: Jonathan, who was born June ii, 1681, and 
married to b.lizabeth .\lkn. ami (second) Anna 
Lyman: Rebecca, who was born about 1683. mar- 
ried Robert Danks : ;nid bihn. who was born about 
1685. 

(Ill) Israel Rust, son of Israel Rust ( i ') , died 
Dec. 27, 1759, and he had a family of the following 
children: .Sarah, born Dec. 23. 1704. married Mav 
24. 1727. Sanmel Clark: Mary, born Oct. 30. 1706: 
Lydia, born l'"eb. 24. 1709. married Jan. it. 1730, 
Eliakim Phelps: Israel, born l-'eb. 15, 1712. mar- 
ried Mary Warner. The sixth child of tliis famih' 
was born I'eb. 4. 1714. and died in infancv. 

( l\') Israel Rust, son of Israel (2), was l)v oc- 
cupation a hnnbernian in .Xorlbamiiton, He was 
married on .Xjiril 10. 1735. to Marv Warner, daugh- 
ter of Mark and Lvdia ( I'lu'lpsi Warner, liorn Mav 
24. 1715. and died .\'ov. 10. iSog; he died Nov. to, 
1779. The children born to them were: Elijah. 



■in Alarch 8, 1736, married Miriam Strong; Mary, 
born Dec. 11, 1737, died April 4, 1802; Sarah, bap- 
tized Aug. 19, 1739. married Nathaniel Parsons in 
1768: Israel, born Dec. 4, 1741, married Esther 
Rartlett; Daniel, born Jan. 12, 1744, died August, 
1744: Lydia, born July 18, 1745, died in 1752; Es- 
ther, born in October, 1747, married, Feb. 28, 1771, 
Seth Clapp; Eunice, born October, 1749, married 
Jan. 9, 1772, Nathan Clark; Jerusha, born in 1751, 
married, in 1771,- Noah Edwards; Daniel, born in 
1753, married Penelope Cook; and Jonathan, born 
Nov. 2, 1755, died ]\Iarch 9, 1776. 

(V) Israel Rust, son of Israel (3), was a farm- 
er by occupation. He was married in Northampton, 
Aug. 22, 1768, to Esther Bartlett, daughter of Will- 
iam and .\bigail (Lyman) Bartlett. She was bap- 
tized .March 8, 1741, and she was a sister of Phebe 
Bartlett. whose conversion at the age of four years 
and interest in Sunday-school books have given her 
great notoriet\-. Israel died Oct. 21, 1816, and his 
wife [iroliably about Dec. i, 1829. The children 
liorn of this union were as follows : Chester, born 
Feb. 12. 1 7(19. married, in 1798, Esther Wright; 
Electa, born Oct. 7, 1770, married Jared Clark, Jan. 
8, 1800, had one son, and died June 27, 1853; Seth, 
born j\Iarch 15, 1772, married Jerusha Starr, Sept. 
10, 1794. and died March 17, 1838; Phineas, born 
Aug. 29, 1773. married ;\Iiltiah Everett, Nov. 10, 
1803, and died Dec. 30, 1848; Israel, born July g, 
1775, died March 6, 1800: Jonathan, born in 1777: 
and Esther born July 11, 1779, married, June 4, 1806, 
Col. Josiah Dickinson, and died Nov. 2^. 1869. 

(\T) Jonathan, son of Israel (4). was a farmer 
by occupation, and his death occurred in North- 
ampton, April 18, 1828. He married, in 1805, Fan- 
nie, daughter of Cotton and Olive (Field) Dickin- 
son, of Hadley. She was born in 1770, and died in 
Boston, Mass., May 24, 1852, aged eighty-two. 
Their children were: Sibyl Partridge, born Nov. 29. 
1806, married Theodore M. Smith, and died Nov. 
29, 1861 ; William, born in Northampton. March 6. 
iSoc), removed to Canada, where he died i\Iarch 13, 
1846, leaving two children: Frances Amelia, born 
in Northamjrton, March 4, 1813, married in the same 
town. .Vug. 3, 1831, Dr. Marcus Crary, son of Peter 
and Lovisa (Griswokli) Parker, and died in Cleve- 
land, ()hio, Dec. 20, 1887: and Daniel, born in 
Northampton, .\pril 10. 1815, married (first) .Ann 
Haskell, (second) Chloe Haskell, and (third) b'lea- 
nor Nelson. 

(\'n ) Daniel Rust, son of Jonathan, and father 
of Di-. Rust, became a carriage manufactm-er, but 
later retired and li\ed on a farm. He marrie<l first. 
I'eli. (). \J.[\. in i'eru. Mass., .\nn Haskell, who was 
liorn in that town. Dec. 19, 1813, and died in East- 
liampton, June 2_t,. 1847. His second wife, whom 
be marrierl ( )ct. 3. 1847, was her sister, Chloe, born 
.\liril 8, 1812, died .\ug. 2(1. 1S55. On ]\Iay 7, 
1857, he marrii'd b'.Ieanor Nelson, and he died in 
Easthampton. ( )ct. 13. 1872. The children by his 
first marriage were: Chloe .\nn, born Jan. 17, 1842, 






'//a-"' 



/- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



619 



(lied July 22. 1865: Theodore Sniilli. liiirn .\]ifil 14. 
1844; and Mary Siliyl. liom Jan. 11;. 1846, died 
March 31, 1846. One cliild was born of the second 
niarriaj^a', Fannie Frances, who was horn in East- 
hanipton, June 10, 1849. and died July 15. 1865. Hy 
his third marriage ^Ir. Rust had the following fam- 
ily: Charles Xelson, born Aug. i. 1839, married 
Carrie Barton, of Granby, Mass.; Xcllie K.. born 
July I, 1S61, is unmarried and resides in Xauga- 
tuck. Conn.; and George, born Xov. g. 1863, is un- 
married and resides in Springfield, Mass. Mrs. 
• Uust removed to Xaugaluck about 1S87 to live with 
lier dJiughter. 

Dr. Theodore Smith Rust was iKjrn A])ril 14, 
1844, and was reared upon a farm, learning the trade 
of machinist, but liaving a strong inclination toward 
a professional life, ho took u]5 the stiid>' of <Ientistry, 
in 1863, with his brother-in-law. Dr. Colton, in 
Meriden. Continuing with him. Dr. Rust became 
thoroughlv versed in his profession, and ujion the 
death of the former, continued' the business alone. 
For thirty-eight years he has been in successful 
])ractice in the city of Meriden, and has been in his 
jiresent quarters ever since Place lUock building was 
erected, he being the first dentist to locate there. 
He is a meniber of Connecticut State Dental Asso- 
ciation and Xorth Eastern Dental .Association, and 
he is the oldest and leading dentist of Aleriden and 
numbers the best people of the city among his pa- 
tients. 

Dr. Rust is also well-known as a mechanical gen- 
ius, electrician, and skillful machinist. He w-as one 
of the first to construct a telephone, and also to ex- 
periment with Roentgen ravs, and is now interested 
m wireless telegraphy. Socially and fraternally 
he is vcrv ])opular, and is a member of Aleridcn 
Lodge, Xo. 77. A. F. & A. M. : the Home Club; 
and the Wheel Club, of which he was president for 
a number of years. He was one of the first persons 
in Meriden to ride a wheel, and is still enthusiastic 
over the sport. 

On iMav 3. 1864, Dr. Rust married Fannie M. 
Colton, a woman of refinement and culture. Two 
children have been born to this union: Theodora 
I'rances, born May 30. 1870, is a vonng ladv of 
many attainments : Annie Marinda graduated from 
the art schi->ol at Smith College in 1896, and after- 
ward studied at the Yale School of Fine .\rts. Pjoth 
daughters at present reside at home. 

The CoLTOX Family. George Colton. from 
whom all the Coltons in this coimtrv arc descended 
as far as is known, came from Sutton-C<ildfield, 
England. He married Deborah Gardner, of Hart- 
ford, and settled in that part of Springfield called 
Longmeadow. Quartermaster George Colton died 
Feb. 13, 1699. Flis wife died Sept. 5, 1689. Their 
children were: Isaac, born Xov. 21, 1646, mai-ried 
Mary Cooper, June 30, 1670, and died Sept. 3, 1700; 
Ephraim. born April 9, 1648, died _May 14, 1713: 
^Tary, born Sept. 22. 1649; Thomas, born Mav i, 
1651, died Sept. 30, 1728; Sarah, born Feb, 24, 1652; 



J^eljorah. born Jan. 2-,. 1^134, died Xov. 26, 1733; 
llepsibah, born Jan. 7, 1636; John, l)orn April 8, 
i')39, died ]'"eb. 3, 1727; and J'enjamin, born ^^ay 
2O, lOOi. After the death of his first wife. De- 
borah ((Jardnerj Colton, George Colton married 
Lydia Lamb. 

(II) Isaac Colton, son of Ouartermaster George, 
the emigrant, married Mary, daughter of Lieut. 
Thomas Cooper, June 30. 1670. She was born Xov. 
13, if^)3i, married (second) ICdward Stelibins, and 
died .\ug. 29, 1742. Jsaac Colton died Sept. 3, 
ij(X). Tlie children of Isaac an<l ^Liry (Cooper) 
Colton were: Mary, born March 30, 1671; Sarah, 
born June 1 1, i'')73, died July 9, 1689; George, born 
June \(>, i(>7~, died Aug. (>. 1760: Rebecca, liorn 
June 20, iC>8i ; Deborah, born Julv 26, 1684; a child 
i>orn .\ug. I, 1^187, died the same day; Hannah, born 
.\ug. 8, 1(188: Josejjh, born April 20, 1693: Ilenja- 
min, born June 18, iC)<;3, died May (>. 1770. 

(III) llenjamin Colton, son of Isaac Colton, set- 
tled in .Springfield, and afterward removed to Lud- 
low. ( )n h'eb. (>. 172 1, he marrieil Elizabeth Pyn- 
chon, daughter of John and I'.athshua (Taylor) 
I'vnchon. She was l)orn Dec. 17. 1702, and died 
Sept. 26, 1776: he died May 6, 1770. Their chil- 
dren were: Benjamin, born I'eb. i, 1722, died June 
20, 1808; Charles, born March 8, 1724, died March 
9, iScx); Moses, born Feb. 9, 1726, died Sept. 23, 
1771 ; Gideon, born I'eb. 11, 1728, married Johanna 
Colton, and died June ifi, 1S23; Elizabeth, born 
April 13, 1730; IJalhshua, biMMi Sept. 6, 1732; Isaac, 
born Au.g. 22, 1734. died >ilarch 3, 1812; William, 
born Xov. 6, 173^); Margaret, bom Oct. 24, 1738; 
Hannah, born C)ct. 27. 1740; Mary, horn Jan. 26, 
1742; Aaron, born March 21, 1744: Rhoda. born 
June 9, 1748; Edward, born April 10. 1750: Reulien, 
born Jan. i. 1732, died Sept, 26, 1757. 

|I\') (iideon Colton, son of Benjamin Colton, 
lived at Longmeadow, Mass., and was .said to be a 
man of .sniali stature, and for that reason could not 
>erve in the Revolutionarv war. His first wife was 
Sarah Hurt, daughter of David and Sarah lUirt: she 
had two children, Simon, who died young: and 
Sarah, who married Reuben Warriner. Feb. 13, 
1783. Gideon Colton married his second wile. Jo- 
hanna Colton, daughter of Lieut. John Colton. June 
18, 1761, She died Sept. to. 1788, and he died June 
13, 1823. The children by his second wife were 
a.s follows: (Iideon. horn May 10, 1763, married 
July 2^1. 1788, Leucretia NV'oodworth : Hanon, born 
( )ct. 4, i7'")4, married Eunice Cooley, lunc, 1788, 
and died .\ug. 28, 1828: Zadock, born I 'eh. 3, 1766, 
married Hulda Lanckton, .Xov. 3, 1794, and died 
Dec. 17. 1836: Chauncey, l>orn Xov. 4, 1768, died 
Jan. It, 1773: Sabra, born Xov. 30, 1770. married 
Jan. 23, i7<)o, Harrison Ewell ; Elizabeth, born Dec. 
30, J 774, die<l Julv 16. 1861 : and Chauncey, born 
Jan. Ti. 1779, (bed Feb. re,. 1789. 

(\) Zadock Colton. son of Gideon Colton, also 
lived at Longmearlow, Mass., and at Conway and 
Westfield, the same State. On Xov. 5, 1794, he 



620 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



married JIulila Lancktnn, wlin was born Aug. 7. nr 
Sept. 18, 1777, and dic-d March 11, 18,^3. He dic-d 
]X"C. 17, 1836. ISuth ])assedi away in Westficld at 
the home of their .son Chauncey. 'J'heir chihh-en 
■yvere as follows: John, born .April j8, 1796, died 
that same day:, John (2), born .Aug. 7, 1797, mar- 
ried Lemira iJatcheldcr, and died Ajiril 10. i8fi8; 
C'hauncey, born Jan. _'<), 1800. marricil Marinila 
I'dagg, aiul died Jan. (), 1862; Hulda, born Sept. 28, 
1801, married Stephen Harrison, and died Sept. 16, 
1838: Elizabeth, born Dic. i 1, 1806. married Board- 
man Xoble. and died .May 3. 1892; .Mehitable, born 
Alay 8, 1810, died July 9, 1826; Emily, born May 
20.' 1812, married Alo>es X. Williams, and died 
Alarch 6, 1895: Philinda, born .April 24, 1S15, mar- 
ried William Sackelt and died March 8. 1837; and 
(iicleon, born June id, 1817, married Alagdalen 
A'oung, and died Aug. 29, 1873. 

(\'l) Chaunccy (.'olton. son of Zaduck Culton, 
was a farmer l)y occupation. He married Marinda 
Elagg, who was born !"e1). 25. 1809, a daughter of 
]".Iea7.er and IClizabeth (Warren) Flagg, of Con- 
wav, Alass., Oct. 2ri, 1830. He died. Jan. 9, 1862, 
in 'Westfield, Mass.. where they lived, and where 
their children were born. .After his death his wife 
removed lo Meridcn. Cimn., to live with her son 
])r. 1). S. e'olton. anil died .Aug. 20. 1896, aged 
eiglu\--seven. The children of Chauncey and Ma- 
rinda Colton were as follows: Ann AL. born Aug. 
22, 1831, married James Pdiss, of Owen, 111., and 
died Julv 8. i88i ; jane I'.., born Jan. 21, 1834, mar- 
ried Henry Thurston: Benton H., born .Aug. 14, 
1839. and married Eozina Wheeler; LX'lizon S., born 
]'"eb. 4, 1S39, died Sept. 13, 1864; Fannie AE. born 
July 20, 1841, married Mav 3. i8r>4, Thcodure Smith 
i\ust; Emma ]■"... burn July 4. 1844. married Henry 
A. Shipman, and died .Aug. 12, 18S5; Francis V., 
born Afay 25, 1847, died .Aug. 29. 1849; and Ernest- 
ine I-., born Dec. 13, 1850, died July 22, 1865. 

F1)\\'.\K1) DWIS. who was the head of the 
Davis family of Haniden. New Haven county, and 
whosj sons, William 1".. and James A., constitute the 
e.Ktemsive brick manufacturing firm of W^ E. Davis 
& Co., of New Haven, was a member of the old 
Davis faiuilv. of \\'illington. Connecticut. 

From .Avt'r\- Davis, a prosperous farmer of Staf- 
ford, a native of the town of Willington. Tolland 
county, and a son of Averv Davis, came the mem- 
bers of that familv in Stafford. TTam<len and New 
Haven. A\'erv Da\-is married Hannah Tyler, a 
daugjitcr of Deacon Sanuiel Eyon, of the same 
town, and their children were: Charles, Eliza, Alary, 
Edward. William, Sanuiel (sketch of whom ainiears 
elsewhere) and John. ,\very Davis passerl his life 
in agricultural pursuits in Stafford, and there died 
at the age of seventy-seven years. His voungest son. 
John, was born in i82ri, and married Aurelia, 
daughter of J'oseph Allen, of blllington. Fie set- 
tled in Rockville, where he became a large holder 
of real estate, over which that city later spread. 



making him w^ealthw I)a\is avenue there was 
named for him. He died Jan. 11, 1899. 

Edward Davis, son of Avery, and the father of 
William E., James A. and Burton A., was born in 
1818 in Stafford, and in 1837 established himself 
on a farm in Hamden, coming to that town with his 
brother, Samuel. By his upright life and exem- 
plary habits he won the profound respect of the 
community. He was selectman of the town and 
assessor, and also filled other positions of trust and 
responsibility. In 1842 he was married to Betsey 
M. Augur, daughter of James and Almyra (Ford) ■ 
Augur, and a member of an old New England fam- 
ily. She was born in W'hitneyville, and spent her 
life in that ])art of Hamden. She early identified her- 
self with the Whitneyville Congregational Church, 
always took a deep interest in its affairs, and lived 
a busy, useful life, but one wdiich seemed always 
serene and peaceful. In her later years she became 
indeed "a mother in Israel." She was a constant 
reader and deep thinker, the subjects of temperance 
and missions being of special interest to her. 
Thoroughly good and lovable, she left to her chil- 
dren a legacy of precious memories. Her death 
occurred Aug. 16, i88<). and she was buried in 
Whitneyville cemetery by the side of her husband. 
Ciiildren as follows were born to their union: (i) 
James A., born June 6, 1844, in the town of Ham- 
den, is mentionedi elsewdiere. (2) Betsey Alaria, 
born .April 12, 1846. is the wife of George W. Ives, 
of Hamden, by whom :she has had two children, Al- 
fred and Eucy, the latter deceased. (3) William 
E., born Jan. 30, 1848, married Sophia Tambling- 
.'•on, and has three children, William Edward, Jr., 
Jessie and Harold M. (4) Carrie M., born in i860, 
died at the age of sixteen years; she was attmding 
New Haven high school at the time of her decease. 
(5) Burton A., born Sept. 15, 1862, married Mar- 
th,-'. E. Augur, and has one daughter, Marjorie, and 
one son, Minott. (6) Alyra E., born in 1865, 
married William T. Burton, of Hamden, and died 
b'eb. 1. 1901 : she was the mother of John Edward, 
I\al|ih William and Donald Hepburn. 

.After his marriage Edward Davis located on the 
farm where his son, P.urton A., now lives. Although 
he began life a poor bow with inly a comnion school 
ei'uL'atidii, he ])rospered in his undertakings, as he 
was industrious, enterpri-ing and energetic, and he 
became a large land owner and extensive farmer — 
in fact, he was one of the successful men in his day 
in Hamden. During the latter \ears of his life he 
devoted his attention to th: dairy business. He 
was ;i man of good conunon scuse and sound judg- 
ment. When he began life his cajjital consisted only 
of energv and business tact, which latter trait was 
apparent from his youth. He was a disciplinarian, 
and his management of affairs, ])nblic or private, 
was such as to secure the best results, for though 
stern in some respects he coidd be indulgent, and 
was a good jiid.ge of lumian nature. Mr. Davis" was 
well known, and his personal acquaintance included 





t^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHJCAL RECORD. 



62 r 



many of tlie prominent men in the business and 
financial circles of Xew Haven. He reared an ex- 
cellent family to whom he left not only a comfort- 
able competence, but a name which can be pointed 
to with pride. His tastes were domestic, and his 
heart always in his home and family, and he nevtr 
sought or cared for public preferment, taking an 
interest in politics solely as a public-spirited citi- 
zen. He contributed liberally to the support of the 
Whitneyville Congregational Church, of which he 
wa.- a leading member. 

VALE. The Vale family of Xcw Haven coun- 
ty has long been prominent and comes of an hon- 
orable race. 

( I) Thomas Vale was born in England or Wales 
about 1616, son of David and .Ann (Morton) Vale. 
David Yale being a descendant of an ancient and 
wealthy family of that name in Wales, and Ann 
Alorton. the daughter of Bishop Morton of London. 
Their marriage occurred in 1613, and Mr. Yale died 
ir» 1617 leaving three children. The widow in 1618 
married Theophihis Eaton, then an opulent mer- 
chant of London, and with him, and a large com- 
l^any, including her three children by David Yale, 
came to America in the "Hector" in 1637. stopping 
in Lioston and going to Xew Haven in tlie s])ring of 
1C13S. Gov. Eaton died in Xew Haven in 1657, and 
in 1658 Mrs. Eaton and daughter, Hannah Eaton, 
returned to England. 

Thomas Yale married, in 1645, IVfary, daughter 
of Capt. Xathaniel Turner. He had come to Xew 
England with his step-father, Gov. Eaton, and party, 
and settled in X'ew Haven as a merchant in 1638. 
On the death of Gov. Eaton he accomjianied his 
mother and sister to England, but returned to Xew 
Haven in 1659 and purchased lands in that part of 
the town which afterward became Xorth Haven, 
and settled there as early as 1660. He was one of 
the principal men in the colony ; was a signer of the 
Plantation Covenant and filled with honor many 
offices of trust. He died March 27, 1683, his wife 
surviving until Oct. 15. 1704. 

(H) Thomas Yale (2), son of Thomas, the set- 
tler, born about 1647 in Xew Haven, married 
(first) Dec. ii, ifS67, Rebecca, born Eeb. 26, 1650, 
daughter of William Gibljards, fif Xew Haven. 
Capt. Vale removed to Wallingford, Conn., in 1670 
as one of the first settlers of the town. I le was one 
of the most active and energetic men of \\'alling- 
ford, assisted in the organization of the chtn-ch. was 
a justice of the peace, captain of the train band, etc. 
He died in A\'allingford Jan. 26, 173O. 

(HL) Xathaniel ^'ale, son of Thomas (2), born 
July 21, 1681. married Anna, daughter of John 
i'eck. of Wallingford. and settled as a farmer in 
that part of the town which is now Meriden. He 
died Dec. 11. 171 1. His widow married Joseph 
Cole and died h'eb. 16, 171C1. 

"(IV) Abel Yale, son of Xathaniel, born March 
9, 1707, married (first) July 22. 1730, Esther Cook, 



and (second) June 3, 1742, Sarah Atkins, of Mid- 
dletown. Mr. Vale was a farmer ami settled in the 
eastern part of the town, now Meriden. He died 
April 8, 1784, and his wife, .Sarah, died Dec. 20, 
1800. 

( \' ) Xathaniel Vale {2). son of Abel, born June 
28, 1753, married, Sept. 15, 1778, Hannah Scoville. 
and lived in Meriden. In early life he was a joiner, 
but later was engaged in farming. He was for a 
number of years a deacon in tiie Congregational 
Church. He died Dec. 12, 1814, and his wife died 
Feb. 28, 1847. 

(\'I) Levi Yale, son of Xathaniel (2), born 
Xov. 31, 1780. married (first) Polly Yale, daughter 
of Joel Vale, and (second) March 5, 1S15. Anna 
( juy. Mr. \"ale was a farmer of Meriden. He died 
Xov. ID. 1844. His wife, Polly, died July 13. 181 1. 
()ne child, .Mary, was born to the first marriage, 
born in 1807 and died in 1837. The children born 
to the second marriage were: .Sarah A., born April 
17, 1817, married Henrv J. Tennent and resided in 
Meriden; Hannah .">., liorn Dec. 18, 1818. marrieil 
Ira X. Yale and died March 18, 1847; Bertrand 
Lcland, born Xov. 17, 1820; Clarissa K., born Dec. 
15, 1822; Dewitt C. born Jan. 6. 1825. died Oct. 
9, 1846; and Letiza X., born Oct. 6, 1827, died 
March 14, 1833. 

Bkrtk.wi) Lmi.axi) ^'.m.k, late of Meriden. whose 
lineage is set forth in the foregoing, was reared 
amiil agricultural pursuits, living on the home farm 
until twenty _\ears of age when he commenced in a 
small way the manufacture of cigars. Later he be- 
gan business as a merchant tailor and dealer in 
furnishing goods. During this time he was ap- 
I>ointed postmaster and hvhl the office, performing 
his duties most etficiently, for eight years. He added, 
in time, to his establishment both a fire and life in- 
surance Inisiness, this branch' soon requiring so 
much of his time that he dis])osed of his store and 
devoted his energies to the establishment of ciiiite an 
e.xtensive insurance Inisiness, which he carried on 
successfully for a period of some t.wenty-five years. 
He then returned to his farm and was occupied in 
farming the remainder of his life, his death occur- 
ring Oct. 1, 1892, and he sleeps in East Cemetery, 
Meriden. 

Mr. N'ale's jiolitical affiliations were with the 
Democratic ])ari\-, and in his earlier life he took 
quite an active ])art in politics. I'or many years 
prior to his death his business duties rather ]ire- 
vented.him from active work in public affairs. He 
j served with ability and efficiency as an alderman of 
Meriden, elected in 1888, served in that \ear en the 
I-inance and Water committees, and in 1889, in ad- 
dition to these, on the committee en By-laws. Dur- 
ing the last year of his service as alderman Mr. 
^'ale acted as mayor pro tern. I'or man\- years he 
was a director of the Meriden Bank. He was a 
man who commanded the respect and esteem of his 
fellow citizens and held their full confidence. Mis 
good common sense and practical business ideas, 



622 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



alcng- with good judgment, made him a vakiable 
man in the community. ]'Vaternall\- Afr. Yale was 
a Mason, becoming an apprentice in Harmony 
Lodge, No. 27, New llritain, Oct. 4, 1848, and he was 
a charter member of Meridian Lodge, serving as 
the first secretary ; he was made senior warden in 
1852 and Master Mason in 1854. 

On Feb. 4, 1861, Mr. Yale was married to Chloe 
Elizabeth Holcomb, daughter of Hon. Ravnor Hol- 
comb, of East Granby, Conn,, and to them came a 
daughter, Jennie llolcdmb. Mrs. Yale is a repre- 
sentative of several of the oldest and best families 
in Connecticut, and is a lady of tine attainments, 
with natural charm of manner. 

Jennie Holcomb \'ale was united in marriage 
with John B. Hall, son of ."^cth j. Hall, mention of 
whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Two chil- 
dren have blessed this union: Liane Holcomb and 
Elizabeth Yale. Mr. Hall is engaged in the flour 
and grain business with bis father, and ijolitically is 
a Democrat. 

JEROME C. ML".\'SC)X, one of the best known 
citizens and most prdgressive farmers of PLimden. 
belongs to an old and prominent family of New 
Haven county. The first to come to America was 
Thomas Munson. wbn was burn in England in If>i2, 
an<l w^as a carpenter by trade. l'"or a time he re- 
sided in Hartford cnunty, L'uun., Imt in 1O47 came 
to New Haven county with Samuel Whitehead, and 
later was grruUinl 100 acres of land in this county. 
In 1653, wdien war was declared against the Dutch 
of the New .Xetherlands, he enlisted in the first com- 
panv that was organized here, was elected sergeant 
and afterward promoted to the rank of lieutenant. 
He also particiiiated in the IVniuot war as one of 
Mason's renowned arni\-, and at that time held 
the rank of sergeant. lie sicms to have licen a 
member of the Congregational Church. He died 
May 7, t()S5, ,-ind his wife, Joanna, who was liorn 
in 1610, (lied l)e.\ 13, 1O7S. Their children were: 
Elizabeth, wife nf ThdUKis Cooper: l^anniel, wlni 
was baptized in .\ngusl, l'i43: and Ilannah, wh ) 
was ba]itizeil June 1 1. 10.4S. 

(II) .San;uel Munson, son of Thnmas, was a 
shoemaker and tanmr liy trade, was a meml)er of the 
Congregational Church and was (piite prominent 
in civil and religiinis affairs. He resided in New 
Haven and W'allingford and died in the former 
place in 1^)93. I Ic was married Oct, 26, 1665, by Rev. 
Mr. (Jilhert, to Martha, daughter of William and 
Alice (rritchard) T.radley, and U> them were born 
ten children, whose names and dates of birth were 
as follows: Martha, May d, \G(,~: Samuel, Feb. 28, 
ir)68; Thomas, March 12, 1O71 ; John, Jan. 28. 1672; 
Thco])hilus, Sept, i, i''>75; Josi-pb, Nov. i, 1677; 
Stephen, Dec. 5, 1^79: Caleb, Nov. iq, 1682; Joshua, 
Feb. 7, 1(184; <'""1 Israel, March <\ 1686. 

( III) John Munson, son of .Sanuiel. was a mil- 
ler of New JIaven, took an active part in ])ubhc af- 
fairs and was a member of the Congregational 



Church. He was married Nov. 10, 1692, by Rev. 
John Moss, to Sarah Cooper, daughter of Sergeant 
John and Alary (Thompson) Cooper, and they had 
eight children : John, the oldest, was born July 7, 
1693: Elizabeth, born Alay 15, 1695, was married 
I'eb. 28, 1716, to Seth Perkins; Hannah, born Feb. 
9, 1697, married A, AI. Andrews; Joel, born Aug. 
18, 1702, is mentioned below; Ruth, born Jan. 30, 
1707, was married Dec. 19, 1728, to Caleb Hotch- 
kiss ; .Anne, born Sept. 18, 1704; Mehitable, born 
Oct. 17, 1709, married Benjamin Alorris ; and Sarah, 
born Sept. zj. 1713, married Enos Stone. 

( I\' ) Joel Alunson, son of John, was born and 
reared in .\'ew Haven, but later removed to Ham- 
den and became a member of the Alt. Carmel So- 
ciety and the Congregational Church. He owned 
and operated a grist and sawmill in that town. On 
Alay 9, 1726, he wedded Alary Alorris, of New Ha- 
ven, who was born in East Haven in January, 1702, 
a daughter of Joseph Alorris. They became the 
[parents of seven children, wdiose names and dates of 
iiirth were as follows: Austin, Alarch 20, 1727; 
Bazel, Jan. z;^,, \72q: Sarah, Alarch 18, 1731 ; Joel, 
July 14, 1734; Alary, Jan. 2, i73'i; Alehitable, Nov, 
14, 1739: and Sybil, Oct, 25, 1743. 

( \' ) ISazel Alunson, son of Joel, owned land in 
Alt. C'armel and also engaged in the sawmill busi- 
ness there with good success. He was married Alay 
2, 1 75 1, to Keziah Stiles, of New Haven, a daugh- 
ter of Isaac Stiles. She was born Aug. 6, 1731, and 
died ( )ct. 16, i7(j8. He was again married Oct. 
22, 1771, bis second union being with Abigail Bas- 
sett, of New Haven, who died in July, 1772, and his 
third wdfe. Alary, died Oct, 3, 1777. He died Nov. 
17, 1803, and was buried in Alt. Carmel Cemetery. 
By his first wife he had six children: Bazel, Jr., 
born Sept. 26, 1752; Titus, Jan, 31, 1755; Ezra, 
Alay 15, 1757; Isaac Stiles, Sept. 13, 1761 ; Keziah, 
Alarch i. 1763; and Alehitable, Sept. 6, 1766. By 
the second lun'on there was one daughter, Abigail 
I'lassett, who was born July 20, 1772, and was mar- 
ried March U, 1791, to Crcorge A. I'ristol. 

( \ 1 ) liazcl Alunson. Jr., son of Bazel, was also 
a land owner and miller, operating both a saw and 
grist mill in Ilamden. His home farm is yet in the 
family, owned by his great-great-graTidson, George 
W. Alunson. He was a member of the Episcopal 
Churchi, of Hamden. Prominent in ]3ublic afl'airs, 
he was highway surveyor in 1789; constable of 
New Haven from 1779 to 1781; was collector of 
ta.xes and also held other offices. He w'as married 
Oct. 26, 1775, to Lucy, daughter of Ebenczer Beach, 
of Hamilen. .She was born in 1758 and died Sept, 
22, 1807. lie was again married A])ril 10, 1808, 
bis second union being with Nancy Thom])son, of 
l'"arnnnglon. who was born Jan. 2T, 1779, and died 
about 1862, while he died Jan. 10, 1828, His chil- 
dren were Ebenczer Beach, born ,Sept. 14, 1777; 
Alehitable. Dec. 14, 1771): P>azel, Dec. 30, 1781 ; 
Sarah, Alarch, 1785; Lucy, ( )cl, 19, 1787; and Job 
Lucianus, Nov, 25, 1789. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



623 



(V'll) Job Lucianus ?>lunson, the t:;ran(lf;ulior 
of our subject, was a farmer and miller by occupa- 
tion, grinding Indian corn for the West Indies 
markets. lie was liberal in his religious views and 
a Democrat in politics. lie died of dropsy of the 
chest June 28, 1864. For his first wife he niarrie 1 
Sally -Moss, of Cheshire, who died l-"eb. <j, iS^t), ai 
the age of forty years. On June 17, 1830. he mar- 
ried Adelia Tuttle, daughter of Lyman Tutlle. Siie 
was born in 1804 and died Se[)t. 14, 1849. lie was 
again married lOec. 30, 1850. his thiril wife being 
^Irs. Rachel L. Watson, daughter of Lodema .Muss. 
His children were as follows: Julia .\im was mar- 
ried April 25. 1830, to Xehemiah Curtis, of New- 
town. Razel, father of our subject, is ne.xt in order 
of birth. Sarah Nancy, born Aug. 23, 1817, w^as 
married April 10. 1838. to James Clark, who was 
born April 14. 1815, and she died in Newtown, 
Conn. Cornelia married tieorge W. ISradle)'. 
Lucy Lodema. born Jan. 17. 1821. died in ( )ctril)er, 
1824. -Abigail Adelia died Jan. 22, 1835. Job Lu- 
cianus is a resident of West I'ort, New Zealand. 
Adelia. born in 1840, was married Feb. 4, 1864. to 
Frederick M. Wood. Lyman Tuttle. liorn in 1841. 
was a member of Company .\, loth Conn. \". 1., 
during the Civil war and died m .Newbern. N. C. 
Dec. 2"/, 1862, from a wound received in the l)attle 
of Kiuston, N. C. John Watson, born iu 1843, was 
rdso a soldier of the Civil war, and he died in the 
Sandwicli Islands in May, i8(>i, leaving $20,000 
to the Salvation .\rm\'. 

(VIII) Bazel !Munson, father of our subject, 
was born July 7, 1814, and sjient his boyhood and 
youth on the home farm in Ilamden, his education 
being acquired in the district and high schonls of 
that town. \\'hen a young nian he engaged in the 
butcher business, and later followed larnu'ng in 
West Woods, Hamden, on a trad of 100 acres of 
land, and also engaged in the wood and charcoal 
business. He met with success in his undertakings 
and became one of the prosperous and sub-^laniial 
citizens of the communitv, as well as one of its hon- 
ored residents. His political support was given the 
Democratic party, but he took no active part in 
public affairs, and was liberal in his religious views. 
On .Ajjril 9. 1838, he married jennet Lovisa Peck, a 
daughter of Amos Peck, of }ilt. Carmel. She was 
born in Ilamden Dec. 24, iSiS, and died .\ug. 30, 
1 888, and be died Jan. 15, 1891, the remains of both 
l;cing interred in the Mt. Carmel cemetery. Tiiey 
had four children : Francis liennett, burn .April 14, 
1839, of Hamden; Jerome Courtland, our sul)jecf, 
Sarah Jennet, who was born April 2C), 1851. and 
(bed April 16, 1853: and a daughter, whu was born 
April 14, 1855, and died umiamed. 

(IX) Jerome C. Alunson. whose name intro- 
duces this sketch, was born on West WimkI road. 
m the town of Hamden, Nov. 3. 1845. and received 
a limited district school education. He was mar- 
ried while still in his teens and located on a small 
tract of land near the home farm, where, for over 



twenty \ears, lie engaged in market gardening and 
fruit growing. Since about iSC/j he has resided 
where he now li\es, his time and attention be- 
ing devoted to general farming, stock raising and 
ilairying. He lias made many improvements uj)on 
the i)lace, including the erection of a fine residence 
m i8i)7. 

( )n Nov. 3. 1864. in Hamden, Air. Alunson was 
united in. marriage with .Miss Sarah Jane Doolittle, 
who was born in that town Oct. 5. 1844, a daughter 
of Henian and Julia (Allen) Doolittle. They have 
three sons: (1) George Walter, born Jidy i, 1866, 
marrieil Fftie I'erkins; they live in Hamden ant! 
have (iiie child, Clrace J. (2) r.ennclt Peck, born 
I'"eb. 14, 1870, married Amelia Holt; he is su|)erin- 
tendent of the Hamden town farm. (3) Willis 
P.urtun, born Sept. 11, 1880, married Carrie Grace 
Wooding, of North Haven, Ccnn., and has one son, 
llnrton Noyes. 

Mr. and Airs. Alunson are member of Hamden 
Grange, ot which he was master two years, and 
both are widely and favorably known. He gives 
his ])olitical support to the Republican party and 
its principles, and has most creditably filled the 
offices of constable nine years, justice of the peace 
four years ami grand juror four years, and assessor 
one year. Although he began life for himself in 
rather limited circumstances, he has, through his 
industry, integrity, good business ability and sound 
judgment, succeeded in acc'unuilating a comfortable 
competence, and his course has ever been such as 
to gain for him the confidence and high regard of 
those with whom ho has come in contact, either in 
business or in SDcial life. 

iCDAlUXl) ARAfOUR P.ARKFR. one of the 
highly respected and well known citizens of Meri- 
den, a worthy descendant of a long line of highly 
honorable ancestors, and a member of a family 
whose record is without blemish, was born in Aleri- 
den June I, 1843, son of I*!dnnind and Jeiuiett 
( liradley ) Parker, and ne])hew of the venerable 
Charles Parker. The genealogy appears elsewhere. 

I'.dmnnd Parker, the youngest son of Stephen 
and Rebecca ( Ray Stone) I'arker, was born Feb. 
9, 181 I. in Cheshire, Conn. In early life he removed 
to Merideii. and soon thereafter became associated 
with his brother. Charles, and Ileman \\'hite, in the 
manufacture of hardware, under the firm name of 
Parker & White, the concern being the jjionecr in 
the hardware liusiness in Alerideii. To the energy, 
])erseverance and great ability of the ])artners, cou- 
])led with their enterprise and pidilic sisirit.are due in 
a .great hieasure the growth and i)rosi)erity of the 
citv of Aleriden. \Mien the firm dissolved Fdmund 
Parker associated himself with his brother. John, 
in the brass and iron foundry business and in the 
nianufacture of coffee mills and otlicr hardware, 
the style of the firiu being J. i'^- F. i'arker. The 
business was so conducted until 1865. wlien Ed- 
mund's health failing, he sold his interest to Charles 



624 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Parker. Edmmul I 'arkcr died April 19, 1866. For 
several years he had served ihc town as selectman 
and the county as commissioner, and he was dis- 
tinj^nished fi:r the clearness and strength of his judg- 
ment, the ease and accuracy with which he trans- 
acted husiness, and the kindness and affability which 
he uniformly manifested in all relations of life, and 
while always attentive to business, he never neg- 
lected the duties of friendship nor social life gener- 
ally. At an early age he embraced Christianity, and 
f(ir manv \ears was a member of the Mi'thodisr 
Church in'.Meriden. In 1S5S he united with the 
Episcopal Church, in which cnmmuniun he remained 
until his death. 

JNlr. I'arker wedded Miss jennelt, daughter of 
Anson ISradlew and the union was blessed with chil- 
dren as follows: John lulward lives in Hamilton, 
Ontario; Elizabeth' .\nn died at the age of sixteen; 
Ellen jMaria is the widow of Horace C. Wilcox; 
Georgiana Augusta, wife of Augustus P. Day, re- 
sides' in Brooklyn: ICdnumd .\rmour, our subject; 
Candora Alice 'married Junius A. Talmadge, of 
Westfield, Mass.: lennett died at the age of six. 

Ednnmd .Vrnu'.ur Parker attendefl the public 
schools of Meriden, finishing his course of study at 
the I'dushing Institute, Long Island, N. Y. At the 
age of seveiuecn \\v was filled with patriotism, and 
when the call came for volunteers to defend the 
Cnion. he enlisted in .Sei)tember, 18G1, in Company 
K, 8th Conn. \'. I., for three years, under Col. Har- 
land and Capt. L'pham (now Col. Upham, of Mer- 
iden). ^Ir. Parker was mustered in as corporal, 
and served in that capacity until June i. 1862, when 
he was promoted to sergeant major at Newbern, 
N. C. On Inly i, 1862, he was promoted to second 
lieutenant of 'Company F, of the same regiment, 
and served his country until Nov. 7, of that same 
year, when he was linnorably discharged on account 
of ill health. Rt'tm-ning home he made a voyage 
to the West Imliis in the hope of imi)roving his 
health, but the climate not agreeing with him, he 
returned to Xew \'ork and took ])assage to Cali- 
fornia, via .Xsjiinwall and Panama, remaining in 
San Francisco until the death of his father, in April, 
1866. Kettu'uing by the same rottte he came direct 
to Meridien and accepted a position as traveling 
salesman with the Meriden P.ritannia Co. ITc re- 
mained in this service eleven years. The Simpson, 
Hall & Miller Co. offered him the position of super- 
intendent of their works, and he served most ac- 
ceptabK for three years at Wallingford. \\'ishing 
to .go u])on the road again, he engaged with the 
iirm of R. Wallace & Sons, of Wallingford, as trav- 
eling salesman, with territory west of the .Missouri 
river to the Pacific coast, and continued in tliis ca- 
])acity eight years, after which he settled down in. 
Meriden, and has since made that city his home. 
Notwithstanding his labors as a traveling man, Mr. 
I'arker has found tiiue and o]iportunity to give ex- 
pression to his genius as an inventor, and has placed 
ujjon the market many useful articles. 



On Dec. ;/, 1894, Mr. Parker luarried Miss 
Katherine Leonard Relfe, who was born at Elmira, 
N. Y., daughter of the late William and Sarah 
(Warwick) Relfe. The ceremony was performed in 
Milwaukee, Wis., at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral. 
Congenial in tastes, hospitable, they have made 
their home an ideal one, where it is a pleasure to 
visit. Mrs. Parker is a lady of refinement and pos- 
sessed of inany excellent characteristics, which, com- 
bined with her pleasing personality, win for her 
hosts of devoted friends. Mr. Parker is a member 
of the Arthur Dutton Post, G. A. R., \\'allingford, 
and is also a Mason. In politics he is an independ- 
ent Republican, but has never been a politician. 
During the many years he has been associated with 
men ot all classes in his extensive travels, Mr. Par- 
ker has learned to estimate humanity at its true 
value, and judges a man not l)y the length of his 
purse, but by those characteristics which go to 
make a good citizen and an honorable business as- 
sociate. He is generous and kindhearted, a model 
husband, a good citizen, a noble friend and a worthy 
representative of the men who fcught so bravely 
to maintain the prosperity of the greatest country 
in the world — the Hnited States of America. 

PIERPONT. The Pierpont family, of New- 
Haven, Conn., is one illustrious in the city's history. 
The family record in America reaches back to the 
coming of the Puritans to New England, in the per- 
son of John Pierpont, born in London, England, 
in i()i(). a son of James Pierpont, of that city, who 
was an early settler at Roxbury, in the colony at 
Massachusettis. Bay, where his death occurred in 
1682. Fie married Thankful Stow, and of their five 
children, all sons, James, of Roxbury, born in 1659, 
IS the ancestor in whom we have an interest. His 
graduation from Cambridge occurred in 1681, and 
he was 'settled in the ministry over the First Church 
(Congregational) in New Haven, in 1684. . He 
took possession of what was long afterward known 
as the old family mansion, about which cluster en- 
dearing memories and historic facts. Two years 
after coming, in 1686, he planted two elm trees in 
front of the north side of the village green, and 
these are still standing. The sweet Christian char- 
acter of Mr. Pierpont made him beloved by his peo- 
ple, and for thirty years he was jjastor over the 
church at New Haven, and became one of the 
founders of Yale College. Sarah, one of his daugh- 
ters, became the wife of the noted divine, Rev. 
Jonathan Edwards, whose name has been given a 
place in the Temple of Fame, in New York. Rev. 
Piir])ont was married three times, his third wife be- 
ing Mary, daughter of Rev. Samuel Hooker, of 
l-'armington. Conn. Rev. Pierpi^nt died in 1714. 

From this ancestor came the late Cornelius 
Pierixnt. of Xew Haven, long a jiruminent citizen 
of the city, and' whose widow and children survive 
and fill honorable positions in the spheres of life 
where fortune has placed them. Rev. James Pier- 



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1 



CORHELIUS PIERPONT. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(')2S 



pont (2) was born in New Haven to the tliird mar- 
riage of Rev. James Pierpont, and was educated in 
Saybrook, Conn. From Saybrook he went to Bos- 
ton, i\lass., and then to New Haven, becoming for 
a time one of the professors in Yale College. 

James Pierpont (3), a son of Rev. James (2), 
was born in New Haven and settled in earlv life in 
what is now the town of Morris. Litchtieldi Co.,C(inn. 
where for years he was engaged in the manufacture 
of woclen goods, but later was occupied in farm- 
ing; he first married Elizabeth Collins, a grand- 
daughter of Rev. Timothy Collins, of Litclifield, 
and second, Mrs. Crossnian, of Salisbury Connect- 
icut. 

Cou.\i;r.n;.s Pikkpoxt, a son of James, and late 
of New Haven, was born Aug. 15, 1829, in what is 
now the town of Morris, Conn., where be was 
reared on his father's farm and attended the neigh- 
borhood schools and also the well known Washing- 
ton Academy. Later he taught school for a period 
in East Chester, N. Y., and in 1854 located in New 
Haven and engaged in the grocery and provision 
business. For thirty years he so successfully con- 
ducted this enterprise that his name became known 
throughout Connecticut, Hundreds of farmers were 
his customers, some of whom drove in from great 
distances to sell their produce and make trades. 
While conducting his business on Broadway, he 
was interested in several other enterprises, princi- 
pally the manufacturing of agricultural implements, 
at the corner of Crown and Park streets, and he 
also became interested in the development of what 
is now the ninth and tenth wards, built the Dixwcll 
avenue car line, and equipped it and Shelton ave- 
nue with horse cars. A few years ago this he sold 
to a Philadelphia firm who in turn disposed of it 
to the Fair Haven & Westvilk R. R. Company, who 
have equipped it with electricity. 

For several years prior to his death Mr. Pier- 
pont was not in any active business. In 1879 ''"^ 
became a member of the New Haven Chamber of 
Commerce. The only political office he ever held 
was that of alderman from the tenth ward, and this 
was about twenty-five years ago. While teaching 
scho9l at East Chester, N. Y., Mr. Pierpont became 
acquainted with Miss Martha Hinman, a descend- 
ant of an old family of that place, whom he mar- 
ried in 1856, being twice married after this, his 
second wife being C'atherine Smith, of Litchfield, 
and the third, Helen !•".. ISrooker, of Torrington, 
who survives, as also do three sons and a daughter : 
Frank H.; James, who is professor of mathematics 
in Yale College; Henry P., of New York City; and 
Sila 1:1., now Mrs. Levi T. .Snow, of New Haven. 

The death of Cornelius Pierpont occurred on 
March 21, 1900, at his home, No. 262 York street, 
New Haven. 

Samuel Brooker, the father of Airs. Cornelius 
Pierpont, was a native of Torrington, Conn, (then 
known as Wolcottvilk), where he lived and died. 

40 



He married Julia A. Seymour, also of Torrington, 
and the following children blessed their union : 
Maria; Albert, who became a major during service 
in the Civil war, and is now a resident of Torring- 
ton ; Helen, Mrs. I'icrpont ; Jennie, deceased; Alice 
J. ; Frank, deceased ; Arthur S., of Torrington ; and 
bdla '1".. deceased. The lirooker family is an old and 
prominent one, the father of Airs. Pierpont repre- 
senting his town in the Legislature, and a cousin 
of Mrs. Pierpont is Charles F. Brooker, of Ansonia 
and Torrington, known to the world as the million- 
aire brass manufacturer. 

ROBERT ()Wb:N, one of the successful and 
prosperous agriculturists of the town of Meriden, 
whose fine establishment is located in Alurdock ave- 
nue, was born in Glanhespin, Llaneledan, Denbigh- 
shire, Wales, March 8, 1844. William .Owen, his 
father, was born in the same place, where his life 
was devoted to farming, and where he died at a 
ri])c old age. He was married to Catherine Owen 
(no relative), whose father was agent for Sir Hugh 
Williams, and they became the parents of thirteen 
children: William and JijIiii, who died in England; 
Elizabeth, who married Price Williams, and resides 
in Wales ; Mary, who married Joseph Gardner and 
resides in Wales ; Robert ; Thomas, a hotel keeper 
in Coventry, England : Frederick and Hugh, living 
in England; Catherine, who married John Gardner 
and lives in Denbighshire ; and four who died in 
early childhood. The parents died in Wales. They 
were members of the Chtirch of England. 

Robert Owen is a self-educated man, having 
cnjo_\ed only brief attendance at the conmion sciiools- 
of his native place. He remained on the home farm 
imtil 18^3. in which xear he came to this country, 
Ijy way of Liverpool, crossing the ocean on the 
steamshi]) "Minnesota" to New York. Mr. Owen- 
came directly to Meriden, where he was emi.iloyed 
by Zina K. Murdock. with whom he remained a 
year and a half. .After the expiration of this period 
he was employed in the factory of Edward Miller 
& Co. The em])loyment proved congenial ; he was 
a close and hard worker, and gave general satisfac- 
tion to his employers during his connection with 
that house of more than twenty-five years. With 
the interests of a growing family on his hands to 
care for, he, in 18S9, bouLdit what was known as 
the Nelson Ives farm, a tract of too acres, where 
for the ])ast twelve years he has been engaged in 
dairying and genera! farming with the co-operation 
of his sons. L'nder his cajjable administration the 
farm has been greatly improved with new buildings 
and extensive alterations and adajitations to mod- 
ern conditions, and is now one of tlie most attrac- 
tive i)laces in the town. In 1901 the house was 
destroyed by fire, and was at once rebuilt. 

In 1861, in Denbigh. North Wales. .Mr. Owen 
was married to Alice luans. a native of that place. 
daughter of 'I'homas I'.vans. a cattle and shec|> 



626 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



dealer, and sister of David T'lvans, of ]\Ieriden. 
Children as follows have been born to them : Mar- 
garet yVlice. who married Ebenezer Davis and re- 
sides in Jirooklyn, X. \'. ; Catherine Jane, who mar- 
ried Arthur Jlart, of .Meridcn; William Thomas, a 
traveling salesman fur the luldy Plow Co.; and 
P'rederick Kobert, who died Dec. lo, 1901, aged 
twenty-five years; and .\rthur Evans, at home. 
Twins died in infancy. .Mr. ( )wen belongs to Aleri- 
den Grange and to A. O. V>. W., Silver City Lodge, 
No. 3. lie and his wife are members of the Bap- 
tist Church, and in politics he is a Democrat. He 
is a man nuich liked and respected in the communitv. 

ELBERT X. CL.XRKE. The Clarke family, 
wliich has long been prominent in this section, orig- 
inated in England, and the subject of this sketcli, 
a well known agriculturist of Milford, is of the 
eighth gcn'eratiun in descent from George and Mary 
Ciarkcvvho came from England about 1637. With 
him came three relatives, James, John and another 
George Clarke, and all remained in Boston for some 
time. Later our subject's ancestor came to Con- 
necticut, locating first in New Haven and then in 
Milford, as a member of a band of over a hundred 
men who settled in the wilderness. A tract of three 
acres, ijurchased for a connnon or public park, is 
still free from buildings, and has been in the pos- 
session of the Clarke family since 1639. It is now 
owned by the father of our subject, his grandfather 
having bought out the other heirs. The family tra- 
ditions convey much valuable information concern- 
ing the earlv days, and among the relics is a church 
record which was slarteil in .\lilford Aug. 22, 1639, 
on the organization of the Congregational Church 
in that town. 'J"he h'irst Church of New Haven was 
established on the same day. (Jeorge Clarke was a 
deacon in the church and a man of weahh and 
prominence. Like all of the ])ioneers he gave much 
time to clearing and farming his land, but as he was 
a contractor and buiUler it is ])robable that all of 
the houses in Milfurd in his day were built by him. 
He died June, K-jo. and his wife, ?vlary, also died 
in Milfurd. They had nine children, viz.: Samuel, 
Thomas. Sarah, (ieurge, John. Abigail, Elizabeth, 
Rebecca and Marw 

Thomas t'larke. son of George, was burn in 
1637, proliably in I'.uslon, and died C^ct. 23, 1719. 
lie was a farmer by occui)ation and owned more 
land than anv other man in Milford. In 1663 he 
married Hannah Gilbert, of New Haven, \x\\o died 
in .Milford. .Six clnldren were born to them, viz.: 
Sarah, S:unuel, Thomas, George, Joseph and Han- 
nah. 

Thoinas Clarke, Jr., who was also a farmer, died 
in I 7JS. lie was married in 1703 to Martha Clarke, 
of l''armington. Hartford county. They reared a 
famib of six children : Martha. Ann, Thomas, 
Kezia, Jonathan and Jared. 

lared Clarke, liorn in 1719, died in 1789. He 
followed farndng throughout his active life. His 



wife, Alartha Baldwin, a daughter of Deacon Bald- 
win, was born Dec. 8, 1723, and died before 1770. 
They reared a familv of eight children, as follows : 
David, Enoch, Hial, David (2J, Hial (2), Jerusha, 
.\bel and Alartha. 

David Clarke was born in 1751 and died in 1831. 
Like his ancestors he was a farmer, and as his ma- 
ture years fell during the stirring period of the Rev- 
olutionary war he showed the patriotism of the 
familv by active participation on the side of free- 
dom. He was with Gen. Washington on Long Isl- 
and and above New York, and many incidents have 
l)een preserved in the family concerning him. 
When General Tryon, with his army, went to Dan- 
Iniry, Conn., he, wdth Justus W'ood, Samuel Green 
and others, proceeded to the path, and from behind 
fences and trees they shot and killed many English. 
Samuel Green was killed, but Mr. Wood and Mr. 
Clarke escaped. His wife, Anna Clarke, was born 
in wdiat is now the town of Orange in 1755, a daugh- 
ter of Isaac Clarke, and a descendant of Dr. Andrew 
Clarke, one of the founders of Yale College and 
pastor of the First Church of New Haven. Sha 
died in 1812. The children born to David and Anna 
Clarke were as follows: David, Hannah, Martha,-- 
Nancy, David (2), John, Samuel, Hial, Elizabeth, 
Jerusha, Sarah A., Mary A. and ^label. 

David Clarke was born Nov. 15, 1782, and died 
Jan. 17, 1853. He followed agricultural pursuits 
during his active years and was prominent in local 
afl'airs as a member of the W'hig party and of the 
Congregational Church. His wife, iVIary Smith, 
was born in Milford Nov. 2, 1784, and died Eeb. 
II, 1857. She was a daughter of Samuel B.. Smith, 
of Milford, who was with General i\Iontgomery 
when he went to Quebec, and at one time was com- 
mander of a vessel wdiich transported troops across 
the lakes. He also had charge of a fort on one of 
the Great Lakes, and wdiile there a vessel loaded 
with English officers drifted ashore in a log; they 
were taken prisoners by the men of the fort. .\ 
family of ten children were born to David and 
Mary Clarke : Maria, born Oct. 9, 1806, married 
Dennis Beach, of Milford, a carriage manufacturer 
by trade. Louisa A., born April 21, 1809, never 
married. Laurctte. born Aug. 19, 181 1, mJrried 
Isaac E. Stone, of Orange, a carnage maker and 
successful merchant, wdio died in Louisville, Ky. 
Catherine, born Oct. 29, 1813. married Elias Clark, 
a farmer of Milford, now deceased; she died in 
1901. Mason S., born Nov. 11, 1815, was a whole- 
sale merchant in New Orleans, where he died. Em- 
il\- S., born Jidv 21, 1817, married Lemuel Powell, 
(if I'.rookhn, N. Y., and both arc now deceased. 
Julia S., born Sept. 29. 
Beach; both are deceased, 
more full\- below. Samuel 
was a wholesale merchant in New York, where he 
'died. Charles W.. born Sept. 19, 1827, died in boy- 
hood. 

David N. Clarke was born Oct. 8, 1821, and was 



1819. married Harvey 
]3avid N. is mentioned 
B., born Feb. 19. 1824. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



627 



educated in Milford. Since early manhood he has 
had charge of the homestead, but for three years 
he also sold goods in Milford for his brother, Sam- 
uel. He is now a general farmer, but devotes much 
attention to market gardening and fruit culture. He 
also deals in native wood and timber. Air. Clarke is 
a prominent member of the Congregational Church 
in his town and is influential in the local Republican 
organization, having held various offices, including 
those of selectman and assessor. On June 19, 1854, 
Mr. Clarke married Miss Charlotte N. Piatt, daugh- 
ter of Newton Piatt, and sister of A. Clarke Piatt, 
of M'ilford. She died Oct. 10, 1866, and on Oct. 
17, 1867, he married her sister. Miss Lenora S. Piatt. 
By his first marriage he had three children : David 
L., a farmer of Milford ; Miss Mary E. ; and El- 
bert N., who is mentioned below. There were also 
three children by the second marriage: Charlotte 
A., wife of Frank Hine, a civil engineer; Vincent 
B., a student in Yale College, class of 1903 ; and one 
that died in infancy. 

Elbert N. Clarke was born in ^lilford Sept. 7, 
i860, on a place adjoining the one he now occupies, 
and was educated in the district school near his 
home and the graded schools of Milford. On leav- 
ing school, at the age of eighteen, he turned his 
attention to the work of the homestead, and at 
twenty-one he engaged in business with his father 
under the firm name of D. N. Clarke & Sons. They 
carried on farming and general market gardening, 
and Elbert N. Clarke continued in that business until 
1894 when he became a general contractor. His 
bu.siness includes the laying of concrete and cement 
walks, road building and grading, and he deals ex- 
tensively in hardwood posts and native lumber. Mr. 
Clarke began contracting in a small way, and by 
good management this business has steadily in- 
creased. He owns a farm of twenty-five acres, and 
leases other land for agricultural purposes, and all 
his varied enterprises are carried on with uniform 
success. Mr. Clarke is still a young man, but he 
has accomplished more than the average man of 
his years, and he is conceded to be one of the most 
progressive and aggressive business men of the com- 
munity. The respect which his fellow men show 
him is in no way lessened because his high posi- 
tion has been gained by his own efforts. His ex- 
tensive operations in general contracting have af- 
forded much opportunity for the display of ability 
of a high order, and Mr. Clarke has not been found 
wanting. His financial obligations have been 
equally well met, and in all liis transactions involv- 
ing the handling of many thousands of dohars, he 
has borne the highest reputation for straightfor- 
ward, honest methods. 

In politics our subject is a Republican, and al- 
though he is not an office holder, his influence is 
recognized as a factor in local affairs where his 
support is invariably given to good and competent 
officials. Socially he is identified with the Milford 
Wheel Club and the Milford Driving Association. 



I He is a member of Arctic Fire Company, No. i. He 
and his family are prominent workers in the First 
Congregational Church, in which for five or six 
years he has served on the society committee. In 
short, Mr. Clarke is the type of citizen to perpetuate 
an honored family name along the same lofty plane 
it has occupied for generations. 

On Feb. 18, 1885, Mr. Clarke was married in 
Milford to Miss Susie I. Smith, and four children 
have blessed the union, all of whom are living, viz. : 
Stanley Newton, born Dec. 7, 1887; Mildred Leo- 
nora, born June 19, 1891 ; Florence Isabclle, born 
March 14, 1897; and Marjorie Theresa, born Sept. 
]8, 1898. Mrs. Clarke formerly taught in the Sab- 
bath-school, and she is a member of the Ladies' Be- 
nevolent Union of the Congregational Church, of 
Milford. She is a charter member of Freelove 
rialdwin Stowe Chapter, D. A. R., at that place. 

The Smith family, to which Mrs. Elbert N. 
Clarke lx;longs, has been settled in Milford from an 
early day. Her great-grandfather, Isaac Smith, 
her grandfather, Nathan Smith, and her father, E. 
Stiles Smith, made shoe making their occupation. 
E. Stiles Smith, who is still living in Milford, mar- 
ried Maria Theresa Piatt, a native of Milford, who is 
a daughter of Jonah Piatt; her grandfather, Fisk 
Piatt, was also the grandfather of A. Clarke Piatt, 
of Milford. Three children were born to Mr. and 
Mrs. E. Stiles Smith : Susie I. and Sadie T., twins, 
born Feb. 13, 1862, in Milford, the fonncr the wife 
of Elbert N. Clarke, the latter the wife of Charles 
.S. Clarke, a seed grower of Wakeman, Ohio; and 
Frank W., of New Haven, who married Miss Carrie 
W. Beard, of Milford. 

Through her mother Mrs. Clarke is a member of 
the Fowler family, one of the oldest in New Eng- 

, land, being a descendant in the tenth generation 
from William Fowler, who came to the New World 
in company with Theophilus Eaton, John Davenjxjrt 
and Peter Prudden. She is of the sixth genera- 
tion from Capt. John Fowler, who was commis- 
sioned by the assembly captain of the 2d Company, 
or train band, of the Second Regiment, and served 

' his town and country by raising troops for the 
Continental army. 

Mrs. Clarke is also descendfed maternally from 
Capt. Charles Pond and Sir Charles Hobby, the lat- 
ter an officer in the Colonial wars, who was one 
of the si.x American knights knighted at Windsor 
Castle in 1705. He was the ancestor of Mary Hob- 
by, who married Zachariah Hubbard. Their daugh- 
ter, Mary, married Peter Pond, and they became the 
parents of Capt. Charles Pond. Capt. Charles Pond 
was first ensign in Capt. Peter Peret's company, 
Col. Charles \\'ebb's regiment, and was at the siege 
of Boston. On Jan. 17, 1776, he was commissioned 
first lieutenant, and in June, 1776, was in command 
of the war vessel "Scuyler," thirty-three men cap- 
tured from the British ship "Crawford," and a 
sloop. In August, 1776, he captured three prizes, 
and the same season recaptured vessels belonging to 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECOMD. 



the United States, and stores taken to Long Island. 
He was at the battle of White Plains and crossed 
the Delaware with Washington in December, 1777. 
He was also at Princeton. On Jan. i, 1777, he was 
commissioned captain, resigning April 20, I779' ^^ 
take charge of the war vessel "New Defense," which 
was captured after an engagement with a British 
brig and taken to New York, while the captain was 
confined on the prison ship "Jersey" ; howcTer, he 
was soon exchanged. He became a member of the 
Society of the Cincinnati. Capt. Pond married Mar- 
tha Miles, and their daughter, Sally, became the 
wife of William Herpin Fowler, and their daughter, 
Sarah, was the wife of Jonah Piatt, Mrs. Clarke's 
maternal grandfather. 

THOMAS FTTZSIMONS. one of the pro- 
gressive men who have done so much to develop 
Waterbnry, and make it the industrial center of so 
much life and activity, was born in Countv West- 
meath. Ireland, April 13, 1838. He was the 2:rand- 
son of Hubert Fitzsimons, a soldier in the Enelish 
armv. who distincuished himself for gallantrv in 
the Francr>-Fnglish war, under the Duke of Well- 
ington. Hubert Fitzsimon? had two sons and one 
daughter. One son came to America quite young 
and began life in ITtica. N. Y., and the daughter 
married a Canadian architect of great ability. 

Thomas Fitzsimons, the second son and father 
of the gentleman whose name appears at the intro- 
duction of this article, married Miss Susan Laird, 
who was of Scotch descent. Thev were the par- 
ents of seven children: William, Thomas, George, 
Robert, .Micia, Charlotte and Susan. The mother 
and daughter, Susan, both died and were buried in 
New York City, whither the family had renwved 
in 1848. Thomas Fitzsimons and his son, our 
subject, came to Waterbnry in October, 1849. ^^"^ 
in the following year the father married Miss Anna 
Groves. To this second union were born seven 
children. 

Thomas Fitzsimons, Jr., attended the Water- 
bury public schools for a short time, and at the age 
of thirteen was put to work in a factory to learn 
the trade of chasing buttons, which at that time was 
principally done by boys and girls. In 1S62 he be- 
gan work in Steele & Johnson's button company, 
then known as The Jewelry Co. After working 
there for twelve years he rose to foreman of the 
finishing department. In 1871 he went to Newark, 
N. J., to take charge of the establishment of God- 
dard & Brothers, button manufacturers, remaining 
there for one year. Returning to Waterbury in 
1872, he, with William Blake, Edwin Putnam and 
John Kirschbaum, organized the firm known as the 
Novelty Mfg. Co., of which he was first elected sec- 
retary. At the death of William Blake he was 
elected treasurer, and upon the death of Edwin Put- 
nam he was elected president, which position he 
still holds. The business has grown from a one- 
story building with a few workmen, to a four-story 



plant of modern structure, fully equipped with 
special machinery and operated by steam. Their 
trade is rapidly increasing, and extends over all 
parts of the United States. Mr. Fitzsimons has 
been interested in real estate, and has shown keen 
foresight in selecting tracts of land for improve- 
ment. He was the originator of the Columbia Boul- 
evard, which has since become such a desirable 
residential section. He has been a member of the 
city council, and served an the committee of the 
street department and of the law department, and 
has held other offices of trust. When the electric 
lighting enterprise came up he worked faithfully for 
the lighting of the city by electricity. 

In 1865 Mr. Fitzsimons married Sarah A. 
Essex, of Cornwall Bridge, Conn., who belonged 
to one of the oldest families in New England of 
English extraction. To Mr. and Mrs. Fitzsimons 
were born the following children : Joseph Essex, 
who is a practicing physician in Waterbury ; Louis 
Edward, secretary and treasurer of the Novelty 
Manufacturing Co. : Mary Louise, who married 
Emery Gilson, of Machias, Me. ; Oscar Samuel, as- 
sistant secretary of the Novelty Manufacturing Co. ; 
and Grace Leffingwell, at home. The children all 
reside in Waterbury. Mrs. Sarah A. Fitzsimons died 
June 26, 1895. On April 15, 1897, Thomas Fitz- 
simons married Mrs. Rhoda M. H. Strong, daugh- 
ter of Sheldon Hotchkiss, and whose ancestry runs 
back to the Revolution. Mr. Fitzsimons is a pub- 
lic-spirited man, and has done much towards 
bringing Waterbury to its favored position. Al- 
though not a politician, he is a stanch member of 
the Republican party, as are also his sons. He has 
always been an active church worker, and his first 
instruction in religion was received in St. John's 
Episcopal Church under the Rev. Dr. Clark. At 
the age of seventeen he became quite active in the 
Baptist Sunday-ichool and a singer in its choir. 
After his first marriage he accompanied hi» wife 
to the Methodist Church, and became a teacher in 
its Sunday-school, a member of its official board and 
chairman of its finance committee for six years. 
He was also superintendent of Sunday-school at 
Watcrville, and was also an exhorter in the church. 
He was a member of the Connecticut State Sunday- 
school Association for ten years and in this capacity 
kept in close touch with forty-four Sunday-schools. 
He is now an active member of the Second Advent 
Church, and for many years has been the superin- 
tendent of its Sunday-school, chairman of its finance 
committee and official board, and also for many 
years has been elder of the church ; from year to 
year he has taken an active part in revival work, 
and was president of the Hope Mission for a time. 
His donations for church purposes have always been 
liberal. 

SAMUEL W. CHAPMAN, foreman of the 
lamp-burnishing department of the Holmes, Booth 
& Haydcns Co. , Waterbury, and a stockholder in the 





-c<:a^J 




UiC<-^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



629 



■concern, is a native of Waterl)iirv, born Xov. 1^. 

1853- 

Adam Chapman, his jjrandtatlier, was Ijorn in 
Princeton, Mass., anil dietl tliere. He was a farmer 
by oceupaticn. He was a Uaptist in religious con- 
nection. His children were: Lorenzo. William, 
;\loses. Lovel. Leander and Angeline. 1 

Leander Chapman, father of Samnel W'.. was 
horn in 183 1, in I'rinceton, Mass. .and died in Water- 
bury, Conn. He married Isabella llenn, also a na 
tive of Massachusetts, and they removed from Mas- 
sacl'.usctls to Waterburv where Mr. Chapman fol- 
lowed liis calling of mechanic. Here were b:)rn to 
them a family of six children, as follows: I.nitie, 
who is married to Irving C. lieecher and resides in 
Santa C'rnz. C"al. : Samuel W., whose name opens 
this sketch: Leander (i) and Leander (2). both 
deceased: Frederick C. a mechanic in Waterhury : 
and Ella J. married to Sumner Holt, also of that 
city. 

Samuel W. Chapman was ])reliminarily educated 
at the Town Plot school in Waterhury, and later 
attended the Waterburv high school. ]-"or a short 
time he worked on a farm and was then employed b\- 
the Waterhury Button Co., as shipping clerk, three 
vears, leaving this company to form a connection 
with the Holmes. Booth & Hayden Co., with which 
he has been identified since .\pril i, i8(:i). 

Mr. Chapman first married. May i. 1H79. Miss 
Lillian L. Beecher, who was born May 22. 1851). 
and died Feb. 16, 1881 : no children graced this 
union. On Xov. 23, 1898, he chose for his second 
wife Miss Laura B. Feck, who was linrn in Sufiield-, 
Conn., and is a daughter of Rev. Ednnmd Feck. 
Rev. Edmund Feck was born in Cireenwich, Conn., 
was educated to the ministry of the Methodist 
Church and married) Elizabeth 1'.. Smith, who was 
bcirn in Bethanv, Conn., a dautjhter of 'idieo])hiIus 
.S:nilh, a native of ^ililford. Conn. Rufus Feck, 
father of Rev. Edmund Peck, was no doubt als 1 
a native of (jrecnwich. Conn. Rev. Edmund Peck 
still survives at the advanced age of eighty-four 
vears, while his wife has attained the age of seventy- 
two. 

Samuel W. Chapman is one of the most ])0])ular 
Republicans in his city and has been a member of 
the Republican town committee. He has reiire- 
sented the Third Ward in the board of the common 
council many years: has served as alderman, grand 
juror and) justice of the peace: and as notarv public 
for several years. Fie has ever been a most ];ub- 
lic-spiritcd gentleman, and has been an ardent ad- 
vocate of many local imj^rovements. and through 
his influence two ]iarks have been donated to the 
city — Hamilton and Windemcre I'arks. the latter 
comprising at least 100 acres on the town plot. He 
lias also been instrumental in the la\ ing out of west 
Porter street ; the tunneling of I'.anks street muler 
the New York & New England road ; the cutting 
down of Washington avenue at the intersection of 
Leonard street. Mr. Chapman is a member of the 



Masonic fraternity and of the Concordia Singing 
Society. In religion he is a Congregationalist and 
has l)een clerk of the Third Church ever since its 
crganizalicn, .\pril 1, 1K92. He has led a pure, 
abstemious life and is greatly res|)ected by the com- 
munity at large for his many personal merits, while 
he and his wife are always gladly welcomed in the 
best social circles of Waterhury. 

JOSEl'H PIERFOXT. To trace a noble an- 
cestrx is a desirable object of research, but few. in 
the ijreseni day, have succeeded so well as Joseph 
i'ier])ont, of Xortli Haven. The derivation of the 
name is of noble origin, being derived from a stone 
bridge which the emperor Charlemagne supplied in 
])lace of a ferry, h'rom Hugh in the first generation, 
the line is traced through Sir Cioilfrey. Robert. Will- 
iam, Hu.gh. William (2). Robert (2). Sir Henry, 
Sir Henry (2), Sir Robert (3), Sir Edmund. Sir 
Henry (3), h'rancis. Sir William (3). Sir Cieorge, 
William (4), James and Hon. John. Hon. John 
Fier])ont. the last named, was the first to come to 
.\mcrica. which he did in tlie early colonial period, 
and was accom])anied by his brother, James. He 
resided in Roxbury. near Boston, in 1640. and his 
grave may yet be seen in the old burying ground of 
that historic ])lace. 

(II) (Ml July 2. 1685, James Fierpont. son of • 
Hon. John, was ordained a minister in Xew Ha- 
ven, lie gave to Xorth Haven "Fierpont Park," 
a record of wdiich is found in the family archives. 
He diedi Xov. 22. 1714. aged fift\-four years. 
( III ) Jose])h Fierpont, son of Rev. James, was 
born ( )ct. 21. 1704, and was the first of the name 
to settle in Xorth Haven. On Sept. 27. 1727. he 
married Hannah, youngest daughter of Rev. Xoali- 
diah Russell, of Middlelown. t)f this union were 
i)i)rn. .Samuel. Joseph, James, Benjamin, Hannah, 
Mary. Ciles. .\bigail, He7.ekiah and Sarah. Joseph 
Fierpont died Xov. 24, 1748. and his widow on 
Aug. 6, 1752, married Samuel Sackett. She died 

Jinie 11. IJi)!- 

(I\') Joseph. Fier])ont. son of Joseph ami Han- 
nan Fierpont. was born Sept. 13, 1730. and died at 
the home of iiis son. Daniel, in .Xorth Haven, Feb. 
8, 1824, in his ninety-fourth year. ()n Se]3t. 21, 
175C), he was united in marriage with Lydia Bassett, 
who bore him inx' children, as follows: Ezra, Jos- 
e])h, Lydia. Lucy and Daniel. Lydia. wife of Jos- 
eph, diedl Xov. i>. 1783. l-'or his second wife Mr. 
Fierpont wedded .Annis Blakeslee. of Plymouth, 
Oct. 2(t. \j^)i : she died Sejjt. 4, 1800. 

( \' I Daniel Pierj^ont, Escp, son of Joseph, was 
I)Orn May 6. 1775, and became one of the ])rominent 
men of tlie town. .\ cabinet maker by trade, he fol- 
lowed it onlv occasionally, as much of his time was 
occupied in looking after ])ublic affairs, being at 
various times clerk, selectman, justice of the peace, 
lepresentative from the town in 1813, 1813 and 
1824, and delegate to the constitutional convention 
m 1818. In the church he was as prominent as in 



C;o 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



public life, and was active in the work of St. John's 
Episcopal Church. ( )n Sept. 26, 1799. he inarrierl 
Esther Huniiston. and their children were: liedc, 
Elias, Esther. Harrick, Sally, Jared and Rnfns. Dan- 
iel Picrpont, Esq., died in Xonh Haven. Xov. 16, 
185 1, a,ired seventy-six and one-half years. Esther 
(Ihiniiston) rier])ont died .\ut;-. 17, I'SG-]., aged over 
nnieiy years; she was a daughter of Satnuel anti 
Wary lluniiston, the former horn May 16, 1743, 
and died June 20. 1809. Mrs. Mary lluniiston died 
June 6. 1820, aged seventy years. 

(VI) Rufus rierpont, sr,n of Squire Daniel, 
s]ient all his life in the town of North Haven, where 
he was born Alarch 5, 1818. He received his educa- 
tion in the district schools and for several winters 
was emploved in teaching, after which he embarked 
in the mercantile business, founding at that time 
the great store of which his son is the fortunate 
owner. The beginning of this enterprise was in a 
small wav — one r<i<nn, located in the southwest cor- 
ner of the house now occupied by his widow, suf- 
ficing for the storage and dis])lay of the goods of- 
fered for sale — l)Ut lung liefore his comparatively 
short life ended, it had grown beyond the liiuits first 
accorded it. 

Mr. Pierpont was a popidar man with his ncigh- 
l)ors and associates, and was captain of the North 
■Haven ISlue.s — a local military organization. He 
was one of the faithful members of St. John's Epis- 
copal Church from 1841 until his death, being the 
clerk of the ])arish and foremost in every good work 
organized under the wing of the church. He died 
suddeidv July 31, 1855. leaving, beside a large circle 
of friends, a widow and three depemlent children. 
He had married Sept. 14, 1847. 

Harriet Richards, the mother of Joseph Pier- 
pont, was born in W'estiuinster, \'t., Oct. i, 1824, 
and was one of the noblest and' most self-sacrificing 
of her se.x. Confronted with the problem of exist- 
ence with her three helpless children, she faced life 
bravely and took ui)on herself the unexpected bur- 
den. P'or twentv-one years she ably managed the 
store, increasing its business, added new features 
as modern ideas crept in, until, when her son was 
able to relieve her ])y purchasing it, she was able to 
.give a faithful account of her stewardship. Her 
residence is now in North Haven. The children 
horn to Mr. and Mrs. I'lerjiout were: (i) Elias 
Richards, born in 1849, died in 1850. (2) Daniel 
Hobart. born in 1851, graduated from Yale Scien- 
tific School at the a,ge of twenty years, and for two 
years was in the employ of the government in 
coast survey work; he died in 1874. (3) Joseph is 
nier.ticned below. (4) George Rufus. born Sept. 
3. 1854, married Anna Cheney, a niece of ex-Cov. 
lji,gelow and is located in Salem, \'a.. engaged in 
brickmaking. 

(\'il) Joseph Pierpont was born in the old house 
in North Haven, in which his mother still resides, 
March 11, 1853. While a lad he was kept at the 
district schools, his mother determining to give her 



children the benefits of a good education, and he was» 
then sent to Cheshire Academy, leaving school at 
the age of eighteen years to become his mother's as- 
sistant in the store. At the age of twenty-one he 
purchased the business and since that time, by his 
admirable business methods, has built up an im- 
luense trade, having now one of the largest and most 
complete stores in the county. Six delivery wagons 
are required to accommodate his patrons in Ham- 
den, Northford, New Haven and Wallingford, and 
the shelving required to hold the great stock of 
merchandise wculd cover a mile in length. In ad- 
dition to a general store which supplies every want, 
Mr. Pierpont also conducts a feed and ice business, 
the same honest, upright dealing which marked the 
career of his father being the secret of his great 
success. 

Mr. Pierpont was married in 1875 to Miss Hat- 
tie Brockett, who was born in North Haven, a 
daughter of Atwater and a granddaughter of Beth- 
uel Brockett, an old family of the section. The chil- 
dren of this union were : ( jrace Genevieve, born irr 
1877, married h'rank S. Brockett, now with the 
Pittsburg Plate Glass Co., of New York: Richards 
Brockett, born in 1881. a student in Meriden ; and 
Joseph, born in 1888. 

Mr. Pierpont has taken great interest in public 
affairs and has been identified with all important 
measures of public good in his neighborhood for 
many years ; has been elected town clerk, but has 
declined other local of^ccs, accepting in 1893 an 
election as representative, however, and during his 
term of office bringing about many needed reforms 
in various lines. For fifteen years he has been 
senior warden of St. John's Episcopal Church, 
vi'here he is esteeiued and valued: for his many ex- 
cellent traits of character. Mr. Pierpont is one of 
those who do not publish their generosity and char- 
ity to the world, but his intimate friends have found 
him out and are able to value him at his worth. 
Fraternally he is connected with Quinnipiac Lodge, 
O. U. A. M., being a charter member of the same; 
Day S])ring Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; for ten years 
has been treasurer of the Bradley Library, of North 
Haven, and has been and is now guardian for a num- 
ber of persons in the neighborhood, his character 
being such that he possesses the confidence and es- 
teem of the whole community. The success which 
has come to Mr. Pierpont is but the natural result 
of a])plication and energy coml)ined with tact, good 
judgment and honesty. 

H.VKR'^' S. TIOLCOMB, whose recent death 
was such a severe shock to his friends and acquaint- 
ances, was a retired carriage manufacturer in New 
Haven, formerly a member of the firm which op- 
crated the New Haven Carriage Works. He was 
born in Branford March 3, 1846. 

iMxderick .V. Holcomb', his father, was born in 
Guilford, but was reared in Branford and educated 
in that town, and there carried on a small carriage 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



631 



making plant ; lie made llic firsi Iwiil sliaft used in 
carriage making. As he was a tine mechanic he ihd 
a prosperous Inisiness for a nunil)er of years, con- 
tinuing same up to the time of his death, whicli oc- 
curred in Llranford when he was seventy-six years 
old. lie took an active part in politics, and at one 
lime was the clioice ot the Democratic party for the 
Legislature. In religious faith he was an Episco- 
palian. -Mr. llolcomh marrieil Mary Riulgers, who 
was horn in Stony Creek, a daughter of James 
Rodgers. a farmer there, who. during the Revolu- 
tionary war, was in the ])atriot army. The ])arems 
of our suhject had nine children, the survivors be- 
ing: Fanny, who resides in Portland, Oregon ; Mrs. 
James H. I'age: G. F., ex-mayor of Xew Haven; 
C. N., of Xew Haven; and Minnie 15. . of Xew Ha- 
ven. The mother was a member of the Episcopal 
Church, and lived a beautiful, consistent life; she 
died at the age of seventy-six. in llranford. 

Harrv S. Holcomb was reared in llranford and 
remained there until he was twenty-foiu" years of ' 
age, learning to be a skilled workman in his father's 
shop. He was but seventeen years of age when he 
first went into business, becoming a member of the 
firm of F. A. Holcomb & Sons, which firm, at the 
death of the father, became Holcomb Bros. (G. F. 
and Harrv S.). The latter firm existed for some 
years, ancl in 1870 they moved to Xew Haven. La- 
ter the style became Holcomli Ilros. & Co. Our sub- 
ject subse(|uently organized the Xew Haven Car- 
riage Co., his brother retaining his connection with 
Holcomb Bros. & Co. These two firms were closely 
connected in a financial way. and later consolidated, 
becoming the Xew Haven Carriage and \\'agon Co., 
which after a short time became the Xew Haven 
Carriage Co., which was absorbed by the Columbia 
Electric Vehicle Co. Fla.Ty S. Holcomb was for 
one year a member of the board of directors of that 
combination, and at the same time was superin- 
tendent of the company's Xew Haven plant. In 
1898 he retired from the carriage business and gave 
up all activity. He was one of the best known men 
in the carriage trade in the country, and was at one 
time one of the larger manufacturers in his line. 
Tile plant that he founded in Xew Haven was one 
of the leading concerns in the country. He made a 
success of the business, and from his own eft'orts 
accumulated a comfortable comjietence, which he 
retired to enjoy at a time when he was really in the 
midst of his business life. Personalty he was a 
modest, unassuming man. He made a success in all 
he undertook, and as a successful Imsiness man and 
public-spirited citizen was nuudi lionored among the 
circle of his acquaintances. 

In March, 1867. Mr. Holcomb was married to 
Esther M. Bradley, who was born in Branford, one 
of the eight children of Gurdon and .\nn Maria 
(Spinks) Bradley; six survive. Two children were 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Holcomb: Anna M. married 
Samuel A. York, an attorney, a son of Judge York, 

of Xew Haven; their children are Holcomb an 



Samuel. Harry C. carries on a general carriage 
business at Xo. 105 GolTe street; he married }klar- 
garet Maiison. 

In politics Mr! Holcomb was a Democrat and his 
position in political affairs was ever a leading one, 
although he steadily refused office: however, he 
served as president of the board of fire commis- 
sioners, in tile Masonic fraternity Mr. Holcomb 
held many positions. He joined the fraternity in 
1867 in Branford and there became past grand mas- 
ter; he belcnged to .\delplii Lodge. Fair Haven; 
Pulaski Chapter, in which he was i)ast high priest ; 
and was a member of Crawford Council and Xew 
Haven Commandcry. Mr. Ilolcomli was something 
of a traveler, and spent the years between 1878 and 
1882 in San Francisco, loijking after a liranch house 
for the sale of carriages. His sjcial position gave 
him membership in the Ouinnipiac C.uh ; in the 
N'aclit Club, of which he ser^'cd as commodore; 
and in the Ansantawae Club, in which he served 
on the board of directors. I'or many years he was 
connected with St. Paul's Church, of Xew Haven. 
His death, on Jan. 20, 1902, was the result of a 
fall on the ice, which fractured his skull and pro- 
duced concussion of the brain. Few men have been 
so deeply mourned, and none more highly esteemed 
by the community at large. 

GEORGE B. ZORX. who was efficiently serv- 
ing as sni)erintendent of the town ]joor farm of 
llamden, Xew Haven county, at the time of his 
death, Jan. 15, 1901, was born in Germany, Feb. 
12. 1S48, son of Solomon and Christina (Wise) 
Zorn, also natives of that country. The father at- 
tended tile [mblic schools of (jermany. and when his 
literary education was completed engaged in farm- 
ing there until 1854 when, with his wife and family, 
he emigrated to America. They crossed the Atlan- 
tic on a sailing vessel and landed in Xew York City, 
thence going to Lewis county, X. Y., and locating 
at High Market, where the father purchased the 
farm on which he still continues to live, his time 
and attention being devoted to general farming and 
stock raising. He is an ardent supporter of the Re- 
jiublican jiarty, and both he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran t'hurch and are held in high re- 
gard by all who know them. To them were Iwrn 
three children, namely: Christiana, now the wife 
of Peter Burdick, of Lewis county, .\. Y. : (Jeorge 
B., our subject; and Emma, deceased wife of Gus- 
tave Seidel. 

George B. Zorn was a child of six years when 
brought by his ])arents to the L'nited States, and 
u|X)n the Iiome farm in High Market. Lewis Co., 
X. Y., he grew to manlKxid, receiving his education 
in the district schools of the neighborlioud. On leav- 
ing the jiarental roof, at the age of nineteen years, 
he started out to make his own wa\- in the w rid, 
working at first as a farm hand for $22 per month. 
.\t the age of twenty-five years he came to Hani- 
dden, Xew Haven county, where he worked at farm 



63^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



laliur for others for several years, and then operated 
rented land in the same town until i8yo, in which 
year he was ajjpointed by the selectman of Hani- 
den as snperinlendent of the town |n)or larm. '1 his 
resiMJiisible ])0sition he filled in a m(:>t cn-ditahle 
and satisfactory niamier, displayintj excellent Inisi- 
ness ability and sound judgment in the management 
of tJie jjlace. Previously the farm had c(jst the tax- 
jxiyers of the town over $2,000 ])er year, Ijut dur- 
ing his administration the expenses very materially- 
lessened, lie carefully looked after the welfare of 
the poor unfortunates in his charge, and was kiiul 
and generous in his treatment of them. In the dis- 
charge of liis duties he was ably assisted l)y his es- 
timable wife, who proved a true b.elpmeet to him. 
Mr. Zorn's death was keenly fell in the town. He 
wris no doubt one nf the al'dest incumbents (jf the 
position of town farm superinten<knt. and his serv- 
ices were very highly ai)])recialt'd, though the 
praises bestowed on his management were justly 
earned, for he tock the same interest in the work 
as if his individual interests had been at slake. 

On IX'C. 4. 1S77. .Mr. Zorn married Louise 
Chatterti n. a native nf lianuUn, and a daughter of 
Edwin and I'.liza (Warner) (.■halterKm. To them 
were hnrn two children. Robert and h'lsie. the for- 
mer of whom died at the age of seven months. Mrs. 
Zorn is a consistent and faithful member of the 
Congregational Church, which her husband had at- 
tended and contrilnUed toward its su])])ort. He was 
a stanch Kej ublican in jiolitical sentinunt. 

l.X.Ml-.S K. .^CTIdl'i-, late president of i"os- 
ter,"Merriman iV Co., manufacturers. Meriden, was 
one of the best k-nown and most highly respected 
citizens of the .Silv.r (.'itv, and was born in .South- 
ington, Conn., July 10, i!^3y, a son of the late John 
Sntliif. .Mr. Sutliff was descended from an old l/on- 
necticut family. The lirst of the name of whoni we 
have any record is Xathaniel Sutliff, who lived at 
Mcdfieki, Mass., in \(t()~. He was a settler of Deer- 
field, Mass., in 1673, and liecame chief military of- 
ficer when King l'hili])'s war began, and .May I'l, 
1676, he was, with Capt. Turner. kilU'd at k'alls 
Fight. In lf/)4 he married ll.annah r!\niplon, a 
dau.ghter of Sergt. John I'lympton, who was born 
in Cambridge, England, anil came to America in 
John W'inthrop's coni])any in 1040. 

Sergt. Xathaniel SutlilT, son of Xallianiel and 
Hannah (I'lympton), was born in Heerlield, Mass., 
in \(''/2, and located at I'ranford, Conn., in 1702, 
becoming prominent there in religious ani educa- 
tional matttrs. He was a representative to the Gen- 
eral Court from 17JS in 1731. llis wife, .Sarah 
Sa\'age, clied .Xjiril i, 1732. 

'J"he first of the name in W'l.ilcoit was Joseph 
Sutlifi'. .-on of Sergt. Xathaniel and Sarah ( .Sav- 
age), who located there as early as I7f>5, and lived 
at the foot of Chestnut Hill. He was born in 
Branford, Conn., in 1712. and was a tailor by occu- 
pation. He was twice married, his first wife, Sa- 



rah, dying in 1780; he married (second), 1791, 
Catherine Seward. His children by the first wife 
were Joseph, X'athaniel, Anne and Sarah. Joseph 
Sutliff died Nov. 11, 1801. 

Xathaniel Sutliff, the great-grandfather of 
James R. Sutliff, was born in Durham, Conn., Dec. 
7, 1740, and married Hannah I'ritchard, a daugh- 
ter of James and Elizabeth (Johnson) Pritchard. 
Their childTen were: John. Xathaniel, Titus, Han- 
nah, Anne, Ruth ami Jilizabeth. He died in 1808, 
and his wife Jan. 2, 1791. 

John Sutliff', son of Xathaniel, was born Feb. 
ly, 1773, and died in Wolcott, April 23, 183O. He 
married Eunice Munson, a daughter of Samuel and 

j Susanna (Tyler) Munson, of Waterbury, Conn. 

! Their children were: Anson, born in 1798, wtnt to 

I Meriden in 1817. He married Mehitabel Comstock, 
of Deep River, Conn., and removed to Alinncsota 
in 1857, and died there when aged sixty-four years. 
Statira, born in 1800, married Jerry Williams, of 
Waterbury, Conn. He settled) in jNIeriden in 1835, 
where she died in 1873 wdien aged seventy-three 
years. John is mentioned lat.r. Lucius, born in 
1806, married Rachel b'oote, and settled in South- 
ingtcn. Conn. Lucas A., born in 1808, married 
Maria Alatilda Upson, of W'olcott, Conn., who died 
in 1871, in Southington, Connecticut. 

John Sutliff, son of John Sutliff', was born. 
-Vug. 2, 1802, in Wolcott, Conn. At the age of six- 
teen years he bought nis time from his father, for 
wdiich he agreed to ]jay one hundred dollars, giving 
his note for two years. Lie went to Xorthford and 
found work on a farm. Although he received but 

i seven dollars per month and board, he managed to 

1 save enough to pay off his note. His iiukmrious 
disposition and ectjiiomical habits brought him to 
the notice of the Aleriden capitalists, and after fif- 
teen years of work for wages at the manufacture 
of ivory combs, a partnership with three others was 

j formed, and combs were manufactured in the town 
of Southington. The business w-as then conducted 

j with the least possible risk of loss'. The conibs were 
salable in the market, and the factory and power 
were engaged on terms of easy relinquishment, so 
that if the hopes of the young men were not real- 
ized, the business could be discontinued without 
loss. The business was, however, progressing sat- 
isfactorilv wdicn one of young Sutlift"s friend.s Al- 
bert b'o.stcr, who had observed his business ability 
anel habits, and who in part composed the firm of 
]'\)ster, Merriman & Co., invited him to purchase 
an interest in the firm. He did so and took charge 
of a departm.nt himself, his partners devoting their 
time and energies to the development of their in- 
dustry. The large business of Foster, Ak-rriman & 
Co.. of ]\Lriden, was incorporated under the laws 
of the State in 1866. Nelson r\k'rrinian was elected 
its first president, holding that office until his deatli, 
when Mr. Sutliff' was made its president. At the 
time of his entrance into the firm, the whole product 
of the factory was wrought out by only five or six 




\ 




^^ ^^ .^^^^^^^ 




i-3^ R <^.« 



// 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



033 



hands, wliile to-day about 300 are employed. The 
growth thereafter was rapul, and to his ability, en- 
ergy and management, much of the great success 
whicli the company attained was due. He was ac- 
tive late in life, going to the factory up to the time 
of his last illness. 

As a capitalist of Aleriden Mr. SuililT was prob- 
ably best known. lie was for many \ears a ilirec- 
tor of the First National Rank of ^Meriden. and was 
a trustee of the City Savings Bank at the time of 
his death. He made large investmeius in the West, 
as well as at home, and was never lacking in funds 
with which to aid persons who desired a few hun- 
dred or thousands of dollars. The fortune so 
meager at the beginning of his residence in Meri- 
den became a great estate in late years. 

( )n Nov. 22. 1828, -Mr. Sutlitt was married I first ) 
to .Miss Mary Ann Dayton, of North llaven, and 
(second) Nov. 9, 1842, to Aliss Rebecca ]\Iiles, of 
Cheshire. The children born to the first marriage 
were: Mary Ann, who married hrederick .\. 
Higl>y. and died Dec. 22, iH5(>; John .\.; and 
James R. To the second marriage were born: 
Abby R. and Edgar M., both of whom died in in- 
fancy. Mr. Sutliff passed away June 22, 1897, at 
the advanced age of ninety-five years. 

James R. Sutliff, who succeeded his father as 
president of Foster, Merriman & Co., obtained his 
eduealion in the district schools of .\leridin, Ilis 
chances for an education were good, but he jjre- 
ferred the shop to the school, and while si ill a boy. 
entered the factory of Foster, Merriman & Co., be- 
ginning as a conunon hand. Being a boy of en- 
ergy and ambition, he soon raised himself to fore- 
man, then to superintendent, later to that of stock- 
hokler and director. In 1887 he was elected vice- 
president of the company, which office he filled u]) 
to the death of his father in 1897, when be was 
elected president, which high office he ably filled un- 
til his death, Jan. 18, 1902. A man who thor- 
oughly knew eviry department of the business, hav- 
ing begun from the bottom round, he climbed to the 
top through his own efforts. 

Of a genial disposition and high ideals, Mr. Sut- 
lift" was honored and respected by the citizens of 
Meriden. In politics he was a Rei)ublican, but 
no politician. He was elected councilman for the 
Fourlh Ward, and he also served as alderman, and 
was chairman of several committees. He was a con- 
sistent member of the First Congregatinnal Church, 
of which he was elected Deacon. He was deacon 
of the Center Congregational Church si.x years and 
superintendent of its Sunday-school f- ur years, al- 
ways being (|uiie active in church matters. He 
was a well-r.ad man, and thoroughly posted on all 
leading events. 

< )n Nov. 2, 1869, in Meriden. Comi,. Mr. Sut- 
liff was united in marriage wit1i Sarah D. I'2aston, 
who was born in Providence. R. \. .Mrs. .^utlilt is 
a ladv of culture and refinement, a good, t'hristian 
woman, and a loving mother. Two children blessed 



' this union : ( 1 ) llattie K.. born Feb. 27. 1871, was 
married in .April, 1895, to Dr. Oswald A. J'arker, 
a n.ative of Nova Scotia, Canada, now a leading 
dentist at Wakefield, Mass. Mrs. Parker was uhi- 
cated in the Meriden High School, also in .Abbott 
.\cademy at .\nduver, Alass., and at the Conserva- 
tory of .Music in Beiston. (2) James, born Sept. 
'9- i^73- '■■* at hejuie. 

CLRIC l-:i)W.\RD NFVEU. a member of the 
firm of N. P. Lamontagne & Co., an old and well 
established house in State street. Meriden, dealers 
in groceries and wines, was born at St. Scholastiqne, 
in the I'rovince of Quebec, Canada. June 9, 1849. 

Joacliim Neveu, the father of Ulric E., was born 
in the same jjlace. of I-'rench descent, the family be- 
ing one of the oldest in Quebec. Toachim Neveu 
was a blacksmith, engaged in business on his own 
account at St. Scholastituie. where he died at the 
age of si.xty-nine years. In religion he was a stanch. 
Roman Catholic, and in politics a supporter of the 
Liberal movement in Canada. He married Mar- 
celiiie llogue, who was born in .St. \'incent de Paul. 
Ccutity Terrebonne. Canada. This union was 
blessed with fifteen children, eleven of whom grew 
to maturity. Eight are now living: Alphonse, a 
dry goods dealer in Montreal : Ulric E. : Emma, 
widow of Nazaire P. Lamontagne: Malvina, who 
makes her home with Ulric E. : Adelle, who married 
A. \'ermelte, of }iIontreal; Alphosine, married to 
Micliael Labellc, of Montreal ; Marie Louise, of 
Trov. N. Y., who married Charles De Fault; and 
Ferdinand, a clerk with his brother. Uric F. 

Ulric F. .\eveu attended the schools of his na- 
tive town until lie reached the age of si.xteen years, 
when he entered his father's smithv to learn the 
blacksmith's trade. At the age of nineteen years he 
left his native town to better his condition, and in 
1868 ajipeared in Meriden, where he worked three 
vears as a burnisher for the Wilcox Silver Plate Co. 
Saving his money, at the end of that time he was 
able to start in business for himself, and with his 
l)rother, Alphonse, and Mr. Langlois, founded and 
conducted a grocery. For three years these three 
continnedi together, when the last two retired, leav- 
ing Ulric E. Neveu alone in the business, which 
he conducted five years. Subsequently he had a 
partner, Leander Govreau. for two and one-half 
years, when thev sold out to N. P- Lamontagne. 
and the firm engaged in the grocery and wine busi- 
ness wiili much success. In 1886 Mr. Lamontapne 
died, bin under the able management of Mr. Neveu, 
the firm has continued very successful. 

Mr. Neveu was instrumental in the organiza- 
tion of the Knights of Columbus in Meriden. and 
is a member of the French Catholic Church of that 
city. Politically he is a Democrat, with but little 
ambition, however, for the honors of oflncial position. 
.\ good man and an upright tradesman, he is well 
liked in the comnuinilx'. He has a fine home in 
Franklin street. 



634 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Xa/aiki-: p. Lamoxtagxe, whose name is men- 
tioned above, was born in X'erchere, Ouebec, and 
there learned the liarness makinsj trade. During 
the Civil war he canve to the United States to take 
a position in the ordnance department of the army, 
making harness for the government. He was lo- 
cated first at Springfield, Mass., and was afterward 
a burnisher in one of the shops at Taunton, Mass., 
until 1876. In that year he came to Meriden and 
entered the grocery business with his brother-in- 
law, Mr. Neveu. tie died in June. 1886, and was 
buried in St. Patrick's cemetery. Me was a mem- 
ber of the French Catholic Church. Mr. Lamon- 
tagne belonged to the Knights of Columbus in 
Meriden. and politically he was a Democrat, but 
had no desire for office. A careful business man, 
he was noted for his Imnesty and fair dealing. 

Mr. Lamontagne married Miss Emma Neveu, 
a sister of his partner, and to them were born five 
children : Ernest attended the public schools and 
Montreal College, where he studied theology and 
took holv orders from Archbishop Pruchesi, of 
Montreal, by whom he was ordained a priest. He 
spent some time in Rome and is now a professor in 
the Catholic Seminary at Hartford. Ernestine, a 
graduate of .Mt. St. Mary's College, at [Montreal, and 
from Yale Art School, is an artist in both music 
and painting, and is a lady of much culture and re- 
finement, blaus, a graduate of Montreal College, 
' is now a student at Yale Law School. Henry, a 
graduate of Montreal College, is now studying med- 
icine. Camilla is a student at Mt. St. Mary's Col- 
lege, Montreal. Mrs. Lamontagne is still living at 
the beautiful home in Franklin street, and her fine 
qualities and sweet spirit make the home an ideal 
one. 

CHARLES W. SCRANTON. The family 
bearing the name of Scranton, from which sprang 
the late Hon. Erastus dark Scranton, of Madi- 
son and New Haven, and the late Hon. Sercno 
Hamilton Scranton, of Madison, both men of prom- 
inence in the public affairs of their respective com- 
munities, and wdio have representatives in New Ha- 
ven in the persons of Miss ALary E. and Charles 
Woolsev Scranton, is the oldest and most ]irominent 
of the families of the towns of Guilford and Madi- 
son. Miss Marv E. Scranton has erected in memory 
of her father, the former of the two brothers noted 
above, a substantial librarv building; and Charles 
W. Scranton is one of the leading and substantial 
citizens of New Haven. 

John Scranton, the progenitor of the New Ha- 
ven Scrantons, was one of the early planters who, 
with about twenty-five other heads of families, 
made a settlement in Guilford in October, 1639. 
These settlers arrived in Boston June 26, 1637, com- 
ing from there to New Haven in company with Mr. 
Davenport and Mr. Prudden and their congrega- 
tions. Thev were possessed of considerable prop- 
erty, and some of them arc recorded as w'eallhy. 



They were pious, intelligent and industrious, most 
of them being farmers from Kent and Surrey, Eng- 
land. John Scranton is thought to have been about 
thirty years of age at the time of his coming to this 
country, and is supposed to have married in Eng- 
land, his first wife, Joanna, dying in 1661. Five 
years later he was married to Adaline Hill, who died 
in 1685. Mr. Scranton served as a deputy to the 
General Court in 1669 and 1670, and died the fol- 
lowing year. From this John Scranton Charles 
Woolsey Scranton is a descendant in the eighth gen- 
eration, his line being through Capt. John, Capt. 
John (2), Capt. Ichabod, Theophilus, Jonathan and 
Hon. Sereno H. Scranton. 

Capt. John Scranton, son of John the emigrant, 
was born about 1641 in Guilford, and w^as first mar- 

■ ried March 12, 1674, to Mary Seward, who was born 
Feb. 28, 1652, daughter of William and Grace (Nor- 
ton) Seward. He located in East Ciuilford, now^ 

I Madison, as early as 1672, where he followed farm- 
ing, and died in that town Sept. 2, 1703. 

! Capt. John Scranton (2), son of Capt. John, 
noted above, was born about 1676 in the Hammon- 

[ assett District. On Dec. 12, 1699, he married for his 
first wife IMary Norton ; his second wife was Alary, 
daughter of John Evarts. She died Oct. 8, I74'9, 
and Ca]5t. Scranton married his third wife, Mary 
Pushnell, and died ]\Iarch 21, 1758. 

Capt. Ichabod Scranton, son of Capt. John (2) 
and ]\Iary (Evarts) Scranton, w^as born Feb. 19, 
1 7 17, and married Chloe Fowder, who was born 
March 3, 1723, daughter of .\braham Fowler, of 

I (juilford. Capt. Scranton was a farmer and lived 

I in Madison. He was a captain in the French and 

1 Indian war, serving at Louisburg and Ticonderoga, 
and died of disease while on the homeward journey 
m December, 1760; he was buried at midnight on 
Clapboard Hill, Guilford. He was a man of patri- 
otic character and ability, and his death was deemed 
a public loss. 

Theophilus Scranton, .son of Capt. Ichabod, was 
born Dec. i, 1751, ^ml married Abigail Lee, who 
was born July 11, 1754, ilaughter of Jonathan Lee, 
of Madison. Mr. Scranton was a farmer in the 
town of Madison, where he died Feb. 16, 1827, his 
widow surviving him until Dec. 23, 1840. 

Jonathan Scranton, son of Theophilus, born Oct. 

! 10, 1 781, married for his first wife, Jan. 27, 1805, 
Roxana Crampton, who was bom Mav 30, 1789, 
daughter of Ashbel Crampton, of Madison, wdiere 
he made his home, being a ])rominent member of the 
cluu"ch, a ]n"os]ierous farmer, and in his active years 
a constructor of breakwaters and wharfs. Mrs. 
Scranton died Dec. 27, 1833, aufl Mr. Scranton was 
married the following vear to jemima, daughter of 
Daniel I'latt. 

Hon. .Sereno Hamilton Scranton, son of Jona- 
than, and the father of Charles Woolsey, was born 
.March i, 1811, and married .Sept. 29, 1833. to 
Susan Roxanna Dowd, wdio was born Oct. 12, 1814, 
daughter of William Dowd. Mr. Scranton was one 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



635 



of the prominent and reluible citizens of Madison, 
and held the contidence and esteem of his fellow- 
townsmen to such a degree that he was honored by 
repeated elections to positions of trust and res])on- 
sibility ; and they in turn were honored by the elili- 
ciency and ability which he gave to the discharge of 
the diuies placed \\\>Qn him. lie was a representative 
to the (ieneral Assembly from Madison in 1859, 
i8irx3. 1867 and 1872. In 1870 he was elected to the 
State Senate. In political faith he was a Repub- 
lican. Mr. Scranton died Jan. 25, i8(/). and Mrs. 
Scranton passed away July 28, 1894, both in Madi- 
son. To Mr. and Mrs. Sercno Hamilton Scranton 
came the following children, a'l born in Madison : 
Roxanna, born Sept. 4, 1834; Samuel \\ ., born Dec. 
30, 1836. who died April 8. 1841 : Kdward Sereno, 
born June 26, 1840. who died Dec. 30, 1897; Jona- 
than Samuel, born Feb. 22, 1842; William D., born 
April 18, 1844, who died Aug. 18, 1865; Charles 
Woolsey, born Dec. 21. 1846; Catlierinc L., born 
Feb. 18, 1849; George Curtis, born March 13, 1851, 
who died Xov. 30, 1863; Susan .\., born I-'eb. 21, 
1854, who died April 3, 1887. 

Charles W. Scranton grew up in Madison, where 
he attentk'd the local school, finishing his education 
at Gen. Russell's Military Academy in New Haven. 
At first he was engaged with his father in the 
wholesale produce business, and was later engaged 
in the mercantile business at Branford, Conn., where 
he married Marietta Palmer Sept. 23, 1869. She 
w-as born Aug. 6, 185 1, daughter of Capt. Henry 
Palmer. . To this union have come five children : 
Minnie Irene, born Nov. 13, 1870, who married E, 
E. Conover and resides in Boston ; Alice Palmer, 
bom March 24, 1872, who married Robert E. Milli- 
gan, and lives in Chicago; William Dowd, born 
June 10, 1875: Helen Woolsey, born I'eb. 15, 1878; 
and Charles Woolsey, born Sept. 24, 1883, who 
died Feb. 13, 1897. 

Mr. Scranton moved to New Haven in 1870, 
where he has been in business as a broker since that 
time. Tn politics he is a Republican, and in religion 
a member of the Congregational Church, of Madi- 
son. He is a member of Widows' Sons Lodge, No. 
66, F. & A. M., of Branford, is associated with the 
Royal Arcanum, and also with the Union League 
and Yacht Clubs, well known institutions of New 
Haven, and has many friends in every circle where 
he moves. 

GEORGE W. I\'ES, senior member of the well 
known firm of George W. Ives & Son, former brick 
manufacturers of Hamden, is a worthy representa- 
tive of the industrial interests of the town and an 
important factor in its business circles. He was 
torn in the town of North Haven Dec. 23, 1842, 
and belongs to an old and honored family of this 
county. His great-grandfather was Noah Ives, a 
farmer of North Haven and a soldier of the Revolu- 
tionary war, who lived to a ripe old age- 

Talcott Ives, son of Noah, was born on the same 



farm, and in early manhood married Hannah Todd, 
a native of the same town and a daughter of Daniel 
and Luc\- (I'"rost) Todd. By this union the fol- 
lowing cliildren were born : Harvey, a farmer and 
brick maker of Nurlh Haven, now deceased; Al- 
fred, father of our subject ; Mary, who married 
Loyal Thorpe, of North Haven, and Ixitli are now 
deceased; Nancy, deceased wife of William Ben- 
ham, of North Haven: Loyal, a lavmcr of the same 
town, now deceased; Olive, who married the late 
Merritt Lane, a manufacturer of buttons, and livei] 
in W'aterbury until her death in 1901 ; and Caroline, 
deceased wife of James Payne. The father of these 
children followed farming throughout life and lived 
lO be over seventy years of age. 

.Alfred Ives, the father of our subject, was born 



1 8 13, on his father's farm in North Ha- 



Se])i. 

vcn, and there passed his boyhood. At the age of 
thirteen years he began life for himself as a farm 
hand for Elias Bassett, with whom he remained un- 
til he attained his majority. He then turned his 
attention to the mamifacture of brick and was 
among the first to use an engine for grinding the 
clay, horses having previously been used for that 
purix)se. He continued in that business up to the 
time of his death, which occurred May 22, 1887, his 
remains being interred in the North Haven ceme- 
tery. He was a consistent and faithful member of 
the Congregational Church for many years, and 
was a stanch supporter of the Republican party. He 
j was (|uite a prominent and iniluential man in his 
comnumity and was called upon to represent his 
town in the State Legislature two successive terms. 
He was a self-educated and self-made man, who 
started out in life for himself in limited circum- 
stances, and through his own well-ilirected efforts 
liecame cjuite well-to-do. In 1836 he removed to 
the place in North Haven where he spent the re- 
mainder of his life and where his widow still con- 
tinues to reside. 

On Dec. 29, 1834, Alfred Ives married Miss Syl- 
via Blakeslee, who was born in North Haven Oct. 
26, 1816. Her father, Levi Blakeslee, was also a 
native of North Haven, and was a son of Joel 
Blakeslee, who was born in the same town in 1739. 
I^vi I'.lakeslee married Mercy Beach, a daughter of 
Benjamin I'.each, and to them were born eleven chil- 
dren, namely : Alfred : Eunice ; William and Willis, 
twins ; Joel ; Mercy ; Betsey ; Benjamin ; Sylvia ; Al- 
vira ; and Ro.xana. Mrs. Ives is the only one of this 
familv now living. She is a most estimable lady 
and has been an earnest member of the Congrega- 
tional Church, of Whitneyville, for over half a cen- 
tury. She has- two children: Susan Charlotte, 
wife of Horace P. Shares, a former brick manufac- 
turer of New Haven: and Ceorge W., our subject. 
During his boyhood and youth Cieorge W. Ives 
pursued his studies in the common schools, and at 
the age of eigiiteen commenced his business career, 
1>eing engaged in the manufacture of brick with 
James E. Brown for one year. He then formed a 



<536 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



partnership with his father, and together they were 
engaged in the same business until the hitter's death. 
The ])lant fdrmerly owned liy ( ieorge W . Ives & 
Sun was estabhshed by otir suliject and his father 
in 1S83, and here from seven to eight miUion brick- 
are now manufactured annually. He continued his 
residence in North Haven until i8()4 and then re- 
moved to the ])lace in Ilamdeu where lie is now 
living, it being a jiart of the old h'.li Whitney linnie- 
ftead and consisting of f(jrty acres of land on the 
Ridge road, three miles from Xew Haven. 

On Dec. 23, 1863, Air. Ives was married to 
Miss Betsev -M. Davis, of llamden. who was Ijorn 
April 12. '1846. oldest daughter of J':dward and 
Betsev .M. (.\uguri Davis, and tn iheni were born 
two children: ( 1 ) .\lfred h'.., formerly in business 
with his father, married ]':iizabeth I'eabody. and 
they have three children, .\lfred, Robert and Edna. 
(2) Lucy married William J. Konold, of Xew Ha- 
ven, and died at Antwerp. ISelgium, while on her 
wetld*ing tri]), Fi'b. 28. i8i/i. 

I'raternally Mr. Ives is a Knight Templar Alason, 
belonging to ITiram Lodge, F. & .\. M.. of Xew Ha- 
ven ; "Harmony Council; h'ranklin Chapter; and 
Xew Haven Commandery. He is a stanch suppor- 
ter of the Reiiubliean jiarty, has filled the office of 
selectman, and in 1892 was a member of the State 
Legislature, where he servedi on connniltees on h'ed- 
eral Relations, and on Humane Institutions. He is 
a man of excellent business and executive ability, 
whose sound judgment, unllagging enterprise and 
cajjable management have brought to him a well 
merited success. In manner he is pleasant and cor- 
dial, which, combined with his sterling worth, 
makes him one of the popular citizens of his com- 
nuuiity. 

Hh:.\UV WIHTXIA' MrX.Sr)X, who is now 
living practically retired in llamden. was for many 
years prnminentlv identified with the business inter- 
ests of Xew Haven. He was born in Hamden, 
Feb. 4. 1835, and was given the nanu' of Whitney 
in honor of h'.li Whitney, the inventor of the cotton 
gin. 

Ilenrv Munsnn, his father, was also a native of 
LLamden,' born Jan. 2cj, 1807. He was a gun-smith 
by trade, emi)loyal in the gun factory of Mr. \Vhit- 
ney for some time, lie made the first rolled solid 
steel gun-barrel, and invented a machine for k.ep- 
ing the barrels in ])roper ]jo>itiou while drilling or 
boring out the sanu. which is now used by the gov- 
ernment and all gun makers. He never applied for 
a i>atent on this machine. I'revious to its invention 
the successful drillitig of gim-barreU was a long, 
tedious, and not infre(|uentl\- unsuccessful process. 
The drill often, after entering the steel bar and 
following the mechanical cuter as was necessary, 
would swerve from the ])ro])er course and come out 
the side, or would' follow a line on one side or other 
of the caitcr, in each instance ruining the bar and 
wasting the operator's work. The value (if this in- 



vention is thus evidenced when it is considered that 
the machine which he devised not only made ac- 
curate drilling- possible. Ijut also gave the operator 
a positive knowledge of the location of the drill in 
the center of the long piece of steel. The fact that 
the machine is universally used to-day, and has been 
ever since its invention, about 1845, w-ithout prac- 
tically an improvement, goes to show that it origin- 
ated in the brain of a thorough mechanic. In those 
days patents w'ere not so largely sought after, and 
Mr. Munson probably felt that he was sufiiciently 
rewarded for his ingenuity, as his business of con- 
tractor in the gun shop was made much more profit- 
able by the efficiency of his invention. A patent on 
I this device would have yielded him a fortune. In 
j 1857 he embarked in the manufacture of coach and 
saddlery hardware in Temple str.et. Xew Haven, 
1 under the name of Munson, Morse & Co., also man- 
\ ufacturing wrenches, hammers, pistols, lathe 
clamps and other tools. In 1862 he returiipd to 
\ Ilamdui, where he spent the remainder of his life, 
dying Alarch 21, 1893. Mr. Munson was one of 
. the best known mm of Hamden, and no man en- 
joyed the general respect of the people to any great- 
er extent than ht- did. He resided in Hamden for 
the quietude of ccuntr_\- life, but though he owned 
farm land and had a good knowledge of agriculture, 
he was never a farmer. He liuilt the house where 
he lived and died, and which our subject yet occu- 
pies. In the construction of this house he made 
thoroughne.-s a special feature, as in everything 
else he undertook, and as a result it is still one of 
the most substantial houses in the town. Mr. Mun- 
son took great interest in the affairs of the town, 
and was ever ready to aid with his purse or in- 
fluence any mowment of benefit: he was equally 
readv to oppose any project that in his judgment 
I had other motives, and he was in every way a most 
valuable citizen. In politics he was a Democrat un- 
j til the Civil war, when he claimed "the i^arty left 
him" and he united with the Rejjuljlicans to become 
one of their staunchest rnembers and most efficient 
.-ervants. He liJd almi-ist every office in the gift 
of his townspeople, not from any desire for political 
preferment, but from his sense of duty as a citizen. 
He twice i-epresented the town in the Legislature. 
Dm-ing the war he was active in filling the town's 
cpiota of suldivrs. Wherever the efforts of a good 
citizen were needed he could be found. He was one 
of the subst.-uitial members of Whitneyville Congre- 
gational Church, and an active member of the So- 
ciety, taking a foremo.st part in religious afTairs. 
His good wife iireceded him 'o the grave some 
years, and both are buried in Whitneyville cemetery. 
A self-made man in th.e fullest sense of that term, 
Mr. Munson left a grand name to posterilv, and 
passed! awa\' at a ripe old age, after a well-spent 
and useful life. He lived to see his great-grandson, 
Lester Munsnn Shares. Henry Alunson married 
Miss Jane h'ord. a daughter of Squire Joel and 
Eunice Ford, of Hamden, and to them were born 




/X^ J'U<^^''/- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



637 



six children, namely : Henry Whitney, the eldest, 
is the only survivor. Gustavus B. died young from 
whooping cough. Robert P., who never married, 
was drowned in Guilford, Conn., when about forty- 
nine years old. Eunice L. married George H. Gor- 
ham, of Hamden, where she died leaving one son, 
Henry J. Catherine T. was twice married, her sec- 
ond husband being Cornelius Warner; she died in 
Hamden leaving two children, Warren C, and 
Catherine T. Warner, twins. Mar\' T. married 
John H. Piatt, of New Haven, and died at Sara- 
toga, N. Y., leavinij" no children. 

Henn,' W. Munson sp>ent his early life in the 
manner of most boys of his time. He attended pri- 
vate schools and completed his education in the old 
Temple, comer of Orange and Court streets, in 
New Haven, under the instruction of Prof. Mills. 
From boyhood he was handy with tools, seeming to 
inherit the mechanical skill of his father, and his 
practical training was almost entirely along me- 
chanical lines. At the age of twenty-one he became 
a stockholder in the concern of Munson, Morse & 
Co., New Haven. Four years later he removed to 
Bridgeport and entered the employ of the Win- 
chester Repeating Arms Co., remaining at that place 
until 1871. While there he did considerable con- 
tract work as a gun maker. He then returned to 
New Haven, and in 1871 was made superintendent 
of the gun department of the Winchester Repeating 
Arms Co.'s plant at that place, which responsible 
position he most capably and acceptably filled until 
1885. Since then he has done considerable contract 
work in New Haven, sprinkling the streets of the 
city for twelve years, but is now living retired, hav- 
ing by years of activity acquired sufficient capital to 
enable him to lay aside all business cares, and to 
spend his remaining days in ease and quiet. He was 
always a wide-awake, energetic business man, gen- 
erally carrying forward to successful completion 
whatever he undertook. His success in life has not 
consisted merely in amassing worldly possessions, 
but in doing at all times and doing well the duties, 
as he sees them, of a good citizen. Whatever trust 
he has held, has served only to bring forth the noble 
qualities of the man. Plain and approachable, suc- 
cess has not changed him personally. His capital 
in life when he began the struggle consisted only 
of his mechanical skill and energy, with which c<]uip- 
ment he has won a position of affluence and respect- 
ability, and although his business affairs have de- 
manded much of his time, he has never shirked the 
duty of a generous citizen. Mr. Munson is a well 
preserved man, in mind and body. He has retired 
at an age when he is able to enjoy the fruits of a 
busy and much more than ordinarily successful life. 
He has a pleasant home in Hamden. 

Mr. Munson was married. May 16, i860, to 
Miss Lottie A. Thomas, a native of New Haven, 
born Sept. 3, 1838, daughter of Gen. Amos Thomas, 
a prominent officer in the Connecticut State militia. 
To this union two children have been born : Jennie 



A. died at the age of six and a half years. Codie 
May, bom Feb. 21, 1870, %vas married May 2, 1889, 
to John Orrin Shares, and they have one son, Lester 
Munson, born Jan. 16, 1892. They reside in Ham- 
den with our subject. Mr. Shares is a son of 
Horace P. and Charlotte (Ives) Shares, and is a 
prominent young manufacturer of Cheshire; in 1897 
he represented Hamden in the Connecticut Legis- 
lature, serving as clerk of the committee on roads, 
rivers and bridges. 

In political sentiment Mr. Munson is a staunch 
Republican, and has served his town as selectman, 
and in 1885 was a member of the Legislature. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of Day Spring Lodge, No. 
30, F. & A. M., of Hamden, and of the Knights of 
Honor, and religiously he has been an active mem- 
ber of Whitneyville Congregational Church for over 
twenty years, and a deacon of the same since about 
1882. He is a man of exemplary habits, commend- 
able purpose and unbending integrity, and in all 
life's relations merits the confidence which is so 
freely accorded him. 

WILLIAM G. GALLAGER, Messenger of the 
L^nited States Senate, and one of Meriden's most 
respected citizens, was born in Newark, N. J., Aug. 
9, 1846, of ancestors who were among the earliest 
settlers of New Jersey. 

Jacob Gallager, the great-grandfather of Will- 
iam G., was a brave soldier in the war of the Revo- 
lution and lost his life at the battle of Germantown. 
His son, Jacob Gallager, made his home in Philadel- 
phia, where he married a daughter of Dr. J. Durang, 
a native of France, who had come to the United 
States in 1767 and later joined Gen. LaFayette; 
during the Revolutionary war he accompanied the 
anny as surgeon. The Doctor's two sons, Ferdi- 
nand and Francis, participated in the war of 1812, 
and it was the former of these. Ferdinand Durang, 
who put the citizens of the Imited States under last- 
ing obligation to him, for he was the talented musi- 
cian who set to music the "Star Spangled Banner." 

James Gallager, the father of William G., son 
of Jacob, and grandson of Jacob Gallager and Dr. 
Durang, was born in Philadelphia, where he grew 
to manhood and leamed the trade of cooper. For 
the most part he was self-educated, but during his 
attendance at school he was a schoolmate of Ed- 
win Forrest, the actor. Later Mr. Gallager became 
a minister in the Universalist Church, and preached 
through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut, 
while in Meriden holding his services in Odd Fel- 
lows Hall. From Meriden he removed to Plamilton, 
Butler Co., Ohio, and preached there a short time, 
but his useful career was ended at the early age of 
forty-six years ; his remains were taken back to 
Newark and laid beside tho-^e of his wife in Fair- 
mont cemetery. His death deprived the world of a 
good man and an excellent citizen, who fulfilled 
ever\- duty of life in a most exemplary manner. 

Rev. James Gallager married for his first wife 



638 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Frances Oliver, a daughter of Rev. D. Oliver. She 
died in 1847. To this union four children were 
born: Charles is a member of the firm of Tower 
& Lyon, Chamber street, N. Y. ; Leona married B. 
S. Pelton, of Aleriden, and is now deceased; Marie 
Louise died in 1896; and William G. is our subject. 
For his second wife James Gallager married Jane 
Brown, who resided with our subject, and died at 
his home; she is buried in West cemetery. 

William G. Gallager removed to Ohio with his 
father, and after the Jatter's death returned to Meri- 
den, where he attended the common schools, much 
of his education being acquired in later life. At 
the age of fourteen years, he entered the Britannia 
shop of L C. Lewis, and worked there for four 
years. During the Civil war, although still a youth, 
he responded to the call for defenders of the flag, 
in March, 1864, enlisting in Company F, 15th Conn. 
V. I., under Col. Upham and Capt. R. Waterman. 
He was transferred with other recruits to the 7th 
Regiment, and hi.s discharge bears date AugMst, 
1865. Previous to his enlistment Mr. Gallager had 
attempted to join the army several times, but was 
rejected on account of his youth. Returning to 
work in the shop, for eleven years Mr. Gallager 
continued in the metal business, and then opened up 
a business of his own in partnership with George 
Pelton. The firm conducted same successfully for 
twenty vears, dealing in meats in Meriden and vicin- 
ity, both partners gaining the high regard of the 
community on account of honest dealing. In 1896 
Mr. Gallager retired from activity in the business. 

Throughout his life Mr. Gallager has been an 
active Republican, and for many years has been a 
hard worker for the Republican party, both in local 
and national affairs, enjoying the full confidence of 
its best elements. In 1896 he was elected to the 
State Legislature, which body he served faithfully, 
being chairman of the committee on the Putnam 
Memorial, and also had the honor of presenting the 
name of Senator Piatt for his fourth term in the 
U. S. Senate, to which he was unanimously elected. 
In 1900 he was appointed a Messenger of the United 
States Senate, which position he fills with ability. 

In 1870 William G. Gallager was married in 
Meriden, to Clara E. Savage, a daughter of Elliott 
Savage, and to this union six children have been 
bom : James P., a civil engineer, resides in Okla- 
homa ; he married Effa Wickerson, of Meriden. 
Charles Durang is engaged in the meat and poultry 
business; he married l.ydia McCormick, of Meriden, 
and has one child, William Charles. Elliott Savage 
is in the United States navy. William died in in- 
fancy. Leona and Horace arc at home. Mrs. 
Gallager possesses both domestic and social graces; 
she is prominently identified with the Woman's Re- 
lief Corps. Mr. Gallager is a member and past 
commander of Meriden Post, G. A. R., and is also 
a member of the Royal Arcanum and the A. O. U. 
W. The religious connection of the family is with 
the Universalist Church. Mr. Gallagcr's standing 



in this locality, whether in social or business cir- 
cles, is high, and he is justly regarded as a truly 
representative citizen. 

GEORGE T. BRADLEY needs no introduction 
in the business world of New Haven. As a mem- 
ber for over twenty years of the firm of Benedict 
& Co., coal merchants, and in other important com- 
mercial relations, he has commanded a wide ac- 
quaintanceship in the city, and his reputation is 
without a blemish. Mr. Bradley has sustained the 
good name of his ancestors, who have been identi- 
fied with New Haven for many generations. We 
extract the following from a paper now in the pos- 
session of the subject proper of these lines : 

"William Bradley, who took the oath of fidelity 
in New Haven, Conn., in 1644, was the ancestor of 
this branch of the Bradley family. Tradition, con- 
firmed by research, according to the Hon. Charles 
W. Bradley, who was at one time secretary of the 
State of Connecticut, and a resident of New Haven, 
states that William Bradley came from the West 
Riding of Yorkshire, England. 

"(I) William Bradley married Alice Prichard, 
daughter of Roger Prichard of Springfield, Mass., 
and Milford, Conn., Feb. 18, 1645. His will was 
recorded in the New Haven Records, Vol. II, page 
no. He died probably in 1690. She died, as it 
is thought, in 1692. They had issue: Joseph, bap- 
tized Jan. 4, 1646, died Jan., 1705; Martha, Oct., 
1648, died Jan. 9, 1707; Abraham, born Oct. 24, 
1650, died Oct. 19, 1718; Mary, born April 30, 1653, 
died Oct., 1724; (II) Benjamin, born April 8, 1657, 

died 1728 ; Esther, born Sept. 29, 1659, died ; 

Nathaniel, born Feb. 26, 1661, died Aug. 17, 1743; 
Sarah, born June 21, 1665. 

"(II) Benjamin Bradley, called sergeant, mar- 
ried Elizabeth, daughter of John Thompson, qi 
New Haven, Oct. 29, 1677. She died Nov. 3, 1718. 
His will was recorded in the New Haven Probate 
Records in Vol. V, page 446. Their issue: Eliza- 
beth, bom Sept. 11, 1678; Sarah, bora June 7, 1680; 
Hannah, bom April 18, 1682; Susanna, bom July 
10, 1684; Mary, born April 15, 1687; Benjamin, 
born Oct. i, 1692; Desire, born !\pril 29, 1690; 
Abner, born March 6, 1695; (III) Caleb, bom 
1700. 

"(Ill) Caleb Bradley married Dec. 30, 1731, 
Thankful Gilbert, of New Haven. He died prob- 
ably in 1783. Their issue: (IV) Jonah, bom Oct. 
26, 1732, died March 6, 1814; Elizabeth, born May 
3, 1737, died Feb. 8, 1815; James, born Nov. 9, 

1739- . , , 

"(IV) Jonah Bradley married Aug. 12, 1759, 

Rachel, daughter of James Atwatcj, born April 

26, 1737, died Oct. 2, 1809. Their issue: Caleb, 

born July 20, 1760; Lydia, born Dec. 29, 1761, died 

Oct. 12, 1847; Phebe, born Jan. 9, 1764; Esther; 

Huldak; Betsey; (V) Justus, born Jan. 20, 1772, 

died Dec. 28, 1857; Sarah. 

"(V) Justus Bradley manned April 12, 1797, 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL. RECORD. 



639 



Sarah, daughter of Ezekiel Hayes, born Dec. 2S, 
1777, died .March 5. 1837. Their issue: Russell, 
born April 30, 1798; Justus, born April Ji, 1800; 
IMaria, born .May 5, 1802; (\1 ) (k-orge Hayes, burn 
Oct. 31, 1804, died Oct. 4, 1880; Charles, born .\'uv. 
4, 1806; Elizabeth R., born Xov. 14, 1808; William, 
born July 20, 181 1; Sarah A., born Feb. 26, 18 14; 
Jane C. born Sept. 28, 1816. 

■■(\"I) George Hayes Bradley married, Oct. 7, 
1840, Theodosia F., daughter of Samuel Daskam. 
Their issue: Charles Lewis, Helen Sophia, (MI) 
George Thomas, Jrlenry Kelly, Samuel Justus, 
William Francis."' 

Of these, we know furthcT that Justus I'.radlcv, 
grandfather of George T., was a shoemaker by 
trade. George Hayes Bradley, the father of our 
subject, livecl and died in New Haven. He was 
engaged in the boot and shoe business there and in 
Wilmington, X. C. in partnershi]) with his brother 
Charles, the firm name being G. & C. liradlcy. and 
they were manufacturers as well as retailers. They 
connnandcd a large trade in the South. Mr. Bradley 
was an Episcopalian in religious connection, and a 
Democrat in pohtics. His wife, who survived him 
a number of years, dying .March 4, 1899, was a sis- 
ter of Col. Samuel Daskam, of Xorwalk, b'airfield 
Co., Conn., and a daughter of Capt. Samuel Dask- 
am, who connnanded' a packet plying Ijctwecn Xor- 
walk and Xew York. Her mother, whose maiden 
name was Eucretia Fitch, was a great-grandniece of 
Thomas Fitch, who was governor of Connecticut 
from 1754 to 1766. Her grandfather Daskam 
fought in the Revolution. 

George T. Bradley was bom Oct. 15. 1845, in 
N^ew Haven, and grew to maidiood in his native 
city, receiving his education in the Washington 
school, the W'ebster School and Dr. Thomas" .Acad- 
emy, in St. Jolm street. During the first three years 
of his business life he was in the cmplov of l.laiuel 
Trowbridge, in a general store, and contimied thus 
with other firms for seven years longer, entering the 
coal business in 1870, in the office of H. W. lienedict 
& Co. On March 22. 1878, he became a member 
of what is now the firm of I'.enedict & Co. This 
house was first established in 1833, and has been in 
active business ever since, though the name has 
changed several times. Mr. T^.radley has given his 
attention principally to the interests of this concern, 
but he has been proniinentlv connected with numer- 
ous important business enterprises in the city of his 
residence, and, as a coal merchant, with firms in 
Xew York and Philadelphia, being a directi>r in 
the Tradesman's X'ational Bank: the Sterling Coal 
Co., of Philadelphia: and the Powelton Barge Co., 
of Xew York. 

On June 3, 1868, Afr. Bradley married Miss 
Emma Minor. Their children are Milton Hobart. 
Walter Minor and Mabel Daskam. The family arc 
Congregationalists in religious connection. In ]ioli- 
tics he is a Republican Fraternally he unites with 



Woostcr Lodge, X'o. 79, F. & .-N.. ^^. ; Ouinnipiac 
Lodge. 1. (J. O. ]•". ; the Knights of Honor; the 
L'nion l,eague ; and the Sons of the .\merican Revo- 
lution. 

The Mi.voK Family, of which Mrs. George T. 
Bradley is a member, was founded in .\merica by 
Tiiomas Minor, wlio was born .April 23, 1608, in 
England, and came to Xew England in 1630, with 
John Winthrop's company, settling at Pequot. He 
married (irace I'almer, and died in Stoningtoii, 
Conn., Oct. 23, 1690. 

(II) Ca])t. John Minor, son of Thomas, moved 
to Stratford, Conn., and married Elizabeth Booth, 
of that i)lace. Fie was born in 1634, and died in 
1711;. 

( 111 ) F|)hraim .Minor, born Oct. 24, 1675, died 
Se])t, I'l, 17(12. lie married Rebecca Curtiss. 

(1\ ) Timothy Minor, son of Ephraim, born Dec. 
10, 1702, died Xov., 1760. He married Elizabeth 
Judson. 

(\' I Sctli Minor, son of Timothy, born Xov. 23, 
1733. died .Xov. 4. 1820. He married Eunice Root. 

( \'i ) .Ad'oniram Minor, son of Seth, was born in 
Woodbury, Conn., Dec. 3, I7(>3. and died .April 21, 
1847. He married Patience Mitchell. 

(\'ll) Judson Minc/r, son of Adoniram, was 
born in Woodbury .March 20. 1787, and died Jan. 
19, 1876. He marrieil Electa \\'ay. 

(\'III) Henry Minor, son of Judson, was born 
March 2S. 1814. in Woodbury, and died Oct. 12, 
1854. in Plymouth, this State. He married Xancy 
Mather, and their daughter Emma, who was born 
in Brooklyn, N. Y., is the wife of George T. Brad- 
ley, of New Haven. 

The M.STHiCR Family, from which Airs. George 
T. Bradley is descended on the maternal side, was 
first represented in .\ew F.ngland bv Rev. Richard 
.Mather, who was born in Lowton. Winwick Parish, 
of Toxteth Park, in 1396, and married Catherine, 
daughter of Ednumd Holt. 

(II) Timothy .Mather, born in 1O28 in Liver- 
])ool, ICngland, died Jan. 14, 1684, in Dorchester, 
Mass. He married C'atherine, daughter of Major 
Gen. Hum])hrey. .\tberton. 

(III) .\tlierton Matlicr. bom Oct. 4. 1663. died 
Xo\-. (). 1734. lie married Mary Landi. 

(IV) Richard Alather, born '.April 2. 170S. in 
Suffield, Conn., died at Windsor. Fie married 
Louise Piurbank. 

(\') Elibu Mather, born in Torrington in 1741, 
died there Dec. 17, 1778. The name of bis wife is 
not given. 

(\"l) Ricliard Matlicr. born in 1767, died Oct. 
14. 1835. He married Olive Soi^er. 

(\'II) Horace Alather. bom in Torrington, Dec. 
12. 1789, died in Xew Flaven March 11. 1867. He 
married Martha Bishop. Their daughter Xancy, 
l>orn Jan. 8, 1816. in Torrington. Conn., married 
Henry Minor, and died .Aug. 2^:,. 1889, in Xew 
Haven. 



640 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



PLATT. Tile family of this name at Water- 
bury is one of th.' olde.-t in Connecticut and among 
the prominent ones. The late Alfred' Piatt was its 
lieatl, and with several of liis sons — the late 
William S.. and Clark M., and Alfred L., of Piatt's 
Mills — and i^Tandsons in turn, tigured eminently in 
the industrial life of the city for a hundred years, 
and through the inventive genius of these worthy 
citizens great profit and ad\'antag\s have been given 
to \\ aterbur\ . 

Iviehard Piatt, the progenitor of many of the 
Xew England Platts. came to this country in 163S, 
and landed at Xew llaven. He owned land in and 
around New Haven. He was enrolled among the 
first settlers of Milford, Nov. 20, 1639, having four 
in family. "He had probably brought with him 
from England his children, Mary, John. Isaac and 
Sarah, for his first child baptized in Milford, by the 
record, was Epenetus, July 12, 1640. Subsequently 
were baptized Hannah, ( )ct. i, 1643; Josiah, 1645, 
and Joseph in 1649." Richard and his sons, John 
and Josiah, are recorded among the original pur- 
chasers and: proprietors of Xtwtown, Conn. But 
John finally went to Norwalk, Isaac and Epenetus 
to Huntingtiin, L. I., only Josiah and Joseph remain- 
ing in Milford, the first home of the family. 

The late .Alfred Piatt, of Waterbury, was a 
descendant of Richard Piatt, of Milford, through 
one of the sons named. The Newtown records 
show that Josiah Piatt, of the town and county of 
New Haven, in consider.ition of love and affection 
to his son Josiah, of Newtown, willed him half his 
land on Gelding Hill in Newtown, Oct. 18, 1758. 
And they fiulher show that Josiah Piatt of Milford, 
Conn., "in consideration of love and good will which 
I have and do bear unto my grandson, Josiah Piatt, 
of Newtown, Oct. 18, 1788" willed him land in 
Newtown. Jdhn Piatt, of Newtown, conveyed land 
in that town to his sons Ebenczer and jNIoses, in 
1741. Jn Newtown Records (Vol. \Tn) the fol- 
lowing is found: "Josiah Piatt and Sarah Sanford 
were joined in marriage covenant Nov. 13, 1758. 
Children: Hannah, horn ( )ct. 3, 1759: Nathan, 
born .March 3. 17(11; Isaac, born Dec. 24, 1762; 
Louisa, born .May 28, "ijl^^; and Jonas, born Jan. 

!>■ '770-'" 

( )f the children of this Josiah and .Sar;ih (San- 
ford) riatt. .Xatlian Piatt, born March 3, 1761, was 
the father of the late .Mfrcd I'latt, of Waterbury. 
fiathan Piatt and his brother Isaac, as shown by 
tlicir father's will, jiroliated in New Haven county, 
and bearing date of 1785, were given lands in Water- 
I)urv. Xalhan was twice married, marrying (first) 
Kuby Smith, of Newtown, who died in 1829, and 
(second) in 1829. Charlotte Dickernian. Nathan 
I'latt was a foldier of the Revolutionary war. Pie 
resided in Waterbury many years, but he died in 
Wallingford in 1845, aged eighty-four years. His 
children by his first marriage were: Levi .S., Al- 
fred, l'"lv, .\lmon, .\nna, Leonard, Sarah and 
Martha. 



The late Alfred Piatt, of \\'aterburv, son of Na- 
than and Ruby (Smith) Piatt, was born April 2^ 
1789, in Newtown, Conn., and at the age of ten 
years came to Waterbury with his father, who set- 
tled on the river at a point afterwards known as 
j Piatt's Mills (and Plattsville). He studied at the 
school in Litchfield of which James Morris was the 
master and he began business for himself at the age 
of nineteen. He was employed for a time in a saw- 
mill which he himself built near his father's fiour 
mill. Later he was engaged in traveling through 
i the South selling the old Waterbury wooden clocks. 
He became an early member of the firm of "A. 
Benedict," which was formed in 1823, the outgrowth 
of a business begun in 1812 b\- Mr. Benedict, who 
then began the manufacture of bone and ivory but- 
tons, and which business finally resulted in the 
Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Co. Mr. Piatt 
was the first man in Waterbury who manufactured 
brass and copper wire. For several years he made 
all the wire used by the Scovill and the Benedict & 
Burnham manufacturing companies in making but- 
ton eyes. Subsequently he disposed of his interests 
in the Benediict & Burnham Alanufacturing Co., and 
I)urchased of his father and Gideon Piatt, the milf 
and the water power of Piatt's Mills. He operated 
for a time the oldi mill, then he replaced it by a nev^r 
one which he operated as long as he lived. Soon 
after he purchased the mill he devised an improved 
method of making buckwheat fiour, and built ma- 
chinery for this purpose, obtaining a patent on the 
machinery and on the process of manufacture. 

On 'Sir. Piatt's withdrawal from the Benedict & 
Burnham Manufacturing Co., he began manufactur- 
ing buttons for himself, his sons, William S. and' 
Clark M., then not yet of age, being employed in 
the factory. In 1847 a partnership was entered 
into between the father and the sons, under the firm 
name of A. Piatt & Co., which afterwards became 
A. Piatt & Sons. The business grew to large pro- 
portions during the father's life time, and the com- 
pany, the outgrowth of that concern, is to-day one 
of the most prosperous of those engaged in button 
making in \\'aterbury. Alfred Piatt was a deacon 
in the Baptist Church, and was one of the three men 
who gave obligations to the full extent of their prop- 
erty as security for the debt incurred' in building the 
first P.aptist meeting house in the center of the town. 
On June 8, 1814, Mr. Piatt was married to Irene, 
daughter of Hiram Blackman, of Brookfield, Conn.,- 
and to the union were born six sons. Mr. Piatt 
died' Dec. 29, 1872, and Mrs. Piatt passed away Nov. 
2, 1863. Their children were: 

(i) Nirom B. Piatt was born Sept. i, 1818, at 
Piatt's Mills, and in boyhood attended the then 
somewhat famous school of Amos Smith in New 
Haven. He became a merchant, was a man of ir- 
reproachable character, strong in his convictions and 
a devoted member of the Baptist Church. He mar- 
ried .Sept. 17, 1840, Eliza, daughter of Wheeler 
Kirtland, of Woodbury, Conn., and their seven chil- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



641 



dren were: Frances E., widow of Charles H. Rii.-- 
sell; .Margaret V., wife of Wilson S. Oslwrn : Ida 
K., wife of Lewis E. Perkins: W'illard W. : and 
three who died in childhood. Xiroin I!. I'laU died 
Oct. 14, 186,^. 

( 2) Charles S. I'latt was horn July 30. iSjo, and 
on Se])t. 4, i8()i. married Mary M. Toi)ey. He re- 
moved to western Massachusetts, and died Feb. 5, 
1896. 

(3) William S. Plait was horn Jan. j-, 1822, 
and died .March 2J. 1886. He was educated in the 
common schools, at the Waterlniry .Academy, antl 
at a school of high grade in New Haven, taught liy 
Amos .Smith, where he was greatly interested in 
physics and chemistry, and also liecame fascinated 
with mechanical engineering. He had acquired, 
before reaching his majority, the art of rolling sheet 
zinc, and was the first to produce it successful! v in 
Waterlniry. He had also invented antl constru-led 
machinery for the manufacture of Initlons from the 
same, and for the manufacture of seamless zinc tu^)- 
ing. In 1847 he entered into partnership with his 
iather and his brother, Clark M. I'latt, for the man- 
ufacture of metallic buttons, and in 1876 the Piatt 
lirothers & Co. was incorporated with a capital of 
830,000. Of this company William S. Plait was 
chosen president, and Clark M. I'latt. secretary and 
treasurer. At the same lime the Patent IJutton 
Co. was formed and incorporated, and consisted for 
the most part of the same stockholders, liut included 
rcjiresentatives of Porter Bros. & Co. I'.otli of these 
branches of business were eminently successful — a 
fact which was due largely to the ingenious ma- 
chinery which Air. Piatt was constantly inventing. 
There is probably no place in the Naugatuck X'alley 
in which the triumphs of inventive skill are better 
illustrated than in the button factories of the Piatt 
Brothers & Co. Mr. P^latt, as referred to in the 
.sketch of his father, had been associated with him 
in business beginning back in 1847. "^^c was a 
man of strong marked traits, among which were ab- 
solute indeijcndence and self-reliance, great ])ower 
of al)straction, and a mind which could not cease 
from effort until the jjroblem bef(.)re it was solved. 
He was an original investigator in (piestions of phy- 
sical science, jjsychology and theology. In relig- 
ious matters, especially, he met every question fairly, 
not dismissing it from his mind until it was solved 
bv patient and thorrjugh investigation. His success 
in business brought him considerable wealth, but it 
was apparent not in any change in his style of life, 
but in the increase of his benevolence. He was a 
deacon in the Baptist Church at the time of his 
death, and had been for many years its largest bene- 
factor." (Jn Oct. I, 1844. Mr. I'latt was mairied to 
Caroline, daughter of William and .\lma I Porter) 
Orion, who after the death of her parents, lived in 
the family of Deacon Timothy Porter, her mother's 
brother. The children born to this marriage who 
reached malurilv are: Irving (j. (born Jinie 18. 
41 ' 



1860, who died Dec. n. i,»/m, iieirii i. (.Mrs. Wal- 
lace H. Cam]) I and Caroline -\. 

(4) Clark M. Piatt was born Jan. I, 1824. In 
boyhood be entered hi^ lather's shop and liegan 
learning the button inaiuifacluring business. Be- 
fore reaching his majority, however, he dropped 
cut for a time, and for a year was in attendance at 
the Connecticut Literary Institute, in Suffield. After 
this he returned to his father's factory ami resumed 
his business, which he continued to follow througn 
life. .\s stated in the i)receding sketch of liis fa- 
tiier be joined Jiiin in Imsiness in 1847, and was 
connected with the business through the several 
changes indicated in the sketches of father and 
brother, and with them built up the extensive and 
successful business still carried on under the Plat: 
name. Like his father and brother. Mr. Piatt was 
a successful inventor, and olitaincd patents on a 
number of inventions which aided in the success of 
their business. On May 20, 1846, Mr. I'latt was 
married to Miss .Amelia M., daughter of Selden 
Lewis, of XaugaUick, anil to them were born chil- 
dren as follows: Bertha Lewis, now Mrs. Jay H. 
1 lart, of Waterbury ; Lewis Alfred and Edward 
Legrand, both of whom died in childhood; and 
Lewis .Alfred (2). now secretary of Plait Bros. & 
Co. Clark M. Piatt died Dec. 20, 1900. 

(5) Alfred Legrand I'latt was born June i, 1825, 
and received bis education in the schools of Water- 
bury and New Haven. Like his father anil l)rotlicrs 
lie, too, learned the art of manufacturing l)ultons, 
and in his earlier manhood was so occupied in New- 
town, Conn., and Leominster, Mass. Returning to 
Waterbury in 1861 he took up his residence at Plait's 
Mills, where he was engaged with his father in the 
milling business. In 1863 he assumed charge of 
the distribution of the mill products and worked up 
a large demand for them. In 1876 he organized 
the Piatt Mill Co., of which he was i)rinci])al owner 
and director. In 1882 they erected an elevator in 
Waterbury with a capacity for 60.000 bushels of 
grain. .\ storehouse is also maintained in .X'auga- 
tuck. He, with his son, .Alfred .S. Piatt, and Oliver 
Cr. Cam]), leaseil tl.ie .flour mill whicli they sold to 
Plait P.ros. & Co. in 1892, and conducted a flour 
and feed business at Piatt's Alills and in the city of 
\\ aterbiiry and town of .Xaugatnck. ( In l-\b. G, 
i8i;5, the mill was destroyed by fire, after which 
tliev continued the business in Waterbury and 
Xaugatnck. ( )n July 28, 1847, .Mr. Piatt married 
Sarah .Ann Sherman, who was born I'eb. 10. 1827, 
in Danbury, Conn., daughter of ' )rnan ami L'lara 
(Lake) .Sherman, fanning people in the town of 
Danbur\-. Her father was biirn Dec. 10. I7<)5. and 
died Dec. 3, 1864; her mother was born .March 22, 
1796, and died I'eb. 2H. i8f)i. Mrs. I'latt died Sept. 
3 i89<S, surviving her husband, who passed away 
.Aug. II, 181/1. Two children came to Mr. and 
Mrs. Piatt, Sarah Jane and .\lfreil .Sherman. The 
daughter, born Jan. 8, 1841J, was married May 10,. 



642 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1870, to Jarcil I*. Kiim. a carpenter of Water- 
bury. 

:(}) Sealiiirv 11. I Matt was born Oct. 5, 1828, in 
file town of \\'ait'rbur\-. He was a student at Yale 
in tlie class ni 1X5J. luU owinq; to ill health aban- 
doned his college course durinj; his junior year. In 
1861 he became a student of law in the office of J. 
W. Webster, and was admitted to the Bar in May, 
1864. in June nf that year he located at Dirming- 
liani, Conn., and there became judge of the borough 
court. He died at Derby, Comi., Aug. 12, 1895. 

Alfred S. ri,.\TT, whose standing among the 
business men of Waterbury is of the very best, was 
born in Newtown, Conn., .\ov. 12, 1854, a son of Al- 
fred Legrand I'latt. Me was between six and seven 
years of age when his parents removed to Water- 
bury, and there he .grew to maturity. The public 
schools and the business college of Xew Haven af- 
forded him his education, and he was ready early in 
his life to learn the miller's trade under his father'.; 
instructions, in the mill which that gentleman owned 
and operated. Mr. I'latl grew up in the business, 
working with his father until the latter's death, and 
there is not a detail in the practical working of the 
mill which he does not know by personal experience. 
Wdien a joint stock coniiumy was formed in 1876, 
Mr. I'latt was one of the stockholders. After the 
death of the elder J Matt, he joined with O. G. Camp, 
and bought out all the other interests, they becoming 
the sole owners of the i^-operty. They are known 
as the Piatt Mill Co., and transact a large business. 

Mr. IMatt and .Miss luigenie .V. Xettleton were 
niarried Dec. 18, i87(). Mrs. IMatt was born in 
Xaugatuck, Conn., I'eb. 20, 1854, a daughter of 
Clark Xettleton. ( )ne child has blessed the home 
of Mr. and .Mrs. IMatt, .Mice IC, born Uct. 7, 1877. 
Mr. riatt is a Republican. I'raternally he belongs 
\(! 'i'ownsend Lodge. Xo. 89, Ansantawae Encamp- 
ment, X(.), 20, 1. ( ). ( ). I"., and others. Their home is 
at riatt's .Mills, three miles south of Waterbury 
Center, They are all highly respected members of 
society, and are regarded as among the best people 
of the city, 

DKXT1-:R oSWIX DOOI.ITTLE, general 
farmer and fruit grower, and one of the highly re- 
s]iected citizens of W'allingford, was born on the 
homestead, on the old Xew Haven road, in the town 
of W'allingford. Jan. 8, 1847, Mr. Dooliltle is a 
lineal descendant of .\braham Doolittle, the first of 
that name in Wallingford, who was also one of the 
first settlers. 

.Mfred Dooliltle, the grandfather of Dexter O. 
Doolittle. was a native of Wallingford, and was a 
son of Joel Doolittle. an extensive farmer of the 
same i>lace. Alfred Doolittle was a man of educa- 
tion for that lime. ;md taught school for a nnmlier 
of \ears. and at one time was the principal of the 
Wallingford .\cadem\-. many of the (ilder residents 
having received iu'-truclion from him. His estate 
consisted of a large tract of land, on the old New 



Haven road, where he carried on general farming. 
A Democrat of the old Democracy, he upheld its 
principles, and was a man in every way estimable. 
He died of pneumonia, at the advanced age of 
eighty-nine years, in Wallingtord on the old home- 
stead where he was born, Alfred Doolittle married 
Lois Dayton, of North Haven, and to this union 
were born three children : Oswin, wMio graduated 
from Yale College and was a prominent lawyer; 
Jonathan Edward, the father of our subject; and 
Lucy, the widow of Henry B, Fowler, a resident of 
Wallingford. The mother of these children died 
in Xorth Haven, at the age of eighty-four, a devoted 
member of the Episcopal Church. 

Jonathan Edward Doolittle was born on the old 
homestead and attended the schools in Wallingford, 
and later went through Yale College and graduated 
from the medical department, beginning bis practice 
in Wallingford, but his promising career was cut 
short at the early age of thirty-two, from an att."ck 
erf pneumonia wdiich no skill could cure. His death, 
in 1852. was a great loss to the community. In his 
profession, he was one of the rising men, and he 
was a man of such pronounced temperance prin- 
ciples, that the workers in that cause felt almost 
bereft. .As early as the age of seventeen, he had 
bravely upheld his view's, and tluring life lectured 
in its behalf. 

Dr. Doolittle was married in 1845, to Elizabeth 
Hull, of North Farms, a sister of the well-known 
Deacon Samuel and Colonel Henry Hull, of North 
Farms, and to this union two children were born : 
Dexter Oswin ; and Jonathan Forestus, who died in 
1864, from lockjaw, caused by getting his hand 
crushed in a sorghum mill. The mother married, 
second, Horace Smith, of Wallingford, who died in 
1891. Mrs. Smith resides with her son, on the old 
homestead, and is a valued and consistent member 
of the Congregational Church. 

Dexter Oswin Doolittle attende<l the district 
schools of Wallingford and Xorth Haven, and also 
had other educational advantages. He remained 
with his mother until he was sixteen years old, at 
which time he went to Xau.gatuck, wdiere he was 
engaged as clerk for F. S. Andrews, remaining at 
a salary of $8 per month, for the first year, and 
steadilv advancing until he Ijecame a confidential 
clerk at increased salary. He then o])erated a store 
of his own, but finally sold out and returned to the 
farm wdiere he has ever since remained engaged in 
general farming, market-gardening and peach grow- 
ing. Here Mr. Doolittle has a fine farm of 100 
acres which ^■iclds abundantly, and here he has 
erected a new house and made many improvements. 
Industrious and persevering, Mr. Doolittle has not 
}et exhausted the ]>ossibilities of his fertile farm. 

In 1868. Mr. Doolittle was married to Hattie 
Elizabeth ]\almer, of Xaugatuck, wdio was horn in 
.Sharon. L'onn., a daughter of Liberty Palmer, and 
four children have been born of this union : Lillian 
Elizabeth, who married Elbert Twing, of Walling- 





cl ^. 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECOfW. 



C'43 



ford ; Minnie Aliiura. who married William F.urk, 
of \\ allingford : Jonathan, who in infancy met his 
<leath from scalding ; and Samuel Walter, a bright 
promising- young man, who died l'"eh. 3, lyoi, after 
an illness of one ilay from pneumonia. ^Ir. IJoo- 
little has taken an interest, as does every good citi- 
zen, in pul)lic atifairs. but is no office seeker. An 
independent Democrat, he uses his judgment in as- 
sisting candidates to office, and sets an example of 
temperance and morality, in his neighborhood. For 
many years he has been a member of the Advent 
Church, and started out as an Evangelist in 1890, 
his sincerity and his neighborly kinchiess causing 
him to be highly esteemed and thoroughly respected 
through Wallingford. 

ISAAC EDWIX :^IAXSFIELD is one of the 
most extensive farmers and substantial citizens of 
North Haven, as well as a worthy representative of 
a familv which settled in this part of New Haven 
county as early as 1639. Richard Manstiekl was 
the ancestor of the family, which had its origin in 
England, and has now numerous descendants 
through almost all the states of the Union. He 
owned town property in New Haven, and land at 
East !-"arms some four miles from New Haven where 
he lived from 1641 until his decease, Jan. 10, 1655. 
In 1657 his widow married Alexander Field: she 
was the owner of part of the land upon which Vale 
College now stands, which was inherited by her 
second son. Aloses. 

Joseph Mansfield', son of Richard, was ]3robably 
liorn in Englantl. He took the freeman's oath, Feb. 
8, if)57, and diedi in 1692. His children were: 
Mary, Martha. Mercy, Silence, Elizabeth, Comfort. 
John, Joseph, Ebenezer and Japhet. the last three 
of whom lived at "Mansfield Farms." Of this fam- 
ily Joseph (II) was the direct ancestor of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, the others also becoming con- 
nected in marriage with the other old and promi- 
nent families. 

The children Iiorn to Joseph Mansfield (11) 
■were: Mary, Lydia. John. Elizabeth. Josei)h (111), 
Amos, Josiah, Abigail. Thomas and Ebenezer. 

The line falls on Joseph Mansfield (111), whose 
children were: Dan: Titus, who lived at Mansfield 
Farms : Capt. Joseph of the Revolutionary Army : 
and Phoebe. 

The children of Titus Mansfield were: Eben- 
ezer. Enos. Hannah. Richard, Mabel, Titus. Jesse, 
jMabel, Lemuel. Joel and ]Mary. 

Ebenezer Mansfield, son of Titus, served in the 
Revolution, and was present at the hanging of 
Major .Andre. He preserved as one of his treas- 
ures, a silver dollar eiven to him l)y Lady \\'ashing- 
ton for making a milking stool for her. His chil- 
dren were: Rhoda, Sally, Mabel, Elicnezer, Jolm 
Lewis and Mary. 

Ebenezer Mansfield, son of Ebenezer. was born 
Jan. 23, 1791, and died in 1865. He was a farmer, 
and his residence was on Stale street, in the town 



of llamden, where he erected tlie house lately occu- 
])ieil by L\ man Uassell. His wife was Laura Stiles, 
who was liorn in i7tS7. a daughter of Isaac C. Stiles. 
Their children were: Isaac, who married Maria 
Hitchcock and lived in Morris, (Jtsego Co.. N. Y. ; 
I'ldwin Lewis: Mary F.lizabeth ; Laura L)uisa: 
lumice. whti married IMward Johnson ; and Laura. 

Edwin Lewis Mansfield was liorn May 18. 1817, 
in the home on .State street, and had but limited edu- 
cational ail vantages. Leaving home when but a lad, 
he endeavored to assist his jjarents. working for 
some time for Major I-'lias Hishop. tor whom UisliDji 
Gate was named, and from his small wages always 
managed to give some to his parents. When other 
lads of his age were at healthful play, he was plow- 
ing, picking stones, clearing out brush, or doing 
chores, early enduring the pangs of poverty. One 
incident he was fond of relating, was of a time when 
a ])enny would have given him nuich happiness. A 
fishing partv was proposed, but as he had neither 
hook nor line, nor money to purchase either, he re- 
.solved to applv to Deacon I'.lakeslee, who kept a 
small store in the vicinity. Not doubting the child's 
honesty, the worthv deacon thought to teach him a 
lesson, and instead of trusting him for the penny 
hook, he said. "Earn the penny first, get the hook 
later." and although no doubt this was a great afflic- 
tion. Mr. Mansfield .said he had always remembered 
that advice and followed it through life. The per- 
severance and honesty of the boy received its re- 
ward, for he found employment in the neighbor- 
hood, and when older learned brick-making, after 
the methods of those days, working faithfully at this 
until he became the proprietor of a brick business 
of his own. For twenty summers he worked in 
ibis line, becoming a molder and receiving good 
wages. Disposing of his brick interests in North 
Haven, in connection with Franklin Shepherd, he 
engaged in the business in Berlin, where he re- 
mained for several years, in the meantime pur- 
chasing from Riah Bishop, in the fall of 1843, the 
old home and the farm now occupied by his son. 
His parents" last days were passed in his liome, and 
when he was reatlv to retire from active work in the 
brick business, he came back to the old place, which 
was then his own. and spent his last davs in farm- 
ing. He passed away Sept. 8. 1888. His wile was 
I'olly Content Bishop, a daughter of Riah and Con- 
tent ( r>lakeslee) Bishop, and she still survives. 
(See descendants of Lieut. Gov. James Bishop, of 
New Haven Colony.) The children born to her 
were: Marv .\nrelia. born in 1S44, married on Nov. 
30. 1864. to Hubbard liradley an<l ujion his death 
to William II. Dooliitle: and Isaac Edwin. 

Isaac Edwin Mansfield was born in the old home 
where his belnved mother now lives, on Thanksgiv- 
ing Dav. Nov. j8. 1850. His educational advant- 
ages were excellent, comiirising a course ihrougii 
the district school, this being supjilemented by sev- 
eral terms at North Haven .\cademy and a private 
school at Mt. Carmel, kept by Mrs. Mary Dicker- 



644 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



mail. After leaving school he engaged in teach- 
ing for two or three years in North Haven, in dis- 
tricts Xos. 7 and 8, hut later relm-ned to assist his 
father on the farm, at the latter"s decease taking en- 
tire charge of it. He has added land until now the 
estate comprises more than loo acres, and is a credit 
to Xew Haven county. 

Mr. .Mansfield was married .May j8. 1874, to 
Alary 1). Shei)herd, a native of Xorth Haven, and a 
daughter of iM-anklin and Sarah ( Mansfield) Shep- 
herd, the former of wlmni was une of the largest 
brick manufacturers of North llavui. The chil- 
dren hurn In this union were; ( I ) Irving Holmes, 
born in 1875, lives near Mansfield Bridge in North 
Haven ; he married losepliine JM. Zuber, and has two 
children. Leslie A. and Albert Irving. (2) Edith 
Laura, hnrn in 1877, married Albert P.. I'.rockett, a 
farmer in North Haven, and has two children, War- 
ren E. and Newton I'.li. ( 3 ) Edwin Shepherd, born 
in 1880, resides on the farm with his father; he mar- 
ried Lena Mae Xickloy. In politics Mr. Mansfield is 
a Democrat, and has efficiently served his town on 
the board of selectmen, for two years, being an as- 
sociate with Capt- Cyrus Cheney, and has been on 
the board of relief. The family was reared in the 
faith <jf the Episcojial Church, in which he has been 
a vestryman, and of which his wife is also a com- 
municant. Among the representative men of this 
section, Mr. Mansfield takes a ])ride in his ancestry, 
and sustains the family reputation for integrity and 
a high order of citizenshi]). 

b:i)\\'.\Kl)S DOOLITTLE SHELDON is the 
elder of the .Sheldnn I'rothcrs, ])roprietors of the 
"Sheldon House" and cottages, a popular summer 
resort at I'ine Orchard. Conn. He comes of a 
familv who have been identified with the State of 
Connecticut for the past two hundred and fifty vears. 

Isaac Sheldon, the founder of the family of 
Shehkin in Connecticut of whom we write, was born 
about the year 1629, jxrob.ahly in England. Is first 
in Windsor, Conn., 1 '^151-2. Marrit-d Mary Wood- 
ford in K)54. and became ;i first seitU-r of Northamp- 
ton, Mass., where all of his children were liorn. A 
son, Thomas, born in i(>')i, married Marv Hinsdale, 
and settled in .Suffiold ; lhe\- had eight children. .\ 
son, (Capt.) Josiah, born Cit):;, married Akiy 30, 
1721, Anne .Stanley, daughter of Caleb Slanle\-, of 
Hartford, Conn., and tlu'ir children were; Dan, 
born I"eb. 2, 1725; .\>hir, born Nov. I'l, 1728: .\nne, 
born Dec. 28, 17,^0. died I'eb. 11. 17:51 ; .Anne (2), 
born June 28, 17,12; Ruth, born Sept. 4. 17,^6. Dan 
married! Susanna Kim;-, and their cbildnn were 
Susanna, Charity, Cluirles, 1 liram. .Ml died leaving 
no heirs. [The above information was furnished 
liv Hezekiaii S. Sheldon, of \\'i'st Siiffiekl, Conn., 
anil W. L. Looniis, town clerk of .'^uffield, (.'011- 
necticut. | 

.•\slier Sheldon, born Nov. I'l. 1728. was the first 
of the name in liranford, C'onn., where he purchased 
land in 175 — ; he was by trade a hatter. (_)n .\ug. 



22. 1 75 1, he married W'ealthea Ann Steele, and their 
children were: W'ealthea, born Sept. 5, 1753, died 
Nov, 2, 1753; Asher, born Jan. 30, 1756, baptized 
b\'b. I, 1756: Wealthea, born March 17, 1758. bap- 
tized Alarch 26, 1758; Daniel, born Xov. 11, 1760, 
baptized Nov. 16, 1760; Roswell, born June 28, 1763, 
baptized July 3, 1763: Alary, born April 15, 1766, 
I^aptized April 20, 17^/1, died a.ged ninety-one years, 
ten months and twenty-four days ; AJjigail, born 
Xov. 28, 1 77 1, baptized Dec. i, 1771. Asher Shel- 
don born Xov. 16, 1728, baptized Nov. 17, 1728, 
died Feb. 19, 1794, Wealthea, his wife, died March 

'3. i//^- 

Asher Sheldon, Jr., born Jan. 30, 1756, married, 
March 25, 1778, Hannah Rogers, daughter of Sam- 
uel Rogers, a direct descendant of Thomas Rogers, 
ninth signer of the Alayflower compact. They had 
one son, Jerry, Ijorn Feb. 17, 1779. Asher Sheldon, 
Jr., served in the war of the Revolution in 1775, and 
the following is a certified record of said service: 
"Enlisted July 11, 1775, in Second Company, Capt. 
Street Hall, Seventh Regiment, Col. Charles Webb, 
Commanding Continental Troop. Discharged Dec. 
20, 1775- Their regiment was raised by order of 
the Assembly at the July Session, 1775. Recruited 
in Fairfield county, Litchfield and Xew Haven coun- 
ties. Its companies were stationed at various points 
along the Sound until September 14, wdien, on re- 
quisition from Washington, the regiment was or- 
dered to the Boston camp. Then it was assigned to 
Ceneral Sullivan's brigade, on Winter Hill, at the 
left of besieging line, and remained until the expira- 
tion term of service in December, 1775. Adopted 
as a Continental." Asher, Jr., died* April 27, 1780, 
and his widow, Hannah, afterward married Ira 
Zacheus Baldwin ; their children were — Betsey, 
Animi and Timothy. 

Jerry Sheldon, born h'eb. 17, 1779, married Caty 
Lanfair, June 29, 1801, and died Nov. 30, 1870, aged 
ninety-one years, nine months and thirteen days. 
Caty, his wife, died Feb. 29, 1864, aged eighty-six: 
she was a daughter of Capt. Oliver Lanfair (who 
died May 7, 1812, aged sixty-three years) and 
I'hc^ebe L. (Rogers), his wife (who died Dec. 14, 
1847, aged ninety-three years, seven months and 
thirteen days). Mrs. Phcebe (Rogers) Lanfair was 
;i daughter of Daniel Rogers, brother of Samuel. 
('a])t. Lanfair was in thr war of the Revolution, and 
the record' of his services is the same as that of 
.\sher Sheldon, Jr. The children of Oliver and 
I'hoebe L. were Oliver Jr.. Caty, Sophia and 
Horace. Following are the children of Jerry and 
Caty .Sheldon; ( i) Sai)hronie. born ^^arch i. t8o2, 
married James Burton of Xew Haven, and their 
children were Alarv, James, .Aaron and Catherine. 
(2) Truman, born AIa\ 17, 1803, is mentioned l)e- 
low. (3) Xicholas, born ( )ct. 15, 1804, married 
Susan -Xorvil, of Goshen, Conn., and their children 
were Alary ( died young), Newton, Lena and Eulius. 
(4) .Austin, born June 20, 1S06, married Julia .Ann 
TuttU', of liristol. Conn. (5) Wilson, born April 




a^^U^^^t^e^^-^f^^ 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



645 



■9, 1808, married a Miss .Mathews of Bristol. Conn., 
and iliuir cliildreii were Mar.t;arct. Kniclinc, Xancv 
and (Jrlando, the last naineil a member of the 1st 
Connecticut Artillery. (6| .\polIas. born May 14. 
1810. (7) lietsey. born Jan. 15, 1812, married Har- 
vey I'Vishie. Sept. 15. 1834. and her children were 
Cornelia and Henry Leonard (twins), the latter of 
whom served as a soldier fr(jm Illinois: Elizabeth; 
Caroline ; John Rogers, who served in the Civil war. 
and was killed at Murfrcesboro, Tenn. : and Sarah 
Jane. (8) Asher. born March 12. 1814. married 
Sarah lUiniiell. of Middletown. Conn. One child 
died yoinio;. His second wife was Jane Doolittle. of 
IVliddletown, Conn., and their chihlrcn were Walter 
and Georije. (9) W'ealthean. born March i,^, 1816. 
married Seth I'eck. of Hristol, Conn., May 28, 1842, 
and became the mother of hVanklin, Cecil, Cecelia, 
Alice, Fannv, Elvira. Ejiiily. Minerva. W'ilber and 
Allen. (10) Roswell 11.. born Oct. 24, 1817, mar- 
ried Lonise Hendricks, of Xew Haven, Conn., and 
their children are : Emily. Oliver and Edward. 
(11) I'hcebe So])hia. born Xov. 25. 1820, married 
^^'illiam Haldwin. of Pennsylvania, their children 
are W'ealthean, Lillie. Lulu, Elvira and Lura. 

Truman Sheldon, born May I", 1803. luarried 
i^Tay 26. 1840. Almira A]jlcy ( liorn I'eb. 2. 1805), 
at Goshen, Conn., and died June 14. 1886. She 
died May 10. 1871. (The parents of .Mniira .\pley 
Avere John .Aplcy and .Sarah Wan Dyke. Their 
children were: Almira, Clarence. Philo. .\lanson. 
John, Sarah Ann and .Xmanda). The children of 
Truman Sheldon and Almira Sheldon were Saraii 
Cornelia, born Aug. 2. 1841 (she is now the wife of 
Charles A. Younsj) ; Edwards Doolittle, born .\])ril 
18, 1843: Georn;e Lewis. Ixjrn Ajiril 7. 1843; and 
Franklin Luther, born March 13. 1847. 

Of the above, Truman Sheldon, the father of 
Edwards D., settled with his parents, in 1820. on 
the ijroperty at Pine Orchard now occupied- Ijy our 
subject and his brother. Cieorge L. During bis 
earlier life for a number of years he was a "coaster." 
and built two vessels ; but after his marriage, in 
3840. he disposed of these vessels and took up the 
hotel business, which he conducted initil succeeded 
ty his sons in 1870. 

Edwards D. Sheldon, whose name ojk'Us this 
sketch, was born in Branford, Conn.. .\|)ril 18. 1843. 
and received his education at the common schools 
and academy of the place. In August. 1862. he en- 
listed in Comjian}' B, 27111 Conn. V. L, and after 
nine months' service was honorably discharged at 
Xew Haven. Conn. He participated in ihc battles 
of Eredericksburcr. Chanccllorsville. and Gettysburg. 
On his return to the paths of peace, he assisterl his 
father in the hotel and on the farm, and in 1870 he 
and his brother George L. succeeded to the business. 
On Xov. 29. 1870. Edwards D. Sheldon married 
Eunice E.. daughter of Robert .A. and Eunice (Bail- 
ey) Gcer. of X'orfolk, Conn., who bore him one son, 
Robert Truman. The mother died Feb. 10, 1874, 
and for his second wife Mr. Sheldon, on Oct. 19, 



1S77. wedded .Marion Geer, sister to his first wife. 
In religious faith tbev are members of the Congre- 
gational Church. In politics Mr. Sheldoji has al- 
wavs been a stanch Re|Uiblican, and for ten years 
served on the liranford Town Republican commit- 
tee, while in i8<)^ he was a member of the Legis- 
lature, overcoming a previous Democratic majority 
of one hundred, a difference of two hundred votes 
between the two elections. He was one of the char- 
ter members of Mason Rogers Post, G. .\. R., of 
which lie is the ])resent conmiander. 

Roljert Truman Sheldon, son of our subject, was 
born -Xov. 14. 1871. and received his education in 
the common and high schools. He is now employed 
as ])rivatc secretary in a i>rivate trust office in Xew 
York City. 

George Lewis Sheldon, brother of Edwards D., 
was born in Branford, Conn.. .\\it\\ 7. 1845. and 
received his education in the common schools and 
academy of that place. When old enough he as- 
sisted liis father in the hotel and on the farm, and 
m 1870 he and bis brother. Edwards D.. suc- 
ceeded to the business, as already recorded. He 
married. Dec. 8. 186S. .Mice E.. ilaughter of Russell 
and Lydia (Tyler) Pond, of Branford. anl they 
have one child. Cornelia L. now Mrs. Thomas 
Parker Preble. Mrs. Sheldon is a member of the 
Congregational Church. In politics he is a Republi- 
can. The "Sheldon House." with its adjacent cot- 
tages, is a well-known resort and was established in 
1845 bv the Sheldons. It is situated on Long Isl- 
and" Sound, near Thimble Islands, and has enjoyed 
the reputation of being one of the best located of 
the Sound resorts. It is o]x-n each year from June 
I to ( )ctober i. 

HliXRY D. HOTCHKISS. the enterprising 
real-estate dealer, road bm'lder and general con- 
tractor at ^\'aterbury. was born in the town of Pros- 
pect. Xew Haven county, June 21. 1850. a siiu of 
Harry and Sarah (Hoppin) Hotchkiss. and in the 
paternal line is of ante-Revolutionary descent. 

Gideon Hotchkiss. great-great-grandfather of 
Henry D.. reared a family of nineteen children, 
many of whom took part in the war of the Revolu- 
tion. His sen Ehen was born in Prospect, and Gid- 
eon M.. son of Eben. was born in the same- town- 
T.oth were farmers. Gideon .M. Hotchkiss. grand- 
father of Henry D.. married .\rvilla Brooks, and 
they reared three children, viz. : Harry, father of 
our subject: lirooks, who lived and died, a farmer, 
in the town of Prospect: and Mary, who was mar- 
ried to George Sloper. a farmer, and died in Che- 
sjiire. Connecticut. 

Harry Hotchkiss was born in the town of Pros- 
[)ect in 1814. and became a fariuer. Mis family 
consisted of three children, viz.: Henry D,. the 
subject of this sketch: IClleii M.. who married Levi 
Elton, of Berlin, Conn., and is now living in Water- 
burv; and Elizabeth I"-, wife of John R. Plait, of 
Prospect. In politics Harry Hotchkiss was a Re- 



646 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



publican, at one time represented his district in the 
State Lenislaturc, and was also assessor for a num- 
ber (if years. Personally he was very popular. He 
died on his farm in Prospect, a faithful member of 
the Congregational Church, and his widow died in 
Waterbury. in the same faith. 

Henry 1). 1 lotchkiss was reared on the Prospect 
homestead, and was educated in the district school. 
In 1)^79 he came to Waterbury and commenced con- 
tracting for the building of roads, etc., and has prob- 
ably constructed more miles of road than any other 
man in the city. He also engaged in trucking, and 
has been in the grocery business. Real estate, how- 
ever, has afforded him his chief and most lucrative 
occu|iation, and he has made strenuous eft'orts in 
the develo])ment of North Waterbury, having sold 
most of tne proijcrty which has since been improved, 
or built upon, and having laid out all the streets. 

( )n INlarch i'>, 1S70, Mr. Hotchkiss was united 
in marriage with .Miss I'.lla V.. Kimball, daughter 
of William \l. Kimball, of l'ros])ect, and to this 
marriage has come one child, H. Ray Hotchkiss, 
who is a resident of Waterluiry. In ])olitics Mr. 
Hotchkiss is a Republican. He has represented his 
fellow citizens in the l)oard of aldermen as a mem- 
ber froni the I'irst ward, l-'raternally he is a mem- 
ber of the 1. ( ). (). 1'". He and f;imily worship at 
the Second C<ingregational Church. Socially they 
stand very high, and all are greatly esteemed for 
their many jK'rsonal merits- 

THO:^IAS J!b:RKLEY ROP.ERTSOX has, 
since 1871, been one of the most highly respected 
business citizens of Xew Haven, where he conducts 
a granite and marble business of large proportions, 

Hugh Robertson, the father of Thomas B., was 
born near ICdinburgb, Scotland, but removed to Eng- 
land, where be carried on the business of paper mak- 
ing, and married Isabella Perklev, a native of Eng- 
land. The ])arents s^ient their lives in that country. 
Thev had a family of hve children, of whoni Thomas 
P.. and Annie Isabella were the only meniliers to 
come to .America. 

Thomas 1>. Robertson was born near New Castle, 
England, Sejrf. 21, 1847. and attended school in 
Hexhaiu. He was apprenticed to the stone cutter's 
trade for five years, which he thoroughly learned, 
becoming a finishedi workman in stone, granite and 
marble. He was employed in i'-iigl.and, and in Edin- 
burgh and Clasgow, Scotland, before crossing the 
ocean to the Ignited .States. In 1S71 be located in 
New Haven, and verv soon won recognition as a 
reliable and comiietent marble and stone worker- 
(In March 9, 1876, he opened up his commodious 
vanls and began a business in marble, stone and 
granite, which has prospered ever since. ?iruch of 
the excellent work in this line to be seen in the city 
has been ]iroduced in his establishment. He has 
just added to his polishing plant, comjiressed air and 
pneumatic tools, all of the best and latest inventions, 
for marble and granite lettering :uid carving. 



On May 13, 1874, ^Ir. Robertson was married 
to Miss Maria Elizabeth Downs, of Wooflbury, 
Conn., a daughter of Alliert Zeri and Sarah Cook 
{ P'ritchard ) Downs, the former a well-known cabi- 
net-maker of \\'aterbury. Two children have been 
bom to Mr. and Mrs. Robertson: Luella Alma and 
Hattie Berkley. Luella Alma married Fred Harri- 
s(jn Lincoln, of Xew Haven, and has one child, Es- 
ther ]'>erkley Lincoln. Mr. Robertson is a Repub- 
lican, and always exercises the rights of an Amer- 
ican citizen- Fraternally he is connected with Ouin- 
nipiac Lodge, Xo. i, L O, O, F. : Olive Branch 
Lodge. Xo. 84. F. & A. M.: the A. O. U- W. ; the 
Woodmen of the World : and the Heptasophs. In 
religion the family are identified with the Congre- 
gational Church. Mr. Robertson has proven him- 
self an excellent man of business, and has won the 
esteem and confidence of the comnumity bv his up- 
right dealings, no one in his line in Xew Haven be- 
ing more highly regarded. 

BURTON A. DA\"IS, superintendent of the 
Country Club Grounds at Whitneyville, is one of the 
well and favorably known of the younger citizens 
in the town of Hamden, where he was born Sept. 
15. 1862. youngest son of Edward and Betsey M. 
(.\ugur) Davis. 

I\Ir. Davis was a child of but five years when his 
parents removed to the farm where he has since re- 
sided. He obtained a good practical education iii 
the common and private schools, and when his school 
days were over at once took up the work of a farmer, 
to which he had been for the most part reared. 
After his marriage he located on the farm with bis 
father, with whom he was associated until the hit- 
ter's death, after which he took charge of the place. 
He carried on the dairy business extensivelv. being 
one of the best known men in that line around New 
Haven. He had a most excellent herd and com- 
modious buildings, everything well kept and u]) to- 
date, as he has alwavs been known for his sys- 
tematic and thorough manner of doing anything he 
undertakes. He continued the dairy business until 
1897, when he leased the greater part of his farm 
of ei,ghty-five acres to the New Haven Country 
Club for ten years, with tlie privilege of extending 
the time to twenty years. They purchased five acres 
of the land, upon which they have erected a very 
fine club-house, wdiile the remainder of the farm 
is leased for golf grounds. This beautiful ])lace 
is located on the old Hartford turnpike, only three 
an<l a half miles from Xew Haven. Mr. Davis has 
since been superintendent of the grounds for the 
Club, and the reputation enjoyed by this organiza- 
tion as having one of the finest golf courses in 
America, certainly reflects credit upon his efficiency 
in that position. 

On l'"eb. 3, 1885. Mr. Davis was married to Miss 
Martha It. Augur, who was born Oct. 1. 1861. in 
Xew Haven, the second daughter and fourth child 
of lames .Minoit and Esther ( Morrell I Augur. The 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



647 



father, who is now deceased, was formerly a mer- 
chant of New Haven, in Chapel street. Mrs. Davis 
is of the seventh generation in descent from 
Robert .\ni;nr, whose wife was Mar\, daus^hler of 
Deputy L'lOv. .Matthew Ciilbert, her line heini;' from 
Robert .\ugur throuijh John. Abraham, llezekiah. 
James and James Minott. Mr. and Mrs. Davis had 
three children: Marjorie M. was l)orn July 26, 
i8yo; -Minott .\ugur was horn Dec. 17, iSyi : Rich- 
ard 1;. died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are 
prominent in social circles. In political sentiment 
he is a Reiiulilican, but :^ot a politician, for when . 
he has held oftice it has l)een simply from a sense 
of his ilutv as a citizen, and not lor any personal 
benefit. F"or some years he has been a member of 
the school board, of which he is now chairman. 
He and his wife are active and prominent in the 
support and work of the W'hitneyville Coni,M-esia- 
tional Church, of which he is treasurer and a trus- 
tee. For over twenty-five years she has l>een a mem- 
ber of the choir, and lor a long period one of the j 
teachers and earnest workers in the Sunday-school. ' 
Mr. and Mrs. Davis are eligible for membership in 
the Sons of the American Revolution and Daughters 
of the .American Revolution, respectively, although 
they have not joined. 

From an carlv age Mr. Davis has bwn an ad- 
mirer of a good horse, and during years of associa- 
tion with good ones he has become an excellent 
judge af horseflesh and a good amateur reinsman. 
He has owned many good horses, and he has at 
present in his stable "Martha Marshall," witli a rec- 
ord of 2:07J4. and '"Robert W.."' 2:20, as well as 
others of promise and ability in the matter of s])eed. 
Mr. Davis' interest in hor.ses springs more from a 
desire for e.\ rcise and from love for a good horse 
rather than from any idea of revenue. As a citizen 
Mr. Davis is well known in his community as one 
of the progressive type, and a man whose generos- 
ity and kind heartedness are surpassed only by his 
genuine modesty. He began his active business ca- 
reer when a comparatively young man, and early 
dis])layed the business tact wdiich has always marked 
his dealings. In all his transactions Mr. Davis" in- 
tegrity is never questioned, showing as he does a 
clear record for principle, and he is a lover of fair- 
ness in everything. Possessed of a genial disposi- 
tion, he is altogether po]nilar with associates, a val- 
uable citizen, and a credit to an honored ol<l family 
of Hamden. 

CHARLF.S HKXRV TIIORI'F is a well- 
known citizen of Xorth Havtn. and is a descendant 
of one of the old families of Xcw England, .some 
of his ancestors being among the earliest settlers of 
Xew- Haven. .Among the passengers who sailed 
from England' to America in 1638 was William 
Thorpe, wlio became a resident of Xew 'Haven, 
the name frequently ajjpearing in the Colonial rec- 
ords. 

Titus Thorpe, the great-grandfather of the sub- 



ject of this sketch, lived in what was then the 
Xorth I'arisli of Xew Haven, in a imuse which 
stood on the farm n<;iw occupied by Charles H. 
Thorpe. The house was torn down, and in I1S7.S 
upon its site was erected the. handsome residence 
now occupied l)y our subject. The old house was 
commenced pre vious to 173'', by one of the broth- 
ers of Titus^'T^io was killed at the l)aitle of Lake^ ja\^- 
George, in the I'rench and Indian war.^'IT was ^ 
completed by Titus, who was the village lilacksmith, 
hence a man of affairs, and lie took his bride there 
in 1764: it is recorded that his wedding feast lasted 
for three days. Later he left his wife, Miriam, to 
care for the farm while he became a member of the 
Revolutionarv army. While her husliand served 
his country, with her own hands she harvested tlie 
rye. \\'hen he returned home sick with dysentery, 
she mu'sed him until he recovered, but a young son 
was taken ill of the same disease and dicil. Mrs. 
Miriam Thorpe was a wjoman of noliie character, 
and lived to be 100 years old, ever full of charity 
and good will to all. 

J;)sluia Thor])e, son of Titus and Miriam, was 
born in 1777, and became a prominent farmer of 
Xorth Haven. On Xov. 25, 1801. lie married Re- 
becca Dickerman, who died Dec. y, 1805, at tlie age 
of twenty, leaving one daughter, Harriet, wlio mar- 
ried Horace Stiles. On June 2, 1806. Joshua 
Thorpe married (second) Mary .\nn Cook, and the 
children of this union were, Rebecca, James II., 
Anson Cook, Al)igail and Willis. 

James 1 lervey Thorpe was born on the old 
homestead, and had the educational advantages 
afforded by the district schools and the Xorth Ha- 
ven Academy. After finishing his schooling he took 
up the work of the farm, where he was busily em- 
ployed for a part of the time, and then learned the 
joiner's trade, but spent the later years of his life 
in peaceful vocations at his old home, the house 
where he lived and died having now given place to 
the commodious structure as before noted. In re- 
ligious matters, ^Ir. Tiiorpe was a conscientious 
man, and he was so imbued with tem])erance prin- 
ciples that during 1840-41 he became prominently 
identified with the Washingtonians. At his death, 
July 21, 1876, many mourned the decease of a good 
and worthy citizen, whose influence had ever been 
for the best interests of the conmiunitw His wife 
was Caroline E. Mint, a native of Williamslown, 
Vt.. and her death occurred, in 1888. at the home of 
her son, in Xorth Haven. The children of this 
marriage were: (i) Edwin .\., born in 1841, mar- 
ried -Mice .'^tackhouse : he was over three year- a 
soldier in the Civil war, and is now an er.iplo>-' of 
the Custom House n-i riiiladelphia. (2i >fr.,- A., 
born in 1842, resides witli our subiec* _.^ 1 Hem-y 
C. is deceased. (4) Ciiarks H. was born Dec. o. 
1845. (5) Ellen, horn in 1847. died in \?C^. (')) 
Caroline, born in 1850. resides in Xorth Haven. (7) 
Jane, born in 1854. resides in W'estnn, Massa- 
chusetts. 



648 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



The etiucatiniial ailvaniaj^-es enjoyed by Charles 
H. Thorjie were superior to those of many others 
of his locaHty. After he had completed the course 
at the district schonls, he enjoyed one term's in- 
struction under Miss iuiniec Linslcy, and another 
under Air. J'iossiter, both of these private schools 
beino- coiuhictt'd in North llaven. When he had 
finished his education, he rt'turned to the care of 
the farm, where his services were needed, and has 
remained there continuously e\-er since, carrying 
on general farming and stock raising, and makes a 
specialty of fattening calves, his veal being consid- 
ered the nii>si desirable of the local market. Mr. 
Thorpe has made a success of his enterprises, and 
has one of the largest and best cultivated farms in 
this vicinitx'. 

On March ij, 1S79, .Mr. Thorpe married Han- 
nah Lewis, a nati\e of Radnor, Pa., a daughter of 
Lewis and K.achel (.\lilner) Lewis, the father a 
farmer of that Incalily. ( )ne child, Alfred Lewis, 
born .Sept. 19, i,S,S_5, blessed this union. The politi- 
cal oijinions i>\ .Mr. Thori)e attach him to the Re- 
publican party, and he has bien called upon to 
serve as constable .and to hold many minor offices, 
and also sncceedt'd to the position of se.xton of 
North Jl.aven ci-metery. his father having long held 
that position. .Sncially he is connected with North 
Haven ( irange, of which be has been chaplain, and 
for five years has efficiently filled the office of sec- 
retary, lioih .Mr. Thorpe and his wife are valued 
members (jf_ tlu- t'ongregalional Church, of which 
be is one i.t ihr trustees. The community esteems 
both .Mr. ;ind .Mrs. Th(jrpe highly, her reputation 
being established as a libend -^mi kind-hearted mem- 
ber of society, wliilr the good citizenship of her hus- 
band is never (|uesli(jned. .An intelligent and public- 
spirited man, .Mr. Thorpe lives U]) to the demands 
of the day, .and lakes a deep interest in the progress 
of the insiiiniions which wHI build up North Haven, 
his purse ami inlhience being ever readv to assist 
all worthy tjbjects. 

IMKl A. .S|'l''..\'t'h:R. an e.\-soldicr of the Civil 
war and the well kn(jwn head of the grocery firm of 
The Spencer cK; I'ierjjont Co., \\ateri)urv, v,-as born 
in Canton, Hartford Co., Conn., .May 3, '1.S42, son of 
Inn-i L. Spencer, and grandson of .\mos Sjiencer, all 
natives of the .same place. C'aleb Siiencer, father of 
Amos, lived in Hartford, Conn., and was a farmer 
early in life. He afterward settled in Canton, where 
he died. 

Amos .S])i'ncer w;is reared to manhood in Can- 
ton, Conn, lie man-ied Candice Case, a native of 
Cr.anby, Conn., and then settled on a farm, devoting 
his life to a.gricidtural pursuits. To his marriage 
were born three childreii: Seth, who located ni 
I\(;otstown, ()hi(j, and engaged in farnnng; Imri L., 
mentioned below; and Dayton, wluj died while in 
the tirmy during the Seminole war. 

Imri L. Spencer grew to manhood in Connect- 
icut. i\fter his marriage he followed: farmiu"- and 



stock droving in Canton for many years, and then 
moved to Bloomfield, Conn., wdiere for fourteen 
years he engaged in mercantile business. In 1865 
he located in W'aterbury. and passed the remainder 
of his active life as a merchant there. He married 
Susan Barber, who was born in Canton, a dau,ghter 
of Jonathan l!arl)er, a farmer of the same town. 
1 hey rearefl a family of six children, of whom we 
have the following record: Amos L., who was a 
farmer, and died in Manchester, Conn. :, Susan, who 
married iM-anklin Aloses, and lived' in New York 
State, where she died at the age of twenty-four 
years ; Hannah, who never married ; Jane, who died 
at the age of three years ; Imri A. ; and Jonathan, 
who died when three years old. Imri L. Spencer 
was a Republican in politics. Both he and his wife 
died in the faith of the Congregational Church. 

hnri .A. Spencer pas.sed the first twelve years of 
his life on the farm in Canton, Conn., and attended 
the school in, the district. He clerked for his father 
in a general store in Bloomfield, Conn., until the 
call for volunteers to assist in crushing cut the Re- 
bellion. In Julv, 1862, be enlisted in Co. V. 14th 
Conn. \'. 1. This regiment was assigned to the 
Army (if the F'otomac, and served until mustered 
out at Hartford in June, 1865. Mr. Spencer's ser- 
vice was onerous andi dangerous, but he endured 
the privations of a soldier's life with courage and 
fortitude. He was wounded in 1862; and in August, 
1S64, was taken prisoner at Reams Station, and 
confined about six months. The war over, Mr. 
Spencer returneddiome, and in October, 1865, joined 
his father in luisiness in Waterburv, this ]5artnership 
lasting until the death of the latter. (")ur subject 
carried on the business on his own account for some 
time, and then formed a partnership with R. D. 
Pierpont, under the firm name of Spencer & Pier- 
pont. ^^''ithin the past four years a joint stock corn- 
pan v was formed under the name of The S])encer 
& Pierpont Co., and this company now does the 
largest business in groceries, provisions, feed, grain 
and flour in W'aterbury. 

In December, 1865, Imri .V. Spencer married 
Miss Christiana Whiton. of Bloomfield. Conn., a 
daughter of Augustus Whiton. who was born in 
Westford, Conn. This uniiin has been bles.sed with 
one child. Alice, now Mrs. Davis Rich, of Water- 
bury. In politics Mr. Spencer is a Republican, 
and although no office seeker, has filled, as a matter 
of public duty, several local offices. Socially he is 
a member of the I. O. O. I'., the Royal Arcanum 
and the G. A. R. His social standing is very high, 
and as a business man he bears a name second to 
none in the countv of New llaven. The family at- 
tend the Alethodist Episcopal Church, of W'atcr- 
liury. 

* 

EVAN E. HUGHES, cabinetmaker, a respected 
resident of Tremont street, Meriden, where his at- 
tractive and comfortable home is located, was born 
in I'.angor, Cxmarvonshire, Wales, Alarch 10, 1847. 





YTT^^y 






(^^^<^C^/- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



649 



Evan Hughes, father of Evan E.. was a naiivc 
of the same place, where he engaged in farming. 
He married Mary Williams, born in Anglesea, 
Wales, and they had these chiklren born to them : 
Mary; William, of Winnebago, Wis.; Robert, who 
died at Brattleboro, \'t. ; John ; Catherine, wlio mar- 
ried Hugh Pritchard, resides at h'airhaven, \ t. ; 
Jane, who married ilenjamin Williams, lives at 
I'airhaven; Evan E., of this sketch; (Irace, who 
married Thomas Hogan, of Salem, X. Y. ; Joseph, 
of Eairhaven, \'t. ; Llewellyn, of Hydeville, \"t.; 
Anne, who married John Roberts, of Eairluueii; 
Hugh !■"., who lives at Saratoga, X. V. ; and .Maggie, 
who married Edward Green. In 1854 -Mr. Hughes 
with his wife and ei.ght children started for .Amer- 
ica, on a sailing vessel bearing the name of ".Moses 
Wheeler," reaching Boston, Mass., in safety. Mr. 
Hughes and his family left the vessel at that city, 
and it started on its way to Xew York City, but 
was never heard of afterward. The Hughes fam- 
ily removed to \'ermont and located at Castlelon, 
being pioneers of their countrymen in that locality. 
^\'ilham Hughes, the brother of Evan Hughes, and 
the uncle of E\-an E., was the discoverer of the 
slate quarries both in X'ermont and Maine, these 
quarries being of great value to the sections in which 
they are located. Evan Hughes worked in the slate 
qtiarries in the neighborhood of Castleton until his 
death, in 1868, and his retiiains repose iu ilu- ceme- 
tery in Eairhaven. Indiis native country .Mr. Hughes 
had been a memher of the Estal)lished Church, and 
in Vermont both he and his wife became worthy 
members of the Episcopal Church. In ]w)litics he 
was a Republican. Mrs. Hughes died in X'ermont 
also, where their memory is still cherished as kind 
neighbors and' highly esteemed residents. 

Evan E. Hughes has passed almost the whole of 
his life in the Cnited States, as he was but si.x years 
old when the long voyage was made from Wales. 
His educational advantages were limited to the dis- 
trict school in his Vermont home, and when he was 
but thirteen years old his services were re(|uired to 
assist in the support of the family. He soon went 
to work en a farm, first in Castleton. later at llrat- 
tleboro, but his inclinations lay in another direction, 
and as soon as he could accomplisli it he started in 
to learn the trade of cabinetmaker, with .'^. & 11. S. 
Smith, at Brattleboro. H'C remained there until 
1877, coming to Alcridcn at that time to accept the 
position of foreman of the milling dejiartment of 
the Wilco.K & White Organ Co., where his ability 
made him a valued employe, and where he remained 
until 1898, at which time the comjiany was re-or- 
ganized, and Mr. Hughes severed his long connec- 
tion with it. Partially with a view of seeing the 
country, and also with the idea of trying the gold 
fields for himself, Mr. Hughes went to Alaska, in 
1898. but not meeting with satisfactory success, he 
remained only eight months. Since jiis return to 
Meriden, he has continued to follow his trade of 
cabinetmaker, a trade in whicli he has few superiors. 



Mr. Hughes was married in Hampton, X. Y., 
to IClizabeth Jones, born in Xorth Wales, daughter 
of iCdward |oncs. Xo children have lieen liorn to 
Mr. and .Mrs. Hughes. In politics Mr. Hughes is 
identitied with the Republican party, but he has 
never sought any office, being a man who is com- 
plete! v interested in' his business and his home. 
He owns a beautiful iiome on Tremont street. Meri- 
den, built from his own plans, and there he and his 
devoted wife enjoy every comfort of life. In man- 
ner .Mr. Hughes displays the kind feeling of friend- 
ship which he feels for every one, for his religious 
princijjles are liased upon the Golden Rule. Both 
lie and wife are highly esteemed in Meriden. Ill 
1890 thev visited his birthplace, and all ixiints of 
interest in England and Wales. Eor a number of 
years Mr. Hughes has been connected with the 
order of Odd Eellows. and has taken a deep interest 
in this organization. 

RlLl'A' ']'. S.MITH, of Xew Haven. Conn.. is_ 
a member of the well-known and reliable firm of 
( Smith Bros., oyster dealers and planters, of Oyster 
Point, and he is also a leading and intluential citi- 
zen of his city. 

Mr. Smith' conies of a very old Xew England 
family, its founder in Connecticut having been 
George Smith, who was one of the first settlers 
who assisted in the establishment of the city of Xew 
Haven, as early as 1O38. For many years the fam- 
ily engagetl in farming and in sailing the sea, but 
about 1850, Willis Smkh and his brother. Jeremiaii 
Smith, became pioneer oi)crators in the oyster farm- 
ing business, in the waters of Long Island sound, 
on the shores of Connecticut, at Xew Haven. 

Rilev T. Smith, of Xew Haven, a son of Willis 
Smith, was born in West Haven, Dec. 10, 1844, and 
was si.K years of age when his parents settled in 
Xew Haven, on Oyster Point. His mother. Sarah 
L. (Hinman) Smith, a native of Middlehury, still 
survives, but his father died in Xew Haven, at the 
age of seventy years. Mr. Smith received an ex- 
cellent education, attending the West Haven pub- 
lic school, later a school in Xew Haven, going 
thtn to the Washington .school on Cedar street, com- 
pleting his studies in a boarding school iu West 
Haven. Thus thoroughly equipped, .Mr. Smith re- 
turned home and immediately liccame interested 
with his father in the oyster farming business, and 
later, with his two brothers, formed the" strong and 
reliable firm known to the trade and the business 
world as Smith Bros. Capable and energetic. Mr. 
Smith has made a great success of this Intsiness, 
and in many wavs is a leader. His adoption of new 
methods and machinery has resulted in an increase 
in quantity and also in tlie (piality of his oulinit. 
A taste for the bivalves raised under the favorable 
conditions at Oyster Point has been formed over the 
country, and many vessels are kejit bus\ by this linn 
in order to supply the demand. 

In 1861 Mr. Smith was married to Miss Ellen 



650 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



A. Barnes, of New Haven, a daughter of William 
S. liarnes, a most estimable lady, who passed out 
of life Feb. 5, 1895. She had been the devoted 
motlier of six children, four of whom survive: 
Agnes AL, who married iM-ank Mberth. of New 
IJaven; Herbert T. ; IHorence I'..: and Wilbur 1. 
In his political sympathy Mr. Smith has long been 
an active J\epnblican, served efficiently as council- 
man in the Fourth ward, and is a member of the 
Young Men's Reiniblican Club. i''or a number of 
years Air. Smith has licen a member of the How- 
ard Avenue Al. E. Church, t<.) which he is a liberal 
contributor. 

CLARE.XCE G. AMES, the capable and efficient 
su|)erintendent of the factory of L. Candee & Co., 
manufacturers of rubber boots and shoes, was born 
in New Haven, C)ct. J9, 1S32, a son of William B. 
Ames, who was burn in Millbnrou.gh. Mass., in 1829. 

I'lezer .\mes. tlie grandfather of Clarence Ci., 
was born in llridgewater, Mass., where he sp'ent the 
earlier part of his life, later moving to New Haven, 
where he was engaged in the pork packing business, 
and where he died at the age of sixty. Lucy Good- 
enough, who became his wife, was born in Roxbury, 
Mass., and was the mother of a large family. Will- 
iam IS. Ames came to New Haven while still a boy, 
and after attending the Lovell School learned the 
trade of ruliber cutting. During the Civil war he 
served as a member of Company D, 15th Conn. 
V. ]., and was at the front three years. Farticipating 
in many heavy battles, he w-as captured and kept for 
a time in Libby jirison. After the war he returned 
to New Haven, where he resumed his trade as a 
rubber cutter, and there he died at the age of forty- 
seven. Fllcn r>. l'"rench. his wife, w'as born in Sey- 
mour, Conn., and was a daughter of William French 
and granddaughter of Walter French, the inventor 
of augers, who manuf elm-cd tlteni al a very early 
day in Seymour. 

Clarence (i. Ames has sjient his tntirc life in 
New Haven. His education was secured in the ])ub- 
lic schools, and at the age of fifteen he entered the 
Rubber Comjiany's factory, mastering all its 
branches by degrees, until every process iis thor- 
oughly familiar to him. l"or a time he was tinie- 
keejier : then foreman of the shoe department: next 
assistant superintendent; and in 1896 he was made 
superintendent of the entire plant, with 1,600 people 
under his (hrection. The ()ut])ut nf the plant is 
25,000 ])airs of boots and shoes daily. When .Mr. 
Ames connected himself with the factory- it was 
thought a big day's work to ]Hit out 2,000 pairs. 
'J"he entire force at the factory then consisted of 
about 400 hands. There are but ten nun now on the 
rolls of the comi)any who wvw there in 18(18, when 
Mr. ,\nies entered upon his eonneelion with the 
company. 

Mr. .Ames was married in 1884 to .Sar;di l-"llen 
Davis, who was l)orn in Jamestown, Tenn.. a daugh- 
ter of lulward Davis, of New ^'ork. Three children 
have been Iiorn tei them, Clara I'.llen. Walter .Moore 



and William Benton. Air. Ames is a Republican, 
and was elected a fire commissioner in 1897, and 
when the law was changed he was appointed by the 
mayor. He is a prominent member of the inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging also to the 
Encampment ; and he is connected with the Young 
Alen's Republican Club. In his religious connection 
he is a member and treasurer of the Grand Avenue 
Baptist Church. 

FREDERICK HENRY" BROCKETT. The 

Brockett family in England dates back to the time 
of the Norman concjuest, and the head of the house 
in the time of Henry IIFwas knighted by that mon- 
arch. But a more honorable record still is that of 
John Brockett, supposed to be the eldest son of Sir 
John, of Hertfordshire, England, who, having dis- 
agreed with his father on religious matters, when 
about twenty-eight years of age, in the time of 
Charles I, relinquished the bright prospects which 
were his, and cast his lot wdth the Puritans, in 1638 
coming with Rev. John Davenport to New "England. 
He settled in New Haven, and his cognomen in the 
records was John, the planter. He had a good edu- 
cation, and was by profession a surveyor, laying 
out the original nine squares of New Haven : he 
was often employed in his profession both by the 
court and by the people. His house lot was near 
the corner of Chapel and York streets. In 1667 
he removed to Wallingford, wdiere he became one 
of its most prominent settlers, tilling many impor- 
tant offices in the village, his death occurring there 
Alarch 12, 1689. John Brockett's children w-ere : 
John, Befruitful and Benjamin (twins). Alary, Si- 
lence, Abigail, Samuel and Jabez. Of these, 

John Brockett was the first resident physician 
of New Haven. Educated at O.xford, England, he 
had the advantages of the best European schools, 
and was a remarkable man. Dr.. John Brockett 
had cbiklrcn : John, Alary, Alary (2), John (2), 
Elizabeth, Hannah, Aloses, Abigail, John (3), Sam- 
uel and Benjamin. 

Aloses Brockett, born April 23, 1679, died in 
1764. He married Jan. 8, 1706, Ann Grannis. and 
had children: Ann, .Silence, Lydia, Aloses, Eliza- 
beth, Alary, Abigail, John, Aliel, Richard, Stephen, 
Sarah and Keziah. 

John Brockett. son of Aloses, born Dec. 31. 1722, 
married Thankful Frost, Dec. 14, 1745. and their 
children were: Thankful. Alary, Isaiah, John and 
Elizabeth. 

Isaiah Brockett, son of John, was a Revolution- 
ary soldier, and was with \\'ashington in the battle 
of Long Island and the retreat to New York, w'here 
he was taken sick. A neighbor from North Haven 
went down and brought him home on horseback, 
this good friend being obliged to walk all the w'ay 
home, leading the horse. Air. Brockett did not re- 
turn to the army, but furnished a substitute, b-li 1. 
r>rockett, of Holyoke, Alass., one of his great-.grand- 
children, remembers hearing him tell of this. On 



Aug. 



'//.-)• 



Isaiah Brockett married Sarah 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



651 



Cooper, and tliev had three chil.h-en : Eli. Iwni Sept. 
15. U7(^; Thomas, born April 12. 1778: Betlniel. 
June 22. 1780. He died Feb. 13. 1840, aged ciiihlv- 
six years. 

Eli Brockett, sreat-ijrandfather of the subject 
of this sketch, married Lucy Atwater. April 15. 
1801, and to them were born: Bclhuel. Oct. 11. 
1802: William. June 22. 1S05: Lucy Adeline, May 
23, 1810; and George. June 14, 1816. Tlie father 
of these died Oct. 2(1. 1823, aged forty-seven. 

William Brockell was an extensive farmer, living 
ing in Xorth Haven, near Montowese. On Mav 27, 
1829, he married Louisa Eaton, a descendant of 
Gov. Eaton, of the Xew Haven Colony. She ilied 
Sept. 29, 1884, he on Oct. 10. 1891. Their family 
consisted of four children: Eli Irwin, tlie father 
of Frederick H. : Robert, who married Amanda Con- 
ner, of Ada, Ohio, and was a mine operator in Colo- 
rado for some years, now in Chicago; William, who 
married Carrie Clark, was a farmer, and is now 
engaged in the lumber business in Fair Haven ; 
and Ida. now deceased, who married Edgar Good- 
year, and later George W. Smith. 

Eli Irwin lirockett was horn April 6, 1834, in 
the Xorth Hill District of Xorth Haven, and re- 
ceived a district-school education. I le learned the 
trade of carpenter, at which he worked until his 
enlistment in Company K, 15th Conn. V. I., for 
service in the Civil war. Entering the regiment as 
a private, he was promoted to sergeant, and con- 
tinvted to serve through the entire struggle, being 
mustered out in 1865. Returning to Xorth Haven, 
he a.s;ain began work at his trade, at which he re- 
mained some time, afterward taking u]) the agency 
for New England for the Wrought Iron Bridge 
Co., of Canton, Ohio. In 1883 he removed to Hol- 
yoke, ]\Iass., where he now resides. On Nov. 25, 
1856, '\\r. Brockett married Mary Todd, of Xorth 
Haven, who was horn Xov. 25, i83r), a daughter 
of Orrin and Aurelia (Clinton) Todd. Her death 
took place Nov. 28. 188''), and on July 10, i8jo, 
Mr. Brockett married Eliza Whitaker. 

Frederick Henry Brockett, the only child of his 
parents, w-as born April 6, 1858, in Xorth Haven. 
He enjoyed a district-school training, was given in- 
struction at a private school ke];)t by Mrs. Dr. Lord 
and daughter, and attended Cargill's Business Col- 
lege, New Haven. With his father he worked at the 
carpenter's trade and at bridge-building, and assisted 
in placing bridges in all parts of Xew England. 
He also worked in Carr & Hobson's agricultural im- 
plement shops, in Clintonville. removing with them, 
in 1882, to Bergen Point, X. J., remaining there one 
year. Returning to X'orth Haven. Mr. Brockett. 
in 1887, enga.ged with G. II. Todd and II. L. Thorpe 
in the manufacture of bricks. The firm was known 
as Brockett & Todd, and continued in business five 
years. Then Mr. Brockett bought out his partners, 
and for several years was engaged in the business 
for himself. In 1896 he leased tlie Quinnipiac Brick 
Co.'s plant, and has continued to operate it since, 



making annually 4.000.000 brick, of a superior 
quality. 

On June 1, 1882, Mr. Brockett was married to 
Charlotte T. BislKi]), liorn March 1 1. 1859, a daugh- 
ter of Erus B. and Charlotte (Thorpe) Bishop. To 
this union have come: Myron, l)orn July 2~. 188-3, 
a student of the l'.t)ardman Manual Training School, 
class of 1902, in Xew Haven; Jose]>li. l)orn in 1883, 
who died in 1886; Horace, born April 25. 1887: and 
Xelson, born Xov. 28, 1895. In politics Mr. Brock- 
ett is a IVohibitionist, being conscientiously ojiposed 
to the liquor traffic; he is no office-seeker. Both 
he and his wife are valued members of the Congre- 
gational Church, in which he has been a deacon 
since 1896. Socially he is connected with Xorth 
Haven Lodge, Xo. 61, Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, and has licen its receiver each vear since 
it was organized: he is also a member of the X irth 
Haven Grange. Mr. Brockett has lived a busy life 
and reaps the just reward, being one of the most 
substantial citizens of Xorth Haven, where he en- 
joys the esteem of all. 

D.W'IICL II. BACOX, one of the representative 
citizens of Derby, is a iiative of Connecticut, born in 
Woodbury, Litchfield comity, June 1. 1855, and be- 
longs to quite a prominent and distinguished fam- 
ily. His great-grandfather. Jabez P>acon. was a 
\ery shrewd, enterprising and successful man. being 
well known throughout lower Xew F.ngland and 
eastern Xew "^'ork. He became very wealthy, for 
that day and generation, before he died, having ac- 
cumulated immense holdings in real estate as well 
as ready monev. 

Daniel Bacon, grandfather of our subject, spent 
his entire life as a farmer in Woodbury, t7onn. He 
married Rebecca Thomjison, a native of the same 
place, and to them were born eight children : L\(lia, 
who married Charles C. Thompson ; Rebecca and 
Fannie, who both died immarried : Maria, who mar- 
ried Gen. C"Iiauncey Crafts; Julia, who married John 
Marvin ; John, a cripple, who luarried .\ugusta 
Walker, and spent his life in Woodburv ; William 
T., father of our subject ; and Daniel, who married 
Jane Green, of Woodliury, and lived in Xew Haven. 

A\"illiam T. I'acon was also born in Woodbury, 
and was educated at ^'ale, being a member of the 
celebrated class of 1837, his room-mate part of the 
time while he was at college being the late William 
M. Evarts, of Xew York. After graduating from 
the academic department he attended the divinitv 
school, from where he graduated in 1840. While 
in X'ew Haven he married Miss Elizabeth Ann 
Knight, daughter of Dr. Jonathan Knight, jirofessor 
of surgery at Yale College, and one of the most 
celebrated surgeons of his day. Both had relatives 
who aided the Colonies in their struggle for inde- 
pendence as soldiers of the Revolutionary war. 
After his marriage ^\■illiam T. Bacon accepted the 
pastorate of the Congregational Church in Tnnn- 
bull. Conn., hut was soon forced to give it up on 



652 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



account of ill health. He then moved to Woodbury, 
Conn., where he remained until 1866, when he came 
to Derby, where he died in iScSo, his wife in 1887. 
There were nine children born to this couple : Jon- 
athan K. was a physician of New .Milford, where 
he died in i8y8; William T. was a veteran of the 
Civil war, and afterward engaged in the printing 
and publishing business in Derby, Conn., being edi- 
tor of the Derby Transcript at the time of his death, 
which occurred'in Derby June I, 1884: Frederick A. 
is a mechanic, now living at Pittsburg, I'a. ; Walter 
C. is in the insurance business in Kansas City, and 
is one of the most prominent men of that place; 
Daniel H. is our subject: James F. died young; 
Rebecca T. is unmarried ; Annie F. is the widow of 
the late Hanford L. Shaw, of .Middletown, X. Y. ; 
and Bessie died in infancy. 

Daniel H. Bacon passed the first eleven years of 
his life in Woodbury, and then accompanied his 
parents on their removal to Derby, where he attended 
the common schools, but he comi)leted his education 
at Great Juirrington, Mass. In J8O9 he commenced 
work in his father's printing establishiuent in Derby, 
and contiiuied with him until he finally assumed 
charge and ownership of the business, which in- 
cluded the publishing and editing of the Derby 
Transcript. In 1889 he started the Lhiily Transcript, 
but the strain proving too much, he sold the paper 
the following year and has since successfully en- 
gaged in the general priming and luiblishing busi- 
ness in Shellon's IJlock, Derby. 

On Oct. 15, 1879, Mr. Bacon was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Mary K. Stillnian, a daughter of 
Dr. Rosswell Stillman, of North Haven, and to 
them have been born three childreti. namely: Ross- 
well, who is now with the .'Vrmour Packing Co., 
at Kansas City, Mo. ; William T., who is being pre- 
pared for Yale College at Phillips Academy, Ando- 
ver, Mass.; and Marjorie, aged nine years. Mr. 
Bacon is a member of the Derby-Shelton Board of 
Trade, and fraternally is affiliated with King Hiram 
Lodge, F. & A. M. i'olitically he is a Republican, 
ever ready to give his sup])ort to any enterprise for 
the i)ublic good. In his religious connection lie be- 
longs to the Second CongregaticMial Church. 

GFORCF H()R.\Ci<: WILCO.X. vice-invsident 
of the International Silver Co.. of Mcriden. is a 
native of that city, born Aug. 22, 1856. llis father, 
Horace C. W'ilcox, wa.s founder nf the Meriden 
Britannia Co., as elsewdiere related. The son re- 
ceived his primary education in ^Vashington, Conn., 
and after courses in a private pre])aratorv school at 
Ithaca, N. Y., and the Hopkins Cranimar School 
at New TTaven, he entered Yale J^cientific Sch<:)ol, 
from which he was graduated in 1875. He at once 
entered the office of the Meriden I'.ritannia Co.. as 
errand boy, and gradually won promotion until he 
assumed its presidency in 1S93. I'ive years later, 
by consolidation of this and other silvcr-i)roducing 
concerns, the Inlernalional Silver Co. was formed, 



and Mr. Wilcox became its vice-president, a position 
which he fills with characteristic ability. Partaking 
of the keen business ability naturally to be e.xpected 
from his father's son, he occupies a responsible and 
pleasant position among his contemporaries and 
business associates. 

In manner Mr. Wilcox is genial and aiifable, 
and the humblest among his employes is sure of 
considerate and kind treatment from him. He has 
long been identified with the First Congregational 
Church of Meriden, and is a Mason of Knight 
Templar degree, affiliating with Meridian Lodge, 
No. yj; Keystone Chapter, No. 27; and St. Elmo 
Commandery, No. 9, all of Meriden. In political 
principle he is a Republican with independent ten- 
dencies, and has never accepted any political prefer- 
ment. 

In 1884 Mr. Wilco.x was married to Miss Net- 
tie B. Curtis, of New Britain. Conn., daughter of 
Lucius W. and Olive (Hotchkiss) Curtis, the for- 
mer a native of Bristol, Conn., and the latter of 
iMeriden. The family of ]\Ir. and ^Irs. \Mlcox in- 
cludes three sons, namely: Harold C, Roy C. and 
Horace Wilcox. 

WILLIAM TAYLOR, the senior partner in the 
firm of Taylor & Taylor, plumbers, steam and gas 
fitters, and one of Meriden's busy and successful 
men, was born in Sheffield, England, Jan. 21, 1851. 
Thomas Taylor, liis father, was a native of the 
same place, where he grew to manhood, and worked 
in the cutlery business, for which that city is famous. 
He was married in England, to Mary A. Wright, 
but in 1852 Mr. Taylor came alone to America, 
making the trip on a sailing vessel, from Liverpool 
to New York. His destination was Naugatuck, 
Conn., where he had learned there were works en- 
gaged in his line, and there very soon he secured 
employment as a knife maker at the factory of the 
Lnion Knife Co.. and there he spent the greater 
I^art of his succeeding life. \\'hen he gave up fac- 
tory work he bought a small farm in the town of 
Prosi)ect, and there he died, an upright, industrious 
and honest man. His affiliation in ])olitics was with 
the Republican party, and through life he had been 
a consistent member of the Methodist Church. Six ■ 
months after Mr. Tavlor came to .America, and had 
established himself permaneiTtly, his wife, with their 
three children, embarked at Liverpool, and after a 
long and stormy passage, during which Mrs. Tay- 
lor gave birth to a child and died, and was buried 
at sea with her infant, the three bereaved children 
reached their father, at Naugatuck. These children 
were: Sarah, who married Charles E. Longden ; 
John W., now a traveling salesman for a Boston 
"firm: and William, of this sketch. The father later 
married Mary ^Vnn Hall, a native of Birmingham, 

1 Conn., to which union one child was born, I'reder- 
ick H., who resides in the \\'est. 

Wilham Taylor was only two years old when he 

1 left his native land, with his mother, brother and 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



>35 



sister, to join his father. His scliooUng- was re- 
ceived in the common schools of \aut;atuck, and, 
being apt, he entered high school, ahhough by tlic 
time he was twelve years old he started out to care 
for himself. His first employment was with the 
Union Knife Co., with his father, and there he re- 
mainctl until he had attained his majorit\-. hi 1870 
he left home and went to W'allingford. where he 
engaged with the Miller Bros., in the cutlery busi- 
ness, and remained in their employ seventeen years, 
during which time he was foreman in the finishing 
department, enjoying the confidence of his emjilov- 
ers and the respect of those under his direction. 
In 18S7 -Mr. Taylor formed a ]jartnership witii 
James T. Kay, under the firm title of Kay & Taylor, 
gas fitters and plumbers, which continued for two 
years, and then a new combination was formed, 
with O'Coniiell & Meiklen ; two years later he 
bought out these partners, and in 1892 the present 
strong firm was formed, the associating i)artner be- 
ing Charles Taylor, and the firm title, Taylor & 
Taylor, has for nine }ears stood as a synon_\in for 
excellent work and honest dealing. 

Mr. William Taylor is one of the leading business 
men of .Meriden. aiul is fraternally connected with 
the Masonic order, dating back twenty-five years, 
the Royal Arcanum, and the Xew England Order 
of Protection. In ix)litics .Mr. Taylor has always 
been an active Republican. He has represented 
the Third ward in the city council, and has been 
alderman for two terms, serving from that w-ard at 
the j)resent date. In January, 1901, he was elected 
president pro tern, of the council, which office he 
fills with dignity and credit. 

In 1876 Mr. Taylor was married in ^Meriden to 
Inez J. Gladwin, a daughter of Timothy O. and 
Lois (Case) Gladwin, a lady of beautiful character 
and one of education and culture. The children of 
this marriage number four : Ernest, a .graduate of 
the Meriden high school, in business with his fa- 
ther; -Arthur W., a graduate of the Meriden high 
school, is engaged with the .Aeolian Co.. of Meri- 
den : Lewis I. and Louisa L. are students. Tlie 
family connection is with the Congregational 
Church, where Mr. Taylor is generous in its suj)- 
port, and where Airs. Taylor is a valued teaciier in 
the Sunday-school. ITer acquaintance in Meriden 
is large, as for several years she was a favorite 
teacher in the public schools. The esteem in which 
Mr. Taylor is held in Meriden is very .genuine, and 
he is one of the substantial citizens of the city. 

EDWARD S. PRITCH.VRl), an eiicr.geiic and 
successful business man of Waterbury. belongs to 
one of the oldest and most highly respected fam- 
ilies of the Xau.gatuck \'allcy. The first to locate 
in A\'aterbury was Roger Pritchard, who was born 
in Milford, Conn., a son of Benjamin Pritchard, and 
grandson of Roger Pritchard. who was the progeni- 
tor of the family in America and a resident of Mil- 
ford. The grandson of this worthy pioneer removed 
with his famih' to \\'aterburv at an earlv dav, and 



here spent the reinaiiuler of his life, dying May 
18, 17O0. He was marrieil in his native town .\larcli 
8, 1715', to Hannah Northrop, daughter of \\ illiam 
Northrop. By that union were born rive children, 
whose names and dates of birth were as follows: 
Roger, Dt:i:. 25, 171O; Hannah, Uct. 2, 1718; Mary, 
-March 4, 17_'j: -Ann, I-'eb. 14, 1724; and Ephraim, 
17JO. The mother of these children died Nov. 28, 
1720, and by his second wife, Sarah, Roger Pritch- 
ard had si.x children: Phebe, born April 16, 1731 ; 
-Abigail, .March 15, 1733; Silx;lla, Jan. 9, 1736; 
-Abraham, Uct. 12, 1737; -Amos, -Aug. 2/, 1739; and 
Eliliu, Oct. 27, 1 74 1. The two youngest were born 
in \\ aterbury, the others in Milford. 

-Amos Pritchard, son of Roger, engaged in farm- 
ing all his life on what is now known as Bucks 
Hill. He was married -May 26, 17O8, by Rev. Alark 
Leavenworth, to Lydia Blakeslee, by whom he had 
two children: Lydia (wife of Eleazer Hallj, born 
-April 12, 1769; and Amos, born Oct. 22, 1770. The 
wife and mother died Sept. 21, 1771, and on -Aug. 
20, 1777, -Amos Pritchard wedded Airs. Alary 
-Ailams, widow of Samuel -Adams. By that union 
there were seven children: Roger, born Alay 17, 
1778, died -Aug. 13, 1779; Sabra, born Jan. 0, 1780, 
married Isaac Allen; Roger, born Alarch 7, 1782; 
Ora, born Oct. 26, 1783, married Dyer Hotchkiss ; 
Elias, born Jan. 28, 1786, was the grandfather of 
our subject; Aaron, born Dec. i. 1788, died March 
31, 1795; and Ruth, bom Oct. 7, 1791, died un- 
married. 

El'ias Pritchard, our subject's grandfather, spent 
his entire Hfe on Bucks Hill, and was buried in the 
cemetery there. He was a stone mason by occui>a- 
tion, and a Jeft'ersonian Democrat in politics. He 
married Hannah, daughter of David and Submit 
(Hotchkiss) Payne, and granddaughter of Capt. 
Gideon Hotchkiss. In their family were the follow- 
ing children: Luman, born I-'eb. 16, 1805; -Aaron, 
born Jan. 5, 1807, died March 27, 1807; Minerva, 
born Oct. 2, 1808; Emeline, born Dec. 29, 1810, 
married first William Tulfonl, and second Bennett 
Scott; Rebecca, born July 2, 1814, married Norman 
-Ailing; Clarissa, born July 27, 1816, married M. 
W. Welton ; Ro.xanna and one who died in infancy 
were twins, born Jan. 15, 1818; George .Nelson, 
father of our subject, was next in order of birth ; 
David Allies, born March 2, 1825: and WilHam 
Ilarrv, born June 21, 1826. 

Geor,ge .Nelson Pritchard was born .\ug. 17. 
1819. and was educated in the district schools of 
Waterbury. He learned the carpenter's and joiner's 
trade with Bennett & Chatfield, and has always 
followed that occupaliMii, being a contractor and 
builder for several \ears. He spent some time at 
work in Ohio an<l Pennsylvania, but lor the i)ast 
forty years has lived on the Wolcott road in the 
town of Waterbury. He is still quite active, and is 
employed in the wood working department of our 
subject's shop near Mill Plain. He is a Jacksonian 
Democrat in politics, and is lilieral iii his reli.gious 
views, though he attends the Methodist E.piscopal 



654 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Church. On Nov. 4, 1843, in Waterbury, he was 
unitfd in marriage with Aliss Laura A. Peck, a 
native of Bethany, Conn., and a daughter of Titus 
Peck. They have now traveled Hfe's journey to- 
gether for fifty-eight years, sharing its joys and sor- 
rows, its adversity and prosperity. To them were 
born nine children, namely : Elias, who died in 
Ohio; Hannah, deceased wife of William San ford ; 
Eliza AI., who first married Thomas Linsley (de- 
ceased), second the late Charles Leonard, and third 
Robert J. Walker; Edward S., our subject; Alary, 
deceased; Anna, who died at the age of ten years; 
Harry, a caster of Newark, N. J., married Carrie 
Andrews, of Waterbury; Elias, a carpenter and 
joiner, formerly of Waterbury, married first Sarah 
y'JSarnes, and second Airs. Annie Hoar, of Fall 
Y River ; and Mercy, who died young. 

Edward S. Pritchard, whose name introduces 
this sketch, was born d'Vb. 7, i<S5i. in Waterville, 
Conn., and attended the district schools of Alill 
Plain. Waterbury. In early life he worked with his 
father at the carpenter's trade, and also followed 
farming to some extent. After attaining his ma- 
jority he entered the employ of Brown Bros., of 
Waterburv. and worked under E. L. Frisbee as a 
caster in the brass shop for eighteen years. For 
the past twelve years he has been connected with 
the tirm of Booth & Hayden as a contractor 
caster, and is one of the oldest in that line of busi- 
ness in the Naugatuck Valley. Since 1893 he has 
had a blacksmith and general repair shop at his 
home near Alill Plain, where he works during spare 
moments. For several years he has been interested 
in the ice business, and at present is also engaged in 
the meat business, lie is very industrious, enter- 
prising an<l progres.sive, and to his own unaided 
efforts may be attributed his success, for he started 
out in life for himself with no capital or influential 
friends to assist him. lie owns a well-improved 
place at Mill I'lain, upon which he has erected a 
comfortable residence, a good barn and other build- 
ings. I'jy his ball(jt he supports the men and meas- 
ures of the Republican party, but has never sought 
official honors. For live years he was a member of 
the State Alilitia, lint has never taken a very active 
part in public affairs, [jrcferring to devote his entire 
attention to his liusiness interests. 

Mr. Pritchard was married in Waterlniry, Dec. 
25, 1871, to Afiss Jennie S. ^\;u■ner, a native of 
Hamdcn and a step-daughter of llobart Warner. 

JAAIES B. SCR ANTON. Among the well- 
known business citizens of New Haven is James 1!. 
Scranton, the efficient su]xn-intendent of the Biglow 
Alanufacturing Co., of tliis city. He was born in 
Augusta Center, Oneida Co., N. "N'., Jan. 5. 1847, '^ 
son of Harry and Eliza (Ives) .Scranton, the f<.)r- 
mer of whom was a son of Samuel Scranton, who 
was born in (iuilford. Conn., where he engaged in 
farming. There he married and reared a family of 
four children, these being; Samuel. I larry, Amanda 



and Julia. Samuel was a farmer in Guilford on 
the old homestead ; Amanda niarried a Air. Frisbie, 
a sea-faring man ; and Julia married a Air. Benton, 
all of Guilford. 

Harry Scranton. the father of our subject, was 
born in Guilford, Conn., in 1801, and died in Sep- 
tember, 1855. His early years were spent on a farm 
in Guilford, and while still a young man he went 
to Florida, later moving to Oneida county, N. Y., 
where he bought land and built a home. He mar- 
ried Eliza Ives, who died Dec. 25, 1855. The fam- 
ily born to Harry Scranton and wife numbered nine 
children, two of whom died in infancy, the others 
being ; Samuel, who was a carpenter and lived in 
Augusta Center, N. Y. ; William C. for many years 
has been a clothier in Utica, N. Y. ; Henry A. for 
a time was a carpenter in Augusta Center, but later 
removed to Oil City, Pa.; Julia, deceased, married 
Charles Eastman and lived in Iowa ; George I. lives 
in West Haven, Conn.; James B. ; and Albert AI., 
who was a ship carpenter on a whaler, later settled 
in Riceville, Pa., and for a time was postmaster of 
that place. In politics Harry Scranton was a Demo- 
crat, believing in the principles of that party, and 
he served as town clerk for many years. He was 
one of the leading members of the Alethodist Church 
in his locality. 

The boyhood' days of James B. Scranton were 
spent in Augusta Center, and there he attended the 
district schools until he was ten years of age, at 
that time entering the Onondaga Academy, where 
he studied for four years. The next two years he 
occupied in work on the grounds under the direc- 
tion of the school principal, at the end of this period 
being apprenticed to the machinist's trade, entering 
the shops of the N. Y. C. R. R. 

In 1868 Air. Scranton made the trip to Califor- 
nia by way of the Isthmus, and remained in that 
section for two years engaged in work for the Cen- 
tral Pacific Railway Co., in the spring of 1870 locat- 
ing in Syracuse, N. Y., as foreinan in one of the 
shops of the N. Y. C. R. R., where he remained 
so comiected until 1874. For four years Air. Scran- 
ton filled the responsible position of engineer on the 
route between Syracuse and Watertown, and then 
became general foreman in the shops in East Buf- 
falo, remaining until 1883, when he was made super- 
intendent of the 1). b'risbie iK: Co. Alanufactory. 
Ncu- llaven. Since 1892 lie has filled a sim- 
ilar position with the Biglow Company. Perhaps 
no man in his position has had more thorough 
training than Air. Scranton. Beginning the work 
with a natural liking for it, he has made it a life 
study, and under.stands it both scientifically and 
]>ractically. and he is considered one of the most 
relialilc and careful men in his department in this 
city. 

(Jn Nov. 21, 1872. Mr. .Scranton was married 
to Aliss Jane Handwright, who was born in AlarcV, 
N. Y., a daughter of James and Elizabeth Hand- 
wright, of the same locality, but of Irish cxtrac- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



655 



tion. Four children have I)cen l)oni to this union : 
Edith M,, James I!., Jr.. Wilham J. and Mary T, 
Mr. Scranton lias long- liccn an active and intluential 
member of the Kepubhcan party, and he is socially 
connected with the A. (). L'. W. and Legion of 
Honor. The religious home of the family is with 
St. Clary's Roman Catholic Church, to which he is 
a liberal and cheerful contributor. Mr. Scranton is 
not only highly esteemed by the company he so ably 
and faithfully serves, but is regarded as an excellent 
citizen and most desirable iieighbtir. 

EDWARD A. lUJTClIKl.S.S. a well-known 
contractor and builder of Xaugatuck, is one of the 
most energetic and enterprising business men of 
that place. The thoroughness and persistency with 
which he applied himself while learning his trade ' 
have characterized his entire business career and 
have been supplemented by careful attention to de- 
tails and by honoral)le, straightforward effort that 
has gained him a most excellent and enviable re])U- 
tation. 

The ll'itchkiss family have long resided in this 
county. Dyer llotchkiss, grandfather of our sub- 
ject, was Ijorn in the town of W'aterbury, and 
throughout life followed farming and carijentering. 
He married Orra Camj), and located upon a farm in 
Xaugatuck, where he s])ent his remaining days. His 
remains were interred in that town. In his family 
Were five children: Charles (deceased) was a con- 
tractor and builder of Torrington, Conn.: Henry 
(ideccased ) was a fanner of Cheshire; Mary (de- 
ceased) was the widow of Zenas Potter, a black- 
smith by trade, and made her home in Waterlniry ; 
Amos H. was the father of our subject: and Sarah 
married Harmon I'ayne, a farmer and cattle dealer 
of Bristol, Connecticut. 

Amos H. Hotchkiss, father of our subject, was 
a native of Xaugatuck, and died there in 1H93. In 
early life he also engaged in contracting and liuild- 
ing, but later followed tlie occtipation of farming. 
In jjolilics he was a Re]niblican. He married Miss 
Sally M. Scott, a native of .Middlebury, Xcw Haven 
Co., Conn., and a daughter of Joseph Scott. She 
<lied in 1898. To this wcjrthy cou])le were Ijorn nine 
children, as follows: Mary, deceased wife of David 
Morse; Jane, wife of James Megin, of Iiethany, 
Conn.: Dyer, a carpenter of Xaugatuck: .Alice, wife 
of C. F. Wedge, of Xaugatuck : .\nn, wife of Henry 
Dudley, of Ansonia, Conn.: .^arah, deceased wife 
of Stephen Johns: Marcia, a resident of Xaugatuck : 
Esther, wife of Jvlmuiid I". Hoyt, of Middlebury; 
and Edward A., our subject. 

Edward A. Hotchkiss was l^orn in Xaugatuck 
June II, 1854. He attended the common schools of 
Xaugatuck until eighteen years of age. and then 
assisted his father in the o]wration oi the home farm 
until twenty-five. The following live years he de- 
voted to thoroughly learning the cari)enter's trade 
with Hial Stevens, a contractor of Xaugatuck, and 
lor one year he worked at vari'ius i)laces. In 1884 



he began contracting and innhhng on his own ac- 
count, and is still successfully iiigaged in that busi- 
ness. He also owns and oi)erates a sawniill and 
farm in I'.eacijn \ alley, where he makes his home, 
and is accounted one of the leading business men 
of the community. 

C)n Xov. ly, 1879. Mr. Hotchkiss married Miss 
Jennie Schofield, a daughter of Josei)h Sciiolicld, 
and they have had a family of five children : W'al- 
ler A., George ]!., Ida .M., Tracy J. and Sarah R. 
(^deceased). Mr. Hotchkiss is identified with no 
particular political party, voting fur the man whom 
he believes best fjualilied to fill the office, regardless 
of party lines. Socially he is a member of the Inde- 
pendent (_)rder of Odd Fellows, tiie Cjolden Cross 
and the Grange. 

SAXFORD !I.\WK1\S, a leading business 
man of .Milford, was born Feb. 19, 1854, in Say- 
ville. Long Island, son of Jonas X. and Keturah 
(Xewton) Hawkins. 

Jonas X. Hawkins was a native of Middle Island, 
born July 25, 1817, and in early manhood went to 
Smilluown, Long Island, where he learned the 
blacksmith's trade. For some years he followed his 
trade in Sayville, and in 1867 he removed to Mil- 
ford, engaging first in the oyster business, which 
he carried on two years. In about 1870 he became 
interested in the grocery business, and in 1873 the 
store was removed to Broad street, on the north 
side of the "Green," where it is still located, our 
subject now conducting it. Mr. Hawkins died in 
Milford July 26, 1892. His first wife, who died 
May 27, 18O1, was a native of Smithtown, and a 
daughter of Benjamin Xewton, a well-known resi- 
dent of that ])lace. Of the eight children of Jonas 
X. and Keturah Hawkins the following is the rec- 
ord : Michael S. is a druggist in Salem, Ohio ; 
Theodore is deceased ; Edgar W. is engaged in the 
real-estate business in San brancisco, Cal.; Jones X. 
died in boyhood; Albert E. is deceased; Miss Emma 
K. resides in .Sayville, L. 1.; Sanford and .\nnie E. 
are in Milford. The father married again in 1865, 
and his widow resides in Milford. 

Sanford Hawkins attended the schools of Say- 
ville until he reached the age of fourteen, and on 
Jan. 2, 1868, went to Milford, where he continued 
his studies in a private school. ( )n leaving sclux)l 
he became a clerk in his father's store, and after 
the death of the latter he succeeded him in l>usi- 
ness. He carries a large and well-selected stock of 
groceries, crockery, hardware, cutlery. ])aints, oils, 
window glass, woodenware, cordage, and similar 
commodities, and is the agent in .Milford for the 
Belcher & Taylor .\gricullural Toil Co., Masury's 
railroad colors, and Crockett's wood jtreservatives. 
He has always identified himself with matters of 
public interest in the town, and was an active mem- 
i)er of the Board of Trade during its existence. 
He is now president of the Business .Men's .\ssocia- 
tion, in wliicli his enterprise and foresight have 



656 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



found a wide field for useful effort. Politically 
:\lr. Hawkins is a Republican. He has been town 
auditor, and is now town treasurer. He is one of 
the most active members of Wopowage Lodge, Xo. 
14, 1. U. U. !•'., of Milford, of whicli he_ has been 
treasurer for fourteen years. He and his family be- 
long to tlie Congregational Church of Milford, for 
many vears he lias served on the Society's commit- 
tee and the Church committee, and for hfteen years 
he has been secretary and treasurer of the Sunday- 
school. 

In 1883 -Mr. Hawkins married -Miss Laura L. 
Cole, of .Mansfield, Mass., who died in 1885, leaving 
one son, Harold S. Lor his second wife Mr. Hawkins 
married ALss Julia Smith, of Milford, and by her 
he has two children, I'.leanor I), and Newton Smith, 
the latter born Dec. 24, i8yij. 

^ LDWARl) .\l. WUUDWARD, now living in 
the old Woodward home in New Haven, was for 
over thirty years engaged in the coal business in 
that city, and was ranked among its successful and 
substantial residents. 

Mr. Woodward was born Aug. 20, 1842, m East 
Haven, now New Haven, and belongs to a family 
which has long been established this side of the 
Atlantic. His emigrant ancestor, Rev. John Wood- 
ward, was graduated from Cambridge College_ m 
1693,' and was ordained pastor of the church at Xor- 
wicli, Conn., Dec. 6, itn/j. He was admitted an in- 
habitant of New Haven Dec. 24, 1716. From him 
our subject is descended through John, John (2), 
John (3), John (4) and Lyman. 

John Woodward (4), like all his immediate fore- 
fathers, followed the occupation of a farmer. He 
lived on the site of St. Andrew's AL E. Church, 
of New Haven, in what was then East Haven, in 
the localitv known as Woodwardtown. His wife. 
Alary (Daveniwrt), was of the fourth generation 
in descent from Rev. John Davenport, the noted 
divine who early settled in New Haven. They had 
a family of seven children : Clarissa, Roswell, Eliza, 
Emeline, John, and Leura and Lyman (twins). 

Lyman Woodward, father of Edward AL, was 
born in 1810. in Last Haven, and reached a good 
old age, dying Nov. 19, 1885. He commenced life 
on his own account at an early age, leaving home 
when a mere lad of twelve years, and for a time 
clerked in a store in h'air Haven conducted by 
JL & S. R. Hotchkiss. Later he was employed as 
clerk ill a store in New Haven, and afterward, in 
partnership with a cousin, James C. W'oodward, em- 
barked in the grocery inisiness for himself, in Fair 
Flaveii, continuing thus some twenty-five years. The 
partnership was then dissolved, and Lyman Wood- 
ward started anew, but alone, in the grocery busi- 
ness in the same street ( Last Craiid avenue), where 
he continued lor another twenty-five years, retiring 
aliout a year previous to his death. Mr. Woodward 
married Miss Jeannette R. Maltby. of Ivist Haven, 
a daughter of Degrasse Maltby, the latter born in 



Northford, Conn. She passed away Sept. 20, u 
Mr. and Airs. W'oodward had two children, Edward 
M. and S. Isabelle. The parents were actively iden- 
tified with the Grand Avenue Congregational 
Church, in the founding of which Air. Woodward 
took a prominent part, and he served for many 
years as treasurer of that congregation. He also 
served as treasurer of the school district, and in offi- 
cial position, as in private matters, proved himself a 
capable man of business. In 185 1, having purchased 
the property, he built the house at No. 169 Grand 
avenue, which his children now occupy, neither hav- 
ing married. 

Edward AI. Woodward was born in Ouinnipiac 
avenue, where he lived for nine years, and his home 
has since been in the old family residence in Grand 
avenue. He received his education in the city 
schools, attending the Thomas G. Sloan school and 
Gen. Russell's Alihtary Academy. Leaving school 
when about sixteen, he spent the next ten years with 
his father in the grocery business, and in October, 
1868, engaged in business independently as a coal 
merchant, continuing in that line until June, 1900, 
since when he has lived retired. Air. Woodward 
enjoyed a lucrative trade and the highest confidence 
of his business associates throughout his career, and 
ever maintained the standards of honor and integrity 
upheld by his ancestors t^' ''crti many generations. 
Like his father, he att^ ..^ Grand Avenue 

Church, in which he hoko membership. He is a 
Republican in political sentiment. 

CAI'T. AlAGNUS AIANSON has been a resi- 
dent of New Haven since 1852, and throughout that 
long period has been identified with the marine in- 
terests of that city, though for the past several 
} ears he has lived semi-retired. 

The Captain is a native of the Shetland Isles, 
born June 29, 1829, son of John and Alary (Alouat) 
Alanson, both of whom were bom in Scotland, the 
former also a native of the Shetland' Isles. They 
liad six children, three of whom survive, our sub- 
ject being the youngest ; Capt. Gilbert is a resident 
of Boston; Ann, married Dan A. Tulleck, of Scot- 
land, whom she survives, now living in New Ha- 
ven with her sons. The father was engaged as fish- 
erman, sawyer and weaver. He reached the ad- 
vanced age of ninety-five vears. and the mother lived 
to be ninety. Both were members of the Established 
Church of Scotland. 

Alagnus Alanson received his education in his 
native land, where he remained up to the age of 
twenty years. He then went to England, and hav- 
ing decided to adopt a sea-faring life served his 
time as apprentice on board ship. After two years 
he came to New Haven on board a l)rig with coal 
from England for Benedict' & Son, of New Haven. 
In the summer of 1852 he left the brig and worked 
on a farm for six davs. Fie then went before the 
mast en a coasting vessel, later becoming mate, and 
in 1857 he rose to the rank of master, taking com- 




^^A^^m. /^^k^^^^^^>^-irv^ 



\Jl&-tyO 9%::^j'-l»-a.^t--«--_ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



C57 



mand of the schooner "Mar\- Eliza," and after run- 
ning her for about two years took another boat, 
the "Isaac Mcrritt," of 160 tons, which he ran until 
i860. Having had the "J. W. iline" buik he started 
in this schot)ner. remaining until 18W), wiien he look 
the schooner "Henry Jiol)art," making the voyage 
tc Porto Rico with a general cargo, returning with 
sugar and molasses for L. W. & 1'. Armstrong. 
His next vessel was the "Henry Hobart. Xo. 2," 
after which he built the "John T. Alanson," 650 
tens burden, which he took with a cargo to Balti- 
n'.ore, thence to Xew York and thence to Xcw Or- 
leans. In 1872 she crossed to Antwerp, thence sail- 
ing to Xewcastle, England, and [uitting in at Xew 
London on her return; she was lost off lUock Isl- 
and in 1880. Capt. .Manson built the "James 
Boyce,". in Xew Haven, 860 tons biu-den, launch- 
ing her in March. 1876, and ran this vessel four 
years. His next boat, the "Helen H. ricnedict,' 
1,160 tons, was built in Bath, Maine, and carried 
coal along the coast for the Boston and .\lbanv Rail- 
load, running from Baltimore and Xorfolk and 
Philadelphia to Boston, and also taking ice uut 
from Maine. The Captain was especially success- 
lul with this boat. In i88y he built the "Agnes 1".. 
Manson," 1,370 tons, which, like the "Helen 11. 
Benedict." is a large first class merchant vessel. He 
commanded her in the coast traile until 1893. since 
which year he has been practically retired, though 
he still manages his marine interests, being part 
owner of six vessels. Our subject was one of the 
oldest captains along the coast, and he is now one 
of the oldest residents of his adopted city, where 
he is highly respected by both friends and associ- 
ates. 

On June 14, i860, Capt. Manson married Mar- 
garet R. Alouatt. like himself, a native of the Shet- 
land Isles, and six children have blessed this union : 
The eldest daughter, Agnes K., married I'Ved W'al- 
terson, of Xew Haven, and died at the age of thirty- 
one, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Mary ]•! Ixcame the 
wife of Edward Gruner, a tailor, of Xew Haven, 
and they have three children, .Margaret. Leopold 
and Catherine. Margaret is the wife of Harry IIol- 
comb, a prominent carriage maker in Xew Haven. 
John T. is mentioned below. Daniel \\. married 
l^fifie Comie, daughter of Dr. Comic, a physician 
of Worcester, Mass., and they have one child, 
Marion. Henrv, who lives at home, is in tlie em- 
ploy of Byard, Minor 6': Read. The Captain built 
his present magnificent home at Xo. 31 Dwight 
street in 1894. He and his wife attend Grace M. 
E. Church ; fraternally he is a member of W'ooster 
Lodge, F. & A. M. ; politically he is a Republican 
in sentiment, but he gives his support to the best 
man. 

John' T. M.wson, of the firm of Benedict. 

Downs & Co. .wholesale dealers in coal, with an office 

at X(j. 82 Church street, Xew Haven, is one of the 

prominent voung business men of the city. Born 

42 



Aug. 30, 1861, in Xew Haven, son of Magnus .mo 
Margaret ( .Mouatt ) Manson, of Xew Haven, he re- 
ceiveil his elementarv education in the public schools 
of his native town, and early in life entered the em- 
ploy of the firm of H. W. Benedict & Son, as an 
office boy. He was faithful to his tluiies, industri- 
ous and energetic, and in time rewarded by pro- 
motions and finally admitted to membership in the 
firm which is now, as given in the foregoing, the 
indiviilual members other than himself, being l-'rank 
W. r>enedict and Willis Downs. These gentlemen 
and those ])reviously conducting the business are 
among Xcw Haven's substantial citizens and busi- 
ness m<-ii. 

John T. .Manson is one of the active and pro- 
gressive mm of .\e\v Haven, and though young in 
years is old in experience, as he has been active 
in the duties of citizenship, and has been variously 
identified with the city's institutions. For a period 
of five years he was president of the Y. M. C. A., 
and has been a State director of the Association; 
has served as president of the Young Men's Repub- 
lican Club, was president of the Xew Haven Or- 
phans .\sylum Donati<jn Day committee, and has 
been a member of the P.oard of Education. He has 
al>o been one of the board of harbor commission- 
ers, h'raternally he is a I'reemason. a member of 
the Xew Haven CinuUry Club and of the Republi- 
can League. 

JAMES T. COUGHLAX, prominent as a meat 
dealer, druggist and city official in W'aterbury, was 
born in King's County, Ireland, May 17, 1856, the 
eldest child of Torrance 1'". and Mary (Condon) 
Coughlan, who were the parents of four chiklren, 
the others, in order of birth, being named Patrick, 
John and Ti)rrance l'\ .\1I are mentioned elsewhere. 
The father of this family died when the subject of 
this sketch was but eight years of age, immeiliately^ 
after which event the mother brought her chiklren 
to America, and after a trifling delay elsewhere at 
once .settled in W'aterbury, Connecticut. 

James T. I'oughlan liad attentled school for a 
short period before leaving Ireland, and the educa- 
tion there accpiired was suf)plemented by instruc- 
tion at the i)ublic schools of W'aterbury, which he 
attendetl uiuil he was sixteen years of age. He 
then went to work in a sho]i at a comi)ensaiion of 
eight dollars per month, and gave his earnings to 
his mother until he went to Hartford. .Mr. L'ough- 
lan now went to Hartfcjrd, where he jiassed about 
ten years in Coil's .Armory, learning the trade of 
toolmaker and machinist, and thence went to Xew 
A'ork City, and for five years and seven months had 
charge of the machine department of the B.ishop 
Gutta Percha Co. He then returned to Connecti- 
cut, and for one year was in the machine shop at 
Forestville. In October, 1870. he came to W'aier- 
bur\ , and started in the retail butcher trade in Bald- 
win street, in a rented store. A little later he erected 



658 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



his present block, and was for sonic time in the 
wholesale trade, having his cattle shijiped fmni the 
West and slaughtered on his own premises. Inn the 
retail trade has been his chief reliance, and in this 
he has been remarkably ])rosperoiis. 

About twelve years ago Air. C'DUghlan opened 
a drug store, adjoining his meat market in l>aldwin 
street. This store is kept constantly supplied with 
fresh drugs and chemicals, jirojjrietary medicines 
and fancy articles, such as arc usually kept in estab- 
lishments of the kind, is nicely furnished, and the 
wiiole is under the supervision of Mr. Coughlan's 
daughter, Miss Margaret 1"^, with the aid of an as- 
sistant. Our subject's fortune has been made by 
close attention to business, push and affability, and 
he is still at work. 

James T. Coughlan married Miss Lucy E. 
Laughlin, a daughter of James I.. Laughlin, a fanner 
of Watertown, Conn., and this union has been 
blessed with si.x children, born in the following or- 
der: Mary E., who is a school teacher in Water- 
bury; Margaret E., the young lady in charge of 
iNIr. Coughlan's drug store; Rose, .Ami, Catherine 
and ("lertrude, all four attending school. 

Mr. Coughlan is in |>olitics a Democrat, and has 
served as second selectman one year, as alderman 
four years, as councilman one year, as road and 
sewer commissioner thirteen years, and in 1891 was 
tax collector; while an incumbent of the latter office 
he was under bonds for $150,000. h^raternally he 
is a Kniglrt of Columbus, and a member of the 
P'orcsters of America and the L'nited Workmen. 
He and family attend St. l'"rancis Xavier Church, 
and are greatlv resjiected wherever known. 

.'^.\.\I'"()R1) C. .ST(J.NI':, of the well-known firm 
of Stone & Norton, poultry and produce dealers, 
Xew ilaven. is a descendant of an old and promi- 
nent family <]f LV)miecticut and New F.ngland. At 
a very early period in our cotuitry's history Will- 
iam and John .Stone (who were probably sons of 
Rev. Samuel .Stone, of Hertford, ICngland) emi- 
grated from l'"ngland and settled in (juilford. Conn., 
in if>39, and William became the ])rogenitor of the 
branch of the family in which we are most inter- 
ested. The (luilford records show the line in Amer- 
ica to be as follows: (11) William (2), son of 
\\ illiam. was a tailor and onlinary, and died in 
1683. (Ill) William, born in 1642, died Sept. 28, 
1730. (1\') William, born Feb. 22, 1672, died Sept. 
21. 1753. ( \') Jehiel, born Nov. 1 1, 1702, died Oct. 
iS. 1780. ( \'l ) Deacon Aaron, born Oct. 21. 1741, 
died lune 7. 1821. 

( VII) Ilenian Stone, grandfather of Sanford C. 
Stone, was born Nov. 2r, 1783, in North Madison, 
Conn., where his father engaged in farming. He, 
too. became a farmer, and was one of the substantial 
citizens of the town. In public affairs he took an 
active part, and represented bis town in the State 
Ecgislature. having been elected as a Whig. He 



married Clarissa Coe, and became the father of the 
following children : Wealthy, Eliza, Amanda, Al- 
fred, Heman (father of our subject), Aaron and 
Wealthy. In religious faith the family were Con- 
gregationalists. Heman Stone died Nov. 29, 1864. 
Heman Stone, son of Heman, was born Sept. 
3, 181 5, and died Jan. 29, 1890. He passed his life 
m Madison, Conn., and there engaged in farming. 
Like his father before him, he was actively inter- 
ested in matters pertaining to the general welfare 
of his town and county, and he held a number of 
important offices in the gift of the people. First a 
Whig, he later joined the ranks of the Republican 
party. For some time he served as a representative 
in the State Legislature, sustaining the dignity of 
his office with great credit to himself and much satis- 
faction to his constituents. He married' Sarah Hol- 
lister, who was born in Little Falls. N. Y., Feb. 26, 
1815, a daughter of Anson and Sally (Beardsley) 
Hollister. They became the parents of two chil- 
dren : Sanford C. ; and George B., a farmer of Madi- 
son, who died at the age of forty years. 

.Sanford C. Stone was born in Aladison, Conn., 
Feb. 2, 1848, and passed his boyhood days on his 
father's fann. The district school of the neighbor- 
hood and the public schools of Guilford and Meri- 
deii afforded him ample facilities for a good educa- 
tion. After leaving school he made his home in 
Meriden and North Branford until he was twenty- 
eight years of age, when he came to New Haven. 
Here in partnership with T. E. Norton he engaged 
in the produce and poultry business on Chapel street, 
under the firm name of Stone & Norton. Their es- 
tablishment was known as the Public Market, and 
remained in its first location for eighteen years, 
when they located at No. 373 State street, where 
they have since remained. They have been emi- 
nently successful in winning and retaining patrons, 
as they pay especial attention to the quality of their 
goods, and are ever courteous and obliging to their 
customers. 

On Dec. 25, 1871, Mr. Stone was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Jennie Lane, who was born in Kil- 
lingworth, Conn., a daughter of Charles Lane, of 
that place. She passed away July 24, 1892, leaving 
two children, May Hollister and Maud Irene. Po- 
litically Mr. Stone is a Republican. In his social 
relations he belongs to City Lodge, No. 36, I. O. 
O. 1*'. ; and in religious connections is a member of 
the Church of the Redeemer, on Orange street. 

JOHN F. NETTLFTON, long and favorably 
known to the people of New Haven as an intelligent 
and gallant member of the city police force, was born 
in Betiiany, Conn., June 13, 1827, a son of Oliver 
: Xettleton, who was born in what is now (Grange, 
but then known as North Milford, Conn., March 3, 
1787, where he died Jan. 31, 1864. 

The history of the Ncttleton family in this coun- 
try begins with Samuel Nettleton, who was probably 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



659 



l)orn in F.ng'land and who lived in Millord and 
r.ranford, anct died in l-'airticld about 16^5. His 
wife. Maria, died in ilranford on Oct. Jij. 1658. 

Samuel Xettleton, son of Samuel and .Maria, 
was a native of Milford. On Feb. 8. 1681, he mar- 
ried Martha Baldwin, who was born April i, 1663, 
<t daug-hter of Richard Baldwin, of Milford. 

John Xettleton, son of Samuel and Martha, was 
horn Sept. 18, 1689, and he married Sarah Bryan, 
a (laughter of Richard I'.ryan. 

Xathan Xettleton, son of John and .Sarah, was 
born May 4, 1734, and married Sibyl, a daus^hter of 
Xathaniel and Sarah L. Buckingham. ' 

John Xettleton, son of Xathan, and grand- 
father of John F., was born Oct. 9, 17^)5, followcil 
fanning in Bethany and died .A.ug. 8, 1842. He 
married Comfort, a daughter of .\braham and Sarah 
L. ( Bristol ) nine. Their son Oliver is noted above 
as the father of John F. Xettleton. 

( )liver Xettleton was a farmer all his life in 
I'.ethany and elsewhere in Connecticut. On Sept. 
S. 1813, he married Sarah Treat, a daughter of 
Samuel Treat, a farmer in Milford, Conn., where 
she was born. The Treat family is one of the oldest 
aiul most prominent in the State and begins with 
Richard Treat, who was born in I'ittminster, Eng- 
land, in 1584 and died about ibix) in W^cthersfield, 
Conn., of which place his wife, Alice Gaylord, was 
a native. Robert Treat, his son, was born in Eng- 
land in 1624, became governor of Connecticut and 
d-ed July 12, 1710; married Jane Tajjp, of Milford. 

Robert Treat, son of Governor Treat, was Ijorn 
Aug. 14, 1654, and died March 20, 1720; he married 
Abigail Camp, who was born March 28, 1(^)67, and 
died March 20, 1742. Samuel Treat, their son, was 
born Xov. 28, 1697, and died April 28, 1753 : he mar- 
ried Anna Clark, who was born in 1709 and died 
Dec. 12, 1731. 

Samuel Treat, son of Samuel and Anna, was 
born Aug. 6, 1728, and died Aug. 17, 1787; he mar- 
ried Frances Bryan, who was born Aug. 16, 1726, 
and died June 13, 1806. Their son, Samuel Treat, 
born Aug. 16, 1760, married Sarah Xettleton. wh.i 
<lied in 1793 at the age of thirty-two years, and he 
died May 3, 1813. Their daughter. .Sarah. l):irn 
Dec. 2, 1788, was the mother of John 1". Xettleton. 

.\lr. and Mrs. Oliver Xettleton were the ]iareiits 
of the following children: Minerva, born July 9, 
181^: Samuel T., born Xov. 29. 1817: Sarah l*'., 
born Feb. 28, 1820; C_)riel, boniMav 8, 1822: Cla- 
rissa A., born Sept. 20, 1824: and John l'". ( )riel 
married William II. Faniham, of New Haven, who 
is dead : Clarissa A. married George G. Fowler, wlio 
is dead : Minerva, Samuel and Sarah V.. arr all 
dead. Oliver Xettleton was a \Miig and a Republi- 
can later in life. In religion he was a member of 
the Congregational Church, his life conforming well 
to his faitli. 

John F. Nettleton spent the first ten years of 
his life on the farm in Bethany, where he attended 
school, and he also attended school for a period of 



seven years in Seyjiiour. lie came to Xew Haven 
in early manhood. 

( )ii Oct. I, 1854, Mr. Xettleton was married to 
Sarah L. Peck, who was born in Berlin, Conn., 
a daughter of Evelyn I'eck. To this union were 
born : Oliver Ellsworth, Evelyn Frank, Etlward S. 
and George R. 

Soon after his marriage Mr. Xettleton removed 
to Rochelle. ill,, where he was engaged in the gram 
business until the outbreak of the Civil war, when 
he enlisted Aug. 14, 1862, in Company H, 92d 111. 
.Mounted Infainry. He became 1st lieutenant and 
as such was uiuler (iencral Sherman in his famou.s 
■"March to the Sea." He was mustered out on 
June 21, 1865, and returned to Xew Haven, where 
he engaged in the grocery business until 1873. 

Mr. Xettleton is a Republican and was ajJixjinted 
policeman in Xew Haven ( >ct. 19. 1873. and his 
service on the force was unbroken until his retire- 
ment Jan. 1, i8(j4, a period of more than twenty 
years, it is a record of efficiency and ability sel- 
dom surpassed and Mr. Xettleton has a host of 
friends in the city who appreciate his manly quali- 
ties and wish him well. He belongs to the City 
Lodge, 1. C). (). I"., and the .Admiral Foote Post, G. 
.\. R., and is an earnest member of the Methodist 
Church. 

FRAXK L. COWING, Chief of the Meriden 
Fire Department, and foreman of the Press depart- 
ment of the Manning & Bowman Manufacturing 
plant, is one of the well-known and highly esteemed 
citizens of this city. He comes of good Coloifial 
stock, his great-grandfather, Gathelius Cowing, a 
native of Massachusetts, having served as a soldier 
in the Revolutionary army. 

Job Cowing, our subject's grandfather, was born 
in Scituate. I'lvmouth Co., Mass.. but removed in 
early manhood to Chesterfield, Hami>shire Co., that 
State, where he made his permanent home and en- 
gaged in farming and stock raising. In politics he 
was a Whig, and as a citizen he was held in high 
esteem. B>y his first wife, Racliel Coleman, he had 
one daughter. I'.lecta. who married (ieorge Kendall. 
of .Xiirtbfield. Mass. 1 lis second wife, Sybil King, of 
West Hami)ton, Mass.. was a woman of rare worth, 
and was ei'eatlv beloved by her familv and associates. 
She died in Chesterfield in 1857, he in 1856. They 
had children: .\uralia, deceased wife of 1\. Gurney: 
Elvira, married to .Ansel Thyer : Cynthia, married 
to Jacob Loomis: De.xter, deceased: Eunice, who 
died unmarried: I'annie, deceased wife of Jason 
Thvcr; Tob : Charles: -Sybil, deceased wife of Spell- 
man Stevens; Sninner, deceased: and .Austin. 

Job Cowing, son of Jol>, was horn .Aug. 31. 1820, 
at the old homestead in Chesterfield. Mass., and 
was reared as a farmer boy. receiving only a district- 
school education. A\'hen a young man he went to 
Orange county, X'^. A'., to learn the millwright's 
trade, which lie followed for many years. .After 
ten years he removed to Xorthamplon, Mass., ami 



66o 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



later ho spent six years at Stamford. P.ennington 
Co., \'t., where he became interested in the hnulier 
business. He then caiiie to Connecticut to engage 
in farming, and settled ui>on Capt. Simon Kendall's 
farm in Suffield, when- he has since resided, in 
addition to general agriculture, he devotes much 
attention to dairying and stock raising, and by his 
able management he has gained satisfactory results 
in all these lines. Throughout his life he has been 
a firm believer in the policy of the Democratic party, 
and while not an office-seeker, he has not shirked 
the duties of citizenship, and at one time served as 
assessor of Sufifield. He is a man of sound judg- 
ment and extensive reading, and in religion bases 
his faith ujjon the underlying principles of all creeds 
rather than in those of any one denomination. 

Un Dec. 25, 1844, Mr. Cowing was married in 
Port Jervis. X. Y., to Miss Mleanor Cole, daughter 
of Josiah Cole, a prominent citizen cif I'aterson. 
N. J. Their home is marked by the influence of 
Mrs. Cowing's refined taste, and their eight chil- 
dren have been reared in a way to make them a credit 
to their parents: \\'alter is a lilacksmith in Meriden ; 
Julia married Senator t^ieorge F. Kendall, of Suf- 
field; Laura married Irvin Linsley, of Meriden; 
Fanny married Artluir Tilden, of Terryville, Conn. ; 
Frank L. is our subject; James resides in Toronto, 
Canada; Miss Helen is at home: ami Addie mar- 
ried Ernest Austin, of Suffield. 

Frank L. Cowing was born in Stamford, \ t., 
Oct. 17, 1855. While he was .still a lad the family 
removed to Suffield. and in that town Frank received 
his education up to the age of fifteen, when he de- 
cided to leave home and learn a trade. Selecting 
that of wood-lurning, he entered an establishment 
of that kind in Cunningham, Mass., and remained 
there for the succeeding five years, receiving his 
board and a compensation of $12 ])er month. Re- 
turning to .Suffield, drawn thither by famil}' affec- 
tion, ho engaged in business with his father, as 
carpenter and joiner, until 1879, when he removed 
to Meriden, where he entered into the employ of 
the Manning & Jiowman Co., remaining there ever 
since one of its most capable and trusted workmen. 
At that time the business of the company was in- 
significant, while now it is one of the largest and 
most important among the i)rominent manufacturing 
concerns of this city. Almost all of these twenty- 
two years of faithful service l)y Mr. Cowing have 
been spent as foreman of the press de])artment, and 
he has earn.ed not only the entire confidence of his 
employers, Ijut also the resjicct of those whose work 
he directs. 

. Mr. Cowing was married in ?\lrriden. in 18.S5, 
to Miss ]'~mma W'alkley, who w;is burn in b^lizabetli- 
port, N. J., a daughter of Richard \\'alkley, of Shel- 
don, Conn., a lady whose graces of mind and char- 
acter fit her to be the devoted wife and ninthcr. 
and the good C'hristian woman whom her friends 
and' neighbors admire and esteem. Two children 
were born of this union : Ethel, who is attcndini'- 



school; and little Frank L., wdiose life passed out 
when he was but four years of age, leaving a void 
which can never be filled. In 1880 Mr. Cowing: 
became a member of the I'ire Department Truck 
Co., of which he was clerk until 1886, and was as- 
sistant engineer for the following two years. In 
1898 he was appointed chief of the department, 
under Mayor Ives, and for three years has filled 
this arduous office with the greatest efficiency, re- 
flecting credit upon himself and his city, and giving 
the people a feeling of security which they have 
never previously enjoyed. I'ersonally Mr. Cowing is 
very popular, his genial manner winning friends 
easily. Fraternallv he is valued in Center Lodge, No. 
97, F. & A. M. ; and Meriden Center Lodge, No. 68. 
L O. O. F. ; is past noble grand of the last named 
lodge, and past chief patriarch of Oasis Encamp- 
ment, No. 16, of the same order. He is also a 
member of ^Meriden Lodge, No. 35, B. P. O. E., 
and of Montowese Tribe, L O. R. M., of iMeriden. 
'J"he religious connection of the family is with St. 
Paul's Universalist Church, where Mr. Cowing's 
sympathy and help are given to all the various 
branches of charitable work. In politics he is <a 
Democrat, and was a member of the city cotmcil 
during 1886-7, from the Plrst ward, and served 
effectively on the committees of police and finance, 
and was clerk of the former, and also was made a 
member of the committee on by-laws. In 1891 he 
was elected on the same ticket as town auditor, and 
served through one term. Mr. Cowing has been 
prominent in many enterprises for the bettering of 
his department, and was one of the organizers of 
the firemen's relief fund, and has been the presi- 
dent of that organization for the past eighteen years. 
Frank L. Cowing stands high in the esteem of this 
community, as he fills every relation of life as befits a 
good citizen and representative man. Justly popular, 
he enjoys a regard that is genuine and is well de- 
served. 

EDWARD ERNEST WEST, ex-mayor of 
]\Ieriden, and one of the most popular and efficient 
officials the city ever had, is a native of Great Brit- 
ain, born Nov. 29, 1847, in London, England. His 
ancestors were among the most uncompromising ad- 
herents of the Tndepvndent Church in England. 

John Aaron West, .Sr., his grandfather, was f(jr 
many years head master of P)arking .School, in Mid- 
dlesex, near London, and subsequently became an 
Independent minister, in charge of Bethnel Green 
CbaiK'l. London. 

Jcilni .\anin West (2), son of John .\aron West. 
Sr., stood a test of the al)ility of the Establishcfl 
(. hurcli to collect religious taxes, and spent seven 
da}s in jail for his princi])les. The last-named be- 
came secretary and manager of one of the largest 
chemical works in England, and died at St. Helen's, 
Lancashire, Oct. 31. 1844, aged forty-four years. 
His wife, Louisa .\manda Bourdon, was, like him- 
self, a native f)f England, though a daughter of 








^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



66 1 



I'rcnch parents. Her tathcr, I'mK-ric I'.ourduii. 
•came from Rouen, France, to i-Inj^land in 1813. ami 
Avas the first French dyer in London. Mr.^i.' We.-i 
i> still living, at the age of eighty-live vcars, and 
reside.s in Rainhill. Lancashire. Of her three sons 
and two daughters, all save one son are now living. 
Irederick J., the eldest, is a wholesale draper at 
I'rescott, Lancashire. F.ngland, and is one of the 
greatest volunteer ritle shots in that country: since 
1859, he has been color sergeant of Co. A, St. 
Helen's Rifle lirigade — a j)eriod of fortv-lwo 
years. 

Edward E. West is tlie second child of Jolm 
-Aaron and Louisa .Amanda (ISourdon) West.' He 
pursued his primary education in the public schools, 
graduating from the Mill Hill (Grammar School, and 
passed the examination fur admission to Cambridge 
I'niversity, but the sudden death of his father pre- 
sented his taking up a university course. Ileing 
now com!)elled to undertake his own maintenance, 
he engaged in the marine insurance business for a 
short time. Having resolved to seek his fortune in 
the I'nited States, he set out in i8t)6. being then in 
his nineteenth year, for this country. .Arrivin.g at 
New A'ork, he soon found em])loyment on a farm 
near Coxsackie, X. A'., and was subsei|uently en- 
gaged in copper mining near Somcrville, N, J. Oct. 
2^. 1866, found him in Aleriden, where he went 
to work within a few da\s in the office of the Aleri- 
den Britannia Company. F"or thirty-five years he 
has continued in this service, tliough he has .several 
times received merited promotion, and now occu- 
pies a remunerative and desirable position, having 
charge of the orders and foreign correspondence. 
This long-continued business relation, and the jiro- 
inotions received, sufificientlv attest his business 
<:a])acitv, industrv and integritv. 

The genial and upriglit nature of Air. West 
naturally has attracted and maintained friendships, 
iind his social connections are wide and varied. .A 
Democrat in political principle, he was elected to 
the office of mayor in the sprin,g of 1900, largely by 
Republican votes, being the only Democratic candi- 
date who won in that campaign, and received 369 
votes more than the balance of his ticket. He had 
previously served two years as alderman from the 
Second ward, being elected in 181)8, ancl re-elected 
the following year. For the past thirty years he has 
Ijcen a member of Afvrtle Lod,ge, Xo. 4, K. of 1' , 
and is connected with Aleridian Lodge. .\o. 35, 1!. 1'. 
O. E. He affiliates with Aleriden Lodge, Xo. yy. 
.\. F. & .\. AL, Keystone Chapter. Xo. 2;. R. .A. AL, 
J lamilton Council, Xo. 22. R. & S. AF, and .St. ]{lmo 
Commandery, K. T. In all these organizations ex- 
■cept the Commandery. he has passed through the 
■jirincipal chairs. Air. West is a vestryman in .All 
Saints' Memorial F'piscopal Church, where all his 
family worship. When he was nominated for 
mayor, it was said that his business comiections 
would prevent his giving proper attention to the 
duties of the office, but he was acknowledged to be 



the most faithful officer that has ever occupied the 
chair. 

In 1 8/ I, Edward F. West was married to Miss 
.Alice I'elton La Uarnes, daughter of George and 
Estlier (Whitney) La I'.arnes, all natives of Aleri- 
den. The names indicate I'rench and English an- 
cestry, on the i)aternal and maternal sides respect- 
ively. The first of the six children liorn to Air. 
an<l Airs. West — I'Vederick .Arthur, born in 1872 — 
died at the age of seven and one-half years. ( )f the 
others, l-'lorence .Annette is now the wife of Wil- 
bur -A. Goodrich, of Wallingford, Conn : .Albert Er- 
nest, now tem])orarily located in Chicago, in the in- 
terest of a Aleriden mamifacluring concern, makes 
liis home here; l''(lward Winsor. Leila L. and .Alice, 
all at home. The second daughter has thus had far 
onlv two birthdav annivers^.ries. having been born 
on 'l-'eb. 29, 1888.' 

Tl.MOTHV E. XORTOX, junior partner of 
the firm of Stone & Xorton. dealers in country prod- 
uce, at Xo. T,y}, State street, Xew Haven, is a na- 
tive of Xortli Aladison, Conn., born June 28, 1853, 
and is of the third generation of his family to bear 
the name of Timothy. 

Timothy Xorton, his grandfather, was ]irobably 
a native of the .\iitmcg .State, and he followed the 
occupation of a fanner, also engaging to some ex- 
tent in the West Indies trade. He shipped many- 
cargoes of nniles to those islands, the return voyage 
bringing the jjroducts of the tropics. 

Timothy Xorton, son of Timothy (i), grew to 
manhood in Aladison, and engaged in agricultural 
pursuits as a means of livelihood. He married Se- 
lina Xorton, who was born in Killingworth, Conn., 
a dau.ghter of Jonathan .Xorton, a farmer there, and 
she died in 1875. She became the mother of eight 
children, of whom four lived to maturity: Gris- 
wold, who died at I'ort Royal. S. C, in the Civil 
war; Abbie AL, wife of Osiiier Hill, a farmer of 
Aladison; Lewis L., who passed away at the age of 
tliirty-three ; and Timothv E. In politics Timothy 
Xorton was a Republican, and in religious belief a 
C<mgre,gationalist, serving as a deacon of that 
clun-ch for about forty years. 

Timothy I^. Xorton passed his earlv years on 
his father's farm, receiving his education in the dis- 
trict school, and also in the Xorth Aladison 
high school. .\i the age uf eighteen he went to 
Aleriden, and there for one year was emploved by 
Henry C. Kowe in the fish liusiness. In 1876 lie 
came to Xew Haven, and in company with .Sanford 
C. .Stone engaged in the ])roduce business, under the 
firm name of Stone & Xorton. I"or nineteen years 
they remained at their first location on Chapel street, 
and then removed to their present place of business, 
at Xo. 373 State street, where they are meeting with 
the greatest success. 

In 1874 Air. Xorton was married ti> Aliss I'annie 
E. Leonard, who was born in MiiUlletown. Conn., 
a daughter of George Leonard, and three children 



662 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



have been born to them, as follows : Louis L., 
Cora AI. and Ck-rtrude M. In his pohtical faith 
Mr. Norton is a Repuljlican. Socially he belong^s 
to City Lodge, No. 36, I. ( ). O. P.: and the Royal 
Arcanum, Davenport, No. 700. In his religious be- 
lief, like his father before him, he is a Congregation- 
alist, and he holds membership in the Dwight Place 
Church of that denomination. 

JOSEPH STEPllLX STOKES, one of the self- 
made and most highly-resi)ected citizens of INIcriden, 
was born June 8, 1845. in Wednesbury, Stafford- 
shire. England. 

John William Stokes, his father, was also born in 
W'ednesburv. a son of Sie]ihen Stokes, a gunlock- 
maker of that town, win re he lived and died, a faith- 
ful member of the Estalilished Church. John Will- 
iam .Stokes received such limited education as the 
iiatiunal schools of bis time afforded, and under 
his father's instructions learned the latter"s trade, 
which afforded him ()Ccu]i:ili(in for many years. He 
married Marth;i llirch. a native of the same place, 
and a daughter of Joseph llirch, a butcher of that 
town. Their children were seven in number, name- 
h: Joseph Stejihen ; J<ihn William, who died in 
boxliood : ( ieorgiana, deceased in infancy: Enoch 
Charles, now a resident of Minneapolis. ?\Iinn. ; 
(ienrge .\lfred, a citizen of Meriden : .\lfred Henry, 
of .\lonrreaI. Canada: and Sarah .\nn. who mar- 
ried E. (). (loodrich. resided several vears in .\n- 
.sonia, Conn., and is now deceased. The father with 
his wife and \ounger children came to America in 
iS^'ij. He loc.ited at .S[)ringfield, Alass., where he 
remained six y^■ars, in the service of the Wesson 
I'lre Arms C<i, In tlie meantime 'his son, whose 
name begins this .'irticle, had become established as 
a contractor in the gun shops of Parker Bros., in 
Meriden, luul in 1S73 ihr father came here to take 
a position with him in the same shops. Thus he 
spent fourteen years, and then retired from active 
labor, d\ing at his home in 1SS7; his remains were 
k'vingly dej)osited in Walnut (irove cemetcr\'. He 
was survived two years by his wife, who was. like 
himself, a faithful coin'mnnicant of tin- I^pi-copal 
C^hiu'ch. .'-^he was a devoted wife and mother, and 
a kind friend and neighbor. Mr. Stokes was noted 
for his inti'grit). kind heart and upright Christian 
character. Ik' and his wife were entitled to, and 
recei\-ed, the respect and cinnmendation of all who 
liad the privilege to know them. 

Joseph Stephen .Stokes was trained in early 
life to habits of industry, anil in bovhood laid tlie 
foundation of that sturdy independence and thrift 
which have cIiaractcTizi-d his life. His education 
was supplied liy the national schools of his native 
])laci-. and he began at an earl\- age to learn the 
trade of his father, under whose exam]ile and teach- 
ing he became a very skilled workman, .\fter the 
rcni()val of his jiarents to this countr\- he remained 
in Wednesbm-y. and became a contractor in the 
manufacture of guns, Ibiwever, he was soon con- 



vinced that the western world afforded better oppor- 
tunities for an ambitious man, and set sail from 
Liverpool I'd). 27,, i86g, arriving at New York in 
due time. He came directly to Meriden, the fame 
of whose products was not wholly unknown to him, 
and before the close of the year he was a contractor 
in Parker Brothers gun shops, to which occupation 
he has continuously given his attention up to the 
present time — a period of c>ver thirty-three years. 
In busy times he gives employment to seventy men. 
and his success is what might naturally be expected 
from a knowdedge of his character. Himself a 
skilled workman, he has surrounded himself with 
capable workmen, and his faithful attention to detail,, 
ami energetic supervision of the work in hand, has 
always brought satisfactory resxdts. In 1873 he 
built his present commodious and hand.some resi- 
dence on Queen street, Meriden, the finest on the 
street, and. ]5rovided with all modern conveniences. 
Of genial and companionable nature, Mr. Stokes- 
has naturally allied himself with numerous fraternal 
and beneficial associations. He has been for several 
terms Chancellor Commander of Myrtle Lodge, No. 
4, Knights of Pythias, and has also occupied the 
highest position in the State Grand Lodge of that 
order. He is a niember and founder of J. S. Stokes 
Company, Uniformed Rank, Knights of Pythias, 
and was made a brigadier general of that branch of 
the order in 1901. During its e.xistence Mr. Stokes 
was connected with the Order of Chosen Friends. 
He has occupied many positions of honor in rhe 
Masonic fraternity, being a past master of C'enter 
Lodge, No. 07. .\. E. & .A. M. : past high priest of 
Keystone Chapter, No. 2~. R. .\. M. : past illustrious 
master of Hamilton Council, No, 22, R. & S. M.; 
and was eminent commander of St. Elmo Coni- 
mandery, K. T. He has represented Meriden 
Lodge, No. 35, Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks, in the Grand Lodge, and has served as exalted 
ruler and district deputy. .As past chief ranger of 
Court Excelsior, No. 6. I'oresters of .\merica, he 
was its delegate to the convention at Detroit which 
had under discussion, and settled for that order, the 
matter of a ci )lor line. 

( )ii .\i)|-il 0, 1865, Mr. Stokes was married in 
his natixe place to Miss Elizabeth Heseltine, who 
is now the only survivor of eight children born to 
Riehard and Nora (Gill) Heseltine. Richard Hesel- 
tine was a clothing merchant at I'.ilston, Stafford- 
shire. England, for many years: both he and his wife 
were adherents of the Established Church, and were 
worthv of the universal respect which they enjoyed. 
Mrs. Stokes is the admirable companion of her hus- 
band in dispensing the cheerful hospitality of their 
delightful home, and is a lady of many graces of 
cliaracter. With her luisband she is numbered 
annjug the actiw and useful members of St. An- 
drew's Episco])al Church of Meriden. .She re- 
mained in England a \car after .Mr. Stokes' removal 
to this countr\ . and was^ccomjianied hither by their 
onh child, .\ngelo |ohn .Stokes, who was born Dec. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



663 



26, i86fi. lie was t-ducati-d in Mcridi'ii, ;ui<l is now 
an cnsrraver. ajiprcciatcd as one of the most valu- 
able on the staff of the International Silver Co, I le 
married Etta, a daiioliier of C'harles C. Camp, of 
Midtlletown. IK- is a hijjhlv resjiccted memher of 
the .Masonii- fraurnity. identified with C'enter 
Lodge, A. I~. & A. M. : Keystone Chai)ter, R. A. .M. ; 
and Hamilton C'ouncil, R. &■ ."^. .\1. In |iol:iios a 
Republican, he is recotjnized as a youny; man of 
more than ordinary character and moral force, and. 
reflects credit u]>on his jKirentat^e and training. 

A man of hioli moral ])rincii)les and i;entlenianlv 
instincts, Josejjh S. Stokes is mucli esteemed in the 
comimmity where he has ])assed a life of industrv 
and effort to build n]) all that is ennoblins;- in Iiunian 
character, and all who liave had an opportnnitv lo 
oi)serve his career unite in the ho])e that he ma\ 
be enaliled to continue his lalxjrs for manv \ears t" 
come. 

JARl-:i) WAKXF.R ( deceased 1 was born in 
Hamden, Conn., Jan., 1831, a son of Samuel War- 
ner, who was a native of the same town, though 
not born in the same house. Samuel Warner was a 
farmer and served in the war of 1S12: he died on 
the old homestead. Abigail (iorham. his wife, was 
a native of Hamden, and was the mother of ten 
children: .'^usan (deceased, Mary .\nn, Cornilins 
(deceased), Jared (deceased), .\enea?. 1 lenry. |-".l- 
len, Cornelia (deceased), Adelia (<lcccased) and 
Frances (deceased). 

, Jared \\'arner was reare<l on the paternal acres, 
and in his early manhcxKl worked in an auger fac- 
tory. .\l)out thirty-five years mn> he came to West- 
villc and started a .grocery, which he carried on al- 
most to the time'of iiis death, which occurred .\pril 
22, 190 1, when he was aged seventy years. 

On Oct. 23. 1853, Jared Warner was luarried to 
Louisa Mix. who was born at Kingsbury, Washing- 
ton Co., X. \.. a daughter of .Samuel .Mix. a car- 
riage maker, who was born in Wallinu''ford, t'nnn.. 
June 23, \'/()2. and died in .\rgvle. .\. \'., in i8c«). 
Samuel Mix married I 'oily Moore, who was born 
May 7, 1791, and died March iS, iSfiS: to this 
union was l)orn a familv of five children : Sallw 
wdio married .\l)ram Sebring, of .Arrvle. X. ^'. ; 
William, an engineer in Rose. Xew N'urk: l.ydia. 
wdio married Dax'iil I-'rost. of Maine: Louisa, 
who married Mr. Warner: and N'crsil, who is a 
farmer and carriage maker. John Mix, the father 
of Samuel, was born in Wallingfoi-d. (^'onn., and was 
a pioneer in the spo m-making business. William 
Moore, the father of I'ollv ( Moore) .Mi.x, was born 
in Boston, Mass.. Xov. 10, 173S. and served in the 
war of the Revolution : he settled in Kingsbury, X. 
Y., at that time far in the wilderness, where he died. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Jared Warner were born: 
Carrie, who married '/.. \\ . Coo])er, of \\est\ille: 
William, who is unmarried: b.dward, w!io is asso- 
ciated with the Royal I'.aking Com])any, and has 
Iiis home in Boston; Giarles S., wluj is with his 



brother William, who sncceeiled to his father's gro- 
cery business in Westville; and l\a\inond \'., who 
died at the age uf two vears and eight months. Mr. 
\\ arner was a Re])ul)lican, ;nid with his famiK at- 
leniled the I'-piscopal Church. 

EDWARD l'"OOT THOMl'SOX. The Thomp- 
son family in Connecticut was founded bv three 
brothers, John, .-Vntlionx- and William, who came 
Irom l-enbam, Coimtv Kent. England, where the 
old manor house still stands, and were signers of 
the Colony Constitution, in i')39. John Thoni])- 
son, the son of John, nsarried I'riscilla Row"ell, both 
<if whom were natives of I-last Haven, ancl their son 
John was born in I-'ast Haven, in \(i(ij. and married 
.Merc\ Mansfield, daughter of .\laj.)r Moses .Mans- 
field. John Thom])son, son of John and Mercw 
was born in i-~ast Haven, in \('><.)2. while his son 
.Stephen Thompson was born in 1723. The present 
Thompson residence, and also the old stone church, 
which is a landmark, were partly built by Ste]jhen 
Thompson, in 1774. but he fell and so injured his 
skidl that tre])anning was necessary. 

James Thom])son, son of Stei)hcn and grand- 
father of l-ldward I-"., of tills biography, was liorn 
in 17<SS, and died March 7, 1851, married Lydi.i 
Chidsey. They had a family of ten boys and one 
girl: .Ste|)hen. Mary, Leonard, Xathaniel. Henrv. 
I'.lizur, James, .Vbraham. .Abraham, Edward E., and 
Haynes, l-'or many years Xathaniel was ])resident 
of the Mivhanics ISank. 

Edward E. Thompson, the father of Edward I"., 
was born in the old East Haven Iwime, Oct. 10, 1817, 
and died .Mav 22. 1888. His marriage was to Caro- 
line Smith, who was born in East Haven, a daugh- 
ter of Stejjhen .Smith, who was a son of Xehemiali 
.^mith. a son of Job: a son of John, wiio settled in 
South Haven. The four chiblren of this marriage 
were: James Smith: l-'dward I'oot : William Ells- 
worth; and John Root. William and John died in 
cliildhood. James graduated from 'S'ale Colle.ge in 
1877, from the law school and became a juilge in 
this city, dving in i8i>7. 

ICdward l-'oot Thompson was born in l-"ast Ha- 
ven, Conn.. Ian. 10. 1858, and spent his boylnKid 
days in b'ast Haven, attending the local schools, the 
.Xew Haven schools, i iopkins (Jrammar School, also 
Selleck's .Military School, at Xorwalk. .After this 
thorough educational drill, .Mr. Tliomi)son sjient 
some lime <in the farm, and has been engaged in 
various eiuer|)rises. making several tri|)S to the 
Western coast. 

( )n ()ct. 22. 18S4. .Mr. Thompson was married to 
Charlotte Lancraft, who was born in East Haven, 
a daughter of William and Josephine (L'hidsey) 
Lancraft. natives of I'^ast Haven, where he was born 
.April 17, 1833, and she in 1841. 'The parents of 
\Villiam Lancraft were William and .\manda 
( I'rosl ) Lancraft. the killer of .Xorth Haven, wh'-e 
ancestor was ihe lirst ma\or of Xew ^drk City, and 
descendaiu of John Llioi and 'Thomas Hooker. The 



664 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



next <a:eneratioii was (icor^o and Sarali (Jncelin) 
Laiicraft, the former bom in luist ]laven, tlic latter 
probably of Hlolland stock. 

The Chiflsey liome was orij^iiially in Chidscy, 
England (at that time S[)elled L'hedsey ). and Deacon 
John Chidsey, of Center Cluirch, \ew i laven, came 
from there with his wife, I-".h'/abctb. I lis name is 
attaclied to the Coloin ci in>titntii in in i'>44, and he 
located at Stonv Ri\er. Deacon t'akb L'hidsey 
married Anna 'riionipson. and their s(in, Caleli, 
married Abigail Smith. Isaac lliidsey, son of Caleb 
and .-Nbigail, married Sarah Ihadley. and served in 
the RcN'olntionary war. Sanuiel C'hidsey. son of 
Isaac and Sarah, marrit-(l jlctscy 1 lojt, and was a 
captain in tin- lucal niililia. Sanniel, son of Capt. 
Sanniel, married J'lslher I'.radk}-, and the\ became 
the jiarents of Jose])hini'. 

.\ family of I wo children were l)orn to Air. and 
Mrs. 'I'hompsc n. .\largerv I'.llswnrlh and Doris 
Eliott. In politics, .M |-. Thiimpson is a Republican, 
and has been assessor of I'.ast i laven for man_\' }'ears. 
in .Vovember, l<Si;(i, hv was electeil Representative, 
and is now the very efficient connlv commissioner, 
and is clerk of the Railroad committee in the House, 
and for some time was a member of the b.iard of ' 
education, .Mrs. I'liompson is a nieml>er of the 
Mary Clapp W'ooster t'bapter. Daughters of .Amer- 
ican Re\'olution, and is jiresident of the Woman's 
Club, of Mast lla\en. .'■^■iciallv, Mr. Thompson is 
connected with the I'liiini League Clul), and l)oth 
he and his wife are prmnin^-in in social circles, and 
leading members of the Congre,gational Chtirch. 
The old homestead has been in the family name for 
over Joo years. 

CHARLES W()()DW.\RD (,.\>L()R1), M, 
D., one of the foremost plnsicians of I'lranford, and 
the oldest practitioner of that place, was born in 
Wallingford, this coinit\, .\ug. jX, 1846, a son of 
David 1'. and I'.ertha 1 I'lartholomew ) (Jaylord, 
'J he father was liorn in 1S14, and was a fanner Iiv 
occu])ation. His faniilv consisted of the following 
children: Charles \\\, William 1!., Ida \V. and 
I'Vank : the last nanu'd died in iiifancw William \\. 
(iaylord. who was a merchant in .Meriden, died at 
the age of forty. He tirst marrit'd .Mary Jerrold, 
who died leaving no chihlren, and his second union 
was with Julia llodgkinson, by whom he had one 
son, David W., who is now living in Hartford, 
Comi. Jda (jaylord became the wife of b'rank 
r>rown, of Meriden, and had one d.iughter, Rertha, 
David (Iaylord was a Repn])lie;m in political senti- 
ment, and for some time was the only man of that 
political faith on (he west side of Wallingford, In 
religion he was a member of the (_'ongregational 
Church, He died July 27, i8(/i. 

The Doctor's paternal grandi)arents were b'hn 
and Hetsy (Tuttle) (jaylord, farming people of 
\\'allingford ; the former was Ijorn in 171)0, and 
served in the war of 1812, He was a son of John 
Gaxlord, Ixirn in j 752-3, a veteran of the Revolution, 



and a farmer on the west side of \Vallingford, This 
John (Jaylord was a son of Nathan Gaylord, who 
was born in 1724, and died in Cheshire, July 2, 1802. 
fic was a son of John Gaylord, born April 12, 1677, 
at Bucks Hills, and who made his home at Durham, 
moving later in life to Wallingford, where he died 
i" 1753- There his wife, Elizabeth, also died, Dec. 
^9> 1751- This John Gaylord was a son of Joseph 
Gaylord. who was born in 1649, while Joseph W'as 
a son of Walter Gaylord, who was born in England, 
a son of Deacon William Gaylord, Deacon Will- 
iam came to America in 1630 and located at Wind- 
sor, Conn., in 1636 with the earliest settlers, and be- 
came one of the leading citizens there. Throughout 
the various generations of this family its repre- 
sentatives were among the leading people of the 
comnumity. The maternal grandparents of Dr. 
Gaylortl were William and Hannah (ISronson) 
R)artholomew, of Wolcott, 'Connecticut. 

Charles W. Gaylord began his education in the 
district school and continued same at the Connecti- 
cut Literary Institute, at Sufifield. Conn., from which 
he was graduated in 1866. He worked on the farm 
until eighteen years of age. In the fall of 1866 he 
entered Yale College, graduating from the Acade- 
mic Department in 1870, and from the Medical 
School in 1872. The young Doctor spent some 
time in the Bellevue Hospital, and in the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. In 
the fall of 1872 he was engaged for a brief time in 
the practice of medicine in Wallingford, and in 
December of that year, he came to Branford, where 
he entered upoti a professional career that has con- 
tinued to the present time without a break or stain. 

Dr. (Jaylord was married Eeb. 27, 1873, to Anna 
Rose, a daughter of Asa and Electa A. (Bushnell) 
Rose, of Essex, Conn., and by this union has be- 
come the father of six children: L. Vincent, Bertha 
R.,.\nnie 1'^. ( who has just entered Vassar College), 
Charles \\'.. Ruth Margaret and Donald David. Dr. 
(.Jaylord is a member of the Congregational Church, 
and his professional associations are with the New 
Haven County and the State Medical Societies, and 
the American Medical .Association. .Prominently 
identified witli the school interests of Branford, he 
is a broad-minded and public-spirited man, cs- 
jiecially in educational lines. For over twenty years 
lie has been a member of the board of education, and 
jmrt of the time its chairman, also serving as act- 
ing school visitor. Dr. Gaylord is a trustee of the 
Blackstone Memorial Library of Branford, of which 
he was one of the incorporators, and he has always 
been comieclcd with the institution. In politics he 
is a stanch Rc]Miblican. 

I'M'^.W. Tlu' I'lim famil}', of which Dr. .\v,t 
II. and luilge Willis I. I'"enn. well-known citizens 
<if .Meriden, are worthy descendants, is one of the 
oldest in Xew Haven county, 

I'-dward b'emi. tradition says, was the first of the 
name in the New Haven Colon v, was a native of 




CJi-.^/a^.f^,^cyC^n.^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



66 s 



Ensfland, and is supixjsetl to have been one of three 
Lrothers who eame to Anieriea with the early set- 
tlers. Benjamin, another of the brothers, settled in 
-Milford, Fairfield county, and the third brother, 
Theopliilus, settled in Litchfield. I'.dward located 
in the new settlement of \\allin.y:for<l. Conn., where 
he became a lar,y;e laiul owner, and there he died on 
l"eb. 2, 1728. at tlie as:e of eighty-fonr. His first 
marriage, Nov. 15, 1688, was to Mary Thorn, who 
died on July 24, 1725. and his second marriage took 
place Jan. 26. 1726, to Abigail Williams. His chil- 
dren were: Mary, born Sej)!. 2y. 1689: Elizabeth, 
born April 29. 1692. who on May 21. 1722, nuir- 
ried John ]Moss ; Sarah, born Nov. 24, i')94. who 
on Aug. 15, 1728, married Solomon Moss: Theo- 
])hilus, lx)rn Jan. 28. \(k)S. who married Martha 
Doolittle; John, born March 2,^, 1702, who married 
Sarah Doolittle: Hannah, horn Dec. 13. 1704. who 
married Thomas Doolittle: Thomas, born Sept. 13. 
1707, who married Lydia Ackley ; and Xaomi, born 
Mav 10. 17 12, who on Nov. 21. 1732. married Sam- 
uel Frost. 

rheo]3hilus l-"enn. son of lulward. was born Jan. 
28, 1698, in W'allingford. where he accumulated 
property and sjienl his life. On May 24. 1722. lie 
was married to .Martha Doolittle. who was ba])ti7.ed 
in i6(;8, daughter of .'^anuiel l>iolittlc. and grantl- 
daughter of Abraham Doolittle. who was the first 
settler of that famih- in .\iuerica. To lliis union 
came Elizabeth, liorn < )ct, 2^. 1723. who married 
Solomon Moss: Martha, born Sept. 23. 1723, who 
married Levi Moss, son of John and I'llizabeth Moss. 
June 19. 1743; Bethia. born Feb. 18, 1728, who mar- 
ried Joseph Austin; Benjamin, born .Aug. 3. 1730, 
who died in 1819, at the age of eighty-nine: Va\- 
ward. mentioned below: Phebe. hot l-'eb. 12, i73.T' 
who married Timothy Hart. March 6, 1757: Theo- 
pliilus. horn Feb. 20. 1737, who died Xov. 8. i/T,/: 
Eunice, born March 16. 1741. who married David 
Way; Susannah, bom Sept. 28, 174''); and Tiieo- 
philus, born in 1748. who married .\nn Rood. 

Edward I'enn. son of Theo|)hihis, was born Sept. 

2. 1732, and located in what is now known as the 
North h'arms District, in Wallingford, where he 
lived on land taken up by his grandfather, and the 
grant of deed is now in the possession of Nathan 
Eenn, of Meridcn. and bears the date of A[ay 21, 
1722. in the eighth year of the reign of King George 
of England. Edward Fenn was a cooper by trade. 
He spent all his life in the old place, dying at the 
age of eight\-ninc. His wife was Demaris Austin, 
of Wallingford. who died .April I, 1793. and the 
children born to their marriage were: Edward, 
who became a soldier in the Revolutionary war, died 
Jan. 6, 1834, in Wallingford. .\ustin married 
Hannah Tves. who died ^iav 20. 1829; he died July 
30. 1845. .Abigail married .\masa Hart. Theo- 
philus, born Jan. 12. ijfyq. married Polly Dibble, and 
died July 30. i860, at the age of ninety-one. 
Fleuben married Thankful Darrow. and died .April 

3. 1837. Susan married Luman Horton, of Litch- 



field county. Martha married a Mr. .Austin, and 
died in 1820. Sarah, born Dec. 27. 1773, married 
Noah Cidver. Xabbv married .Kmasa Hart, re- 
moved to X'ennont, and died -Aug. 22. i87(), at the 
age of eighty-five. Joel marrie<l Hannah Curtis. 

Joel I'enn, the grandfather of Dr. .Ava H. and 
Judge Willis I. I'enn, was born .\pril 1. 1781. in the 
old homestead in North h'arms, and followed the 
business of coopering all his life, his death occur- 
ring .\pril I, 1825. at the comparatively early age of 
forty-four, his family being noted for longevity, 
liis wife. Hannah Curtis, was born in Wallingford, 
a daughter of Joel and Hannah ( Kelsey ) Curtis, 
and died .Aug. 22. i&/(>, at the age of eight v-five. 
1 hey became the j)arents of the following children ; 
( I ) Martha, born Sejn. 1 1, 1812, died Jan. 25, 1857; 
she married March 2^, 1843, Morgan Williams, of 
.Meriden, who died in 1900. (2) .Abner. born Afay 
17. 1813. died -Sept. 2i). 1864; on .April 29. 1846. he 
married Maryette Tntlle. (3) Hubbard, liorn Oct. 
2~. 1814. died Sejit. 9. 18S4: he married Jennie E. 
\Vhiting, of Branford, Conn. (4) Joel was born 
-Aug. 15. 1817. (5) Thankful, born .April 21, 1822, 
died in April, 1832: slie married Elijah Lee. of 
Sclma, Ala. (6) Nathan, born March 13. 1824, a 
jeweler and watchmaker in Meriden, married Susan 
M. Nettleton, of Killingwortli ; they had children- 
Martha .Morgan, born March 13. 1833. who mar- 
ried .S. S. Bodnrtha, of .Agawani, Mass.: .\bner N., 
born March 4, 1837, an engineer: Hubliard Henry, 
Ixirn June 17, i8<'ki, a jeweler in Meri<len : and Joel 
.Alden, born Jan. 22, 1870, a machinist. 

Joel Fenn, the father oi Dr. and Jndge Fenn, 
with whom this sketch is directly concerned, was 
born .Aug, 13, 1817, and died Nov. 19. 1892. in Meri- 
den, and his remains lie in the beautiful cemetery of 
Walnut (irove. .An architect and Iniilder by oc- 
cupation, he followed his trade in the .State of New 
"S'ork, and in Wallingfortl and Plainviile, Conn., 
but spent the remainder of his life in Meriden. 
There he also engaged in manufacturing for several 
years, part of the time in partnership with his 
lirolhcr Nathan, in the manufacture of matches. 
Joel I'cnn was a man of integrity, a hard worker. .1 
good citizen, and highly esteemed wherever known. 
In his earlier life he was an opponent of slavery, 
was a stanch supporter of l-"reiiionl. and u])on its 
organization united with the Republican party, in 
the success of which he was actively interested, 
though not as an office seeker. He was of a do- 
mestic nature, and a most exemplary husband and 
father. In the Baptist Church he was well known 
as a man of high Christian character. 

Joel Fenn was married to Marv H. Hamlin, 
who was born in Plainviile, Conn., a daughter of 
.Ava and Nancv (Gillette) Hamlin, and she still sur- 
vives at the age of eighty years. Her connection 
with the Baptist Church has covered a long pcriinl, 
and she is known and Iieloved as a kind neighlKtr and 
a most devoted mother. The members of the family 
born to loel and Mar\ 11. I'enn are among the most 



666 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



highly esteemed residents of this city, and well rep- 
resent their old and honorable ancestry. They are : 
(i) Ava Hamlin is mentioned more fully below. 
(2) Carrie Elvira Jennette, born Dec. 9, 1848, was 
married on Feb. <j, 1876. to Charles L. Bodurtha, 
who died Nov. 5. i87<;. They had one child, Mil- 
dred F., born July 20, 1870. who graduated from 
the high schcxjl in Meriden and also from the Con- 
necticut State Normal. New liritain. and is now a 
school teacher in the latter city. (3) Joel, born Sept. 
24, 1 85 1, married. Nov. 28, 1877, Katie J. Forbes, 
and resides in Aleriden, where he is a carriage build- 
er. They have had three children: Ina May, born 
A])ril 23, 1880, who died March 15, T887: Burton 
W.. born Oct. 8, 1883 : and I lamlin S.. born May 23, 
1896. (4) Willis I. is uK'nlioned more fullv lielow. 
(5) Edward, born Dec. 15, 1S60. died Dec. 19, 1862. 

.■\va Hamlin Fenn. .M. D., eldest child of Joel 
and Mary H. Fenn. was born in Elm street. \Val- 
lingford, April 15, 1847, ami reni<i\ed with his par- 
ents to Plainville, where be attended the District 
.schools. He had previously attended the schools of 
Wallingford. He learned tiie trade of carpenter 
and joiner with his fatlnr, and after workins: with 
lum a tew }ears started for himselt in Meriden as 
a builder. Later he became engaged in the manu- 
facturing business in Meriden, in the luanufacturing 
of matclies. Having had a strong desire from earlv 
boyhood, for the Medical Profession, he took up the 
reading of medicine under Dr. Neiienliah Nicker- 
son, of Meriden, and later entered the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons, I'altimore, where he grad- 
uated in i88f), with the degree of M. D. Return- 
ing to Meriden, he has for the past fifteen years 
practiced his chosen profession with skill and gen- 
tleness, and has won esteem and confidence by his 
genial and unostentatious manner. He is a modest 
man, and attends strictly to his |irofession, in which 
he has met with gratifying success. He is a mem- 
ber of the New Haven Countv Medical Society, and 
also of the City Medical Six-icty. of which latter he 
was secretary and later ])resident. He is a member 
of ud lodge. Liberal in chtu-ch views, he attends 
the i'.aptist Church. 'Pulitically the Doctor is a 
Republican, lint not a ])olitician though be has served 
as alderman in the city council from the Second 
ward, to which positiDU he was elected in 1896: as 
chairman of the lu;dtli and water boards in 1898; 
and the health and fire committees, proving himself 
a true. ]niblic-s])irited citizen. 

On Nov. 13. 1881), Dr. I'enn married Miss Letitia 
Burrell. of Rucklanil. .MasN.. and tlu'\- have one 
child, ICclward P.urrell. born Jul\- 2~. i8g3. 

Wii.i.is 1. I'k.v.v. dei)iity judge of the Meriden 
Citv Court, was born in Wallingford, and removed 
to Plainville, wherr lie attended school, finishing in 
the Meriden schools. Having a strong inclination 
for the legal profession he I'mered the law office of 
Judge I'juerson .\. Merriman, where lie read law 
for two years. In 1880 he ente'-ed Vale Law 
School, and graduated therefrom, after a two-vears' 



course, in the class of 1881, after which he was ad- 
mitted to practice his chosen profession in the courts 
of Connecticut. He began legal practice in Meri- 
den where for the past twenty years he has, through 
his ability and strict attention to duty, wou for him- 
self a front place among the leading lights of the 
Bar. In 1895, he was appointed by the State Leg- 
islature as deputy judge of the city court of Meri- 
den, for a session of two years ; was re-appointed 
by the Legislature for another session; and in 1901 
was re-appointed for another two years. He fills 
the office with dignity, and metes out justice with 
an even hand. Of a very unassuming and genial 
disposition, he has throueh his kind and afifahle 
manner made hosts of friends. In political senti- 
ment Mr. Fenn is a stanch Republican and stands 
high in the ranks of the party. In 1882 he was 
elected to the city council from the Second ward, 
and served four years : was alderman for the same 
ward one term ; register of voters for twelve years ; 
and discharged all the duties of all these incumben- 
cies with ability and credit. In 1900 he was the 
nominee of his party as candidate for representative 
of Meriden, and polled a large vote, losing the 
election by one vote only. In religion Mr. Fenn is a 
memher of the First Baptist Church, and is a trus- 
tee of same. He is a trustee of the Y. M. C. .\.. 
and also of the I. O. O. F.. uniting with the Meriden 
Center Lodge, of which he is past grand. The 
Judge is quiet and domestic in his habits. He is 
unmarried and makes his home with his mothe'-, 
to whom be is nuich devoted. Temperate in his 
habits, loyal in his filial duties, active in the welfare 
of his cotiinumitw and a])le in the discharge of the 
im])ortant judicial responsible duties which have 
been intrusted to him. he is indeed a model citizen, 
one who.se cpu'duct in every relation of life is 
worthv of emulation. 

XEHLMIAH ILVRDV HOYT. president of the 
I Hoyt Beef and Produce Co.. of New Haven, is the 
) son of NVhemiah Hardy and Luc\- Baldwin ( Dur- 
and ) Hnvt. and a descendant in the eighth genera- 
tion from John Hovt, who was one of the first set- 
tlers of Salisliurv, ^lass., where he is on record as 
early as i'")39. John Hovt was born in i('ii2. and 
had two wives, each of whom bore the name of 
Franct\s. He was a man of jirominence in the 
colonv, filled man\' local offices, and died on his farm 
in 1(187. 

I'rom John 1 toyt the line of descent to Nehemiaii 
H,irdy, of New Haven, is through Thomas, Eph- 
raim, Ejihraim (2). \\'illi;im. .\bi-aham. and Nehe- 
miaii llard\- Hoyt. 

Thomas Hoyt. the son of John, was horn in 
i'i4o in .'^alishurv. married Mar\- Brown, daughter 
ol William Prown. of S;ilisbur\', ;mil dit'd in iCkjo. 

i'4)lir;um Hovt, the son of Thomas, was born in 
\(ij\. married Hannah Codfrev, in 1605, a second 
Hannah Codfrev in 1736. and h'.lizabelh Macrest in 
1738. He lived and died in Hampton I'alls. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



667 



Ephraiin Hayt (2), son of Ephraim. married 
three wives. Sarah Cloutrh. Al)i,y;ail Welch and Sus- 
annah . Me hved in Hampton Falls until 

1757, and then removed to Chester. X. II.. where he 
died in 1767. 

\\'illiam lloyt. son of Kphraim. married Sarah, 
a daughter of llenjamin Smith, and lived in Exeter, 
X. H. He served in the I'Venoh and Indian war, 
and was a soldier in the American RevolutidU. be- 
ing killed in battle, July 5, 1777. 

Abraham llnyt. son of William, was horn in 
1764, married lU-thiah Estebrook in 1793, and lived 
many years at 1 lartford. \t.. removing to Rovalton, 
in the same Slate, where he died in i<S4i, his wife 
having died in \H2(>. 

Xehemiah I lardy 1 loyl. son of Abraham, and the 
father of the gentleman whose name appears at the 
introduction of this article, was born m Hebron, X. 
H., I'eb. 2-,. 180S. and on Oct. 2. 1831. married Mrs. 
Eucy ( llaldwin ) l)m-and. daughter of Jesse ludd- 
win. and to this miion came children as follows: 
(I) Sarah M.. burn June 24. 1832. married (iieorge 
.\. Lord in 1 852. and .\I)ron Laml) in 1(863. (2) 
Euc\- .\.. born .March 6. 1834, married llenr\- !■". 
Hotchkiss. in 1852. and William H. .\brams, in 
18(14. (3) L'larissa 'P., born June 22, 1838, married 
I'erlin \Varriner .\u.g. 22. \Hy). (41 Susie M., 
born Jul\- 2H. 1840. married James II. Lee in 1867. 
(5) Xatiian I!.. Ixirn Jidy 23. 1842. married Frank 
I\r. Rartlett in 1866, and was a bonnet and hat manu- 
facturer in Xew Haven. He served in a Connect- 
icut regiment in the Civil war, and jiarticipated in 
the first battle of I'ull Run : for more than two years 
he was a steward in the hospital service of the 
regular army, and is still living in X'ew Haven. (6) 
Nehcmiah Hardy, born Oct. 2, 1844. in Xew Haven, 
was married ( )ct. 2. 1866. to Emma J., a daughter of 
William I'. Cardner. an organ builder in Xew 
Haven. 

Xehemiah I Lard\- llovt had his education in the 
Xew Haven citv schools. an<l while still a boy be- 
gan work at the machinist trade, which was his busi- 
ness for seven years. In i8Cx), in company with 
James H. Lee. he began a wholesale meat business, 
the partnership continuing to i8()9. At first their 
business was done in a small way, but under care- 
ful management and ])ainstaking attention it l)ecame 
vcryr successful. In 1899 Mr. Lee retired and a 
joint stock com]>any was formed, which took the 
name of the Hoyt I'.eef and Produce Company, with 
^\r. ITovt as ])resident. The business has become 
very extensive, the house buying enormous quan- 
tities of beef, butter and eggs, and shipping all over 
Xew England. Their present building on I'nion 
Street, five stories high, was cspeciallv fitted up for 
the business. Mr. lloyt does the buying for the 
house on the Xew ^'ork markets, and his son Charles 
W^, the .secretary and treasurer of the com|)anv, is 
the general manager of the ftfficc business. They 
emplov fiftv men in Xew Haven, and have two 
salesmen on tlie road. 



Of tlic children of Xehemiah llarily and Emma 
J. ((iardner) Hoyt, ( I ) Qiarles W. was graduated 
from Yale in \Si)~. taking a course in mechanical 
engineering: he is a memlx-r of the Xaval Reserve. 
In 1897 he married Effie Smith, of jialtimore, a 
daughter of Henry Smith, and they have one child. 
Winthrop Clayton. ( 2 ) Samuel E. graduated from 
^'aie in iS*)~. and from tiie Law Deiwrtmcm of 
^'ale in 18*^9, and is now engaged in legal jiractice 
in .\ew Haven. He married (irace .\lvord. of 
Iiri(lgei)ort. 

Mr. Hoyt is a Republican in his political re- 
lations, and is associated with the Congregjuional 
Church. He belongs to Harmony Lodge. Xo. 1 . 
.\. V. & .\. M.. and is past grand in Relief Lodge, 
Xo. 89. 1. (). O. I-. Mr. Hoyt has l<ing been a 
member of the Cnion League Club. 

Cll.\kl,i:S i:i)\\ IX 1'.\KK, .M. D.. comes of 
a well-known family of Connecticut, his father. Ed- 
win Averv I'ark. being one of the noted ]>hysicians 
of the State, his jiaternal ancestry being easily traced 
as far back as the year if)30. 

Edwin .\very Park was born in Preston. Xew 
London Co.. Conn.. Jan. 2/. 1817, a son of P.enjamin 
I'ranklin and Hannah ( .\very ) Park, the father a 
farmer and merchant in Preston, where he lived and 
died in the old homestead, which has been in the 
family for generations. 

lienjamin I'ranklin Park was the son of Elisha. 
who -was the son of Rev. Paul Park — a minister 
who preached in the same church, in his native 
town, for over fifty years — and he was a sroi of 
Hezekiah Park, a son of Robert Park, who with 
his wife and three sons came from Ivngland. in i''30. 
and settled in Boston, Mass. The English ances- 
tors of the familv resided in Lancashire, and the late 
Raron Park, of England, descended from the same 
ancestral line, the name until within a few years be- 
ing written with a final e. 

Dr. Edwin .\very Park spent his earlv life U|)on 
his father's farm, working there (luring the stunmer 
and attending school during the winter, and at the 
age of sixteen beginning to be a teacher, himself. 
For several seasons he taught schrml, and then be- 
came a student at Wilbraham .\cademy, but when 
about twenty-one took uj) the serious studv of medi- 
cine, in Durham, under the tuition of Dr. Rufns 
Wellington Matthewson. For several years he con- 
tinued with this noted practitioner, in the meantime 
taking a ccjurse oi lectures in the Xew \'ork Medi- 
cal College, and later in the Vale .Medical College, 
graduating from the latter institution in 1846. M 
once o])ening an office. Dr. Park so.in found his 
services in demand. Cntil this time he had carveil 
out his own career, as limited means jirevented 
main of his cherished ))lans being ]>iu into execi'.- 
tion. but his energetic and resolute character had 
enabled him to overcome many difficulties, and when 
he took up his ])ractice. he fomid himself well pre- 
pared to gain and keep the confidence of the |)ublic. 



668 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



I)urini;- the Civil war, he was stii'seon oi the enroll- 
iiii;- hoard in association with Col. Dexter R. 
\\'rii^ht, and in that position he performed efficient 
and valuahle service. .\ man of liheral and active 
mind, well-informed, ready hut not rash, he won the 
res]»ect of his medical associates and was ecjiiallv es- 
teemed in social circles. 

In 1853 Dr. Park married Hester .\nn, daugh- 
ter of Oharles J. Allen, of Xew Haven, and five 
children were born of this union, the survivors he- 
in.tj: Catherine B.. Hester M., l-'ranklin A., and 
Charles E. (Of the brothers of Dr. Park, none re- 
:nain : Chief Justice Park, of the Supreme Court 
of Comiecticut, is deceased ; Albert was a prominent 
attorney of Xorwicli : and Ral])!] II., who last lived 
in Boston, was the late principal of tlie W'ooster 
school, of Xew Idaven. The death of Dr. Park 
occurred on Jan. 17. 1H71;. 

I~roni his early (kiys Dr. Charles P. Park was 
marked for the practice of medicine, having in- 
lierited much of his father's trend of mind. He was 
born Oct. 24, 1857, and after attendance at the ])ul)- 
lic schools and at Cren, Russell's Military School, he 
began the systematic .study of the ])rofession whicii 
be has adorned for a number of years. So tlmr- 
ough was the instruction that he received from liis 
father, that he was soon prepared for ^'ale, from 
which Medical school he graduated in June, 1881. 
naturally associating with his father and taking ujj 
the practice which the latter had only resigned at 
<leath. 

Dr. Park was married to Miss (jrace B. Car- 
jienter, of Whitehall, Mich., and one child has been 
born of this union: Theo Marguerite. .Mthough 
Dr. J 'ark does not pose as a leader in medical cir- 
cles, neither does be lag behind, his practice em- 
bracing some of the best clientage of the city. Pro- 
fessionally he is well known as an actiAc member of 
the ^Tedical societies of New Haven county, and 
citv, the ?iledical Association of the State of Con- 
necticut and also of the American Medical Associa- 
tion. I'raternally he is a ^2(1 Degree Scottish Rite 
Mason, and jironiinent in llir.im Lod.ge, .\. F. & 
A. M. ; Franklin C"ha])ter : Hanii(.in\- ("ouncil ; Xew 
Haven Commandery : Pyramid Temple. Mystij 
Shrine: A. O. V'. \\'.. and Improved C)r(ler of Hep- 
tasophs, and is exatniner for lioth orders, and be is 
a member of the Knight's 'J'emplar's Club. For 
niaiiv years, like his resjjectcd father, he has been 
connected with the Cnited Congregational C_'btn-ch. 

Ll'^rAX FRAXKIJX P.\RKI:R, an old and 
liigbh- respected citizen of Meriden, was born Aug. 
18. 1813, in Coventry, Chenango Co., X. Y., and is 
a worthy descendant of one of the oldest families 
in Xew England. 

(I) William Parker, the first of the name in 
Connecticut, settled first at Hartford, later at Sa\- 
brook. He had three sons, William. Ralph and 
John. 

(II) John Parker, yoinigesi of tin- above men- 



tioned family, was the ancestor of all bearing the 
name in Xew Haven county. He had five children, 
as follows: John, born Oct. 8, 1646: jNIarv. born 
April 27, 1648. who married John Hall in 166O; 
Hope, born Alay 26, 1650, who married Samuel 
Cook May 2, 1677; Lydia, born !May 26, 1653, who 
married John Thomas Jan. 12, 1671 ; and Joseph, 
who married Hannah Gilbert in 1673. 

(Ill) John Parker and his wife, Hannah Bas- 
sett. were among the fir.st planters in \\"allingford. 
locating in the district now- known as "Parker's 
I'arms," about two miles west of the borough. He 
was quite active in public matters, and did much to 
advance the interests of the settlement. He died in 
1711, and his wife June 7, 1726. Their children 
were: Hannah, born Aug. 20. 1671, married \\\\\- 
iam Andrews Jan. 12, 1692; Elizabeth married Jo- 
siah Royce March 24, 1693: John, born March 26, 
1675, married Mary Kibbe, of Springfield, Xov. I, 
1699; Rachel, born June 16, 1680, married Thomas 
Relzea, of Xew Haven, in 1700: Joseph married 
Sarah Curtis June 7, 1705 ; Eliphalet married Han- 
nah Beach Aug. 5, 1708: Samuel married Sarah 
Goodsell, of Middletown, July 16, 1713; Edward is 
mentioned Delow : Mar\- married Joseph Clark Xov. 
27, 1707; Abigail married Joseph Bradley .March 3. 
1710. 

( 1\') Edward Parker, son of John and Hannah 
Parker, l)orn in i6c;2 on the Parker Farm, grew up 
there and on reaching manhood located in the parish 
of Cheshire (now the town of Cheshire), where he 
spent the remainder of his days, enga.ged in farm- 
ing. He died Oct. 21, 1776, and was buried in 
Cheshire. Edward Parker married (first) Jerusha 
Merriman, who died Dec. 27, 1745. ( )n Dec. i, 1748, 
he married Rebecca Ives, who died AFay 23, 1762, 
aged sixty-five years. On Sept. 30. 1762, he mar- 
ried (third) Ruth Merriman Merwin. His chil- 
dren: Ralph, born Jan. 9. 1718, married Martha, 
daughter of Gideon Ives, Dec. 25, 1740: Athildred. 
born July I, 1719, married Timothy Hall Jan. 10, 
1748; Edward, born March ii, 1721, married Sarah 
Burroughs Aug. 21, 1744: Joel, born Feb. 24, 1723, 
married .Susan Hotchkiss Dec. 25, 1746: Ephraim, 
born Aug. 23. 1725, is mentioned l)elow ; .-Xmos, born 
Xov. 26, 1726, died Aug. 20. 1748: William, liorn 
in 1728, died May 2, 17S2: Eldad, born Sept. 14. 
1731, married Thankful Bellamv. daughter of Mat- 
thew, -April 24, T755, and died July C\ 1779: Joseph 
Merriam, born Feb. 2, 1734, died March 21. T734: 
Joseph, born Oct. q, 1735, married Mary .\ndrews 
May 30. 1758. 

(\') Ephraim Parker. s(jn of Edward Parker, 
was born in Cheshire Aug. 23. 1725. and on X'ov. 
II. 1747. married Bathshc1)a Parsons. Their daugh- 
ter. Hannah, married Ililanil Hall, on the same day 
their son was married. 

(\'l) Jotham Parker, son of Ephraim, was a 
wagoner in charge of transportation in the Revolu- 
tionarv war, with the rank of captain. He mar- 
ried Sarah .Sewanl. of Oneida countv, X. Y., and 





SA- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



669 



their children were : Sarah married Dr. Thaddciis 
;\Iather, of (.ovenlry, X. Y.; Lucy married Geort^e 
McGeorsjfc and died in \'irj;inia : Luman (hed in 
early manhood; liiland Hail is mentioned below; 
Hannah married llezekiah I,oveland. and died in 
New "^'ork State: jotham died in Coventry; lunily 
married Ruggles Merwin. 

(\']I) tliland I lull I'arker, son of Jotham. was 
l)orn in Coventry. .\. Y.. where he jjrew n() and 
married. In 1818 lie went with Ivi.s family to Mid- 
dlehourne, Tyler Co., \\". \a.. where he became 
extensively enLja.u'ed in the man'ufacture of bricks 
and Inmber. While on his way to New Orleans 
with a carijo of his jjroducts the vessel was lost. 
and no tidings of it were ever received. Ililand 
H. Parker was a memlier of the Masonic fraternitv. 
His wife, Lydia T. I'ratt, was born Xov. 16. 1788. 
in that part of the town of Ilerlin which is now 
Xew liritain. Their children were as follows: (i) 
Luman V.. Ijorn Aug. 18, 1813. whose name intro- 
duces this sketch: (2) Sarah IClizabeth. l)orn Jtme 
26, 1815, who married I'lzekiel Andrews, of Xew 
]!ritain: (3) Isabella Richards, born Feb. 25, 1817. 
who married Renjamin li. P)lake, of Coventry, X. 
\.: (4) Lydia Diana, born .May j~, 1820; and 15) 
I'jnily Eliza, born Jan. 11, 1822, who married Cal- 
vin Taggart. The two last named were born in 
West \'irginia. .\fter the death of Mr. I'arker 
his widow married, on May K), 1S30, Henjamin 
Ta.g.gart, Ijy whom she liad one child, Julia, born 
.Aug. 3, 183 1, who married I'ranklin luigerton, of 
liinghamton. X. Y. The mother died in Coventry, 
X. Y., at the rijie age of ninety-si.\ years. She was 
a faithfid memljer of the I'rcsbyterian Church, and 
lived a true Christian life. 

Luman F. I'arker went to \'irginia with his par- 
ents when only five years old, and remained there 
until 1824. At the age of eleven years he came to 
Xe^v Britain, Conn., where he remained six months, 
thence removing to Coventrv. X. Y.. where he lived 
with his uncle, Jotham Parker, who was a farmer 
and drover. His mother removed from Xew 
Britain to Coventry the vear following. While with 
his uncle he attended school, and he assisted his 
imcle until he was eighteen years of age, when h:^ 
w'ent to Oxford, and there spent two years learning 
watch repairin,[j. b'or a period of two years he 
traveled w^ith a caravan and circus, and theu re- 
turned to Xew Britain, where he worked at carria.ge 
trimming a short time. In 1837 he met an a.gent 
from Houston. Texas (then a wild rc,gion which 
had just asserted its indeiXMidence of Mexico), rep- 
resenting the Houston Town Co.. who owned a large 
tract of land on wiiich the town of Houston is now 
situated and offered one thousand acres of heavy 
pine timber to anv one wjio would locjvte a sawmill 
on said land. ,\ comjjany was organized in Xew 
Britain, called the Texas Steam Mill & Building 
Co., of which Mr. I'arker was a niemlier, and which 
sailed from Xew ^■ork on tlte iSth day of .Vugust. 
The party, which consisted of twcntv-two persons, 



including stockholders and cm])loyes, arrived olT 
( lalveston Sept. 28th, but did not get into the bay 
and anchor initil the 4lh of ( )ctober, because of heaii 
winds IrLim tiie south, where tiie wind had been for 
si.x days, tilling all the liays and b.iyous. It sudden- 
Is changed to the north, and all this water went 
iHit in about twelve hours, and of twenty-two vessels 
atloal in the bay at eigiit o'clock on the morning of 
the <)tii of ( )ctol)er. there was but one at ten o'clock 
at night, tlie rest being hard agroiuid im the island. 
The brig "Flbe," on wiiich the company arrived, 
was on the island 150 feet from the liay. and thev had 
a hard task to get their machinery alioard the small 
steamer "Leonidas." which carried it through Gal- 
veston and San Jacinto bays and Bufi'alo l)ayou to 
Houston, where the mill was built and put in run- 
ning order by liie 1st of March, 1838, alter a hard 
winter's work. 'As many of the men were unaccus- 
tomed to that kin<l of labor, a mnnber sickened and 
died, and of the twenty-two who landeil only seven 
lived to return; and Mr. I'arker and a niece (who 
was at tl-.at time two years old) arc now the only 
survivors. On his return from Texas lie went to 
C'oventry. X. \'.. where he married, and then came to 
Xew Britain and remained a short time, expecting 
to return to Texas. However, as the company 
failed, he returned to Xew York State and traveled 
selling merchandise for a period of seven years, at 
the end of which time he retiUMied to Xew I'ritain. 
where he was a contractor at Russell & Erwin's until 
1865. In that year he became a resident of Meri- 
den. and has since been among the progressive citi- 
zens of that ]ilace. l"or a period of seven years he 
was a contractor in the works of I'arker & Whip- 
ple. For nearly fourteen years he has been relireil 
from active l)usiness. and has been nbliged by infirm 
hearing to refrain from ]iartici])ating in many move- 
ments which had his sym])athy. He i- a member of 
Meridian Lodge. Xo. 77, A. F. & A. M., and of 
Keystone Chapter, Xo. 27, R. .A. M. While resid- 
ing in Xew liritain Mr. Parker was senior deacon 
of Harmonv Lodge, of that place, and served as 
de])utv sheriff' of itartford county. He is a Demo- 
crat in politics, and. with his family, is conneciecl 
with St. Andrew's P. E. Church. 

On Sept. 8. 1839. at Coventry, X. Y.. Mr. Parker 
was married to Miss Elizabeth \\ylie. who was born 
1 in that place, a daughter of Daniel Wylie. For six- 
ty-two years this couple have livetl a life of happv 
congeniality and mutual regard, a record seldom 
equalled. Mrs. I'arker is a woman of many Giris- 
tian virtues, a most lovable character, revered by all 
who knew her. l-'ive children have come to this 
union: (1) Lydia .\lmira. the eldest, born Sept. 
22, 1841. in Coventry, married Emery O. Hall: they 
have no children living. She is a member of Ruth 
Hart Chapter. Daughters of the .\merican Revolu- 
tion, which she has served as secretary, and is now 
a member of its official hoard. (2) Hiland Hall. 
born Julv 17. 1845. in Coventry, is a traveling sales- 
man residing in St. Louis, M<i. < 'n July 14, 1877. 



670 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



in Chicago, he married Cora Frances Strong, of 
Cincinnati, who is now deceased. At the age of 
seventeai years he enlisted in the Union army, and 
served three vears. He was wounded at the battle 
of Antieitam. (3) Luman I^rankUn, born Sept. 2(:). 
1847, i" Lexington, N. Y., is a prominent attorney 
of St. Louis, and is now general solicitor for the 
St. Louis & San Francisco system. On Feb. 22, 
1872, he married Sara B. Maupin, daughter of Col. 
A. M. Alaupin, of Union, Mo., and they have had 
five children, Luman I'ranklin (who is married and 
resid'es in Indian Territory), Jacqueline O., Rex 
William (who died when live years old), Grace 
]\Ialcolm, Rowe Albert, and a twin brother of the 
last named, who died when three months old. (4) 
Charles Jotham, born Dec. 4, 1848, at New Britain, 
died Oct. 31, i8oy, in New Orleans. (5) William 
D. Wylie, born March 6, 1852. is mentioned below. 

Tlie Wylie Family, of which Mrs. Luman F. 
I'arker is a descendant, is of Scottish origin, and 
was early located in New York. James Wylie, 
great-grandfather of Mrs. Parker, and James Wylie, 
her grandfather, were soldiers in the Revolution, 
and settled in Coventry. 1die latter's children were : 
iXaniel; Betsy, who married William Thomas: 
James, who married a Miss l'"airchild ; Sally, who 
married W. Button; Temperance, who married 
Whiting Cornish : Sanuiel Hawlew who married 
(first) Deborali Sands and (second) Minerva Bene- 
dict: Maria, who married Coleman ^Mandeville and 
(second) Charles Hatch; and John, who married 
l^stbier ?Iinkle\ . 

Daniel WMie, sun of James, was a native of 
Coventry, lie married Lucy, daughter of Roger 
Edgerlon, and granddaughter of Mathew Cole, both 
of whom were Revolutionary soldiers. They were 
of Norman- P'rench descemt. Daniel \\'ylie's chil- 
dren were: Almira. who died at the age of twenty- 
four years: F.lizabetb. wife of Luman F. Parker; 
Stewart H., now deceased: Helen .M., who married 
Joseph Elliott: b'rastiis, the father of .Mrs. S. Oliii 
Parker, of Merideu; llial I".., a resident of SaU 
Lake Cit\ : .\ngeliiie, wife of .Marcus Scott, of 
.l'"ranklin, .\'. \ .: and two wlio died in childhood. 

The Pkatt b'amily, to which l.iuuan F. Parker 
belongs through his mother, is traceil l)ack to the 
eleventh century. With regard to the home of the 
J'jiglish Pratts, as they were anciently, so they are 
to-dav, seated chielF' in eastern and soulhcrn parts 
of England, in the contiguous counties of Leicester, 
Hunting. Norfolk. Lincoln and Ilertfonl. 'Idle name 
of Pratt is variously spelled in more ancient writings 
thus: Pratt, Prat, Pratte, Pradt, Praed, Prate, also 
J'raer and Prayers. 'It is a surname derived, like 
manv of the .Vorman and .Saxon names, from a lo- 
calitv, from the I-atin word pvatum. a meadow. The 
motto beloirging to the emblazonry of Pratt of Roys- 
ton Hall, in .\orfolk, thus alludes to the etymology 
of the name. "Kidcnt lUorcntia Prata." "Flowery 
meadows smile." The name of Pratt occurs among 
the earliest of English surnames, and members of 



the family in many of its branches held stations of 
influence and ]X)wer in the English empire. 

The earliest mention of Pratts in England is 
prior to the year 1200 of the Christian era, and 
shows thait they came to England from Normandy. 
Four brothers, John, William, Engebran and Peter, 
figure largely in the reigns of Kings Richard and 
John. They were all living A. D. 1201, as they 
witnessied the settlement of Robert. Earl of Mallent, 
at Peter's marriage. John Pratt was a favorite 
minister of Richard Cceur de Lion. In 1193 we 
find him associated with William, Bishop of Ely, 
and others, as the English commissioners to make 
peace with Philip Augustus, concluded at Mayence 
on the eighth day before the Ides of July. William 
and John are also witnesses to a charter granted at 
I'^odly, 'in 1 199, with the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
In various places the records show their possessions 
in Northampton, Berkshire and O.xford. In 1191 
William accompanied King Richard to the Holv 
Land and became of great service to the King by- 
rescuing him from the Turks. One day, wdiile 
King Richard slept, he was seized by the Turks, 
when William Pratit calls out, "I am the King." 
Whereupon they released King Richard and cap- 
tured William. Of course the King, thankful for 
his own rescue, but grieved for William Pratt, who 
loyally redeemed him at the ])rice of his own liberty, 
could not leave the Holy Land without ransoming 
the gallant friend who had saved his life at such a 
cost. P.ut he was not released until the following 
year, when, during a truce between Richard and 
Saladin, he was exchapged for ten emirs. We find 
him. \. D. 1189, as witness to a grant of land to the 
Earl of Norfolk, and again on Charter Privileges 
to the Jews, in the first year of the reign of King 
Richard I. His name also occurs very frequently 
in the charter and documents of John's reign. 

( )f the name of Pratt there have been families 
of consideration from early times, in diiTerent parts 
of England aiul Ireland, as members of Parliament, 
and holding positions of honor in tlie government. 
Some of them were of kniglitly degree and those of 
Berkshire were baronets. The branch of which we 
are treating were soon, at least in the middle of 
(Jueeu Fdizabeth's reign, settled at Careswell priory, 
in Devonshire, which house and estate were sold 
hv Richard Pratt. This Richard was the grand- 
father of Lord Chief Ju.sitice John Pratt, lineage of 
the families from which the fir.st .settlers of Hart- 
ford, |ohu and Lieut. William Pratt, descended. 

Lieut. William and John Pratt came from Hert- 
fordshire, and \ve trace their lineage hack to the 
eleventh centur)-. It is C|uite probable that they de- 
scended from \\'illiam, one of the four brothers who 
came over to I'.ngland from Nt)rmandy at that time, 
the same William meiUioned before, who rescued 
King Richard from the Turks in 1 i()i. Lieut. Will- 
iam and his brother John were among the first band 
of adventurers who settled Hartford. They em- 
barked for the New World in the ship "Griffin," a 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



6/1 



ship of 300 tons, atul arriving- at Boston Sept. 4, 
^'''h}>- probably came to Hartford with Rev. Thomas 
Hooker in 1636. Thcv apix-ar there amoni,' the 
original proprietors, and drew home lots in the 
first divi.sion of land, in I'ebniary, 163^. John 
<!rew lot Xo. 6. on Main street, Lieut. William drew 
lots Xos. 8 and 6 on P.urr street, now North Main 
street. Lieut. William was one of the band who 
went from Hartford on the e.\i>edition ag-ainst the 
]'equots in I '137, which resulted in the annihilation 
of their power as a tribe. Subseiiuently he re- 
ceived a hundred acres of land, ])y order of the 
(ieneral Court, probably for .services performed in 
tiie expedition. About 1645 he sold his land in 
]Iartford to Mathew lieckwith and removed to Sav- 
brcxik. His first two children were born in Hart- 
ford and the rest in Saybrrmk. 1 le located in what 
is now the borough of Esse.K, his home lot and 
house being in the region now occupied by the Rope 
Walk. It appears from the recc)rds of the State 
and other sources that he was a man of note in the 
Colony and represented his town in the C ieneral 
Asemilsly from October, iCiCtC), to .May. 1673, su])- 
po.sed to be the year of his death. In June, 1636, 
he married Elizabeth Clark, daug^hter of John Clark, 
tirst of .Saybrook, afterward of Milford. The fact 
of her being the daug-hter of Joini Clark is proved 
i)y a will found in the probate office at Xew Haven. 
Their children: Elizabeth, John, Joseph, Sarah, 
\\'ill. Samuel, Lydia and Xalhaniel. 

I H) Ensign John Pratt, secon<l child and (.■blest 
son of Lieut. W'illianx Pratt, born beb. 20. 1(^4. 
married, June 8. i6(;k), Sarah Jom-s. daug'lUer of 
Thomas Jones, of Cniilford. Their children : John, 
J^lizabeth, Thomas, Ysacke, Sarah. Lydia. Mehet- 
ablc and Mar\-. 

( HI) Ysacke Pratt, fourth child of E.nsign John 
Pratt, l)om Jan. 16, 1677, married .Mary Taylor. 
Their children : Isaac, Timothv, .Mary, Humphrey, 
James and Elizabeth. 

(1\') Hum()hrey Pratt, fourth child of Isaac 
J 'rait, born May 16, 1716, married Lydia Tully, 
(laughter of William Tnlly, Xov. 30, 174'). They 
resided in Old Saybrook. Mr. Pratt died .\ug. 20, 
1709. Tlieir children : Hum])hrey. William . Lydia, 
I£lias and Andrew. 

(V) Andrew Pratt, fifth child of Humphrey 
Pratt, torn Xov. 8, 175'^). was thrice married, lirs". 
to Xancy Dorrance, of Rhode Island, who died I'eb. 
2. 1785, ag-cd twenty-eig-ht. In 1787 he married 
J'LIizabeth Wliaples, who died May 15, 1795, aged 
thirty. On June 12, 1796. he married (third) Han- 
nah .Xndrews. of Pcrlin. Conn. .Vndrew Pratt en- 
tered the arnty at eig;liteen years of age. and was in 
in the Revolutionary war until its clos^'. His chil- 
dren : By first wife — Sally, TuUy : by second wife 
— Lydia P., Daniel Humphreys: by third wife — Bet- 
sey \V., Henry M., William T., Xancy Dorrance and 
Horaitio M. " — "" 

(\T) Lydia P. Pratt, daughter of .Andrew and 
Elizabeth Pratt, born Xov. 16, 1788, married lliland 



H. Parker Xm. 10. 1811. and on Mav 19. 1830, 
married ( second | Benjamin Taggart. 

Lineage from which John and Lieut. William 
descended is found in the registry of wills in Hert- 
fordshire, England, as follows: 

The first record we find in direct line of descent 
is the will of Thomas Pratt, of Baldoc. in Hertfoni- 
shire. There is no date of his birth : but his will i,^ 
dated l*"eb. 5, 1539. Therein he remembers his wife 
Joan and sons Thomas, James and Andrew, and 
daughter Agnes. 

(M' Andrew Pratt, the next in line of descent, no 
will has lieen found, bin the i)arish records contain 
the following names and baptisms of his children : 
Ellen, daug-hter of .\ndrew. baptized 1 561 ; William, 
baptized October, 1362: Ricliard, baptized June, 

The will of William I'ratt, son of Andrew and 
gfrandson of Thomas of Baldoc, is found in the 
D(xnors C(5mmons, dated Xovember, 1629, at Stern- 
ag-e. in Hertfordshire, of wlvich parish he was rector 
thirty years. The history of the County of Hert- 
ford, bjigland, contains the following' memorial : 
"Here lies Rev. William Pratt, Bachelor of Sacred 
Theology, and most illustrious rector of this churcii 
for thirty years." He married a lady whose name 
was Elizabeth, by whom he had si.x children, and 
(lied in 1629, ag'ed sixty-seven. Their children: 
Sarah, baptized l'"eb. 6, i(k)(i; Mary, baptism not 
found: Elizabeth. .\i)ril 2, 1^113; Richard. I-"eb. 16, 
1618; John, Xov. 9, 1620: Lieut. William, baptism' 
not found. It appears that William and John were 
not rememl)ercd in the will, ]irobably for the reason 
that they left for .\inerica or signified their inten- 
tion of leaving and received their portion. 

By the foregoing records we are able to trace the 
pe(H.g-ree of LieiU. William Pratt, the settler of 
Hartford, backward three generations, that is, to his 
grandfather. Thomas Pratt, of Baldoc. in Hertford- 
shire, who died in 1539, one hundred years pre- 
vious to the time when the settlers of Hartford 
drew their home lots. .Vs we find the line traced 
backward to Thomas of Baldoc in the fourteenth 
century, the record makes it ])robable that the line- 
age goes back to William, one of the four brothers 
who came to E,n_gland fn)m Xormandy in the 
cleveiuh centiu'y. 

WILLI. \.\1 1).\X1EL WALlb: P.\KKER, chief 
clerk of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at Hart- 
ford, was born March 6, 1832, in Xew Britain, son 
of Liunan !•". Parker. He received his education 
in the i)ul)lic schools of Xew Britain, and at an early 
age begfan to work with his latlier in the shojis of 
Parker & \\'hi|)ple, in Meriden. to which town his 
father removed about i8()3. and he al.so worked as a 
contractor in that city and in Pittsburg, Bridge- 
port anil Middletown, cotuinuing the latter line until 
1893. when he received appiintment to iiis present 
position through ex-Congressman \'ance. .\t the 
expiration of his first term of four years he was re- 



6/2 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



appoiiit'jil. li\- Samuel ]'>. Home, and is now serving 
under Harry E. liack. His continuation in the 
incumbency is the iiislifst compliment that could be 
paid to the value of his services. In political affilia- 
tion I\Ir. Parker is an independent Democrat. 

On Aug. 27, 1878, Mr. Parker was married in 
Meriden to Miss Ella (Nellie) J. Clark, who was 
iKi-m in Easthampton. Middlesex cnunty, daughter 
of Cyrus R. and Zuba ( Tryun ) Clark, and three 
children have blessed their union : Cliarles William, 
born Feb. 28, 1880. is a lithograiih worker in Hart- 
ford; Harold llilaiid, b:>rn Sept. 22,. 1883. is a 
printer, emi)loye(l in the iiffice of the Meriden 
Journal; Elmer Clifford, born ."^ejit. 20. 1883, at- 
tends the Meriden high school. The family are 
identified with the I-'piscopal Church. Mr. Parker 
is a man of domestic tastes, well liked among all bis 
ac(|uaintances and res])ected wherever he i.s known, 
and his wife shares with him the high res-ard of all 
in the circle of their friendshi]). 

DENXIS \\".\R1), a typical self-made man, now 
successfully engaged in the coal and wixid trade in 
Xew Haven, was burn in that city Oct. 8, 1842, 
son of Owen Ward. 

Owen Ward was born in County Kildare, Ire- 
land, a son of Dennis Ward, a well-known pork 
jjacker, who li\eil and died in his native land. In 
1840 Owen Wanl left the iMuerald Isle and came 
to America to find a home and fortune for himself. 
He married Mary Hogan, a native of the same lo- 
cality as himself, and a daughter of Owen Hogan, 
a dealer in produce, who passed his entire life in 
Ireland. ^Irs. Ward passed away in 1862, the 
mother of nine children, namely: Dennis, Bridget, 
Owen, James, William, Frank, John, Mary Ann 
and Ann, four of whom are yet living, two sons and 
two daughters. 

Dennis Ward ac(|iiired his early literary training 
in a little school taught by a Miss Jacolis, and later 
attended one taught by a Miss Bartfish. He then 
passed five or six years in W'est St. Mary's par- 
ochial school and completed his education in the 
Kogers school. \\'hen he began life for himself 
he found em])Iovment driving a team, and at the 
age of twenty-one was contracting on his own be- 
half. He became of age on Wednesday, and the 
following Monday he branched out on his own ac- 
count,' carrying lumber from a vcs.sel to a scow, for 
which work he received forty cents per hour, liv 
economy he managed to save enough to embark 
in business. On Se])t. 30. 1880, he began his 
jjrcsent business, m which he has rajiidly risen 
to the front rank. He is careful and conscientious 
in his dealings and has won a fine trade. 

In 1868 .Mr. Ward was united in marriage with 
Mary T. Lee, who was born in County Carlow, Ire- 
land, a dau.ghter of James Lee, and a family of seven 
children has come of this tmion. of whom four are 
now living: James, Mary I'-. Annie and Elizabeth. 
In his political relations Mr. Ward is :i stanch Dem- 



j ocrat and takes a keen interest in the questions of 
I the day. True to the faith of his fathers, he has 
[ continued his membership in the Church of Rome 
I and is identified with Sacred Heart Catholic Church. 
In all the relations of life he has been found honest 
and upright, ever seeking to do that which he 
I thought was right. He is temperate in all his habits 
and lias never tasted intoxicating liquor. He has 
fountl that success is the reward of honest eftort, 
and in his work he has been enabled to accumulate 
' considerable property in New Haven. He built his- 
home at No. 395 Columbus avenue and has occu- 
pied same ever since. 

CHARLES B. WOOSTER, a leading con- 
tractor and builder at Ansonia, is a representative of 
tlTe best element in business life, his fine presence 
and sympathetic nature giving pleasure even in a 
chance greeting, while a well-stored mind makes his 
conversation of rare interest. \\'hile he has been 
very successful in business, he has always found 
time for participation in local affairs and has been 
especiallv prominent in fraternity work. He was 
born Julv 2, 1844, in Oxford, this county, a son of 
Daniel and Caroline ( Bassett ) Wooster. 

Daniel Wooster. who -was a farmer by occupa- 
j tion, was born and reared in Derby, this county, 
• but made his permanent home in Oxford, where he 
owned a large farm. In jxilitics he was a Democrat, 
but he did not seek official h<inors. and for many 
vears he was a faithful member of the Methodist 
Church. He died at the age of seventy-three, while 
his estimable wife died aged forty- four. They had 
four children, as follows: John, a resident of Sey- 
mour; Mary, who married first James F. Carley, of 
Oxford, and later Stiles Loveland, of Newtown ; 
Charles B., our subject; and Harriet, wife of John 
Hawkins, of Oxford. The mother was a native of 
Great Hill. Seymour, this county, where her an- 
cestors settled at an early day. Her father, Isaac 
Bassett, was a sea captain for some years, but passed 
his last days in retirement at Seymour, his death 
occurring at the age of e'ightv-eight, and her mother 
Bctsv, reared a large family and died aged seventx- 
five years. 

Charles B. Wooster was trained to farm work 
in his youth, and received a common-school educa- 
tion only. At the age of twenty he began working 
at the masons' trade, which he followed in different 
I towns in this section for about five years, when he 
engaged in business for himself at Ansonia. For 
some tome his business included contracts in various 
places, but later his work in .Ansonia ju.stificd him in 
restricting his operations to that locality. The 
business having been cstabhshed in 1873, he is now 
one of the oldest mason contractors in the town. 
He has built many of the best buildings there, in- 
cluding the VAm street .school, and has made a spec- 
ialty of constructing dams. He has also dealt ex- 
tensively in real estate, buying the land for the pur- 
pose of building houses for sale, and a number of 




^JvoAJLjs fS, ti^' 



l^^M^ 



c)-£^^£^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



^>73 



d\vellin>,'S near his own attractive residence, at Xo. 
263 W akelee Ave., were thus placed in the market. 
His contracts are for wo(jd, stone, or any other 
buihlinjj material, and at limes he has from tweiilv- 
five to fifty men emploxed. 

On (An. 25, 1871, .Mr. Wooster married Miss 
Henrietta .'^truckman, a native of Derby, anil dau<;h- 
tcr of C(^nrad .Strnckman, a copper refiner, wliose 
last years were sjjtnt in .\n.sonia. .She was the onlv 
child by his first wife. Henrietta Ilubbell, but he hail 
three children by a second marria,t;e. ( Jur subject 
has one son, Dwight. a mason builder in .\nsiinia, 
who married .Miss .Mice I 'ope, ;uvd has had three 
children, luirlc and Wynola, deceased, and Homer, 
who survives. 

Mr. Wooster is a l\epublic<ui in jxilitic.-;, and has 
served one term as selectman, and two years as 
deputy juds^e of the city court. He an<l his family 
attend Emmanuel Cluirch, at .Xnsonia, and he is an 
active member of the .Masonic order, belonijin.ij to 
Georg-e Washington Lods^v, .\'o. 82, 1". & .\. .M.: 
yh. \'ernon Chapter. .Xo. 35; l"nion Council. Xo. 
27, of Derby; Xew Haven Commanderv. .\o. 2. ]\. 
T.. at Xew Haven: and Pyramid 'rem])le, at Uridtje- 
port. 'He also l)elong's to the Knitjhts of I'vthias : 
the I. ( ). ( ). v.. Xauijatuck Lod^^-e and Ho])e bln- 
campment, at An.sonia : the .\. ( ). I'. \\'., of which 
lie is a charter member : and he assisted in ortianiz- 
insj; in .Ansonia the Independent Order of Red Men, 
the ( )rder of American Mechanics, antl the Order of 
Eastem Star. He takes special interest in the work 
of the Knij^lvts of I'vthias, with which he iniited 
March i. 1880, and has contril)uted liberall\- to vari- 
ous projects for the tjwxl of the order. .Many of 
the offices in the kjcal lodt^e liave l^een held l)v him, 
and he is ]jrominent in the work of tlu' I'niform 
Rank,— C. 1!. Wooster Co.. of Derby, havinj;; been 
named in his honor. l"or .some time he was treas- 
urer of the liiifonu Rank, but he is now scrvinij' 
on the Ijrij^ade staff, and his excellent business judg- 
ment has madt him a valued worker in the Endow- 
ment Rank. Mrs. Wtvoster is a memln'r of the 
Eastern .Star, the Rebekahs, and the Relief Corjis. 

HOX. J.Y.MICS 1). .Mc(;.\L"(iHEV, M. D., who 
for nearly a third of a century has l)een actively en- 
gaged in the jiractice of medicine in Wallingford, of 
which town he is one of the foremost citizens and 
physicians, descends in an honorable lineage from 
an historic family, members of which were con- 
spicuous in the war of the Revolution and in the an- 
nals of the State of Tennessee. 

Dr. McGaughey was born .\ug. 6, 1848, at 
(ireeneville, Tenn., st)n c^f Samuel and Caroline .\. 
(rUirkhart) McGaughey, and a descendant on his 
father's side of .Scotch-Irish parentage, being in the 
fifth generation front William McGaughev, who 
married Elizabeth Lackey, and came from .Scotland 
to this country before the war of the Revolution 
and lived for a time in the State of Pennsylvania, 
whence thev moved to Holston, near .\bins.'d' m, \'a.. 

43 



but later and some time after the Revolution set- 
tleil in Lireene county, Tenn. From tiiere they 
moved to lioyd's (.'reek in East Tennessee, where 
the wife died in 1804. The luisbaml then removed 
to .\lid<lle Tennessee and died about 1810. near 
f)uck River. While living at lioyil's Creek he 
bm'lt a stockade, which was known in the early his- 
tory of Tennessee as .Mc( laughey's Station (See 
Ramsey's .\nnals of Tennessee). ( )f the ancestors 
of this couple little is known, hut it is believed that 
thev were .Scotch-Irish l're>byterians. 

( II ) Cai)t. Samuel .McGaughey, son of \\'illiam. 
was born in ^'ork comity. Penn,. Jid\ 15. 17' 13. and 
was nine years old when bis father removed to Hol- 
st<in (at that time Washington coumy, \'a.l. "In 
1778 the Indians made war ujion the settlement, and 
his father was called to serve, but the .^on took his 
father's ])lace. as his substitute, and served through- 
out the Rcvolutionarv war. He was under Ca]it. 
James Montgomery in March. 177<>, in the expedi- 
tion connnande<l by Col. F.van Shelby, against the 
Chickamauga Indians. In 1779 he serv.d under 
Cajit. John McKee, also in a movement against the 
Indians, as a mounted rifieman. In 1780 he was in 
l'a])t. Andrew Cowan's com]3any, under Col. Isaac 
Shelby, all being under the connnand of Gen. Chas. 
McDowell, and marched into South Carolina. He 
was in the engagements on the Tiger River and on 
the Pocatelle. .\t the battle of King's Mountain he 
was in Capt. John Penii)ertou's comjiany, one of the 
<po seUrted in Col. .'Shelby's regimeiU. In 1781 he 
commanded a comi)an\ under (ien. .Marion in Col. 
John Sevier's re.giment. and was with .Marion ;u the 
battle of Eutaw Springs. 

The foregoing accoimt of Cajit. McGaughey 's 
service is of record in L'nited States Pension Office 
and froui his own statements, and the family ances- 
tral history in this sketch is from a written recorcT 
that he left. This record further tells us that he 
had been on fourteen difierent expeditions after the 
Indians, and in a ])ersonal encounter with one, on 
the Tennessee river, killed hint with a corn knife. 
He was a very swift runner, .\fter the war Ca])!. 
.McGaughev was a|)])ointed territorial sherifi" of his 
coiuuy, by John .^evier, and was with ,Sevier and 
against Tii)ton, in the contest for the .'^tate of I'rank- 
lin, which existed about four years. He also 
served as one of the commissioners 10 lay ofi' the 
.county site of Sevier county. His home was on a 
beautiful farm, a mile east of McGau.gliey's Station, 
lie married Jane Laughlin, and ihey had a familv of 
eleven children — fivv sons and six daughters. L'apt. 
.McGau.ghey and his family helped found the oM 
L'rb.-inna Church, in the \ip|)cr end of I'.lount coini- 
t\-, Tenn., their minister being Rev. (iideon P.lack- 
burn, the great western orator. Capt. .McGaughey 
died in 1845, and his wife jjassed away in 1848. Mrs. 
fane (I.aughlini .\lc(iaughey was a daughter of 
J(jhn Laughlin, who with his wife came froni Ire- 
, land. Mr. Laughlin was a weaver of celebritv in 
bi> dav, and bis wife kipt a large ilairy at their 



674 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



liniiie some twelve miles from Abini^don, \'a. They 
were stanch Presbyterians, and stron^iv supported 
the Revolution. 

( IJI) Major John Mc( lau.t^hey. sun of Capt. 
Sanuiel. was born in (Ireeite enunly. b'.asi Tennessee,. 
July ij. 1792. He married Jane i'Jol)inson, whose 
lather, as an associate of John .Sevier, assisted in 
orq-anizing the first government of Tennessee. She 
was born in Greene county. East Tennessee, Jan. 29, 
1792. Major AIcGaughey was a clear-headed, eveii- 
temijcred man, but had a fearless dis[)asition. He 
served in many public ca[)acities and was one of 
the commissioners to treat with tlu- Indians before 
their removal from Tennessee anil he served as a 
soldier, imder (Jen. Andrew Jackson in his Indian 
cam])aigns in .Mabama and Mississii)pi. He was a 
dele.gate, representing ( ireene. Sevier, Cocke, Mun- 
roe. lilount and AlcMinn counties, to the convention 
to revise the conslitnlii)n of 1796, under which the 
.State was first governed. L'nder the provisions 
<if that constitutiiin free persons 'if color were al- 
ii iwed to vote. This right was taken away in the 
new constitution. Major .Mctiaughey offered an 
amendment to restore it. but the proposition was 
voted down, thus doing away with free colored suf- 
frage. Although being the owner of a very large 
farm he would never be the owner of slaves and 
hired all his work done by the day. He also served 
in both branches of the State Legislatiux a number 
of times. He took a great interest in the building 
of the K. T. & \'a. R. R., from Bristol to Knoxville, 
now part of the .Southern Railroad, using all his 
means to that end. and was a director of the com- 
]'any at the breaking out oi the Civil war. In that 
slru.ggle he maintained his character as a Jacksonian 
Democrat and stood mit straight for the Union dur- 
ing the terrible political excitement in East Ten- 
nessee in the first two years of the war. He diefi 
at the old homestead May Jo, 1874, at the advanced 
age of eighty-two years. His wife died Jan. 12, 
18c )4, and the remains of both rest side by side at 
l\It. T'lethel, near Creeneville, Tennessee. 

I 1\') -Samuel Mcdanghey. son of Major John, 
;mii1 the father i.f Dr. J;nnes 1). MeCaughev, of 
W'aliiugford. was born .Mav 31, 1816, on his father's 
farm near the Xolachuckey river. He was a mer- 
chani. both retail anil wholesale, and w'as also largely 
engaged in a commission business. He was a broad- 
minded, liberal, Christian .gentleman wdiose intc.grity 
was of the highest order. A man of intellect and 
iin usually great business cajjacitw he did an exten- 
sive business and accumulated means which, how- 
ever, the Civil war wiped out. After the restoration 
of peace he l)cgan anew with increased encrgv and 
was rapidly regaining liis lost fortune when he 
suft'ered a terrible fall which produced concussion 
of the brain, from wdiich he died in ten days, his 
death occurring at his home in ( Ireencville, Tenn., 
b"eb. 25, 1870. Eor many years he was a deacon of 
the First Presbvterian Church. He was generous 



anil sympathetic to the poor and took great pleas- 
ure in his gifts to them and all worthy objects. 

In early life Samuel McGaughey was married to 
Miss Caroline A. Burkhart, born March 4, 1821, at 
I'aperville, East Tenn., daughter of George and 
Elizabeth (Castle) Burkhart (originally spelled 
Bnrkhardt but abridged by this George). 

The Burkhart famil}- was of German origin. 
Peter Burkhart, the first of the family in this coun- 
try, came from Germany before the war of the Rev- 
olution and settled in Frederick county, Md., where 
George Burkhart, mentioned above, was born Sept. 
30. 1775- He married (first) Sept. 8, 1794, Hannah 
Hedge, who bore him five children and died in 1801, 
and he married (second) Jan. 7, 1805, Elizabeth 
Castle and the union was blessed with twelve chil- 
dren, of whom Caroline A. (Burkhart) JiIcGaughey 
was the eleventh child in order of birth. Elizabeth 
(Castle) Burkhart w-as of English descent, born 
Nov. 25, 1779, near Frederick City, Md., then called 
Frederick Town, where she was reared. Her death 
occurred July 14, 1855, at Paperville, East Tennes- 
see; George Burkhart died June 29, 1852, at the 
same place. This couple had settled in that section 
of Tennessee in 1806, wdien the husband built 1 
paper mill, in which was made the first paper manu- 
factured in the State, and for which he received a 
premium of fifty dollars. From this mill the loca- 
tion became known as Paperville, a hamlet four 
miles east from Bristol. Of this Burkhart family 
one member only — J. W. Burkhart — of Ruthton, 
Sidlivan Co., Tenn., survives. He has preserved the 
family record. 

To the marriage of Samuel McGaughey and Car- 
oline A. Burkhart were born eleven children, six 
sons and two dau.ghters surviving the mother, wdiose 
death occurred Jan. 27, 1886, at Atlanta, Ga. All of 
the surviving children, except Dr. McGaughey, of 
Wallingford, Conn., reside in the South. The 
mother of this family was a woman- of great piety 
and worth, and her lovable disposition w'on the es- 
teem of all wdio knew her. She was an earnest, con- 
sistent member of the First Presbyterian Church, 
ever greatly interested in its welfare. She reared 
all her chiklren to become useful and honorable 
citizens. 

James D. McGaughey, the subject proper of this 
notice, received his first instruction in school in 1854 
in a small boys' department in a younr ladies sem- 
inary at Greeneville, presided over by Mrs. Valen- 
tnie Sevier, a daughter of Deacon Lyman Cannon, 
of Wallingford, Conn. Following this he attended 
( ireencville Colle.ge, the oldest institution of learning 
in the State. Much of the school period of his life 
was during the trying scenes of the Civil war and 
it was greatly interrupted thereby, and his education 
was received under difficulties. At this time the 
Third Georgia Battalion of Confederate troops was 
quartered in the town to intimidate the inhabitants, 
two-thirds of wdiom were Unionists. This com- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



67s 



niand took the collci^e for a smallpox hospital an-l 
<lestroye(l one of the most valuable libraries in the 
State and all the apparatus belonginpf to the insti- 
tution. Driven from eolle.t;e but dctermincil to pur- 
sue his studies, young McGaughey entered a ])rivate 
school, whicli was also disband-ed on account of hos- 
tilities in that section. lie next received instruction 
inider the private tutorship of Robert McCorkle, one 
of the most thoroughly educated men in the State. 
Some days he could not reach the house of his tutor 
on account of the guerrilla warfare in the streets 
and the fear of being pressed into the Confed- 
erate service by these lawless men. My persever- 
ance, however, he continued his studies through 
those perilous times and until he entered Jefferson 
2\Iedical College at Philadelphia in 1866. lie was 
graduated with all the honors of a full-fledged M. 
D. from that institution in 1870, returning to I'last 
Tennessee where for a year he practiced his profes- 
sion. In 1872 the Doctor located permanently in 
W'allingford, Conn., where his life and citizenship 
'liave been such as to command the respect and es- 
teem of his fellow townsmen, and to win for him a 
]ilace amon.i' the foremost professional men and citi- 
zens of the town. lie has been industrious, verv act- 
ive professionally and a useful member of church 
T'nd society, a gentleman in every way worthy of his 
honorable lineage. He has built uj) a large and 
lucrative practice, has occu])ied honorable stations 
in the profession in which he stands high, and also 
m town affairs. lie is the medical examiner for the 
town of W'allingford and post surgeon for exemption 
from military taxes. He is also examining surgeon 
for a mnnher of boards and insurance companies. lie 
is a member of the American Medical Association, 
the State Medical Society, and of the New Haven 
County Medical Society, in which he has alwa\s 
taken an active interest. He is a contributor of 
i;apers to current medical periodicals. Fratcrnallv 
lie belongs to the K. of P. ; Accanant Lx)dge, I. O. 
(). F. ; Compass Ixidge, F. & A. M., at Walfingford ; 
and he is vice-president of the State Board of the 
State Masonic Home. In 1880 he was a representa- 
tive from the town in the State Legislature and 
tc'ok part in the debate on the final settlement of the 
boundary line between New York and Connecticut, 
which had been in dispute for upwards of two 
hundred years. He was register of vital statistics 
lor nine years. 

On June 8. 1S71, Dr. McCaughey was married 
to Sarah V., daughter of r)Urdett and Juliett ( Merri- 
man ) Cannon, and granddaughter of Deacon Ly- 
man and Sally Cannon, all of W'allingford and of 
sturdy New England stock. To the Doctor and his 
wife have been born five children, of whom two 
daughters and one son survive, the others, a son 
and daughter, dying in infancy. Carrie \'enc, I)orn 
Feb. 4, 1876. married June 7. 1809. Henry L. Mor- 
ris, son of Dennis Morris, of W'allingford ; Juliet 
Daisy, horn Oct. 25. 1879; James David, Jr., l)orn 
May 15, 1882, is attending Lawrenceville (New 



Jer.sey) School for Boys and is directing his amlji- 
tion towards a medical career; Annie, born Aug. 25, 
1S72, died at the age of thirteen month?; and Sam- 
v.el, a twin of James D., Jr., died at the age of 
fourteen months. 

HON. EDWARD E. BRADLEY. For upward 
of two and a half centuries the ancestors of our sul)- 
jcct have been associated with New Haven's his- 
tory, and for fifty years past several of tlie name, 
notably Isaac liradley and sons, William II. and 
Edward E., in turn have been largely iilentified with 
tlie maTuifacture of coaches, carriages and carriage 
wheels of all kinds — an industry that has given New 
Haven note and fame throughout the world as a 
carriage center and home of a superior made ve- 
hicle. 

Edward E. Bradley, president of the New Eng- 
land Dairy Cor])oration, and for many years one of 
the city's prominent pulilic men and leading citizens, 
was born Jan. 5, 1845. in New Haven, a city whicli 
has been the scene of iiis active, busy and successful 
career and one in which he has been highly honored 
by his fellow men. Mr. liradley is the son of Isaac 
and .\bigail Knowles (Hervey) Bradley, the for- 
mer for years a carriage manufacturer in New Ila- 
i ven who engaged in business first on the corner of 
Church and Wall streets and later on Trumbull 
street, near State, until 1854, in which year he re- 
moveti to a farm in West Haven, upon which he re- 
sided until his death, in November, 1858, when 
I nearly sixty-four years of age. Mrs. Bradley 
passed away in January. i8gi. at the advanced age 
I of eighty-nine years. She was a great-granddaugh- 
I ter of Rev. Dr. Dibhlee, a noted missionarv of the 
I Church of England to New York and Connecticut 
a century and a half ago. 

The emigrant ancestor of this branch of the 
Bradley family was Captain William Bradley, who 
took the oath of allegiance in New Haven in 1644, 
being therefore among the very early settlers of 
New Haven. Williaiu IJradley was one of several 
of a family which tradition, confirmed liy careful 
research, tells us descended from a family in the 
market town of P)ingley. on the River .Aire, in the 
West of Yorkshire, England. The emigrants, six 
or seven in number, were all Cromwell men and 
stanch Dissenters. 

Edward I'-, liradley attended the old Lancas- 
terian public school in New Haven and later the 
public school and Brown's .\cademy in West Ha- 
ven, and for one year, 1850. Bobbin's Conunercial 
School in New Haven. In April, i860, he began his 
business career as shipping clerk in the New Ha- 
ven Wheel Company's works. Several months later 
he was made the liookkecper of the same, sustaiiu'ng 
such relations until 1865. He resigned his position 
in that year to accept one with Lawrence, Bradley 
& Pardee, then considered one of the largest and 
best carriage manufacturing firms in the I'nited 
States. He remained with this concern for a short 



6/6 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



time only, leaving; it to po into the hardware house 
of John English & Co., l)ul remained only a few 
months when, owing to failing htalth from over- 
work, he dropped out of Inisiness for three months 
rest. (Jn reeovering- his health, he in 1865 again en- 
tered the empk)y of the Xew Haven Wheel Com- 
pany, the outline of the history ui which is here 
givt'n from the fact that Mr. Hradley has pla_\-cd so 
conspicuous a jiart in its affairs for so long a time. 
The husiness of this ccanpany was started in 1845 by 
Henry Stow and tinally thruugh several changes 
became, in 1853, a corporation under the name or 
the Xew Haven Wheel ComjKUiy with a capital of 
$60,000. The husiness for some years was not very 
nourishing-, owing mainly to a prejudice against 
machine made wheels, as they were then called in 
contradistinction to hand made; then came the panic 
of 1857. and later the Civil war, so that until the 
close of the hater the affairs of the company were 
not such as its promoters had anticipated. In i8()5- 
6(j the sti)ck oi the compariy was Ijought in by Will- 
iam H. and RiKvard E. T.radley, William and Henrv 
G. Lewis and I'reilerick Ives, new buildings were 
erected and the business greatly enlarged, with the 
restdt that f n mi a Mnall beginning, perhaps a dozen 
sits 'if wheels per week in 1843, fifty in 1853. and 
one hundred in 18(15, the cai-Kicity of the concern ran 
v\) tn three hundred sets per week in 1874. In Sep- 
tember of tlial year the greater ])arts of the works 
were deslni\ed b\- lire, entailing a great loss, hut 
such was the enterprise of the company that within 
a few months still larger works were erected, an<l 
its capacity again increased until it ranked for many 
years as the largest in its lint- in Xew England. The 
v,-orks <icci!pied ;i frnnt.'ige i->f over four hundred feet 
on N'i)rl<. (irn\r and .\shmun streets. 

In i8(i() b'dward I'"., llradley was made secretary 
and treasin-i.-r of the comiiany, succeeding Henry G. 
Lewis, who was chosen president. Mr. Bradley 
most cfficientlv filled such ]}ositions until 1887 when, 
on luh 1. he wa-; elected president and remaine<l 
in that ])osiliiin until l8()8 when, lii^ old ]jarlners 
liaving all deceased, he desired to etUer into nther 
and differeiU business relations, and accordingl\- he 
closed out the busini-ss and retired from wheel man- 
tifactiu'ing. lie has hi'eu ])resident of the 15oston 
r>uckb(iard and ('arria"e Co., one of Xew Haven'', 
fine carriage making establ'shments, since 1886. He 
was also ])resident for a mimhcr of years of the 
Charles W. Scr;intiin Co.. of Xew I l.-iveii. investmeni 
brokers, and of tin- .Xews Publishing Co.. of Xew 
Haven, publishers ..f the Daily Moniiiii; Xcics. He 
was a director and the treasurer of the I'ort Bascom 
C'attle Raising Co.. ;ind is now a director and treas- 
lu-er of its sueeessnr. the Red River N'alley de. 
wliich owiis a ranch <if 718.000 acres nf laud with 
a iierd of 30,000 beail of cattle, in Xew .Mexicn: i; 
a director in the .\ew Haven C'oniUy .Xatiouai 
Tiank : for ii])wards of twenty years was a member 
of the Conueclicm Ltical Hoard of the Xew York 
Life Insurance Company, retiring from that hoard 



Jan. 1, 1902; president and member of the E.xecu- 
t;ve conunitlee of the Xew Haven Chamber of Com- 
merce; director of the Xew Haven Colony Histori- 
cal Society and vice-president and a director of the 
Young Men's Institute of New Haven. Mr. Brad- 
ley is actively engaged at present as the president 
of the Xew England Dairy Corporation, capitalized 
a' $175,000, and engaged in the business of distrib- 
uting from their main establishment on Hazel street 
milk, cream, butter and other dairy products to 
the citizens of Xew Haven. They also have a 
branch house on Commerce street, where they man- 
ufacture ice cream, ices, frozen puddings, mousse, 
etc., in: a large way, also fancy cakes from small 
macaroons and lady fingers up to large decorateil 
wedding loaves. The business is an extensive and 
important one, requiring the services of a nmnber 
of experts and a large force of workmen. 

Mr. Bradley has been prominent in military af- 
fairs both in city and State. In 1861 he joined the 
famous military companv known as the .X'evv Ha- 
ven Gray^ and rajiidly rose through all the grades 
of command to the captaincy in 1865, and held the 
same until June, 1868. when he was chosen lieuten- 
ant colonel of the Second Connecticut Regiment,, 
and in i86g was made its colonel. He was devoted 
and faithful in his various military positions, and 
especiallv efficient in devising legal measures for 
tlie general iiuprovement of the State Military 
service, fostering and maintaining the excellent mil- 
itary spirit that remained after the Civil war. W'hile 
in command Col. Bradley, under the orders of Ad- 
jutant General Merwin, was engaged in the capture. 
April 30, 1870, of a gang of New York roughs who. 
liad come to Charles Island in the town of Milford 
to bold a prize fight. The gang numbered some 
one hundred strong and the adroit manner in which 
they were captured reflected great credit tipon the 
ready tactics of Col. Bradley and his officers and 
men. all of whom were the subjects of favorable 
comment by the press of the day. After ten years 
of service, owing to pressure of business u]>on his 
time. Col. liradley resigned the colonelcy of the 
regiment. During these years Col. Bradley was the 
reci])ient of many testimonials of esteem from the 
men of his command and fre(|uent ovations were 
tendered him on interesting occasions by the various 
associatious with which he was coimected. Col. 
liradley served as paymn.ster-general in 1877-7S 
under Gi'v. Hubbard, ranking as a brigadier-gen- 
eral, and b\ his prom|)tness in the performance of his 
dutv, gave great satisfaction to the soldiery of the 
.State. In 1884 the General took an active and effi- 
cient i>an in the ordering of the exercises at the Cen- 
teiuiial celebration of the city of Xew Haven, held 
Julv 3 and 4, and commanded, as one of the officers 
of the da\-, the I'oin-tb Division, which included the 
Governor of the State and his staff. In 1893 he 
was aiJiiointed Adjutant-General of the State, with 
rank of brigadier-general, on the staff of Gov. Luzon 
r.. .Morris and sc-rved ably and acceptably in that 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



677 



— the hiijhcst military jjosilioii in tliL- State — until 
the end of (iov. .Morris' administration. 

(ien. IJradley, when a resident of the I'orouRh 
•of West Haven, from 1876 to 1886. served as a 
iiienihcr of its hoard of hurgesses and also as a nieni- 
Ijer of the I'nion School District committee of the 
town of Orano'e for several years. lie has heen 
twice elected a member of the State llonse of Rep- 
resentatives, in 1882 and 1883. and his popularity 
was here shown from the fact that the town was a 
r\epul)lican stronfjliold. no Dentocrat having; heen 
elected for nearly a fjeneration [previous. In the 
Lower House he served on the committee on I'.anUs 
and as House chairman of the joint standing- com- 
mittee on Roads and liridt^-es, also as clerk of joint 
i-ommittee on Cities and Ijorouglis. He introduced 
the biennial session amendment to the State Con- 
stitution, which is now a ]iart of the fimdamcntal 
law of the State, and ably advocated its first adoption 
before the House. He was also prominent in the 
<lebatcs on matters in sjeneral. and especially on 
those rejxirted from his committees and on lesjis- 
lation resJ-ardinp- the shell fisheries of the coast 
towns. He presided over the House at the closin;j 
hours of the session of 1883 and was chosen to 
make the farewell address to the .Speaker, which 
be did in a g;raceful\ and elor|uenl manner. In 
i88C) he was elected a member of tlie .State .Senate 
juid bore a leadino; part in that body, beinjj especially 
active in legislation regarding education and sani- 
tary laws. As chairman of the joint select committee 
<in Xew Counties and County Seat.s he was promi- 
iientlv engaged in the most exciting controversy of 
the session — the struggle between Bridgeport and 
Xorvvalk for the possession of the county seat of 
Fairfield county. His arguments in that matter 
v.ere successful in securing the adojjtion by the Sen- 
ate of the re])ort of his committee in favor <if 
I'iridgejxTrt. 

For more than a decade preceding Jan. r. 1902, 
<~ien. Bradley was one of the Xew Haven public park 
commissioners, a board which has charge of the 
citv's splendid i)ark svstem. He was the Demo- 
cratic candidate for lieutenant-governor in 188C). 
and though he had about 2,000 more votes than his 
leading opponent, yet was debarred from taking 
the office bv the Constitution of the State, which re- 
quires a majority over all opposing candidates. He 
was also the candidate of the Gold Democrats of 
Xew Haven for mayor in 1896, but was defeated 
because the party split on the gold and silver 
question, though he ran 1,600 votes ahead of his 
ticket. 

Gen. Rradlcv's religious connections are with 
St. Paul's Fpiscopal Church at Xew Haven, of 
which for manv vears he has been a vestryman. He 
is a director of the Missionary Society of Connecti- 
cut and a trustee of the Episcopal .\cademy of Con- 
necticut, at Cheshire, founded in 1794- In all the 
varied iX)sitions which (Sen. Bradley has held, manv 
re(|uiring ability and tact, he has shown high execu- 



tive ability and skill, and as a man in contact with 
men has gained a wide popularity, .'starting out 
for himself at tlic age of fifteen, with no ca])ital but 
brains, energy and good health he has made a de- 
served success and won a position in the front rank 
of the progressive men of Xew England. 

On .-\pril 26, 1871. Gen. Bradley was married to 
Mary lilizabeth, only child of .Mary ( Jones I and 
the late Xathaniel Kimberiy, of West Haven, and 
their three children are: I^dith Mary, Bertha Kim- 
berlv and Mabel Louise. 

l-REDERICK FERRY OWEX, the efficient 
bookkeejjer at the Connecticut School for Boys, lo- 
cated in Meriden, was horn in Buxton, York Co , 
Maine, July 18, 1859. the family being a well-known 
one in that great State. 

John Owen came to this country from England, 
and in 1770 ]iiarried Sarah liradburv, who bore him 
five children, namely: .Abigail, Betsey, William, 
Elijah and Jt;>hn, Jr. John Owen served through 
one winter's campaign in Xew York dining the 
war of the Revolution. 

John Owen, Jr., was horn in Buxton. Maine, 
June 9, 178^). He married May 26. 1816, Ruth Hill, 
daughter of Daniel Hill, an ensign in the Revolu- 
tion under his brother, Caj)!. Jeremiah Hill, of 
F.iddeford, Maine. John Owen. Jr.. died March 5, 
18^)8. and his wife, Ruth, jiassed awav Xov. 18, 
1859. 

Melville C. Owen, son of John, Jr., was horn 
Nov. 8, 1832. in York Co.. Maine, where he is a 
farmer of prominence and a large land holder. In 
his locality he has been selectman, is a stanch ad- 
herent of the Republican party and a leading mem- 
ber of the Methodi.st Church. He married Martha 
W. Davis, daughter of Simeon Davis, who has been 
a most estimable wife anil mother, beloved in her 
familv and neighborhood. Their children are : Os- 
car, who resides in Boston, Mass.: Frederick P., of 
Meriden, Conn, : Lincoln, a resident oi Boston : and 
Marv Louise, who married Frederick .Sanborn, of 
Standish. Maine. In the Davis line Thomas Davis 
was an early settler of Buxton, and he served in the 
war of the Revolution. .Simeon Davis, his .son, 
and the father of Martha W. Davis, was born in 
P.uxton Mav 31, 1790, and married Jane Mcl.ellan, 
daughter of \Villiam, a Revolutionarv soldier, and 
granddaughter of James an<l .-Xbagail McLellan. 
.\bagail was a daughter of Sir Hugh McLellan and 
his wife. l'"lizabeth. earlv settlers of Gorham. Maine, 
and thev were of .Seotch-Irish blood : he was a car- 
jienter and made himself so useful on .shipboard that 
iiis passage monev was returned to him. 

b"re lerick Perry ( )wen grew uj) iii a farm, in his 
boyjiood attending the district schools of his locality, 
graduating later from the Western Xormal Sclxml, 
at Gorham. Maine, in the spring class of 18S0. For 
two vears he taught scIk^oI in his own localilv. and 
in 1882 accepted the i)()sition of <iverseer at the Re- 
form School at Cajie Elizabeth where he remained 



6/8 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



two _\-ears, coming- to Meriden, Conn., and entering 
upon his duties as supervisor of the Xorth Division 
in the Connecticut School for lioys in January, 18S4. 
After fining this position five years he liecame su- 
pervisor of Cottage D for a jjcriod of ten years. 
After fifteen years of faithful ])erfonnance of the 
duties assigned him Air. Owen was api)ointed book- 
keeper of the institution and these duties also have 
been performed with efficiency and to the satisfac- 
tion of the trustees. He has j)ro\ed a valuable as- 
sistant to the superintendent and continues to give 
the same careful, patient attention to all details 
which has marked him ever since his first connection 
with this State institution. 

Mr. Owen was married in 1886 to Emilv G. 
Hurd, a most estimable lady who, as assistant' ma- 
tron in the school, attends to a very important 
branch of the work. .Mrs. ( )wen is a faithful meni- 
Ix-r of the Inrst .Methodist Church, and both she 
and her husband are highly esteemed in social life. 
In politics Mr. Owen is a Republican and is an 
excellent representative citizen. 

I'RlblXi) I-:. r.kOOKS. Even as America is 
distinctively the houK- of the typically self-made 
man. so is it the glory of the nation that here are 
aftnrded the oi)(iortnnities which enable one to so 
profit by his own industry and powers as to attain 
a success worthy of the name. 

Among the native sons of Connecticut who have 
been the architects of their own fortunes, and whose 
business careers have been characterized bv the high- 
est inlegritv and honor, is .Mr. lirooks, who is one 
of the rejjresentalive citizens of New Haven, where 
lie is engaged lin the men"s furnishings and fur busi- 
ness at .\o_s. 791-71J5 Chapel street, having an estab- 
lishment of distinctively metropolitan equipment and 
accessories, and a trade of representative order. For 
more than three decades Mr. lirooks has been iden- 
tified with the mercantile activities of .\ew Haven, 
au'd wiitliin: this period he has become well known 
and has gained un(|ualified confidence and cvtecm 
as one whose straightforward course and observance 
of the highest ethics of conmicrcial life have made 
hmi a worthy factor in the communitv. He is a 
man of keen discrimination and .stjund judgment, 
and his excellent management and sound judgment 
have brought to his mercantile enterprise a marked 
degree of success. The safely con.scrvativc policv 
whicli he inaugurated at the inception of the business 
commends itself to the judgmeiU of all patrons and 
has made the \olume of business transacted one of 
imixjrtance and no slight magnitude. In any work 
])iirporting to touch \\\yn\ the lives and deeds 01 
those who stand among the leading bu.siness men 
of the fair citv of New Haven it is con.sonant that 
definite coirsideration be accorded to the gentleman 
v.liose name initiates this review, for he conducts 
the leading enterprise in his hue in that citv and 
richly merits the prestige which he has attained. 

Like many of the most succe-ssful l)usiness men 



of the nation, Mr. Brooks was reared under the 
sturdy and invigorating discipline of the farm, where 
he waxed strong in both mental and physical vigor, 
contributing his quota to its work and imbibing co- 
pious draughts from the springs of independence 
and activity which are always accessible to those 
who thus live close to nature's heart. Here also 
were formed the habits oi industry and consecutive 
application and that high regard for the dignitv of 
honest endeavor, wdiich have been dominating char- 
acteristics in his career, while the varied occupations 
of his more youthful years proved a valuable experi- 
ence. 'Wv. Brooks vvias bom Nov. 3, 1840, at Beth- 
any, Conn., son of Isaac Richard Brooks, who was 
born in the Nutmeg State, son of Isaac Brooks, 
who was also boni dn Connecticut ; father and 
grandfather were farmers by vocation. Among the 
children of Isaac Brooks, were the following: Marv, 
wife of (ieorge .-Mdrich, of Waterbury, Conn. ; 
Sarah, wife of Eben Hoadly, of the same place ; 
Elizabeth, w.ife of John ?ilullings, also of Water- 
bury ; Cynthia, wife of George Osbom, of Beacon 
Falls; and Isaac Richard, the father of our subject. 
I'he last mentioned married Miss Laura Baldwin 
and they became the parents of two sons, Edwin .\. 
and Friend E. Edwin .\. Brooks died in New Ha- 
ven in 1890. His ])ohteness and courtesy to a 
wealthy lady when a young man were so appreci- 
ated by her that he was enabled to engage in busi- 
iiess in New Haven vmder favorable circumstances 
and he became one of the city's successful anci hon- 
ored merchants. At the time when the integrit}- of 
the nation was menaced by armed rebellion he w^ent 
to the front as a valiant soldier of the L'nion army 
and made an enviable military record. The father 
of our subject passed away in- 1848 and was in- 
terred in the Pines Bridge cemetery at Seymour, 
C'onn. His wife, who survives at the age of sev- 
enty-six years, resides in New Haven. 

Friend E. Brooks, to whom this review is dedi- 
cated, v>'as but two years of age at the time of hii 
lather's death, and' thereafter- he remained with 
his mother until he attained the ag^e of fourteen. 
His early scholastic advantages were meager in 
scope, being principally such as were afi'orded in the 
district schools in the vicinity of his farm home. 
As a boy he lived in difl'erent towns, Durham. 
Cheshire, Ansonia and others, and in each of these 
he also attendecl school in a somewhat desultory 
way, while the oidy institution of higher learning 
where he pursued his studies was the Cheshire 
.Academy. .\t the age of fourteen years he left home 
and went to Wallingford where he secured work on 
<-t 1,-u-ni. his original remuneration consisting of his 
board and clothing, with the privilege of three 
month's' schooling in the year. Of tliis period he 
utilized in the ]>ursu)it of his edueation onlv ten 
days. Me was of an exceedingly n-uodest ?.nd re- 
i-ring disposition, reticent almost to the point of 
bashfulness, and thus he endured .so much discom- 
fort in the school room that after the ten days he 



w^ 






-^^V ' 


4Pv 


f 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



G79 



indicated liij preference for slaying at Imnie and 
chopping- wood in place of attending sclmoj, d >nlii- 
less to the satisfaction of his cni]iloyer. Later lie 
entered the employ of liis uncle. Mhon lloadlv, win. 
held a contract for the delivering of harMes from 
the mines in Cheshire to the railway de])oi ; this 
mineral was in that period largely and iirotitahlv 
produced in that section of tl;e State. Still laier he 
was employed hy Andrew liradle)-, of the same t.>\vn. 
receiving his board and schooling for diiiig chores 
and he also worked for his uncle. 'Hiomas lJnK)ks, 
who was one of the prominent business men of 
Cheshire in the early days. Sul>scc|uently he en- 
tered uix5n an apprenticeship at the ke.gniakcr's 
trade in Cheshire, this industry being at tiiat time 
one of no little .scope and im])ortanct- in that town, 
wliere many thou.-;and kegs were annually pn-iiuced 
and were used by the shippers of ovsters. Thus it 
will be seen that the youth early learned the lessons 
of ctvnseeutiive ajsplication and that his e.\])eriences 
were along divers lines. He had a!s(j worke<l in a 
clock shop in Ansonia : had been emi)lo\e(l in an 
establishment where were turned out the old-time 
lioopskirts then, in the early sixties, in demand by 
every woman of any .social i^relensions : and he was 
thus ever ready to take advantage of any opporturiity 
which presented itself and to make the best ]>ossi- 
ble use of his time. While attending scluxil he em- 
ployed his leisure time in trajjping, in which line 
he was exceptionally successful, often earning verv 
substantial sums from his operations. While still 
a young man he also .served as a clerk in the gen- 
eral merchandise estal)lislnnent of I".. 1\. lirown, of 
Chcshiire. 

The }ear 1868 marked the advent of Mr. lirooks 
in the city of Xew Haven, and here he secured a 
clerkship in the mercantile establishment of the tirni 
of Crofut & Co.. whose headquarters were wliat is 
now the west half of his own finely cquipj-'cd busi- 
ness place. His brotlier, I'.dwin A. Brooks, was at 
that time the silent member of the firm, and there 
our subject was retained in a clerical aipacity for 
tlie period of three vears, when his l)rother severed 
his connection with the business and the brothers be- 
came associated in the same line of enterprise in a 
dift'ercnt location. This alliance continued about 
five years. Kor the past (|uarter of a century our 
subject has been located at his present head(|uarters, 
w'here for se\en years he had as a l>usiness coad- 
jutor, Samuel A. Stevens, w-hile since 188O he has 
conducted the business individually under liis own 
name. In i8()() he ad<led to his head(|uarlers the 
.store at Xo. 791. adjoining his former place in 
Chapel street, antl in the new section installed his 
fur department, which jiroves a valuable and well 
patronized complement to his men's furnishing store, 
which has gained the hi.ghest re])utation in the long 
years during wliich he has conducted business in 
that line. The two stores are connected hy an arch- 
way and in every respect tlie establishment is metro- 
politan, having a large and select stock and catering 



to a most discriminating ])atn)nage, finnlv lield bv 
reason of many years of honorable and courteous 
dealing. 

The ixisition which Mr. Dnxiks liolds in the 
business comnnmity is in a measure in<licatLd by the 
tact riiat lie retains memhersliip in the Chamber of 
Conunerce an<l the I'.usiness Men's Association, 
while fraternally lie is identified with Hiram Lodge, 
Xo. I. V. Sc .\. M., the Cnion League anfl the I'c- 
qiiot Clubs. .Mindful of the duties of citizenship, 
lie exercises his franchise in sui>])ort of men and 
measures, maintaining an independent attitutle 
rather tlian being guideil by strict jiartisan lines. 
He has never sought or desired the honors or 
emoluments of j)ublic office, being essentially a l)usi- 
ness man and believing that his legitimate line of 
enter])rise is w<jrthy of liis undivided atteiuion. .\s 
a result, in connection with his unvarying conrt(.>y 
and hcinorable dealing, he has built up a large and 
p.rofitable business and an enviable reputation for 
commercial inte.grity, his standing in tlic comnnm- 
ity being indicated bv tile unif<jrm confidence and 
esteem in wiiicli he is held as one of its ]5ioneer Inisi- 
ness men. ills success is the natural sequel '•{ his 
own ctTorts and entitles liini to a foremost ]iosition 
among the self-made men of Xew Haven. 

In 1891 Mr. P.rooks completed his fine residence 
at Xo. 591 W'liitney avenue, where lie has since 
maintained his home and where a gracious liospital- 
itv is extended to the wide circle of friends g-ained 
during his long residence in the city. Signally true 
and steadfast in all the relations of life, he riclilv 
merits the high regard in which he is held in Xew 
Haven, and the biographer may review his career 
w ith a feeling of distinct respect and satisfaction. 

On Sept. 6. 1877. ^^^- B'r<x;ks was united in 
marriage witli Miss Jennie .\lkn, of Xew I'lveii, 
a nat'.ve of Xortliam|)ioii, Mass., and dau.gluer of 
W'iliiani P.. .\llen. Of this union two children ha\e 
been born. .Mice L. and Harold .\.. both of whom 
are attending school at the time of this writing. Mr. 
i'.rooks is a communicant of the Protestant Lpisco- 
[.al Churcli. as is also his wife, and he is at the pres- 
ent time a member of the vestry of St. Paul's 
(duirch, whose parisli is one of the important ones 
of tlie city. He is a man of broad Christian tol- 
erance and charity, mindful of the springs of jiunian 
tlioughi and action, and not ])assing undue judg- 
ment on his fellow men of "all sorts and conditions." 
'J'liis ejiitome of his career will be perused with 
] leasure bv those who know him ami have cogni- 
zance of his worthy and upright career. 

JOHX TL PL.VTT. In these days of lavi'^h 
cxjienditure and beautiful furnishin.gs the eslab- 
lishment of well-a]ipointed aiiartmeiits for the dis- 
play and sale of high class interior decorations ha* 
i)econie a necessitv and in this line the city of Xew 
Haven takes a front rank. .\niong those who 
throu.gh ex(|uisite taste and excellent judgment liave 
become leaders in the trade mentioned is John II. 



■680 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



I'latt, whose Ijcatitifulh' arrans^cd and L-nnipIctelv 
stocked store, at Xo. 90 (.)rani,''e street, supplies every 
reas(inal)le demand. There may he found tlie rar- 
est and nio.st cx])ensive of ( )riental or otht'r decora- 
tions and' also those which cnnie within llie reach of 
a moderate income. 

John 11. I'latt was horn in I'rospect. Conn.. Dec. 

I, 1S42. a son of Henr\- I', and Rehecca (.Xicliols) 
I'latt. the former of wlmm was a son of C.'apt. lien- 
jamin J'latt. 

Cai;it. lienjamin I'latt was Imrn in Milford, 
Conn., hut later nuived ti) i'rosjiect and located on 
a farm, hecominff also a drover. Takini;- a "reat 
interest in military affairs he was made the captain 
of a militia conipanx' and was well-known all 
tlirou,i.;h the State. He married .\anc\- Uristol. who 
was horn in Milford, C'onn., and she was a mo,-;t 
excellent wife and the devoted mother of a familv 
of ten children : llenjamin. wdid lon^;" was connected 
as a coniractnr with the .Setli Thomas Clock Co., of 
Tlioniaston. C'lmn.: lleiu'\' I'.: Harris, who was a 
farmer, lived and died in I 'ri is|)et-t : William R.. 
who lived and died in W'aterhury : John R., who is 
a farmer in I'rospect, Conn.: .Xdelia. who married 
Luther Morse: Mary, who married a Mr. Clark; 
Nanc\ . who married ?\[. Kelsev: Jane, unmarried: 
and Auijnsta, wlm lirst married Henr\' .Ste\'ens and 
second a Mr. Hall. Capt. I'latt was ]irominent in 
])olitical life, held man\- of the loc.al nt'tices and 
served in the State Lej^islature. In the L'on^-res'a- 
tional C'hurch he was also conspicuous, taking an 
active part in all charitahle enterprises and lilieralh' 
contributing to its sup])nrt. 

Hem-v 1'. I'latt. a son of Capl. I'latt, and the 
father of John 11. I'latt, of Xew Haven, lived all 
his life in I'rospect, Conn., where he was a carpen- 
ter and joiner, a most wortliv citizi'u and estimable 
and upright man. He married Rebecca Xichols. of 
Waterbury, L'onn.. who was born in Waterbury and 
died in Prospect. Their children were : T'lcnjamin, 
v.dio diid at the age of twelve years: Caroline, wlv) 
lived until her thii'teenth vear : and John H. Mr. 
I'latl was a stanch W'hitr in bis earlier vears. later 
becoming an acti\e Kepublican and be ser\-ed the 
towr: as de])tity sheriff for man\' years. The familv 
all belonged to the Congregational Church. 

( Irowiug u|) in his native t<iwn of I'n'ispect. John 

II. I'latt was a school boy of eighteen years at the 
outbreak of the Civil war. The stirring events of 
iSfii awakeutil in bis young breast the fires of pa- 
triotism and be became one of ihe soldiers sent from 
his village, enlisting in Co. ,\. _>oth Conn. \'. T.. and 
serving until the close of the war. taking part in the 
battles of Chancellorsville. h'redericksburg. (iett\'s- 
liurg, and after Leing transferred to the Western 
Division went witli the armv of Cen. Sherman on 
his memorable journc}' to the sea. A woiuid that 
he received at lientonville. X. ('., still troubleil him 
and ke])t him in l'ros])ect for the year succeeding 
the close of tlie struggle, but b\- \H('>h bis injured arm 
had recovered sufficienllv to enalde him to make 



use of it and he came to Xew Haven to engage in 
business. Here he has remained ever since, liaving 
lieen identified with the same line of business during 
all these years. I-"or fourteen years he was con- 

' riected with F. A. (iilliert, a merchant dealing in in- 
terior decorations, since which time he has conducted 
a similar business in his own interest, having now^ 
the most elaborate and costly dis]>lay of goods of 

I any house in the city, catering jjarticularly to a 
wealthy and cultured, as well as to a traveled pat- 
ronage. Few houses in Xew England afford better 
facilities in the line of interior decorations, includ- 
ing paper, rugs, tapestries and bric-a-brac from 
every land. 

John II. Piatt was first married in 1875. his 
bride being Miss Mary Munson. a native of Ham- 
den. Conn., a daughter of Henrv Munson, a well- 
known resident of that IocaIit\-. Her death took 
place in 1879. In 1883 Mr. Piatt was united in mar- 
riage to Aliss Mettie H. Bishop, wdio was born in 
this city, the daughter of Merritt Bishop, of New 
Haven. No children have been born to Mr. Piatt. 
In spite of absorbing business interests Mr. I'latt 
has found time to show interest in public affairs, 
filling the position of police conunissioner for three 
years, during which time many municipal reforms 
were instituted. An active member of the Republi- 
can party he takes a deep interest in the Union 
League and the Republican Club and exerts con- 
siderable inliuence in political circles. Fraternally 
he is a popular member of the Ouinnipiac and the 
-Vnsantawae Clubs, the Country Club, the Forest 
and Stream Club, and Xew Haven Commandery, 
Knights Templar, while in the Commercial Club he 
has most efficicntiv served on the committee for the 
promoting of new' industries. In religious connec- 
tions ~\[t. J'latt is a member and one of the vestry- 
men of Trinity Episco]ial Church of this city. 

CH.VRLES ALOXZ( ) KIX( 1. superintendent of 
the gam and machine shops of Parker Brothers, 
.Meriden. is one of 'the best known and most highly 
respected residents of that city. His birth occurred 
in l-'ranklin. New London Co.. Conn., Feb. 10, 1837, 
aircl he comes from one of the old families which 
was established in this State long prior to the Rev- 
olutionary war. 

Samuel King and his wife. ?klary. a])]>eiar to have 
been the first of the name recorded in Mansfield, 
Conn. Their childreiT were boni there and the 
pnintecl records show that James was born March 
-'O/, 17.(8: Samuel, March 22, 1751 ; and Ruth. Xov. 

9. 1753- 

James King, son of Samuel and Mary, was mar- 
ried Xov. 25, i/"/q. to Irene Jennings, and accord- 
ing to tHic Mansfield records their children were: 
.Mpheus, born April 2. 1781; Jehiel, Llec. 8, 1783: 
Irene. Feb, 13, 17S6: and James, Aug. 12. 178S. 

Jehiel King, .son of James, was married No\-. 
15, 1804, to Zerviah Dunham. 

Jehiel Dunham King, son of Jehiel and Zcr- 




oa/cLJ. 




COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



OS I 



\\a.h. was horn Oct. 9. 1S05. and, his father dyins;- 
when he was an infant, he was reared to nianliixnMn 
the home of an uncle, assisting; in the farm work, 
itnd remainintj there until his marriage. Then he 
removed to Xew Lon<lon county, locating tirst a'. 
I'ranklin, where he followed farmins;-. and later re- 
m.oving to Xorwich, where he si)em the remainder 
of his life, dying there April 25. i8Sj. I-\w men 
followed the teachings of the ( lolden Rule more 
successfuliy than did Mr. King. .Ml his life an in- 
tiustrious man he tried to live up to the highest 
ideals of citizen, husband and fatlier. In ]> ilitical 
belief he adhered tu tl;e Jettcrsdiiian ] rinciplcs of 
Democracy. 

On Fell. II, 1827, -Mr. King married Kmmelin: 
Eliza Jennings, who was horn in Manstield, Conn., 
daughter of .\sahel and Emnieline ( Parsons) Jen- 
nings, the latter a daughter of Jesse 1 'arsons, a 
.soldier in the Patriot army during the Revolutionarv 
war. Xiiie children were horn to .Mr. .ind Mrs. 
Jving, one of whom dieil in infancy. .Mar\- h'.liza 
married (George ^\ . S\nK)iids. of Kast llariiord. 
Asahel A. is now living at Mystic. Conn. Xancy 
married George W'ilher, now a resident of ."sjielton. 
Conn. Martha D. (deceased) married John L. 
W ilhnr, of Xew Ila\en. Charles Aliinzo is our 
subject. Newell D. was a soldier in the Ci\il war 
lor three years, serving in the 21st ("nnn. \'. I. 
William Wallace was also a soldier in the L'ivil war. 
serving four and one-half \ears in the 13th t'l-nn. 
\\ I. Emmeline J. married Millen Slnnnway, of 
^Middlefield, Conn. 'Plic l>eloved mother of this 
iamily died in June, 1874, in Springfield, Mass.. and 
was buried in Indian Hill ceiuetery, at .Middlctown, 
Conn. She was a good. Christian woman. Kind and 
svmpathetic, devote<l to her family and a \ahied 
member of the Methodist Church. 

Charles A. King, of Meriden, was reared on the 
home farm and attended the district schools ot his 
native locahty up to the age of eight vears. at wliich 
time bis parents removed to iMtchville. 'i'here he 
also entered school, and he subsequently attended 
at Xorwich until his si.xteenlh year, when he en- 
tered the machine shop of J. .S. S: S. J. Mowry, re- 
maining until he had become a skilled machinist. 
When the business de])ression of 1857 fell on the 
country it affected Xorwich also, and .Mr. King left 
that town for Midclletown, where he found em- 
■ plovment in the sewing machine factury of Pratt & 
Johnson. Later he became connected with the 
Wheeler & Wilson .Sewing .Maciiine Co.. of P.ridgc- 
]'ort. Conn., remaining in that employ for a short 
time. In i860 he went back to Midclletown and there 
entered the gunmaking de]>artment of the Savage 
I-'^re .Arms Co.. continuing with that concern until 
1867 when he accei>ted the position of superintend- 
ent with the Smith & Wesson Co., manufacturers 
of pistols, at Springfield, where he remained until 
coming to Meriden,' in 1874. While at Springfield 
he invented and ])atented llie automatic ejector so 



widely used on re\t)lvers. 'Phis patent was .sold 
to his em|iloyers. lie also made manv improve- 
ments in the machinery for manufacturing inter- 
changeable work, and the high rating of the Smith 
^ Wesson wea[>:>n is largely due to his skill. 

Probably no house in tiie Cnited States is better 
(■r more favorably known in its line than that of 
J'arker Brothers and it was as supernitendent of 
their gun and mcichine shops that >Ir. King can;e 
to Meriden. For the ])ast twenty-seven \ ears he 
has been the eftioient incumbent of that ]x_>sition. 
Pic is the designer and i)atentee of the hammerless 
breech-loading shot gun, now so widelv known 
throughout the world. With from 2(X) to 300 men 
in his charge Mr. King has not only sjitisfactorilv 
]xrformecl the resii<.>nsible duties of his office, but 
he has also earnerl tlie ct>nfi(lencc and affection of 
l>oth employers and cmiiloyes. .\ position of this 
kind re(|uires the ])ossession of atiriljutes wholly 
a]iart from skill in workmanshi]). In these days of 
genera! business discontent he has so managed the 
affairs of I'arker Pmthers in his department that 
there has l)cen little friction. 

In 1859 Charles .\. King was married in Xor- 
wich to I-Vances .\nn I'.alch, who was bf>rn in Xor- 
wich and (bed in Middletown, leaving two children: 
Minnie 1"., who married C. F. (laskell. of Mystic, 
C 01m. : and Cliarles Winfield, who is a lxx)kkeeper 
for the II. Wales Lines Co. The second marriage 
of Mr. King took ])lace in Springfield, .Mass., to 
.Adeline K. .\nstin. a daughter of John .Austin, of 
Canterbm\-, Connecticut, and the children of 
this union are: Walter .\. and Kaynmnd P'arle. 
The former is connected with the Parker gmi works, 
lie married Martha W. Landis and they have one 
daughter, l>)rothy Elizabeth. 'Phe younger son, 
kaxinond. is a student in the Meriden high scbo<>l. 

In 1875 Mr. King erected a fine residence in 
King street, Meriden, ilesigncd and finished accord- 
irig to Mrs. King's ideas. It is not onl\- one of the 
most attractive homes in the city but is also one of 
the most hospitable. The religious connection of the 
family is with the L'niversalist Church. Mr. King 
giving liberally and generously to its suiijjort. 

Fraternallv Mr. King is connected with .'^t. 
John's Lodge. .\. I". M- .A. M.. and Washington 
Chapter, both of Middletown, and is also a member 
of St. FJmo Commanderx , Xo. (>, K. T.. of Meriden, 
In politics he is a stanch Republican. During his 
residence in .Spjingfi^ld lie served in the citv coun- 
cil, representing tiie 'I hi'd Ward. In .Meriden he 
was for four years an alderman, chairman of tlie 
Police and Claims committees, a member of the 
Water committee and has been president jiro tem. of 
the council, and was ap|)tMnted police commissioner 
liv Mayor Seeley in Jamiary, 1902: he is a trustee 
of the Meriden Savings P.ank. Mr. King is a man 
of intellectual attainments and studies on many sub- 
jects, taking intense interest in the advance of sci- 
ence. 



682 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



HORACE B. PERRY, long and favorably 
known in the mercantile circles of New Haven, was 
born in Oxford, Conn., Nov. lo, 1843, a son of 
Capt. Herman A. Perry. The fatlier was a farmer 
and was born in 1807 in the house in which he 
died in 1898. 

Cyrus Perry, the grandfather of Horace B., was 
born in the old home, a son of Gideon Perry, and 
there died. He was a farmer by occupation. 

Capt. Herman A. Perry derived his title from 
his connection with the State Militia, and was a 
veterinary surgeon of note, serving in that capacity 
at Harper's Ferry during the Civil war. Emma J. 
Swift, his wife, was born in Monticello, Sullivan 
Co., X. Y., and she died in Oxford, Conn., at the 
age of eighty-four. The Swift family was of Eng- 
lish origin and Mrs. Perr_\-"s fatlier was a joiner and 
l)uilder. Three children were born to Capt. and 
Mis. Perry: Plenrv A. and Horace 1!. were twins; 
and I'redcrick. Henry A. is a resident of Water- 
bury, Conn. : and l''redericl<. who is a farmer, is now 
ri\'ing ictired at lluthany Center. Capt. Perry was 
a W'hig and later a Republican. \\'ith his wife 
he belonged to the Episcopal Church. 

Horace B. Perry spent his boyhood days on the 
old fami at O.xford, Conn., where so manv of his 
name had been reared, and attended the district 
school. \\'heii he was thirteen \ears old he was sent 
to Sullivan, Hancuck Co.. Maine, to live with an 
uncle and attend school, where he remained four 
years. At the end nf tliat period he came home to 
enter upon the active duties of life and for two or 
three years was employed as a clerk in the store of 
H. W. Randall, at .Seymour, Conn. For a year he 
was a clerk in Ansonia in a store also belonging to 
Mr. Randall: and in 1867 he entered the New Ha- 
ven store of Sherman Smith, a noted center of trade 
in dry goods and carpets. From Mr. Smith he 
went to Beacon Falls. Conn., where with a partner 
he opened a general store and for five years was in 
business at that ])oint. Circumstances seemed to 
make it advisable that he sell out at the exoiration of 
that period and l)U\- fri)in .Sherman .Smith his store 
in New Haven, which he did, and the move has 
been attended with the happiest results. l'"or tbirtv 
years Mr. Perrv has been in business at the oUl 
stand. No. 914 Chapel street, dealing in carpets, dra- 
peries, paper hangings and similar goods, and his 
store has become a landmark in the local trade. 

Mr. Perry was married July I, 1868. to Sarah 
J. Bceclier, a daughter of John P)eecher, and a native 
of Oxford, Conn. To this union were born two 
children: John B. and i lari\- L. Mr. Perry is a 
Republican and has re|)reseiited his w.ani in the com- 
mon council four years. lie is a inember of the 
Chamber of Commierce and for years has served in 
the Governor's Foot Guards. Mr. Perrv is a Mason 
and belongs to New Haven Commanderv, No. 2, K. 
T., being also connected with Cilv T-odge. Xo. 3('i, 
I. O. O. F.. and the Red Men. In religidn he is as- 
sociated with the lCpisc(-pal Church. Wherever he 



is found he is recognized as a true and honorable 
man, of high character, fine spirit, genial' disposi- 
tion and the most excellent motives and ambitions. 

EDGAR J. PERICINS, superintendent of the 
Charles Parker Co. spoon shop on East Main street, 
Meriden, Conn., was born in the town of ]\Ieriden 
Nov. 20, 1852, and is a descendant of an old and 
highly respected Massachusetts family. 

Russell G. Perkins, the grandfather of Edgar 
J. Perkins, was. a native of Springfield, Mass., and 
a son of Elisha Perkins, who was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war and later a resident of Spring- 
field. Elisha Perkins was one of the heroes of 
Bunker Hill and after his marriage to Lois Newton 
settled in Springfield, where he carried on a mill- 
ing business. Both husband and wife lived a long 
and happy domestic life, and when the husband died 
the wife, worn out by anxiety and want of rest, 
passed away on the same day, and their solemn 
burial was made in one grave. Russell G. Perkina 
learned the milling trade from his father and fol- 
lowed the same at Ludlow, Mass., and later at 
Pittstown, N. Y. Still later he removed to Meri- 
den, Conn., and locating on the Aliddletown road, 
went to work in the spoon shop of Parker & Per- 
kins, his son being the junior member of the firm. 
His death occurred in his old home when he was 
aged seventy-five and his remains were interred in 
East cemetery, Meriden. All his life he was a close 
Bible student, was a faithful member of the Baptist 
Church, believed in the efficacy of daily prayer, was 
a living exponent of the religion he professed and in 
which he died. Russell G. Perkins married Sally 
Bartlett and to them were born seven children : 
Russell, who became a partner with Charles Parker 
in the business of Parker & Perkins ; James JMon- 
roe, deceased; Sarah, who married Jerard D. Chase: 
Electa, who married George Cook, deceased ; Orson, 
who lives near Eustis, Fla. ; Mary Adeline, who first 
married Frederick C. Booth and second Dr. Jerard 
Chase, her brother-in-law ; and Louise, at home. 
The mother of this family died in Meriden, was 
laid to rest by the side of her husband, she also hav- 
ing been a most worthy member of the Baptist 
Church. Mr. Perkins was a Whig in his earlv days 
but later became a Republican. 

James i\Ionroe ■ Perkins was born in Ludlow. 
Mass., where he grew to manhood and accompanied, 
his parents on their removal to the State of New 
York. For several years he held a position with 
the New York & Erie Railroad, as engineer on the 
Lightning Express, but later came to Meriden and 
entered the em[)l<3y of Parker & Perkins, his brother, 
Russell, being one of the partners. After a short 
time here, with several others, he made trip to 
low.n, and after prospecting a while, located at what 
i^ now the thriving little city of Grinnell, which was 
settled by J. P.. Grinnell in association with several 
other ])ioneers from Meriden. .Here Mr. Perkins 
spent three vears but finally decided to return to 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



683 



the vicinity of his former homo. \\ hen he reached 
Meriden he re-entered the employ of I'arker .K: 
I'erkins, beingf made assistant superintendent, nnder 
his brother, Russell, and he held this place until he 
was made superintendent, when the iiannL-rship was 
dissolved. Until his death Mr. I'erkins. by faithful 
attention to liis duty, retained the confidence of tlvj 
firm, his decease -Vu.^'. 2, 1898, leaving a vacancv 
which was imn;ediately jilaced at the disp>isal of his 
son, Edgar. He was buried with his parents in 
East cemetery, in Meriden. Althougii not a member 
of any church he lived up to Christian ijrecejjts and 
was known as an honorable man. lie was a mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity, was a Rci)ublican in 
liis jjolitical sentiments but never accejjted office. 
The marriage of James AT. Perkins took place iu 
the State of Xew Vork. his bride l>eing .Mniira Al- 
len, a native of that State, and the children born to 
this union were: Charles, who died in i8</): l-'.dgar 
J., of Meriden; and Harvey, who resides at Erie. 
Colorado. Mrs. I'erkins died Jan. i. 1870, and site 
was laid to rest in East cemetery. The second mar- 
riage of Tames Monroe Perkins was to Alibie llel- 
den, of Aferiden. who is still surviving and she re- 
sides in West Hartford. 

The educational advantages afforded Edgar J. 
Perkins, of Meriden, were of a limited natin-e, and 
while still a youth he faced the fact that he must 
carve out a career for himself. This is not a!\va\s 
the worst thing that can confront a young man and 
ft brought to tile surface the energy and industry o) 
Edgar Perkins, which has resulted in his efficient 
superintendency of this imi)ortant branch of the 
great manufacturing business of the Charles Parker 
Company. His first work was on the neighboring 
fanns, but later he went as a coal heaver to New- 
York, New Jersey and as far south as \'irgiuia, on 
the Old Dominion steamship line. After drifting 
around for several years, gaining much experience 
which has been of use to him in the management of 
the large force of men under his control in his pres- 
ent position, he returned to Meriden and at the age 
of eighteen started in to learn tlie trade of tooi 
maker in the spoon shop of which his father was the 
superintendent. Later be was employed as a ma- 
chinist by the Elm City Shirt Company, of Xew 
Haven, where he remained for three years and tlicn 
went back to Meriden, accepting a position as fore- 
man of the spoon shop of the Parker establishment. 
Later he entered the die-sinking slioj) where he con- 
tinued until the death of his father, at which tint'- 
he was appointed to fdl the position he so ablv holds. 
Afr. Perkins has a force of 100 hands in charge and 
has the ability to manage both work and men to the 
satisfaction of the latter, and in the quantity and 
degree of excellence demanded by his employers in 
tile former. 

Mr. Perkins was married in Meriden tc Miss 
Ellen M. Smith, a native of this city, and to them 
were born lliree children : Belle, who married Leon 
Prainerd, of Hartford ; Daisey, who married George 



I'arrow, of .Middlelown. anil Hi)ward, who is a 
maker of tnols. In njoo .Mr. Perkins completed a 
inie residence which is one of the must comi)lete 
and attractive un the Middlelown r^iad. from i)lans 
<if his own. a delightful. comlortal)le and most hos- 
pitable mansion. 

.Mthough Mr. I'erkins has long been an active 
member of the Republican party lie has sought no 
political honors, his good citizenship being shown 
in liis u|)holding of law and his enci)uraging of all 
beneficial public enterprises. Mr. Perkins has served 
as grand juror of the town of Meriden and for 
some \ears was school tax collector and was very 
active on the school board under the old district sys- 
tem, taking great interest in the educational ad- 
vancement of his distriv't. He is a valued member 
ot Center Lodge. No. Q". A. V. & A. M.. and in his 
religious views he is liberal. 

SAMl'ia. DICKINSON OTIS. M. D.. one 
of Meriden's best known medical practitioners, was 
lK)rn in old Saybrook, Middlesex Ci)..Ciinn.. Dec. 2J . 
1856, and is a worthy rei>resentaiive of a sturdy an- 
cestry that dates back to the early Colonial ])erioii. 

John Otis emigrated from England to Iling- 
ham, Mass.. in iCivs, and emoved to Weymouth. 
Mass., where he died in 1637, aged seventy-six. 
His first wife, Margaret, came from England and 
died in Hingham in i''>5.V This John Otis was the 
ancestor of the Otis faniilv that first settletl in New 
Loudon and Colchester. Conn. 

There was an Israel Otis, liorn June 28. 1781. 
apparently of the Monlville. Conn., family, who was 
a descendant in the seventh generation from lolni 
(above), his line being through (II ) John, of E.ng- 
iand and New England; (HI) Joseph, of Montvillc. 
Colchester and Salem (all in Connecticut l : (l\') 
Nathaniel, of Colchester. Conn.; {\ ) John (31. of 
Colchester. Conn.; (\T) Nathaniel 12). of New 
London, Conn.: and ( VH) Israel, born June 28, 
1781. Israel Otis, grandfather of Dr. C)tis. of Meri- 
den, was a native of Lyme. New London county, 
where he grew to manliocKl on a farm. He married 
in his birthplace, where he followed farming for sev- 
eral years, and later removed with his family to 
Old Saybrook. Middlf^scx county, where lie sjient 
the remainder of his days in agriculti:ral i>ursuits. 
and where he died. He was a conimunijaiU oi the 
E])iscopal Church and politicallv was a Democrat 
of the Jefferson and Jackson tvpe. lie married a 
Miss r.abcock, who died in Old Savbrook. She, 
too. was a member of the Episcopal Church. 

Israel .'■^abine Otis, son of Israel and ihe father 
r>f the genial Meriden Doctor, was born in L>Tiie, 
Conn., removed to Old Savbrook with his p.irenis 
and there attended the public schools. He studied 
for tlv medical ])rofession luxler the well-known 
))ractitioner. Dr. Thomson, ami later with Dr. 
.^perrv. lie began his practice in Lyme, his liirth- 
])lace. where he continued for four years, wlicn he 
moved for the second time to Saxbrook and startc<l 



684 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



in the fish and oil business, heconiino- a large manii- 
lacturer of fish oil, also tlealing extensively in fish. 
He Iniilt iq) a successful business and was a well- 
known business man, noted for his upris^ht character 
and honest dealintjs. He was a consistent member 
of the Episcopal Church and died in Saybrook in 
March, 1868. In jjolitics he was a Democrat. Israel 
Sal)ine Otis was married in Saylirook to Caroline' 
Dickinson, a dauf,diter of .Samuel Dickinson. She 
is a lady of culture and refinement, a worthy mem- 
ber of the Episcopal Churcli, still niakins; her home 
in Saybrook. Eive children were born tu Air. and 
Airs. Otis: James E., manufacturer of oil in Tuck- 
I'rton. X. ].: Josc])hine, wife of Ely S])encer: Lucy 
Caroline, at home; Samuel Dickinson ; and \'iroinia, 
at home. 

Samuel Dickinson ( )tis attenile<l the district 
school and also a military academy in Saybrook and 
was graduated from the high school in that town. 
He had early determined upon a professional career 
and had studied for some time with that end in view. 
He began his medical studies under Dr. (irannis, of 
Saybrook, and in 1S74 he entered the medical depart- 
ment of the L'niversitv of .\ew York, and after a 
three years' course he was graduate' in 1877. His 
first location fur the practice of his profession was in 
X'ew Jersey, where he remained for a year and a 
lialf. In 1878 he came to Meridcn and for the past 
twenty-three years he has been kept busy with his 
cinistantly growing jjractice. In spite of the many 
hours each day he is obliged to give his patients 
he has managed tn study and kee]) well up in his 
profession. Hi' is a man of unassuming manners, 
a thoughtful and (|uiet student, but is very popular 
and bas the respi-ct nf the peoide of Aleriden. In 
politics he is independent, was elected to the cit\' 
council from the Second Ward in 1881 and served 
on several committees. .Socially he belongs to Me- 
ridian Lodge, .A. I'. & .\. Al., and St. Elmo Coni- 
mandery, K. T. lie is a member of the State, County 
and City Aledical societies, and of the .American 
Medical .Association. In religious helii'f he follows 
the faith of his ancestors and is an attendant of the 
Episcopal Church, as is also his wife. 

Tn 1S82 Dr. ( )tis was luarried, in Meriden, to 
Mary Newport, who was born in W'inilsor Locks, 
a daughter of Edward C, and Caroline (Norton) 
New].)ort. Their children are : I'essendon Newport, 
bom Se]>t, ig, i8(ji : ami Israel Saliine, born I'eb. 
2, 1895. 

Edward Cii.\ri.ks Nicwi-oirr, M. D.. was born 
in Halle, Cenuany, July i, 1837, ;ni<l ilie(i Aug. 2. 
1895. In ])aternal lines he was of iMiglish descent 
and in maternal lines his ancestry is traceil back to 
the faiuily of Martin Luther. His f.ither an active 
participant in the Revolutionary <listurbances in 
Germany in 1848, was obliged to emigrate. N'oung 
Newport remaine<l in his native land until his 
twenty-second year, when he, too, came to .Americ.i 
and joined a brother at Windsor Locks, where he 
found employment as a cutter in the Medlicott Alills. 



In 1862 he became a member of Company C, 25th 
Conn. \'. I., and was corjxjral of his company, was 
later promoted to chief bugler of the regiment and 
in January, 1863, was made brigade bugler. He was 
disabled in the attack on Port Hudson and after 
two months returned home. His medical studies 
were pursued in the New York Homeopathic Hos- 
pital College, from which institution he was gradu- 
ated in 1868. .After a year in California he located 
in Aleriden and made that place the scene of his 
professional labors. He was prominent in the civil 
life of his town and served one term as alderman. 
He also served a term as medical director of the 
State Encampment of the G. .A. R. 

Dr. Newport was a prominent Alason, being a 
member of Apollo Lodge, Sufifield : Aleriden Chap- 
ter, ( ). E. S. ; Keystone Chapter. R. .A. Al. ; Hamilton 
Council, R. & S. M. : St. Elmo Commandery. K. 
T. : and Pyramid Temple. .A. .A. ( ). N. AL S., of 
Eridlgeport. He was enrolled as well in the mem- 
bership of Alerriam Post, G. A. R. : Teutonic Lodge. 
I. O. O. F. : Alontowese Tribe, I. O. R. AL : Silver 
City Lodge, A. O. L'. W. : and the Aleriden Scientific 
Association. Dr. Newport held the office of medi- 
cal examiner for a nuiuber of life insurance coni- 
I'anies and societies. 

JOHN Al. RICH.\RDS. a leading citizen of 
West Haven, and a representative of the Diamond 
Matdh Co., was born Nov. ly. 1834, near the site 
of his preserit residence. 

John Richards, his grandfather, and William 
Richards, his father, both followed the sea and were 
captains of vessels. The father was connected for 
some time with tihe trade to the West Indies, but 
his last years were spent in West Haven and his 
deaith occurred at the age of sixty-seven years. Our 
subject's miother, whose maiden name was Mehet- 
able Reynolds, was born in West Haven and died 
there aged eighty-two years. Of the eleven children 
born to William and Alehctable Ridhards, four are 
living, as follows : Frederick, who resides in ( )hio ; 
Henry H. : John Al. ; and .Mrs. Edson Doolittle. 

John M. Ricliards was educated in the West 
l!a\en and New Haven schools and in early man- 
hood went to New Haven where he was employed 
for some time as a hotel clerk and then eng-aged in 
the coal business in partnership with his brother, 
ikiir\'. Later he bought his Ijrother's interest and 
for ;i time conducted the business aloire. selling out 
to the New Hiaven Coal Co. .After this he engaged 
m the coast shipjiing business, owning .several ves- 
sels. He built one three-masted schooner in the 
_\ards in West Haven that bore his name. Three 
of his vessels were wrecked and he then dis]iosecI 
of hiis other shijiping interests, subsequently becom- 
ing comiected with the Diamond Alatch Co. as a. 
stockholder and representative. He lias assisted 
in buying up a number of factories throughout the 
country and travels chiefly in the South and South- 
west, his shrewd judgnwnt being of recognized 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



6S5 



value to the company. In politics lie is ;i ivepiiblican 
and in relit^ion a Coiigfregationalist. lie takes keen 
interest in all public movements and while perma- 
nently residing in West Haven was jiroininent in 
Siinday-schojl work and served on the committee 
en pidjHc schools. 

In i860 Mr. Richards married .Miss Gertrude 
r.akhvin and five children have blessed the union : 
( 1 ) Lida ( j. married Edward V . Smith, a manu- 
facturer of wire goods in ,\ew Haven, and has four 
children — (iertrnde. Marjorie. .\rihurand rdisal)eth. 

(2) William 1., formerly in the men's furnishing 
business in Xew Haven, is now reijresenting (in 
Xew York) Brown, Durrell & Co., of r.:)ston. hav- 
ing charge of their Southern and Western business. 

(3) Xettie li., who resides in West llaven, married 
Harry E. Xcttleton. chief clerk to the general su- 
perintendent of the Xew ^'ork, Xew Haven & Hart- 
ford Railroad, and has two children, \'incent R. and 
Constance. ( 4 I John lilbert, for a number of years 
connected with II. R. Hatch &: Co., of Cleveland, 
Ohio, and now in the men's furnishing goods busi- 
ness in that city, married .Mary Ivarle. of .Milwaukee. 
Wis. ( 5 ) Harry \'an Duscn is residing in West 
llaven and takes charge of his father's real estate 
and oilier interests in the absence of the latter. The 
children were educated in West Haven and Xew 
Haven, the daughters completing their studies in 
Cleveland, CMiio, and Xew ^'ork City. The family 
liolds a leading place in the social life of We-^l Ha- 
\en. The present residence, Hedgehurst, was budt 
by .Mr. Richards in 1868. 

Mrs. Richards was born in Xi'w 1 laven, a daugh- 
ter of Silas Irving lialdwin, and granddaughter of 
Silas Baklwin. Her father, who was Ixirn in Wfwd- 
bridge in July, 1801, was connex-ted with the shoe 
busiiness and resided in Xew Haven, but had an ex- 
tensive trade in the South. At one time he was in- 
terested in the dry goods business with a son in 
Cleveland. Ohio, but several yt^ars before his death, 
which occurred in 1881, he spent in retirement. His 
wife, Eliza (Xewton). was one of the five children 
of Jonah Xewton. a farmer in W<mdbridge, and his 
wife. Marv (Peck), a native of that town, who 
lived to the age of eighty-five years. Mrs. Rich- 
ards' ])arents were members of Dr. Leonard Bacon's 
Church in Xew Haven and their four children, of 
whom she is the only one living, were all ba])tized 
by him. Her brother, Elbert Irving Baldwin, born 
in New Haven, was engaged in the dry goods Inisi- 
ness in Xew \'ork, and later in Cleveland. Ohio, 
where he became a prominent citizen. Her sister, 
Eliza Newton, niarrie<l Henry R. Hatch, who was 
at one time in business with Elbert Irving 15ald- 
win and is now senior member of the hrm of 1[. 
R. Hatch & Co., of Cleveland, .\iiotlier brother. 
Adolphus Kirk, died at the age of eleven years. 

SKiMCXD BERXSTEIX, one of the best 
known citizens of Merideii, and ])ro|)rietor of tiie 
immense clothing and men's furnishing establish- 



ntent, conducted under the firm name of Baum & 
Bernstein, was Ijorn in the tnwn of Lissa. province 
of I'oseii. I'russia. July 31, 1841;. a son of Jacob and 
Jennette (liaum) Bernstein, 

Jacob Bernstein was also a native of Lissa. 
where he resided most of his life, lieing in com- 
fortable circumstances, lie was enabled to give his 
children good educational advantages. After his 
death his witlow came to .\merica, settling in Jer- 
sey City, where she still resides with a daughter, 
having attained the age of eighty-one years. To 
herself and husband were born si.x cliildren who 
grew to maturity: Signuind : ,\ugusta. wife of 
M. Serge, of Jersey Citv : Morris, a real estate dealer 
in Xew \'ork Citv; Isaac, a merchant of Ithaca, X. 
V. : Tina, who married Jose])h Calf, a diamond mer- 
chant of Jersey City; Joseph, a clothing merchant of 
Jersev City. 

Xot only did Siginund Bernstein receive a good 
common school eilucation in his native language. l)nt 
he also attended a i)re])arati)ry college and was one 
of the priinarv teachers. \\ bile \et attending school. 
at the age of fifteen, he entered a hardware store as 
an ai)]irentice. Having long possessed a strong de- 
sire to see the Xew World he left his family and 
friends in 1864, embarked on a steamer for .\merica. 
finally locating at Haverslraw, X. Y., where he ac- 
cepted a ])osition in the clothing store of Jacob 
Baum. Here he worked faithfully for seven years 
and in 1871 was taken into i)artnership. He 
can well remember the hajipiness he experienced 
when he saw the firm name of Baum & Bern- 
stein upon the door. This sign still remains, 
although Mr. Bernstein long ago left the town. 
I Mr, Baum being en.gaged in the manufacture of 
brick Mr. I'ernstein was left in charge of the store. 
In September, 1877, Mr. Bernstein came to Meri- 
den and inirchased the establishment of Mr. Morris 
Levy, clothing merchant, and for the past twenty- 
five years he has remained in the same location, en- 
larging the business until he now operates one of 
the largest clothing and men's furnishing houses 
in Xew England and is also extensivelv engaged in 
custom tailoring. The firm name of Baum & Bern- 
stein still continues, although Mr. Bernstein is the 
sole i^roprietor. Mr. Bernstein is one of the most 
liberal men in every res])ect and believes in conduct- 
ing his business upon broad methods. He has given 
away thousands of dollars as jjrizes in guessing con- 
tests and other ingenious ways of advertising, due 
of the most notable of Mr. Bernstein's advertising 
sdhemes was a "button guessing" contest with a 
\aluable prize awarded to the one who guesseil the 
correct number. To give the scheme proper eclat 
Mr. Bernstein gave a ban(|uet at one of the leading 
hotels to which were invited the nia\or and the com- 
mon council, all the town and city officials and a 
numlier of Slate dignitaries. 1 'radically every one 
who was invited resjinnded and letters of regret 
were read from C. S. Senator ( ). II. I'latt. Governor 
Waller and other notaldes. The buttons were 



686 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



counted at tlie banquet by the mayor and council 
members. j\lr. Bernstein was one of the first cloth- 
iers to organize "JNIackintosh Ckibs." To show "the 
])oys'' liow such a job should be run he undertook 
l)ersonally to sell the first 400 tickets and executed 
the contract inside of twenty-four hours. The 
unique method he took to conduct the scheme gave 
him very wide newspaper publication without a 
great expenditure. 

In 1897 Mr. Bernstein purchased a tract of 
thirty-five acres, known as the Holcomb place, and 
offered a valuable prize to the person suggesting the 
best name for the property and hundreds of names 
were suggested. Judge Levi Coc, who was then 
mayor, suggested the name of Bernstein Heights, 
which was accepted. In order to encourage the 
Iniilding up of what has proved to be one of the most 
iiealthful spots in or about Meriden, he has given 
awav over twenty lots and has constructed several 
handsome residences, fitted with all modern con- 
veniences. \ reservoir with a capacity of 1,500,000 
gallons has been Iniilt. He laid out flie streets and 
turned the waste tract into a beautifid residence dis- 
trict. He, w'ith Mr. A. Schmelzer, also purchased 
a tract of land at Kensington Heights and they have 
built several handsome residences in that locality. 

In all his undertakings Mr. Bernstein does noth- 
ing bv halves and shows his enterprise on every 
available occasion. One of the first paving stones 
laid in Meriden was presented by him to Mayor 
Ives and put down on ]\Iain street opposite the Mer- 
iden Journal office, engraved with liis name and 
the date. When tlie electric road was opened Mr. 
liernstein gave the first trolley ride between Meri- 
den and VV'allingford to the newsboys and completed 
their enjoyment by giving each little fellow a nice 
box of sweetmeats, showinp- thus he had not forgot- 
ten his own youth. His many thoughtful deeds dem- 
onstrated his broad-minded, kind-hearted, generous 
nature. 

Mr. Bernstein lias traveled widely, l)Oth in this 
country and abroad. In i8c^t he spent the summer 
in England, (jermanv and yVustria. He made a 
European trip again in 1897, bringing bis aged 
mother to this country witli liim. This incident 
illustrates one of his characteristics. 1 le was the 
oldest of six children and when he left his home 
in the I'^athcrland in his boyhood days Mr. Bernstein 
promised his mother he would make j)laces across 
the Atlantic for his brothers and sisters and for the 
parents as well. This pledge, like every one he has 
since made, he has kept. From time to time he 
found an opening for one brother after another and 
brought them to this coimtrv with his earnings. In 
1897 he was preparing to bring the aged parents 
across the sea when a cablegram announced the sud- 
den death of bis father. In tw-elve davs Mr. Bern- 
stein was in the ancestral home arranging to bring 
his mother back to this country and tluis fulfill the 
pledge of Iiis youth. 

In politics our subject is an independent Republi- 



can but the cares of his business and his many charit- 
able enterprises absorb his time so that he has none 
to spare for party matters. So genial a man is of 
necessity prominent in social circles, and he is very 
popular in various fraternal organizations, among 
which are ^Meridian Lodge, No. yj, A. F. & A. M. ; 
Keystone Chapter, No. 27, R. A. M. ; Hamilton 
Council, No. 22, R. & S. M. : Pacific Lodge, No. 
87, I. O. O. I'".; and Atlantic Encampment, No. 
28, of the same order; Myrtle Lodge, No. 4, and 
J. S. Stokes Div., No. 12, Uniform Rank, Knights 
of Pythias ; Pilgrims' Harbor Council, No. 543, 
Royal Arcanum ; Amaranth and Cosmopolitan 
Clubs and the Turn \'erein and Saengerbund, of 
Meriden. 

On Oct. 27, 1878, in New York, Mr. Bernstein 
was married to Miss Jennie Baum. who was born 
in Seymour, Conn., a daughter of Jacob Baum, a 
native of Germany, wdio came to America and lo- 
cated in Haverstraw, N. Y., wdiere he engaged in 
the clothing business, being the- senior member of 
the firm of Baum & Bernstein. i\Ir. Baum, after 
a long and successful life, died in 1889 in Haver- 
straw, being the first to be interred in a beautiful 
cemetery which he had donated to the congregation 
with which he was connected. His wife, Rachel 
Koerpel, who survived her husband until 1901, died 
at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Bernstein, in 
Meriden, and is buried by tbe side of Mr. Baum. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Baum six children were born, 
namely : Moses, engaged in the clothing business 
at Pittston, Pa. : Jenni'e, wife of Sigmund Bernstein ; 
Charles, with Bernstein & Co., Jersey City; Esther, 
who married Israel Rich, of Alichigan, but is now 
deceased : .\aron, a member of the firm of Baum 
Bros., of Haverstraw, N. Y. ; Sadie, wife of A. 
Mayer, a banker of Jersey City. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Bernstein the following chil- 
dren have been born: Algernon J., a graduate of 
big;h school and Packett's Business College, N. Y., 



now engaged in a wholesale house in New York 
City : Louisa, Daisy and Melville, at home attend- 
ing high school : Frances and Jacqueline, students 
in the public schools. 

PERRY MJILES TWTTCHELL was born in 
Broome county, N. Y., Feb. 15, 1834. a .son of Miles 
Johnson Twitchell, a native of O.xford, Conn. 
Isaac Twitchell, father of Miles J., w'as a farmer 
in Oxford. 

Miles J. Twitchell was born Feb. 24, i8co, and 
died in October, i860. He was a prosperous and 
successful agriculturist and owned a large farm 
which he tilled in the most modern and progressive 
fashion. When be became of age he left his native 
town and located in New York where he secured a 
farm of 120 acres, which always evinced the t'^ncli 
of a master farmer. .-X Democrat, politically, he 
wa.s not a ])olitician. Always much interested in 
military matters be was captain of a company in the 
old State militia. He was a member of the Baptist 



COMMEMORATll-E BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



6S7 



Church and a soHd and substantial citizen. Mr. 
Twitchcll married Ehza Aldeii. daui;luer of Henj. 
Alden; slie died in 1864 in Windsur, I'.roc.nic count\. 
To this union were born: ( i 1 Hannah is tlic wife 
• >i Charles Sncdekcr and is living in Aurora, 111. (2 » 
J-^lvira married Elias Andrews, of Xaug;atuck, and 
died in Indianapolis. Ind., in 1897. (3) Anas 
Tecia married Joel Brown, of Kirkwood, X. ^'. 
(4) George II. was a carriage and wheel maker in 
Xew Haven, served in the army and died in ])ur- 
ham, Conn. (5) Perry Miles. (6) Ursula mar- 
ried Benjamin Andrews, of Knox countv, 111., and 
died there. (7) Thomas Edgar served in the army 
and is now an inmate of the Soldiers' Home at 
Xoroton, Conn. (8) Olinda married John Iloadlev 
and is living in Windsor, X. V. {<)) Jerome served 
in the army and is now connected with the post- 
otifice at Binghampton. X. Y. This family presents 
a remarkable record, four of the sons, George II., 
Perry M., Thomas E. and Jerome, and three sons- 
ni-law, Charles Snedeker, Elias .Andrews and Ben- 
jamin Andrews, all serving in the I'nion arniv dur- 
ing the Civil war. 

Perry Allies Twitchcll was born in Windsor, 
X. Y., where he had his schooling, and at the age 
of seventeen began work as a carpenter. In 1857 
he came to Xew Haven to take a place in the carriage 
factory of George T. Xewhall, where he worked un- 
til 1 861. The greater part of tliat year he was work- 
ing as a carpenter in Durham, Conn., and late in the 
fall of that year he enlisted in the army. Mr. 
Twitchcll was mustered in as a member of t"oni])any 
C, I2th Conn. V. I., and served throughout the 
Southern States and in the Gulf region. In the 
spring of 1864 he came into A'irginia and was a 
part of the command of General Sheridan. Afr. 
Twitchcll saw much hard service and participated in 
manv fierce conflicts, but was never wounded. Mus- 
tered out at Hartford, Conn., in December, 1864, he 
completed full three years of service, and tiiough 
he was not in at the death of the Confederacy, yet 
he feels that he was all through the critical years 
and that the Rebellion was virtually crushed before 
he left the army. Returning from the army Mr. 
Twitchell was located in Delaware county for some 
fifteen years working as a carpenter, and in 1880 he 
came to Durham, Conn., to follow this same occu- 
pation. In 1883 his home was removed to W'alling- 
ford and since that year he has licen in business in 
this city as a contractor and builder. Here his 
tnost important contract was the Lindsey & Valen- 
tine factorv. Many handsome and attractive resi- 
dences in \\'allingford and in the neighboring com- 
munities have been put up by him and he is regarded 
as an honorable and trustworthy workman. 

Mr. Twitchcll belongs to the ( ). C. .A. M.. where 
lie has passed through all the chairs. .A member of 
Arthur H. Dutton Post. Xo. .^6, G. .A. R., he has 
filled its various chairs, and is Past Connnandcr. 
A Republican, he has no desire for ofticiid honors 
and emoluments. Air. Twitchell ailtends the Method- 



ist Church, where his wife is a member. She is a 
member also of the W. U. C, Xo. t,~. and is one of 
its most efficient workers, having filled its several 
offices. 

Mr. Twitchell was niarriecl July 25, 1855, to 
Miss Belarma Woodmansee, a dau.ghter of .Simeon 
W'oodmansee. aiul a native of Delaware county, X. 
Y. .She died April 24. 1878. This union was 
blessed with one child. John Clark, born April 22. 
1856, who is now nnining a ranch in .Azusa, Cal. ; 
he has l)cen twice married, his first wife was Ixirn 
in Illinois, and left two children. Earle (born Feb. 
22. i8(j2) antl Howard H. (born Aug. 8. i8»j4K 
and his [jresent wife, Maggie Hassett, was born in 
Pennsylvania. Init at the time of her marriage she 
was living in San Miguel. California. 

On March 31. i8<ji. Perry M. Twitchell was 
married to Mrs. ]£lizal)eth A. (Bailey) Twitchell, 
the widow of George H. Twitchell. his brother, and 
the daughter of Jeremiah B. Bailey, of Durham. 
Conn. To this marriage there have been no chil- 
dren, btu Airs. Twitchell had one daughter. Ida M., 
by her first husband, who married Elliott C. War- 
ner, a farmer of Durham, Connecticut. 

THE FRAXCIS FAMILY. For generations 
the family of this name in turn have been honest 
tillers of the soil in W'allingford, and have proved 
themselves upright and honorable men. .Such 
names as Joseijh, Jacob. lacob (2), William, Will- 
iam J., and John H. will live long in the memories 
of the agricultural communities of the town in 
which their industrious and useful lives have been, 
and are being, passed. On the old farm in Xorth 
I'arms, Wallingford, reside descendants in the sixth 
generation from Joseph Francis, its first occupant, 
from whom William J. and John II. Francis, fann- 
ers of the town, are fifth in line of descent, their 
line being throu.gh Jacob. Jacob (2), and the late 
\\illiam I'rancis. 

On their mother's side these eentlemen are de- 
scended from sturdy Xew England ancestors, and of 
that type who fought through the war of the Revo- 
lution, and have never hesitated at any sacrifice 
which the good of their country seemed to demand. 
The mother of William J. Francis was Emily 
Blakeslee. of Wallintrford, a family whose record 
in N\"allingford l)egins as early as 1712, in the per- 
sons of Sanniel and Elizabeth Pdakeslee. The origin 
of the P>lakeslee family in tradition is that two 
brothers of that name left the western part of Eng- 
land to come to Massachusetts. ( )ne died en route, 
anil the other came to Plymouth, wlierc he died in 
the earlv davs of the Colony, leaving a son. who was 
placed with a blacksmith to learn the trailc in Xew 
■ Haven. The mother of John II. I'rancis was Julia 
(Cook) Tutlle. widow of Lewis Tuttle. daughter of 
Col. Tliaddeus Cook, and a descenilant in the 
seventh generation from Sanniel Cook, who came to 
Xew Haven in 1663, and married in i')()7, Ho|ie. the 
(laughter of l^dward Parker. He went with the 



688 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



first planters to W'allins^ford in 1670. and was per- 
haps the first and onl\- shoemaker and tanner of 
leather in that town for many years, lie was a 
memlier of the clnn'ch and held ])nhlie ofiice, and he 
died in 1702. The line of descent of Julia (Cook) 
I'rancis was tlinms^di Samuel, Samuel (2), Capt. 
Samuel, Col. Thaddeus Samuel (4), and Col. Thad- 
deus (2). 

.Samuel Cook (2) was horn in 1C167 in .\'ew Ha- 
ven, and married his first wife, 1 lannah Ives, in 1692. 
He died in 1725. Ca])t. .Sanniel Cook, son of the 
forci^oing;, was horn in i()95, married in 1721. liliza- 
heth Lewis, of W'allinyford. He was a wealthy 
shippiuij; nierehant from the port of Xew Haven, 
and died in 1743. Cnl. Thaddeus Cook, the son of 
Ca[)t. .Samuel Cook, born in i72cS. n.iarried for his 
second wife, .Sarah Hall, nf t'heshire. lie served 
under Gen. ( lates in the Rt-volution, and was hiLchly 
honored by his fellow townsmen, being' elected in 
turn to all the county offices in their "'ift. He died 
in 1800. .Sanuiel C<Hik (4). son of Col. Thaddeus. 
horn in 1758. married Mar\". ilaug;hter of Constant 
Kirklatid. of Wallingford. lie too was a patriot in 
the Revolution servinj.;- with his father in the armv. 
lb' was ;i thrift\- farmer residing in the western 
]iart <if the town of Wallingford. He died in 1S24. 

(.'ol. 'J'ha<hleus Cook (2), son of Samuel (4), 
born in 171)1. married for his first wife. Julia Cook. 
Col. Cook wa> a Colonel of Militia, having served 
ill the war of icSi j, and his military e.xperience was 
aftirward put to good ;icc<iunt. In civil life he 
was ecpiall}- |)rominent, and Sicrved as selectman, and 
member of the Legislature. He died in 1S70, and 
at the time of his death, was the oldest man in W'all- 
ingfnrd, having passed his eighty-ninth birthday. 

The late William krancis, the father of W'illiam 
J and John II., was born March ,^. 1S04, on the old 
I'rancis farm in W'allingford where liis seventy-five 
\'ears of useful life were jiassed. In early boyhood 
he attended the Xdrlh i'"arms district school, and 
after fifteen years of age took private instruction. 
Ik'ing of a delicate constitution he was for a time 
deprived of following the inclination and taste of 
his mind in the avocation of farming, much to his 
dislike. So on tlu' advice of liis physician he 
adopted an out-door life that really called for little 
])hysical labor, and for .1 time was engaged in ped- 
dling Yankee notions through the State of Xew 
'N'ork. This business, however, was not to his lik- 
ing, and he longed to be a farmer, trusting that care 
and good sense would give him still a long lease of 
life on the farm. Jacob I'rancis. his father, having 
died in Jul>', 1829. W'illiam hTancis the following 
spring began the erection of the house where he 
lived the rest of his life, and where his son and 
grandchildriMi still reside. Through necessitv at the 
start, he gave much thought to the easiest methods 
of farming, and thus liecame a student of farm 
uielhods and watchful for all improvements in farm 
machinery. 1 le had faith in labor-saving devices, 
and was the first farmer in all his district to place 



on his farm a mowing machine, a horse rake and a 
rea])er. He early learned that abundant fertilizers 
richly paid for themselves. He read and studied, 
ami practiced the best ideas he could glean from the 
world around him. He w-as a pioneer in tobacco 
culture, and put on the market the best product that 
was sold in the State, ilr. Francis became a lead- 
ing farmer, and was as successful as he was progres- 
sive and ititelligent. Planning for the future, he 
had a long look aliead, made much money, and 
taught his sons in such a manner that they too have 
become successful farmers, an 1 solid ami substantial 
citizens. He was enterprising and pushing, and 
though bearing alwavs a weight of ill-health so care- 
fully handled himself, that he lived to a ripe old 
age. He was recognized among his fellow citizens 
as a man of excellent and energetic business quali- 
ties, and of high moral worth. He was put into 
offices of trust and responsibility, and he was able to 
meet their various duties readily and well. Tax 
collector for a number of years he was popular and 
efficient in this onerous position. He was road com- 
missioner, and for a time was entrusted with the 
care of all the roads in the town. 

Mr. h'rancis' religious connections were w'ith the 
Episcopal Church, as were those of his immediate 
family, holding membership in St. Paul's Church in 
W'allingford. (^n March 30, 1831, Mr. Francis was 
married to Emily Blakeslee. and after her death he 
married' Mrs. Julia (Cook) Tuttle, of Hampden, 
Conn. Two children were l)orn to the first mar- 
riage: ( I )i \\'iLi,i.\M J., born in 1832, married 
Marietta J., daughter of Justus and Jane (French) 
Peck, anci ithey have a son, Lyman H. William J. 
Francis is a resident of a part of the original Joseph 
Francis farm referred to in the foregoing. He is 
one of the leading farmers of W'allingford. He is 
a mejtiber of Meriden Grange, Xo. 2Q, P. of H. 
(2) Fmorv was born Feb. 10. 1837. and died on 
July 14, following. To the second marriage of 
\\'illiain Francis were also born two children : ( C) 
Henry, born Dec. 18. 1842, and died Feb. 22, 1843. 
(2) John H.. born June 20. 1858, married Oct. 10, 
1858, married (Jet. 10. 1883, Carrie P. Wooding, 
wdio died. Dec. 18, 1887, and on I'eb. 21. 1889. he 
married Mabel .\. Wooding, and they have four 
children. Isabel .\.. Caroline M., William H. and 
Fldward 1\. Mr. Francis lives at the old homestead. 

HOX. LVXDE H.\RR1S()X, lawyer, jurist 
and statesman of Xew Havcu, is a widely known 
man of forcofn! character. He is able and public- 
spirited and has made bis mark on the history of 
his cit\-, county and State. 

The I farrison family m Xew England and 

I ih.roughout the country has produced many men of 
rare worth, and scnne bave risen to (Mstinction. 
1 homas Harrison, from England, settled in X'^ew 

' ITaven as a }oung man in 1640, and soon after- 
ward iiKived to I'.i-mford. taking the oath of fidelity 

1 .\pril 4, 1C134. His brother, Richard, and their 




^ 



,p 




^^/^ 



-A-j^ A^^^^^ C /^c^ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHIC. IL RECORD. 



6S9 



father, also named Rioliard. eanic to this cmintrv 
wiith liini. Kiiliard was settle<l at IJranford for 
some years, hut removed to Newark, \. |., in 1662. 

Among- tlie ajicestors of Jiulj^'e llarrisoii are 
found the Wolcotts. of wliom the lirst ancestor in 
thi.s country was 1 lenry Wolcott, wlio settled in 
Massachusetts in 1^)30 and live years later came to 
Windsor, Conn. 1 knry WOlcot't (2). his son, was 
one of the numhcr who received the charter of Con- 
necticut from k'ino- Charles 11. Kotjer Wolcott was 
colonial governor in 1754. Another ancestor oi 
Judge Harrison was justice Simon Lynde, of Bos- 
ton, whose son. Judge Nathaniel Lynde, was one 
of the first settlers of .'-^ayhrook. Rev. lohn Daven- 
port, pastor of the first 'church estahhshed in New 
Haven, is also on his ancestral line. 

The patemal grandparents of Judge Harri.son, 
Philemon and Saraii (Wolcott) Harrison, were 
married in 1784. Mrs. Sarah Harrison was born in 
1767, daughter of Dr. Alexander Wolcott, and was 
of the fifth generatit)n in descent from Henrv Wol- 
cott. James Harrison, the eldest son of Fliilemon 
Harrison, and the father of Judge Harrison, was 
n'arried to Charlotte N. Lynde in 1836. 

Judge Harrison acquired his literary and legal 
education in liis nati\c city, attending the Lancas- 
terian and Hojikins Crammar Schools, ar.d Rus- 
sell's Collegiate and Commercial Institme. Willi 
some further preparation- he entered ^ale Law 
School, from v.-hich he wa5. graduated with the 
class of i860 and he was admitted to the liar in 
May, 1861. In 1862 and 1863 he was clerk of the 
House of Representatives. In 1863 he opened his 
office in New Haven and entered upon the jirofes- 
sional career in which he has been so signally suc- 
cessful. In 1864 lie was clerk of the State Senate, 
and developing a taste for political life was nom- 
inated and elected hy the Republicans to the State 
Senate in 1865 and re-elected in 186''). With little 
intermission, for nearly twenty years he remained in 
public life, lieconn'ng a conspicuous figure from the 
start. During his two years in the .Senate he was 
cs])ecially instrumental in assisting the project of 
the Shore Line railroad across the Connecticut river 
at Saybrook. For a few years following his work in 
the Senate Mr. Harrison devoted himself to his pro- 
fession. In 1871 he was appointed by the .State 
Ix-gislature Judge of the C"ity (>)in-t, a position lie 
filled for three years. In the meantime he had estab- 
lished his residence in CinIfor<l, and in 1874 re- 
tired from the I'.ench l^ take a seat in the Legisla- 
ture, to which he was chosen from that town : he 
was re-elected in 1S75 and 1876. In 1877 he was 
elected Speaker of the I louse. In July of that year 
he became Judge of the Coiu-t of Conimon Pleas for 
New Haven county, and at the exijiration of his 
term, four vcars later, was again sent to the Gen- 
eral Assanbly. serving there luitil 1882. During 
this period he was chairman of the Judiciary com- 
mittee, and in 1877, when Speaker, he was a de- 
cided adA-ocate of the bill allowing married women 
44 



equal ownerslii]} and equal rights in the disposition 
of ])r<)p(.Tly. Leaving the chair he delivered a l>rill- 
iani an<l e\hausti\e address in advocacy of the bill, 
and it was finally jjassed, after having cuine up 
before many sessions. Jn 1875, 187O, 1.S84 and 
188'.) Judge Harrison was a member of the Repub- 
lican ."^late Central Connnittee and attended as a 
delegate the National cunventions of that jiany in 
|87(( and 1880. Jutlge Harrisijn did not agree with 
the high protective iileas that ruled the party in the 
cami)aign of 1892. nor with the Re|)ublicans of the 
Stale u]M)n a number of Stale issues in 1891. In 
1892, under the guidance of his convictions, he wlcl 
for Grover Cleveland. 

During his long and varied career Judge Harri- 
son has ever been more than a ])roininent, infiueniial 
man and a ])ublic leader. .'\s a jurist and a siates- 
m;m he has been enabled to leave a deep impression 
uiK)n the slatule an<l fundamental laws of Connecti- 
cut. Of the twenty-seven amendments to the Con- 
slitulion thirteen have been the result verv largely 
of his work. He is the author of the amendment 
changing the time of the -State elections from the 
spring to the fall ; of the amendment forbidding- 
representation of new towns in the (jeneral .Vs- 
sembly uidess the new and ])arem town shall each 
have more than 2,300 population ; of the amend- 
ment extending the term of judges: of the amend- 
ment forbidding anv county or municipality incur- 
ring debt in aid of any railway cori)oralion. and 
from subscribing to the cajiital stock of sucli cor- 
]X)rations ; and of the amendment forbidding any 
increase of salary to any public ofiicer during the 
tenn for which he was elected. Judge Harrisoit 
draftetl the Piennial Sessions Amendment of 1884, 
the i)resent State lilection Law and the -Aell -known 
S|>ecific Appropriation Bill, bv which many thi^us- 
and dollars are annually saved to the Stale. 

Since the early eighties Judge Harrison has been 
actively engaged in the ])ractice of his jirofession, 
princi|jally as counsel for several cor[K)ralions. His 
residence in New Haven is near the head of Hill- 
house avenue and his summer collage at P.avhurst, 
on Long Island Sountl, in the lown of Guilford, is 
one of the most beautiful natural locations on the 
coast. He passes a portion of each winter with his 
famil\- in 'riiomasville, (leorgia 

( )n May 2, 1867, Judge Harrison was married to 
Sarah I'lanl, of Rranford. who died in March, 1879, 
and Harriet S. While, of Waterbury. became liis 
second wife Sei>t. 30, i8<S(). To his first marriage 
v,ere boni : William L.. Paul \V. and (a-itrude P. 
To the second marriage, one child, Kaiheriiie W.. 
was born in .■\ugust, 1892. 

HON. JAM1-:S N()^■I•:S ST.\T1':S, General 
I'icket .\gent for the New \'ork. New lla\en & 
Hartford Railroad, trustee for the Stale Reform 
.School, President of the Hoard of Charities and t'or- 
rectitjiis of New Haven, State .'■Senator from i.SSo- 
92. and oni- of the le.-iding men of New Haven, is ;i 



690 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



iiati\-e of Connecticut, liavint;" liccn l);.)rn in StiminL,'- 
ti-n. on May 16, iS3(>. 

Adam States, the trraiidfatlier nl' tlic siil){i.-ct of 
this l)ioijTa|)hy. was horn on Clu'esc(Hiake Creek, 
South Aiiihuw X. j., a son of Matthias and h'liza- 
lieth ((rould) Stales, who came tri>ni I hjlland and 
settled first in Xew York. Adam States was a 
soldier in the Revoltitionar\' war. and was witli (len. 
Washington at N'allev I-'ors^e. Jlis family num- 
hered fifteen children, many of them later hecomin;;- 
lionorahlc and distinguished members of society. 

Benjamin Franklin States, the youngest son of 
-Adam Slates, and the father of Hon. James Xoyes. 
■was horn in Stoningtnn, Cnnn.. March 15, i8ot;, and 
<Iie(l in i8(/). When he was hut ten years old. his 
father died. He spent his entire life in Stonington. 
with the exception of about three years, which time 
he spent in I'rovidence, and became ont' of the lead- 
ing merchants of his native place, and was also \'ery 
])rominent in civic affairs, h'avored with vigorous 
health, and as industrv and enterprise were inherent 
in his nature, these characteristics mapiied nut for 
him a Inisy life, much of which was si>ent in pub- 
lic service, and it has lieeii truly said nf him that he 
]HTfnrmed the duties of the different positions which 
he held with strict fidelity. When twenty-one 
^ears of age, he was elected to the positions of con- 
stable and tax collector. These offices he held until 
appointed deputy sherifl', which office he hebl fnr 
sixteen vcars. four luider Sheritt David I'laldwin. 
iind twelve under .Alexander Stewart. In 1834 he 
was elected ca])tain of the local coni])any of Light 
Artillery, having prcviouslv held the luiuor offices 
of the coni])any. hor a long series of years he 
served as notar\ ]iuhlic, having commissions issued 
li\ ( idv. C. V . Cleveland in 1842. (iov. Isaac Toucey 
in 1846. and (kiv. James M luiglish in 1867. In 
1846 he was elected bv the Legislature as one of the 
Commissioners of what was then knnwii as the Xew 
York and Stonington Railroad. He held the posi- 
tion of ])ostmaster for two terms, one cmnmission 
being signed by i'ostmaster-(iencral Charles .A. 
W'icklifTe on X'lV. Ji). 1844, and nne li\ President 
I'ranklin I'ierce on .\lav 2},. i83_^. Aside from the 
above prominent jxisitions held by him. he was ap- 
])ointed Collector of Customs for the District of 
Stonington on June 2. i83(>, which office he helil for 
n.arlv five \ears. hor man\ \ears he was vi'str\- 
man and ])arish clerk of Calvary Protestant P.pis- 
copal Church. lie was ,-i member of the school 
committee for many terms, and served the ])ublic 
in some jjrominent official cajjacitv during a large 
portion of his long' and useful life, besides hold- 
ing almost inmnnerable offices of sui;iller magni- 
tude, which are not mentioned above. 

i'.enjamiu V. States was married to Harriet Pal- 
mer r.urtch. who was born in Stonington. a 
ilaughter of Thomas ISurtcb. a sea-faring man. 
who was also a soldier in the Revolutionary war. 
Mrs. States was born in i8ij. and lived a long and 
useful life, dying in 1897. having seen six of her 



children grow to maturity: Ichabod, who served in 
the Civil war. in Company C, 1st Conn. Heavy 
-Artillery, and after his honoralile discharge returned 
home only to die; Denjanfin F.. who died about 
ten \ears ago ; James Xoyes ; Mary, who became a 
school teacher, married Henjamin F. Chester, and 
removed to Providence; Hortense ; and Henrv, who 
resides in New Haven. 

James Noyes States spent his boyhood days in 
Stonington, where he attended the public schools, 
and Woodbridge's Academy, and was fitted for 
college. When twenty-one years old he went to 
Xew \'ork for a short time, then located in Bridge- 
port. Conn., and kept a hotel there for one year. It 
t was in 1862 that he became coiuiected with the X'ew 
A'ork, Xew Haven & Hartford Railroad, as freight 
i agen^t at Bridgeport, holding that position until i86y, 
when he was made special agent, retaining that po- 
sition until 1871, in which year he came to New 
Haven. There he held the office of local ticket 
agent until 1887, when he was made general ticket 
agent, and holds that responsible position at present. 
Mr. States" rise has l^een gradual and permanent, 
as he has worked his way upward "by his owai efforts, 
and now enjoys in the highest degree the confidence 
of the managers of this great railroad. 

Mr. States is a Democrat, and is one of those 
energetic and forceful men who are bound to come 
to the front. Entering the court of common council 
in 187^) as a councilman, representing the Fourth 
ward, he was elected alderman in 1S77, and re- 
elected at each, successive election, his last term as 
aklerman expiring with 1887, bearing the record of 
more continuous re-elections than any other man 
in the council. While holding this office, he was 
several terms president of the board of aldermen, 
acting mayor, member and president of the board of 
finance, a mtnnber of the comimissioners of Public 
Parks, chairman of committee on Ordinances, 
Claims. Sewers and Lam]xs. In 1887 he was, elected 
to the board of Public Works to which office he w'as 
le-elcTted. holding the office until the board was 
superseded in i8q8 by a director of Pulilic \\'orks. 
He was ])resident of the Board, and chairman of 
the committee on Streets for several terms, holding 
office un<ler Alayors Shelton. Bigelow. Roljertson, 
Lewis, Peck, HolconVb. York, Sargent, Hendrick 
and l-'armsworth. Cpon the inauguration of the 
Free Public Library in 1886. he was a|)]X)inted by 
Mayor Holcomb, one of the directors of the library, 
and was elected to the jM-esidency of the board, which 
office he filled until 1887. and he had much to do 
with the successful starling of the library. 

In i88() he was elected to the State Senate for 
two years, where lie did credit to himself and his 
constituents. He wa.s ajipointed by the Senate of 
i88() a trustee of the State School for Boys (then 
Stale Reform School) for a term of six years cx- 
])iring in 1895, wdien he declined a reappointment. 
1 le was again appointed a trustee of this institution 
in i8(;cj, which office he still holds. Recognizing 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



G91 



his peculiar fitiuss, ilie (ieneral Asseniltlv of i&n 
appointed janies X. Slates. Menrv C. W liite. Fran"- 
cis (.;. Beach, Ceorj^e 1). W'atrous ami Illi Whitnev. 
jr.. a coniini.ssidii witli iiistructii)iis "ti) make iiive.sti- 
s;aiion and consider whether it is desirable that any 
aniendments should he made to the .\e\v J laven City 
Charter, or a new Charter be grained. " Soon after 
the risin.g- of the Ceneral Assembly, tliis commission 
organized by tiie election of Hon. Janies X. Stales 
as chairman, and ]>roceede.d to investigate and con- 
sider the matter referred to, and in Septemlier, 1894, 
reiX)rted to the (ieneral .\ssenibly a revised Charier, 
which, however, was not adopted at the following 
session, l)ut at a later session was passed substan- 
tially as recommended, and it is now the Charier 
under which the City of Xew Haven is governed. 
Senator Slates is president of the Board of t'hari- 
ties and Corrections of the city, and is identified witii 
this work. 

For many years Senator Stales has been con- 
nected with church affairs in this citv, and has long 
lieen one of the vestrymen of Si. Paul's I'rotestant 
lipiscopal Church. F>alernally he is connected 
with St. John's Lodge, !•". & A. .M., of Bridgeport. 

On Jan. 22. 1868, Mr. Stales was united in mar- 
riage with -Miss Louise T. .Avers, of iiridgepori, 
who was horn in Xew Canaan. Conn., a daughter of 
Lewis i'.. Ayers. and one child was born of this 
imion, who died in infancy, 

jOHX Mll/roX ll.\R.M()X,oneof Meriden's 
respected citizens, and assistant manager of the In- 
lernational Silver Co., in Meriden, was horn Oc- 
tober 20, 1854, on a farm in West Suffield, Hart- 
ford county, and is a descendant of one of the 
oldest families of Xew I'.nglaiid. 

(I) Jc'hn Harmon, born in 1O17, m F.ngland, 
came to Boston in i'^'36, and for a time was in Ro.x- 
hury. but finally, in i'')40, located at S|)ringrield. 
His wife, F^lizabeth, was born in luigland in the 
same year as himself. Mr. Harmon died .March 7, 
1660-I, and his wife afterward married .Anthony 

Dorchester, and died May 16, iGgc;. 

(II) Xathaniel ll;irnion, son of John, the enii- 
.grant settler, born .March 13, if)53-4. in Si)ringfield, 
married in Suffield Xo\-. 19, 1685, Mar\- Skinner, 
horn Sept. 22, 1667, in Windsor, Conn., and to them 
were born ten children. Mr. Harmon and his 
brother, Joseph, became interested in trading with 
the Indians, and for many years were the princi]):d 
])arlners of that noted trader. Col. i'ynchon. the 
original proprietor of the site of Springiield, .Mass. 
Xathaniel Harmon located, in 1670, in .Suffield. 
tlien Southrield, which remained a i)art of Hamp- 
shire county, .Mass., until 1749. He died May 21, 
1712, aufl his widow married, in 1713, John llaii- 
chell, and died Sept, 17, 17,50. 

(HI) Samuel Harmon, son of X;Uhaniel. born 
Aug. 15, n'i99, in Suffield, married there, .A])ril 28, 
1723, Deborah Windiell, liorii in Suffield, Aug. 5, 
1703, and they had ten children. Mr. Ilarmoii died 



.\ui. 



I I, 



/ .■>-•>• 



and his widow married 



ni 



Ma 



v. 



1757. Isaac Stiles, an<l died I'eb. 18, 1784. 

(1\') Saiuuel llarmiiii iji, son of Samuel, 
born May <., 173(1, in Suffield, married liiere Xov. 
II, I7'i2, .\bial ."^heldon, bom in Suffield, Jan. 24, 
1741-2. and they had these children: .Abial. born 
17O3: DelKirah, born 17(14: Samuel, born 17(15; 
Klioda, born 17(17: Ruth, born I7(x^: .Anna, born 
1770: David, born 1772: I'.lizabetb, b(irii 1773; 
; .MercN, born 1777: .\le.\- 
irii 1781 : and .\aron. 



lonatlian, liorn 



1779 ; ( )zias 



ancler, horn 

born 1801, Deacon Samuel Harmon held the po- 
sition of captain in the militia, his commission bear- 
ing tile signature of Ring (ieorge, and he wa.s 
also a soldier in the Revolutionary war, as well as 
a deacon in the Congregaiional Church in West 
Suffield. He die<l F'eb. 21. 1812, and his wife died 
in Suffield, Sept. 12, 1802. 

( \' ) Ozias Harmon, son of Deacini Samuel, 
born in Suffield, March 14, 1781, died Ajiril 3, 1855. 
He married Feb. 17. 1813, Cynthia Taylor, born 
March 9, 1784, She died .Aug. 29, 1849. To this 
union came si.K children. Mr. Harmon was a man 
of ])roniinence and substance. The names of his 
children were as follows: John .Milton, born Dec. 
17. 1813, still living in West Sjjringfield. Mass.; 
William IvKviii, born .Aii.g. 31, 1815, ilied m 1877; 
Cynthia, born Jan. 28. 1817, died Xov. 3. 1838; 
Jane, born Dec, 29, 1818, died July 2},. 1891 ; James 
Hczron, born Jan, 14. 1821 : ami Roland, born Sept. 
6. 182C), and died Xov. 25. 1895. 

(\'l) James Hezron Harmon, father of John M. 
Harmon, was born Jan. 14, 1821, in West Suffield, 
where he grew to manhood on a farm and w here he 
followed agricultural pursuits until i8r)7, when he 
came to Meriden with his family. Here he en- 
.gaged tor a short time in business, removing to 
W'allingford where he was engagcil in business, 
and where he spent the remainder of his life, d\ing 
.\pril 2(), 1893. He was buried in W'allingford. 
James H. Harmon was a consistent member Lif the 
Congregational Church, a man of sterling integrity 
and excellent business (|iialifications. 1 le belonged 
to the order of ( )dd bellows, took a prominent part 
in public afYairs. serving as first selectman in Suf- 
field, and voted with the Reiniblican ])arty, whose 
princi|)les he actively upheld. 

( )n .M.iy I, 1844. James 11. Harmon was mar- 
ried ill West .S|)riiigfield. .Mass., to I'r.ances .A. 
Whitney, born I )cl, (>, 1822, daughter of Theodore 
and .\iin ( .\verv ) W'hilney. and four children were 
born to this union, namely: l'h;irles Whitney, 
born Dec. id. 1845. is a resident of Jasper, .\la- 
bama : ICUen .\melia, born Aug. lO, 1848. resides in 
W'allinglord : Minnie Looniis, born Jan. 24. 1852, 
married B. .\. Treat, resiiles in Jas)ier. .\la. : ;md 
John .Milton, born ( )ct. 20, 1854. .Mrs. H:irmon 
still residis in W'allingford. and is one of the es- 
leeined members of I he I'oiigre.gational (hurch. 

John Millon llarnion was born on a f;irin in 
West .Nuffield, where his l)oyh I was spent. He 



692 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



was eleven years old when he accompanied his 
parents to ^'leridcn. attending' school here for a 
short time hefore he ohiained a position in the 
Meriden Ih'itannia Company's factory. J-'roni this 
position at the bottom of the ladder. Mr. Harmon's 
ability has lirontjht him to the responsible ofiflce in 
the company which he now holds. ( )n the organ- 
ization of the International Silver Co.. in i8ij8, he 
was appointed its assistant manager. Ever since 
that time }ilr. Harmon has performed his dnties 
with an eye single to the interests of his emjjloycrs, 
and enjo\s in the fullest degree their confidence. 
His genial personality and sense of justice are ap- 
preciated b_\ those under his ci.mlrol. and he is justly 
popular with them. 

On Nov. 14, 1S78, Mr. Harmon was married to 
Rose Whiting Dudley, daughter of Whiting B. and 
Rosanua (Hotchkissj Dudley, of Waterbury. Three 
children have been horn to this imion, viz. : Ruth, 
born Nov. 22, 1880, was educated in the Meriden 
schools, graduating from the high school ; Hazel, 
born April 2<\ 1882, graduated from the Meriden 
high school; and Dudley, Ixirn Nov. 18, 1S86, is 
still a student. Although Mr. Ilarmon is intelli- 
gently intereste<l in public affairs, as becomes a good 
citizen, he is in no sense a politician, casting his 
vote with the Reijublican party. He was reared in 
the Congregational Church and is still attached to 
it. Sociallv he is identified with Caj)t. John Couch 
branch of the .S. .\. R. Mrs. Harmon is a lady of 
domestic tastes, devoted to the interests of her fam- 
ily and, with her daughters, assists in making a part 
of the refined social life of Meriden. 

The \V^IT^•EY Family of which Mrs. James H. 
Harmon is a descendant on the maternal side, early 
settled in New England. 

John Whitney, son of Thomas and grandson of 
Robert, born in Juiglandi in 1389, with his wife, 
I'llinor, who was born in 1599, came to New Eng- 
land in iCi.vS, loc;iting in Watertown, Mass. Elinor, 
who was tin- mother of his eight sons, having died 
May IT, i()3(-), he married (second) Sept. 29. 1659, 
Judith Clement. .Mr. Whitney was made a free- 
man in i'')35-6, was apjiointed constable in 1641, 
served as selectman i''38-ir)55 and as tow-n clerk 
in 1655. Ho died June i, i''>73. 

(if) Richard U'hitney. son of John the settler, 
born in luigLand in ih2(). married .March 19, 1650, 
Martha Coldiman. I le was admitted a freetnan 
May 7, i'i5i. and became a proprietor of .Slow, 
Mass., lune 3. 1(180, and probably moved there 
when it w.is a part of Concord. 

(III) .\loses Whitney, son of Richard, born 
Aug. I, I '155. married .Se])t. 30. \()Wk .Sarah Knight, 
of Stow, wiio died March 23, 1755. He had land 
granted to hitn in 1O81 in Stow, and in 1708 ])nr- 
chascd land in Sudbury, Mass. His places of resi- 
dence were in .Stow and .Sudbury. He served in 
King Philip's war, in 1676. 

(IV) lonas Whitney, son of Moses, born Feb. 
I, 1699, in Stow, married Jan. n). 1723. Dcrcas 



Wood, and was a resident of Stow and Harvard^ 
.Mass. Mrs. Whitney died Feb. 22, 1725, and he 
married (second) March 12, 1726, Margaret Strat- 
ton. and died .Sejit. 18, 1770. 

(\") Esquire Timothy Whitney, son of Jonas^ 
born in February. i72(). in Harvard, married there, 
.May 20, 1752, .Mice Whitney, of that town, born 
-April 13, 1733. riiev lived in Harvard and Peter- 
sham, Mass. ]')Oth died in June, 1803. 

(\'\) Peter Whitney, son of Timothy, born 
A])ril 20, i7rio. in Harvard, married Mary Blair. 
Mr. Whitntv was a tailor and his place of residence 
and business was in Chester. Mass. His death oc- 
curred March h. 1826, and the death of his wife 
March 11. of the same year. 

(\'H) Theodore Whitney, son of Peter, born in 
Chester, married in Montgomery. ]\Iass., Marilla 
Ann Avery, born May 3, 1799. Mr. Whitney was 
a fanner and was also engaged in the manufacture 
of window blinds and shades. He lived at different 
times in various places, Chester, and Norwich, 
Mass., at Charlotte. Canada, at West Suffield, 
Conn., and at .\gawam, Mass. His stay in Canada 
covered the ])eriod of the Rebellion of 1837, and un- 
til after that war he was engaged in keeping a hotel. 
During the Rebellion the military authorities occu- 
jiied his house, which was used as the officers' head- 
quarters. No person was allowed to leave or enter 
the house without giving the countersign. His 
children witnessed at different times, three persons 
shot, presumably as spies, as they were not able to 
give the pass-word. Mr. Whitney died Aug. 7, 
i85t, his widow survived, a number of years, dying 
in West Suffield, in 1883, and both were buried in- 
Suffield. Their children w^ere as follows: Char- 
lotte married .-Xaron Frank, and both died in Suf- 
field ; ^Martha Sheldon married Hezekiah Nooney ; 
Frances Amelia married James H. Harmon ; Eliza- 
beth Allen married first George La Barnes-, and sec- 
ond ^liner M. Pomeroy ; Catherine Fowler married 
first Frank Grover, second, Cyrus King; Alice Pel- 
ton married Roland Harmon ; and Marilla Ann mar- 
ried Henrv G. Smith, and thev became the parents 
of ^\rs. \\"\\\\s J. Prouty, of Meriden. 

JOHN SHERMAN LANE, a veteran of the 
Civil war and one of the leading and prominent busi- 
ness men and citizens of Meriden, where he is at 
the head of the firm of John S. Lane & Son. which 
con-ducts one of the great and important industries- 
of the busy matuifacturing city, descends front 
sturdy New England ancestry, on his mother's side 
from the illustrious Sherman family which has given 
to the country men wdio have achieved fame in both 
civil and military life. 

Mr. Lane was torn Nov. 27, 1839, in the town 
of Kent, Conn., son of Hon. Daniel P. and Polly 
P. (Sherman) Lane. Daniel P. Lane served his 
country in the war of 1812 and wa- a man of prom- 
inence in his town, holding a number of public 
trusts; he served in the State Assembly from Kent 





■ 




r 


' 4 ^B 


03 


1^. 


K^ 


_1 



^/c^*^ ^ oOY^^^tx/ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



O93 



ill 1840. lie was a Democrat of the Jeftersr.n-Jack- 
son school. His tleaili occurred in Kent in" tlie 
spring of 1805 and his remains were Imried there. 
l-lis wife died at halls Xillagc, Conn., in 1881. and 
Avas buried at Xew .Miifoni. Their children were 
as follows: Martha, who married ( lirst ) llarrv 
Edwards, and (second) Jackstni llrown. of Xew 
Milford; John Sherman: Charles S.. a road builder 
lor John S. Lane & Son: liynm. an engineer, who 
was killed in a railroad accident Feb. 6. 18^4: and 
Sylvia, who married Henry Straub. of Xew Mil- 
ford, and died in 18S2. 

John S. Lane received the customarv district 
school education aftorded the general Connecticut 
farmer lads, attending ihe neighborhcK)d school 
during the winter months and working on the farm 
in the summer season. When thirteen years old he 
v.orked one year as clerk in a store and at eighteen 
lie left home, going to I'.ridgeport, Conn., where he 
was employed on track repairs on the Xew York 
& Xew Haven Railroad, lie showed such adapta- 
tion for the work that in three months time he was 
ir.ade foreman and later Iield a similar jwsition on 
the Housatonic line. He assisted in hning the 
<louble tracks between Xew Haven and Xew York, 
Jtnil also in laying the tracks into the old station at 
I-'ourth avenue an<l Twenty-seventh street, Xew 
~I»'ork, since abanikined. 

In 1859 Mr. Lane went West in companv with 
I'ol. R. B. ^L1son. then mayor of the citv of Chi- 
cago and general manager of the Logansport, Pe- 
oria & Burlington Railroad. He remained in that 
section until the battle of Bull Run, \'a., in July, 
1861. Fired by patriotism he returned to his native 
State and cast liis lot with the 8th Conn. \'. L, en- 
listing from Milford. Conn., .Sept. 14, 1861 : he be- 
came a sergeant in Comjjany 1 and was musterefl 
into the L'nited States service Sej)t. 21. The 8th 
Connecticut was organized at Camp liuckinsiham. 
Hartford, and was in command of Col. F'.dward Har- 
land, of X'^orwich. Us princi])al engagements were 
at Roanoke Island, Feb. 8. 1862: Xewbern. X. C. 
March 14, 1862: siege of Fort Macon. X. C. April, 
3862; South Mountain, Sept. 14, 1862: Antietam. 
Sept. 17, 1862: Fredericksl)urg, \''a., Dec. 13. 1862: 
Fort ITuger, Va., .'\j)ril \q. 1863: A\'atthall Junc- 
tion, Va., May 7, 1864: Fort Darling, \'a.. May 16, 
1864; Cold Harbor, August, 18^34: Petersburg, \'a., 
Aug. 25. 1864: and Fort Harrison. \"a.. Sept. 2q, 
1864. Our subject shared the fortunes of his com- 
mand from start to finish and returned with an hon- 
orable war record. I le was promoted to first ser- 
geant April 20, i8<')3: second lieutenant Sept. 2<), 
1863: first lieutenant .Sejit. 21, 1864; resigned and 
was discharged from the service Oct. 14, 1864. Me 
liad been tendered a captain's commission, having 
commanded the company during the last year of 
liis ser\-ice. 

.\t the close of his service Lieut. Lane returned 
to Connecticut, and on Jan. i, 1865. he was ap- 
pointed supervisor of the Housatonic railroad, a po- 



sition he acceptably filled until i88i>, when he be- 
came supervisor of the Xew ^'ork, .\ew Haven & 
liartfiird Railroad, his jurisdictiem covering the 
road from Xew Haven to ,'~'pringfield, including its 
branches. He remained in that jKjsition until 1890, 
and during his ten years' service stone-ballasted 
sixty-two miles of the niaiTi track. This work di- 
rected his attention to the stone bus:ne>s. and re- 
signing his position he became the pioneer stone 
contractor east of the Stale of I'ennsylvania in the 
furnishing of stone and concrete work for streets 
and railroads. In 1892 he received the contract for 
sup|)lying all the ballast for the four track imjirovc- 
ments of the Xew York. Xew Haven & Hartford 
Railroad. This contract necessitated the sujiplying 
of a tlaily average of one hundred car loads of 
stone. 

In 18174 the liase of Mr. Lane's r)perations was 
at Haitford. In that year he moved to Meridc-n, 
where the great industry of John S. Lane & Son in 
I the c|uarrying and cnishing of traj) rock for use in 
macadamizing highwa\s. ballasting railroads, etc., 
has ever since been carried on and grown to great 
]iro]iortions. The business is the largest of the kin<l 
in the Cnited States, the daily capacity being 2.500 
tons of stone. Beginning in i8<>o with one crusher 
with a ca|)acit\ of 300 tons ])er day, Messrs. Lane 
& Son now 0])erate fourteen large crushers, be- 
sitles two large steam rollers for road building. The 
firm has built over forty miles of macadamized ro;ids 
in Connecticut and Massachusetts and has receiuly 
erected a plant for that pur|)ose and built a large 
tiam at Xew Milford. Their Meriden plant is lo- 
cated above the State fair grounds and is modemly 
equipped for the speedy handling of their extensive 
business. .\s manv as 173 carloads of stone have 
been loaded and shi])ped in a single da>\ In oriler to 
handle this large number of cars with convenience 
and dispatch the Xew "S'ork, Xew Haven & Hart- 
ford Railway Co. has provided am)>le side tracks, 
which e.Klend from "(iraceN's Junction" to the lair 
grounds. One hundred and seventy-five cars at a 
time can be ])laced there and a switch engine is kept 
busy all the time |)lacing em)ity cars ready for load- 
ing and making up trains of loaded cars readv to 
be forwarded in the dilTerent directions. Spring- 
field. Middletown. Xew London. W'iuilsor. F.ast 
Hartford and Thompsonville and man\' smaller 
towns get their supply of broken stone fron'i this 
concern. The rock fouinl in Meriden is conce<led to 
be the best obtainable for the ])urposo. .\ (piarrv 
was o|)ened in 18(13 near Westfielil. Mass.. on the 
Boston & .Mbanv Railroad where the same class of 
.stone is fouii<l and a market secureil in the im|xirt- 
ant business centers on the line of that railroad. 
The .stone from that fptarrv has been ailopteil by 
such cities as \\'<ircester. Pittsfield, Holyoke and 
Springfield, and larre aniotmls are seiu to B<iston. 
The firm has (piarries at Westfield .and Holvokc. 
on a liranch of the Xew 'S'ork, Xew Haven X- Hart- 
ford Railroad, at Hinghain, .\l;iss., on the Old 



694 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Colony Railroad, and in ( Inttenljerg;, X. J- Eight- 
een crushers are operated in the conduct of the husi- 
ness and employment is given to over five liimdred 
men and a large numher of teams. 

John S. Lane has always heen a Republican po- 
litically. He has served ?>Ieriden as a member of 
the common council. I'raternally he is a Mason, 
identified with .Meridian Lodge, No, ~j. A. F. & .A. 
jM. : Keystone C'ha])ter, \o. jj. R. A. M. ; Hamilton 
Council, Xo. 22, \\. & S. -M. ; .St. Elmo Commandery, 
No. g, K. T. : and the .Mystic .Shrine, of Bridgeport. 
He also lielongs to Pacific Lodge. Xo. 87, L O. (.). 
¥.; Merriam Post, Xo. S. C.'a. K.; .Alfred Hal! 
Council, Royal .Arcanum: .\e\v \'ork C'lunniandcry, 
Loyal Legion: and i1k- .\rmy and Xa\y Clul), of 
New London. 

On Jan. jj, iSd^, .Mi'. Lane was married to 
Emma S. Plumb, daughter of Wilson Plumb, and 
to them have conie children as follows: .Arthur S., 
who is the junior member of the firm of John S. 
Lane & .Son: Pertha, wife of W. R. Smith, who is 
in charge of the ([uarries at ( iuttenberg, .X. J.: E. 
Le Ko_\', who is su|)erintendenl of quarries and road 
builder at Hingliani, .Mass. (he married Harriet 
Puft'er, of .Meriden, and has one child. Doris); 
Harry C'., who is enga.ged in' the stone business in 
Ivleriden: and Edna C who was educated in a 
lioarding school at Lyme and at Smith College, 
Northam])tiiu. .M;i>s., and has also studied music 
and art. The f.imiK are all memliers of the Con- 
gregational Churili. .Mr. and Mrs. Lane spend 
their winters in Morida where thev have a fine or- 
ange grove, in which .Mr. Lane takes great pride. 
The home on Washington Heights in Aleriden is 
fi most delightful one, and is completely equipped 
with all modern devices to mak<.' it a comfortable 
and elegant residence'. 

The Pi.iMi: l''AMll,^•, of which Mrs. John Sher- 
man Lane is a descendant, is an old and highly re- 
sjK'cted one in .\'ew l'".ngland. The name is traced 
l)ack to the Xorman Con(|uest and has lieen spelled 
several difTerent ways, Pluinme. Plome. Phune, 
Plumb and Plum, but is now written Plumb. .A 
full and com])lele genealog\- of the familv was ])ub- 
lished in 1893 b\ II. I',. Plumb, of Luzenie county, 
Pa., a copy of which is in the possession of Mrs. 
Lane. 

Robert Plumb was born Dec. 30, 1617. in Ridge- 
well, F.ngland, and emigrated to .America with his 
father's family, locating at Welhersfielcl. In 1639 he 
removed lo .Milford, t.'oini.. where he spent the re- 
mainder of his life and died there .Mav 12, 1655. 
His fatlier, John Phnnb, settled in Wether.sfield, 
later at P.ranford, Conn., where he died in 1648. 
Robert Plumb married Jan. 9, 1642, Alary Paldwiti. 
who was born h'eb. 19. [()2^, and died hA-b. 1, 1707. 
in .Milforcl. To this union six children were born. 

Jcihn Plumb, eldest son of Robert, was born .Aug. 
12, \()4<). in .Milford, Coim., where he was a knul 
owner and farmer, and where he lucame cmiie a 
jjroininent cilizen. 1 h' dii-d in .March, 172S, at the 



ripe age of eighty-two years and was buried in Mi!- 
! ford. He married Elizabeth Xorton, by whom he 
had ten children. 

John Plumb (2), son of John, was biirn Ju!v 
29, 1671, an<l passed his entire life in Milford, dying 
in .August, 1 716, while still a comparatively young 
man. He was a land owner and quite a prominent 
citizen. uAbout 1700 he married Rached Bunnel. 
who was born Dec. 16, 1683, and died July 21, 172S. 
Seven children were born to them. 

John Plumb (3), son of John (2), was born 
July 30. 1704, in Milford'. wdiere he followed farm- 
ing and where he spent his life. He died in 1763. 
( )n .May 27. 1723, he married Keziah Allen, and thi-. 
union was blessed with four sons and seven daugh- 
ters. 

John Plumb (4), son of John (3), was borji 
July 7, 172(1, and spent his entire life in .Milfortl. 
Vvhere he died while still a young man. He nrar- 
ried, in Xew London. Conn., Marv Hotchkiss. who 
was born in 1723 and who died Sept. 17, 1803. 
They bad three children: Abigail, born Xov. id. 
, 1748: Prudence, born Jul\- 17, 1750: and John Still. 

John .Still Plumb was liorn June 4, 1752, and 
lived in Milford, where he passed his life and wdiere 
he died in h'ehruary, 1833. at the ripe age of eighty- 
one years. On Jan. i, 1771, he married Elizabeth 
Sears, who was boni in 1753 and died Jan. 30, 1829. 
Ei,ght children were l)orn to them: John, Dec. 31. 
1771; Elizabeth, May 14, 1775: Joel. Xov. 5, 1777. 
1 (married Oct. t2. 1800, Lou Bassett, and died 
-March 9, 1857) : Isaac, June 16. 1780 (married Ab'- 
gail Bassett, and died in 1804) : Frances, in Decem- 
ber, 1782: Lucindy, July 2^,. 1786 (married' Jona- 
than Sackett)': Leuman, Ma\- 2~, 1788 (married 
Mary Whitney) ; and Sarale Still. Dec. 2-. 1790. 

John Plumb, eldest child of John Still and 
Elizabeth (Sears) Plumb, was born in Milford 
December 31. T771. He grew to manhood in 
that town and there dietl in 1846, a highly respected 
citizen. Mis remains are liuried in the ceme- 
tery in Milford. ( )n Jan. 1 1, 1795. he married Sibyl 
Sninth, who was borir in 1770 and died Dec. 24. 
1830. Seven children blessed this union: Thad- 
(ieus, born Sept. 29, 1795. married Elizabeth Oviatt 
and' (second) IVetsev Smith, and died Sept. 21;. 
1845: Harriet, born i'"eb. 12, 1798. married Elipha- 
let Beecher aird (secoird) Aaron Fairchild, and died 
.Sept. 19, 1878: Lyman, born Feb. 8, 1801, married 
Harriet Smith and died March 28, 1882; David. 
born Juiw 13, 1805, married Esther Nettlcton and 
died June 2i). \H()(t: William, born Xov. 29, 1807, 
married Tamar Baldwin and died in March, 1865: 
Wilson was the twin of William: and .Xanc\', horn 
' Kn. 20, 1810, dii'd .Sc])t. 19. 1833. 

Wilson Plumb, father of Mrs. Lane, mentioned 
above as twin brother of William, was born Xov. 
2(), 1807. ( )n Xov. 29, 1831, he married Xaomi 
Xettleton and he died March 18, 1850. He was 
;■. coiUractor and builder and was well known and 
\ery highly ri-specleil. 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



G95 



GF.()!^;(i]•: II. JOSFJX. M. 1).. ,.t Mt. Caiiiul. 
Conn., is one of the siicces.>^ful yinui!; i)liysicians <if 
Xew Haven conniv. and one whose snecess in hfe 
has licen entirely tlie result dt his own etTorts. His 
liisih ijosiiion as a practitioner and as a citizen is hut 
the out5^r;)\vth of etforis to succeed in which his 
determination and ])ersistency were nioie than once 
found to he valuable traits of character. Dr. |os- 
lin is wedded to his profession, and hy thoro'iiijh 
I)re[)aration has fitted himself eminently for its prac- 
tice : he is also interested in social and jnihlic affairs 
of his town, and his jjcrsonality has won for him 
a wider recosjuitiou than his mere professional 
status, however eminent that mav be. 

Dr. Joslin is of an old New lui.tjland familv. and 
one that has scattered over almost everv state in the 
I'nited States. 'i"he name is spelled in various 
ways, the ori.ujinal s])ellin^, Josselyn, has been cor- 
rupted into Joselyn. joslyn, Joslin and nianv otlur 
ways. Tlie family is of distinclivclv l-"rench origin, 
and descends from John Josselyn, who came to Xew 
Eng-land in if)3S. lie was accompanied bv his 
brother Henry, who never married. From [ohn 
Josselyn comes a lonsj line of descendants, and a 
family that has been closely identified wilTi the earlv 
history of several .\cw En.tjland towns, amons; 
which can be mentioned Hanover. Mass.. and I'oidt- 
ney, \'t. They took ])art in the Revolutionary war. 
-All in all they have always been of the better class 
of people. 

Pierre Joslyn, the grandfather of Dr. Cicortje IT. 
Joslin, for a number of years conducted the old 
"Knickerbocker House," on Si.\th .Avenue. Xew 
York City. In those days this was a well-known 
hostelry in Xew York, and many noted and ])rom- 
inent b'renchmen were entertained there. He lived 
the latter vears of his life at W'illiston. \'t.. and 
there he died at the home of his son, Louis .\a- 
poleon. havinj; attained the venerable ap^e of morq 
than ninety years. I'ierre Joslyn had a lar.ye fam- 
ily, in which were a number of sons, several of 
whom served in the war of the Rebellion. 

Louis Xa]joleon Joslyn. father of Dr. Ceoraje 
H. Joslin, was born in Montpelier, \'t., and was a 
schoolmate of .\dmiral Dewey in the public schools 
of that city. He became a civil ent,nnccr, later a 
carria.sje manufacturer. He married Llizabeth Sen- 
na, a native of X'ermont of I'rench descent. She 
comes of a family particularly noted for superior 
])hysical siren.<;lh and prowess, several of her 
brothers bcins.^ men whose feats of .strength were 
remarkable, and who, in this day, would be noted 
as powerfid athk'tes. Their family consisted of 
three children, of whom ( ieorije 11. is the only son. 
'Mr. and Mrs. Louis Xapoleon Joslyn make their 
home in llurlirigton. N'ermont. 

( ieortjc 11. Joslin was born in llnrlinijton, \"t., 
Julv 24. 1864, and there he i)assed his bo\hood days 
and received his earlier education. When sixteen 
years of age he secured an en.s^aijeinent in the ])ostal 
service, then imder I'cjstmaster (leneral lauies. and 



was stationed at Holyoke. .Mass. It was dnriuif 
this lime that he first enlere<l upon the slud\ of 
medicine, liis prece])tor beins.; one of the most suc- 
cessfid practitioners of that section of Massachu- 
setts. .After about four \ears youni; Joslin entereil 
the .Medical department of the L'niversity of \ er- 
monl at r.urlin>;ion. froni which he was (graduated 
in 1S87. Ihirin-j his attendance at the L'niversity, 
he was in the Dean's office under Professor (irinell. 
While there, too. he tt>ok a i)rominent ])art in ath- 
letics, and served in succession as director, secretarv 
and ])residcnt of the L'niversity .\thletic .\ssocia- 
tion. As an athlete Dr. Joslin was a ])romineni 
and successful contestant. In 1S.S5 he took five- 
first prizes in athletic events. He also held the pole 
vault record (11 ft. i in.) of the institution — a rec- 
ord that stood for some time. .After leavim; collec;e 
on his graduation Dr. Joslin went to Montreal. 
Canada, where he jiassed one year in the < ieneral 
Hos]iital at that city, after which he returned to 
A'ermont, and l)e.q;an the ])raclice of his profession 
at Westminster, remainin,';- there one year, after 
which he went to .Xew ^'ork and took a course at 
Post (iraduate School Hospital, from which he re- 
ceived his diiiloma in 1888. In i88() he came to 
Mt. L'armel. Conn., sueceedin.sj Dr. Wri.tjht, and 
where he has since lieen located, havin.i; built u|) a 
most enviable jiractice which e.xtends into several of 
the surroundinjr towns. 

( )n ( )ct. 13. 1888, Dr. Joslin was married in 
Westminster. Vt., to Miss Mary R. .Xuttin.sj. who 
was horn in that town, dan.s^hter of Chas. .A. XiU- 
tins;'. Two children have blessed this union : 1 lelen 
and .\dele. 

Mrs. Joslin is a lady of refinement an<l cidture. 
and pos.ses.sed of e.xcelleiu musical ability. Shi- 
tau.yht school successfully i^revious ti> her marriatre, 
havin.tj been graduated from the \ermont .Academv 
at Saxtons River, class of 1885. She also took ;i 
com-se at P.oston L'onservatory of Music. .Mrs. 
Joslin comes from one of the verv oldest families 
at Westminster, her ancestors being among the first 
settlers there. They originally came from Connec- 
ticut, and .going up the Connecticut river in birch 
canoes, came to what is now P.ellows Falls. Their 
means of travel being interrupted, thev made a 
settlement there, and tlie city now includes the lanil 
on which they settled, i-lqually as prominenil\- 
identified with the Revolutionary history of the 
town of Westminster are her ancestors, who were 
stanch Whigs, and their armed resistance of the 
re))resentaiives of KingCicorge HI. in March, 177.,. 
was the first blood shed of Revolntionarv war. .\s- 
sociated with tlu' above event is a relic of great in- 
terest that Dr. Joslin has in his possession: When 
the represematives of King ( ieorge 111 went to 
Wotminsler. in .March. 1775. to liold court, thev 
met with hitler opposition fn)m the Whigs, an(F 
William I'leiich wiiii his main strength helil ihe> 
door of the room in which court was to be held. 
.A bullel fired from outside by ihe arnud force of 



696 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the King, penetrated the doDr and killed I-'rench. 
The State of \'erni<)nt has erected a $^5,000 nionn- 
iiienl over tlie grave of this I'Vench and a Air. Hel- 
ton. The door through whieh the shot was fired 
remained lor many \ears in its iiosition, ii is now 
in the rooms of the X'ermont State 1 listorieal So- 
ciety at Mont])elier, hnt the panel through which 
the shot entered, the path of the fatal bullet being 
plainly visihlt'. is in the possession of Dr. Joslin, 



beint 



nven Inni 1>\- ludge .'^toddard, of Westmin- 



ster, to wlioni he ministered in his last illness. 

Jn i8()3. I )r. Jii>lin huildcd from his own de- 
signs, one of the finest homes in his town, and one 
known far and near for its architectural beauty and 
unicjue design. The residence and barn (the latter 
an elegant structure and alsn of the owner's design) 
.s.tan(l in beautiful and well-ke|)t grotnids, all of 
which previous to the Doctor's ].)urchase was a 
rough, Tuisightl}- piece of land. Its present condi- 
tion is sinipiv an illustration of imr >n1)iect's thor- 
oughness and originality. 

.\s a practitioner Dr. Joslin is a most successful 
one and at his age has met with success such as 
nianx fail to ac(|uire (.xcti in a lifetime. lie is a 
good judge of human nature, and has a ])leasing 
personality, a combination n\ great \alue to any 
member lU' his [jrofession. lie is thoroughly up- 
to-date in medical science an<l ranks high among 
the professional friends, he being one to maintain 
the profession's dignity, etc. .\s a man his popular- 
ity is but in keeping with his success as ;i ]>hysician, 
and his value as a citizen is second to none in his 
town. Dr. Joslin is certainly of the progressive 
school, as evidenced by his intert'st and adx'ocacy of 
every movement of benel'it to his town. He was, 
probably more th,Tn any otlu'r citizen of his part of 
town, instrtnnental in getting the trollex' line ex- 
tended to Alt. t'arnul. ills ;icii\'e and constant la- 
bor for this necessilaled nuicli time, and no little 
outlay of means, in which, strange to say, he liad 
the op])ositii n of not a few of the citizens, wdio 
were to be benefited b\- the extension. This did 
not serve to disconr.age him, rather, in<leed. to one 
of his maketip, it encouraged him, for he tlren 
thought, as time has jiroved, that those ojjposing 
this improvement would be the warmest su]i]iorters 
when it was once secnrt'd. This ;ictivit\- of his was 
sini])ly that which prompts :i public spirited and 
progressive citizen to do his dutv as such. 'J"he 
Doctor gave land on which a car barn w'as erected, 
that his locality might have ln'tter service in w'hich 
all would be benefited. ( )iher evidence has been 
shown of his jniljlic spirit, wdiich is never of the kind 
th;it is contained in a nu-re expression of satisfac- 
tion, but of the more subst.mtial "take off your 
coat," or "go down in your pocket" variety. Dr. 
Joslin is liberal in church matters and ])olitical af- 
fairs, not being bound to any particular cree<l or 
party. I-'raternallv he is a member of Dav Spring 
Lodge. Xo. 30, 1'". i*t .\. .M.. of Hanulen. lie is 
also affiliated with the Independent ( )rder of Forest- 



ers and the lianiden Grange; and professionally 
he is a member of New Haven County Aledical 
Society, and of the New Haven Aledical Associa- 
tion. While a man whose life has had its ups and 
downs, and not a few times wdien one less cour- 
ageous woidd no doubt have sought oi:her channels 
as a means of making a living, his jiersistency and 
indomitable wdll would not permit him to give up, 
and success came to him, all of which has not 
served to change his characteristically democratic 
ways. 

JtJHN N. CHAMPION. (I) Henry Cham- 
pion emigrated from England to the American Col- 
onies and settled at Saybrook, Conn., wdiere be is 
found as earl\f as 1647. After having assisted in 
the development of Saybrook he removed W'ii;h his 
famil)' to the cast side of the Connecticut river and 
became one of the first and most active founders of 
Lyme. It seems that he was twice married; the 
Christian name of his second wife was Deborah, 
and they were married in i6yo. Henry Champion 
died in 1709. 

(II) Henry Champion (2), son of Henry, the 
emigrant settler, born in 1654. married in Lyme, 
Conn., iia 1684, Susannah De Wolf, of Lyme, and 
resided on Meeting House Hill. In addition to re- 
ceiving land from bis father he obtained several 
tracts bv grants from the town. His death occurred 
in 1704. 

(III) Stephen (._'bam|)ion, son of Henry (2), 
born in Lyme, Conn., in 1702, married (first) in 
Lyme, in 1726, Deborah Leech, wdio was born in 
i7ot), daughter of Wolston and Margaret (Brook- 
way) Leech. She died in 1737 and in 1753 Stephen 
married .\l)igail Barnes. He w"as a farmer and re- 
sided in Lyme until his second marriage,' wdien he 
removed to Saybrook, there passing the retnainder 
of his da\s. 

(IV) Dr. Reulien Champion, son of Stephen, 
lM)rn in 1727, in Lyme, married in Saybrook in 
1755, Lydia Dunk, wiio vt'as born in 1730 in Say- 
brook, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Ingram) 
Dunk (Which name was later changed to Duncan). 
Dr. Champion for many years resided in Saybrook 
and there brought up his children, but about 1772 he 
removed to Springfield, Mass. At the beginning of 
the Revolution he joined the forces assembling under 
(.in. Washington and continued to act as a surgeon 
in the Continental army tmtil attacked by a fever 
vdiile on duty at I'ort Ticonderoga, which soon 
caused his death on March 29, 1777. 

(\') Reuben Champion (2), son of Dr. Reuben, 
born. July 30, 1760, in Saybrook, married in West 
.'^pringfield, Mass., in 1782, Silence I'^ly, who was 
b(u-n Jmie I, 1760, in West Springfield, Mass.. 
daughter of Nathan and Silence (Morgan) Ely. 
When' but fifteen years old Reuben enlisted as a 
soldier in the Continental army in wdiich, young 
as he was. be served with credit until the close of 
the wai'. Mis life was passed on a farm in Amos- 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



697 



town, a parish of West Spriiif^ficld. and he died Mav 
26, 1832, his widow surviviiii; until Oct. 30. 1852. 
in West Springfield. 

( \'I) F.lias Chani])ii n. sen of Reulien (2). was 
burn in West Spring-field jnne lu, ijLp. and .\\ni\ 
5, 1827, married, in Spring-field. Esther Strong, 
who was horn Dec. 8, 1801. in .Vorthampton. .Mass.. 
daughter of Oliver and Ruth Strong. Elias Cham- 
pion was engaged in the hat business in Springfield, 
lie died Oct. 13, 1839. and .Mrs. Champion surviveil 
him until Aug. 29. 1843. 

(,\"11) John Xewton Champion, son of Elias, 
boi-n Oct. 21, 182S. in Springfield. .Mass.. was mar- 
ried in Xew ilaven Oct. 24. 1853, to Cordelia ]-"ii/,:i 
Sanford. who was iKtrn .May 21. 1833. in Wood- 
bridge, Conn., daug-hter of Stephen and Cordelia 
(Hotchkiss) Sanford. Tlu-y resided in \"ew Ha- 
ven, in which city -Mr. Champion was a builder. 
He was first lieutenant of the Xew Ilaven Light 
Guards, Company I-", 2d Uegiinml, C. X. ( i. ; a mem- 
ber of Olive Branch Lcjdge. A. 1-'. ,H: A. .M. ; past 
noble grand of City Lodge, 1. ( ). ( ). I-'.: a niemb.-r 
of C.rand Canton Sassacus, Patriarchs .Militant: 
and was a charter mend>er <\\ the following named 
associations: Croton l-jigine. .\o. I. a lem])erance 
fire company, of which he was foreman : the .Xew 
ILiven Indepcndtnt Rangers, a ten-iperance militar\- 
company; the Latch String ()riginals, a temperance 
s.ociety; and Xew Haven Lodge, 1). of R.. I. O. O. 
F. In religion he was a member of the I-"irst I'.aiJtist 
Church. 

To Mr. and Mrs, John Xewton Champion were 
burn children as follows: {i) Sarah .Ann, horn 
Oct. 24, 1859, died in inf;mcy. (2) John .Vewton 
is mentioned below, i 3 ) Stephen Elias. horn Oct. 
19, 1862, was graduated frnm (ien. Rus-eli's .Mdi- 
tary School in .Xew 1 1,-iven and is engaged in xlv^ 
confectionery business in that cit\- : he is a memi)er 
and drummer of the Xew Ilaven Light Guards, a 
member of Hiram Lodge, Xo. 1. A. I-". & ,\. M., 
and a charter member of Hammonassett Tribe. X<i. 
i. L O. R. M. (4) Moses .Varon, horn June 18. 
1868, died in infancy. 

John Xewton C'hampion (21. son of Joim Xew- 
ton. bom March 20, 1861, in Xew Haven, Conn., 
married in that city Xov. 21. 1883. Minnie Monk. 
Viho was born Jul}- 26. 1863. in Xew Haven, daugh- 
ttr of Joseph C. and .Amelia Louise ( lirenvn 1 
Monk, John Xewton Chamijion was graduated 
from RusselTs Alilitary .School at Xew Haven in 
1877, and after comjileting his studies entered the 
tiorist business, h'or thirteen years he was ii-i the 
florist's department of the Frank .S. F'latt Co, and 
ir. 1890 he engaged in business for himself on Chapel 
street, where he has since built up a verv large ani'. 
w-idely increasing jjatronage and is justly regarded 
as one of the best in his line, not only in Xew Ha- 
\en, l)ut the surroimding district. Air. Champion is 
a member of the Chamber of Commerce: of the 
2(1 Con-ipany, Governor's I-"i>ot (luards: president (-if 
the -Xew Haven Comit\- I Inrticultm-al -Society; vice- 



president ( State of Connecticut 1 of the .\merican 
I-'lorist -Association; member of the Xew Haven 
Colony Historical Society; member oi the Sons of 
the American Revolution; and for eleven vears was 
a memlier of the Xew Haven Grays, which is desig- 
nated as Comjjany E, 2d Regiment, C. .X, G, ; he 
v-.as drimi sergeant of the 2iJ Regiment. Socially 
Mr. Champion is a past n(jble grand of City I^dge, 
Xo. 3O, I. O. O. E. ; member of Wooster Lodge, 
Xo. 79, -\. ]•'. & -A. AL ; Harmony Council; I-~rank- 
hn Chapter: the Union League Club; the l'e(|uot 
Club; tlic Xew Haven Yacht Club; the Sachem's 
Head Yacht Club: and the Young .Men's Re])ulilican 
Club, being an ardent Republicni in puliiics. .Mrs. 
Champion is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal 
Church. 

W. -A, P.l-n-'RS, the veteran plii-)togrnphcr, is a 
son of Charles Tleers, and grandson of David Dia- 
mond P.eers, who followed farming and sboemak- 
ing in l-'airfield, Comiecticut. 

Charles I'.eers was horn in l-"airfield. Conn., 
where he s|)ent his school da\s, and left home to 
work for ;i family by the name of Sanford, When 
he was seventeen he walked from l-'airficld tf) .Xew 
Haven, and apprenticed himself to James lirewster. 
a carriage manufacturer: in his time he worked 
twelve hom-s a day. In .Xew A'ork City he worked 
for Pjenjamin P.rewster, a noted carriage maker of 
the day. and later, in l>ridgeport. lie was employe i 
by Tomlinson & Wood, in the same line. In 1844 
he removed to Xew Haven |o take charge of the 
estate of Capt. William Jocelyn, his falher-in-law, 
and in that city he became foreman f(;r Gi-orgc 
Hoadley, the well-known carriage manufacturer, 
with wIkjui he remained unlil his death. It is said 
of him that he never attended a theatre, .-md being 
of the strict old school he thought the devil, him- 
self, was in playing cards. In 1837 ''^' niarried 
F.lizabeth .\nn Jocelyn. daughter of Cajit. \\'illiam 
Jocelyn, well known in Xew- Haven. Their chil- 
dren were as follows: W. .\., mentioned below; 
Susan Elizabeth Sanford married William Gay, 
publisher, of the finn of Gay r)rothers. 

W. .A. Picers was Imrn in Xew- Haven, Conn., 
.Sept. 17, 1837, and received his education in what 
is now the A\'el)ster school, .ind in ( )xfor(l .Acad- 
emy, In his youthful days .Mr. I'.eers w~is under 
instructions with Wells P.ros., who took a da- 
g-uerreoty])e picture b\- electric lii;hl in ^'alc Clinii- 
ical Laboratory as early as 1853. Prof, ."^eroijean, 
of '^'ale, with Mr, I'.eers, who then was with Wells 
Brothers, of Xew- Haven, were the first in Xew 
Haven to make pictures in ;i camer;i on pajier with- 
out a negative. 'I'his they did in 1853. but the 
process was difticult. and of no |>ractical value. 
Mr. Beers was one of the first photogra|)liers in 
.\'ew- Haven to make ph(>togr;i])hs on pa)KT and to 
use the wet process for photographs, ;md the lirst 
one to take daguerreotypes bv electric light in 
the city, and he has kept ]i:ice with every imjirove- 



698 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



inent in his callinii'. In 1834 lie l)eijan l.)usiness in 
j)hotography for himself. The following year he 
hegan business at his present location in company 
with Sereno Mansfield, under the name of Beers & 
Mansfield. This firm continued for twenty years, 
and then Mr. .Mansfiold retired, leaving Mr. Beers 
to conduct his business alone, which he has done to 
the present time with marked success. He has 
'oeen in business on (.'hajiel Street for a longer time 
than any other person. 

W. A. Beers was married in l*"air Haven to 
L'ynthia Jenette, a ilaughter of L'ol. Joseph Wilcox, 
a shoe dealer, and a prominent man in that com- 
munity. To this union came one son, Willie Wil- 
co.x, who died at the age of seventeen years. Mr. 
Beers was a member of the Xew Haven Colony 
Historical Society, and belongs to the Chamber of 
Commerce. In the Ilirani Lodge, -\. 1". & A. M., 
he has been a valualile member since 1867, being 
secretary for twenty-one years — the oldest secretary 
in the State at that time. l-"or over twenty-three 
years he has been secretary of the Masonic Pro- 
tective Societv. and has been for years a member 
of the Young Men's Republican Club. For three 
years he was Councilman from the First Ward. 

The Beers familv a])]iears to have originated in 
Westcliiif, Comity Kent, l-'.ngland. at a i)lace called 
I'ere's Court'. William delli're, nf Here's Court, was 
baililf of Dover, about 1275. .Xicholas deBere held 
in the Manor nf l',cre's Court in the twentieth year 
of the reign n\ 1 Knry 111. The first of the an- 
cestry of the .\merican family, was Martin deBere, 
of Rochester, Kent, who was living in i486. He 
married a daughter of Thomas .Xyssell, of 
Wrotham, luigland. b'roni this couple in the fifth 
generation was C;ipt. Richard Here, who was born 
in i''k)7, a son of Jubn and Mary ( .Sell>y ) Bere, he 
of (iravcsend, and she of ^'orkshire. Capt. Bere 
came to .Xinerica in i')33, making his home at 
Watertown. .Mass. lie represented that town in 
the (ieneral Court I'nr thirteen \t'ars. During the 
trouble with the l'r(|Uol Indians he commanded a 
coni|)an\- in several battles, and was killefl liy the 
Indians near .Xortbfield, M.ass., in 1(^)75. 

In the fifth gener.atinn was also James Bere, of 
( iravesend, who was not living in 1035. His wid- 
ow, Hester, died in I'l^^. and the same year her 
two sons, Anthony and James, accomjjanied their 
uncle, Capt. Richard, to .\nierica. James Bere 
came to ['"airfield, C'onn., in i')57, and two years 
later purchased a Ikmisc and lut. Two years later 
lu- purchased a secnnd lot ol' eight acres in (ireen- 
tield, and in 1(1(14 he took the freeman's oath. He 
died in \(n)4. Tn him and his wife, .Abigail, were 
born fwv children, two nf wlmni were sons, James 
and Joseph. 

.\nthony Here, noted above. \\;i> a native of 
("iravcsend, Fng., and the first recnrd of his name 
in this countr\- is at Watertown, Mass.. where he 
took the freeman's oath in 1657. In iC)55 he re- 
moved to Ro.xbur\', .Mass., and in 1(138 came to I'air- 



field. Conn. Fie was married, and was lost at sea 
in 1676. His widow Elizabeth survived him. They 
bad seven children ; the sons who grew to manhood 
.being: Ephraim, born in 1648, in Watertown, 
Mass.: John, born Jan. 20, 1652; and Barnabas, 
torn Sept. 5, 1658. 

Mr. W. A. Beers has a musket and cutlass that 
were used by one of his ancestors in the Revo- 
lution. 

MOfxEH'OL'SE. The family hearing this name 
in Meriden, the head of which is the well-known 
contractor and builder Henry L. Morehouse — a suli- 
stantial and progressive citizen of that busy manu- 
facturing city — is one of the oldest in Connecticut, 
reaching back as it does for 260 and more years. 

Born Sept. 25,. 1845. in Xew Preston, in the 
town of Washington, Litchfield Co.. Conn., a son of 
the late Cyrus A. and Cornelia ( Canfield ) More- 
house, Henry L. Morehouse, of ]\Ieriden, is de- 
scended in the seventh generation from Thomas 
Morehouse, who was at Wethersfield as early as 
1640, and the next year at Stamford, where he 
shared in the first distribution of land, receiving 
seven acres. He was iui Stamford in 164Q. and in 
i()53 in Fairfield carrying on a gristmill. He mar- 
ried Isabella, daughter of Ralf Keeler, of Norwalk. 
From this ancestor Mr. Morehouse's lineage is 
throtigh Jonathan, Stephen, John. John (2), and 
Cyrus Morehouse. 

(II) Jonathan Morehouse, son of Thomas the 
settler, married ( first ) Mary, daughter of Edward 
Wilson, of Fairfield, and (second) Ai^ril 16, i6(;o, 
Rebecca, daughter of John Knowles. Mr. More- 
house purchased! the homestead of his father in 
Fairfield. 

(HI) Stephen Morehouse. sup]X3sedly a son of 
Jonathan, (the latter having a son Stephen, ba])- 
tized Mav 21, 1704) born in Fairfield in 1702, mar- 
ried .Miigail Tredwell, of r"airfield, and settled in 
Redding, where he was instrumental in establishing 
the first Episcopal societv there. Both himself and 
his wife died and were buried at Redding. Their 
tombstone inscriptions read as follows : 

'"Here lies buried the body of Mr. Stephen More- 
liou.se, who departed his Life May ye 2fl. 17(^7. in 
ye 66 vear of His age." 

"The Remains of Mrs. .\bigail .Morehouse, Wife 
of Mr. .Stephen Morehouse, who after a course of 
Piety and \'irtue exchanged this life for immortality 
Sept. (1, 1731), in ye 36 year of her age." 

tl\') lohn Morehouse, son of Stephen, born 
about 1723, settled in Xew Milford, Conn. lie 
married. Dec. J~. i~(\^. l'liel)e, daugbt'er of Deacon 
F.leazer I'.eecher : she died h'eb. 20. 1807. in the 
seventieth year of her age, and lie married, Dec. 2;. 
1808, Thankful .\twell, of Montville, and resided in 
Marblehcad. Stei)ben was the father of tlie fol- 
lowing children : Anna, born Dec. 2. 1764, mar- 
ried Matthew .Mallett; Daniel, born .April 27. T768: 
|olin, born Jan. 21 . 1770 : Jabez, born June 12, 1773 : 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



699 



riicbc. lK)rn Doc. 13. ijjo. married Ahijali I'attiT- 
son. of Roxhurv : and Jan. born Marcli 14. ijSr. 

( \' ) John Morehonsc ( 2 ) . si n .if Jclni. horn Jan. 
21. 1770. married. Jan. 22. ijiiji,. Sarah Slrai'i,d)t. 
of Kent, and resided in .Marl)lehead. Mr. More- 
house (Ued .SejH. 21. 1S37. His children were: 
Isaac, horn .\i)ril 19. 1794 ; Jal)ez. Itoni Sept. 22. 
^797 '• l>.vlvia. horn June 2^. 1800, married Harmon 
Conch: .Anna, burn .\n,!;. 11, 1S03. marrieil ( lenrj^e 
I'oote; Cyrus, horn Xov. 11. 1808: and Catlierine. 
horn Oct. 18. 181 i. married Horace Clark. 

(\'I) Cyrus .Morehouse, son of Jolin (2). I)orn 
Xov. II. 1808. was a marble worker in Xew Mil- 
ford, lie marrieil. Xov. 20. 1832, Cornelia .\. Can- 
field, and the children born to tlie marria.sje were : 
Jane, now the widow of John Knowles. residintr in 
Xew Milford: .Mary, widow of Perry .\. Hall, of 
the same place: .\nnetle. who married Isaac .San- 
ford, and botli are now decea.sed : .\Ibina. widow of 
John .\ddis. of .\ew Millord: l-"rank. who married 
Miss W'oolsey. ami lives in .\ew .Milford: Andrew, 
a contractor and liuilder in iiridsjejOTrt. Conn.: 
Henry L.. born Sept. 2^. 1843. Hoth ])arents died 
and are luiried in .\ew Milford. 

Hkxkv L. MoKiciiorsK. the last named, now of 
Meriden. received, in his native town of Xew Mil- 
ford. a common-school education. This was su])- 
j^lemented by a course at Eastman's liusiness Col- 
Ic.a^e at I'oughkcepsic. X. V.. from which he was 
graduated in 1866. .\fter this he learned the trade 
of caq)enter and builder in r.ridq;eport. with Mr. 
Dykeman. and established himself in business as a 
contractor in r>rid,t:;-e])ort. In 1861; he removed his 
business to Xew Haven, and in 1872. located in 
Meriden, where he has ever since carried on buildin.ij 
operations under contracts, and has erected many of 
the residences and Inisiness structures of that citv, 
including- .St. Laurent's Roman Catholic Church, 
the high school building, and other notalile struct- 
ures. He commands the esteem and res])ect of the 
community, of which he is the leading contracting 
builder. While not an ofilicc seeker. Mr. Morehouse 
takes an intelligent interest in public affairs, local 
and general, and supjjorts the princijjles of the Re- 
publican ])arty. 'I le is a memher of the First Con- 
gregational Church, is domestic in habit and taste, 
though ready to contribute of time and means in 
furthering any ])lan for the general welfare. 

In i8rx;. Mr. Morehouse was married to Miss 
Mattie C. Wright, dau.ghter of Charles D. Wright, 
of East Haddam, Conn. She died at her home on 
Wilcox avenue in 1895, and was buried in East I lad- 
dam Cemetery. .She was a member of the -M. I'". 
Church, a devoted wife, kind mother, and charitable. 
Christian neighbor. Her children were four in 
numl)er. The eldest. .Mlison 1".. was educated in 
Meriden. engage<l in business with his father, and 
is now ])resi(lent of the Morehouse I'.rolhers' Coni- 
])any, builders oi the City, .\ndrew C. secretary 
and treasurer of the same companw was educated in 



his native city and learned the building business with 
his father. .Mattie I . and I'ranklyn av- among the 
valued members ••{ .Meriden society. 

.\K.\'1T\ W .\l\.\i-IR. one of the re|)ie>enlativc 
farmers and prominent citizens of Hamden. .New 
Haven county, was born in that town. 1 )ct. 31. 1842. 
upon the farm which originally belonged in Ins 
grandfather. Jonah Warner, who was the first of 
the family to locate thereon. He followed the join- 
er's trade throughout life and was a devout memher 
of the Methodist Episco])al Church. He was twice 
married, his first wife being .\lma I'eck. hv whom 
he had two children: .\lma: and Wealth)', wife <if 
Chester Gaylord. I-"or his second wife he married 
Olive Sanford, and to them were horn nine children, 
namely: Lizzie, wife i^f .\lfred Doolitlle: .Maria, 
wife of Seymour l)oolitlle. a brotlier of .\lfred; 
Lilhia, wife of .Silas llotchkiss: .Miranda, who died 
unmarried: {{liza : .\bner: Minor; Zelas : and Har- 
ley. The graiulfather died :it the age nf eighlv- 
eighl years, and his wife was over eighty at the time 
of her death. 

.Aimer Warner. Sr.. the father of uur sulijecl, 
was also a native of Hamden. and was a farmer by 
occupation. He was a very hard working man and 
prospered in business affairs. He was a great fo.K 
Jiunter, and that sjjort furnished his chief source of 
enjoyment. Religiously he was a faithful member 
of the Methodist Episco|)al Church, and to<ik an 
active ])art in its work. He wedded Miss Mary 
I'.radley, anil to them were born the following chil- 
dren : r.radley, who died at the age of twent\-one 
vears : Minerva, wife of I'.ennett Doolittle: C\rus, 
a resident of Woodbridge, Conn.; l-'rederick, who 
died at the age of fifty-nine vears; .Mhert, who acci- 
dentally shot himself while out hunting at tlie age 
of twenty-one years; .Miranda, wife of Orrin .Mun- 
son, of Hamden: Chauncey, who died at the age of 
fift\-six vears; and .\bner, our suliject. The father 
died at the age of sixty-three years, the mother at 
the age of eighty-two, honored and respected h\- all 
who knew them. 

Abner Warner was reared upon the old home- 
stead, his education being ohtainecl in the common 
schools of the neighborhood. He did not leave the 
parental roof until long after the death of his father 
and mother, as he purchased the home fann. and 
there continued to reside until i88(), when he went 
to Centerville. Conn., and engaged in the meat busi- 
ness for one \car. I'rom there he removed to Ham- 
<len Plains, where he followed farming, and was also 
interested in the milk business until 181(4. when he 
])urcliased the I'.noch llassell farm of thirty acres 
in the town of Hamden, carrying on the dairy busi- 
ness there until the spring of i8<)<). He then ti" k 
up his residence in the house which he had erecli'd 
on a part of the I'.assett fann. mi Whiinev avenue. 
oi)posile Whiting Park, and here he successfulK' 
engageil in market gardening and the pi>tiltr\ bu-i- 



700 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ness until the fall of 1901. when he moved to Beth- 
any, Conn., where he now owns the "William 
Lounsbury, 2d, farm." 

On April 3, 1863, Mr, Warner was imited in 
marriage with Miss Laura .-V. Hitchcock, and to 
them has been born a dauo-hler, Elsie AL, a gradu- 
ate of the State Normal .School of New Britain, 
Comi., who has successfully engat'-ed in teaching in 
the schools of West Haven for five years. j\lr. 
^^'arner affiliates with the Prohiljition party, and for 
thirty-five years has been an active memljer of the 
Atethodist Episcopal Church, and has served as su- 
])erintendent of the Sundav school. P.oth his wife 
and daughter were members of the same church, 
and Airs. Warner has been an efficient teacher in the 
Sunday school. .A. public-spirited and progressive 
citizen, Mr. \\"arner lakes a deep interest in every- 
thing pertaining to the public welfare, and never 
withholds his support from any enterprise which he 
lielieves will ].iro\'e of ])enetii ii> h\< tnwn and county. 

J-VAIES S.XAIUEL b'J/rOX, son ,,f Jnbn Prince 
I'.lton. was born in Waterburx \'ii\'. 7. 183S. and 
was educated at Rev. C. W. b'.verest's School in 
Ilamden and at (Jen. Russell's Militar\' School in 
New Haven. In iSh3, afier a brief ajiprenticeship 
with the American Pin Ci>.. and in New York, he 
engaged in business in bis nativi' town and has been 
responsibly connected with the Waierbui\ Brass C'l. 
from that time to the jiresent. ( )n the death of Jos- 
eph C. Welton. in 1874. he was elected his successor 
in the presidency, a position which he has continued 
t<. fill with much wisdom and efficiencx'. He is a 
<lirector of the .\mei-ican Brass Co.. the New Eng- 
land Watch Co., the Oakville Co,, Blake & John- 
son, the Waterbury National Piank (of which his 
father was one of the organizers and the second 
president), and several other business corporations. 

Mr. Elton is an oflicer and active member of .St. 
John's Episcoy>al Church, the managing trustee of 
the Hall "Cluu-cb Home" fund, a director of .St. 
Margaret's Diocesan School, tlie Waterbury Hos- 
jiital and the Silas l^>ronson l,il)rary and an etficit-nt 
supporter of the charitable and semi-charitable in- 
stitutions of the citv. 

Jn 1S81 ]\Ir. Elton was made the nominee of 
his party — the minoritv ])arty in the district — for 
State Senator, and, having l>ei'n elected, served 
his constituents with abilitv in the 1 leneral .\sscm- 
bly in 1882 and 1883. 

On Oct. 28. 1863, Jaiues S. Ivlton married Char- 
lotte, daughter of Hiram Steele, of East Bloom- 
field, N. y. They had one son, John Prince, who 
was born June 20, 1865, is a graduate of Trinity 
College and is now treasurer of the \\'aterbury 
Brass Co. Mrs. Elton passed away Mav 8. iSqc). 

I'.DWIX HOLT EXCLISH. .son of the late 
Charles L. and Harriet (Holt) I'.nglish, was born 
in New Haven, Conn,. Sept. 28, 1854. In his vouth- 
ful (lavs he attended French's Private School, and 



subsequently he prepared for College at Hopkins 
Grammar School, from which he was graduated in 
the class of 1871. He entered Yale with the class 
of 1875, but ill health prevented the completion of 
his course. After leaving college he went to Ko- 
komo, Ind., and there entered the employ of Calvin 
Gallup & Co. (in which firm his father was a part- 
ner), wholesale dealers ,in hardwood lumber. 
He remained in the West two or three years, and 
then he returned to New Haven. In 1876 Charles 
L. English retired from the firm of English & Holt, 
and Edwin H. succeeded to his father's interest in 
the business, the firm name of English & Holt being 
retained until the retirement of Mr. Holt, July i, 
1897, when it was changed to E. H. English & Co. 

On Oct. 5, 1882, Mr. English married Miss 
Lucy W. Kellogg, second daughter of Hon. Stephen 
W. Kellogg, of \\'aterbury. Immediately after his 
marriage, he and his wife spent several months 
traveling in Europe and the East. 

During the last four vears of his life Air. Eng- 
lish suft'ered greatlv from ill health, lung trouble 
having develo]>ed. While facing and fighting with 
great pluck and cour.age a fatal disease, he was ever 
at the head of bis lars'e business interests, retaining 
even in hours of weakness and sufTering the active 
control i)f its management. Mr. English was a 
man of exceeding worth, a man of strong and cer- 
tain ability, a man sure and reliable. He enter- 
tained no doubt as to his position upon matters under 
discussion, and bad no timi<lit\- in stating his views. 
Those who knew him and even those who met him 
casuallv liked and respected him. In national ])oli- 
tics he was a Ke])ublican, and was in favor of gold 
monometalism. of moderate protection and numi- 
cipal reform. He was interested in an<l endorsed in- 
ter-collegiate foot ball and athletics in general. In 
religious comiection he was a member of Center 
Church, and socially he belonged to (Juinni])iac 
Club. .Mr. English was a director in the .\ferchants 
National Bank. C. Cowles and Co.. and the Xew 
Haven (^:)lony Historical Society, and he was 
electeil a member of the Chamber of Commerce 
.\liril I. 1S78. .\lr, and Mrs. English had a family 
of eight children. Their first child. Lucia Hosmer, 
was born Ai)ril if), 1S84, and died May 22, 1892. 
The other children are as follows: .Marguerite 
Griswold. born l"eb. 11, 1886: Stephanie Kellogg, 
born .\ug. 2J. 1887: Charles Leverett. b:)rn Oct. 20, 
1888: Harriet I lol(, born Oct, 21. i8<)0: l-'dwin Holt, 
born Jan. i(>. i8i;3; Katharine .Vtherton, born 
Dec. 27, 1894: and b'rank Kellogg, born Feb. 
28, iS(>8. Mr. luiglish jias^ed away at his home 
No. 390 Prospect street. Xew llaxen. Oct. 6. i8c;9. 

bXI COI-: BIKDSICV. One of Meriden's best 
known and highly resi)ected citizens, is I'.li Coe 
Birdsev. whose distinguished aiicestrw both i)aternal 
and maternal, reaches far back beyond the settle- 
ment of the State of Connecticut. 

On the maternal side, through the family of Gov. 





^:^>z^<i^-c' 



c{^^^^ 



/ 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORIK 



701 



1 homas W dies, wlio was !;ovcrinjr ui ilic Colony 
clurinir the years 1O55 and 1658. l,e traces iliron.^ii 
many titled -entlemen in hi.tli 1-ianee and lui-land 
to the \ear 929. Anion- these was Siinu'i dc 
W ellcs, who was one of the Crusaders durintj the 
third Crusade in Palestine, and. although it is im- 
possible to obtain a jxisitive knowledge of his 
achievements in the Molv Land, it is historical that 
"he was in the siege of St. Jean d" Acre during the 
year 1191 with Richard, Coeur de IJon, and had a 
special grant of arms bv the king," a copv of which 
■s in the possession of Mr. I'.inlsey. of .Xferiden. 

The Hirdsey family is among' the earliest im- 
planted in Connecticut. John liirdsev, a native of 
Readin.g, Berkshire. ICngland, came to Boston. 
Mass., in 1636. bringing or accompanying liis adult 
sons. He settled at Milford. Conn..' in U)^!), and 
was one of the first ])laiiters there and died in \fm). 
It is supposed that he had sons, ICdward, losciih and 
John. 

John Birdsey (2). son of John, was born in 
ifiiO. and died in Stratford, Conn.. .April 4. ifxp, 
having married I'hilippa, daughter of Rev. Henrv 
Smith. Their daughter. Joanna, bom Xov. 18, 
1642, married Timothv Wilcoxson. 

John Birdsey 131. son of John (2), was born 
March 28. 1641. and died July 9. 1697. He mar- 
Phoebe \\'ilcox?on. Dec. 11, 1()')9. His will is 
found in Fairfield. His children were: Hannah, 
born Feb. 5, 167 1, married Isaac Beach; Mary, born 
in November, 1675. died June 17. i(x)i : Sarah, born 
May 9, 1678, and died in 1679; Abel, l)orn Nov. 30, 
1679, and died June 8, 1704; Joseph, born h>b. 22. 
i68r, and married first .Sarah Thompson, and sec- 
ond Tabitha Walker; Flizabeth, born Oct. 21, Tr)85, 
died in if>f)2, and Dinah, born in 1688. married first 
I^enjamin Beach, and second Samuel Xortoii. 

Abel Birdsey, son of John (3), a native of Strat- 
ford, Conn., died May 14. 1747. His first wife, 
Comfort, was a daughter of John Welles, a .grand- 
daughter of John Welles, and a great-granddaughter 
of Thomas W'elles. She died June 29. 171 7, and 
Feb. 25, 1718, he married Mrs. Mercy Dunton, of 
Hempstead, Long Island. The latter died Feb. 6. 
1763. The children of the first marriage were: 
Mary, born March 31, 1705: Flizabeth. born Dec. 
17, 1706, married Benjamin Curtis; Johanna, born 
Oct. 17, 1708; Phoebe, horn Sept. 9. 1710; John, 
Ixjrn Sept. 26, 1712; Funice, born in Jan. 1715: 
Comfort, born in Mav, 1717. and .Samuel. The 
children of the second marriage were: William, 
born Feb. 20. 1720: Sarah, born July 20. 1722, mar- 
ried Fphraim Lewis; .\bel. born Jan. 4. 1724: and 
Thomas, born Sept. 5. 1727. 

JohiT Birdsey, son of Abel, of Stratford and 
Middletown, Conn., died June 5, 1798. It is prob- 
able that he was twice married, as the .Stratford 
records speak of his wife, Hannah, while the Mid- 
dletown records give her name as Sarah. It is 
possible also that his first two children, Benjamlii 
and (iersliom were twins, as records are confused 



about them, and the fatiier's will meini.Mis ihcni i..- 
gether as uf the same age, alth.-ugh they died before 
he did. riic baptism <.f Benjamin i> given as occur- 
ing in May, 1734, and that of C.ershuin in 1735. 
They are .sujiposed in have been the children uf 
Hannah. Ihe .Middlct.iw n records give the chil- 
dren as lolldws: (iershoin. burn .\civ. 21, 17^, 
John, born March 10, 1730: Mary. l>L.rn .\|>ril "10. 
'738; Sarah. iHirii .April 2, 1740; Funicr, burn Dec. 
20. 1742; Abel, born l"el.. 2^, 1745; Davi.l. b..rii 
May 12. 1748, and Seth, born Oct. 13. 1751. Hie 
will of John Birdsev was proved ."^ept. 24.' 1708. ai 
Middletown, and t.n Dec. 15. Flisha H. Birdsev, of 
Middletown, and John Curtis, of .Wwlown, began 
proceedings to a|)i)eal from the order of the Middle- 
sex Probate Court to the Su|ieri<ir Ciurt. In the 
distribution ordered April 2«). \y')i). the heirs of 
i'.enjamin and (lershom, received their jiortioiis. 
After trial of the apjieal and numerous legal pro- 
ceihires. which reduced the estate from Si.S.joS.;- 
to SiO. 510.12, the distribution was finallv made Mav 
25, 1801. 

(iershom Birdsey, son of John, of Middkt'iwn, 
died Xov. 17. 1789. His marriage according to the 
family records was to Hannah Bartlett, on Xov. 12. 
1772, although tiic Middletown records |)!ace it one 
year earlier. Their children were: luinice. lM)rn 
-March 12. 1773: Samuel, born I'eb. 12. 1775. and 
married lietsey Cravell ; (Iershom. born Dec. 2m, 



■<), marrietl Lucy Coe. born .March 7, 1779. 



'// . - _. ,-,,,■ 

( iershom Birdsey (21, of Middletown and .Meri- 
den. died in the latter place March 13. 18^)5. His 
wife, ],ucy Coe. was a daugiiter of Capt. Fli Coc, 
and was boni in 1779 and died in 1803. Their chil- 
tlren were: Fli L'oe, l)orn Dec. 21. I7(». marrictl 
Rebecca Cooke Wilcox, and died ( let. w. 1844; Julia, 
born June 4. 1802. died unmarried; .Alan.son, Uirn 
Xov. 26, 1806. married Clarissa Wilcox, and died 
June 17, 1881 ; Delia, born .March 8, 1812. married 
(.)rsanuis Crocker, and died Oct. 8, 1862; lulwin, 
born .April 3. 1816. married Lavinia Maria Bailey, 
and Lucv J., born I'eb. o, 1824, niarrieil William J. 
Ives. 

I'-li Coe Birdsey, of Merideii, son of Gershoin 
(2 1, was one of the best known citizens of Meri- 
den. where he died in 1844. and was buried in Fast 
cemetery, l-'or many years he was a leading mem- 
ber of the P.aptist Church in which he was a deacon. 
and was a man who possessed the confidence of his 
fellow citizens to such a degree that he was called 
ii|)oii fre(|uently to act as a b;inker at a time wlicn 
there were no such financial institutions in Meriden. 
Mr. Birdsey was long engaged in the mercantile 
business, and was well known for his honest and up- 
right iiKlhods. In politics lie was a Jeffersonian 
Democrat, an<l he faithfully serveil the town both as 
clerk and selectman, lie was married on June 3. 
1824. to Rebecca Cooke Wilcox, bv the Rev. Samuel 
Miller, [laslor of the B:ipti>t Church in Mcriilen. 
The three children born to this niarriage were: 
Linus, born .\pr. 13, 1825. married first \"incey .Ann 



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Miller, second Julia Davis, and resides in Meriden ; 
.Alina, born Sept. 25, 1826, married John Ives, and 
died March 13, 1835; and Eli Coe, who was born 
Dec. 23, 1843. 

Eli Coe iSirdsey ( 2 ) was only eight months of 
age when he lost his father. His education was ob- 
tained in the common schools of his native town and 
later an academic course was taken in I'ierce Acad- 
emy, in Aliddlcboro, Mass. His residence is still 
in the old, colonial mansion that has been his home 
from his birth, llis beginning- in the mercantile 
line was with his l)rother. Linns, who at that time 
was conducting- a general store, and the y<nith re- 
mained for a ])eriod of four years with him as clerk. 
Then he embarked in the hardware business, in as- 
sociation with Wallace .\. Miles, on East Main 
street, in Meriden, on the corner of Center street, 
which has been a landmark for residents of this 
])leasant city for the past thirty-three years. When 
Mr. Miles later withdrew fnmi the firm. Mr. Frank 
S. Foster became a jjartner. the firm stvle Ijeing 
liirdsev & Foster, anil upon the death ut .Mr. Tos- 
ter, the firm name became I'.irdsey & Raven, Mr. 
|ohn F. Raven becoming the new member of the 
firm. 

Among the active citizens of Meriden. Mr. 15ird- 
sev is known as a most energetic, clear-headed and 
])rogressive man of affairs. Devoted to mercantile 
pursuits he has steadily refused all political prefer- 
ment. During the existence of the Meriden Mer- 
chants' Association he was its capalile secretary, and 
upon the organization of the Meriden Board of 
Trade, he was elected secretary as well as a director, 
and is now one of the vice-presidents of the State 
Board of Trade of Connecticut. 

Mr. Birdsey is an honored member of the Sons 
of the American Revolution, a member of the Con- 
necticut Historical Society of Hartford, and the 
Hon^e club, of Meriden. It is in the .Masonic order, 
however, that he has become most i)rominent. hav- 
ing been closely identified with it since 1864. He 
was made a Master Mason at the age of twenty-one 
vears, in .Meridian Lodge, .\o. 77. ami for several 
years was its secretary. Subse(|uently Center Tjxlge 
No. 97, was organized near his home, and he became 
a charter member, and served his lodge as secretary, 
junior warden and senior warden, and for manv 
}ears as trustee and treasurer. In 1865. he became 
a member of Keystone Cha])ter. .\'o. 27. R. .\. M.. 
and held several official ]M)silions in this body, and 
in 1866 he was knighted in New Haven Command- 
ery, Xo. 2, and during j8('x; assisted in the organiza- 
tion of the widely-known St. b'lmo Commanderv, 
Xo. 9, of Meriden, of which he was a charter meni- 
l)er, and the first Cieneralissimo. There were onlv 
the requisite number (9) of Knights Templars in 
Meriden, to perfect this organization, therefore, in 
order to devote more time to his Commanderv and 
many business interests, Mr. I'linlsey was con- 
strained to decline the election of worshi])ful master 
in his lodge and further advancement in liis chapter. 



In 1872 Mr. Birdsey became Eminent Commander, 
and in 1878 Grand Warden of the Grand Command- 
erv of Connecticut, and was rapidly promoted until 
his election as (jrand Commander in 1884. His 
administration of Templar aflfairs in Connecticut 
was greatly to his cretlit and most serviceable to the 
Order. His adilress before the Grand Commanderv 
at its annual conclave in Xew Haven, on Alarch 17, 
1895, -was characterized Iiy excellent sense, intelli- 
gent discernment and' a true ^Masonic spirit. It was 
eminently a business document, dealing in a 
straightforward way with the various matters dis- 
cussed. 

Mr. Birdsey has been honored in the Order as 
(irand Recorder of the Grand Commanderv of Con- 
necticut, since October, 1894, and also as secretary- 
treasurer of the Connecticut Association of Past 
Grand Commanders since its organization in 1888, 
and holds the same position in the Xew England 
Association of Bast Cirand Commanders, having 
been unanimously elected at the organization of 
that body. -His influence in the financial affairs of 
the Grand Encampment of the United States is 
acknowledged by the honor of a]3pointment as a 
member of the committee on Finance, wdiich posi- 
tion hedias held for several terms and he has been 
the chosen secretary of that committee. 

There being no Scottish Rite bodies in his native 
town, Mr. Birdsey holds his membership in E. (l. 
Storer Lodge of Perfection, the Elm City Council 
and the New Haven Chapter of Rose Croix, all of 
the city of New Haven, and in Lafa\ette Con- 
.sistory of Bridgeport. He is also the Grand Repre- 
sentative of the Grand Commandery of the District 
of Columbia near the Grand Commandery of Con- 
necticut. The thirty-third and last degree was giv- 
en to him at Philadeljihia, on Sept. 19, 1899, when 
he was received, welcomed and proclaimed a Sover- 
eign (irand Inspector General of the Ancient Ac- 
cepted Scottish Rite and enrolled an honorary mem- 
ber of the .Supreme Council of the .Northern Juris- 
diction of the United States of America. This 
high honor was richly deserved as a fitting recog- 
nition of a long and active Masonic career, earnest- 
ly devoted to the interests of all Masonic bodies. 
One of Mr. ISirdsey's most cherished possessions 
is a souvenir Masonic emblem which was left to 
him, at his death, by his attached friend, Frederic 
.\. S|)('ncer of Waterbury. 

.Mr. r.irdsey was married, in 1864, to Miss 
Catherine iUitler, who was born in Meriden, and 
was a daughter of Lyman and Mary Ann (Clark) 
I'lUtler, and a granddaughter of the late Jolin Butler, 
who was so well-known in this locality as "Uncle 
John." .Mr. I'.irdsey is noted for his honesty of 
purjjose and high-minded integrity. With pleasure 
he enjoys the companionship of his fellows, and he 
has a clear head, a well cultivated mind and a wann 
heart, ;md is devoted to his friends wlio are many, 
not only in the State of ConnecticiU, but through- 
out the countrv. 



INDKX 



PAGE 

Abbott, Alviii 952 

Alibott, Anscjii F 951 

Abbott. Daniel 841 

Abbott Family 951 

Abbott, Smith A 841 

Adams, Col. Ebenczer 139(3 

Adams, Chester 1380 

Adams, Marshall J., M. D 1380 

Adams, Samuel G 1307 

Adams, William J 139O 

Adler, Ma.\ 1361 

Ahcrn, Thomas W 15.16 

Alain, Alexander S., M. D.'. .. 14S5 

Akkn. Dexter 92 

Alden Family 92 

Aldcn, Mrs. Margaret E 93 

Alexander, George J 1523 

Alexander, Jiihn 1523 

Alford, Daniel M 430 

Alklerige, John W 1 118 

Alldcrige, William 1 1 iS , 

Allen, Megs M 339 ' 

Allen, Richard 339 

Allen, Wesley B 1279 

Ailing, .^mos H 991 

Ailing, Mrs. Amos H 992 

Ailing, Charles B 717 

Ailing. David R 901 

Ailing. Edwin J 1384 

Ailing Families 900, 991, 998 

Ailing. Francis A 901 

Ailing. Ichabod E 99S 

Ailing, Mrs. Laura C 1385 

Ailing. Leonidas W 938 

Ailing. Wilbur M 939 

Allis, Terence S 1185 

Ames, Clarence G 650 

Amos, Alexander R 1249 

Andrew, Allen F 135 

Andrew, Mrs. Betsey B 135 

Andrew, Frank S 356 

Andrews, .'\lbert F 429 

Andrews Families .... 429, 581, 1483 

Andrews, Floyd L 1389 

Andrews, F. Foote 773 

Andrews, George .A. 581 

Andrews, Israel 1483 

Andrews, Mrs. Louisa M 430 

Andrews. Nathan 1375 

Andrews, Rouel 773 

Andrews, Samuel N 1389 

Andrews. William 582 

Ansell, Joseph 1270 

Arents, Wilson G 1516 

Armstrong, John 220 

Armstrong, Philando 220 

Arvine, Earlliss P i.^37 

Ashman, David S 1505 

08 



Atwater, Charles 453 

.\twater, Charles G 706 

Atwater, Hon. Clifford J 1091 

.-\twater. Rev. Edward E 371 

Atwater. Edward 1 1278 

Atwater Families 281. 453, 1091. 1423 

Atwater. Francis 204 

.\twater, Jared 7O6 

.\twater, William J 1423 

Atwood, Chauncey 578 

Atwood. Mrs. Chauncey ;78 

.\twood. Dr. Frank G 1251 

.\twood. William R 1251 

Aubry, Lee J 718 

-Augur, Charles P 1510 

Augur, Daniel 1510 

.-\ugur Families 478, 609, 919 

Augur, liezekiah. Jr 609 

.\ugur, James M 6og 

.Vugur, Hon. Phineas M 919 

Augur, Watson D 47S 

.-\ustin. Abner 390 

.Austin. .Andrew F 967 

Austin Family 907 

.Austin. Miss Sarah E 396 

.Averill. Frederick L 1221 

.Averill, George M 805 

Pachelder. Joseph H. C 1325 

Bacon. Daniel H 651 

P.acon Family 1 189 

Bacon, William P 1 189 

Paeon, William T 651 

Badger. Frank 1003 

Bailey Family 1383 

Bailey, Theodore F 217 

Baker. .Amos 147^ 

Baker, Ellis B 906 

Baker Family 906 

Baldwin, .Allen D 143 

Baldwin, Mrs, Betsey A 7^6 

Baldwin. Charles .A 141 

Baldwin, Charles J 1070 

Baldwin, C. Watson IC70 

Baldwin, Dwight W 2S9 

Baldwin, Mrs. Eunice C 1443 

Baldwin Families ....141, 233, 280, 

485. 801. 1093, 1240, 1433 

Baldwin. George R i486 

Baldwin, Henry C 102C 

Baldwin, Henry E 1093 

Baldwin. Herbert C 949 

Baldwin, Herman L 754 

Baldwin, James 754 

Baldwin, Lucian 949 

Baldwin, Lucius 1026 

Baldwin, Mrs. Millicent .A 1027 

Baldwin, Moses 234 



Baldwin, Nathan S 235 

Baklwin, Random 420 

Baldwin, Sherman H 1240 

Baldwin, William H 235 

Baldwin, William P 1433 

Banks, Moses 1271 

Barber, Capt. Daniel L 714 

Barber, Loyal R 714 

Barlow Family 1517 

Barnes, .Amos F 281 

Barnes, Deacon Byard 447 

Barnes, Charles H 1130 

Barnes. E. Henry 1342 

Barnes Families, 446, 1031, 1342, 1398 

Barnes, George 1526 

Barnes. Mrs. George 1526 

Barnes, G. Fred 1127 

Barnes, George M 131)8 

Barnes, Herbert 446 

Barnes, Jairus 1304 

Barnes. Hon. T. .Atwater "281 

Barnes. William A 1011 

Barnett, Alfred 854 

Barnett, Denni~ c^2 

Barnett, Rev. Eli 934 

Barnett. John F.. .Af. D 615 

Barnett, William N 615 

Barnum. Eli C 440 

Barnum Family 440 

Barron, William 109S 

Bartholomew, Hon. .Arthur H.. 787 

Bartholomew, .Augustus H 934 

Bartholomew. Hon. Dana .... 899 

Bartholomew Families .... S99, 934 

Bartholomew. Sereno S,\Ci 

Bartktt. .\lbert H 708 

Bartlett Family 877 

Bartktt. James H 930 

Bartlett. J.^seph 877 

Bartlett. Mrs. Marion 708 

Basserman, Peter 1347 

Basserman. .Mrs. Sophia 1347 

Bas-itt. Mr<. Emily J 475 

Bas-eit. GeiTge .A 1143 

Basselt. Jared 475 

Ba.-elt. Jare.l .\ 9(',2 

l!as-elt, I.vni.in l' 475 

Ba^^selt, Rnyal M 78^ 

Passett. SluMiii 785 

Bassetl, Th.nna^ .A 11S3 

Beach, .Algernon 544 

Beach. .Andrew \' 588 

Beach, Mrs. Cornelia H 984 

Beach Families 

K/J, 278. 5S8, 1104, 1128, llCo 

Beach, Frank E mj 

Beach. Harvey W 9S4 

Beach. Rev. John 1C6 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Beach, John S., LL. D 167 

Beach, Nathan 1160 

Beach, Miss Rebecca D 167 

Beach, Sharon D 589 

Beach, Theodore E 1128 

Beach, Zerah P 1160 

Beadle, Benajah 1002 

Beadle Family ioo» 

Beadle, Henry 1002 

Beard Families 55a, 1271 

Beard, Joseph T 985 

Beard, Theodore E., M. D.... 1271 

Beardsley, Charles W 4S4 

Beardsley, Edwin 165 

Beardsley Families 260, 484 

Beardsley, Hezckiah B 260 

Beardsley, Lewis 230 

Beardsley, Lucius N., M. D. . 1096 

Beardsley, Mrs. Susan P 1097 

Beattie, David H 1170 

Beattie, Frank 839 

Beattie, John 837 

Beattie, John, Jr 839 

Beatty, Capt. Matthew 155 

Beaumont, Albert 1003 

Beaumont Family 1158 

Beaumont, George 1158 

Beaumont. Harvey 1091 

Beaumont, Levvellyn 920 

Becker, Gustav A 597 

Beckley, Frank A 1395 

Beckley, William 1395 

Becroft. William E 1453 

Beebe, George H 1479 

Beebe. George H., M. D 312 

Beecher, Mrs. Christina E 1386 

Beecher, Edward 13S6 

Beecher Family 1099 

Beecher, Leroy C 1099 

Beecher, Hon. William S 152 

Beers, Charles 697 

Beers Family 698 

Beers, Ira W 1264 

Beers, Deacon Nathan 150 

Beers, Philo S 1264 

Beers, W. A 697 

Beers, William H 1350 

Beisicgel. Mrs. Clara 1036 

Beisiegel, Jacob 1534 

Beisiegcl. Jacob (deceased).... 1036 

Bemis. Fred E 1370 

Benedict, Deacon Aaron 369 

Benedict Family 369 

Benedict, George W 370 

Benham, Arthur A 368 

Benham Families 368, 434 

Benham, I?aac 3,S8. 

Benham, Jared 3S8 

Benham, Joseph T 1296 

Benham, Mrs. Joseph T 1297 

Benham, William 434 

Benjamin Families 706, 906 

Tiennett, .Mfred S 1 115 

Bennett Family 325 

Bennett, James 1227 

Bennett, Philo S 325 

Bennett, Mrs. Philo S 325 

Bennett, William D 752 

Benton Families 1085, 11 16 

Benton, George T IT16 

Benton. Herbert L 1085 

Bernstein, Sigmnnd 685 

Betts, Hon. Frederick A 296 



PAGE 

Bevan, Charles A., M. D 756 

Bevan, David C 756 

Bevan, Timothy V 756 

Rirdsey, Eli C 700 

Birdsey Family 701 

Birdseye Family 560 

Birdseye, Henry S 562 

Birdseye, Thaddeus G 561 

Birdseye, Thomas S 562 

Bishop, Clifford F 531 

Bishop, Dexter L 123S 

P)ishop, Elisha C 796 

Bishop, Erus B 170 

Bishop Families 

170, 531, 796, 809, S36 

Bishop, Levi S37 

Bishop, Martin S09 

Bishop, Riah 171 

Bishop, Walter G 809 

Bishop. William S 836 

Bissell, Gen. Evelyn L.. M. D. . 228 

Bissell Families 226, 886 

Bissell, Judge George D 886 

Bissell, Major Lvman 226 

Black, John H." 1366 

Blackman Family 1037 

Blackman, Harvey 1037 

Blackman, William B 1037 

Blackstone, Betsey J 936 

Bl;ickstone. Charles A 1252 

Blackstone Families 

■•■935. 1031. 125-2. 1380 

Blackstone, George 1031 

Blackstone, James 1031, 1381 

Blackstone, Miles 935 

Blackstone, Timothy B 1381 

Blair, Samuel M 481 

Blair. Sherman C 481 

Blake. Dr. Amos S 7S7 

Blake, Eli W 250 

Blake, Eli W., M. D 258 

Blake, Llihu 251 

Blake Family 250 

Blake, Mrs. Fanny T 25S 

Blake, Henry T 251 

Blake, John M 1492 

Flake, Rufus W 290 

Plakeslee, Anson 1371 

Plakeslee. Charles W 1469 

Blakeslee. Maj. Charles W., Jr. 1469 

Blakeslee Families 

317. 501. lOoS, 1371, 1469 

Blakeslee, Col. Henry M 1371 

Blakeslee, Samuel 317 

Blakeslee, Silas 319, 1072 

Blakesley, Augustus M 500 

Blakcslcv, Milo qoi 

Hlatchlcy, Charles C 962 

Platchley Families 186, 961 

ryatchley, Joel H 186 

Blatchley, Samuel I> 961 

Blatchley. Sanuicl R 962 

Blatchley. William 187 

Blcy, Albert 1215 

Bliss Family 1379 

Bliss, Franklin R 1379 

Bloomfield, David 774 

P.bunenauer. Charles F 1117 

Boardman, Capt. Jason 590 

Boardman. Lemuel H 349 

Bohl, Valentine 358 

Bohn. Henry 1543 

Bohn, \'ictor M 1531 



Bolan, P. Joseph 1392 

Bond, Charles 1007 

Bond, Mrs. Clara A 1007 

Booth, Mrs. Adele S 361 

Booth Families 39, 51S 

Booth, John C 39 

Booth, Mary Lewis 519 

Booth, Nathaniel 519 

Booth, Paul C 363 

Booth, Hon. Walter ig 

Borchardt, William H 1158 

Botsford Family 292 

Boughton, George A 1012 

Boughton, Isaac 1013 

Boughton, Jonas 1012 

Bowe, Allen 1466 

Bowe, Austin 134 

Bowe, Edward A 135 

Bowe Family 134 

Bowe, Osmond \ 1466 

Bowe, Wallace F 134 

Boylan, Charles 1536 

Bradford. George 1336 

Bradford. Harry S 1336 

Bradley, Mrs. Caroline L 502 

Bradley, Charles F 1520 

Bradley. Charles S 1093 

Bradley, Charles W 375 

Bradley. Dana A 502 

Bradley, Daniel 1282 

Bradley. David 1093 

Bradley, Edward B 1083 

Bradley. Hon. Edward E 675 

Bradley. Edwin A.! 1524 

Bradley. Elsworth A 503 

Bradley, E. Ives 503 

Bradley, Edward M 123 

Bradley Families, 106, 214, 375, 638, 
675. 1079, 1092, 1093, 1352, 1364 

Bradley, Frank S 1532 

Bradley, Frederick N 1092 

Bradley, Frederick T 215 

Bradley, George C :20i 

Bradley, George T 638 

Bradley, Gurdon 1079, 1093 

Bradley, Henry M 1079 

Bradley, James W 1083 

Bradley. Mrs. Jane E 1282 

Bradley, Jason W 1352 

Bradley, J. Chester 1201 

Bradley, Jesse C 577 

Bradley, Joel M 577 

Bradley, John C 123 

Bradley, John Colton 123 

Bradley, Levi 188 

Bradley, Lewis 1080 

Bradley. L. B 1519 

Bradley, Nathaniel L 188 

Bradlev, Richard 1079 

Rradle'y. Wallace H 123 

Bradley. William J 1364 

Bradley. William L 34 

Bradley. Willis 1021 

Brainard. Dr. Edwin W 1248 

Brainard. J. Edward 1247 

Brainerd Families 217, 1187 

Brainerd, Frank E 1187 

Bray, Sumner W 948 

Bray. Mrs. Sumner W 949 

Brazos, Antoine 964 

Brazos. Frank 964 

Brec, Lion. James P 1219 

Brennan, A 822 



IXDEX. 



PAGE 

Brciinan, Andrtw C 1174 

Brcnnan, Joseph 14-g 

Bri'iinan, Patrick J 1067 

Breniian. T. J ,-,, 

Brenner, ReinliolJ ,";(," 

Brett. Kduard P .'.' 97s 

Brett Family 078 

Brett, Hon. Frank P '. nog 

Brett, Patrick Ii9y 

Brewer, .'Viva G 1242 

Brewer, Charle.s 1503 

BriglU, Mrs. Jean 374 

Bright. Thomas -l■7^. 

Brill. F. B ;; 1472 

Brin-made. Daniel S 800 

'^ Brinsmade Family 800 

Bristol. Alfred 1353 

Bristol F-ami!y 1352 

Bristol, 'Henry J j ^2 

Bristol, Jehial 964 

Bristol. Johnson 964 

Bristol, Johnson 152 

Bristol. Theodore 964 

Bristol, Warren P 1352 

Bristol. William B 144 

Brockett Families 650, 909 

Brockctt, Frederick H ?. 650 

Brocksieper, Frederick W 8S8 

Brcnneke, William V 1065 

Bronneke, Mrs. William F.... 1065 

Bronson, Benjamin 1 1032 

Bronson, Charles H 8S1 

Bronson, Edward L qS 

Bronson Families 

20, 98, 382, 881, 1032, 1391 

Bronson, Dr. Henry 21 

Bronson, I. P 775 

Bronson, Leonard 98 

Bronson, Lester 775 

Bronson, Robert A 1391 

Bronson, Samuel B 721 

Bronson, Judge Samuel L 2t 

Bronjon, Stillman 1033 

Bronson, Walter 721 

Bronsnn. William A 1391 

Bronson, Walter W 382 

Brooker, Hon. Charles F 258 

Brooker Family 258 

Brooker, Samuel 625 

Brooks. Mrs. Arthur M 751 

Brooks. Rev. David 791 

Brooks. David 790 

Brooks Families 59, 790 

Brooks, Friend E 678 

Brooks, I saac R 678 

Brooks, James S 31 

Brooks, Nathan 982 

Brooks, Capt. Oliver X 982 

Brown, Anion 272 

Brown, Anson 323 

Brown, Benjamin B 973 

Brown, Maj. Benjamin E 130O 

Brown, Charles H.. M. D 1212 

Brown, Charles P 324 

Brown, D. Burton i.i4.S 

Brown. Daniel H 324 

Brown Family 322 

Brown, Frank E 324 

Brown. Frank M I4i^0 

Brown, Frederick F }2Ti 

Brown. Frederick M 324 

Brown, Frederick W., D. D. S. 11,^1 

Brown, Isaac E 323 



TAGE 

Brown, Jacob 454 

Brown. Martin H 716 

Brown. Samuel M 324 

lirown, Walter E 1513 

Bruce, Lawrence 583 

Br>an. Bunon G 320 

Bryan Family 320 

Bryan, Mrs. Mary M 454 

Bryan. Oliver 453 

Bryan, William 831 

Bryan, William D 453 

Bryant. Ecl<on 1 999 

Bryant. Jud.ije Samuel J 532 

P.uck. Charles S 1134 

Buck. George D 1120 

Buckholz. Joseph 1227 

Buckingham Family 63 

Buckingham. Henry 1239 

Buckingham, Capt. John 63 

Buckingham. John .-V C4 

Buckingham. Hon. Scovill ^L . 64 

Buckingliam. William W 123S 

Buechler. .Andrew 276 

Buechk-r. John 276 

Bull, Edwin Y 796 

Bull Family 31 

Bunting. John 430 

Burke, Daniel W 1 126 

Burke, Martin 1 102 

Burkhard. George 1449 

Burton, Mrs. Candace C 434 

Burton, John H 434 

Burwell. David C 1452 

Burwell Families 1425, I4i0 

B.-rwell. Fitch W 1425 

Burwell. Kelson 1452 

Burwell. Robert M 1450 

Burwell. Robert N 14.^1 

Burwell. S. Clark 1452 

Bush, Hon. Fenncr 231 

Bushnell. George T 827 

Bushnell. Taylor P ^27 

Butler. Eli-aph H 1017 

Butler, Levi 1017 

Cable. Hon. Julius C 1545 

Cables. Cornelius H 1360 

Cables. David F 1360 

Cadv. Charles E 263 

Cadv, Edwin 2f>2 

Cadv. Mrs. Roselia M 263 

Callahan. John P 1106 

Callan. James 9" 

Camier. John H .308 

Campl)ell Family <^\ 

Campbell. Judge James R 9S1 

Candee Families 10. ""2 

Candee, Frederick C 773 

Candee. Job 421 

Candee, Leverett 19 

Carey. David I4f<f> 

Carlev. Enmielt \ 1 1(13 

Carlson, Alfred 1054 

Carlson. Charles 1 1207 

Carnev, Peter J 1525 

Carney. Thomas P 14.V 

Carrington I'amily 353 

Carrington. John B ^^y 

Carroll, James D 114" 

Carroll. Rev. John H I3.50 

Carroll, John I.. M. D llK/'i 

Carroll. Mrs. Mary F 2^15 

Carter, Bela 13'") 



Carter, David 11 1 --5 

Carter, r.i...;,r.l 1 

Carter ' ... 510, : 

Carter. 

Carter, liellly B i;i4 

Carter, Henry B. (deceased;.. MO 

Carter. Joel 1275 

Carter, Lorcn R 884 

Carter, Robert W 1370 

Carter. Russell jvH4 

Cartwrigbt. Libert W 1141, 

Casev, William M 14.JI 

Castle, Acly W iju.j 

Castle, John S 1209 

Catlin, Benjamin H., M. D... 110 

Catlin Family no 

Catlin, William II 11 1 

Chamberlain, Hon. .Abirani. . . . 61 

Chamberlam Family 62 

Champion Families 221,696 

Champion. Rev. George 221 

Champion, Henry 223 

Champion, Gen. Henry 222 

Champion, Maj. Henry 222 

Champion. Mrs. Henry 223 

Chami)ion, John N (xXj 

Chandler, .Mmon E 820 

Chandler, Frank 750 

Chandler, Frank F 750 

Chandler, John W 820 

Chapin, Rev. James H., Ph. D. 91 

Chapman, Charles S 1073 

Chapman Families 540, 1073 

Chapman, George P 1073 

Qiapman, Col. Samuel 540 

Chapman, Samuel .X 540 

Chapman, Mrs. Samuel .X 541 

Chapman, Samuel W O28 

Cha>e Family 724 

Cha^e. Wallace S 724 

Cliattield. .Mbert 557 

Chaltield, Clark 1129 

Cbalheld. Devine 1443 

Cbattield Families .... 310, 522, 922 

Chatfielil. George W 310 

Chaltield, Minoite E 310 

Cbattield. Oliver S 310 

Chesebri'Ugh Family 342 

Ches^on. Frederick W 1193 

Chidsey I'amily 6O4 

Cbipman. I)aniel L Si^ 

Cbipman I'amily 914 

Cbipman. Mrs. Martha V> 914 

Cbipman, Mrs. Mary .\ 841 

Chipman. Ran^i'in 914 

Cbipman. .S.imuel 812 

Cbipman, Sherman B 840 

Chipman. Sherman W., D. D. S. 598 

Cbipman. William 598 

Cbilteiidcn, I'.dward J 1074 

Chittenden I'amilies 

i''2<>. 857, 877, 1074 

Chittenden. Henry D mr.) 

Cbittriiden, Henry W ' ' 
CbiUrllden. I.'-vi •'> 

Chillenden. " ' ' li ^.:S 

Chilteiiilen. " 87S 

Chillrnileii, II' ii .-.i;r,\iel II..., 877 

Cluireh I'amily 354 

t'lmreh. Henry J 3.M 

Church. J-hii I.U7 

Chiinh. Shebbn l.W 

Clark. .Xndrew 055 



INDEX. 



Clark, Benjamin T 158 

Clark, Charles F 1097 

Clark, Daniel J 1393 

Clark, Dwight N I35i 

Clark, Edgar T 1082 

Clark, Mrs. Emily D 38S 

Clai-k, Mrs. Eunice K 232 

Clark Families, 117, 158, 244, 248, 

779, 1082, 1177, 1351, 1393 

Clark, George B 328 

Clark, George L 1401 

Clark, George W 248 

Clark, George T 1097 

Clark. Herman D 779 

Clark, Hezekiah P. . .• 1393 

Clark, Mrs. J. G 36 

Clark, Merritt 328 

Clark, Noyes D 1352 

Clark, Partrick J 232 

Clark, Richard S 7S0 

Clark, Silas F 249 

Clark, Smith S 854 

Clark, Deacon Theodosius .... 116 

Clark, William .A. 384 

Clark, Hon. William J 112 

Clark, Wilson F 1177 

Clarke, David N 626 

Clarke, Elbert N 626 

Clarke Families 626, 1053 

Clarke, Horatio N 1053 

Clarke, Selah 1053 

Clarkin, Eugene F 1531 

Cleaveland Family 196 

Cleaveland. Jocelyn P., LL. B.. 195 
Cleaveland, Judge Livingston 

W., LL. B., M. L 196 

Clemens, Andrew B 147° 

Clift Family 493 

Clilt. Capt. William 493 

Clinton, Andrew D 1233 

Clinton, David 1365 

Clinton, David L 1365 

Clinton, Edwin J 849 

Clinton Famdies .... 849, 1233, 1365 

Clinton, Elizur Z 999 

Clinton, Isaac B 855 

Clinton, Jesse 852, 855, 1233 

Cloiigh, Frank P 1199 

Clough, Ira E 1 199 

Clowes, Cieorge H . . . •. 265 

Clowes, Rev. Timothy, LL. D. 266 

Coakley, John B 1490 

Coan Family 529 

Coan, Jerome 802 

Coan, Joseph 529 

Coan, Mrs. Lydia II 53° 

Coan, Mrs. Mary F 803 

Coe, Albert C 749 

Coe, Mrs. Catherine 1432 

Coc, Eli, Esq 1431 

Coe Families 94. 749 

Coe, Joseph E 215 

Coe, Julius C 749 

Coe, Col. Levi 95 

Coe, Hon. Levi E 95 

Coe, Merrick R 939 

Coe, Reuben H 939 

Coe, Ru>sell 143' 

Coen. Michael P 1,368 

Coggins, Emory S 1283 

Colliurn, Frederick E 1024 

Colburn. Sylvester 1024 

Collins, Aaron L 59 



PAGE 

Collins, Charles H 58 

Collins Family 58 

Colton Family 619 

Colwell, Daniel 783 

Col well, Joseph P 1007 

Comstock Family 161 

Corastock, William B 161 

Cone Family 1004 

Cone. James W 1004 

Conklin, William H., M. D.... 1059 

Connor, Mortimer 1135 

Connor, Richard 1327 

Connor, Roger 1135 

Connor, Walter J 1327 

Coogan, Patrick J 1214 

Coogan. Patrick T 1134, 1214 

Cook Families. . .366, 688, 1028, 1325 

Cook, George 993 

Cook, Henry C 1515 

Cook, Henry F 1046 

Cook, John A 1028 

Cook, Samuel M 1030 

Cook, Sereno T 1047 

Cook, Sylvester 993 

Cook, Col. Thaddeus 1029 

Cook, Willis M 1046 

Cooke Families .... 1000, 1052, 1193 

Cooke, Hiram looi 

Cooke, Marcus E 1000 

Cooke, Samuel G 1052 

Cooke, Walter H 1 193 

Cooney, Andrew J 1210 

Cooper, Charles 979 

Cooper, Edwin W 467 

Cooper, Mrs. Edwin W 467 

Cooper, Ellsworth B 979 

Cooper Family 433 

Cooper, Homer L 433 

Cooper, Levi J 433 

Copper Co.. The New Haven.. 1361 

Corbin. Hezekiah H 606 

Corcoran, William T 1501 

Cornelis. Gustave 11 54 

Cote. Henry 883 

Coughlan, James T 657 

Coughlan, Terence F 1497 

Countryman. Rev. Franklin.... H40 

Couplaiul. Mrs. Ada M 830 

Coupland. Charles 828 

Cowing. Frank L 659 

Cowing, Job 659 

Cnyle. .Andrew J 1 161 

Coyle, Thomas J 1528 

Cral)b, John S 757 

Crafts Family 454 

Crafts. Samuel P 454 

Crampton. Harry 1 1 135 

Crampton, Jesse 1135 

Cramiptnn. Jonathan R 1135 

Crawford, Erwin J 1044 

Crosliy, Walter S 1222 

Cruttendcn Familv 398 

Cuddihy, Michael 1205 

Cuddihy, Richard F 1205 

Culver, Elmer F 1012 

Culver Family 1276 

Culver, Isaac 1012 

Culver, Mrs. Sarah .-X 1012 

Culver, Hon. S. Hart 1276 

Cummings, Luther W 555 

Cummings, Oren 556 

Cuningham, Edward H 1173 

Cuningham, John J. V 1172 



PAGE 

Curtis, Mrs. A. M 394 

Curtis Family 393 

Curtis, George M 394 

Curtis, George R 393 

Curtis, Hobart 1256 

Curtis, Hobart W 1255 

Curtis, Lemuel J 863 

Curtiss, Elnathan A logS 

Curtiss Families .... 515, 564, 1098 

Curtiss, Franklin L 564 

Curtiss, Henry B 1095 

Curtiss, James G 1166 

Curtiss, Orrin 1095 

Curtiss, Wales H 1098 

Curtiss, William 1034 

Curtiss. William E 1033 

Cutler, John G 932 

Dana, Mrs. Henrietta S 3S7 

Dana. James D 3S5 

Danaher, Cornelius J 1400 

Daniell, Francis G 1250 

Dauch, Adam J 1496 

Davidson. James P 1475 

Davis, Burton A 646 

Davis, Charles A 1009 

Davis, Charles H. S., M. D.... 611 

Davis, Edward 620, 880 

Davis, Elias W., M. D to86 

Davis, E. Rowdand 1055 

Davis Families 610, 620 

Davis Family 187 

Davis, George S 1107 

Davis, Henry G 299 

Davis, James A 880 

Davis, John H 1418 

Davis, Samuel 1418 

Davis, Timothy F 610 

Davis, Judge Wilbur F 612 

Davis, W. B 1470 

Davis, William E 1056 

Davis. William T 1198 

Day Family 122 

Dean, Samuel R 485 

Deane, Almon 1 1131 

Deane, Lewellyn 1429 

Deane. Mrs. M. B 1429 

DeForest, Andrew W 409 

DeForest, David C 409 

DeForest, Eugene 410 

DeForest, John H 409 

de les Derniers, Horace W., M. 

D 372 

Deming Family 1130 

Denting, Ferdinand 1130 

Deming. Hon. Lucius P 55 

Denniston. 1 larvey G 903 

Dewfll Family 2S 

Dewoll, Hon. James D 28 

Dexter, Charles V. A 1217 

Dibble Familv 346 

Dibble, Col Nathan 346 

Dibble, Samuel E 291 

Dilible, Willard H 346 

Dickerman, Charles 1218 

Dickerman, Elain J 562 

Dickerman Families 562, 1218 

Dickerman, George 1 1218 

Dickinson, Charles 83 

Dickinson Family I3>6 

Dickinson, Leonard A 1316 

Disbrow, John L 503 

Disbrow,' Mrs. Mary R 504 



IXDEX. 



PAGE 

Divine, Mrs. Martha G SS5 

Divine, George W S85 

Dodd, Hon. Samuel 30 

Doherty, Col. John B '. mi 

Domkee, Martin 1 143 

Donahue, James 150S 

Donahue, Michael 947 

Donovan, Jeremiah F ij;o 

Doolittle, Dexter 642 

Doolittlc, Edgar J 767 

Doolittle. Edwin 874 

Doolittle Families. 120. 642. 723. 766, 

77S. 809. S74, 1165, 1274, 1353.' i46i 

Doolittle, James C 1 165 

Doolittle, I-auren 1077 

Doolittle, Dr. Lewis T 1462 

Doolittle, Oswin 1 165 

Doolittle, Slillman B 809 

Doolittle, Thomas B 120 

Doolittle, Hon. Tilton E 364 

Doolittle. Warren 1274 

Doran. Mortimer 1507 

Dow, Capt. Edwin C 1207 

Dowe. Capt. Edgar S 585 

Downes, Hon. William E 793 

Downs, Albert Z 255 

Downs, Albert 7.. Sr 255 

Downs, Charles N 262 

Downs, Dwight J 541 

Downs Famil}' 261 

Downs, Mrs. Gertrude R 344 

Downs, Mrs. Martha G 1067 

Downs, Nelson H 261 

Downs, Robert 487 

Downs, Sidney A 261 

Downs, Thomas M 1067 

Downs, Judge William S 262 

Doyle, Mrs. Mary E 1326 

Doyle, Patrick 1326 

Drake Family 1297 

Driggs. Dr. Asa J 297 

Driggs Family 297 

Driggs. Theodore Ives 297 

Dryhurst, Henry 1242 

Dudley, Amos S33 

Dudlev, Charles A 017 

Dudley, EH T 833 

Dudley Families 

833. 860, 915, 929, 1039, 10C5 

Dudlev. George C 9,?o 

Dudley. John H 860 

Dudley, Joseph E 833 

Dudley. Deacon Samuel W.... 929 

Duey, John E 80 

Ducy, May F 80 

Dugan. Harry J.. D. D. S 1260 

Dunham. Hon. Albert B 138 

Dunham Family 138 

Dunn, Jeremiah H 149.; 

Dunn, James Af T376 

Dunn. Patrick H 1192 

Durand. Alvah J 428 

Durand. Calvin 51a 

Durand. David L 519 

Durand Families 510. 519. 814 

Durand, John E 236 

Durand. Mrs. John E 237 

Durand. W. Cecil .Sio 

Durand, William L S'O 

Dwight Family 129 

Dwight, Rev. Timothy, D. D., 

LL. D 131 

P.-.Tht. President Timothy . . 129 



Dwyer, Michael S21 

Eaton Family 1399 

Eaton, Jesse 1399 

Eaton. Robert 1400 

Eaton. TlieophiUis 1400 

Edmonds Family 8S3 

Edmonds, Silas N 8S3 

Edwards. George A 1204 

Edward-. John S 162 

Egan. Charles E 1465 

Egglcston, Judge Arthur F 713 

Kggieston Family 713 

Egglcston. Jere 'D.. M. D 713 

Elcock. .Mfred 1497 

Elcock. H. A., M. D 140: 

Eld. Edward 207 

Eliot. Edward 976 

Eliot Family 974 

Eliot, John ( ".Apostle") 974 

Eliot. Lewis R ^74 

Ellis. Thomas S 1184 

Ellsbree Family 373 

Ellsbreo. George H 373 

Ellsbree. George L 373 

Elmes. Mrs. Lucy R 452 

Elmes. Thomas 452 

Elton Family 26 

Elton. James S 700 

Elton. Hon. John P 26 

Ely. Dr. Calvin L 448 

Elv Families 448, 77;. Sot 

Ely. William H ' 775 

Emblcr. .Andrew H 271 

Emerson. James M 96O 

English. Benjamin R 411 

English. Hon. Charles L 56 

English, Edwin H 58, 700 

English Family 56 

English. Henry 4ti 

English. Henry F 14 

English. Hon. James E 12 

English. Miss Julia .\ 57 

Ennis. George H 1527 

Engquist. .>\xcl R 1529 

Evans. David 1403 

Evans. William H 1087 

Evans. Charles E S23 

Evarts Families 377, 862 

J-'varls. Frank P 377 

Evcrit. Capt. Richard 97° 

Everit. Richard M 9<:i9 

Everil. William 969 

Everitt. Abraham 211 

Everitt. Charles B 1520 

Everitt, Edwin B 211 

Faber. .Adam 1 482 

Faber, Frederick L 1207 

Faber, George .A.. M. D 1192 

Faber. George. Sr 150S 

Faber. William .A 1167 

Fagan. Frank D I530 

Fagan. Frank H 1511 

Fairchild, Charles E 420 

Fairchild. Ebene^er 4-° 

Fairchild Families nS, 471 

Fairman. James 192 

Fales. Mrs. Martha E t"S 

Fancher. Rufus R 1262 

Fariiham. Arthur N 594 

Farnham Family !;94 

Farnham, William H S9S 



J'arrel. .Ahnon 437 

Farrcl. Franklin 437 

Fay Family 7S 

Fay, Frank S 79 

Fay. Hon. George A 78 

Feeler, Col. William 92 

Fcnii, .Ava H., M. D w/j 

I'tiiM. Lharlcs C 1113 

Fcmi Fajiiilies Uj^, 1 i.vS 

Fenn. Joel W15 

I'eii:: ' ■ ■ 1" 1 1.S7 

I\'li: U/j 

lie... - C 445 

I'leld. Henrv B \i>i 

I-:.' I. Mr S:,rah li 1O2 

A 1149 

»" 709 

i:..!., Luyi-i.c D 1:27 

Fi-k. Ll'ui^ .A 1 J27 

FitL-li, .Mi-s Georgia A 52 

I'itcli. Lewis 51 

Fii.'jiatrick, Edward J 1532 

Fil7simons. Thomas 02S 

Fl.ilierty. Michael 1100 

Flanagan, Henry J 1513 

Flanagan. James J.. U. IJ. S. . . . 1250 

Fletclier. .\lmun J 308 

Flight, Samuel .A 1338 

Flight. Samuel J 1338 

Foley. Francis W 1448 

Foute. Cullen B 477 

Ftioic, Edward Y 494 

Finite. Mrs. E. V 494 

Foole Families 350, 956 

Foote, G. Clifford 1240 

Foote, George B 350 

Foote, J.Tred 477 

Foote, John L 956 

Foote, Lvnde H 299 

Foote, Mrs. N. A. M 184 

i'oote. Gov. Samuel .A w 957 

Foote, William L 957 

Foote. Williams 300 

Forbes. Albert 7^ 

Forbes. Mrs. Ellen E 544 

Forbes Family 544 

Forbes. Henry 12S2 

Forbes. Hud>on B 544 

Forbes. Marshall L 351 

Forbes. Samuel 782 

Forbes. Willet B 7'» 

Forbes. Mrs. Willet B 7'>9 

I'oril. Capt. Elbert L S92 

Fonl Family 8<w 

Ford, Geiirge H 1 524 

l-'iir>_Mh. Thomas 725 

For>ylh. William H 725 

FoMlick, Hor..ce D 1 104 

I'oskelt. Charles C 294 

I'oskell, Mrs Charles C 2<)5 

l-'r.-krti l-".inuly ._ 294 

l-'oster, Hon. Elcazer K 505 

l-"o>ter I-"amilv 50S 

Foster, J. P. C, M. D ;o6 

I"owler, Benjamin R 843 

howb-r. David S 1054 

I'owler, Dennis \?,ii 

Fowler. 1). William 1054 

I-'.iwbr Families . . 203. 7<>8. 843. I."l 

F.nvler. I'ranklin E \Ml 

I'owler, Henry H S43 

Fowler, Henry L 15^1 

I'owler, James Xiii 



INDEX. 



Fowler, James H 

Fox, Christian F 

Foy Family 

Foy, James H 

Foy. Mrs. Lavinia H 

Francis, Barniim W 

Francis Families 687, 703, 

Praiicis, George B 

Francis, John H 688. 

Francis, Mrs. Mabel .\ 

Francis, Lyman 

Francis, Lyman H 

Francis, William 

Francis, William J 688, 

Freeberg, Joseph 

Freeman. Chatham 

French. Ara>mus 

French Fnmilics 3S0. 

French, Henry W 

French. Thonns 

Freney, John D. M. D 

Frisbie, Charles H 

Frisbie, David L 

Frisbie. Edward L. 

Frisbie Families 329, 

Frisbie, Samuel E 

Frost, Alpheiis 

Frost. Charles 

Frost. Mrs. Charles 

Frost. Charles W. S.. M. D.... 

Frost Families 476, ;;6, 708, 

Frost. lierrick P .".' 

Frost, Mrs. Hcrrick P 

Fruin, Janice J 

Fruin, John 1 1 

Puller Family 

Fuller, Jerome B 

Furman. (uorijc H 



P.\GE 

843 

1259 

496 

496 

497 

"113 

13^4 

1070 

13^4 
13-25 
1070 

8-'7 

1.3^5 

827 

1035 

1417 

800 

1 122 

806 

922 

1 107 

712 

3-'S 

604 

1025 

1025 

842 

842 

842 

708 

.842 

476 

477 

1543 

1493 

1383 

1474 

loio 



Gager, Judfo Edwin B 1430 

Gager Family 1430 

Gailej' Family 3 ^o 

Gailey, John j.. M. D 1487 

Gailey, James S 332 

Gaines, John R 1236 

Gaines, Leroy J 1236 

Gallager Fam.ily 637 

Gallager. William G 637 

Gallagher, Jr.bn F 1526 

Gallup Family 341 

Gardner, John 1274 

Gardner, John B 1271 

Gardner, Louis F 1271 

Gardner, Sturgis G 1274 

Garlick. William 1285 

Garrigus Family 817 

Garrigus. J. Henry 817 

Gates Family 472 

Gates, Col. Robert 472 

Gates. Robert 473 

Gates, Robert W 473 

Gaylord. Charles W., M. D 664 

Gaylord Family 664 

Geddcs, Lieut. -Col. James 1196 

Gendron, Alfonso loii 

Gerard. Joseph. A. M 1320 

Gibbons. Thomas P., M. D.... 289 

Gibbons, Mrs. Thomas P 2S9 

Gibson, Cornelius 1525 

Gibson, George A 1525 

Gilbert. Ezckiel 534 

Gilbert, Griswold 1 207 

Gilbert, Hezekiah 1354 



PAGE 

Gilbert, Joel F 207 

Gilbert, Stephen C 537 

Gilbert. Stephen G 537 

Gillette, Cliarles S 538 

Gillette, Eli 263 

Gillette, Garret 984 

Gillette, George S 1 108 

Grllette, Rufus M 984 

Gillette, Samuel S 538 

Gillette, Wilbur F 263 

Gillette, William 1108 

Gilpin, Joseph F 993 

Gilpin, Mrs. Sarah 993 

Gladding, ^[rs. Harriet J 1081 

Gladwin Family 539 

Gladwin, Gilbert A 539 

Gladwin, Joshua G 770 

Gladwin, Russell S 539 

Glenney Family loic 

Gode. Jacob D 1455 

Goering, George 1369 

Golden, Eugene P 1341 

Golden, William H., Sr 1341 

Golden, Hon. William H 1374 

Goldstein, Frederick 1288 

Goldstein, Frederick C, M. D. . 1288 

Goodrich, Augustus 1 815 

Goodrich, Charles G., Ph. B.. . 815 

Goodrich, Edmund 988 

Goodrich, Frederic S., AL A... 815 

Goodsell, George W 35 

Gorham, Mrs. Sarah H 1077 

Gorman, Dennis J i;go 

(iorman, John J 1179 

Graham, Cnarles E 61 

Graham, James 60 

Granger, Cornelius 119S 

Granger, William iigS 

Grannis, Thomas 1057 

Granniss, Alonzo 902 

Granniss, Caleb 902 

Granniss, Charles W 1025 

Granniss, Collis B 915 

Granniss, Daniel H 954 

Granniss, Enos 841 

Granniss Family 1025 

Granniss, Hon. Frederick A. .. . 902 

Granniss. Joseph 954, 963 

Granniss, Lyman A 963 

Grant, Everett S 1464 

Grant. George M 563 

Grant, Mrs. George M 564 

Grant, James 1401 

Grave, Lothar A. M., Von.... 1087 

Graves, Charles E 59 

Graves Families 59, 976 

Graves, George W 1190 

Graves, Jedediah 1 190 

Graves, Frederick G.. M. D.... 1190 

Greeley, Gen. Edwin S 52 

Greeley Family 52 

Greeley, Seneca 52 

Greenman, Nathan 1 109 

Greenmau, Nathan W 1 109 

■7 Gregory, Daniel D 1517 

Griggs Family 1295 

Griggs, Hon. Henry C 1295 

Griggs, Mrs. Henry C 1206 

Griswold, Ashbel 406 

(iriswold. .'Xnson 603 

Griswold. Capt. Charles 944 

Griswold. Mrs. Cor Iclia B 1069 

Griswold, Edward 931 



Griswold Families 

■ 461, 530, 944, 1038, 1068 

Griswold, George M 603 

Griswold, Henry B 847 

Griswold, Henry H 1038 

Griswold, Nathan 1069 

Griswold, Nathan F 461 

Griswold, Washington E 1068 

Guernsey Family 1042 * 

Guernsey, John H 1042 

Guernsey, John J 1042 

Guest, Joseph 146S 

Guest, Thomas E 1468 

Haas, George H 74S 

Haas, Henry W 748 

Haas, Mrs. Margaret 748 

Haase, Lewis F 1443 

Hadley, Arthur T., LL. D 10 

Hadley, James, LL. D 9 

Hafner, Andrew 1288 

Hagaman. Henry 1375 

Hale Family 778 

Hale, Samuel A 1196 

Hale. William 778 

Hale. Mrs. William 779 

Hall, Albert F 346 

Hall. Alexander 483 

Hall. Alonzo B 337 

Hall, Arthur J 1447 

Hall, Allen L 1516 

Hall, Mrs. Almira P 669 

Hall, Benjamin 968 

Hall, Billious C 1470 

Hall, Mrs. Catherine M 960 

Hall. Charles 972 

Hall. C. Storrs 911 

Hall, Denison 337 

Hall, David M 960 

Hall, Dexter E 140 

Hall, Edwin W 348 

Hall, Eugene A 240 

Hall Families 

27. 105. 140. 179. 188. 205, 275. 321, 
337. 346. 351, 418, 483. 530, 960. 968, 

972. 1013. 1045, 1079, 1080, 124s, 
1447. 1516. 

Hall, Miss Grace M 140 

Hall, Harlev 240 

Hall, Henan W 1081 

Hall. Henrv B 910 

Hall, Henry D I79 

Hall, Henry L 1516 

Hall, Horace 89 

Hall, Horace (Wallingford) . . . 1013 

Hall. Jeremiah A 180 

Hall. Hon. John M 89 

T-lall, John P 910 

Hall, Julius 140 

Hall. Lewis 1246 

Hall. Lvman H 105 

Hall, M'rs. Lyman H 106 

Hall. Norman C I54 

1 lall, Mrs. Norman C 154 

Hall, Orrin 969 

Hall, Deacon Orrin 1080 

TLall, Ransom B 848 

Llall. Robert 348 

Hall, Rufus 240 

Lfall. Russell 418 

ILall, Samuel W. S 27 

Hall. Setb J 205 

Hall, Wilbur B "'- 



LVDEX. 



PAGE 

Hall, William B loi-? 

Hall, William D '" jn,^ 

Hall, W. Burr loj- 

Hall. Willis C '.■.■.■.■. 9;^ 

Hallam, John C 3^ 

Hallam, Robert W 311 

Haller, Henry jqi 

Halligan. Patrick S i;^^ 

Halper, Charles J lo^g 

Halper, Samuel 104S 

Ham, George C ngj 

Hamilton, Charles S 2SS 

Hamilton, David H 890 

Hamilton, Mrs. David P. 891 

Hamilton Family goo 

Hamilton, Francis S ^91 

Hamre, Gustavo A. R {[22 

Hand, Daniel 4S6. 1066 

Hand Families 4S6. 1066 

Hand, George E 487 

Handel. Philip A 5S5 

Hard, Andrew C 1 103 

Hard, William G 1103 

Hardy, Capt. Edgar J 1147 

Hardy, John A 1147 : 

Haring. Ulrich i^^S 

Harmon Family 691 

Harmon, (jen. George M 100 

Harmon, James H 691 

Harmon, John M 691 

Harrison Family 68S 

Harrison, Hon. Henry B 169 ' 

Harrison, Hon. Lyndc 688 

Hart, Charles E 703 

Hart, Daniel H 275 

Hart, Miss Ellen D 275 | 

Hart Families 274, 703 

Hart, Franklin H 416 

Hart, Jay H 11 14 

Hart, William .A 417 

Hartley, Henry 934 > 

Hassett, William 1278 

Hastings, Frank N 1366 

Hauschild, Otto G 1409 

Hawkins, Charles 1413 

Hawkins Famiftes 655, 1413 

Hawkins, John N...... 319 

Hawkins. Sanlord 655 

Hayes, Edward R 415 

Hayes, Edwin A 1388 

Hayes, John F.. M. D 1076 

Hayes, Mrs. Martha Silliman.. 416 

Haynes Family I410 

Hazard, George W 798 

Hearns, Hugh 1204 

Hegeman Family 474 

Heineman, Charles J 360 

Heineman, Charles J., Jr 361 

Heineman, E. J 1523 

Heineman, Mrs. Ida Louisa.... 361 

Hellmann. Martin 1453 

Hellmann. Mrs. Sibilla 1454 

Helmschniicd. Carl V 1449 

Hemingway Families. 325, 1343. 1404 

Hemingway. F. Howard 1388 

Hemingway, Dr. George 1 7iO 

Hemingway, Isaac 739 | 

Hemingway, Levcrelt G 13-13 

Hemingway, Louis R 1404 

Hemingway, Merwin E 1404 

Henderson, Andrew 712 

Hcndrick, Hon. Albert C 516 

Hepburn, Richard 977 



Hepburn, Hon. Richard R. , 

Herrmann, Ernst 

Hess, Frederick 

Hess, Herman 

Hewitt, Charles E., M. D. 

Hewitt, Mrs. Elisha 

Hewitt Family 

Hicku.x Family 

Hickux, William A 

Higby, .Aaron 

Higby Family 

11 igby, I'Vederick A 

Hi.gginson, Edward H 

Hill, Alden H. 

Hill 

Hill 

Mill 

Hill, 

Hill. 

Hillh 



\rden 

Mrs. Edwin A 

Families 490, 751, 

Frederick B 

William 

Family 

Hillhousc. Isaphene 

hillhouse, Plon. James 

Hillhouse, James A 

Hitchcock Families 

808, S46, 923, 

Hitchcock, George B 

Hitchcock, Leverett 

Hitchcock, Pliny 

Hitchcock. Miss Roxanna 

Hitchcock, Shelton T 

Hitchcock. William 

Hoadley, Charles A 

Hoadley, Charles E 

Hoadley Families 437. 936, 1062, 

Hoadley, Frederic B 

Hoadley, George 

Hoadley, Horace P 

Hoadley, Isaac 

Hoadley, Lcnnicl G 

HoadleV, Wells C 

II chart. Mason 

Hobsnn, Arthur E 

Hobson, Edwin 

Hobson, Mark W 

Hodgctts. William J 

Hoffmann. Charles W 

Hoffmann. John W 

Holbrnok. Col. Daniel L 

Hollirook Family 

Holbrook. Capt. Philo 

Holbrook. Royal 

Holconib Family 

Iloleomb, Frederick A 

ITolcomb. Harry S 

Holden, Francis 

Holian. John T 

Holly, Perry 

Holmes, Mrs. Waller Hamlin.. 

Holmes. Walter IL. M. D 

Holohan. Patrick 

Hol-cr, Amity .'\ 

Holser, Ignate 

Holt Families ■:.7. 

Holt, Irving L 

Homan, Charles E 

Homan, William 

Homan. William C 

Honcc, Barlow S 

Honcc. James 

Hopkins Family 

Hopson, John P 

Hopson, Philander 

Hoslcy, Benjamin A 



PAGE 

976 

1094 

704 

704 

341 

41 

341 

I3I7 

1318 

1299 

1299 

1299 

1457 

428 

429 

81 

1039 

751 

54-J 
542 
543 
543 

1427 

847 

1428 

808 

SoS 

S46 

1427 

1062 

436 

1415 

51S 

936 

436 

936 

1415 

1417 

S43 

5S2 

1044 

iiCo 

1144 

1243 

1343 

1067 

1067 

T063 

1063 

Si 2 

630 

6.30 

282 

12S6 

2^0 
S25 
824 
I30R 
I 102 
I 1" 

7' 

7''- 
1406 

1.(05 

I4"5 

1 1 20 

1120 

1277 

7>5 

7>5 

5'7 



Iloslcy, Benjamin F 518 

Hosley, Edward K 1509 

Hotchkiss, Abraham B 99 

Hotchkiss, Benjamin 521 

Hotchkiss, Berkeley S 108S 

Hotchkiss, diaries T 898 

Hotchkiss, David M 292, 1089 

Hotchkiss, Delos 830 

Hotchkiss. Edward A 655 

Hotchkiss, Edwin .A 971 

Hotchkiss, Mrs. Edwin A 971 

Hotchkiss, Emerjon M 172 

Hotcnk:^5 Familiis 

172, 218. 474, 511, 520. 645. 655, 8y8, 
1042, 1088, 1103, 1328, 1402, 

Hotclikiss, Frederick M 292 

Hotchkiss, DeaC'jn < jideon. .521, II03 

H>■^chki^s, Gideon (.> 407 

llotchki?s, Gilbert B 520 

Hiiich.kiss. Harry S 1104 

Hotchkiss. Henry I402 

Hotchki.>s. Henry U 645 

Hotchkiss, Henry L 1402 

Hotchkiss, Herve.v D 294 

Hotchkiss, James D 1042 

Hiitchki>s, Katie .\ 547 

Hotchki>s, Lockwiod, Jr 219 

Holchki-s, LKkwiod, Sr 219 

Hotchkiss, Mrs. Maria R 1104 

Hotchkiss. Miles. Jr 172 

Hotclikiss. NorlMU R.. M. D... 132S 

Hotchkiss, Mrs. Philocia 830 

Hotchki^s. Theod. .re X 546 

Hough, Miss Alice L 1281 

llouyh, Elijah J 1072 

Hough Family 1280 

Hough, Joel 1280 

Hough. Joel R 12S0 

Hough, Mrs. Lucy J 12S1 

Hough, Mrs. Ruth 1'. 1072 

Houghtaling. William X 925 

Houghton Family 1225 

Houghton, Ruius A 1225 

Housel. Lorenzo W 1210 

Howard, CiurK s R 1072 

Howard. Mrs. C. R 1073 

Howanh. Alireil 84 

Howanli, Ahre.l .\ 83 

Howe, Alfred F 1215 

Howe, Mrs. .\nna E 97 

Howe, FJbridge 1 9<> 

Howe Family 96 

Hr.we, Ifli.ic P 1215 

Howe. Dr. J.hu 1 793 

Hour I w::.;,r 97 

Ho 97 

II.; 1506 

Hoyl. l.drtiii S 338 

Hoyt Families 337, 666, 1506 

H..VI. Xehemiah II (.>66 

lliiiibard. F.. Eugene 7il 

'•; 5<)9 

.!;(>8 

1 ■;■ . ., ,.; ,i. li. > .'-■ 056 

Hubbard, Inhn P 73t 

llubbar.l. ilcn. Levcrelt M.... 56 

Hubbard. Russell 59 

llubbar.l, Waller 4lo 

HuMull, Beniamiii 7^' 

Hubbelt, Esirlla .\ «494 

llubbell, Frederick W I086 

Hubbell, lolin P 800 

llubbell, Silas C 1494 



INDEX. 



Hubbell, Wakeman 

Hubinger, Joseph E 

Hubinger, Nicholas W 

Huckins, David 

Huckins, George F 

Hughes, Alfred 

Hughes, Evan E 

Hughes Family 

Hughes, George W. li 

Hughes, Reuben B 

Hughes, Miss Sarah E 

Hughes, William VV 

Hull, David B 

Hull Families 1 18, 791, 965 

Hull, Garny 

Hull, Henry A 

Hull, Jarvis 

Hull, Porter G 

Hull. Deacon Samuel 

Hull, Mrs. Susan \ 

Hull, William 

Huniiston, Daniel 

Humiston, Elilm 

Humiston Family 

Humiston. Harmon 

Humiston, Julia A 

Humphrey, F. 11 

Hunt, James M 

Hunt, Robert 

Hunter Family 

Hunter, William E 

Hunter, Mrs. William \\ 

Hupfer, Oscar C 

Hurlburt Family 

Hurlburt. Samuel W 

Hurley, John 

Hurley. John .'\ 

Hutchinson. Thomas P 

Hyde Family 

Ingersoll, Hon. Charles A 

Ingersoll, Hon. Charles R 

Ingersoll, Hon. Colin M 

Ingersoll Family 64, 

Ingersoll, George P 

Ingersoll. Judge Jonathan 

Ingersoll. Hon. Ralph 1 65, 

Irion. Albert A 

Ives. Alfred 

Ives, Almon J 

Ives. Charles 

Ives, Charles E 

Ives, F.benezer C. . . 

Ives, Edward 

Ives, Edward A 

Ives, Eli 

Ives, Elihu 109. 

Ives Families, 143. 178, 180, 253. 
635. 971. 1146. 1265. 

Ives, Franklin T 

Ives, Frederick W 

Ives. George W 

Ives, Hoadlcv B 

Ives, HobartB 

Ives, Howard E 

Ives, Mrs. Mary E 

Ives, Phincas T 

Ives, Titus 

Ives, Watrous 

Ives, William J 



PAGE 
721 

304 

1 176 

II75 

844 

648 

■^44 

710 

710 

8-15 

99- 

801 

996 

801 

9'\S 

965 

965 

996 

997 

997 

794 

509 

794 

403 

795 

1532 

i.3f'7 

1367 

1148 

1148 

1149 

74a 

343 

343 

1500 

754 

1444 

464 

C5 
427 

66 
425 

67 

425 

, 426 

596 

635 

441 

712 

711 

1265 

971 

1146 

143 

711 

441. 

180 
253 
635 
58a 
246 
971 
580 
1265 
181 
178 
178 



Jackson Families 1027, 1455 

Jackson, Frederick A 1455 



PAGE 

Jackson, Frederick L 1027 

Jacques, Eugene L. (Jean) 1425 

Jacques Family 1424 

Jacques, John J 1424 

Jacques, Mrs. Susan L 1425 

James, Thomas L 1361 

Jenkins, Nicholas 1139 

jo. alas, Bennett 105 1 

Jeralds Family 1050 

Jerome, Mrs. E. Gilbert 1355 

Jocclyn, Nathaniel 194 

Juhnson, ivlionso 1313 

Johnson, Elliott 1289 

Johnson Families. .. .1277, 1312, 1394 

Johnson, Horace D 1312 

Johnson, John H 1487 

Johnson, Mrs. Josephine M.... 148 

Johnson, Michael E 1527 

Johnson, Norris M 147 

Johnston, William H 1138 

Johnstone, Robert P 1223 

Jones. Augustus H 707 

Jones, Charles N 978 

Jones. Dr. Daniel A 1008 

Jones, Dr. Emeline Roberts.... 1008 

Jones Family 1407 

Jones, Orlando 536 

Jones, Street 978 

Joslin Family 695 

Joslin, George H., M. D 695 

Joy Famdv 1300 

Judd. Albert D 870 

ludd. Chancy W 828 

Judd, Edward M 871 

J ndd. Emma J 870 

judd Families 804, 868 

Judd. Hubert L 869 

Judd. Lyman 1484 

judd. Milo L 1484 

Judd. Deacon Morton 868 

Judd, William R 828 

Jiidson Family 549 

Judson, Jerome T 555 

Kahl. John 502 

Kaiser, Maier 273 

Kane, James T 1 174 

Kane, Thomas iiig 

Katt. John W 1501 

Keeley. Michael K 1519 

Kecnan. William C 1221 

K'egclmeyer. Joseph 1473 

Kelley. Christopher 1096 

Kellogg. Charles P 45 

Kellogg. Frank W 45 

Kellogg, John P 44 

Kellogg, Stephen W 44 

Kelly, Joseph C 1237 

Kclsey Family 72 

Kelsey, George R 72 

Kelsey. Hobcrt F 1534 

Kclsey, Israel A 1302 

Kelsey, Lyman 1226 

Kelsey, Sidney S 1226 

Kelsey, Mrs. Virginia W Ti 

Kelty. A. H 1537 

Kendrick Family 312 

Kendrick, Greene 312 

Kendrick, Hon. Greene 314 

Kendrick, Capt. John 1459 

Kendrick, Hon. John 313 

Kendrick, William A 1459 

Kennedy, Albert 1255 



PAGE 

Kennedy, Paul B., M. D 1289 

Kennej-, James H loSi 

Kent, John T 727 

Kenworthy, James C 784 

Ketcham, Erasmus D 938 

Kibbe Family 1256 

Kibbe, Horace W 1256 

Kibbe, Julius A 1258 

Kibbe, \^alirus 1257 

Kilmartin, Thomas 1504 

Kilmartin, Thomas J., M. D 1504 

Kimberly. Dennis A 771 

Kmiberly, Capt. Eli 457 

Kimberly Families 395, 771 

Kinder, John 1411 

Kinder, John M 141 1 

King, Charles A 680 

King, Jared P 1090 

King, William M 317 

Kingsbury. Charles D 68 

Kingsbury Family 68 

Kingsbury. Frederick J 6g 

Kirkham, Capt. Austin P 1420 

Kirkham, Calvin C 1420 

Kirkham Family 1421 

Kirschbaum, John 1099 

Kirtland Family 232 

Kivlan, Bernaru F '. 1494 

Kleinecke. William C 1153 

Knight, Cyrus 89 

Knight, John C 89 

Knight, Mrs. John C 89 

Knoth, George 1460 

Knowles, William A 578 

Knowles; William H 578 

Knox, James A 1489 

Kost, Rev. Ignatius 1481 

Kuntze, Julius 1247 

La Bonte, Louis D., M. D 1203 

Lacey Family 230 

Lacey Family 230 

Lad Family 1526 

Lad. \V. N 1526 

Lamb, Charles R 1049 

Lamb, Sanford '. 1050 

Lambert, Benjamin L 257 

Lambert, Benjamin L., W. D. .. 728 

Lambert, David D 729 

Lambert, Denison D 729 

Lambert Family 728 

Lambert, Mrs. Jane A 729 

Lamontagne. Nazaire P 634 

Lamping. George 366 

Lamping. Mrs. Hedwig 367 

Lampman, Robert W 144S 

Landers, James P 1481 

Landon Family 1075 

Landon, Samuel W 1075 

Lane, .Arthur S 1267 

Lane Family 1 171 

Lane, C. Fred 1171 

Lane. Charles N 1172 

Lane, John S 692 

Lane, Thomas C 1528 

Langford, M. J 1490 

Lanyon, James 1412 

Lanyon. James R 1412 

I^anyon, Wesley \ 1412 

Larder, Capt. William II 279 

Larkin, John 1480 

Lathem, William 233 

Laufer. Herman 1413 



fvprx. 



PAGE 

Law, Richard W 91 

Lawlor, Michael J 1471 

Lazzari, Antonio 1071 

Leach, Benjamin F., D. D. S... 545 

Leavenworth, Daniel C. M. D. . 214 

Leavenworth, Charles S 214 

Leavenworth, Mrs. Elizabeth A. 213 

Leavenworth Families 212, 552 

Leavenworth, Mrs. Julia H.... 554 

Leavenworth, James M 554 

Leavenworth, Oscar B 213 

Leavenworth, Russell 213 

Leavenworth, Col. Walter J . . . . 552 

Lee, Mrs. Abigail D 1064 

Lee Families 136, 1064 

Lee, Capt. Frederick 724 

Lee, Henry 1064 

Lee, Henry B 136 

Lee, Hon. W. Wallace 136 

Leeds, Don A 1429 

Leeds, John A 1429 

Leete, Calvin M 928 

Lcete, Calvin Morris 92S 

Leete, Edward L 1016 

Leete, Edward M 941 

Leete, E. Walter :oi6 

Leete, Edwin A 941 

Leete Families, 893, 928, 941, 942, 1016 

Leete, R. Burton 1434 

Leete, Richard M 895 

Leete, Roger C 896 

Leete, Rufus Norton 892 

Lehr, Fred L 1477 

Lehr, Gottfried 1477 

Leonard, Emily J 237 

Leonard, Eugene F 1389 

Leonard Family 1389 

Leonard, John N 720 

Leonard, Jonathan J 1390 

Lewis Families 176, 256, 599 

Lewis, George A rrT. . . . 256 

Lewis, George F 1543 

Lewis, Hon. Isaac C 176 

Lewis, Jared, Jr 283 

Lewis, Jared, Sr 283 

Lewis, John E 599 

Lewis, Lucien F 444 

Lewis, R. B 1496 

Lewis, Samuel A 444 

Lewis, Walter C 599 

Lines, Augustus 394, 457 

Lines, Augustus E 456 

Lines, Eber. Jr 1061 

Lines Families 11 12, 1293 

Lines, Frederick A 1 112 

Lines. George P 289 

Lines, Mrs. George P 290 

Lines, Goodell 1060 

Lines, H. Wales 1293 

Lines, John 446 

Lines, Joseph W 446 

Lines, Mrs. Martha K 395 

Linsley, .Mfred 1261 

Linslcy, Edward L 1260 

Linsley Families, 185, 579, 817, 1260 

Linsley, George 817 

Linsley, George C 579 

Linsley, Marcus 185 

Linsley, Marcus M 107 

Linsley, Romania T 469 

Linsley, Seymour G 1303 

Linsley, Solomon F 185 

Lipsette, Lew Allen 74i 



Little Family 241 

Little, Hubert 738 

Little, Sa.xton B 241 

Little, William B 738 

Livingston, George W 1 162 

Lloyd, Richard 1247 

Lloyd, William L 1530 

Longdcn, Charles E 126 

Longden, William H 126 

Loomis, Calvin 926 

Loomis Family 755 

Loomis, Mrs. F. A. H 779 

Loomis. Seymour C 755 

Lord Family 1384 

Loudon. Benjamin L 11 14 

Lounsbury, David 5S7 

Lounshury, Henry E 139 

Lounsbury, Mrs. Mary F 139 

Lounsbury. William 587 

Lowell, Walter \ 1132 

Lundin, John E 1034 

Lund(iuisi, Peter A 577 

Lunny. Thomas F 1376 

Lutz, Frederick W 1463 

Lutz, Robert 7^5 

Lyman Family 479 

Lyman, Horatio N 479 

Lyman, Miss J. E 480 

Lynch, Mrs. Ellen 759 

Lynch, Francis 758 

L)-on Families 17, 149 

Lyon, George W iS 

Lyon, Humphrey 17 

Lyon. James R 151 

Lvon. Richard F im 

Lyon, William H 18 

Lyons, T. F 1498 

McCarthy. Timothy J is.^o 

McCormack, Robert 1012 

McDermntt. James 989 

McDonald. John W 1344 

McDonnell, Charles 1176 

McDonnell. Mrs. Jane R 1176 

McEnerney. James A 1170 

McEvoy, Thomas 549 

McFceters, Charles T 1456 

McGaughev Family 673 

McGaughe'y. Hon. J. D., ^L D. . 673 

McGovern. Peter 1 119 

McGrail, John F 1163 

McGrath. Edward 1499 

McGrath. Thomas F 1166 

McKenzie, John M 1078 

McKcnzie, William 1078 

McKenzie, William H 345 

McLarney. John J 1015 

McLean, Judge Alexander D. . . 927 

McLean, Harry 927 

McLean, Dr. Neil 9^7 

McManus. B. J 15'.^ 

McManus, Edward i486 

McNeil Family I.'?i7 

McQueen Family l.l8Ci 

McOuccn, John B 1386 

Macaulcv. J. J iS3^ 

Macdonald. Theodore H 747 

Mackay, Willi.am R 3/8 

Mackcy. Peter B 75 

Mackrille, John 1467 

Maguirc, Thomas H 7.^4 

Mahanev. Daniel J 604 

Main, Elias T 896 



■'AGE 

Main, Walter A 896 

Malumphy, Edward J 151 1 

Malumphy, Thomas 151 1 

Man-on, Michael 1532 

M.infield, Austin 555, 1 167 

Mansfield, Mrs. Austin 555 

Mansfield, Benjamin F 327 

Manstield, Edward F 327 

Mansfield, Edwin L 643 

Mansfield Families 326, 555, 643 

Mansfield, Isaac E 643 

Mansfield, Louis A 1 167 

M.•^n^on, John T 657 

Manson. Capt. Magnus 656 

Manviiie Family 451 

Manville, Theodore D. L 451 

Mar, John E 940 

Marsh, Arthur W., M. D 753 

Marsh. Julian H 754 

Martin, Aimer i 1 175 

Martin, I'rank L 15-9 

Martin, Henry 1 175 

Martiu, John A 1 175 

Martin, Joseph 1202 

Martin, Othniel 1 1175 

Martin, Thomas L 15-9 

Marvin Family 160 

Marvin, Rev. Sylvanus P 160 

Maschniever. .August 581 

Mason, VVilliam 168 

Mather, Albert B., A. M 705 

Mather Families 639, 705 

Mattliews, Henry A 1454 

Mav. Albert A 352 

Mead, Rev. Alexander H 118 

Mead Family 513 

Mead, Linus 432 

Mead, Solomon 5'3 

Meffert, Paulus J 1379 

Megin, Dennis B 1362 

Meigs, Charles A 55^ 

Meigs, Samuel 55^ 

Mendel. Adolph I44I 

Merchant, Horace W 509 

Merchant, Mrs. Mary E 509 

Merriam Family 163 

Merriam. Capt. George C 163 

Merriam, Nelson 163 

Merriman. Hon. Charles B 39 

Merriman, Charles G 468 

'-^lerriman Families. 39, 243. 468, 500 

Merriman, Julius E 243 

Merriman. Marcus, Jr 469 

Mcrsick. Edwin F 535 

Mersick, Mrs. Edwin F 536 

Merwin, .Mpheus 939 

Merwin, Caleb T 853 

Merwin, Dumond P 336 

Merwin Families. .276, 853, 939. '355 

Merwin, George P 1434 

Merwin, Ira 104 

Merwin, Marcus 1355 

Merwin. Merritt 277 

Merwin, Mrs. Nellie B 1+26 

Merwin, Robert T 104 

Merwin. William M 276 

Metcalfe, Eleazer 547 

Metcalfe, Miss Melissa M 547 

Michaeli~. Herman 77' 

Miller, Edward 76 

Miller F.amilies 76. 997. '328 

Miller. Ira 998 

Mills, Mrs. Estellc J 933 



IXDEX. 



Mills, Thomas 

Mills, Thomas B 

Milroy, John C 

Milroy, Mrs. Margaret 

Milroy, Samuel 

Milton, William 

Minor, Archibald 

Minor, Augustus 

Minor, Charles J 

Minor Families 639, 786, 

Minor, George C .' 

Minor, Henry 

Minor, Marcus W 

Minor, Marshal! 

Minor, Truman 

Mitchell, Donald G.. LL. D.... 

Mitchell Families 14 

Mitchell, Henry P 

Mitchell. John S 

Mitchell, Deacon Nelson \V 

Mitchell, William G 

Mitchell, William W 

Mix, Edward ,. 

Mix, Edward T 

Mix, Mrs. Edward Townsend.. 

Mix Families Si, 477, 

Mix, Catty I ; 

Mix, Henry 

Mix, John 

Mix, Hon. John W 

Mix, Capt. Jonathan 

Mix, Mrs. Josephine C 

Mix, Lewis 

Mix, Norris B 

Mix, Mrs. Norris B 

Mix, Willis L 

Monckmever, Frederick 

Monks. Leon D.. D. D. S 

Monson, Alfred S., M. D 

Monson, Capt. David C 

Monson Families 523 

Monson, Frank A 

Montgomery, Charles H 

Montgomery Family 

Montgomery, James B 

Montgomery, Plielps 

Moody, Dr. Mary Blair 

Moodv, Lucius W 

Moore. E. L 

Moore Family 

Moore, J. S 

Moran, James T 

Moran. Thomas 

Morehouse Family 

Morehouse. Henry L 

Morgan, Edward 1' 

Morgan Families 208, 

Morgan, George 

Morgan, Gebrge W 

Morgan, Richard H 

Morgan, Col. William E 

Morris, Edwin A 

Morris, Mrs. Eveline T 

Morris Families 8, 93 

Morris, Julius H 

Morris, Hon. Luzon B 

Morris, Marion A 

Morris, Nelson 

Morris, Perry C 

Morris, William H 

Morse, Algernon H 

Morse, Byron L 

Morse, Col. Charles F 



PAGE 

933 

933 

769 

255 

254 

148s 

786 

1060 

1060 

1060 

1116 

786 

10S2 

1082 

215 

14 

148 

1 32 1 

1390 

14S 

943 

943 

1 143 

41S 

416 

740 

1460 

123 

741 

740 

252 

1143 

81 

608 

608 

742 

1540 

1340 

526 

924 

, 924 

526 

1 53 1 

376 

376 

376 

1542 

1542 

1507 

107 

1493 

743 

1364 

6g8 

6q9 

1181 

1 180 

138s 

1385 

1 180 

208 

94 

364 

1089 

93 

8 

1089 

364 

1004 

1071 

1547 
1077 

1548 



PAGE 

Morse, Ed ward J 736 

Morse, Elliott H 46, 1548 

Morse, Emery 1236 

Morse, Ernest C 1236 

Morse or Moss Families 

. .45, 184, 320, 506, 736, 1408, 1546 

Morse, Col. Gardner 45, 1547 

Morse, Gardner 46, 1548 

Morse, Henry W 351 

Morse, Joseph 321 

Morse, Joseph B 46, 1548 

Morse, Luther 184 

Morse, Nathan T 506 

Morse, William W 1547 

Morton Family 122 

Morton, Horace J 122 

Mosher, George D 1267 

Moss or Morse Family 184 

Moulton, Dr. Edward' S 1149 

Mueller, Joseph 496 

Mueller, Richard W 759 

Mueller, William C 760 

Mueller, W. Julius 1436 

Munger Families 570, 1168 

Munger, George 1168 

Munger, George P. 1 168 

Munger, George H 570 

Munger, Judge 1374 

Munson, Amos yi 

Munson, Cornelius W 1034 

Munson, Edward B 284 

Munson. Edward Beach 284 

Munson Families . . 71, 86, 622, 1438 

Munson, Hon. Hart D 1438 

Munson. Harvey S 86 

Munson, Henry 636 

Munson, Henry W 636 

Munson, Mrs. Jane F 523 

Munson, Jerome C 622 

Munson, Major John A 298 

Munson, Mrs. John A 298 

Munson, Hon. Luzerne 1 348 

Munson, Orrin 508 

Munson, Sara Rice 349 

.Vlurdock, Charles Z 1228 

Murdock Family 732 

Murdock, George B 732 

Murdock, Mrs. Harriet E 733 

Murdock, Zkia K 7iZ 

Murlless, H. Walter, M. D 1195 

Murray. John R 1 192 

Myers, George 597 

Myers, George E., M. D 1253 

Nadler, Alfred G., M. D 1206 

Nadlcr, Isaac H 1206 

Ncary, Willi;m J 1512 

Neidhardt, Matthias 1059 

Nelson, Horatio K 1201 

Nelson, Thomas A 840 

Ncttleton, Caleb 889 

Ncttlcton, Charles H 128 

Neltleton, C. J 1503 

Netlleton Families . . 595, 658, 1323 

Ncttleton, George W 8S9 

Nettleton, Henry E 1324 

Ncttlcton, John F 658 

Nettleton. J. W I52\ 

Neveu, Ulric E 633 

New Haven Copper Co., The. . 1361 

Newport. Edward C, M. D. . . . 684 

Newton Family 1318 

Newton, Frederic P 340 



Newton, Mrs. Frederic P 340 

Newton, Judge Henry G 380 

Newton, William G 1541 

Nichols, Clark H 796 

Nichols Families 494, 795, 937 

Nichols, Frank S noi 

Nichols, Henry 1276 

Nichols, Isaac, Jr iioi 

Nichols, James E 1276 

Nichols, Joseph N 494,- 795 

Nichols, Miss Lucy E 495 

Nielson, Jens 1279 

Noonan, E. P 1518 

Norman, F. F 1507 

North, Alfred, M. D 269 

North, Alvin 224 

North Families 223, 269, 1314 

North, John G 1314 

North, Mrs. John G 1316 

North, Lemuel 1315 

North, Mrs. Martha E 224 

North, Oliver B 224 

Northam, John C 897 

Northam, Martin K 897 

Northrop, Charles L 537 

Northrop, Ensign 886 

Northrop Family 1439 

Northrop, Harry E 1439 

Norton, Charles L 1040 

Norton Families 

489, 895, 1022, 1040, 1368 

Norton, John W 1022 

Norton, Julius E 489 

Norton,, Oliver T 1487 

Norton, Philo B 1040 

Norton, Rufus 1023 

Norton, Stephen 1487 

Norton, Timothy E 661 

Norwood, J. N 1502 

Noyes Family 248 

Noyes, Joseph G.... 1273 

Nuhn, Frederick 1444 

O'Brien, Capt. Laurence 746 

O'Brien, Michael H 761 

O'Connor, Charles 1009 

Oefinger, Andrew 1239 

O'Keefe, Capt. William 329 

Olds, Elizabeth C 537 

Olds, Henry H 536 

Olson. John A 1229 

Olson. P. A 1499 

O'Neil, William 1491 

O'Rourke, Timothy 1139 

Osborn, Charlotte A 388 

Osborn, John J 387 

Osborn, Lewis E 455 

Osborn, Hon. Minott A 70 

Osborn, Col. Norris G 7° 

Osborn, Walter 435 

Osborne, Mrs. Eliza H 929 

Osborne Family 813 

Osborne. John W 813, 029 

Osborne. Capt. Stephen &13 

Osborne. Maj. Wilbur F 814 

Otis Family 683 

Otis. Israel S 683 

Otis, Samuel D., M. D 683 

Oughton, Robert 232 

Onghton. Mrs. Robert 233 

Oviatt Family 1 138 

Oviatt, Samuel N 1 138 

Owen, Frederick P 677 



IXDEX. 



PAGE 

wen, Robert 625 

r'addock, Charles E 726 

Paddock, Charles L 726 

Paddock Family 726 

Paddock, Samuel C 1330 

Page, Benjamin 315, 1140 

Page, Rev. Charles 404 

Page, John M 1140 

Pain, Robert W 745 

Pain. Willard S 745 

Pardee, Egbert E 5^,5 

Pardee, Wyllys =35 

Park, Charles E., M. D 667 

Park, Dr. Edwin .-V 667 

Parker, Andrew G 1217 

Parker, Charles 16 

Parker, Edgar K 776 

Parker, Edmund 623 

Parker, Edmund .\ 623 

Parker Families, 16, 442, 574, 668, 776 

Parker, Giles 1217 

Parker, Grace R 260 

Parker. Rev. John 259 

Parker, Col. Joseph 972 

Parker, Luman F 668 

Parker, Stephen L 575 

Parker, S. Olin 574 

Parker, William D '^84 

Parker. William D. W 671 

Parmclce, Charles 1 1040 

Parmclee, Edwin S gSo 

Parmelee Families .... 858, 917, 1040 

Parmelee. Jonathan 918 

Parmelee. Walter 980 

Patten, Daniel .\ 1150 

Patten. Hon. D. Walter 1150 

Payne, Mr.s. Amelia F 505 

Payne Families 1059, 1477 

Payne, Joseph D 504 

Payne, J. Fre<lerick 1059 

Payne. Miles E 1477 

Pearce. John II 735 

Pearsall, Jlrs. Laura E 15:0 

Pearsall. Zophcr 1509 

Pease Family 1422 

Pease. Salmon G 1422 

Peck. Burr S 24S 

Peck Families 

82, 159. 220, 248, 343. 1020 

Peck. Hiram J 1047 

Peck, Henry S 159 

Peck, Mrs. Ida F 1020 

Peck. James H 41- 

Peck. Lewis 1020 

Peck, Mrs. Marv E 220 

Peck. Richard S7-3 

Peck. Richard A 5/2 

Peck. Robert C 220 

Peck. Mrs. Sarah G 257 

Peck. Stephen M 1020 

Peck, William .A. 412 

Peck, Wvilvs 257 

Peck. Zalmon S 1.^9 

Pcckham, George F 4.^t 

Pcmberton, James 875 

Pendexter, Albion W I.^.W 

Penficld Family 7,50 

Penfield. William \ 7.50 

Perkins, Edgar J 682 

Perkins, James M 682 

Perkin;-. Lewis .S55 

Perkin.s, Samuel F 339 



Perkins, Solon B 

Perkins, William 

Perkins, William H 

I'erkins, Mrs. William H 

Perry Family 

Perry, Frederick K 

1 'erry, Frederic N 

Perry, George F 

Perry, Capt. Herman .\ 

Perry, 1 lorace B 

Perry, James .\ 

Perry, Stephen O 

Peters, George F 

Pcttee, Kev. John T 

Pettee. Mrs. Mariette R 

Pctlib'.ne, DeForest 

Pettilione. John C 

Pettis. George C 

FtatF. Louis C 

Plleghar, Ferdinand 

Pllcghar, Frank P 

Pheips, Albert 

Phelps. Ah an P 

Phelps. Dryden W 

Phelps Families 42, 295, 376, 586, 

Phelps, John A 

Phelps, John P 

Phelps. Lewis M 

Phelps. Rev. Sylvanus D., D. D. 

.J^hoenix. Joseph 

Phillips. Albert W.. M. D 

Phillips, Watson L., D. D 

Phipps, Capt. Daniel G 

Phipps Familv 

Pickett, Charles E 

Pickett, Charles H 

Pickett, Col. Charles W 

Pickett. Hon. Rul'us S 

Pickhardt. Henry C 

Pierce, Ezra 

Pierpont, Mrs, .Xnna E 

Pierpont. .-Vustin 1! 

Pierpont, -Charles J. (deceased) 

816, 

Pictponl, Charles J 

Pierpont, Cornelius 

Pierpont Families, 624. 629, S16, 

Pierpont, Mrs. Helen E 

Pierpont, Joseph 

Pierpont. Mrs. Mary .V 

Pinncy. Charles H., y\. D 

Piiuiey Family 

Piiuiev. Mrs. Maria W 

Pitm.m. Edwin P., M. D 

Plant, .Mbert E 

Plant Families 799. 

Plant. George W 

Plant. William 

Piatt. A. Clark 

Piatt, Alfred 

Plntt, Alfred L 

Plait, Alfred S 

Piatt, Capt. Rcniamin 

Piatt. P.eniainin. Jr 

Plait, Daniel G 

Plait. David 

Plait, Davi\B 

Piatt FamilieX^ 

6. .(o), 640, 834. 8^-6. 

Piatt, George I 

Piatt, Gideon L., M. D 

Piatt, Henry P 

Piatt, John H 



I'AOE 

355 

Sjb 

856 

«57 

127s 

1090 

1180 

1180 

. 082 

t)82 

•275 
1275 
1282 
1292 
1292 
I2t)6 

1266 

575 
1220 
1223 

■35 

899 
1057 

586 
1108 
1057 

963 
1108 

587 

1387 

592 

445 

612 

612 

1289 

1289 

1320 

25 

1417 

153a 

848 

1 106 

iiofi 

1094 
625 

1106 

f'25 

629 

817 
526 
527 
527 

ii;o 

1228 

122S 

790 

1228 

1288 

640 

.641 

642 

680 

834 

6 

J3.-4 

1287 



I'AGK 

Piatt, John R 834 

Plait, Jon.ih C 835 

I'latt, Levi S 615 

Ptatt, Nathan 1354 

Plait, Newton 835 

Plait. Nin in B 040 

I'lalt. Hon. Orvdlc H., LL. D. . 6 

Piatt, Siaburv B 642 

Plan. 0.1. \Villiain 739 

Plan, William S 041 

I'lumb Family 694 

I'lumnicr, William H 514 

Pi 'ineruy, Charles L 165 

IVriiieruy, James T 164 

Pomeruv, .\ilM>n A., -\L D.... 12<u 

Puincroy. Noah lUt 

Puiid, lienrge S 1041 

Piiiid, Capt. Josei)h W 1041 

Puure, John K., M. D 50^ 

P.'pe. John B «20 

Pope, Nehenuali 820 

Popp, John N 73J 

Popp. Mrs. Sarah E 734 

Porter, Beiiiamin W 1263 

Porter. Dr. Charles H 1183 

Porter, Daniel 7^t 

Porter Families 7^ 

Porter, James , 

Porter, James W. B •! 

Poller, ICdwin W 531 

Poller, Frank y(vS 

Poller, Frank J 1480 

Poller, Rev. Samuel 'tH 

Poller. William C S71 

Powe, Mrs. Emma J lljj 

I'owe, William llfJ 

Pragenian, .\iigust 146J 

Prageman Family 14OI 

Prait, Diadalc 1407 

Pratt, IMwiii M 153 

Prall, Elliert !■- 154 

Pratl I'aunlies. . . . 07, 153, 070. 134S 

I'rail. lion. Julius 1345 

Prait, .Mr- I.-.ir.i C 239 

Prall. N 239 

Prall, 1! by 

Pr. .1 182 

Pr. . 512 

Prich.i! ■ 

Prichar.! 

I'richard. .^i! .^.ir.^.i 1 ,-< 

Priichar.l. F.dward S. . ^i 

Priicliaril l'':i"" - ... ..... '53 

Priichar.l. II 123 

I'roulv I'ami .503 

Prouly, Wilhs J . .\. M .loj 

Prt'diiin. Sam-. ! ^^'•■! 

Pill ford. Clwi- 
Pulford. Dr. I 

Piiliiain. Ki-v. .\'.:-;ai i.;;'' 

Pnliiam, Mr-, .\u-iiu i.i,-'' 

Pulnani, I-'rai' ' ' ' :-<> 

Q„; .• . 1. ,. 
On 

On; . • - . 



1 288 
1287 
8'')6 
6S0 
679 



Ran. I.". Hir .:■• W 

Ra' 

Ra' 

Ra>niu:>r.cii, i 

Rasmti^srn, N 

Ka-iiuis-eii. Ka-mu-^cn 



D 



?34 

.134 

I lift 



'5-5 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Rattelsdorfer, John V 735 

Ray, Eber R 1382 

Ray, Eugene H 1382 

Ray Family 1382 

Reade, Daniel 1372 

Reade, Myron C 1372 

Redfield, Charles II 440 

Redfield Families 33, 154, 440 

Redfield, Horatio G 2>'i 

Redshaw, John M 887 

Redshaw, Samuel G 8S7 

Reed, Charles 1476 

Regan, James 1200 

Reilly, Farrcll 1176 

Reilly, James 616 

Reilly, Sumner C 765 

Reilly, Thomas L 593 

Reuss, Anton 495 

Reuss, Mrs. Catherine 406 

Reynold^^ Henry 488 

Reynolds, Michael G 1464 

Rice, Archibald F. 2S7, 349 

Rice Families. 74. 216, 287, 764, 12S1 

Rice, Frederick B 288 

Rice, H. C 1515 

Rice, John L 1 169 

Rice, Michael P 576 

Rice, Oliver 216 

Rice, Silas 1281 

Rice, William T 217 

Richards Family 309 

Richards, Henry H 309 

Richards, John M 684 

Richards, Maj. J. P 1376 

Richards, Mrs. Mary F 1375 

Richardson, John A 158 

Richardson. William D 142S 

Richmond. Dwight F 1056 

Richmond, Lcandcr F 1056 

Richmond, Mrs. Lcander F. . . . 1057 

Richmond, W. H 1207 

Rider, Henry A 273 

Riggs, Charles H 1409 

Riggs. Gardiner G I2H 

Riggs. Solomon T 1409 

Rigney, Hubert M 1515 

Ritchie, William 1513 

Roach, James C 1061 

Robbins Family 1 125 

Robbins, George i T25 

Robbins, W. A 1535 

Roberts, Benjamin H 1391 

Roberts. Charles 1051 

Roberts, Charles A 431 

Roberts. Mrs. C. A 432 

Roberts, Edward K, I\I. D 367 

Roberts', Rphraim ■ 1051 

Roberts Family 1008 

Robertson, Thomas B 646 

Robinson Family 1018 

Rockwell Family 463 

Rockwell, George M 558 

Rockwell, Jabez 558 

Rockwell, Capt. Samuel 464 

Rogers, Cephas B 146 

Rogers, C. 1 1530 

Rogers F'amilies 145. 607 

Rogers, George F 1395 

Rogers, Oorge W 1395 

Rogers, Gilbert 191 

Rogers, Hcrvey 146 

Rogers, John E 719 

Rogers, Wilbur F 605 



Rolf, George P 1021 

Root, Edward T 1084 

Root Family 832 

Root, George 1084 

Root, Samuel 832 

Rose, Herbert M 1 112 

Rose, Joshua 1113 

Rossiter, Benjamin 398 

Rossiter Family 396 

Rossiter, John R 396 

Rowan, Charles E 1520 

Rowe, Henry C 400 

Rowland Family 1028 

Rowland, John 1121 

Rowland, Lynde 1028 

Rowland, Washington M 1307 

Royce, Deodatus 74 

Royce or Rice Families 74, 216 

Rudolph, George F 1446 

Rudolph, Henry F 1446 

Kuss, Henry 1237 

Russell, David A 571 

Russell Families 48, 571, 1 103 

Russell, James W 1399 

Russell, Mrs. Maria A 1399 

Russell, Mrs. Mary A 192 

Russell, Michael D 1145 

Russell. M. M 1285 

Rus.sell, Robert G.. D. D. S.... 1447 

Russell. Samuel F 1285 

Russell, Thomas H., Ph. B., M. 

D 51 

Ru>sell, William .-X 1254 

Russell, William C 459 

Russell, William E 459 

Russell, Gen. William H., M. A 48 

Russell. William 192 

Rust Family 618 

Kust, Dr. Theodore S 618 

Ryan, Dennis F 1344 

Ry.in. Mrs. Dennis F 1344 

Ryan, John A 1218 

Ryan. Michael 1 1205 

Ryee. Bernard P.. M. D 1480 

Ryder, Cornelius C 412 

Sachsenhauscr. John 1506 

Sage, Clarissa 1 450 

Sage Families 361, 450 

Sage, Isaac 451 

Saleski, Paul T 1234 

.S,-mderson, Charles B ion 

Sanderson, Henry B 121 1 

.Sanderson, James H 399 

Sands, Frank E 1290 

Sanford, Abraham 1473 

San ford. Hon. Edward I., LL. B 24 

Sanford Family 1047 

Sanford, Dr. George W 1268 

Sanford. Henry F 1047 

Sanford. Henry W 1268 

Sanford, Joseph 1268 

Sanford, Mrs. Mary B 1473 

Sanford. Mrs. Sarah J 25 

Sanford. Ward H.. M. D 727 

Savage Family 1406 

Sawyer, Henry D 1213 

Sa.xe. John L 1492 

Scard. George 942 

Scarritt. John 150 

Schaffcr. Frederick F 524 

Schilf. Carl 1508 

Schmclzer, Charles A 447 



Schneller, Mrs. Clarissa ^ 

Schneller, Hon. George 5^ 

Schofield, Harry H 1201 

Scholz, Paul 1 129 

Schroeder, Albert F 1143 

Schunack, Charles E 1145 

Schwab, Andrew 151 1 

Schwander, Joseph 1435 

Schvvink, J. G 1523 

Scovill Family 22 

Scoviil, James M. L 22 

Scovill, William H 23 

Scranton, Charles L 724 

Scranton, Charles W 634 

Scranton, Daniel H 1049 

Scranton, Harrj' 654 

Scranton, Hon. Erastus C 32 

Scranton Families. . .32, 634, 724, 946 

Scranton, Hubbard 1049 

Scranton, Ichabod L 946 

Scranton, James B 654 

Scranton, Mrs. Louisa M 724 

Scranton, Mary E 33 

Scranton, Hon. Sereno H 634 

Scranton, Sylvanus A 1049 

Seabrook, Henry C 573 

Seeley, Charles 1256 

Seeley, Chauncey 1 124 

Seeley, George S 1256 

Seidensticker, Frederick R.... 278 

Seip, Deacon Henry W 245 

Seip, Michael 244 

Seward, Frank 579 

Seward, , Moses 580 

Sewell, C. V 1505 

Seymour Family 527 

Shannahan, Patrick 1531 

Shares, Daniel W 84 

Shares, Fred 1 85 

Shares, Horace P 84 

Sharpe, E. T., M. D 1262 

Sharpe, William C 1 155 

Sheldon, Edwards D 644 

Sheldon. Eulius B 1538 

Sheldon Families 644, 1538 

Sheldon. George L 645 

Sheldon, Hon. Joseph 42 

Sheldon, Truman 643 

Shelton, Hon. Edward N loi 

Shelton Family loi 

Shepard, Durell, M. D 1436 

Shepard Family 1436 

Sheriden, Rev. James O'R 768 

Shipley. Alfred J 1 126 

Shipley, Joseph 1126 

Shuster, Franklin B 1540 

Siebert, Frederick T191 

Sicbert, John J 1191 

Silliman, Benjamin, M. D., LL. 

D 390 

Silliman Family 390 

.Simons, Kendrick H 979 

Skiff Family 407 

Skiff. Paul C. M. D 407 

Skinner Family 952 

Skinner, William 952 

Skinner, Mrs. William 953 

Slade, Benjamin 1375 

Slinev, David 860 

Sline'y. John T 86f 

Slinev, Thomas J 615 

Sloane, Edgar C 1225 

Sloane, Frederick D 750 



IXDEX. 



PAGE 

loaiie, James R 1308 

jmith, Mrs. Adeline 740 

Siniih, Andrew II 2S2 

Smith, Archer J inS 

Smith, Arthur W 1185 

Smith, Dr. .Augu.-ius I{ 40S 

Smith, Caleb 549 

Smith, Charles 550 

Smith, Charles C 200 

Smith, Charles F 202 

Smith. Charles L, P., M. D 1488 

Smith, David 11S5 

Smith, David 1084 

Smith, Davis W 547 

Smith, Dwight L 831 

Smith, E;irl S22 

Smith, Edgar H 141 1 

Smith, Edward \\'., M. D 1272 

Smith, El wood H 239 

Smith, Ezra 1355 

Smith Families, 88, 202, 238, 252, 304, 

408, 443, 547. 594, 1023, 1025, 1032 

1208. 1229, 1272, 1355, 141 1 

Smith, Fitch 994 

Smith. Frank E 594 

Smitli. Franklin V. 583 

Smith, Franklin P 1023 

Smith, Fred M 1204 

Smith, Frederick .\ 1 169 

Smith, George 290 

Smith. George H. (Smith & 

Twiss) 290 

Smith, George II 14S 

Smith, George J I208 

Smith, Henry J 1032 

Smith, Horace T 740 

Smith, Horatio X 583, 738 

Smith, ls;iac T 338 

Smith, James 1 169 

Smith, James 443 

Smith. James V. 443 

Smith. James F 1025, 1229 

Smith, Jeremiah 238 

Smith. Jesse G 203 

Smith. Loyal 971, 1023 

Smith, Lyman 293 

Smith. ^Ia^cus P 311 

Smith. Mathew 200 

Smith, Misses 994 

Smitli, Riley T 649 

Smith. Roland .-\ 465 

Smi'h. Sidney H 1097 

Smith. Sylvester 88 

Smilli. Sylvester 951 

Sniiih. Deacon Thomas 466 

Smith. Thomas A 4O5 

Smith. Walter E 1229 

Smith. Wilhnr T 338 

Smiili. Wilbur W 950 

Smith. William (East Haven) 991 

Smith. William (deceased).... 1246 

Smith, William G 1246 

Smith, William H 239 

Somers. Mrs. Eliza \ 428 

Somers. Enoch 592 

Somers. Enoch H 428 

Somers. George W 592 

Spanlding. Hon. Charles S.... 921 

Spencer Families 132, 1318 

Spencer, Mai. Frederick A.... 132 

Spencer, Hon. George B 1318 

Spencer, Imri A 64S 

Spencer, Imri L 648 



Spencer, Hon. Willard 133 

Sperry. Burton 239 

Sperry. Calvin 995, 1007 

Sperry, Mrs. Catherine E 482 

Sperry, Hon. E. Kniglit 37, 229 

Sperry, Elizur L 1007 

.Sperry Families.. 36, 482, 1007, 1156 

Sperry, Frank W 1514 

Sperry, Frederick X,, M. D 1156 

Sperry, Joel .-K 302 

Sperry, Joseph H 37 

Sperry, I^ura A 37 

Sperry, Hon. Lucien W " yj 

Sperry. Lucius P 239 

Sperry, Xeliemiah D 36 

Sperry, Stiles D 37 

Spring. Frederic, M. D 382 

Stahnke. Frank 1460 

Stanley. l-!dward M 1 105 

Stanley, Frederick E 1 190 

Stanley, James 1 190 

-Stanley, William 1 105 

Stanley, William J 1102 

Stannard, Edward 265 

States. Benjamin I" 690 

States. Henry M 129S 

States, Hon. James X 689 

Steele. Frank E 1 128 

Steele, Mrs. Frank E. (Lillie 

J.) 112S 

Steele. William R 1445 

Sternberg. Gotfricd 1469 

Stevens, David 479 

Stevens, David S 706 

Stevens, Elisha 1294 

Stevens, Evelyn E 559 

.Stevens Families 52S, 596, 706 

Stevens. Frederick M 1 136 

Stevens. Jedediah C 559 

Stevens. Marshall D 1 120 

Stevens, Orville H 596 

Stevens. Mrs. Orville IT 597 

Stevens, Philander 1340 

Stevens. Samuel .\ 528 

Stiles Family 1414 

.Stiles. Frank W 1414 

Stillman, Edwin C 723. 777 

Stillman Families 722. 777 

■Stilhnan. Frank R 722 

Stilhnan. Jesse Edwin 777 

Stillman. Sirs. Lucretia S 778 

St, I^-iwrence. John 14S8 

Stoddard Family 1233 

Stoddard. Lewellyn 1 1232 

Stokes. Jost.pli S (162 

Stone Family 658 

Stone, Hcman 65S 

Stone. Sanl..rd C 65S 

Stowe. Charles H 995 

Stowc. Clark W 932 

.Stowe Families 932, 995 

Stf>wc. Stephen 730 

Strapp. Patrick F. M. D 1500 

Strauss, Gerson. M. D 1268 

Street. .Xugustus 8.S0 

Street Families 859, 1244 

Street. Frederick B 1244 

Strobel, Chris 1249 

Strong, Addie II lOO 

Strong Families 108, II77 

Strong. Horace H 108 

Strong, William H I179 

Strong, William S II77 



b;u.Ji..y, lion. }.j\m V 381 

Suclicr, Col. Tlu-.pJ-.rc H ijj6 

Sullivan, John J 1489 

SuUuan, Kiv. MKliacl .\ 1440 

Summc^^, (Jcurgc C iioi 

Summers, Stephen X 1161 

SuihiT Family 63J 

Suthll, James R (,31 

SulhlT, J., 111! 6j2 

Suitun, Harry 1224 

Sutton, Henry 1224 

Sutton, Mr>. Henry 1224 

.Sweemy. Janiirs E 1159 

Sweet Family 1006 

Sweet, Dr. Janie, W ic*6 



Taintor, Hiram C 

Taintor. Hiram H 

Tail, .\ndrew 

Tail. J.hn. M. D 

Talbut. Richard 

Talmage, George L 

Talmage, Lucius 

Tapi)ert, Rev. C. Reinhold 

Taylor, Thomas 

Taylor, William 

Tennant, Richard 

Terrell, Alton T 

Terrell, Emery L 

Terrell Family 

Terrell, Wales 

Terry, Maj. Gen. Alfred II.... 

Terry. Mrs. Emilie .X 

Terry Family 

Terry, Gv ^rge E 

Terry, Tliei 'dorc 

Terry, Theodore P 

Thayer, .Mexander 

Tliaver, .Augustine 

Timer, Hon. John Q 

Thayer, Sumner T 

Thogerson, Chri^tian 

Thomas, Gen. .\nios 

Thomas, Edwin .S 

Thomas Family 

Thomas, Frank H 

Thomas, George 11 

Thomas, John 

Thomiison. .Vbraliam 

Tlii>mpson, Charles .\ 

Tliomi)son, lulward F 

Thompson Families 

lorj, («()3. 819, 

Thompson, Frank I 

The nips. >n, Sherwoiid S 

Thi>mps..n. Mrs. E. Lrniisc ... 

Thomson. I-Mwanl .\ 

Thonisoii. George 

Thomson. John 

Thorpe, Charles 11 

Thorpe Faniilv 

Th..rpe, Sheldon B 

Tibials Fan, dies I188, 

Til.'..'. I-..!, rick I 

Til.^ .<• 1 

Tii't; . nes 

Tidgewell. William 

Tiernev. Dennis C 

Tilev, Charles It, D D S. .. . 

Tilev. Curtis B. D. D. S 

Tilev, Stillman J 

Tilton, Albert 

Todd, Charles J 



2j6 
2J5 



950 

I4()6 
14O6 
1151 

052 
(.52 

1 09s 
874 

1170 

^7i 

»73 

1 

1004 
I 

icx>4 
Scr 
801 
370 
47' 
471 
370 

1254 
509 

1450 
990 

990 
1458 
9(XJ 
109 
819 

1304 

109 

1304 

1.105 

870 

1278 

1278 

647 

647 

402 

I42<i 

II 88 

1188 

"47 

147 

ll(>4 

1400 

>2.U 

12.13 

1 57 

1143 



INDEX. 



Todd, Dwiglit E 482 

Todd, Edward A 1284 

Todd, Edwin A 1302 

Todd Families 1284, 1300 

Todd, Henry H 1142 

Todd, James A 1301 

Todd, James E 1222 

Todd, James R 1222 

Todd, John R. S 1300 

Todd, Robert C 1301 

Todd, Streat 364, 1301 

Tolles, Harrison B 1152 

Tolles, Isaac 1152 

Tolles, James 316 

Tomlinson, George A 937 

Toothe, James 782 

Torrance, Hon. David 10 

Towner Family 55° 

Towner, John E 550 

Townley, Mrs. L. E 321 

Townsend, George H., M. D.. 1454 
Townsend, Joseph H., M. D. . 1405 

Tracy Bros. Co., The 300 

Tracy, Cornelius 301 

Tracy Family 300 

Tracy, George 301 

Tracy, Morton 1512 

Treat, Alfred 1347 

Treat, Arthur B 602 

Treat Families 601, 659 

Treat, Howard P 1 154 

Treat, Isaac P 1154 

Treat, Jonah 1347 

Treat, Jonathan 476 

Treat, Otis A 1348 

Treat, Stiles J 475 

1 roil, C Frederick 270 

Trott, John i' 270 

Trowbridge, Ezekiel H 1358 

Trowbridge Families. .354, 1357, 1363 

Trowliridge, Henry 1357, 1363 

Trowbridge, Henry, Jr 1358 

Trowbridge, Joseph P 1364 

Trowbridge, Thomas R. .. .1358, 1359 

Trowbridge, Winston J 1359 

Tucker, Reuben H 508 

Turnbull, Erwin 1142 

Turnbull, William C 1142 

Turner, Mrs. Almira E 995 

Turner, Edward T 584 

Turner, Mrs. Edward T 584 

Turner Family 995 

Tuttle, Mrs. Anna U 99 

Tuttle, Charles Allen 782 

Tuttle, Charles F 780 

Tuttle, Cyrus W 542 

Tuttle, Dennis 99 

Tuttle, Hon. Dwight W 1345 

Tuttle, Edward L 1478 

Tuttle Families 9, 138, 252, 

449, 466, 542, 780, 982, 1296, 1345 

Tuttle, George W 542 

Tuttle, Hon. Grove J 982 

Tuttle, Joel 450 

Tuttle, J. Birney 100 

Tuttle, John P 138 

Tuttle, William P 139 

Twitchell Family 492 

Twitchell, Homer 4q2 

Twitchell, Miles J 686 

Twitchell, Perry ivl 686 

Twitchell, Robert 720 

Twitchell, Walter H 720 



P.^GE 

Tyler, David A., M. D 566 

Tyler, Ezra 1030 

Tyler Families 810, 1030 

Tyler, George F 989 

Tvler, Henry W 1030 

Tvler, John R 923 

Tyler, John S 889 

Tvler, Lyman 789 

Tyler, William 890 

Tyler, William M 810 

Tyrrell, Arthur II 1235 

Tvrrell Familv 1235 

Tyrrill, Alfred D 470 

Tyrrill, Isaac II 470 

Ullman, Col, Isaac M 11S2 

Upson Family 818 

Upson, Lucian Sio 

Ure, Andrew 1348 

Vail, John 855 

Voorhees, Harvey C 1231 

Wake, W. S. R 1474 

Wakelee. Eli H 876 

Wakelee, Watrous C 876 

Wakeman Family 1290 

Waldron Family 1310 

Waldron, Frederick H 1309 

Walker. Charles P 1378 

Walker, Dr. Emory J 1378 

Walker Family 1^,77 

Walker, Frank B 1378 

Wallace Family 769 

Walter, Hon. Jacob D 1305 

Wanning, Henrv F 11 13 

Ward, C. Art., M. D 1476 

Ward, Dennis 672 

Ward Families 124, 1014, 1432 

W.-ird, Frederick S 760 

Ward, Richard 123 

Ward, William 124 

Ward, William L 1014 

\\'arner, Abner 699 

Warner, Alonzo 910 

\V'arner, Charles 1144 

Warner, Charles E 1181 

Warner,' Charles D 1019 

Warner, Edmund C 507 

Warner, Edward N 1243 

Warner Families.... 480, 497, 1258 

Warner, Frederick E 1 181 

Warner, Gains F 497 

Warner, Harlcy 1536 

Warner, Harley A 1536 

Warner, Henry .\ 497 

Warner, Henry F 1019 

Warner, Horace 752 

Warner, Jared 663 

Warner, John 1243 

Warner, John E 752 

Warner, John J 910 

Warner, Lester E 1533 

Warner, Mrs. Louisa 663 

Warner, Lucian D 480 

Warner, Theodore J 1 144 

Warren, Charles A 515 

Warren Family 405 

Warren, Henry 405 

Warren, Herbert C. C 1546 

Warren, Dr. Sparrow 515 

Warrick, Walter J 1214 

Waterbury, Jonathan B 424 



Waterburv, William A 42. 

Webb, Daniel M., M. D 413 

Webb Family 414 

Webster, Albert W 987 

Webster, David S 987 

Webster, Erwin W 988 

Webster Familv 986 

Weed, Harrison 614 

Weed, Mrs. Harrison 615 

Weil, Charles L 759 

Weir, Samuel 1441 

Weiss, Conrad 767 

Welch, David T 616 

Welch, Mrs. David T 617 

Welch Families 616, 1426 

Welch. Hon. Harmanus M.... 15 

Weld Families 319, 811 

Weld, Capt. Frederick A 958 

Weld, Frederick F 958 

Weld, George 811 

Weld, George L 876 

Weld, Mrs. Mary D. W 958 

Weld, Mrs. Sarah J 877 

Weld, William E 319, 811 

Weld, William E., Jr 319 

Wells. Ambrose H 548 

Welton, Byron D 744 

Welton Families, 565. 744, 804, 904 

Welton, Frank P 1186 

Welton, Frederick A 744 

Welton, Herschel 1186 

Welton, Hobart L 5C5 

Welton, Hobart V 565 

Welton, .Homer H 904 

Welton, Mrs. Homer H 904 

Welton, Irving N 1208 

Welton, Joseph 905 

Welton, Mrs. Joseph 905 

Welton, Nelson J 804 

Welton, N. Jay 1495 

West, Edward E 660 

West, John A 660 

West, Redfield B., M. D 1124 

Wevand. Henry 1 187 

Wheeler, Alfred N 184 

Wheeler, David B (deceased) . 264 

Wheeler, David B. (Oxford).. 1132 

Wheeler, Elisha 183 

Wheeler Familv 182 

Wheeler, Frank H.. M. D 737 

Wheeler, George R 1504 

Wheeler, Hon. Henry S 183 

Wheeler, William H 737 

Whitaker Family 1461 

Whitakcr, John 1461 

While, Edward H 456 

White Families 421, 460^ 

White, Franklin R 591 

White, George L 423 

White, Henrv K 455 

White. Howard 456 

White, Jacob W 423 

White, lames H 456 

White, Leroy S 460 

^Vhitc. Le\Tis 5Qi 

\\'hite. Luther C 422 

Whiting. Edwin R 600 

Whiting, Henry B 1522 

Whiting, Irving 1522 

Whiting, Jacob 600 

Whiting, Steplicn B l3.'iS 

Whiting. William S 1337 

Whitney. Eli (i7('5) '98 



IXDEX. 



Whitney, Eli 

Wliimey Families. .197, 438, 692, 

Whitney, Henry 

Wliitney, Stephen 

Whittlesey Family 

Wilcox, Albert H 

Wilcox, Charles H 

Wilcox, Mrs. Ellen M 

Wilcox Families, 193, 499, lOOj, 

Wilcox, Frank 

Wilcox, Frederic 

Wilcox, Mrs. Frederic 

Wilcox, George .\ 

Wilcox, George II 

Wilcox, Henry T 

Wilcox, Horace C 

W'ilcox. Richard C 

Wild. Isaac J 

Willord, Edwin L 

Wilkins, Peter 

Wilkinson. John 

Willard Family 

Willard. Rev. James L., D. D. . 

Willard. John .\ 

Willard, Mrs. Victorine E 

Williams, Charles M 

Williams, Clarence W 

Williams Families 

,S5S. 5S9. 912, 1125, 

Williams. Francis 

Williams, George C. F 

Williams, George I 

Williams, Herman 

Williams, John 

Williams, Mary A 

Williams, Robert 

Williams, Seldcn C 

V\'i'.ains, Street 

VViiri.VJis, Samuel P 

Williams, Thomas D 590, 

Williams, WJliam 

vVilliams, Willu.-n C 

.Villiams, Willian, C.. M. D.... 
WuV.L-.ms, Hon. Wi'iam H.... 

Williams. Prof. Willi..-.! H 

Wilmot, Joh.r 



P-^fiE P.\GE 

200 Wilmot. Xoyes S 955 

1310 Wilson. David B 574 

4.W Wilson. Dr. Edgar A 202 

438 Wilson, Hon. Oove H., M. D. 201 

383 Wils.n. Henry H 1183 

499 Wilson, Robert 1411) 

1200 Wilsvn. William P., M, D io?6 

194 Winchell. Alverd E.. M. D.... 872 

1075 WinchcU Family 872 

1200 WirteTiilnirg. lulwin H 1137 

516 Wirtembiirg, Valton 1137 

516 Wirth. Henry P 937 

897 Wirili I'amily 937 

652 Wirth, Mrs. Henry P 937 

498 Wolcott Family 1295 

193 WollT. Adrian F 1133 

1005 WollT. Capt. .Mired J 1041 

1330 Wood, .Monzo F 80 

1131 Wood. I-'red J 151S 

1 194 Wood. George 1327 

1231 Wood. Porter L 1202 

1534 Wr,od. Mrs. Rachel H Si 

1156 Wood. Richard A 151S 

1534 Wood. Richard B 1327 

1156 ; Wood. Robert R 865 

589 Wood. Thomas J 8(56 

1035 Woodin. Benjamin C 524 

Wooding. Charles F 1216 

I136 Wooding Family 853 

1419 Wooding. Harry 853 

913 I Wooding, Leonard B 1261') 

839 I Wooding. Xewton C 1216 

839 Wooding. Waldo 854 

1459 I Woodley. William 1438 

1459 Woodruff, Charles Y 1157 

467 Woodruff. Eleazer 1241 

467 Woodruff Families. . 156. 1240, 1475 

557 Woodruff. Frank H 1475 

1 136 Woodruff. Jeremiah 156 

1212 Woodruff. Richard H 1240 

840 I Woodruff. Sides D 156 

1035 Woodward. Edward M 656 

912 I Woodward Family 656 

1421 ] Woodward. Richard 914 

977 ^Voolley, William T 1472 

955 Wooste'r, Charles B 672 



TAGE 

WVjoster, Daniel 072 

Woosler Family 35(1 

Woosur, IViderick J 1155 

Wi>i-tir. Horace B 1155 

Wouster, l.etsome T 350 

W.K.siLr, Col. William B 47 

Worthington, Thomas E 731 

Woikyns, Roger S 151 1 

Wright, Charlis 1 1373 

Wright, Hon. Dexter R 40 

Wright, Ervis E 1122 

\S right Family 1373 

Wright, Thaddeiis K 1373 

Wright, William H 1404 

Wright, W i ■ '' 1230 

Wiiterieh, 5S4 

Wusterbar 140S 

Wustcrbar ... 1408 

Wylie Fa: , O70 

Wyliys V: 124S 

Yale, Berir.iii.I 1 621 

Yale, Cbar'i-; 803 

Yale, Mr ' ' 1 315 

Yale Far 

....73. ' ■ '-:. 803, 1293 

\ale. Hi! 104 

Yale, Mr- 104 

Yale, Jo! 803 

^'alc. Le^ 73 

Yale. Lc 73 

Yale, Sa: ' 314 

Yost, Augi;- , 567 

Yost. FredcrioU 567 

Young, Charles H 545 

Young, Mrs. C. H 545 

Young. Orimell 545 

Zimmcr. Capt. John B 10^8 

Zink. Walter H.. M. D 902 

Zorn. George B 631 

Zorn, Mrs. George B 632 

Zunder. .Mbert yn 

Zundcr. Maier 3i>8 

Zw iebel, .Vdolph /V I2o6 

Zwiebel, Joseph W 1 102 




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